Setting goals for myself is important to me. Without a goal I feel that I don’t have any specific end result to improve myself. It gives me something positive to shoot for and physically keeps me on track, which is especially important for me in the winter months. It really pushes me to create my crazy adventures that really do reduce boredom. It pushes me to do things that are outside of my comfort zone whether it is long rides in bad weather or a difficult race I’ve been hesitant to try.
This year’s goal was lofty but attainable. It was a goal I needed to be diligent with to achieve. I used kilometers as my metric for my goals for the year and I set a monthly goal as well as a yearly goal. My monthly goals helped me stay on track to meet my yearly goal and really pushed me through those harder winter months to get those longer, harder rides in. And those rides were so fun! I set a monthly goal of at least one 100 km ride per month and my yearly goal as 10,000 kilometers. No trainer rides, all real bike rides. I also did not track my daily commute to work, which I did every single work day this last year.
The 100 kilometer monthly goal was the most difficult to achieve and was really the most important goal. Living in Wisconsin this meant a successful long, cold day in the saddle for four or five of those months that are the most difficult. Those rides took a lot of commitment.
I achieved both my goals, 100km/month and I actually ended up exceeding my yearly goal when I hit over 12,000 km for the year.
I also had quite a few other big moments in the year including 15 rides that were each over 100 miles long.
I went back and did a short synopsis of my favorite 100 km+ rides of each month.
1/9/2021 Butler Rock Death march 65 miles
Not knowing which roads would be plowed for the winter, four of us went into this adventure ride in the Nicolet National Forest on a cold January morning. It was Chris, Candy, Kelly, and myself. Others were invited but some of my adventures can be a little too adventurous I guess. The ride started in the frozen snow covered sand roads of Butler Rock, unrecognizable from their appearance and surface conditions as compared to the summer months. We rode north from Butler Rock to just past Forbes Springs, stopping at a gas station for some sandwiches in between. On the way back we explored a couple of lakes. We were only able to ride loops on them as we did not find a public way to exit off of the opposite sides. I have a couple of great memories from this ride like riding the unplowed ATV trail and McCaslin Brook along Old 32
but my greatest memory that sticks in my mind without the need of pictures is the ride up Bear Paw Road as the sun was setting.
2/21/2021 Frosty Bear 62.3 miles
Since the Frosty Bear was canceled thanks to the pandemic, Shane Stuard brought up the idea of doing this ride as a small group ride back in the middle of January. By the time a group of us had schedules aligning and just getting past the last polar vortex of the season it was already closing in on the end of February. It was Chris, Candy, Shane and myself as this small group.
The roads in the Laona area of the Nicolet National Forest were in amazing shape.
We checked out the dispersed campsite on the Peshtigo River. Chris was feeling a little crazy and rode on the ice a bit. We also bushwhacked back to a spot that was labeled as a waterfall on one of the RWGPS map layers. That turned out to be a bust, at least in the winter with the ice covered river. Maybe in the summer there are small rapids but it was not seen on this day. It was one of many great trips to this area for me and I just love riding the forest roads out of Laona as they are generally plowed. Because of that they tend to be great for winter fat biking. You really can’t go wrong with winter exploring in the area.
3/20/2021 Augustyn Springs Fatty Beatdown 75 miles
By late March days are getting longer and the daytime highs are getting more mild. If you get out very early in the day this time of the year you can get some great frozen crust riding. March riding can be some of my favorite riding for this reason. Getting out early was exactly my plan for this ride. It was a solo ride. I mapped it to do all the sketchy sections early on and solid sections late in the day. I remember the temperatures being very cold early in the ride which worked out perfectly in my favor. After getting through Augustyn Springs section and crossing highway 52 I came to a section that was not plowed all winter. This area has amazing hills and valleys that offer great views. The crust riding was amazing and cold enough that I was riding on top of all the snow.
I hooked up to the Wolf River Trail and headed north from there. This trail was free of snow as it was in full sun. The end of my ride featured pavement through the Pickerel Lake area along with a great section of sand roads. These sand roads were the complete opposite of the snow covered road early that morning. Such is March.
This was also the last time I rode on a lake for the year. The north woods still had good ice so I took a small loop on Pickerel Lake just for one final farewell to the ice.
The day time highs along with the high sun angle made the end of the ride a muddy mess.
I finished out the ride with the two track shortcut from Jack Lake to County Road A. Everything in its entirety made this such a memorable spring ride.
4/10/2021 Sonic Day 1 66.5 miles
So, this bikepacking trip did not go as planned. It was to be a three day trip in the southern portion of the Nicolet National Forest. It was forecasted to be a warm April weekend and the snow was completely gone so Eric, David, and myself planned this great early spring weekend trip. The first day followed the course exactly of that year’s Tour de Nicolet.
We stopped at such places as the Hill Billy Hilton, Crotch Vegas, and the cool campsite on the river. We also stopped to eat dinner at Weatherby Supperclub for a great northwoods fish fry. We got asked by the staff if we are the same group that comes through on the summer, abs yes that would be the Tour de Nicolet. It’s fun that they remembered us and it feels good to bring the presence of bikepacking to the area. After our Friday fish fry dinner we made the short trip down the road to the dispersed sites on Bear Paw Lake. No one was there so we were able to get the super cool site on the lake. After setting up camp we started gathering firewood.
This is where things went south for me. I was walking across a log and stepped off onto uneven ground and rolled my ankle. Immediately I stuck it in the ice cold lake to try to stop any swelling. This seemed to work for a moment. I took it out and it soon started swelling. I was unable to put any weight on it at all. I ended up calling my friend Kyle who lives relatively close to the area. He was able to pick me up and take me back to my truck where my wife would meet me. I was lucky to have such great friends on the trip with Eric and David and really lucky to have such a great friend as Kyle who helped get me out of there. I will always be grateful to them.
The next day I went to the Bone and Joint where I learned I actually had an avulsion fracture. Ugh. After thinking it was just a really bad sprain this was pretty devastating. I was determined to come back stronger from this. After a few days of a pity party I came up with a plan. I changed my diet and loaded up on foods that reduce inflammation, foods that promote joint and tendon growth, and went on a total vegan diet for a short time. I can’t say for sure if my food changes worked but I took my first real ride on May 4. I was able to really step it up with time in the saddle on May 8 when I did six days in a row of 2-3 hour rides each of those days. With a lot of determination and a positive attitude I would become stronger despite this setback!
5/22/2021 Crystal Bear Bikepacking trip 107.2 miles followed by 79.4 miles on day 2
With a mending ankle it was a last minute decision to ride this bikepacking trip. Unsure but really antsy to get out I decided to give it a go. My ankle had some sore moments but I pedaled easy for a good portion of the first day. Some swelling at camp that night but was good to go by morning.
Chris Schotz organized this one for what will become a bikepacking race in 2022. A few people were invited so it was more of a dress rehearsal for the race. This was a two day overnighter with back to back long days. It went from Laona, WI to Crystal Falls, MI and back to Laona the next day. It was a great ride with great friends and some new faces.
The ride started with record high spring temperatures followed by an extremely cold morning at camp. It was so cold that most people on the trip were not prepared for the subfreezing morning air. Most stopped at the gas station in Crystal Falls and bought up all of their gloves. The hilarious part of it is that they were work gloves.
The highlight of the trip was the camp where we had pizza and beer delivered. As we ate and drank by the campfire we witnessed SpaceX’s Starlight Satellite train. I always tend to have great memories from evenings spent at camp just talking about the day’s ride and the excitement of the adventures to come.
6/27/2021 Tour de Nicolet day 6 102.9 miles
The Tour de Nicolet is my annual ride where I invite a bunch of my friends. It usually has 12-14 people turn out. I love doing this ride as it is that one time of the year that I see some of these friends. This year’s ride I had going in a loop starting at Jack Lake. I had an extra vacation day so I started out from home in Wausau and camped at High Lake.
I met the rest of the group the next morning at Jack Lake.
The next five days had off and on rain throughout. I’ve never experienced this bad of weather on this ride in the past. Or any other bikepacking ride. I looked at it as an opportunity to learn more about clothing choice and just riding in adverse conditions. The rain was the worst on day two. The night before we knew that the rain was coming. We decided to get up early and get packed up to avoid packing in the rain and just be rolling when it hit. This was also the day that we would be riding the sand roads through Butler Rock. When I pointed out the shortcut to skip all the sand all but two of us pushed on through. At that point the thunder was rolling in and you could feel the change in the air. The rain hit hard as we were riding the sand. It was some of the worst riding conditions I’ve done. But after the rain the sun came out and we rolled in to Wabee Lodge to eat lunch. We all agree that this lunch stop really changed our attitudes for the better. So the great lesson here was that no matter how bad things are at the time, it will not stay this way but instead will get better. There were so many fun memories on this ride. Most of the memories of rain are long forgotten.
Memories of shenanigans, fun adventures in the sun, and meeting some amazing, fun people along the way.
On the last day of the ride I needed to make a choice to either ride to Jack Lake where everyone else parked and camp there or just push on through to get home in one long ride. I decided to skip going to Jack Lake which would’ve been a little out of the way and push through to get home. I told my friends my plan and said I would be stopping at The Thirsty Bear for pizza on my way. Since Jack Lake was between our camp and the bar, a few of them said they would drive there and meet up with me after getting to their cars. That was such a great way to end this trip, sharing pizza with some of my friends over a couple beers. From there it was only about a forty mile ride to finish it out for me. That day ended up being my 103 mile ride. It did not seem like it was that long as the miles really rolled by. I felt really strong that day. Since this ride I have realized that it seems that my body kind of adapts to riding long rides and there is a key moment, I would say day three or four, that my body is like “ok, I get what you’re doing to me and I will do this”.
With bikepacking there are so many lessons I learn each time I go. I ended up learning a lot from this one. I learned about clothing choices in rainy weather. I learned that low points are only temporary and things will get better and the best point in a ride may not have even happened yet so just roll with it. Lastly I learned that my body does adapt to riding the longer I go. Oh yeah, and I can still out eat Chris!
7/16/2021 IRONBULL 140 Single Speed Experiment 140.1 miles
On a beautiful, foggy mid July Friday morning I set out on a goal.
The single speed experiment was just a test to see if I could do the Red Granite Grinder 140 with a single speed within the official race time limit, thus opening up a single speed category on the Grinder. I needed to do it within the 12 hour elapsed time limit. It was a race against myself. I used my rigid Karate Monkey with 32×18 gearing. I got permission to ride all of the private land sections and Rib Mountain for that day only. Rib Mountain had the stipulation from the land manager to be done before sunrise, for respect to the hikers who would be out there in the daylight hours. Crossing Rib Mountain on the hiking trails in the dark was difficult and I did get turned around and lost some time. Midway through Pamela met me with food and water resupply. I stopped and ate my sandwich and talked to her for about twenty minutes. Those were the two times that I stopped other than peeing and crossing the river.
My time on Strava was 10:43 moving time and 11:51 elapsed time. I plan on doing it again in 2022 on next year’s exact route so that I can set an exact single speed FKT for the racers to beat in October’s Grinder.
8/7/2021 Maah Daah Hey 100 111.2 miles
Having never done the Maah Daah Hey, I went into this race really nervous of what to expect. The heat of the North Dakota Badlands makes this race extremely difficult. I do not do very well with heat. Knowing this, I prepared at home by doing a lot of rides on the hottest days. That’s about all a person can do to prepare, I guess. The other metric that makes this race difficult is the amount of elevation gain. At 13,000 feet of gain it’s a difficult task on singletrack trails.
I was lucky enough to have Pamela and Julia drive support for me. I packed a cooler with plenty of water, hydration bottles, and some food. The Little Missouri River was low enough that Pamela was able to drive the truck through and by doing that she was then able to see me at every checkpoint. I went into this race knowing I was stopping at every checkpoint. Not knowing if I’d ever try the race a second time, my goal was to be a finisher. I didn’t want to make poor decisions to jeopardize that.
The race started out with a jamb packed group of riders funneling through the gate to the singletrack from the CCC campground. We all lined up in a position based on how long we projected we would take to finish it. I lined up at the optimistic 13 hour spot. The group was riding tire to tire. Early on a rider right in front of me made a mistake and went down on one of the first uphill switchbacks. I immediately went around them and the pack that I was with broke up a little after that happened. Not long after that we came to a wet area from a small amount of rain that came through a few hours earlier. Thankfully it was very short. I knew that the rain made Maah Daah Hey soil unridable when wet but never imagined it would be as bad with such little rain. It quickly clogged up between my tire and chainstay and I was forced to carry it up the hill. I swear that the bike weighed as much as my fully loaded bikepacking setup. Using a stick to clean off as much as possible helped a lot. Everyone was doing the same thing. Riding flats I didn’t have to struggle with that in addition to the bike as others had to do.
Shortly after the mud section was the first checkpoint. I stopped and talked to Pamela for a very short moment and then took off. The first checkpoint had us going down a gravel road and I wasn’t riding with a group at that point and missed where the singletrack went off of the road. I fell way off the group and went a little over two miles before I realized I didn’t see any bike tracks on the gravel. Pretty positive I missed a turn, I went back and found my mistake. Now I had to pass a lot of riders that were much slower than me which really takes a lot of time to do on singletrack. Mentally, this really got in my head throughout the race as I kept thinking how I could’ve been five miles further. It’s hard to get something like that out of your head.
As the race went on the heat got hard to deal with. I really tried to focus on the beauty around me. The scenery really is quite amazing. I rode past cattle, mule deer, saw cowboys driving a herd of cattle, prairie dogs, and a few snakes. Riding right along the cliffs was super fun.
Riding through petrified forests was another great memory. The views from the highest points were unending. I kept thinking about how very few people get to see this environment especially from some of those vantage points.
My favorite spot on the entire race was coming down to checkpoint 3 at mile 75 or so. It was a high mountain top and I could see the checkpoint from on top of it.
A long descent with multiple switchbacks. As I came down the final descent to the aid station, the aid station group had Smells Like Teen Spirit blasting from the speaker. It was such a prominent point that brought me the motivation to finish out the last 36 miles.
Soon after passing aid station 3 the sun also started going down. This helped cool me after battling the heat all day. I rolled across the finish line in complete darkness. Pamela, Julia, Chris, Candy, Chris G., and Thea were all there to congratulate me. It was great to have so many cheering me on as I finished. Chris had a burrito and beer ready for me, which tasted so great at that moment. I immediately said that I’m never doing that again. I signed up for 2022 as soon as they opened registration.
9/11/2021 Bayfield County Gravel 63.9 miles
The Bayfield County Gravel ride was part of a four day trip to mountain bike CAMBA singletrack. I have never done any riding in Bayfield County so it was exciting to draw up a route. It was loosely based off of Dave Schlabowske’s Wisconsin Waterfalls Loop, a route that he just got published in bikepacking.com which also most recently made the 2021 bikepacking awards list. With Dave’s recommendation for larger tires because of the amount of sand I used my Stache with 3” tires.
I set out on a Saturday morning from the Mount Ashwabay trail head parking lot at the ski hill. From there I rode to Cornucopia to see Siskowit Falls. The Falls is right off of a main road and easy to find. A pretty amazing set of falls, one on one side of the road and one on the other side.
After a great sandwich at Siskowit Farmhouse in Cornucopia I made the long gravel climb out of town. Riding up the hill offered amazing views of Lake Superior which one cannot help but continually look back and be in awe of.
The sand of the area seems to start once on top of that climb. From that point on it was endless miles of sand. Whether it was sand on the roads or super soft sand ATV trails it was a grind. The warm and dry September day made the sand even more difficult but the scenery seemed to overpower the soul sucking sand.
As I made my way further South I noticed the landscape became more hilly and the vegetation changed a little. The trees in that particular part of Bayfield County are a little different than other areas of the state.
Jack pine (I think) line the rolling gravel roads.
After a quick stop at Valhalla Pub for a burger and beer I made my way back to the Ashwabay singletrack to finish out the ride.
Bayfeild has some amazing scenery and great rural roads to explore and I’m definitely going to explore more of that area in the future. It’s easy to see why this ride stuck out on my memories of 2021.
10/29/2021 Sonic Bikepacking Tour day 1 80 miles
This is one of the trips that I wrote about on the blog. It easily makes the list of rides that stick out this year. Any time I’m able to get out on a bikepacking trip I’m in my happy place. Being in the late fall with colors still barely hanging on and it was Halloween weekend made this bikepacking trip extra special. Day one really sticks out because of the great interaction and experience at the White Lake Market.
I had never been there before and it’s the type of place that really screams northwoods. A day that started out rainy turned into a beautiful sunset that really was an indication of how the next two days would go.
11/12/2021 Devil’s Double Track 66.6 miles
The day started with snow, changing to light rain. The two track was mud. Most of the roads I had never been on. Starting at Summit Lake I traveled to Parrish and then up to the Enterprise area in a figure eight shaped route on my single speed Karate Monkey. The mud and water-covered two track and ATV trails in Langlade County was a slog for sure. A soaking wet foot early from a big waterhole taking up the entire road made for a long, cold remainder of the ride.
Once I got past the muddy two track of Langlade county and went into the Oneida County Forest and up to Enterprise the gravel really got a lot better. Making some ground up on the superb gravel I finished up the northern loop in little time.
The last leg of the ride featured a fun bushwhack through a forest with no visible path but just a direction on my Garmin towards the next closest road.
There weren’t a lot of great views or awesome climbs on this ride. The ride itself was really humdrum as compared to a lot of my other rides. What sticks out to me from this ride is the combination of the horrible weather and the really bad surface conditions. I find a lot can be gained in yourself and learned about yourself and your determination to ride through adverse conditions and to just finish out what you set out to do. Rides like this are building blocks for other rides that will inevitably have just as bad or worse conditions.
12/4/2021 Global Fatbike Day Waterfall Ride 86.2 miles
This is another ride that I wrote a blog on this year. Long winter rides are the most difficult to complete. Being in the elements for a long period of time can be super difficult and you need to really mentally focus on being positive instead of thinking about the cold. I feel that a lot of rides that I have done throughout time in adverse weather and cold weather have given me the drive, experience, and lessons to safely do a ride like this. Extra clothes need to be brought. Use of layers is a must so you don’t get wet clothes. You need to be careful not to work up a sweat or your clothes become wet and eventually cold.
This ride was easily one of the most memorable rides I’ve done. Eight ice covered waterfalls in nine hours on a fat bike with minimal traffic. A ride I wouldn’t hesitate to do again. What a great long distance ride to close out 2021!
Shane Hitz Biking Adventures 