Northfield Rotary Bike Tour

A Fully Supported Road, Gravel & Family Adventure

Saturday, September 24th, 2022On-Site Registration and Check-In begins at 700 a.m., riding begins at 730 a.m. 

Location

NEW Starting/Ending location: downtown Northfield’s Central Park, 421 E 4th St, Northfield, MN We’re excited to bring this event to downtown Northfield, enabling all riders to enjoy Northfield after your ride.  You’ll find restaurants, breweries, coffee shops, shopping, a distillery and 3 bike shops, all within proximity and walking distance from Central Park.  We’ll have a secure bike corral so you can leave your bike while you enjoy all that downtown Northfield has to offer. Parking will be on the residential streets around the park.  Please be a good neighbor and park your vehicle in a responsible manner.  Please, no overnight parking or downtown parking while you’re riding.

The Routes

The routes this year will be very similar to last year: 2 Gravel, 4 Road and a Family route.  We’ll be tweaking the routes a bit based on feedback from last year.  Routes will be posted as we get closer to the event.  To view last year’s routes, click here or visit Ride With GPS and search for “2021 Northfield Rotary Bike Tour”.  The routes posted by Dave Wolf are the official routes from last year.  A summary description of the routes follows below.

Pricing

• Single Riders: $45, $10 discount for early registration
• Family Riders: $90, $10 discount for early registration (max of 2 Adults, max of 5 riders)
• Family Route: $15

New for 2022

Register and Ride the 3 Event Series: Rivers, Lakes & Fields (insert link) to get a complimentary gift at each event and be eligible for 3 $100 cash prizes.

Registration 

Click here to register for the Northfield Rotary Bike Tour and Click here (insert link) to Register for the 3 Event Series. Registration opens at 7:00 am, with Start times beginning at 7:30 for those doing the longer rides. All other route starting times are: 8:00 – 10:00 a.m.

Fundraiser Benefits

The Northfield Rotary Club has organized and operated the Bike Tour as a fundraiser since 1995, 100% volunteer run. Net proceeds raised at this event support Rotary’s local and international service projects and furthers the mission of Rotary by funding projects that promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water and sanitation, and strengthen and sustain local economies. Current Northfield Rotary projects include Youth Exchange, the Mill Town Bike Trail, Water projects in Tanzania and Guatemala and providing local organizations support such as CAC, Ruth’s House, Hillcrest Village, The Key and many more. More information about the Northfield Rotary Club can be found on our website at NorthfieldRotary.org.

Event Details:

Routes

• No paper maps, please print out in advance if you need one
• All Routes available via Ride with GPS (search key words: “Northfield Rotary”).  2021 Routes available now, 2022 Routes will be posted once they have been finalized.
• The Family Ride and All Road Routes will be well marked
• The Gravel Routes are only marked till the Gravel starts and a few select intersections

 All Routes begin and end at Central Park in downtown Northfield.

Family Route for 2021:

– 10 Mile Family ride: Utilizing a portion of the Mill Town Trail, this route does a loop around the Cannon River with nearly 100% of the route using dedicated bike trails. The trail shelter near Dundas serves as a rest stop. Kids under 18 accompanied by an adult ride this route FREE. RidewithGPS Link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37512973

Road Routes for 2021:

– 27 Mile Valley Grove route: Rolling out of town to the East, this route has plenty of hills and gorgeous views. There’s a fully equipped rest stop/aid station at Nerstrand City Park. RidewithGPS Link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37514067 We put together 2 different 50 Mile routes this year. Ride either one for a 50 Mile route or do both and get your Century ride in. – 50 Mile Montgomery route: Head west to Montgomery and enjoy a Kolacky from the infamous Franke’s Bakery before returning east to the Northfield Middle School. A fully equipped rest stop/aid station is in Montgomery. RidewithGPS link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37586495– 52 Mile Sogn Valley route: Head southeast out of Northfield toward Valley Grove church, Nerstrand and a tour thru the beautiful Sogn Valley (lots of hills folks), returning to the Northfield Middle School. A fully equipped rest stops/aid stations at Nerstrand City Park and Urland Church Park just east of Sogn Valley. RidewithGPS Link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37514880– 102 Mile Montgomery-Sogn Valley Century Ride: Get the best of both and do the Montgomery and Sogn Valley routes, knocking out your Fall Century ride. A total of 4 Rest stops/Aid stations are available to support you on your ride.And of course, you can combine any of the above to make your own route.

Gravel routes for 2021:

– 31 Mile Country Rollers Gravel route: Head east out of Northfield and pick up the gravel a few miles out of town. Enjoy the rolling hills throughout this ride with a stop at the Nerstrand City Park aid station. RidewithGPS Link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37513475 – 58 Mile Sogn Valley Gravel Route: Head east out of town on the same route as the 31 Mile Gravel route, but instead of turning south, you keep going east into the heart of the Sogn Valley hills. Enjoy the beautiful country roads, including the very challenging minimum maintenance Shady Lane road, and 2 trips up and down through Sogn Valley. Rest stops at Urland Church Park on the east side of Sogn Valley and a 2nd rest stop as you come through Nerstrand at the City Park. RidewithGPS Link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37513790SAG – will be available throughout the day.  Your wristband has the phone printed on it.AID Stations – at least 1 Aid Station on each route.  See Route details for more info.Bike Support – Bike shop support at the Start/Finish location and at the Nerstrand City Park Aid Station.

Post Ride Activities

We’ll have a secure Bike Corral at Central Park so you can safely leave your bike and walk beautiful and historic Northfield, enjoying restaurants, breweries, coffee shops, shopping, a distillery and 3 bike shops. Please note: the bike corral will close promptly at 6:00 p.m. We’ll have maps of Downtown Northfield’s sponsoring businesses and attractions at the Registration table.

Rivers, Lakes & Fields 3 Event Series:

This year we’ve teamed up with Stillwater Sunrise & Prior Lake Rotary clubs to bring riders an opportunity to experience 3 very different riding experiences in 3 different communities surrounding the Twin Cities.  Stillwater’s Bridge the Valley ride on Sunday August 14th and Prior Lake’s Pedal Prior ride on Saturday, Aug 27th.  Registering for all 3 rides gets you a special complimentary gift at each event, plus a chance to win one of 3 $100 cash prizes if you ride all three.