2021 Archive

All hail the Jellyfish, get ready for Nature's Metropolis, the Dark Chocolate Cow 1000k and the new Menomonie Ho-Chunk 600k - 6/2021

We have had some of our first group rides in the last couple weeks. With all riders vaccinated, it opens up a lot of doors. Restrictions have been lifted in Illinois and in Wisconsin the 7 day rolling average is down to 74! As a result, we have some nice group start pictures.

Chicago Loops 155/250m and the Dancing Jellyfish 125m/200m/375m

Congratulations to Lena Chon on her first 375m/600k completion on a course with 15,000 ft of climbing in under 40 hours! After riding all night with Paul Danhaus and a start on a day with a not-so-nice forecast, she prevailed.

Also a big hand to new member, Scott Kristopeit who finished his first Double Century. We hope to see both him and his wife Diane, who is on her way to super support status, soon.

Up Next!

The Nature's Metropolis 140 will be this weekend. The forecast is iffy but the route is great. This is the brain child of our new route master Jerad and it's an amazing hour of southwestern Chicago starting at Willow Springs, through Naperville and turning around at Seneca. This may very will be next year's 300k brevet, so check it out this year.

Finally, we are coming down to the wire on registration for the Million Meters: Dark Chocolate Cow 1000k and the new Menomonie Ho-Chunk 600k. These are great routes from Green Bay featuring rolling hills, Door County and High Cliff State Park and are RUSA certified (our first of the year since passing several of our pandemic milestones). Register now, the hotel block is expiring shortly!

Chicago Loops and Jerseys! 5/2021

After a great Turtletown Double Century and an epic Chonkey Kong, there is a bit of a pause before June 5th and our return to the Chicago Loops! This is a great route which combines the best of Southern Wisconsin with our Northern Suburban routes. Ride 150 miles, 100 miles or 250 miles - it's up to you. These rides are ultra cycling events so you can take as much time as you are comfortable with and stop as often as you like. Ride Saturday, Sunday or both! It's an open ended format so bring your friends.

Back in March, there was a big call for a jersey/kit with our new name! Discussions back and forth and finally our new design is ready! The store is open - Great Lakes Ultra Cycling Store. These are from Hincapie Sportswear and are some really nice jerseys for a really low price. The shorts are well worth it as well and the knee/arm warmers are nice and visible. The store is open for the next 10 days! Order soon.

Midwest Triple Crown Challenge Starts this weekend!

The Triple Crown Challenge starts May 8th with the Turtletown Double Century. The Double Century is a great distance much underused. Finish 3 of the 5 and you qualify for the much admired inaugural Triple Crown Jersey (design coming). As in California, this will only be available to those that finish 3 doubles. You have as much time as you like to complete a double century.

The route has been extensively reviewed and it's got roads GLU has NEVER ridden before including a really nice rustic road between Brodhead and Albany, WI as well as some really lovely vistas and historical markers (like the Stone Arch Bridge at Tiffany).

The course can easily be ridden as a century only too if you get to 50 miles and want to call it a shorter day. We will be on the course with support and drop sacks, so even though you may need lights and reflective gear, you may not need to carry it all day if you don't have space.

Same club, new name and expanded mission!

Great Lakes Randonneurs has expanded our ride offerings and a new name helps us do that! Starting in 2021, we will be offering the Midwest III Crown - a series of double centuries in conjunction with other clubs in the Midwest. We are also expanding our gravel offerings with new rides in the Oregon, Illinois area. Next year, we will be spearheading the Mishigammi Bike Challenge around Lake Michigan! No worries though, your favorite randonneuring rides will still be around. There are lots of opportunities to ride as far as you like in whichever style you like!

Great Meeting!

I want to thank the members who came to our meeting and though some of you may have missed it, a Zoom link is available to watch. In the meeting, we unveiled our new club mission statement:

To promote non-competitive endurance cycling events in the Upper Midwest including centuries, double centuries, randonneuring, cycle touring and others at and over 60 miles.

To encourage safe cycling, provide a forum for camaraderie and training for endurance cycling events, and to positively impact the communities in which we ride.

In the last year, we have had new types of rides and new interest from riders. It's natural and expected for an organization to change over time. We also had discussions about safety and how we want to handle the pandemic as a club, a club newsletter will be forthcoming with a recap.

The calendar is going up right now. We will shortly finalize all the work for Green Bay over the 4th of July. This will feature the Dark Chocolate Cow 1000k and the Death's Door Double Century.

The opener is posted too. We hope to see all of you soon - in a safe and socially distanced way.