Quinter girls pedal way into record book
By RYAN CHRISTNER
Four Quinter teenagers set multiple cycling records and garnered praise from parents, other cyclists and the UltraMarathon Cycling Association last weekend as they biked northward across Kansas.
Eight hours and 43 minutes after they set off from the Kansas-Oklahoma border Sunday, Jaci Crist, Addie Johnson, Emily Ochs and Lexie Woolf finished their 233-mile journey by reaching the Nebraska state line.
Once certified by the UMCA, the girls will have the second-fastest time, by speed, of any cross-state cycling record in the country. The girls' average speed of about 26 miles per hour is just shy of the 27.56 mark of Nick Gerlich, a Canyon, Texas, resident who set the record in 1994, also by traveling north across Kansas.
Gerlich's finishing time of eight hours and 19 minutes still holds as the fastest state time, but the girls' accomplishments remain impressive.
"You can't imagine how proud I am of the girls," Addie's father, Eric Johnson, wrote in an e-mail. "They handled the ride and their bikes superbly and had a super attitude all day."
Johnson said a tailwind contributed to the success of the day. Event official and fellow UMCA cross-Kansas record holder, Sara Kay Carrell, said, "You couldn't ask for a better day than what we had."
Carrell, whose The Hub bike store in Hays loaned the girls the matching bikes they rode, also lent the girls team jerseys, giving the event an aura of professionalism.
In an e-mail, UMCA Managing Director John Hughes said he believed the girls were the youngest to ever attempt a cycling record.
Hughes said he is "very impressed" with the feat the girls attempted.
"To set a record, one must master an extensive set of rules to promote safety and fairness, concentrate on the task at hand for hours and work cooperatively with teammates," he wrote. "I know a number of mature men who find this difficult."
Rider Emily Ochs said the event as a whole was "tons of fun" and wasn't as difficult as she thought it was going to be.
"The hardest part was going up the big hills," she said of the Kansas terrain.
Ochs said she was having so much fun that the time flew by. She indicated she would like to try future record attempts.
For now, the girls and everyone involved still are reveling in the excitement of the event.
"It was a pretty special day," Eric Johnson said.