The argument rages on as to what constitutes “Midwest”, but that age old debate is less important than what bike events you will be attending. Here is mine:
Definite:
Barry-Roubaix
Iceman Cometh Challenge
Maybe:
Some fat bike race somewhere, I missed the registration for polar roll
Michigan Coast to Coast
Mohican
What are you guys doing?
You need to be patient … the “thread” arrives on Jan 1st.
Don’t be afraid to have a little fun with our neighbors to the left.
Coming soon ….
California Resident that grew up in Minnesota, so I’ll be coming East for two events…
(Minnesota IS in the Mid-West, isn’t it… 
)
Barry-Roubaix 100
Coast to coast
Marji 50
Not sure what else yet. Those three are probably enough.
So far I’ve got the following “biggies” on my Schedule
3/9 - Fat Bike Birkie - Cable, WI
5/11 - Hungry Bear 100 - Cable, WI
6/29 - Lutsen 99er - Lutsen, MN
8/10 - Ore to Shore - Marquette, MI
9/14 - Cheq 40 - Hayward, WI
10/12 - Red Granite Grinder 135 mile - Wausau, WI
Confirmed for all except maybe Ore to Shore. That’s schedule dependent. Will throw in a few local MTB/Fat Bike Races in there as well.
My “A” race:
SRAM/Birkie Epic Bike Fest - Cable, WI - 6/8.
Other plans include the MN MTB Series (likely Rochester, St. Croix Falls, and one or two others.) I’m also hoping that the Race Across Duluth happens again and has more entries available. Now if I could just kick this bout of bronchitis I could actually start training… yay young-kids-in-school. 
Got some mystery virus back in October. Then my son got COVID. I’m in MN.
I’ve never been to MN, looks beautiful though. It’s on the list
Where is the Rochester race held at ? Looking for course/venue info…
Here is a link to the race, but I don’t think it has been updated for 2024 yet. They tend to release the schedule in early February.
These are the 2024 MTB/gravel events I’m looking at right now:
3/9 - Fat Bike Birkie - Cable, WI (weather-dependent - no snow currently and a winter of warmer than average temps could affect this)
5/11 - Hungry Bear - Cable, WI - I’ve done the 60 the last two years (and am currently signed up for it) but I’m tempted by the 100 this year… I’m also looking forward to the new owners implementing some race infrastructure this year. This will be my “A” race for the first half of the year.
6/8-9 - Epic Bike Fest - Cable, WI - I’ll be doing the full ~38 mile singletrack on Day 1 for the first time this year and I’m looking forward to it, having only ever done the half singletrack. I’m also planning on the full gravel race on Day 2 because there is a new ~50 mile course for the full gravel for 2024 and it’s significant shorter and easier than the previous ~70 mile course. It also doubles up quite a bit with the Hungry Bear course.
8/17? - Seeley Pre-Fat - Seeley, WI - ~25 mile expert. Dates haven’t been announced yet, but usually mid-August.
9/1 - Gray Duck Grit - I did the 69 miler last year and probably will again this year. I’d consider the 111 miler, but this race is 1 month earlier than 2023 was, which puts it 2 weeks in front of my “A” race, which is…
9/14 - Cheq 40 - Hayward, WI - my usual “A” race for the summer training season
One historical gap in my typical training seems to be not getting any bigger 2-4 hours rides a month or so prior to “A” races, so I’ll probably be looking to find some Midwest events in April and July. Depending on how the MN CX season looks for 2024, I might look to extend the MTB/gravel season in October, too.
The DAMN is making a return in 2024! I won’t be riding it, I’ll likely be in St. George 
C2C is sandy
Yeah, I’ve ridden much of the second half. I have a cabin near Baldwin and explore around there a lot.
Registration complete for Dustbowl 100!!
ETA - also added Driftless 100 in IA to the schedule.
Great Lakes Randonneuring schedule is up for 2024.
Your chance to ride a 200K (or longer) every weekend from early April thru October
They are also organizing a Fleche on the first weekend in May. It’s the first time in a decade they’ve organized one in over a decade.
Starting locations vary from downtown Chicago to central Wisconsin and in between.
Trying to cobble together a 200-300-400-600-1000K series in preparation for LEL 2025.
So what are your top three “must do” gravel events in WI and IA?
I’m planning on being at the Driftless 100 as well
My goal is to get up to Chicago and do at least 5 races of Intelligentsia. I’ve been eyeing that series for a while now. Looks like really good competition. I’ll have the entire month of July off from work but will be moving states at the beginning of the month. So it depends on whether we can get unpacked enough for my wife to give me the ok to leave her alone in the new place right after moving in. She said if we can get settled in the first week, we could make a vacation out of it so I’m looking at 5 or 6 races ideally.
I’d love to do ToAD and Gateway Cup as well. ToAD is very unlikely. Gateway is a possibility.
Signed up for dust bowl