USA Cycling just announced that the 2025 and 2026 Gravel National Championships are coming to La Crosse/La Crescent in the Driftless region. This region has a uniquely rich gravel history that looks forward to welcoming a national audience of gravel cyclists and fans over the next 2 years.
Story by Chris Stindt
Maybe you saw the announcement, but if not, USA Cycling Gravel National Championships are heading to the La Crosse area in 2025 and 2026. One week after Chequamegon 40, the final stop on the Life Time Grand Prix, riders from around the country will descend on La Crosse, and La Crescent, Minnesota.
The Driftless, as we call this little corner of paradise, is really centered around these river towns. Bisected by the Mississippi River, the area is home to 500 foot bluffs, endless trout streams, and some pretty neat bike riding. Use your best mental voice for Bill Nye as you read the following: the Driftless region is in the southwest section of Wisconsin, the southeastern section of Minnesota and a bit of the corners of Iowa and Illinois.
Over the past several ice ages the area remained untouched, unglaciated, and was not filled in, or ‘drifted’, as all of the areas surrounding it are.
This has created an outdoor paradise, which is also a cycling paradise.
Where's The Beef
I had a bit of a gravel beef with gravel pro pioneer Ted King this year.
When he went to the northwest US, he commented about the hills and how it wasn’t "flat like the midwest".
He didn’t know we had a beef, but c’mon this is Wisconsin; we got more cows per capita than anywhere else in the world.
Suffice to say, it’s anything but flat here.
The Driftless is truly a gem, and in fact, arguably, the birthplace of the modern gravel movement.
Driftless Gravel History
In 2007 a guy by the name of Chris Skogen started a little free bike race, the Almanzo 100, on gravel roads a couple hours west of these future gravel nats.
It was free, and it blew up, ending up with nearly 1500 racers before Skogen pulled the plug.
I recently spent a weekend volunteering with Skogen and it was a really cool experience getting to hear his insights on how things have changed and how they could be better yet. Anyway, Skogen ended the Almanzo 100, but his legacy lived on. He was recently inducted into the gravel hall of fame.
During that time, Additionally, some guys racing Almanzo from the Minneapolis area felt like their cyclocross bikes weren’t really adequate and they created the OG gravel bike - the Salsa Warbird. Were there other gravel bikes? Maybe. You could even argue all road bikes are gravel bikes, but this was the first mass produced, gravel specific bike and it came out of an idea from the Driftless.
Ope, Scuse Me
The region has hosted a few other gravel races over the years. Perhaps the original was the ‘skullsplitter’ which was pretty grassroots and at one point was an uphill enduro, well ahead of its time. Former race director for the La Crosse Omnium TJ Brooks shattered his elbow in an early edition, and it drew riders from around the Midwest.
More recent are two very midwestern gravel races, the Hot Dish and Old Fashioned Gravel.
Gravel pro, and Lifetime Grand Prix athlete, Chase Wark just held his third annual Hot Dish gravel race. Chase calls the Driftless home, and bases a lot of his training on these roads. There is a sketchy minimum maintenance road halfway through the race, which Chase calls ‘Ope Hill’. He literally serves hot dish (aka casserole) after the race, and as neat as the idea is, I wasn’t able to consume any after this year's event ended in near 90 degree and humid temps.
Paul Reardon, of Blue Steel Bikes, is a world renowned mechanic. Paulie just started the ‘Old Fashioned Gravel’ race, named after one of the Midwest’s favorite beverages. (Side note, the other is probably BEER, and La Crosse is home to the world’s largest 6-pack of beer, and no this isn’t a joke, and yes, you should get a picture when you come.) Paulie is a mechanic for EF Education-ONTO, as well as USA Cycling, he also builds custom bikes, oh and just for fun he’s putting on a gravel race.
It will have vibes, and you can still register for the early October event.
It would be a shame not to mention the other local Driftless gravel races as well. Dairy Roubaix is currently run near Viroqua, WI, by Pete Taylor and the great folks at Blue Dog Cycles. And of course you have Trenton Raygor, who is a future entrant into the gravel hall of fame. He ran the Filthy 50 for 10 years before taking a pause this year, and it’s perhaps the most quintessential Driftless gravel race. He also is part of the crew that operates The Day Across Minnesota, 240 miles across the entire state, ending in the Wisconsin Driftless.
What to Expect When You're Expecting a National Championship
Ok, so enough of the history; what about the future?
What can you expect when you come here to ride or race?
I’m going to say bring your climbing legs and fast gravel tires. I’ve been riding and racing on gravel here for about 10 years and I’ve pretty much seen it all.
Road surface: usually very fast. Occasionally fresh gravel but mostly smooth with some kitty litter over hardpack. Some folks will always be comfortable on bigger tires, but those who will be taking home national championships will be on fast rolling stock. I currently ride an allroad bike with clearance for 35c gravel tires and I’ve made it work. At the recent Hot Dish the conditions were right, and I actually won the 100k - but I sent it down Ope Hill because at heart I’m a mountain biker, so make sure you match your equipment with your ability.
Twists and Turns
Speaking of sending it… This is not Unbound.
You won’t find many (any?) long straight flat roads on the gravel here. In fact, if the map has a straight line, it’s almost certainly 100 foot gravel rollers.
Otherwise expect a lot of squiggly lines.
The Bluffs
Expect very hard hills (bring a low, low climbing gear) and very fast descents. I had a buddy lose traction on a decreasing radius turn halfway down a descent and he ended up crashing off the road at almost 40 miles an hour. Two ambulance rides and a week in the hospital with a collapsed lung later, he went home. And at the Hot Dish I’ve hit 50 miles an hour on one of the gravel descents…which I don’t recommend.
Once the race courses are finalized I’ll do a detailed course analysis. For now, if you’re curious about places to stay and eat, check out my gravel biking guide for La Crosse!
I And if you want to come out for a warm up, I can highly recommend the La Crosse Omnium as a 3-day road race the first weekend in May. The gravel pros coming in 2025 won’t be the first pro racers here. A youthful Matteo Jorgenson (yeah the guy from the Tour), won the Omnium as a junior. And look where he is now…
See You in the Driftless Region?
In the early days of internet memes there was a nerdy nature lover who enjoyed neature. He thought it was pretty neat and wanted you to think so too. That’s how I feel about riding gravel in the Driftless region. I hope the midwestern puns didn’t put you off too much, because you’d really be missing out. The region is going to break through to the national scene; this isn’t a place you come to once a year because of the event.
It’s a place you ride and it gets in your gravel soul, and you come to pre-ride, and then to race, and then just for vacation or fun or optional suffering, and maybe you even think about buying an affordable house in a great place.
Let’s start with a visit first though, eh? See ya real soon!
Chris Stindt has called La Crosse and the Driftless region home for almost 15 years. He fell in love with riding a bike here, and the cycling community is like family. Chris is the parent of two young riders, the Team Director for the NICA team (one of the largest in Wisconsin), race director for the La Crosse Omnium and ORA Trails Fest WORS race. He rides all the bikes, is a Jakroo All Star and is a regular contributor to the Nxrth. He also works part time for Wisconsin Bike Fed and full time for the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Reach out with any media or gravel inquiries, he’s excited to host everyone and share his love for the Driftless.
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