Bikes, Beers, and Stuff I like: August 2025

The DAMn

The DAMn is The Day Across Minnesota, a 240-mile bike race from the South Dakota border with Minnesota to the Wisconsin border, with the course on nearly all rural gravel roads. The race starts at midnight Saturday morning and you have until midnight to get to Wisconsin, that's 24 hours ... just one day! You're allowed a support crew meeting you at three checkpoints of your choosing, but they are not allowed to follow you on the course, and you're allowed to stop at any stores/businesses along the course, but you only go through three towns, including Red Wing, and Red Wing is just a mile from the finish. This race will challenge your endurance and ability to function while sleep deprived. It's a DAMn good time!

Hatching a Plan
In the weeks following the 2024 DAMn, I told Lisa (my best friend, support driver, and loving wife) that I had only two reasons I'd ride the DAMn again: ride the Double DAMn (if it was offered again); or support my friend, John Ingham, in finally finishing the DAMn (if he was up to trying it again).

For John's back story, he is an 84 year young adventurer that has started the DAMn every year I have: 2018, 2019, 2021 & 2024. The first two year, John was all in to finish, but had issues many rider suffer with fueling the body or staying on course or bike fit/comfort issues. I need to add that staying on the course was more challenging in the early years of the DAMn (including 2018 & 2019), riders did not get a GPS route to load on a Garmin or Wahoo, we got printed cue sheets to get us from one checkpoint to the next, reading a cue sheet in the dark while riding gravel roads is challenging. In 2018, John finished his DAMn at the checkpoint 2 at mile 120; in 2019 he just barely missed the time cut for checkpoint 3 at mile 186, also notable that 2019 has been rated the toughest year for the DAMn. In 2021 and 2024, John did not feel his health was good enough to try to finish the whole ride, he started in Gary, SD at midnight with all of us, but with the plan of riding to Morton, MN (mile 85) as his finish.

Flash forward to December 2024; John invited me to meet to talk over coffee. As we sipped coffee, he shared about a book he'd worked on and published about his experience riding gravel: Riding Gravel in God's Country: The Experience and Science of Well-Being. But he said he had something else on his mind ... I might have been impatient and said it before him .... John wanted to test himself against the full DAMn in 2025!!

As we talked, John expressed his concern about even making it to the start line and worried about letting folks down. I was very clear, I knew the challenge we were pursuing, and even for a young fit athlete, there are no guarantees. We would take on this challenge one step at a time, and never assume the result, because this would be a massive effort.

In January, we started planning for a crew to support this wild adventure. John and I meet with good friends Trenton Raygor (The DAMn's creator) and Nick Kapanke (documentary film producer). We brainstormed on the riders and support crew for this effort. We came up with a list of riders to reach out to and see who was up to this DAMn challenge. At the end of the day, we gathered a crew of 4 domestiques (riders), 3 soigneur (support drivers), and a documentary film crew.

Planning meeting at Utepils [photo credit Chris Nelson]

Over the late winter and early spring, John did his training on an indoor bike trainer, weight training, outdoor rides as the weather allowed, and we gathered to do some rides as a whole crew, smaller groups, as well as John and I riding together to talk training and plans. That said, the year didn't offer the best training opportunities, we had a wet spring that quickly turn to hot summer with Canadian wild fire smoke becoming a serious and repeated issue. It was hard to find days that were great for long training rides that wouldn't over stress or cause damage to the riders.

The Crew

We gathered an amazing crew around to support John's goal, including domestiques (riders): John Jarvis (to keep it simple, I'll refer to John Jarvis as "Jarvis" and John Ingham as "John"), Anthony Robinson, Paulie Glatt, and myself; soigneurs (support): Mary Grove (John's wife), Jacqueline Hansen (Anthony's wife); and Lisa Nelson organizing the support efforts; mechanical support: Kyle Davis, Farmstead Bike Shop, and Tonka Cycle & Ski; and documenting this journey: Nick Kapanke (Checkpoint Zero) with director of photography and producer Jon Bothun and producer Josh Ruegg.

Gathering at the Start | Gary, SD

We all arrived in Gary throughout the afternoon and evening before the DAMn start at midnight August 2. Nick did pre-ride interviews with the riders around the check-in area.

My brand new Cutthroat at the Buffalo Ridge check in [photo credit Chris Nelson]

After getting checked in, getting my bike set up, and catching up with friends, I laid down on a camping pad next to our car for some rest, no real sleep, but resting. As night started to set in, it was time to change into the cycling kit. Lisa bought a collapsible changing booth that became VERY popular with other riders getting ready to start.

A little rest before the DAMn big ride [photo credit Lisa Nelson]

Our crew agreed to meet in front of The Alabi at 11:15 pm, The Alabi is a bar on 1st Ave in Gary, a couple blocks from the start line and a place where many DAMn riders get a drink before the start (but no drinks for me, I know I can't handle even a lite beer before this major effort).

We were a little surprised to see the reduced number of riders starting this year, Minnesota was experiencing some of the worst recorded air quality from Canadian wild fires. The race director allowed deferrals to 2026 for riders concerned with the air quality, I don't know the actual numbers that deferred, but we all thought that 1st Ave in Gary was much thinner than in years past. Happily the air quality was not as bad as it had been the day before, but there were still air quality issues on race day.

Our crew, with green lights, ready to start this DAMn ride [photo credit Mary Grove]

Early on in the planning process, John had an outstanding idea, that each rider should buy some green lights so we could find each other in the night. We each had a front and rear green light to help use get together on the dark night roads.

The Start

The DAMn starts with a bang! [photo credit Mary Grove]

After a few nervous minutes waiting for the start, the fireworks went off and we rolled out together. I was next to Anthony as we made the right turn onto the first gravel road just a half mile out of Gary, and we thought we had John, Jarvis, and Paulie right behind us. But Anthony and I kept looking back through the very small field of riders behind us, and not seeing any green lights. Anthony and I stopped looking back to see them roll up after a minute or two. John's electronic shifters weren't working, John and I are using the same SRAM system, so I gave him my derailleur battery, and I had a spare battery with me for my bike, so I sent the rest of the crew down the road while I got my bike sorted out. But that wasn't the right fix, we only got a little way up the road before John couldn't shift again, and we figured out that it was the battery in the shifter. I was a proud domestique because I had a CR2032 battery in my pocket toolbag. We made a quick swap of the shifter battery and John was riding into the dark night.

A secondary story, as we worked on John's shifter, Jarvis' helmet light wasn't working so I waited with him, using my helmet light to help him see as he tried new batteries. There was a lot of corrosion in the battery compartment of his helmet light and it looked like that light was not going to work any more ... even with new batteries. Jarvis has a hub dynamo powered light on his bike, so he was good, but he would've liked the extra help of a helmet light. We just put everything away and rode hard to catch back up with John and crew.

Adding to the tech challenges, the first 6-8 miles out of Gary were extremely soft gravel roads, I call it beach sand with some gravel mixed in. We normally roll fast on these early miles out of Gary with the roads sloping gently down out of South Dakota, but we were moving slowly as we were fighting to control our bikes on the soft gravel.

Things were going well, but too slow to make our goals. We had many stops and each stop was taking time and were slowed by dealing with extra clothes in the cool of the night. John's gloves were great for keeping his hands warm while riding, but were very tight and took too long to get back on after removing them to get food or a nature break.

We all knew that the overnight hours can be cold as we drop into the Minnesota River valley, which is colder than the surrounding towns. My Garmin reported temps as low as 52°F (2021 saw temps as low as 41°F!!). John had me carrying some extra layers and we stopped to add his down vest and an O2 rain shell. This helped, but more stops to add layers took more time away from us.

There's a section of the river valley that I've always found challenging, mile 60 to 80. It is surprisingly punchy with rollers for miles and miles. John commented many times that it didn't make sense that we were riding up climbs when were riding next to a river that's flowing downhill. Along here, John had a calf cramp on one of these rolling climbs. I had some SaltStick electrolyte chews in my frame bag and that worked a great, he was back riding in a moment and didn't have an issue the rest of the day.

Minnesota River Valley [photo credit Chris Nelson]

As we rolled through the last miles to Morton, Jarvis and I talked about seeing the section of road for the first time, it's always been dark every other year we'd bike this sections, and it is a stunningly beautiful road.

Morton | Mile 85

We got to our first checkpoint with our support crews in Morton at 8:30 ... we just completed what should be the fastest section of the route and we barely made it at a pace we needed to hold all day.

Mary & Jacqueline at our Morton checkpoint [photo credit Lisa Nelson]

Lisa and Mary got rooms at the motel in Morton to allow riders access to a bathroom without a line (the gas station can be a nightmare of riders waiting for the single-stall bathrooms). We agreed on the way into Gary that John and Jarvis would be our first priority to get back on the road ASAP. Jarvis is an experienced self-supported rider and would not need much help from the support team. While John went up to use the plumbing, I checked his tire pressure, they were way low... comically, that may have helped him with control on those soft roads overnight. After 15-20 minutes, John and Jarvis rolled out. I took care of myself quickly, inhaling a couple sliders, dropping off electronics that needed charging, empty trash, and grabbing fresh food & drinks to carry with me on the bike.

I rolled out quickly while Anthony was getting himself ready to go. Just as I caught up with Paulie in Morton, a few blocks from the checkpoint, Lisa called me to say John left his hydration pack, he only had two bottles on his bike, and that's not enough for 65 miles to Henderson. I let Paulie know as I made a quick U-turn in Morton and sprinted past an understandably confused Anthony working his way to catch up with us. I rode straight up to Mary at the checkpoint, put John's hydration pack on my chest (since I was wearing my hydration pack on my back). I sprinted back through Morton, passing Anthony to let him know what was happening. I caught up with John and Paulie along a lovely section of the route in the Minnesota River Valley.

As we rolled the last miles of course in the Minnesota River Valley, I let John know that this domestique had one personal goal on this ride, to crush it up the MMR (Minimal Maintenance Road) climb at mile 94, John said that he expected that ... HA! And for being less than young or fast, I'm very happy with what I did on my new Cutthroat - I took 42 seconds off my personal best back in 2018! I moved up to 17th of 909 athletes on the Strava leaderboard, I'm still 25 seconds slower than the KOM, Chase Wark, but I knew I'd never compete with the young beast.

Our crew, plus Kristine Benjamin at mile 120 [photo credit Lisa Nelson]

I hoped that we could get up on the flat roads after mile 95 on our way to Henderson and get into a strong pace line and hold a good average speed to gain some time. But the roads continued to be very soft and we had cross headwinds out of the southeast adding to the challenges. It was becoming clear that we couldn't hold a pace to get to Hager City by midnight. We talked about finishing the ride even if we couldn't make the time cutoff. But it wasn't too much further up the road that John decided to call it a day when we got to Henderson. We saw Nick and his film crew at mile 128, we all stopped so John could share his decision.

The rest of us, the four domestique, talked about riding through to Hager City after getting John to Henderson. But over the miles to Henderson, each of us started making the decision to finish our ride in Henderson too. Only one rider continued, John Jarvis ... he's ridden every single DAMn, getting from Gary to Hager City every time, and wanted to keep his record alive. He rode away from us around mile 140 and finished in Hager City with only seconds before the midnight time cut!! (see details below)

John sharing with Nick that he would finish in Henderson [photo credit Chris Nelson]

Our last miles into Henderson were slow, when we stopped at a wonderful farmer's aid station around mile 138. Rich posted on a Facebook group that he'd be there with all kinds of drinks, snacks, supplies ... and a port-a-pot! We pulled in and enjoyed his treats, hospitality, and company. It was a lovely day-brightener to our crew at this late stage in our ride to enjoy this welcoming stop.

Rich Hahn's neutral aid station [photo credit Rich Hahn]

I was joyfully honored to have our crew of four remaining riders greeted at our Henderson checkpoint/finish by a crowd of support crews, friends, and our film crew ... they were cheering and had the cowbells ringing and blowhorn sirens going off, it honestly felt like the finish line greeting!

I could not be more proud of John Ingham for dreaming of finishing the DAMn at 84 and I am honored beyond words that he came to me back in December to share his goal. We both knew from that very first conversation that there were no guarantees, even getting to the start line was going to be a challenge. It is no small feat for anyone to ride 150 miles ... on gravel roads, including rough MMR ... through the dark of night ... in the middle of nowhere. The folks we ride with can skew our view of how impressive that ride is to the vast majority of people. I know we had loftier goals, but we need to keep in mind how challenging that goal really was.

I hope John enjoys more adventure rides and challenge himself with efforts that most folks half his age would shy away from. He is a passionate and motivated adventurer ... an inspiration to all!

Thank you!
Lisa did SO MUCH for the entire team before, during, and after this effort. Here is just a partial list, 'cause her loving work deserves an entire blog by itself:

Food & hydration prep for the riders
Tracking our progress
Communications with me the entire ride
Directing the support crew
Planning, planning, more planning, and did I mention planning!
Driving long miles on dark rural highways
Resting in a nasty motel to help our team have priority access to toilets ... and nursing bedbug bites from that nasty motel
Bright and supportive, even as things are clearly not going to plan

Lisa's hug after a DAMn long day [photo credit: Natalie Aldrich]

Mary Thank you so much for being John Ingham’s great life partner, cheerleader, soigneur, and the person that is the keeper of secrets to his day-to-day habits, wellbeing, and general life. No one could ever fill those shoes beside you Mary. You are his number one life advocate on the trail. Much love and thanks to you for being tireless on this journey called The Day Across Minnesota. Cheers! [writing credit to Lisa]
Jaqueline Thank you for your support and care for Anthony, it was critical to have an additional support driver; your experience and expertise was greatly appreciated by everyone!
Kyle Thank you for offering to be our mechanical support at Henderson that turned into greeting us for our finish. Thanks for taking the time to drive down and waiting for us to arrive.
Tonka Cycle & Ski Thank you for supporting many of our crew, including getting my Cutthroat built up in time for me to have some training miles before the DAMn; getting John's bike ready, and setting Nick up an e-bike to get some film clips with us on bike.
Farmsted Bike Shop Thank you for offering to supporting us in Northfield, despite our crew not making it to Northfield.

The Domestiques
Each rider contribution to our effort in unique and important ways!

Paulie Glatt brought the ability to pace John. I struggled to find the right pace when I got to the front, but Paulie was steady and an outstandingly great domestique leading John. Also, I want to recognize Paulie for digging in the spurs when the crew got too comfortable chatting and not focused on turning the pedals.
Anthony Robinson brings a straight up good vibes. His LFG no-matter-what attitude is a treat. He make it easy to keep pedaling with entertaining stories and positive attitude.
John Jarvis is a joy to ride with. He is a talented self-supported rider with an eye on the pace and great conversations that made the miles fly by.
Chris Nelson [thanks to John Jarvis for sharing this with me after the ride] Leadership is tough and exhausting. You did a great job keeping everyone motivated and moving forward with a positive attitude. That is a tough job.

We worked together in ALL THE BEST WAYS! I could not be more proud to have been a part of this team!

Left to right: Anthony, Paulie, John, and Chris (not included, Jarvis on his way to Hager City) [photo credit Nick Kapanke]

John Jarvis' Legendary DAMn Finish!

I have to copy and paste the Facebook post from John Jarvis' DAMn finish:

At 3:30 p.m., at mile-140, the reality of the mathematical impossibility of finishing was impossible to ignore. The project fell apart and the team released me from my commitment.

With 100 miles to go and 8.5 hours to ride it, I wasn’t sure that I could make it before the time cutoff, but I figured that there was some valor in trying. At least I could ride the distance even if not in the required time. I have completed the previous six DAMns and I didn’t want this one to ruin my perfect record.

I dropped onto the aerobars, gritted my teeth, and steeled myself for the next hours of pain as I rode off.

Along the way, The Bone Saw Cycling Collective filled my water bottles somewhere along the course, and the Farmstead Bike Shop tent gave me some Oreos for fuel and Gatorade and pickle juice to stave off the leg cramps.

The beer party crowd on Whiterock Trail gave me a big mental boost as I came charging past wild-eyed, like I was being chased by Bigfoot. As the last rider on the course, they had been following along on TrackLeaders and shouted my name with encouragement. A few (solber?) folks hopped in a pickup truck and escorted me up the big climb and shouted encouragement as I struggled up on dead legs.

My mind played tricks on me as the deep fatigue set in. My tired mind somehow remembered the course distance was 247 miles (instead of the actual 242.7). My quick mental math had me arriving 3, or so, minutes after midnight. …but my bike computer told me that I was at 10.1 avg mph, which was just at the required speed. I was still sharp enough to know that something was not matching.

It was just as I started over the Mississippi bridge at 11:57 that I realized that I had a shot at a legal finish. I started shouting to myself “Come on legs” to urge myself onward. I must have sounded like a crazy person to anyone listening.

My computer was reading 11:59 for the longest time as I raced toward the left-hand turn into the finish chute. I glanced down just as I crossed the line and it was still 11:59, and by the time that I pushed the stop button, it had clicked over to 12:00. Whew! That might be the closest “Lantern Rouge” finish in history

John Jarvis at the finish line [photo credit John Jarvis' Facebook]

Documentary in the works

I know Nick will share the best film telling the story of this epic effort, I'm so excited to see what he does with our ride and conversations. It was unique to be the focus of his filming attention, I'm not used to being in front of a camera. I'll post a link additional information here as the film information comes available, and you can watch Checkpoint Zero Film too.

Results

I tried to get into the numbers, but as big of a bike-stats-nerd as I am ... chapeau to Chris Matthews for doing it much better than I could ever do it! 2025 was middle of the pack for difficulty based on the number of riders finishing, and sadly, for our goal we needed one of the "easier" years, like 2024 or 2020. John and I both said early on that we might have missed our perfect year with mild temps and strong westerly winds in 2024.

Chris Matthews graph of median finish times over the years, with attrition listed below the year

My Bike - The Cutthroat

This was the first true gravel test for my new Cutthroat, and it was a rockstar! As the miles rolled past, I gained more confidence, finding that the Berd wheels on 29x2.1 GravelKing SK tires are as confident on the loose stuff as the 4" tires on my Pugsley! Link to Cutthroat build

My Tech:

Garmin 1040 Solar: I set it to battery-save mode at before driving out to Gary, and it had battery life for all day and them some. But I was fighting with my Garmin all ride, I'm a big fan of turn-by-turn directions when riding a route, and this year I had something completely unique happen, instead of hearing "turn right on 260th Ave", I was hearing periodic and random "DOT!" After dawn, tried to figure it out only to see there was a note about not having a map for this region ... WTAF?!? The next day, as I cleaned and charged my devices, I looked to find that a Garmin update in the days before the race had removed my US maps ... another WTAF?!? It was annoying hearing "DOT!" randomly over 16+ hours, but I could see the route on my Garmin and never missed a turn. Note to self (I know this but somehow forget it too): do not accept any Garmin updates in the days before a race!

NiteRider Headlights (x2): my new Lumina Micro 900 didn't last as along as I'd hoped, it died around 4:00AM, and I switched to the older 750 that held up through the rest of the ride on low setting.
Varia Radar (x2): I have a first generation RTL500 and I got a newer RTL515. I started with the new RTL515 without the light on, using the green light to be see and save the Varia battery to keep an eye out for vehicles coming up behind me. At Morton, I swapped out the RTL515 for the old RTL500.
GoPro: I used my Hero 11 with one-minute time limit to record clips for Nick's film and maybe a YouTube edit
Shokz: These are a great headset for hearing music and/or turn-by-turn directions without covering your ears, plus I used them a ton to communicate with Lisa throughout our ride. They are bone conductive, meaning you can hear things around you while still hearing your route information.
knog Binder: this was my helmet light, I didn't use it a ton, but it was good to have one more
headlight option with me.