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Results submission for Individual Time Trial (ITT) / Fastest Known Time (FKT) on the Tour de Nicolet course. If you want to take a stab on the course we’d love to hear about it! Please reach out here so we can promote your attempt and follow along!

SoNic 1.2 route (225 miles) - Male singlespeed - Shane Hitz

23 hours, 46 minutes

June 19-20, 2023

Shane Hitz set the FKT on 6/20/23 on his first ever overnight ride.

“This route is hard, no doubt about it. It has two sections of old school singletrack the first being four miles long. Because it was an ITT I needed to do all four of the vistas and not skip a thing. It has about 20% roads that are gnarly chunk or unrelenting sand. The sand is worse this year because of the drought. This area hasn’t had meaningful rain since the beginning of May so in a normal year the sand would be a bit tamer. I was running a bit heavy with food and water. The heat was cranking so I did use almost all of the four liters I was carrying on one section but I brought food back. The bike I used was a bone stock Surly Karate Monkey single speed 32/20 gearing with 2.25 tires. Some great food stops treated me well on the route. White Lake Market has the best sandwiches anywhere. Had a breakfast sandwich there. Northern Delites in Lakewood is a burger and ice cream stand only open in the summer. And Wabee Lodge has a great soup and salad bar with a big menu. The wildlife was unforgettable too. Saw a coyote right off the bat. And then riding at night was magical with all of the fireflies.”

Read Shane’s full writeup here.

SoNic 1.2 route (225 miles) - Female singlespeed - waiting to be claimed

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SoNic 1.2 route (225 miles) - male geared - Chris Schotz

19 hours 19 minutes

August 26, 2023

Chris Schotz set the FKT on 8/26/2023

“I’ve ridden the Tour de Nicolet over this terrain with Shane several times so I know there are amazing places to eat all over on the route, but when Shane wanted me to see how fast the SoNic could be done I passed all the good eating and resupplied at two gas stations along the way which was sufficient with two bottles, a hydration pack and ideal weather. I normally run a loaded Fargo with 29x2.6 tires, but for the FKT I rode a stripped down gravel bike with 700x50 tires - the minimum to get it done. Shane is upfront about how tough some of this terrain can be. It’s an adventure with a few grinds and great rewards. Riding the SoNic in one go is a lot like the infamous Crusher up in Michigan - enhanced gravel with truck road surprises.”
"Trust the SoNic gpx route because it will take you to unexpected places from the snowmobile trail grass right off the bat to the Crotch Vegas refreshment stand. Around mile 50 SoNic encounters the legendary Nicolet-Roche singletrack known for massive boulders and the Wolfman Triathlon that will be coming the opposite direction Saturday morning only. It’s an old school trail ride with tricks that leads to the Humble Hill area where you can expect to push up at least three rocky climbs. It’s a remote truck road that seems interminable until it’s over and you zoom to Cathedral Pines. The climb to the Mountain fire tower is steep and rewarding.”
”On the Nicolet Trail around Lakewood the side-by-side ATVs start to become abundant. Just smile and wave. They’re nice enough and always have a cooler. They might offer a beer if you show off or something. It was just a Miller Lite, but it left me able to navigate the loose rock and washboards approaching Butler Rock where you cut across on a hiking trail with a separate out-and-back hike up to the summit which is short and worth the effort. You’ll see other out-and-back spurs to an interesting abandoned fish hatchery with a secret waterfall and another to the Thunder Mountain summit which takes a real climb of just over a mile. Around mile 150 there’s a ragged two-track off of Knowles Creek Road that takes you to an even more ragged scramble up to the Big Rock overlook that might be the best view on the ride. The rest of the route keeps changing just like the rest - pavement, sand, rock, narrow, wide, often isolated, never urban. I saw a fairly good sized bear at dusk on the muddy mile made famous in the Bear 100 gravel race. The bear went away when I told it where to go. Have fun and be prepared for the unexpected.”

Full Tour de Nicolet route (365 miles) - male geared - Shane hitz

56 hours, 24 minutes

Shane Hitz set the FKT on 8/2/23.

“The first 100 miles are the toughest terrain going in the counter-clockwise direction,” said Shane. “Waubee Lodge was clutch at mile 140 for their soup and salad bar. Camping in dispersed spots in the National Forest is always a magical experience when doing stuff like this.”

“Definitely had a tough go at this on day one. Ended the first night at around 10:00. I was pretty gutted but thanks to a friend for inspiring me to get rest and rethink my situation in the morning. We had a long conversation that night and he told me it never always gets worse. So Tuesday I woke up, felt renewed, went through the first set of muddy two track having fun and was back in a better set of mind. I put in a nice 160ish mile day, rode til just past midnight under an amazing full moon, set up camp in an amazing, very unfavorable area for a tent site, and went to bed knowing I only had 65 to finish it off. Spent a lot of the last day jumping in creeks and lakes because of the heat, just having fun. Came home and celebrated with a great beer from URSA Minor Brewing out of Duluth, a boysenberry cherry sour ale.”

Full Tour de Nicolet route (365 miles) - FEmale geared - waiting to be claimed

If you desire to push your limits, let us know!

Full Tour de Nicolet route (365 miles) - male singlespeed- waiting to be claimed

If you desire to push your limits, let us know!

Full Tour de Nicolet route (365 miles) - FEMale singlespeed - waiting to be claimed

If you desire to push your limits, let us know!