Thank You to More Partners!

Our Special Fika Coffee for Le Grand du Nord!

We want to say a big “Thank you!” to these amazing sponsors:

Epicurean is a Duluth business that has been supporting cycling for a very long time. Their beautiful cutting boards are appreciation gifts to our dedicated volunteers. Thank you!

Loll Designs is another Duluth based business building beautiful furniture and supporting cycling to the fullest in Duluth and the North Shore. We will be giving away one of their Lollygagger Lounge chairs to a randomly drawn Le Grand rider this Saturday. Thank you!

Fika Coffee is supplying us with their fresh roasted coffee and beans for the weekend. All profits from the sales of these bags will go to Gravel for Good this year (We are supporting efforts in Ukraine, American Indian Community Housing Organization AICHO, and Lake Superior Cycling Association.) Thanks for enjoying and giving at the same time!

North Shore Winery THE amazing winery on the North Shore is generously assisting our team this year. They are also donating wine tasting coupons to our 70 and Wiser age group winners for the events. We really appreciate their support of the event this year and you owe yourself a visit to their winery!

The crew at Voyageur Brewing Company has been helping us celebrate every Le Grand du Nord. Their beer is the best and the location can not be beat for spectating and socializing after the race. All riders will get a free pint of drink on us and VBCo. Thanks for your continued support of our event!

Embark Maple Syrup is helping fuel our riders again this year with their organic maple syrup tapped in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin. They might also be on course in a secret location just when you need a boost the most. Thank you!

Taiga Design + Build is a Grand Marais builder of fine homes. His crew is helping with setting up Le Grand du Nord basecamp. Thank you!

And Visit Cook County has been with us every step of the way. They handle all types of lodging, travel, destination and event support in Cook County and Grand Marais. Please call them with any questions you may have while visiting. Their team is excellent and we are so thankful they do what they do.

Welcome Back Cedaero and Wolf Tooth Components

Cedaero’s Tank Top “Graveleer” Edition available at Le Grand du Nord

We are once again very fortunate to have some of gravel cycling’s best makers at Le Grand du Nord. Today, we are featuring Cedaero and Wolf Tooth Components.

Dan Cruikshank and his team of bicycle bag designers and makers at Cedaero, Two Harbors, MN, produce the finest bike bags available today. Sewn at their Two Harbors’ shop, Cedaero bags have been through everything and back. I personally ran a full set during my Tour Divide race and I swear by their smart construction and toughness. Cedaero is giving custom made Graveleer edition Twisted Zipster bags to our fastest male/female riders in each Le Grand event. I know you will appreciate them if you are the fastest of the fast!

Inside each Zipster bag Wolf Tooth Components is giving a 6 Bit Hex Wrench Multi Tool. Wolf Tooth Components and Otso Cycles are Minnesota made companies producing cutting edge bicycle tools, parts and bicycles. We are proud to have them as sponsors again this year. Their innovation and dedication to gravel cycling and bikepacking is apparent in everything they create.

Both Cedaero and Wolf Tooth will be at our Le Grand du Nord Basecamp for packet pickup and start/finish. Stop by, say hello and check out their goods. Thanks to all for being part of the Le Grand du Nord!


Italian Shoes and Levi's

Italian shoes and Levi’s

During the inaugural Wednesday night ride of the season, the cold temps and stiff northerly breeze could not touch the warmth of the afternoon sun and excitement to be riding as a group again. Faces that had not been seen for months rolled up to the host’s driveway. Jokes about the weather, fenders and the bikes that are ridden in April in the Northland were flowing. It had been years since I rode with this notoriously fast group of locals and I was excited to see how I stacked up this year. Billed to have a “gentleman’s” pace tonight, I was seasoned enough to know that would probably last for all of 100 meters. It was a welcoming gesture, though.

We rolled down the first few miles of gravel and more than one rider passed me admiring and commenting on the navy blue, steel bike that I use for most of my riding these days. My bike, or any bike, clad in fenders does not scream speed. But it is a classy ride. A custom rig that has carried me over thousands of miles and some of them in races such as the Trans Iowa and longer. I’m old enough to know that most of the time it is not the bike but the engine that gets one to the finish with speed or some semblance of grace.

But EVERYONE noticed the beautiful black carbon wheels I was rolling that night. And just about every one of them wondered why those wheels were part of a steel bike with fenders.

In particular, the wheels were HED Cycling’s Emporia GC3 Pros. The GC3’s are HED’s flagship hoops for gravel cycling and rough road riding. They are carbon works of art that look as good hanging on the wall as they do on a bike. For years, I was hesitant to ride carbon thinking it would not stand up to events like The Heck of the North or flint hills of Kansas. But I’m a notoriously late buy-in. I’m just now convinced that front shocks are not a mountain bike fad. So there’s that.

It’s a fair question, I guess. The short answer is that they are the wheels that I have right now for that bike. I’m a believer in ride what you got and what I got are these beauties. But beauty is not just about looks to me. It is equal parts function. In fact, beautifully designed tools are beautiful because the do the job they were designed to do extremely well.

Like all HED products I have ridden over the years, I have full confidence that they will stand the test of time and gravel. I’m a believer in this company because they have been with me and Heck of the North Productions since our beginning in 2009. They are Minnesota made and have been creating beautiful wheels for road, gravel and snow for decades. They have pioneered many aspects of wheel design that other companies were wise to adopt.

This is a rare, shameless nod to one of our sponsors. I’m OK with that every now and then. And I’ll be the first to admit that I might have been overdressed for an April group ride with friends. But if you’re lucky enough to have hand-tooled Italian shoes, it’s officially OK to wear them with jeans to the local dance.

HED is generously giving Le Grand du Nord and The Heck of the North a set of Emporia Wheels to be randomly gifted to a very lucky rider during each event. Thank you!

Today's the Last Day for Kits! (...for a Le Grand du Nord delivery)

We're so close to our minimums! Take a look at these great kit options for North Shore cycling and skiing! Order Here!

Shown above are the Arrowhead Jacket (for cool weather cycling and skiing) Vest and Mt Baggie (no padding.)

Ride the Good Line Kits are Here!

We are very excited to introduce our newly designed Ride the Good Line cycling kits. With the great assistance of Minnesota based Podiumwear , our lead designer Andrea Halligan and the Kershaw team (special thanks to Esme Kershaw) our kits are ready to order.

We are running an ultra-short initial storefront window with the hopes of getting garments to you by May 24, just in time for Le Grand du Nord. To make this happen, this first order window will only be from now until midnight April 26. That’s right, tomorrow by midnight. If we get the minimum orders they need to go to production, product should be in hand before Le Grand. If we do not get the minimum, then we will keep the storefront open longer with a delivery date after Le Grand du Nord.

So, without further delay, please go to our Ride the Good Line/Heck of the North Productions Storefront and get your order in!

Thanks!

Jeremy