Dame Catriona Williams knows there will be days as she’s handcycling across the United States where she will feel miserable – cold, tired and wary of monstrous trucks and trailers bearing down on her.
In those moments, she’ll have to dig deep to hit her goal of cycling 100km a day and remember why she’s on this “ridiculously crazy” journey.
“There are a multitude of things that will keep me going on tough days,” says the tetraplegic former equestrian – aiming to handcycle nearly 3000 miles (4800km) across nine states, raising money for spinal cord injury research.
Her first inspiration is being reunited with her husband, Sam, who’ll be back home in Masterton running their Little Avondale horse stud for much of her epic trek, which begins December 30. The second is seeing their “incredibly loyal No.1 child” – labradoodle Ted-E-Bear – again.
She’ll also be thinking of those backing the fundraising journey she’s named TEAM Connect USA, and those it will help. “This is a real push to do it for the young wheelies. So that when you break your neck or your back, it doesn’t mean life in a chair,” she says.
Williams will also want to do it for her team on the ground, volunteering their time to help her to realise her mission.
But her “personal cherry on the top” will come at the end of her ride next March – watching some of the world’s best showjumpers compete at Ocala, the World Equestrian Centre, in Florida. “Seeing some of my favourite riders like Cian O’Connor and Jessica Springsteen compete will be a dream come true,” the 55-year-old says.
Williams was also a top international equestrian, before a life-changing fall in 2002 left her a C6/C7 tetraplegic. She’s devoted almost 20 years to funding world-class research into a solution for spinal cord injury through her CatWalk Trust.
Ever since she first rode a handcycle up her driveway – an effort that took 90 minutes to cover 800m – Williams has chased one audacious goal after another.
She completed the New York City Marathon in 2010, conquered the climb to Everest Base Camp three years later, and slogged her way through a snowstorm on an odyssey from Scotland to London in 2024.
As Williams, who became a Dame in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours, prepares for her toughest cycling challenge yet, she’s quietly making gains on a more personal target.
Every day, she spends the entire morning working on her body, determined to one day walk again.
She’s “enormously proud” she’s now able to stand in a frame and move her legs. Her focus is now on locking her knees so she can then concentrate on strengthening her core.
“I cannot believe I’ve gained the strength and power in my back and my legs 24 years after my injury. The fact I’ve got my legs moving this long after my accident isn’t really normal,” Williams says.
“But the reality is if I keep myself fit, well and strong, then I’ll be ready for any breakthrough. I don’t want to sit in a chair 20 years then find I can’t do it.”
Through the winter, she’s handcycling twice a week, cautious of getting sick. She realistically knows the first week on the road in California will be tough, while she builds up her fitness.
“Cycling is the easy part – it’s keeping the bike on the road that will be the biggie,” she says.
It was British royal Zara Tindall who gave Williams the idea to do something this big.
Around 18 months ago, Williams was at the Gold Coast’s annual yearling horse sale when she spoke to Zara, who is Anne, the Princess Royal’s daughter, an accomplished equestrian and the international ambassador for CatWalk.
“We were chatting when she said, ‘I’m really proud of what I do for CatWalk, but are you working with other like-minded groups around the world?’” Williams recalls. “I said yes, and reeled them all off, and then I said, ‘But we can always do better’. And that planted a seed.
“From that moment on, I kept thinking, how do I get people with the ability to support us in a big way believing what we know is possible? We all know it’s a problem, but together we can solve it.
“We need to get behind the bright young brains, because with technology and AI, this is a problem we can solve.”
Williams had always wanted to cycle Route 66 across the US, but her friend and “strategist” Chris Weaver – the former CEO of Ellerslie Racecourse – advised her not to cross through the Midwest in the midst of winter.
“We spent hours and hours talking on the phone, probably more than my husband and me recently,” Williams laughs. “And we found a new route.”
She will now start in Carlsbad, California, where Williams has previously had treatment in a specialised gym. She then heads through New Mexico, down to Houston and across to New Orleans.
A country music fan, Williams will make a slight detour to Nashville for three days’ rest and entertainment. She will finish her traverse in Jacksonville, Florida – hoping her arrival in early March will coincide with one of golf’s premier events, The Players Championship, “and Ryan Fox might have a coffee with us”.
After that, she’ll get back on the bike for another four days down to Ocala, the World Equestrian Centre, to watch the Longines League of Nations showjumping event. “Why fly there when you can cycle?” she laughs.
The idea is to meet up with American wheelies, researchers and physios along the route, to let them know of CatWalk’s work, but also learn our what’s happening over there.
The goal is to average 100km a day, with a day off every four or five days to rest and tune up the bike. Williams has to be careful not to develop pressure sores – or “bottom breakdown” – from a lack of sensation and sitting too long.
On Williams’ ride across the UK, she found out the importance of having a good understanding of bike maintenance. She missed two days when she struggled to fix her handcycle.
A bike mechanic back in New Zealand will be available every morning from 7am who can help Williams’ team over a video call.
A key to her success on that ride, though, was what she wore: “Four layers on the bottom and 12 layers on the top”. Mons Royale will provide her with the appropriate warm clothing for this journey.
Relationships on the road are important, too. “We don’t need any Negative Nancys around us when we’re away for three months,” she says.
She will have a core team of six with her. Four carers will fly in and out of the US to help her get up and going every morning.
A cyclist will ride in front, with a support person driving behind her especially on the open roads. “And I’ll fly a little chopper flag on my bike so I’m seen,” Williams says.
Two Australian beef farmers – and Williams’ best friends – Ginny Warby and Julie McDonald will be her “co-captains” in charge of logistics. “They will find a roof over our head at night, and a chicken sandwich on brown bread to fuel us,” she says. “Then my job is simply to cycle.”
Erin and Tim Carpenter, neuro physios from Palmerston North who’ve worked tirelessly with Williams for two years to get her legs moving, will join her for a week’s cycling.
“They were crawling along the floor at the local furniture shop moving my legs till we got them to move. They know how hard we’ve worked to get this far,” she says.
Williams’ husband, Sam, will be with her for the first week, and the final eight days.
“It’s our busy sales season at home, our fun time of the year, and I’m missing that to do this,” she says. “Making a living is really important, but finding a way that I’m able to walk and go to the bathroom by myself again is more important.”
Sports heavyweights are already getting behind TEAM Connect USA.
Successful horse breeder-owners Ron and Judi Wanless have donated $100,000 to cover the cost of Williams’ trek. “So now any dollars raised will go straight to research,” she says.
The New Zealand Warriors have launched a virtual stadium for their game against the Newcastle Knights on August 30 – where fans buy virtual seats from $10, with the money going directly to CatWalk. Former Knights player Alex McKinnon, injured in a dangerous tackle that left him paralysed in a 2012 NRL game, is onboard with the fundraiser.
Williams gets goosebumps talking about how far CatWalk’s work has come, now funding a multi-disciplinary research team at the University of Auckland working on the Cure Programme tackling spinal cord injury. “They plan to be doing clinical trials in four years,” she says.
“Any gain we make, it’s not only spinal injuries that will benefit. It’s MS, it’s MD, it’s Parkinson’s – anything neurological where we make a breakthrough can help those conditions.”
In the meantime, Williams puts herself through “enormous challenges” every day in her determined bid to walk again.
“Life is less complicated on your feet. Your choices are different,” she says. “I’ve had as good a life as any in my wheelchair, and I’m so proud of our team and everything we’ve done. But I would give anything to be on my feet again.
“I’d even give up my marriage – because I reckon on my feet, my dance moves would woo Sam back.”
