What are the FKT challenges?

FKTs are not competitions as such, neither something new, they are challenges that have become popular in recent years and that anyone can take up if they want to test their state of fitness. 

FKT: the triumph of simplicity 

FKT (Fastest Known Times) is the fastest known time in which a given course has been completed.

These kinds of challenges are not new, although they are now very popular. The absence of careers during the worst period of the pandemic led some people to seek out challenges on their own, bringing FKTs to the attention of many people.

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The idea of the FKT is that anyone can take up the challenge. In a way, they are open access competitions that don't have the barriers to entry that you often have to deal with in conventional races. FKTs don't require sponsors or a track record to back up your participation. There are also no entry fees and it is not held on a specific day.

Another advantage of these challenges is the timing. Since there is no organisation behind it, it is the cyclist himself who decides when he wants to do the FKT.

There are FKTs of different distances, ranging from one-day races to some that are completed over several days.

Experience or competition

The challenge will be a competition against the clock to set the new record or it will be just a cycling experience through great landscapes, depending on how the participant approaches it.

In any case, the FKTs are not intended to emulate traditional racing. There is no audience, for example. There are only two protagonists: the cyclist and the clock.

Although it is still in a phase of growth and consolidation, some specialised websites divide the FKT into categories, which are more or less hard with the conditions of the event.

For example, a category in which the cyclist does not receive assistance, but carries all the food and drink he/she will need; another in which he/she carries a person or a team to help him/her; and another in which he/she pedals with another person who sets the pace during the route or part of it.

For the FKT time to be correct, it must be validated with the GPS file downloaded directly from your watch or electronic device.

Another advantage that FKTs have for many people is that they offer the chance to compare themselves with the best. Setting a record is only available to a select few, especially if they are the most recognised FKTs, but anyone can see how far they are from the best. 

This has also been helped by the recent interest shown by professional cyclists in these events, which motivates others to compare themselves with them to see how far apart they really are.

FKT all over the world

Some of the renowned cyclists who have signed up for these challenges are Peter Stetina, Lachlan Morton, Alexis Skarda or Kurt Refsnider.

The country with the most interesting range of FKTs is probably the United States. Some of the most legendary races in the world are the Arizona Trail - which runs up and down the state for almost 1,315 kilometres - the Rose to Toads, the White Rim Trail and the Kokopelli.