Gravel at barry is pretty mellow, just sager sucks. I ran pathfinders
Also should say City and State of where the race is held - the Midwest is huge.
As someone from the middle of Illinoisā¦thereās not much. No epic races or anything like that, but the west-central and southern half of the state has some amazing gravel. Central IL. (Peoria) has nearly 100 miles of mtb trails too.
If anyone is passing through and needs a route or wants to join a ride just DM me.
this is very, very close to bang-on correct. Kudos.
You should seriously consider some of the gravel races in Iowa, they are more of a grassroots vibe but have some serious challenging races (Wind and Rock, Spotted Horse, etcā¦) Also, Iowa has one of the largest rides in the world with RAGBRAI. Who doesnāt want to drink their way across cornfields and soybeans fields of Iowa with your closet 10K to 15K friends? Honestly, RAGBRAI is a blast in my opinion if you have a good team to ride with.
Nice! Iāll be doing some of the the XCO CPS along with Lumberjack, Cohutta 100, Mohican 100, Wilderness 101 and Shenandoah 100 (NUE Series).
Anyone have any insights into what road races and crits might be going on in Michigan this year? Itās been kinda hard to get a good picture of what this season might look like when the only thing listed on michigan-cycling.org is our clubs local spring crit training series.
The best road race in Michigan is the Cherry Roubaix up in Leelanau county ā¦ it also served as the state championship road race the last year it was held in 2019. Itās been canceled for the last two years due to COVID, but I have my fingers crossed that it will be back on this year.
It is generally scheduled for the first Saturday in August. You can keep track of updates here: http://www.cherry-roubaix.com/
They have a 40, 60 and 90 mile routes. And if you do it you better like 2-5 minute climbs that come at you in waves with grades in the 12%-18% rangeš¤
Itās my āAā race if itās held, and my whole plan is focused on that weekend for now, soš¤
Yeah Iāve seen that on the calendar in the past but wasnāt sure what was going on with it. I moved to the state in Aug 2019 so I really havenāt had a āregularā year of racing so I really have no idea what to expect. Going into 2020 I was looking to do the White Lake Stage Race around Memorial Day but then obviously that didnāt happen
Also ā¦ there is a summer crit called the Grattan Race Series that happens in Belding, MI all summer long. Itās on a race track, I think. Iāve never done it and donāt know much about it, but I know about it from some folks I follow on Strava. I think they have a FB page.
As a SoDak to add to the debate are we Midwest. South Dakota is divided by the Missouri River. East is more Midwest prairie. West is grasslands, bad lands, and the Black Hills. Iām in the Black Hills and connect more to the mountain west vs Midwest.
As for races Pine Island Gravel and Dakota 5-0 are my focus this summer.
Yeah, Iāve seen that but I think itās run during the week and itās 2+hours from me (Ann Arbor). So I usually drive up to Waterford for their Weeknight Series when I can.
SD is absolutely NOT in the Midwest and I will hear no further arguments on this.
i didnāt realize peoria had so many mtb trails, thatās awesome! iāve got some friends who live in western IL and weāre terrible about hanging out, so any excuse to head out there is welcome, especially if i get to try out mtb-ing! thanks for the heads up
Dwr 500 was great last year. Itās a 315 miles self support race from the Southern tip of ohio to Lake Erie
I ran the Maxxis Rekon in 2.4ā and feel like it is the ideal tire for that terrain. The Minion is overkill, IMO.
Anyone know what the closest road races (non crits) to Chicago are? Iāve seen cherry roubaix mentioned but not much else
Yes, Grattan is a hilly amateur car racing circuit outside of Rockford MI. They also do/did lot of race magazine sports car tests and development there.
Itās hillier than it looks here. The hills are the kind where you either canāt see the road in front of you or itās all that you see.
Fun fact: lift off speed on the back straight is about 80mph. Itās one of those weird times you get air and itās not even scary.
(Someone elseās pic)
I cannot disagree enough. 
I raced road motorcycles here for many years in the early 2000s and that damn rise on the back never stops being scary. On anything bigger than the 750s you carry enough speed that you struggle to be upright at that point. Usually its just a bit of floating wheelie you have to neutral throttle through but on a properly hot lap its a full on jump and mentally it was just never okay. Did you ever get to run it CCW? It may as well be a motocross jump going the wrong way.
That track is the thing I miss most about racing motorcycles. You can carry SOO much speed through turn 1 and then the uphill left to right (I think its turn 4 but i am struggling to remember exactly) you have to be knee down before you can see the apex forces you to focus so hard, mostly to yell at yourself that the track will really still be there when you crest the hill and dont wuss out. On a bicycle the back sweeper is probably a straight line and the climb back up to the start finish straight will feel like a mountain.