Our Guiding Beliefs

This is Graveleer. Photo Josh Kowaleski

Hello! 

Welcome to the 2024 season of Heck of the North Productions events. Here are some thoughts we want to share.

We just opened the volunteer signup for Le Grand du Nord. We rely on our amazing volunteers to sustain our events. Thank you! Le Grand du Nord Volunteer 

We know that gravel cycling has been evolving and that is a good thing. We know you have choices on where you ride, which events you do and how you spend your hard-earned money and time. We do our best to host events that we would want to be part of. Here are a few of our values about our gravel and bikepacking events: 

• Courses: The courses that we design have to be beautiful and challenging. When I ride them, I need to feel that they are routes that make a rider feel alive, inspired and connected to this special part of the world. Simply, I think we have some of the grandest gravel and bikepacking courses in the country.

• Stewardship: We recognize that we are often visitors to the roads and country and towns where we host our events. We live on the North Shore, but we know that we borrow these things. We do our best to be good stewards of the resources. We value the relationships that we have built over the years with our partners and we know that we can always do more. We like that our riders are great gravel citizens at our events.

• Accessibility: We learned after a few years of producing Heck events that gravel cycling was never really free. We believe in a fair price that helps sustain our business but keeps the price to ride reasonable. We invite kids to ride for free with an adult. We gladly assist those that want to ride but may not have the financial means.

• Rewards: Yes, we love to see the fastest race to the finish and we recognize these amazing efforts (and that includes the Toughest/Slowest of the day, too.) But our races are for those who ride for the pure love of cycling, not to win a cash prize or stand on a podium. We believe the journey of the day is the biggest reward.

• Graveleer: Riding gravel is tough. We expect participants to have put in training. But we welcome everyone who is up for the challenge. And we expect that our participants are equally welcoming to those new people at the event. We encourage those that have felt the beauty of this type of cycling to spread the word and bring someone new to the sport and maybe even to one of our events.

We are excited as ever to share our events with you this 2024 season. We encourage you to be Graveleer. We expect you to be fierce in your determination. And we hope that you walk away from the weekend with that spirit glowing inside of you until next time.

Ride the Good Line!

Jeremy 

Graveleer: Noun: 1. A cyclist who prefers racing, touring and exploring gravel and dirt roads.

Graveleering: Verb: 1. To race, tour and explore by bicycle on gravel and dirt roads.

to be Graveleer: Adjective: To be welcoming, adventurous and strong during a (cycling or life) challenge

“Ride the Good Line:”  To actively find and take the line in the gravel, trail or life that offers the best path forward.

Rays of Light!

Note the Heck of the North backing on one of the light boxes. Who would have dreamed?

Amazing the times we live in. What light and energy can do for someone. How a relatively small group of people, their energy and passion and compassion, can help improve lives thousands of miles away.

Our friend Dave Nonnemacher of Duluth has been one of the key drivers of this simple yet unbelievably complex project, Ray of Life. In August, we helped build four light boxes. Running low on the plastic backing needed for the light board, I repurposed an old Heck sign. It worked perfectly. That box, pictured above by pure luck, is now in the hands of someone in Ukraine.

Dave writes, “A long trip: from the warehouse of Hand to Hand Logistics, located in Isanti MN, to the port of Gdynia Poland, delayed at the Poland-Ukraine border due to a trucker's strike during the overland journey to Kotsyubinsky Ukraine; gathered in and then delivered to the Mariupol Chaplain's Battalion in Zaporizhzhia Ukraine by a faithful friend. Many Ray of Life kits have been distributed in the city of Zaporizhzhia and many more will be delivered to cities and villages by the faithful men and women of the Mariupol Chaplain's Battalion, who go where others don't. 118 Ray of Life kits and 100 VF100 water filters, assembled by church members and individuals in Minnesota, Iowa, West Virginia and Michigan were included in shipment #1. Shipment #2 is on its way to Ukraine, currently on a boat in the Atlantic. 

I was deeply moved by Dave’s work and the courage and compassion of those making the deliveries a reality. All I can say is thank you for your efforts.

Some Lessons from Out West

Fishing the Elk River, west of Steamboat. Photo Jeremy Kershaw

Maybe some of you have started following this story from Routt county and the SBT GRVL event, Steamboat, Colorado.

I have started seeing more commentary about it from some prominent voices in the world of gravel cycling. I was specially interested in the conflict for a few reasons.

My family and I were visiting friends in Steamboat this Summer, in fact, just days before the SBT GRVL event. A friend who lives in Steamboat and we rode a gravel route that is used in the race. We also hired a fly fishing guide that ranches on the same route along the Elk River. We found the course beautiful and the fishing outstanding. Our guide was a retired school teacher and do-it-all rancher who had long historical ties to the county and the land that surrounds the course. He was a joy to spend the day with. We felt lucky to share this part of the country with someone who knew so much about it.

I have obvious other reasons to be interested in this story. Our Heck of the North Productions events take place on rural, often remote and historically diverse parts of Minnesota. We differ from Routt county in some ways, for sure, namely in the ways in which resources are used by people who live here. I also think our routes have fewer residents on course compared to most gravel cyclings events.

I see one of the primary themes of this story centered around the idea of local vs visitor. But I think there are many others issues, too. Ownership vs Occasional Use. Rural vs Urban. Entitlement vs Hospitality. Profit vs Sustainability. Culture vs Culture. Gravel cycling is not immune to societal issues that we sometimes assume are only part of non-sporting life.

I think a lot about our Heck events and how to keep them relevant, unique, sustainable, and respected. I think this story unfolding in Colorado is a good reminder for us to assess how we manage our events here in Northern Minnesota. I also think it’s a very good time for all cyclists to consider and discuss what they want in gravel cycling experiences.

We (Heck of the North Productions) have grown slowly as gravel events go these days. I have faltered numerous times during my years of creating and hosting gravel cycling events. But I am certainly proud of the relationships that have grown in the process of building these events. I am keenly aware of the room for growth we have, too, both from a business perspective as well as a public user of resources on the North Shore of Minnesota.

We welcome feedback about our events and this place we call home. Please send us your thoughts at jeremybkershaw@gmail.com. We look forward to bringing the best gravel events possible this coming season.

Be Graveleer!

Jeremy Kershaw

Registration Begins January 1, 2024

Early morning depart, Day 2, The Wolf Bikepacking Race, Ely MN. Photo Josh Kowaleski

We are excited to remind you about the beginning of registration for all Heck of the North Productions events in 2024. Tomorrow, Monday, January 1 at 0600 is the start! Please access BikeReg registration sites via our Register Buttons at each event’s Registration Page.

We welcome volunteers to register after April 1, 2024. Thank you for considering to be part of the action on our support teams.

Please email Jeremy with any questions. jeremybkershaw@gmail.com.

2024 is the year to be Graveleer!

Our Sponsors

We want to give a final 2023 acknowledgment to our dedicated and awesome Sponsors. As you know, we carefully select businesses to partner with for our events. We love local: Duluth, North Shore, Minnesota and USA based companies. We love the creative and thoughtful products they bring to our races. We love their volunteer spirit and energy. And we appreciate their dedication to cycling and silent sport in general. Please consider them as a go-to business when shopping for your next gear or goodie purchase. Thank you and please consider being part of our 2024 event season!