Meet Kelly

adventures through Half a century of riding with Kelly O’Day

Written by Stephanie Hardi

Longtime Merrill, Wis., resident Kelly O’Day credits his love of biking and good friends to staying active, happy and sane in a world wracked by COVID-19.

“Who cares about a global pandemic when doing what you love gets you outdoors, socially-distanced and feeling good?” Kelly said.

A bike for all seasons

A financial professional for Thrivent during the day, and father to three sons – a teenager and two young adults – Kelly spends his free time biking in all forms: mountain, gravel, road, and winter fat tire.

“I mountain bike the most, fat bike a lot, road bike a little, but very much enjoy gravel riding, including several bikepacking adventures each year,” Kelly said. “Gravel biking seems to be my strength since I tend to ride stronger after a couple of hours.”

Kelly plans his bikepacking trips with good friends to remote locations.

“We make sure to plan the trips around features like waterfalls and typically only see a car or two all day over 60-80 miles of riding. We’re completely self-sufficient, and enjoy the immersion in nature. As the Japanese say, ‘forest-bathing.’”

Kelly has extensive outdoor experience – one of his biggest accomplishments is having completed 33 American Birkebeiner cross country ski races – and he has many biking stories to tell.

“I’ve been riding bike for half a century,” Kelly said. “I try to push myself, like the day a couple years ago when I rode 160-plus miles in a day, perfectly timing a stop at a bar for a new bluegrass band. I ended up staying three hours dancing when I thought I was going to be whipped and leaving soon. Those Grassfed boys were that good; they energized me! It was a good thing, too, because on the way back to town in the dark, braking hard to miss a scurrying vole saved me from piling head on into a buck.”

Wild child
Kelly has eight siblings and is quick to tell you that he’s the “wildest of the bunch.” He feels that some of his drive comes from his mother, who used to walk to work two miles each way, just for fun and exercise.

“One of my favorite memories is talking to my Mom, now a couple of years into dementia, her not knowing our names anymore. I was describing my latest adventure and she answered, ‘I know, Kelly, you always did like to do things like that.’ She shocked me, and then she was gone, never knowing me or my name again.”

Gut it out
Kelly described his “Find Your Tough” philosophy as “gutting it out.” He’s competed in the 85-mile route of the Red Granite Gravel Grinder the last two years, and is already registered to compete in the 2021 event, despite having less than ideal conditions during both races.

“Lining up at the IRONBULL Red Granite Gravel Grinder start last year, I knew it was going to be a serious grind,” Kelly said.  “The snow lasted longer than was predicted and the roads softened up quite a bit when it melted. I ride a lot of fat bike in the winter, so I mostly dressed well – better than many from what other racers were telling me – but I didn’t make a great decision on my feet. They were blocks of ice for six hours. Many racers dropped out or skipped it altogether, including some of my friends that are killer riders and tough as nails.”

Kelly decided to continue on in the race, but the conditions were cruel.

“I was alone for the last 50 miles in brutal conditions,” he noted. “On hills where I had distant visibility, I couldn’t see anyone behind and could barely see someone a half-mile ahead, and I did all I could to catch that person. I closed within 50 yards up Brokaw Hill late, but the mud in my drivetrain wouldn’t let me shift back into the big ring after shifting down for Billy Goat Hills. The rider in front of me did a great job of pulling away down the big downhill on Hwy W all the way to the finish.”

“Mud was an issue the whole race. I stopped at the half-point in Edgar to clean off my brakes because they were dragging continuously, and I did what I could to get the slime out of my drivetrain. My brake pads were completely shot after the race. So what! Gut it out.”