Last Summer I saw on MBL a Post about a Race from MSP to CHI, and thought it sounded like fun. Eventually I got the idea to continue on to New York City and tossed the idea out there for all to shoot down. There were no comments at all as I recall.

So how about it? A Race from MSP to NYC? Leave on or about Sep 1st.

Either structured or 'freestyle':

Structured: Through La Crosse/Madison/Milwaukee/Chicago/Gary/Toledo/Cleveland/across Pennsylvania on Rouye V (http://www.dot.state.pa.us/bike/web/tour_routes.htm)/into Jersey to Newark/and across the Hudson to Manhattan.

Freestyle: However you can get there.

Bonus Points for Camping as opposed to Hotel/Motel stays.
Bonus-points for over 100-mile days/over 150-mile days/over 200-mile days.
Check-in nightly with cell-phone camera-shots of Town/City population-signs.
Scavenger-Hunt (TBD) Bonus Points.

And doing the Transportation Alternatives 5-Borough Century in NYC as the icing on the cake (Sunday Sep 18th).

AMTRAK home.

Off topic: I look at the index of threads and see the other thread in Tours and think, "That's like a GOTO loop" and then my head explodes.

While I actually did this suggested Route last Aug & Sep (in 16-days), I'm guessing that the reason for no replies/discussion is the time-commitment needed to make this idea a reality. So...

How about a 4-Day (5-Day?) Race from MSP to CHI?

Leave MSP Sat Sep 3rd, arr CHI Tue Sep 6th or Wed Sep 7th.

Mostly Trails from Marshland to Milwaukee: http://www.wisconline.com/attractions/biketrails.html

Self-Contained (No SAG) Camping: http://www.wisconline.com/attractions/W ... ounds.html

Point-System based on: 1-point per kilometer-traveled.

Bonus-Points for: 150k-day, 200k-day,250k-day; Sleeping in Campground as opposed to Hotel/Motel; Brewery Tour; Trail-use; other ideas?

AMTRAK Home where points will be tallied and awards given (Empire Builder CHI-MSP, leaves at 14:15 daily): http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak

I might possibly be in for the long one. Or a shorter one. I have no idea what this summer will bring me.

ditto...I for sure want to ride to Madison this summer/early fall so this could possibly work, but I have absolutely no way of knowing where things fall on weekends yet

OK, I'm back into this one:

A Race to Chicago.

Leaving the Twin Cities Thursday September 1st.

Suggested 5-day Race.

Points:

1-point per kilometer traveled (you'll need a Bike Computer)

Extra Points for 'Scavenger-Hunt' type items along the way so that the Race cannot be won simply by arriving in Chi first (you'll need a cell-phone camera or digital-camera):

X-number of points for sleeping in a campground
X-number of points for each gas-station hot-dog (from the rollers) eaten
X-number of points for each different Beer sampled on Race
X-number of points for Brewery-Tour or Cheese-House Tour
X-number of points for each different variety of pie sampled en route
X-number of points for each Bicycle Path used

You get the idea-- help me flesh this out.

Route is basically:

Day 1 Thur: 130k
MSP thru Hastings, Welch, Red Wing, Maiden Rock, Stockholm, to Pepin (first nite camp)

Day 2 Fri: 170k
Pepin thru Trempealeau to Great River Trail, thru Onalaska to Lacrosse River Trail, thru Sparta to Elroy/Sparta Trail, to roughly Norwalk (2nd nite camp)

Day 3 Sat: 210k
Norwalk thru Elroy to the 400 Trail, thru Reedsburg thru Waunakee, thru Madison to Cottage Grove to the Glacial Drumlins Trail to Lake Mills (3rd nite camp)

Day 4 Sun: 175k
Lake Mills thru Waukesha, thru Milwaukee, thru Racine, thru Kenosha (Trails too numerous to mention), to Zion Illinois and Illinois Beach State Park (4th Day camp)

Day 5 Mon: 80k
Zion thru Waukegan, thru Lake Forest, thru Evanston to Chicago. To AMTRAK Station by 1:00, Empire Builder leaves Chicago 2:15 arrives Saint Paul 10:30.

Bonus points should be given for stealth camping.

Yes. I was thinking this, too.

While its something I don't generally do, it WILL be Labor Day Weekend and everybody and their Uncle will be having their last Hurrah! and Campgrounds may be full.

I listed campgrounds and distances I did on this Route last August (tho Day 2 was a wee bit further and as I wrote this I'd forgotten the name of the [private] campground I used).

Thursday night in Pepin (or further, should anyone care to keep at it) should be fine. Perrot State Park near Trempealeau is 85k further, for a first-day total of 225k, and there are doubtless camping opportunities between the two.

Saturday night in Lake Mills will probably be OK, too, as the Campground there is 'primitive' with pit-toilets, no showers (unless you know where to look-- there's one off-site, but on the Trail) and no electric hook-ups for RV "campers".

Minnesota and Wisconsin have a "no turn away" policy at state parks for hiking and biking campers. They'll let you set up a tent behind the office if need be.

Not sure of Illinois's laws.

Due to Time-Constraints (?) It looks like there's little interest in cobbling this together, or...

I still intend to ride to NYC leaving Sep 1st, through Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago-- is there any interest to go to any of these three Destination-Cities?

Camping. Trails in 'Sconny & Northern Illinois. Make it a Race if that's consensus. Train or ride back if not continuing on to points East...