Sponsors for The Wolf Bikepacking Race

Embark is legendary fuel! Photo Josh Kowaleski

We are so grateful for the amazing business partners that help bring our events to life. We work only with the best in the business and are proud of the relationships we have built over the years. North Shore, Minnesota, and USA made products that add greatness to the gravel cycling community. Please consider these partners when shopping for your provisions or planning your Wolf Bikepacking weekend. Thank you!

Cedaero  Two Harbors based bike bag sewers and designers are the best in the business! Dan and his talented band of makers will be at Le Grand tent with plenty of freshly made bags.

Embark Maple Syrup Our Wisconsin based maple syrup suppliers. They are new and really bringing it this year. They will be supplying our checkpoints with packets of their finest syrup. And yes, they may or may not be in fox suits, climbing trees or otherwise cheering you on in the one and only Embark way.

Granite Gear A new sponsor for us this year is Two Harbors natives, Granite Gear. We are very glad to have them part of The Fox and The Wolf. For 36 years, Granite Gear has brought cutting-edge products to the outdoor industry. Their award-winning backpacks, adventure travel gear, extensive variety of storage sacks, lifestyle accessories, and canoe gear offer excellence in design and construction. Granite Gear’s desire is for all outdoor enthusiasts and travelers to experience the incredible durability and comfort of their products. Located in Northern Minnesota, just minutes from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Superior Hiking Trail, they have a rugged and beautiful testing ground for their products. Learn more at granitegear.com and follow along on Instagram.

Lake Superior Dental Associates This amazing crew! They generously supply bikepacking approved toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste. We will have the healthiest bikepackers in the country again this year. Thanks for your gracious support!

Loll Designs Duluth based modern, outdoor furniture makers have been long time supporters of all things cycling in the region.

Lovin Lake County The resource for all of your Lake County vacation and lodging needs.

Velocity USA We are so lucky to have Velocity USA Wheels sponsoring our bikepacking events this year! Our fastest overall racer will win a beautiful set of Cliffhanger Comp wheels in purple, with a dyno hub! These are some of the best wheels in the business and I have used Velocity’s for years.

Visit Cook County Original partners of Heck of the North Prodcutions. If only every event company could have a county based resource like Visit Cook County. Your go-to for Grand Marais and Cook County travel, event and logistical information. 

Voyageur Brewing Company Enjoy one of their great craft beers and delicious menu items. We appreciate their support from day one. Be generous and kind to their hard working crew!

Endurance Coaching

Hello Graveleers!

I get riders asking me about specific training techniques or workouts for gravel cycling. I’m always happy to share what I have done over the last 20 years. I’m fascinated by endurance physiology and how our bodies can adapt to handle new challenges such as those presented by endurance racing and activities. But I would never pretend to know the latest in strategies for coaching.

I want to share a recommendation for next level coaching and instruction. Will Surbaugh is a long time rider of Heck events, a local Grand Marais guy (now living and racing in the Western US) and an all-round nice guy. His racing success continues to grow with an overall win at the Lutsen 99er and several top ten finishes in the sport’s most difficult races.

If you are looking for someone to guide you to your top performance for a Heck event or another personal challenge, please contact him. He’s happy to work with both novice racers as well as seasoned athletes. Contact him by filling out this information page!

Will at the finish of his first Heck!

A Fox Bikepacking Thank You!

Our Toughest Award to Elena Bantle and Vanessa Van Cleve photo Jeremy

Thank you all for a really great second edition of The Fox! We feel so fortunate that we were able to spend the weekend with such a friendly and talented pack of cyclists. Congratulations on your efforts! We are already planning the 2024 event.

A special thank you to Josh Kowaleski for capturing images from the race. Please feel free to download and share as you choose. Please purchase prints via his Pointed North Photography website. Images are almost ready!

We have the best volunteers in the world. Lara and Ron at the checkpoints and Julie and Alison the sweeps. Thank you so much for your time and expertise.

Thank you to our dedicated sponsors. Please remember them as you gear up for your next adventure. A special thanks to Dan at Cedaero for awards and Jill from Velocity USA for the beautiful wheelset!

For those riders that were in contact with the aggressive driver, we are building a case and I will not rest until this person receives the legal justice he deserves. Stay tuned.

Here are a few photos of the age category winners. Great work!

Ride the Good Line

Jeremy and Avesa

Jake Bailey overall fastest Fox Racer! photo Jeremy

Janie Dunckley the fastest overall female Fox Racer photo Jeremy

Henry Walker fastest male 50-59 photo Jeremy

Mary Gorski fastest female 60-69 photo Jeremy

Ben Schlipf fastest 30-39 photo Jeremy

Daniel Novak fastest male 19-29 photo Jeremy

Wren Galloway fastest overall 18 and Younger! photo Jeremy

Laura Hermer fastest female 50-59 photo Jeremy

Buck Benson fastest overall 70+ photo Jeremy

Phil Higley fastest male 60-69 photo Jeremy

Best sweeps ever, Julie and Alison photo Jeremy

Alan McEwan winner of Velocity Blunt wheelset! photo Jeremy

Sponsors for The Fox Bikepacking Race

Photo by Josh Kowaleski Pointed North Photography

We are so grateful for the amazing business partners that help bring our events to life. We work only with the best in the business and are proud of the relationships we have built over the years. North Shore, Minnesota, and USA made products that add greatness to the gravel cycling community. Please consider these partners when shopping for your provisions or planning your Fox Bikepacking weekend. Thank you!

Cedaero  Two Harbors based bike bag sewers and designers are the best in the business! Dan and his talented band of makers will be at Le Grand tent with plenty of freshly made bags.

Embark Maple Syrup Our Wisconsin based maple syrup suppliers. They are new and really bringing it this year. They will be supplying our checkpoints with packets of their finest syrup. And yes, they may or may not be in fox suits, climbing trees or otherwise cheering you on in the one and only Embark way.

Granite Gear A new sponsor for us this year is Two Harbors natives, Granite Gear. We are very glad to have them part of The Fox and The Wolf. For 36 years, Granite Gear has brought cutting-edge products to the outdoor industry. Their award-winning backpacks, adventure travel gear, extensive variety of storage sacks, lifestyle accessories, and canoe gear offer excellence in design and construction. Granite Gear’s desire is for all outdoor enthusiasts and travelers to experience the incredible durability and comfort of their products. Located in Northern Minnesota, just minutes from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Superior Hiking Trail, they have a rugged and beautiful testing ground for their products. Learn more at granitegear.com and follow along on Instagram.

Lake Superior Dental Associates This amazing crew! They generously supply bikepacking approved toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste. We will have the healthiest bikepackers in the country again this year. Thanks for your gracious support!

Loll Designs Duluth based modern, outdoor furniture makers have been long time supporters of all things cycling in the region.

Lovin Lake County The resource for all of your Lake County vacation and lodging needs.

Velocity USA We are so lucky to have Velocity USA Wheels sponsoring our bikepacking events this year! We will be giving away a beautiful set of Blunt 35 wheels in gold, with a dyno hub! These are some of the best wheels in the business and I have used Velocity’s for years.

Visit Cook County Original partners of Heck of the North Prodcutions. If only every event company could have a county based resource like Visit Cook County. Your go-to for Grand Marais and Cook County travel, event and logistical information. 

Voyageur Brewing Company Enjoy one of their great craft beers and delicious menu items. We appreciate their support from day one. Be generous and kind to their hard working crew!

Le Grand Thank You

Haley at the finish. Photo by Josh Kowaleski

Thank you! Thank you for being part of an amazing edition of Le Grand du Nord. There is so much we are grateful for. An unbelievably dedicated and energetic volunteer team. Weather that will be impossible to beat. And most of all a gathering of cyclists that are truly Graveleer (see definition of this word!)

The dust has not even settled yet we are already planning for Le Grand du Nord 2024. We also have our Fox Bikepacking race coming up on July 1. Here are a few things to think about before we meet again:

Josh from Pointed North Photography is the person we have hired for the last two seasons to capture images at our events. His work and creative eye are outstanding. Here is the link to his Le Grand du Nord images. Please download and share as you please. If you are interested in purchasing a few, contact Josh via his webpage. We want to thank Anton Moody of Taiga Design + Build of Grand Marais for his generous support of our artistic endeavors at Le Grand.

I will remind everyone about the incredible Gravel for Good project we are currently supporting…as well as the other organizations we love to share with. Thanks for your generous donations to this work!

Before life reshapes our memories from the weekend, I want you to write down a few of your favorite moments from the Le Grand weekend. Maybe something cool you were thinking about while riding. Maybe something that caught your eye. A spark of an idea. A random bit of crud that gets stuck on repeat for 8 hours (I once had the theme song to Dora the Explorer on loop for 13 hours while racing the inaugural Chequamegon 100. I am still scarred from that…) I am cooking up an art piece for the end of the season and hoping for some perfect pieces. Stay tuned for this later…

Our Heck Store is open. Check out the goods!

Please consider one of our Sponsors when shopping for gravel provisions!

Results can be had at Duluth Timing and Events. Thanks Kris and Carrie for your awesome work!

Most of all, know that you did something great this weekend. You hung out with friends and family in a beautiful part of the world. And you got to ride your bike and challenge yourself. Thanks for being part of Le Grand du Nord.

Jeremy and Avesa and the Le Grand team