SoNic ITT

Setting up the Midwest Bikepacking Summit year one is a huge undertaking. There were many aspects that came to me along the way. One of those being setting FKT’s on the two routes, the SoNic and the Tour de Nicolet. Knowing these routes like the back of my hand made planning these attempts the easy part. Where the food stops are, where to find water, where to camp, which sections to prepare for mentally, those types of things. I chose the SoNic as my first route to take on. The hard part for me was mentally preparing to ride it through the night. Taking no sleep kit was my commitment to riding through the night. 

Planning and Bike Setup

Coming up with a date to do this route took a lot of consideration. There are so many variables to consider. The heat, the wildfire smoke, the drought that we’ve been in and lack of moisture having a negative impact on the sand roads. The amount of daylight played the biggest role in my decision on when to do it. All those other factors I listed I put out of my focus. On June 19th I was mentally prepared and ready to do this. The route is 225 miles, 63% gravel, but of that I would say a third of that was broken down to either single track, double track, and either miles of sand roads or gnarly chunk. My bike I chose was my Surly Karate Monkey single speed 32/20 gearing. 

To me personally, single speed feels like a good bike for this route. No special component upgrades because that is just how I am. I had a few bags attached. The Revelate Egress Pocket handlebar bag was used for food and a second pair of base layer shorts. For food I brought along an assortment of bars, a couple apples, and packets of Tailwind powder along with Hammer Endurolyte pills, a recommendation from Andrea Larson. The second bags I put on was the Revelate Feed Bags. One of the feed bags I threw a spare tube in the bottom of, all rolled up tight. On top of that I tossed an apple. The other was empty leaving the start line and would be used for a gas station hydration bottle down the road. The third bag was the gas tank bag with charger blocks and cords. Two bottle holders on the frame holding two water bottles and my hydration pack on my back meant I would carry 3.5 liters. This proved to be critical on miles 95-142.

Getting Started

Getting sleep the night before was rough. I set the alarm for 3 am and didn’t sleep well. I threw some good breakfast fuel in me to hopefully make up for that, oatmeal with walnuts and blueberries. I had an hour drive from my house to the start line at Jack Lake. Arriving at Jack Lake around 5, the mass of mosquitoes forced me to make quick work of getting started. Soon after leaving the start line I saw a coyote running down the firelane in front of me. It was such a cool moment to start out the ride with. The section through Augustyn Springs flew by. The sun started coming up but the skies were hazy from Canadian wildfire smoke. South of Augustyn Spring the route gets a little spicy with gnarly two track forest roads before dumping out onto the old railroad bed. This takes you into White Lake.

White Lake Market

My first stop was White Lake Market. This place is one of my favorites and with being on an ITT, I made the stop a quick 15 minutes. Never had I eaten breakfast here before I was a little curious. They have a deli counter where all the food is ordered. 

Sandwiches were on the menu so I ordered and bacon egg and cheese on a homemade roll. It was as amazing as their lunch sandwiches. As I ate my sandwich out front the local old timers chatted about classic cars. One of them had a nice Ford Fairlane convertible parked in the front. Another talked to me about my ride. He told me he was always a runner and is 80 and doing a 10k this year. That was amazing!

Leaving there I knew I had one of the nine difficult sections completed. This is how I broke it down in my head. Not in mileage but sections. It really helped me keep things in perspective throughout the route. The next section was the single track at Nicolet Roche. But first I would enjoy one of the longest sections of asphalt on the route. 

Nicolet Roche and the Famous Derecho Area

Nicolet Roche was at mile 50 and I got there at around 9:45. This is a fun old school singletrack trail filled with giant boulders used as trail features. The route uses four miles of the singletrack. Completing Roche gets you right into the rolling gnarly roads of the derecho area and home to Humble Hill. In 2019 a giant windstorm took out a huge area of the National Forest leaving the landscape barren of trees. It is a unique perspective with it being all open. The popple trees are starting to fill in now though so it will be a short moment in time that the landscape will have this unique appearance. It gives a cool perspective to see the roads wind through the hills. You can’t take your eyes off of the road for long though. The downhills are either littered with baby head rocks or huge sand pits that grab at your tires. Part way through this section I came upon a tractor mowing the edges. I asked him why and he said he is with the snowmobile club and they do it once a summer to stop the brush from encroaching into the trail. This makes it easier in the fall to prep the trails for the season. I appreciate the club’s work because without them these trails would grow to be impassable from brush or downed trees. Some of these trails are also gated off to keep ATV’s and trucks out, which I also appreciate.

That section is pretty long, totaling 16 miles. Coming off of that is a fast roll into Lakewood using mostly paved with a scenic section of gravel through Cathedral Pines tossed in the mix. I was hoping Northern Delites would be open on this Monday. I was not too hopeful. But to my surprise it was open. The area was packed with people. Not surprising as it was a hamburger and ice cream stand. The midday sun was hot and families and kids were lined up for ice cream. 

I ordered a tropical flurry and a burger. It was just what I needed, mostly the ice cream to cool me down. Leaving town it was a short distance to get to Mountain Fire Tower. I knew this was mostly downhill to get to the firetower so I used that time to let my food settle. 

The Firetower Leads to the Tough Stuff

The firetower is one of the high points on the route so I had to climb it, although climbing the tower is not required for an ITT attempt. 

Visibility was poor from the haze in the sky but still a great view. Leaving there I still had a little more downhill into the town of Mountain where I would stop at the gas station and grab a bag of combos for my push through the night. I knew I had a water spigot at Bagely Rapids five miles down the road so I waited until then to refill all of my water. From Bagely Rapids a big challenge lay in front of me: getting through the sand roads of the Butler Rock area and being exposed to the afternoon sun and heat. Butler Rock was also a high point that must be submitted for an FKT attempt. Being on top of Butler Rock was actually a nice rest in the breeze. But I kept it short. More sand roads, the worst lay ahead. There were a lot of sections of hike a bike in this area. 

My water was going fast. This is where I needed to be careful with my 3.5 liters. I was aware if this gap of miles with no water going into the route. On top of that I had to ride up to the old fish hatchery and back and up Thunder Mountain immediately after. Mentally those were tough on my mind and my lungs were sore from wildfire smoke. At mile 125 I walked part of Thunder Mountain climb. Why waste the energy and water I thought to myself. Afterall, I needed to get to mile 140 for more water. 

Wabee Lodge was at mile 140. That place was all I could think about while climbing those hills, with its soup and salad bar and amazing burgers. I rolled in at around 8:30. Plenty of time since they were open until 10:00. I filled up on soup mostly and by the time my burger came I didn’t even finish my fries. I sat there at the table for a while. This was my low point at 9:00. I think that I needed that food. 

My Second Wind

Rolling out from Wabee Lodge was a short ride down the county road before turning off onto the forest roads heading north. It wasn’t long until I started metabolizing that food and got a huge energy spike. Which was a good thing. My last high point lay just up the road. It requires a bushwhack of sorts to reach. Not many people know of Big Rock and I only accidentally found it last fall on a map and rode up to it when snow was on the ground. The way to get to the summit of Big Rock requires a short hike. But again, must be done on an FKT attempt. I scurried up the climb pretty fast as the mosquitos were on me. At the top they weren’t bad so I took in the twilight, thinking of how this was a great time to climb it. 

Once I was on the road again I knew it would be a relatively fast ride to Wabeno. Only one section of rutted up two track was in between other than fantastic national forest gravel roads. By this time it was completely dark, creating a new to me riding experience in this area. 

Middle of the Night Resupply in Wabeno

Wabeno was an important spot on my route. It was the last resupply of the night. 55 miles remained after Wabeno. The gas station I knew would be closed, I knew this when I prepared for the ride, but I was betting on a bar being open to resupply on water. First option was to locate a spigot in a town park though. The ride to town was amazing with fireflies everywhere! Once on County Road C I turned my headlight off and let the stars light my way and took in the full firefly effect. I was not too worried about cars on a Monday night in the middle of nowhere. I did not end up seeing another person the rest of my ride. The bar however was open but I rolled past as loud country music blared from the jukebox. I saw a sign that said public parking and bathrooms. I found the bathroom and luckily wasn’t a pit toilet but a regular bathroom with lights and running water. I won’t lie, the thought came across my mind to stay there and sleep. It was after midnight afterall. But I just refilled my water and was on my way. 

Couple more hard sections left. The first was the singletrack ski trails near Ludington Lake. Easy. I was in a really good place at the time. Roads were flying by and miles ticking away. After the ski trials a long section of blacktop lay in front of me. It was a lie though, they were doing construction and the road was all loose, soft gravel. The worst kind of gravel, construction gravel. It was only like five miles and then I was back on pavement making my way around Pickerel Lake. That is such a fun road to ride. This time all the houses and cottages were dark at 2:30am. If anyone saw me go past they would surely think I was lost or nuts. Or both. At the end of Pickerel Lake the route jumps onto the ATV trail and over the small dam. I got on the bridge over the dam and stopped and leaned the bike against the railing. I was just taking a small break but there weren’t any mosquitos and it looked like a perfect spot to lay and rest my eyes. I sort of fell asleep but it was very short as I started shivering in the damp 50 degree air. So on I rolled. 

Finishing it Up

Only one difficult section left. The sand of Lost Lake Road. This year was extra bad and I was not expecting that. I rode the 7 miles of that sand off the seat the entire time, cranking on the single speed trying to keep momentum. It was soft and since it was dark it made it extra difficult to see which path was the best. Edges were the best as they were not rutted up from cars. The side that was ok changed up. At one point I almost ran into a skunk. That would have sucked badly. The bear tracks in the sand were eerie at 4am. But finally I made it out. It was the home stretch now. The horizon was starting to brighten from the sun making its way back. At that moment I thought about how it seemed like only an hour ago it was light out. So weird. One fox crossed my path. The mosquitos were waking back up. Motivation to keep moving. Jack Lake Firelane meant I was on my last road. As the horizon was orange to my left I rolled that last section filled with a renewed amount of energy.

I did it! Along with it I set the FKT with the hopes that someone will come out here and break that record. 23 hours and 46 minutes.

Lessons and Insights

A lot was learned from this 24 hour experiance. My anxiety I had over riding through the night was a nonfactor. I really really enjoyed that aspect of it. Night riding makes everything look so much different. One thing that I think was key was taking electrolyte supplements. I will use them again in the future. For others attempting an ITT of this route I would recommend running as large of tires that you are comfortable with. This is key for the miles of chunk and two track between Jack Lake and White Lake and for the sand sections of Butler Rock. Another bit of advice would be to run it counterclockwise to take advantage of the resupply points during the daylight hours when the gas stations and resturaunts are open. White Lake served as a key water resupply and it is a great luxury to have the bathroom with running water in Wabeno to refill your water. With that being said, I can’t wait to do another ride like this.

Now that I have that record set, it’s time to plan and figure out when to attempt the full 365 mile Tour de Nicolet.

All of the Important Links

RWGPS SoNic 1.2 route

Strava File

FKT Results Page