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Jeremy Kershaw / Courtesy Heck of the North
One Heck of a Ride
Riders in the annual Heck of the North bike race must pay close attention so they don’t miss any turns. There are no signs marking the race route.
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Jeremy Kershaw / Courtesy Heck of the North
One Heck of a Ride
The Heck of the North bike race follows a course that’s mostly on gravel.
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Jeremy Kershaw / Courtesy Heck of the North
One Heck of a Ride
The route on backcountry roads between Two Harbors and Duluth can mean some trail riding.
It starts on a gravel road in Two Harbors, then takes riders to Duluth and back. But exactly where it will zigzag along 110 miles of Minnesota backroads and trails depends on the whims of this October bike race’s director.
“Every year, I try to throw in a couple of new sections,” says race director Jeremy Kershaw. “I typically try to keep the route secret – the new parts anyway.”
The Heck of the North race is kept off of paved roads as much as possible and uses some logging roads and trails, including the C.J. Ramstad North Shore State Trail.
This kind of event is known as “gravel grinding,” Jeremy explains. “It has become a very big factor in cycling, especially in Minnesota.”
The full course takes about 10 hours of riding and Jeremy well appreciates how hard it is to make it to the finish.
“I ride it several times a year – or parts of it – and the whole thing at least once,” he says of the route.
Lester Park in Duluth’s east end is the mid-race checkpoint (mile 67), where riders will arrive starting at noon and can be cheered on by family and friends. Because of the length of the race, riders need to leave the park by 3 p.m., based on an average cycling speed of 10 mph, so they can reach the finish by 7 p.m. in Two Harbors.
The race is limited to 400 people. Most ride heavy-duty road bikes called cyclocross bikes. Some ride mountain bikes with skinny, knobby tires.
Jeremy, a nurse at Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center, gets a thrill just creating the course. “It’s turned into a passion for myself, designing this. I really like the creative aspect of this. … I want it to be hard. I don’t mean for everyone to finish.”
The race “shares the premise of other great adventure-style events, namely, you are on your own and responsible for getting home by the skill of only your own hard work,” Jeremy says on the race website. “Every year I take it as a challenge to make the Heck race course just a little bit better than the year before. More gravel. More trail. More breathtaking northwoods scenery.”
He adds a tongue-in-cheek caution to would-be racers: “There is no official sag support. We do not offer shuttles, pickups, bail bonds or ransom monies.” Adding to the challenge, the course is not mapped out or marked by signs.
This is an odometer-based, or mileage-based, event with cue cards providing riders with directions. The route card, for example, might instruct a rider to go 15 miles and make a left turn. Jeremy takes pride in providing accurate, simple cues for riders, but, he says, “Every year we have a couple who miss a turn.”
It’s especially true for the faster riders who must then retrace the trail.
Last year, 200 people started the race and 150 finished, which Jeremy counts as “quite good,” considering that it was raining on race day.
Good spots for spectators include the starting point in Two Harbors as well as Lester Park in Duluth.
Jeremy may get some inspiration from another self-navigated, self-supported race he’s done – the Trans Iowa spring race over more than 300 miles on mainly gravel roads. For such a challenge, Jeremy says there’s only one way to prepare. “Really, a lot of it is getting out and riding.”