Belgian Waffle Ride adds Michigan event with multiple race formats

Betsy Welch
·2 min read

This article originally appeared on Velo News

This fall, Belgian Waffle Ride will now have a fifth event in its gravel-race series, with the Belgian Waffle Ride Michigan (BWR MI) debuting in conjunction with the inaugural MoMITT Bike Fest on October 8-9 in Traverse City, Michigan.

As at other Belgian Waffle Ride events, “The Hell of the Great Lakes” will offer a full-length Waffle race and the shorter Wafer, as well as live music, a beer garden, food vendors, and fun for the whole family.

Additionally, two other races will be held at the MoMITT Bike Fest -- the Black Chili XC, a modern multi-lap cross country race, and Shorty's Blitz, a 40-mile multi-terrain course combining road, gravel and dirt sectors.

Related:

<span class="article__caption">Remco Evenepoel and Matia Cattaneo of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rode the Belgian Waffle Ride Kansas last year. </span> (Photo: Jeff Corcoran)
Remco Evenepoel and Matia Cattaneo of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rode the Belgian Waffle Ride Kansas last year. (Photo: Jeff Corcoran)

The events of the weekend will be set against the backdrop of Mt. Holiday in Traverse Springs, an iconic four-season mountain resort located on the east arm of Grand Traverse Bay.

The area is flush with activities for before or after the bike festival -- wineries, watersports, sand dunes, and sunsets are a few of the myriad offerings of Northern Michigan.

Michael Marckx created the original Belgian Waffle Ride in 2011 in San Diego, California. The off-road event, modeled “in the spirit of the great European one-day Spring Classics” has since expanded with events in Utah, North Carolina, and Kansas. This year, some riders are competing across those three events, plus San Diego, for the Quadrupel Crown.

As with the other BWR events, The Hell of the Great Lakes will offer two distances, the longer Waffle Ride at roughly 130-miles, and the half-as- long Wafer Ride. A deep pro field will compete for a prize purse split equally between the top three men and women.

Visit BWR MI for registration and information about the MoMITT Bike Fest.

 

 

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