MN/IA/WI century in late summer?

[RedCanny]

Hi Ladies-
My fiancé and I are looking for a good century (or even a half century would be good) to train for & do, in Aug., Sept., or Oct. somewhere in or near Minnesota. Can you offer any suggestions? Not much is posted yet on midwestevents.com (just a lot of races). The Leinenkugel one in Chippewa Falls on May 28 would be fun... but that's the weekend before our wedding.

[Duck on Wheels]

CONGRATULATIONS! Have a fun wedding!

As for bike rides, I found a lot of them (but not all) listed at
http://www.mikebentley.com/bike/mwrides.htm

Month by month. Most of the mid-West included. Also old lists archived. Links provided to rides' own web sites. Some rides are not on the lists. I found a few more by following links from the links.

[SadieKate]

You have to verify everything, but this site will at least give you some rides to research. He has a tendency to list rides that occured last year without knowing if they will occur this year.

http://www.centuryrides.com/

Also, you might check to see if the club for the America's Dairyland Race Team is putting on an annual ride. They have the cutest jerseys. We even see a few out here.

[RedCanny]

Thank you for the suggestions! I'll check out those links... and maybe stop by an LBS or two (I haven't been to one in several months...still waiting for The Thaw) to see if much is posted yet.

And thanks for the wedding congrats, bikeless.

[janetsplanet]

The weekend after Labor Day there is a great century in Door County.
It is great scenery and well marked and supported.

[RedCanny]

Ah! I have always wanted to visit Door County; have heard wonderful things about it. We may do that one!

[VenusdeVelo]

RedCanny,
We've done a few centuries now in WI and I can say without a doubt, the Door County Century (this year I believe it's Sep 10th) is the most beautiful one we've done. The scenery and routes are great. They used to even ride thru one of the towns (Fish Creek) which was average and since have removed that part of the route and made it even better.

Start your trip out at a White Gull Inn Fish Boil on Friday night (the *best*). Spend the weekend, Door County is really pretty. The century is in Sevastopol, which is actually right at Sturgeon Bay which is the "door" to the Door County area. We often stay at the Chanticleer when we do it as it's a great B&B. We learned, don't leave on Sunday. After the century it's nice to go back to your b&b and enjoy a nice long bath. Sometimes a fire...it can be chillier in Sep at times.

You could also opt to stay in Fish Creek or Sister Bay, they're about 30 minutes from where the century starts.

Have fun!