2024 was WAY bigger than planned!
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| 2024 race bibs, challenge over quantity |
Most years, I try to pick one "pinnacle" event per year; "pinnacle" meaning an event that is more than a day-trip and is typically considered an ultra endurance event (ultra meaning a ride that's over 125 miles). I try to stick with this one major event rule for a long list of good reasons, like giving my body time to recover, giving the credit cards time to recover, time to focus on other parts of life, etc.
Near the end of 2023, I had two pinnacle events on the 2024 calendar, but they were 6 months apart, so that seemed doable: The Arrowhead 135 at the end of January and The Wolf at the end of July. But before 2024 even started, it was announced that The DAMn was back ... there was no way I could say "no" to this amazing (& crazy) event. Then, over the Fourth of July weekend, when talking about some travel vouchers we needed to use before September, Lisa suggested going back to Hawai'i in August for my Maunakea revisit. And just like that, I had FOUR pinnacle events in 2024, with three of them in a 6-week period!
Here's all of my 2024's events, small and large:
The Tuscobia Winter Ultra
The Tuscobia Winter Ultra
December 30, 2023
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| Photo Credit: James Swifter |
To start my 2024 review, I have to go back to the last days of 2023 and the Tuscobia Winter Ultra. I rode the 80-mile route in preparation for the Arrowhead 135. This is a qualifying event for the Arrowhead 135, but I was already in for the Arrowhead 135, so this was all about testing my fully-loaded bike over a long course. So, I decided to ride the Tuscobia with all of the gear required for the Arrowhead 135.
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| Photo credit: Jameson Swift |
For the logistics of this event, there is a 160-mile route that's an out and back from Rice Lake; and the 80-mile racers get a bus ride to Park Falls (where the 160-mile racers turns around). The course is fairly simple on a rail-trail, there are some punchy climbs were the train had a bridge over a ravine, but the trail no longer has a bridge. With only 1,200 ft of climbing over 80 miles, it's a flat course. Also, this is a snowmobile trail, however without any snow there was no stress about sharing the trail.
The morning of the race is an early start, racers get to the place where we will be finishing the race in Rice Lake to load gear in a semi trailer, and board a bus to Park Falls. The race normally starts with racers crossing the frozen Butternut Lake, but with the extremely mild winter, the lake ice was not safe for racers.
My biggest mistake for this race was not keeping my CamelBak with me in the room overnight, it was with most of my on-bike bags in my car overnight to streamline my early morning drive to the bus. That was a bad choice with temps around freezing and caused issues with a frozen hose all day, but thankfully was overpacked for hydration.
I kept thinking with the no-snow conditions, I was silly for riding my Dillinger 4 studded tires. Forecasts for race day looked like temps would be just below freezing, overcast, with little-to-no precipitation. I was VERY fortunate I wasn't trying to optimize for going fast, I heard too many stories of riders that decided to ride gravel bikes and/or summer tires. And it honestly seemed like a good idea. But the weather delivered a surprise with a day full of light freezing drizzle that accumulated a glaze of ice on everything. My tires ended up being the best possible overkill choice.
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| Ice crusted fork bags |
This event had me riding many miles solo after the first 15-20 miles. It's a good thing that I'm very comfortable riding with nothing but myself for company.
The long course racers started the morning before the short course racers. The out-and-back course for the 160-mile races offered a fun opportunity to cheer for them as they crossed paths with us on the short course.
There's one checkpoint on the 80-mile course at roughly mile 34, it's a nice trailside shelter to warm up, fill up on water, and grab some food/snacks. I did my best to thaw out my hydration pack and hose, adding some very hot water to the bladders ... in hindsight, I should have dumped the whole thing and started over with hot water.
After many miles alone and in the last of dwindling light of the grey day, I got a little surprise as a large owl flew across the trail at my eye-level right in front of me. I let out a little yelp of surprise as another rider (Andrew) caught up to me ... we shared a laugh about the owl spooking me. Andrew and I rode together most of the rest of the way to the finish line, and shared a lot of miles on the Arrowhead a month later.
I ran out of liquid water on the final miles into the finish, I was counting on my Embark Maple to have enough hydration to carry me to through ... and, happily, I was good.
My official time was 7:20; and I ranked 16th of 68 starters; & 12th of 46 men. I was one of very few riding with a fully-loaded fatbike. In fact, with no snow on course, many racers rode gravel bikes or MTBs, so this result feels feels really good!
Arrowhead 135
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| The finish line! |
Maybe the worst challenge of the 2023 Tuscobia was driving home after finishing, the roads were terrible and the freezing rain converted to heavy snow that really challenged my trip back home (... an extra night in the Rice Lake hotel would've been a good idea!)
Arrowhead 135
January 29-30
The Arrowhead 135 is a winter ultra race that you can run, ski, or bike. The race course is 135 miles along the very remote Arrowhead Trail between International Falls and Tower, MN. The Arrowhead is known for being held at the coldest time of year in the coldest part of Minnesota with race temps as cold as -40°F/C.
Ragnarök 105
April 6
Ragnarök is a classic old skool gravel riding at it's best! It is an early April gravel race to challenge your fitness before you've had any real time to train outdoors. The organizers have kept this event classic with entry via postcard, no GPS route - you'll get cue sheets, and it's very simple event in all the best ways .... classic gravel!
After the Arrowhead, my Pugsley was back to it's Salsa Woodchipper bars with Gevenalle shifters, ready for a summer of gravel grinding!
The race starts just out of Red Wing, MN at 7:30 in the morning. It was chilly at the start line with temps just above freezing, and you needed to be dressed in layers because the temps were forecasted to get up to the mid-60s in the afternoon, quiet warm for early April.
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| The start line |
This is a small event, with roughly 125 riders. This means after the first few miles, there's a good chance you'll be riding by yourself. The race is a fun role out, starting in the parking lot of a golf course and climbing up and out of the river valley right out of the gate. This start really gets the heart pounding and the legs complaining! And the route continues to challenge your legs and heart with a bunch of punchy 200-300 ft climbs. The course gives you 100 ft of climbing per mile over the first 25 miles of the course ... and only slows a little through the rest of the route. This adds up to 8,000 ft over the 107-mile course.
Riders have two checkpoints on course: mile 36 in Zumbro Falls and 81 in Lake City. Both checkpoints are basic, but there are convenience stores nearby to resupply as needed. I had a great day, but there were some crosswinds that really challenged me!
I finished at 3:49 pm (8 hours and 19 minutes), placing 67th place of 118 finishers (plus 6 DNF)
The Wolf
July 20-21
The Wolf is a 3-day, 300+ mile bike packing event, riders must carrier what they will need to camp during the race. The course is in Minnesota's Superior Nation Forrest, riding from Finland to Ely to Grand Marias and back to Finland ... unfortunately, there was major damage to road from unprecedented storms that caused the 2024 race to be shorted to two days, riding between Finland and Grand Marias and back to Finland.
The DAMN
August 9
The DAMn is The Day Across Minnesota, a race that starts at midnight and allows racers 24 hours (one day) to get from Gary, SD to Hager City, WI. It's 242 miles of nearly all gravel roads that challenge a racers endurance and focus. In 2024, I set the record for the fastest fatbike to every ride The DAMn!
Maunakea
August 29
Maunakea is the largest mountain on the Island of Hawai'i and it is the largest climb on Earth a person can do with a bike, riding from the shore of the Pacific Ocean to the summit at 13,800 ft in just 42 miles. This was not an event or race, just my personal solo challenge ... and it was epic!
Following Maunakea, I took the longest break from riding I can remember. Only riding for short errands or very relaxed recreation rides ... no structured training, no group rides, no races. My body and mind both needed to recover after the most intense schedule of events I've ever done.
Twin Cities Bike Tour
September 15
The first annual Twin Cities Bike Tour was great with a fun 40+ mile route, big turnout, lots of wonderful volunteers, and plenty of well stocked rest stops along the route. This is an event for everyone, start at your time and ride at your pace.
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| Enjoying a break and beer at Dual Citizen |
The route took us along some very familiar trails and roads, and introduced us to some new trails and roads too.
Lisa and I rode our Co Motion Java tandem on this ride which was great fun, but there were some challenging spaces to navigate the big bike. I shouldn't complain, we saw a crew riding a four-person tandem!
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| Photo credit: Lisa Nelson |
With Access Hopkins, we are excited to be working with BikeMN on the 2025 route, with which will include a route through Hopkins.
Gravel West
October 20
This is a casual late October event, there's no real timing or ranking, just a lovely route around the far western suburbs of Minneapolis. I've only missed this event once since it started in 2017, it's that much fun to ride. The route starts and ends at Gear West in Long Lake, an easy 10 mile ride from my driveway ... well, those 10 miles don't feel that easy on the way home. This event is mostly gravel roads, starting and ending on the limestone Luce Line trail, and includes a fun and technical CX section on Nordic ski trail on a private property. The course changes a little from year to year, but you can expect some scenic roads and trail out west of Minneapolis.
My longest ride ever: 242 miles (that's likely a GPS/data thing, since this was my fourth DAMn)My biggest climb ever: 13,760 ft (Maunakea is the biggest climb you bike)My longest duration ever: 19 hours and 15 minutes of riding (or walking) on the Arrowhead 135
2024 Distance: 5,056 miles
2024 Hours: 376 hours2024 Number of days riding: 243 days2024 Elevation climbed: 170,222 ftBikes: 10 different bikes including 5 of my bikes & our tandemsStates biked: 6 different states, including TWO Hawaiian islands
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| My Minnesota tracks in orange |
It's 10 years old, a 2014 Christmas gift
I've ridden 12,300 miles on this bike
This bike got the most miles of my bikes in 2024 with 2,335 miles, and most miles I've put on this bike in one year.
It was both on flat bars and drop bars in 2024, thanks to my buddies over at Tonka for the help transforming the Pug from winter ultra beast mode to summer ultra beast mode.
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| The Pugsley in summer ultra beast mode (drop-bar) |
