Registration Reminder

Ready to roll! Photo Josh Kowaleski

It’s hard to believe but registration for all Heck of the North Productions events begins January 1, 2024.

We welcome all levels of riders to our gravel and bikepacking events. We especially appreciate those who may have never ridden in a gravel cycling event. We know it can be intimidating! The best way to get over some of those jitters is to reach out to someone who has ridden one of our events before. That means emailing us or one of our Gravel Go-To’s to ask any question you may have about this style of cycling. Yes…our events are tough. Some distances (the 100 milers) and (The Wolf Bikepacking Race) may be out of reach for a beginner. But I believe with proper training, a reliable bicycle and realistic expectations…you can be a Graveleer in 2024.

Please use the registration buttons found in each event’s Registration Page to start the process. BikeReg is our registration platform again for 2024.

We know that you have many options for events in 2024. What a great time to be a cyclist! We thank you for what you bring to our races. They just would not be the same without YOU!

Jeremy Kershaw

Registration and The Fox Date

Deep into The Fox Photo Josh Kowaleski

We are both waiting for good snow and also planning for Summer gravel and bikepacking. Please note this important change to our 2024 schedule!

The Fox Bikepacking Race is now June 22-23, 2024. We were kindly informed about a double booking with our good friends at the Lutsen 99er on the last weekend of June. We are moving The Fox to the new date of June 22-23. We sincerely apologize for any hiccups to vacation planning/booking we may have caused by this change. We hope you can join us at this earlier date!

Registration for all Heck of the North Production events goes live January 1, 2024. We typically do not crash any servers…but we are certainly filling up faster each year. We thank you for your participation. We have the best people in cycling both racing and supporting the events. We are truly grateful for the spirit and energy you bring. It is inspiring.

Until then, keep active, be outside, surround yourself with good people and Ride the Good Line!

Jeremy Kershaw

The Flight

Ross emerging from the wilderness, Knife River crossing, Heck 2023. Photo Josh Kowaleski

In 2019, we introduced a special award for the season called The Flight. This award recognized racers that completed all three Heck of the North Productions events that year; Le Grand du Nord 100 mile, The Heck Epic 220 mile and The Heck of the North 100 mile. Then the world got all weird.

This year we were wacky enough to offer four Heck Productions events; Le Grand du Nord, The Fox Bikepacking Race, The Wolf Bikepacking Race and The Heck of the North. With pandemics, floods and wild fires, we just do not have the audacity to assume all of our events will actually happen in a given year anymore. But, as luck would have it (with some really amazing people, too!), we pulled them all off in 2023.

When we went through our lists of finishers, we felt not only obliged, but also honored to recognize a certain rider this year. And that special person is Duluth’s Ross Fraboni. Ross completed Le Grand du Nord 100, The Fox Bikepacking Race (120 mile), The Wolf Bikepacking Race (330 mile) and The Heck of the North 100 with the grace and style that none only Fraboni can produce. For that effort and dedication, we are awarding him The Flight Award; a three night stay at Bearskin Lodge, way up on the Gunflint Trail. Thank you Ross (and thanks to our sponsor friends at Bearskin Lodge!)

Here’s another bit of Ross Fraboni trivia that we especially admire. He is, by our calculations, the only rider who has completed every Heck 100 race since our beginning in 2009 (that’s 14 of them.) And not only finish, but usually within the top 10. Holy smokes.

We also want to give a huge congrats to our participants who finished three Heck Productions events this year: Kevin Kaiser (who almost got the Flight award, too) Mary Gorski, Gina McCafferty, Elana Bantle, Devin Koob, Rob Weum, Patrick Pawlowski, Eric Storbakken and Alan McEwan. These are some seriously hearty Heck racers and we appreciate your dedication to our events. Thank you!

This month, we will be looking at our notes from the events over coffee and wine and maybe both. We will look at what worked and what needs tuning. We will be keeping it as Heck worthy as we can. We will finalize dates for events, too. Stay tuned for all of this and more.

And if you have not read this by Avesa, Jeremy Got Sick So Avesa Took Charge and Slam Dunked The Biggest Heck of the North Ever please do. Our friend Josh at The Nxrth does good work.

Until then, Ride the Good Line

Jeremy

Kate Ratkovich is one talented athlete herself. Kate recently finished The Fox this Summer along with some really long trail running events. Together, Ross and Kate are a pretty badass team. Thanks for all that you bring to our events. (Ross usually wears shoes during races.) Photo Jeremy

Thank you

Taking the reigns. Avesa rocked it! Photo Pointed North Photography

Our hearts are filled again after this edition of The Heck of the North Gravel Classic. With me working from the sidelines with Covid and Avesa taking the reigns in full…we both feel an immense sense of gratitude for our amazing team of volunteers. And we are so thankful that Heck riders continue to be fantastic people. I say it every year, but it is because of the incredible energy and spirit you bring to the event why we keep doing our best each gravel season. And again, Avesa Rockwell was a star heading up the event! Thank you!

Results. Please see the Heck Results page or visit Duluth Timing & Events Please contact them if you have a discrepency about time or event distance.

Awards!

  • Fastest Female 105 Mile Race: Risa Hustad 6:44:26

  • Fastest Male 105 Mile Race: Dalton Collins 5:24:48

  • Toughest 105 Mile Race: Casey Dickinson and Lisa Byrne 10:17:16

  • Fastest Female 56 Mile Race: Emily Flynn 3:09:57

  • Fastest Male 56 Mile Race: Sean Cooley 2:28:31

  • Toughest 56 Mile Race: Britta Peterson 8:37:10

  • Fastest Female 20 Mile Race: Marilyn Ailey 1:13:34

  • Fastest Male 20 Mile Race: 1:10:26

  • Toughest 20 Mile Race: 3:29:36

Photos. Josh at Pointed North Photography will have race photos ready later this week. I prioritize photographic work at our events and I think Josh has done an incredible job this season of capturing the feel of the races. These photos are free for you to download and share. Unfortunately, with me away from the finish line, I was not able to grab my batch of shots…including the fastest and slowest and everyone in between. Please share those photos with me and I look forward to getting them our into the world!

Sponsors. Thank you to our business sponsors that help bring really cool product to our events. We appreciate your support!

Heck Store. If you missed a sale at the event, we will have our Heck Store restocked online later this week. Shop online and we will get Heck gear shipped your way.

2024. We, of course, start planning the next season as soon as the last rider crosses the line. Stay tuned for event dates by the end of October. He hope to have you back!

The crossing of the Knife. Leaders in deep. Photo Pointed North Photography