My friend Tim and I headed down to Miesville, MN, for the MF6 on April 29. This is a 56 mile gravel ride (not a race) in the rolling farmland of the Cannon River valley. About 450 of us rolled out from the Miesville Mudhens stadium parking lot under clear, crisp skies with a sheriff’s escort at 9:00am. After a short paved section we swung left and hit the gravel, and disappeared into a glorious cloud of dust.

Even in the early morning the wind was beginning to build to a pretty steady southerly push. The beginning of the route zig-zags north, so many were taking advantage of the free watts, and hammering from the start. Neither Tim nor I had any intention of making this a race. The tailwind did feel good, but we resisted the temptation to burn any matches 5 miles in. By the time we hit the northernmost point of the course the wind was ramping up even more. There were a few sections of windbreaks followed by a heavy crosswind punch once you got past the trees. A taste of things to come.

We made our first jog south, straight into the headwind. It was about 15 mph now, and any semblance of organization in our group got blown apart. We tried getting a paceline going but there weren’t many takers. After a lengthy stretch straight into the wind we hit a long diagonal that brought us within view of a giant American flag at the end of the road, the kind you would see waving outside of a Perkins restaurant. That flag was fully stretched out at a 90º angle to the pole, taunting us, making us realize how much suffering we were in for the rest of the day.

The route doubled back on itself to bring us to Chimney Rock—a sandstone column at the top of a small hill. The ride organizers had water, coffee, pickle juice shots, and mechanical support waiting for us here. In order to be eligible for door prizes at the after party, you had to hike up to the rock and touch it. You then received a playing card raffle ticket (I was not a winner). It was a good spot to get some calories in before heading back on the road, and the first bit of noticeable climbing.

The climb up Inga is a long, straight roller. About halfway up, the hill started to offer a bit of a break from the wind. The climbing felt better than the flats. I made my way up and over and down to Highway 50. The section south of here is where the fun stuff is. First up is the only Minimum Maintenance Road on the route. If it wasn’t for the sign, you wouldn’t think you were supposed to go through. The MMR is about 10-feet wide at the top and drops down into an s-shaped gully, filled with large, flat, loose rocks covering the entire width of the road. This would have been one of the few spots on course where a fat bike would have been an advantage (saw at least a dozen or more out there). Lots of people flatted in here, but fortunately I didn’t see anyone crash.

A couple of hours in at this point, and the wind was in full force. Steady mid-20 mph range with gusts up to 30, straight out of the south. This half of the course features three long, straight sections of rolling hills that are due east and west. The majority of this is open farmland, so we were blasted by the crosswinds. You definitely had to employ some serious gangsta lean to keep upright and moving in something resembling a straight line. There were a few times when the wind blew me from the centerline all the way to the shoulder and vice versa. For me, these straightaways were the most challenging part of the day. Constant effort to hold a line.

We got a brief respite as we descended into the top half of Miesville Ravine, and were able to coast for a bit. Then it was another long haul west, south into the wind and then back east in the crosswinds, with a few good rollers as we approached the descent down to the Cannon River valley.  We followed the river downstream for a few miles to the bottom of Miesville Ravine. What comes down must go up. This was the first serious climb of the day, a long winding ascent with a sharp upward kick over the final third. Despite being a tough climb this was the best I felt all day. I was out of the wind and loving life. I stopped at the top to wait for Tim, broke out the flask and made a few new friends over some whiskey.

Soon we were off again for the final 10 miles or so. A few punchy little rollers led to another trip down to the river valley, through the horse farms and into Welch. We turned around at the cafe and headed back the way we came, leaving the valley floor on the final climb of the day. 265th Street winds upward for about 1.1 miles at an average gradient of 4% with a few steeper spots here and there. Legs were still feeling good and I made my way up and out of the coulee for the final stretch (shaving a minute off my previous best time, somehow). One more crosswind leg before a right turn and sweet, sweet tailwind for the first time in a few hours brought us back to the finish in Miesville.

We swung by King’s Place for the after party. This was our motivation for the entire day. Ride. Suffer. Earn your burger. We did that and then some. This is a great, low-key event that you can treat as a race if you want, or use it as an early season tune up. I’ll be back for more next year. Check it out.

Big thanks to all of the organizers, sponsors, and volunteers for making this happen. Top notch. Even with the wind.