Registration and Some Heck Thoughts

photo Jeremy Kershaw

Welcome Welcome Welcome all you Graveleers!

Registration for the 2023 Heck of the North Productions season starts Tuesday, January 3. Please note that we continue to fill our events faster each year. Thank you for your interest and participation in past Heck races. You are the reason we do what we do.

A few thoughts before the craziness begins:

• We adjusted prices this year to levels we think are fair. Our goal is to bring the best event at a price that is reasonable for most. If there are any riders who are currently without the means and have never tried gravel racing before, please email me at jeremybkershaw@gmail.com. We will help get you to the start line.

• Riders 18 and younger will ride for free with an adult that is riding with them on course. So cool to see young riders getting into this beautiful sport!

• You may notice that we do not appear in many big-time magazines or on ESPN. Here’s the deal. We do our events the way we want to. We keep our prices low so that entry fees do not go to cash pay-outs for a few super fast riders or corporate sponsors. We do not cater to professional riders. Our focus is on creating beautiful courses, serving riders of all speeds, welcoming new cyclists to the world of gravel racing and producing events that leave you wanting more cycling in your life. There are many fine gravel events to choose from these days which is a really good thing.

Thank you for considering being part of the Heck experience this season. Please email me with questions.

Be Graveleer (what does Graveleer mean?!?) this year!

Ride the Good Line

Jeremy Kershaw

jeremybkershaw@gmail.com

The Fox and The Wolf, Bikepacking events for Summer 2023

photo Jeremy Kershaw

We are going all in this coming Summer 2023. Not only are we hosting our well received, shorter bikepacking event, The Fox but also our longest bikepacking race ever, The Wolf.

The concept of our bikepacking events are somewhat hybrid. We know the challenge and experiences achieved by racing during the day. But we also love the small community of participants we get to share each night. We think it is the best of both worlds; adventure race travel by day and time spent with other amazing people around the fire at night.

The Fox is a great introduction to the world of bikepack style racing. It’s two days, one night and each day is about 65 miles. We had a blast hosting it this Summer and we can’t wait to go again July 1-2, 2023.

The Wolf is something that has been cooking for over two years. Rising from the bones of our Heck Epic, The Wolf is a three day, three night trip traveling from Two Harbors to Ely to Grand Marais back to Two Harbors. Each day is about 100 miles of amazing North Shore wildness. The Wolf will run from July 21-23, 2023.

Both events are timed and all riders must carry the equipment they need for sleeping out under the stars. Breakfasts and simple aid station each day will be supplied by our team. Suppers will be on you in town.

We will be capping each event at 75 riders (for camping reasons.) Registration for ALL Heck of the North Production events will begin January 3 via this website and BikeReg.com. Stay tuned for details as we get logistics set for Summer.

Ride the Good Line,

Jeremy Kershaw

Logos by Andrea Halligan of Duluth

logo by Andrea Halligan of Duluth

Chloe and Bodee and their Fox Stories

Thank you to the good folks at BIKEPACKING.com for covering our stories from The Fox, our Summer bikepacking race. Thanks to Duluth DEVO Mountain Bike Program for fostering young athletes and the parents who support! And special thanks to Bodee and Chloe for taking the extra time to write up their stories! Great work all around!

https://bikepacking.com/news/2022-the-fox-stage-race/

Todd McFadden, Bodee McFadden and Chloe Leege finishing The Fox. Photo by Josh Kowaleski

Gravel for Good 2022

This mural was completed in August 2017 by NSRGNTS (lead artist Votan Ik), with help from over 50 community members who came to assist the artists in finishing the designs on the jingle dress. The mural is located at Gimaajii-Mino-Bimaadizimin (202 W. 2nd Street, Duluth, MN) overlooking our solar rooftop gardens.

Our way of giving back to local communities. Each organization will receive $500 from Heck of the North Productions

We are proud to donate to the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO.) In their words: “We started with nothing. Today, we offer an American Indian Community Center, 44 units of permanent supportive housing, a domestic violence emergency shelter, legal advocacy, a climate and cultural resiliency initiative, social enterprise activities, youth programming and an arts and culture initiative. All of our work is anchored in our mission to honor the resiliency of Indigenous people by strengthening communities and centering Indigenous values in all aspects of our work. Our philosophy is that every American Indian person deserves to live in non-violent and non-threatening environment and has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.”

We feel honored to be partnering with New Horizons Foundation and the transformative work being carried out by Dana and Brandi Bates (and our local friend, Dave Nonnemacher of Duluth!) in the Jiu River Valley of Transylvania, Lupeni (say ‘Lu-pen’), Romania our gravel cycling Sister City.

We are proud to sponsor the Northwoods Cycling Team in Two Harbors and Lake County. This team will promote local racing, training and cycling education options for all levels of cyclists.

We will also be donating to the Superior Cycling Association in Grand Marais and Cook county. This organization works to build trail and promote cycling in this beautiful part of the world.

Duluth, Grand Marais, Ely and Two Harbors are fortunate to have strong and growing cycling communities. But more could always be done. We hope to contribute toward making cycling more accessible to all ages and incomes in our region. Thanks for helping out.

-Jeremy Kershaw (founder)

Remember That Time...!

Photo by Josh Kowaleski at Pointed North Photography

Remember that time when…?!

Registration for Le Grand du Nord and The Heck of the North goes live on January 3, 2023 via this Heck of the North Productions website.

Le Grand du Nord is Saturday, May 27, 2023.

Heck of the North is Saturday, September 30, 2023.

We are still working on The Fox and The Wolf. Stay tuned! And remember, weddings, pandemics, insurrections and general road rash are not allowed on those dates. Thanks for your consideration.

Thanks and Ride the Good Line!