BALTIMORE — "I was a runner, I'm a martial artist and I was like what else am I gonna do," Karen Kells asked.
With more than two decades of karate under her black belt Kells decided to hit the open road, cycling.
"I did the Sea Gull Century in Maryland, and I had done a couple of rides in PA and I started tallying them and I said I wonder if I could do all 50 states, just bike in all 50 states and that's how it came to be," Kells said.
Kells set her goal to do it by her 60th year.
It took 8-9 years mapping out all the states. She finished in August in Alaska after her 60th birthday.
But her favorite state:
"That's hard to say, but I will say Hawaii with my kids," Kells said.
But with anything, there were challenges along the way like COVID.
"I couldn't find a bike rental anywhere cause I think it was during COVID time or post COVID time and people weren't renting bikes. There were no bikes to rent," Kells said.
She joined the Facebook group, "I Love Road Cycling" and the connections she made with strangers from state to state helped her on her journey.
"Some guy said my wife is sick and he said you can use her bike. He met me and my friend and he brought me presents from the Grizzly State, not only lent me his wife's but rode with me, my minimal goal was 10 miles in each state," Kells said.
Kells has owned a karate studio in Towson for 20 years, she believes her background in the martial arts steered her in the right direction when things got tough.
"Always setting the goals, mapping out the journey, anticipating what obstacles you might run into and then how to get over those obstacles...the self-discipline, the discipline that you get from the martial arts," Kells added.
At 60 and going strong, whether it's one kick or one pedal at a time, Kells wants others to set goals too.
"I want to motivate people. I want to inspire people to be their best selves," Kells said.
