DIRT Teammates try to become the first to complete 22 consecutive TTTs in a single day—Thursday, January 12, 2023.
DIRT Stephen Katuska explains:
As an avid Zwifter, I’ve long been inspired on this platform by the rare combination of fierce competition, epic cycling undertakings, and camaraderie that comes with this universe many of us engage with a large proportion of our time. It has been confirmed for Zwift broadly, seeing folks ride for tens of hours straight or hundreds of kilometers, but especially so with the DIRT (Dads Inside Riding Trainers) community, including such epic undertakings as the Alpe Dew Pizza challenge.
Over the past year, I’ve joined many others enthralled with the Team Time Trial (TTT) events, most notably run Thursdays (for most of the world) by WTRL. It’s the best mix of teamwork, fitness, and competition I’ve found, and I have enjoyed seeing a good group of people who are thoroughly committed to laying it all on the line each week.
DIRT has long been a critical figure in the TTT racing scene. My main club in Eat DIRT has gone from just one or two teams a week to now having nearly a hundred interested riders each week, riding at a wide variety of paces, all the way from best-in-class champions (Team WTWFT) through competitive crews in every racing class.
When I first heard of folks doing multiple TTTs in a single day, I thought it was madness. A single effort throttles me that the idea of multiples was mind-boggling. My Eat DIRT riding partners compete in the early morning EST, and some ride in the afternoon or late into the night. The commitment inspired me to pick up multiple races to feed the competitive BEASTs in so many of us.
Also Read: The Creation of D. I. R. T. Culture
The preamble leads to why we have been so interested in the King of all TTT records, the riders who can complete the most TTTs in a single day.
A ferocious pair of DIRTs, Tiago Barreira and Christopher “Serkit” Taylor-Kerr, completed 11 TTTs on June 23rd, 2022, through tenacity and with the support of many in the DIRT community.
With the addition of new time zones and the desire to keep upping the ante, David Squirrell, Christopher “Serkit” Taylor-Kerr, and I will attempt to complete 22 TTTs in a single day on Thursday, January 12th.
Steven Katuska’s ZwiftPower Profile, Christopher “Serkit” Taylor-Kerr’s ZwiftPower Profile, and David Squirrell’s ZwiftPower Profile.
The team anticipates it will involve approximately 16 hours of riding over an elapsed 22 hours (for example, in EST, it’s just around midnight until 10 PM). We hope to get a massive lift from countless DIRT riders across all of the various sub-teams, and we’re excited, nervous, and grateful for this support.
Why do we do this? To push ourselves to new accomplishments is a strong reason. One of the defining and appealing aspects of endurance sports to me is the enormous mental aspect. Taking a step back when life gets hard can be easy, but leaning into those challenging moments will lead to much more growth and fond memories.
Additionally, we’re looking to bring even more exposure to the DIRT Dad Fund. Chris Schwenker has done a great job setting up this foundation to help out families who have hit a rough patch and need a bit of community support to weather the storm. We’d be honored if folks had the desire and the means to support this fund in honor of our foolhardy undertaking.
Please wish us the strength and fortitude to complete this event, the good luck to avoid any technical gremlins, and enough chamois cream to create the world’s largest slip-n-slide.
With some good fortune, we will crawl out of our basements and garages, having conquered this challenge in the wee hours of Thursday night or possibly Friday morning. Thanks!
Semi-retired as owner and director of his private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice after over 20 years, Chris is blessed with the freedom to pursue his passion for virtual cycling and writing. On a continual quest to give back to his bike for all the rewarding experiences and relationships it has provided him, he created a non-profit. Chris is committed to helping others with his bike through its work and the pages of his site.
In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to New York to support the charity he founded, TheDIRTDadFund. His “Gain Cave” resides on the North Fork of Long Island, where he lives with his beautiful wife and is proud of his two independent children.
You will read him promoting his passion on the pages of Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. Chris is co-host of The Virtual Velo Podcast, too!
