Sunrise Gravel Century Ride

Date: Saturday June 4th, 2022

Location: Start and Finish at Hugo Dunn Bros. in the Festival Foods.

Time: Start Time 7:00am*

Format: 100 mile gravel ride – not a race. This is a long gravel endurance ride to test your abilities.

Check-in: Will start around 6:30am. Official start will be 7am. Sign the online waiver for the group located here.

Sign in at the tables outside of Dunn Bros. the morning of.

Route: This event is unsupported but there are plenty of convenience stores, parks, and biffys/portas along the route. The stores are noted on the RWGPS file.

             Convenience Stores along route:

                                       Mile 26 & 85 – Scandia Market, or SuperAmerica

                                       Mile 38 & 73 – BP Gas station in Shafer

                                       Mile 58 – Sunrise River Tubing stand – w/porta potty, hose, & shade

                                       Mile 65 – Almelund Minnoco gas station

Primarily the Scandia General store and the BP in Shafer should be your resupply points. 

In Amelund there is another c-store.

The c-stores are kinda slow/low staff so don’t count on it being a fast stop.

Large stretches of this route are in rural areas with horses, dogs, and other animals. Portions of this route have been ridden many times by myself and others without any issue.

As with any gravel ride, be prepared to deal with anything as it arises – dust, tractors, horses, dogs, oncoming traffic. Stick to the route, use your GPS, and stay mentally aware of your surroundings.

Respect homeowners properties.

Announce if you are approaching horses or people out walking.

Obey traffic rules.

Road etiquette reminders/notes: A few notes and reminders/disclaimers from the organizer that have to be said:

1. Obey all traffic laws.

2. Respect people’s property.

3. Ride safely and within yourself.

Safety notes: Crossing Hwy 8 and 95 can be very dangerous. Please consider traffic is moving at 55-65 mph and will not be able to react to you if you swerve into them. Consider coming to a complete stop and crossing perpendicularly to the road for the safest crossing. Other stretches of roads have narrow shoulders. Single file riding should be exercised in those stretches and it should be apparent to you where they are. Ride to the right side of the gravel roads, especially when ascending hills as oncoming traffic may not see you approaching.

Links:   (updated 6/09 9:30pm)

   RWGPS link    Cue sheet .pdf       Garmin Connect link       Route .gpx file

Finish: The finish stretch takes you along Hwy 61/Hardwood Creek trail into Hugo and cuts over to the bike trail/Frenchman Rd. It is not intended to be a race, just a nice easy flat finish to Dunn Bros. After you finish, check-in at the start/finish tables out front of Dunn Bros., buy some food and drink and stick around a while and chat.

Genesis & Shorter route options: The idea for this gravel century came out of conversations with riders in the club who thought it would be great to put together an approachable gravel century. 100miles is a long ways. It could be 8-9 hours on your bike. But here’s a secret…you don’t have to do all 100 miles to enjoy the fun of the event. Only one file will be posted as the official course but you can always figure a way to cut it short and do the distance your body and mind needs.

At Mile 24 you can turn left and rejoin the route to make a 40mile ride. Or you can head up to Scandia or Shafer and return via the same route.

This is not a race and there will be no podium. This is about challenging yourself and having fun. If that means doing 40 miles or 70 miles, that’s awesome. Come out, have fun, make new biking friends.