Based on the Blackhawk Double Century. This is a spectacular route from Oregon to Galena, IL which has more french bakeries than France! This is the second of our brevet series in 2022. Though brevets are not strictly required in 2022 to ride in Paris Brest Paris, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the rules, conventions and climbing required for Paris Brest Paris. This route has about 10,000 ft of climbing and limited services so get ready for a challenge.
Great Lakes Ultra Cycling will do traditional brevets this year with Brevet Cards and all the traditional paperwork in keeping with the traditions of a sport that goes back to the 1800s. You must stop at prescribed controls/stops to have your card signed, follow all RUSA rules, and finish by the official ride end to receive credit. You must also be a member of RUSA to ride a brevet. If this isn't for you, GLU will have other ultra cycling challenges available.
Our official Paris Brest Paris preparation 400k. This is a beautiful and challenging hilly 400k in the heart of the driftless area. You will do every classic climb of the Horribly Hilly Hundreds and then some including the Blue Mound at the 200k mark. This is the third of our brevet series in 2022. We are close to the longest day of the year but you will still need all the lights and reflective gear - this is a long ride!
If you are considering doing Paris Brest Paris, it's a good idea to do a 200/300/400/600k series this year to fine tune your time management and other skills. Great Lakes Ultra Cycling will do traditional brevets this year with Brevet Cards and all the traditional paperwork in keeping with the traditions of a sport that goes back to the 1800s. You must stop at prescribed controls/stops to have your card signed, follow all RUSA rules, and finish by the official ride end to receive credit. You must also be a member of RUSA to ride a brevet. If this isn't for you, GLU will have other ultra cycling challenges available.
Beautiful 600k route through Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin featuring the "driftless" area. Many of these classic climbs are featured in the Horribly Hilly Hundreds. There are a few short gravel sections.
This is the first GLU 600k that does not do a return to the start to allow riders to stock their own overnight. Overnight lodging will not be provided due to the difficulty of this ride - though there are options available at Mt Horeb and we encourage you to make your own. The most obvious place for lodging is Mt Horeb, these are tiny hotels so making plans far in advance is highly recommended.
The start/finish is at the Paddlewheel Inn. Parking is available there but we STRONGLY advise that you stay at the Paddlewheel the night before and make a reservation for Sunday night as well. It's no joke how much climbing there is on this ride. The 3 strongest riders in the club in 2019 took 36+ hours to complete it - but every finisher of this ride also finished Paris-Brest-Paris and thought it was some of the best preparation they did. PBP had nearly 40,000 ft of climbing in 2019 so get your game started early.
This is a great route from the Willow Springs Brewery featuring some of the nicest trails in South Chicagoland. Some are crushed limestone and some are paved but all are beautiful. A creation of our route master, Jerad Tintera, this is open to all. Ride as our guest or join the club, no other reuquirements needed. A couple of short cuts are also available if you'd like a slightly shorter route, but in the past the group has largely stayed together.
Those in the club for a long time will recognize some, but not all of the classic Circusworld route to Baraboo. Starting in Edgerton, we will wind west to Oregon, My Horeb and finally up to Sauk City. From there, we change it up taking the August Derleth and Great Sauk Trails to Merrimac before winding our way through Devils Lake State Park to Baraboo. From Baraboo, we continue west into a bit of the Driftless descending the Baraboo Bluff on Orchard Road. Then it's back to Sauk City and east to Madison itself. We'll cut right through the isthmus mainly on trails before leaving the city to return to Edgerton.
This route requires a Wisconsin State Trail Pass. When you register, let us know if you already have one otherwise we are researching options to provide one or you may need to buy one in Sauk City.
This route is preliminary and will be finalized this summer
Challenging new 600k route out of the St Charles/Batavia area for 2022! We start out on the Fox River Trail and head west early in the morning to Rochelle and stop briefly in Oregon before heading south to Dixon. Then the hills begin! From Dixon, we wind north all the way to Galena, IL. Tank up in Galena! There are two possible overnights at Polo and Oregon, IL, but you will likely have 60-100 miles in the dark without services. We finally head up a large bike lane along the Rock River to Byron before heading west to Woodstock, rejoining the Fox River Trail back ot the start.
This is Labor Day weekend so make your overnight reservations very early. This is a great goal ride for those interested in Paris Brest Paris. Take on Nature's Metropolis 140 in mid-July, the Madtown Express Double Century in August and cap it off with this ride. Lights and reflective gear mandatory. We will follow classic randonneuring rules with brevet cards and controls.
Paddlewheel Inn - Oregon - On Route at mile 284
New Village Inn Motel - Polo 245 miles (1 mile off route - no website) phone is (815) 946-4066
The attached route is preliminary - it will be finalized during the summer and this page will be updated!
The third in our Midwest III Crown Double Century series. This is another challenging ride out of Oregon, Illinois. It consists of 2 out and back segments. The first will go south through Dixon to Mt Caroll and return to Oregon for a total of about 125 miles. We then take a second out and back up to Winebago and return. A fun challenge without too much climbing for the area. Some great views of the Rock River and a great ice cream stop in Mt Carroll.
This ride can be ridden either on Sunday, September 4 or Monday, September 5.
New closing route in the South Metro out of Willow Springs. This will have paved trails and finish at the Willow Springs Brewery so that we can say our goodbye's until 2023