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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 - set on June 19-20, 2023

“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 on his first ever overnight ride.

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

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

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

19 hours 19 minutes - set on August 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 - Nick Holzem

52 hours, 25 minutes - set on 9/27/25

“I had plans to ride the route during the Midwest Bike Pack Summit in September of 2024, but life had different plans. Late July I had a major injury where I fractured my calcaneus (heel) while mountain biking in Copper Harbor. The recovery was long and is still ongoing. I was non weight bearing for 3 months post-surgery, had to relearn to walk, and did not get back biking till spring of 25’.   

The timing for this ride could not have been much better. Trek bikes just released their new bikepacking bike, the Checkout, one that I had personally worked on as lead Cad Specialist.  What a fantastic way to celebrate the release and enjoy the labors of my work. I watched the weather reports and found a few days of dry and warm conditions, with elevated temperatures in the 70’s and overnights lows in the 40’s. 

I rode the Aurora Vistas route in the clockwise direction. I had originally planned to ride it evenly spaced over 3 days; 140, 130, and 90 the last day. This would put me at Morgan Lake and Bagley Rapids campgrounds each night with opportunities to rinse off in the lake/stream. But as I rode my thoughts of the last day and protentional of missing the FKT started settling in.  

The ride started out great. The new bike was performing well, and thoughts of gratitude ran through my mind - reflecting on months of the earlier fall working from my spare bed and not getting to enjoy the beauty of Wisconsin fall. Mile 40 I was cruising along, tackling the faster sections of the course right away. I scored a free cookie from the gas station clerk in Wabeno, her getting to the restroom was more important than running the transaction. Scored free cheese curds at Johnie’s Resort a short while later too. Thought they might serve food, I was wrong, and I was not looking to wait 20 minutes for a frozen pizza. Nice people there!  

I eventually made it to Morgan Creek campground right around dark (7pm) but did not want to stop yet. I pushed on hoping to make it Goodman Park campground. Unfortunately, I passed Armstrong Creek resupply after 9pm and they were closed. The bar next door was open and made me a cheese pretzel and filled my water bottles, and I headed on. I passed many occupied dispersed sites until I found an open one at mile 185 just before the Grotto of the Lost Hunter Shrine along the Peshtigo River.  

Day 2 blazed on. I started the day with a fun singletrack warmup through Strong Falls. Then pushed my new full suspension rig up Big Rock and had a blast riding down the steep technical chute.  A climb up Thunder Mountain then a quick cheeseburger and fries at Thunder Mountain Valley Inn. Butler Rock area was tough, loose big rock, and plenty of sand. Passing Bagley Rapids I shortly made it to the Mountain Lookout Tower and biked up just as the sun was about to set. A group of people were climbing down while a family waited at the bottom to go up. So, I skipped going up the tower and headed to Lakewood.  

In Lakewood I bought a slice of pizza, layered up, and put the lights on for a second night of riding. The section after Lakewood shares the steep ATV trails as the Pickerel Buck 40, these were even harder at night despite the ATV club doing some trail repairs since earlier this year. Night riding was slower than I imagined. I made it to the Nicolet Roche mountain bike section and finished my day similarly to how it started, riding mountain bike trails. I rolled into Boulder Lake Campground around 11 and got a nice campsite (#18) right on the lake and across from the eventually hot shower.  

Day 3 left me 45 miles to the finish. I quickly made it to the White Lake Market, an awesome resupply. I settled for an amazing fresh custard filled donut and hot chocolate; the deli was closed that Monday meaning no hot breakfast sandwich unfortunately. Next up a final long ascent up to the Kent Lookout tower, then all downhill from there. I rolled back into Jack Lake before noon and jumped in the clear and cool waters of Jack Lake.“

Prior FKT holder: Shane Hitz in 56 hours, 24 minutes - set 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!