By Ambassador Josh Rizzo

I woke up and didn’t even want to change out of my pajamas, let alone bike for 7 hours in the rain and mud.

But the rain didn’t cancel my 6-year old’s soccer game so how could I back out of biking? He tucked his entire rain jacket, hood and all, under his knee-length soccer jersey and shivered in the rain playing soccer.

So I figured I needed to toughen up a little bit and follow through with my plan to ride my first century ever.

A Lifetime Biker Who Has Never Ridden Past 65 Miles?

I’ve always been the first to admit that I’m not very fast, I don’t bike very far, and I never climb very high. 

I mean, until this point, I’ve only toe’d the 65-mile line 2 times….ever.

I’m a lifelong cyclist living in Wisconsin. I’ve biked through every snowy winter since long before fat bikes made cycling a year-round activity for most people up here.

PC//Cam Evjen

Bikepacking, commuting, alley cat events, road touring, whatever I feel like. I’ve just never been a racer and never quite caught the Strava bug (at least for now). So until this past August, my longest ride was 65 miles, which I’d only done twice.

The First Hundred Miles

Never being a competitive stat tracker, I know what you’re thinking. Why the push now?

I started a little cycling community up in the Northwoods where I ride called The Nxrth and just get so dang inspired by everyone racing gravel centuries and just exploring more places faster. I think I always saw racing as competition (I mean, duh, right?).

But the more I connect the gravel dots, the more I feel that the pull is about community, not just competition. Maybe mostly about community over competition. So I threw my name on the list and signed up for my first gravel century, The Heck of The North up in Two Harbors, Minnesota.

Getting My Hundred Before the Hundred

Feeling a little scared that I could actually make it one hundred miles when the race arrived (105miles, if we’re being honest), I figured I should plan one or two trial rides.

I mapped the ride, 100 miles from my front door with 30-40% gravel. This would put me in the same ballpark as a gravel century while saving something for race day.

It ended up that the rainy, somewhat chilly day helped keep me from getting over fatigued. I completed my first 100 mile ride and promptly did it again one week later just to make sure the first one wasn’t a fluke.

My second hundred was significantly harder than the first. I didn’t have the thrill of doing it for the first time and it was actually sunny and warm which made me a lot more hot and tired.

Race Day at Heck of The North

My family booked an Airbnb 6 months before the official race route was even shared and we were thrilled that our tiny cottage for the weekend was not only on the route, but on it two times. With 3 little kids, this was GREAT news because my wife and kids could cheer me on without driving to different places on the route (and without wrecking nap times).

The day was pure magic.

Having never raced before, the energy of the group was electrifying. I took about 25 miles to find a group that I believed I could keep up with while not killing my energy reserve early.

Looking for My Family

All day I had 1 sub-goal (besides finishing the race) which was to make it to the official portrait stop where my friend Josh Kowaleski would be shooting photos. My family would also be there waiting to cheer me on one final time before the finish line and knowing they’d be there completely filled my heart.

This point on the map was meant to be a secret so that portraits could be taken at a tough point in the route but without riders knowing where it was going to be.

But everyone I talked to said they believed it would be around mile 80.

Great, I get to see my family at mile 80, I thought.

My adrenaline pounded with excitement and determination once I got to mile 80 knowing I’d see my family around any corner now.

Any minute I’ll see them, I thought.

Well, the stop ended up being at mile 97.

Which was great because I got 17 bonus miles of magic adrenaline thinking I’d see them any second.

PC//Josh Kowaleski @pointed_north

My kids and wife ran up, gave Dad a hug and my heart nearly fell out of my chest. Those hugs were the best ever and now I only had 8 more miles and the race would be done.

I got my gravel portrait, and rolled across the finish line a few miles later so proud of a challenge that felt daunting to me and feeling blessed that I could do it with my family right there the whole time.

PC//Josh Kowaleski @pointed_north