Minneapolis to Chicago bike race, who's game?

Last year I rode an unsupported 400 mile bicycle race from Pittsburgh, PA to Philadelphia, PA called Crush the Commonwealth. http://ctcpa.blogspot.com/  No prizes, no support, no sag wagon, no registration.  Just a diverse group of laid back people wanting to ride as fast as they can.  While
I expected the race to be rewarding and challenging I was not expecting it to
be so much.  People helped each other out
with repairs, stopped for lunch and were just generally cool.


All this got me thinking that we should have something like this here.  An unsupported race linking the four great cycling cities of the Midwest, Minneapolis, Madison, Milwaukee and
Chicago.  The bonus is it’s easy and
fairly cheap to take your bike using Amtrak between these cities.  The route would roughly be the Adventure
Cycling route along the Mississippi to Winona, MN  and than follow the Wisconsin bike route, http://www.wibikeroutes.net/Winona-Milwaukee_files/Winona-Milwaukee... , all the way to Milwaukee.  I’ve done
Milwaukee to Chicago a bunch of times and I think I’ve found a great route for
the last leg.  Total is about 480 miles.


My idea is to run the race over  three or four days.  Group camp sites are booked a head of time and everyone meets up at the campsite.  When you arrive you call in from a public phone with your time.  The next morning everyone who wants lines up
for a start.  Person with the best time
in Chicago wins.  By doing a stage race
it makes it more social, more fun and I think it increases the safety factor
quite a bit.  If you’re a bit pokey it increases
the amount of time you have riding partners and if you’re fast you have a
chance to win a stage if not the race.


I moved to Chicago from Minneapolis four years ago so I have a lot of connections and riding experience in both cities.  I am also posting this on the Minneapolis bike forum.  I could arrange places to
crash in Minneapolis for race participants and maybe us Chicagoans could extend
the favor if you have the space.  Let me
know if this sounds like something you’d be interested in.  I have no trouble spending time and money on this
if people want to take part.  I’m open to
suggestions, in particular what time of year. 
 I just think it would be a hell of a lot of fun.

Views: 164

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by igz on February 23, 2010 at 5:51am
who's
Permalink Reply by Lisa yeah on February 23, 2010 at 6:24am
Sounds like a blast. I'm trying to think of what time of year might be best. hmmmm.
Permalink Reply by dan brown on February 23, 2010 at 7:42am
depending on the date (doing RAGBRAI also) I could possibly be interested. What about mid to late June ?
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on February 23, 2010 at 8:19am
I see camping mentioned. Are you talking about racing fully loaded touring bikes? That could be very interesting (and painful in western Wisconsin.) I like the idea.
Permalink Reply by Glenn on February 23, 2010 at 10:17am
I'M IN! Tell me when and where to start and Ill be there :-D

If I would have an ideal time of the year I'd go with August or September but that's only because I can't stand the heat. If you need help getting this started I would love to help plan a route or camping or what have you. Now I'm pumped!
Permalink Reply by john johnson on February 23, 2010 at 10:47am
I'm game
Permalink Reply by JKH on February 23, 2010 at 12:42pm
I'm glad to see people are interested. I was thinking about August 26-29. It's before Labor day but late enough that people will be in good shape. The average temp and rainfall amount is lower than in June.
Permalink Reply by JKH on February 23, 2010 at 12:53pm
Personally I love the idea of racing fully loaded touring bikes but earlier today a friend pointed out that this would perhaps limit the amount of people who could participate. So what I'm proposing is a neutral support vehicle. Everyone gets to check one bag which will be with the car at the campsite. I have a Subaru wagon I'm pretty sure I could rope a friend into driving. Not everyone has a touring bike and camping gear that fits in panniers. This way people could use whatever bike they have and borrow, rent or buy a cheap tent and bag.

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
I see camping mentioned. Are you talking about racing fully loaded touring bikes? That could be very interesting (and painful in western Wisconsin.) I like the idea.
Permalink Reply by JKH on February 23, 2010 at 1:01pm
I'd love some help. I have some friends in Milwaukee and Minneapolis who are looking into things also.

FatTireFool said:
I'M IN! Tell me when and where to start and Ill be there :-D

If I would have an ideal time of the year I'd go with August or September but that's only because I can't stand the heat. If you need help getting this started I would love to help plan a route or camping or what have you. Now I'm pumped!
Permalink Reply by Lucas Seibel on February 23, 2010 at 3:49pm
I've got a team of 4 ready, can we do it RAAM style?
We are doing a two week 1200 mile ride mid august around Michigan.
So we'd be ready.
Permalink Reply by Matt Kwain on February 23, 2010 at 3:56pm
Ill be there.
Permalink Reply by JKH on February 23, 2010 at 4:53pm
I think we should have one neutral vehicle to carry everyone's camp gear from one campsite to the next. Everything else participants should carry with them or buy along the way. This helps keep it on equal footing for all participants. If enough people want to race I'll rent a cargo van. I'm picturing alleycat meets Tour de France meets camp touring. If

Lucas Seibel said:
I've got a team of 4 ready, can we do it RAAM style?
We are doing a two week 1200 mile ride mid august around Michigan.
So we'd be ready.

RSS

Groups

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service