By Pepper Fisher
LOUIS, MO – Local outdoor accessibility advocate and world record holder Ian Mackay, who is paralyzed from the neck down, is once again preparing to test the limits of his powered wheelchair with another cross-state ride, but this time it won’t Washington state he’ll be crossing. Beginning next Friday, June 21, Ian will tackle Missouri’s 275-mile-long Katy Trail from St. Louis to Kansas City.
The Katy Trail is the longest consecutive section of the famous Rails-to-Trails route in the United States. Mackay has previously ridden across Washington State twice, along U.S. Highway 101 on the Redwood Coast, from Washington D.C. to Columbus, Ohio and holds the world record for most miles traveled in 24 hours using a sip-and-puff wheelchair.
That’s a lot of serious road time, but Mackay says this latest venture comes with some unique challenges, starting with Missouri’s heat and humidity. Unlike most of us, Mackay can’t regulate his body temperature on his own. But he and his ride-along team have a plan for that.
“We’re going to rely on things like ice vests to fight the heat. I’m also going to maybe use some cold, ice neck things, that can go over the neck and keep going to keep cool that way. And then try to drink a lot of ice water.”
Mackay incurred a spinal cord injury from a bicycle crash in 2008. He is the founder of the non-profit Ian’s Ride, which began in 2016 when he set off on a wheelchair journey across the state of Washington. That effort garnered so much media attention and participation in follow-up journeys that Ian’s Ride has taken on a life of its own.
Mackay and his team put a lot of work into planning his Katy Trail ride, but there is one thing they didn’t see coming – a once-in-a-lifetime cicada swarm, happening now in the Midwest, where the insects are showing up in the billions.
“Well, my academic background is biology and, you know, two of my crew mates are also in the sciences. And so, we’re excited to see what we’ll see, but we’re also a little nervous about exoskeletons, you know, covering the trail and the surroundings, and it’s going to be a little noisy. But, we’ll see. It’ll only add to the fun, I’m sure”
Find out more about Ian Mackay’s latest adventure on his website at iansride.com.
(Photo: Jesse Major/Ian’s Ride)