Ride Ten Thousand

This past weekend I did the annual Ride Ten Thousand ride. Last year I made a video about the event. No video this year, but how about a quick blog post?

Event Overview

Ride Ten Thousand is an annual gravel bike ride in northwest Illinois, about two hours outside of Chicago. It’s named for the 10,000 feet of elevation gain along the full route (typically ~115 miles). Most of Illinois is flat, but the northwest corner is decidedly not. It’s part of the Driftless Area, which has steep hills and valleys because it was untouched by glaciers in the last ice age.

Ride Ten Thousand is a completely free grassroots event organized by a handful of passionate volunteers. It has minimal online presence outside its Instagram account. This year there were about 200 total riders.

The ride is minimally supported, with just a few aid stations set up along the route. You’re on your own for preparation and navigation. The organizers summed it up well in the 2026 overview: “At its core […] the Ten Thousand is an individual journey.”

Notably, the event is named Ride Ten Thousand, not Race Ten Thousand, and there’s a very noncompetitive atmosphere. A good thing in my opinion—there are plenty of high-profile competitive gravel races these days, but I haven’t found anything quite like Ride Ten Thousand.

The Route

The exact route changes each year. This year it started in Pearl City, IL. There are always three route options:

• Full: ~115 miles (and 10k feet elevation gain)
• Advanced: ~80 miles
• Intermediate: ~45 miles

I’d guess that the 80-mile option is most popular, based on what I heard from talking to people during the ride this year and last.

The route is mostly gravel roads. I’d estimate 70% gravel and 30% paved after riding this year’s course. (But it’s hard to estimate—it feels like even more gravel than that since those sections tend to be slower.) The whole route is pretty remote. It didn’t pass by a single shop or gas station this year (the nearest one was a half mile detour each way).

Here are the Ride With GPS route links for this year and last year. (For some reason Ride With GPS tends to underestimate the elevation gain. The full route really did have over 10k feet of elevation gain both years.)

The Ride

Last year I rode the full course and it was very challenging—10,000 feet is a lot of elevation gain. I did a good amount of training leading up to the ride last year. This year… not so much.

Nevertheless, I made a goal to complete the full course again this year, and I was successful!

I rolled up to the starting point just in time for the group start at 9 AM. We were lucky to get perfect weather for the ride: 70s and sunny at the start. My only complaint was that it was a little bit windy, with a headwind most of the morning.

Most of the big hills are stacked in the middle of the route, but there were still plenty of short (and steep) ups and downs near the beginning. There’s really no avoiding hills in this area. I took it very easy for the first 25 miles, hanging out near the back of the pack. No sense in wasting energy early in the day.

Right from the beginning I was reminded of how beautiful this part of the state is. I had the same impression last year. I think of Illinois as being flat and boring, and it mostly is. But this corner of Illinois is a beautiful exception, with rolling hills and picturesque farms and winding gravel roads at every turn. It’s difficult to imagine a better place for a long bike ride.

The first aid station was at mile 25. This one was hosted by Comrade Cycles (my favorite local bike shop!), and it was set up at Heritage Hollow, a cute little hobby farm. I grabbed a couple snacks, topped up my water bottles, and said a quick hello to the farm animals before moving on. Many miles ahead, so best to keep moving!

A little while later, at mile 35, we reached a big decision point: turn left for the full 114-mile route, or turn right for the shorter (but still long) 80-mile route. With so many miles left to go, this was a tough spot to make a decision. Last year the decision point came much later, around mile 75, which allowed you to make a much more informed decision about whether your legs could make it to the end. No such luck this year. Anyway, my legs felt good so I turned left, committing to the full route. Onward!

We reached some of the longer climbs around this point in the route. There aren’t any mountains out here, but there are plenty of steep half-mile-ish climbs. Most of the climbs include very steep gradients (10-15%) for at least a short section. And lots of them, especially through the middle section of this year’s route, were on gravel roads—a gravel climb is much harder than a paved climb, especially when it’s that steep.

For a few hours I continued the cycle of steep climb, steep descent, rinse, repeat. Finally, around mile 65, I reached aid station number 2. I refilled water and helped myself to a chocolate chip cookie and an orange soda (which really hit the spot). Then sat in the grass for a few minutes, since by this point my legs were certainly starting to get tired. After a 15-minute break I got back on the bike. Still 50 miles to go!

The route, of course, does not let up for those last 50 miles. Some of the most difficult climbs were stacked in the last third. In fact, one of the steepest climbs on the route (15% gradient) started at exactly mile 100. You can imagine how much fun that one was on tired legs!

The ride was very solitary for this stretch—I probably only crossed paths with a half dozen riders from the second aid station until the end. Nothing wrong with that, though. It’s to be expected on such a long course, and arguably part of the appeal.

Fatigue definitely set in towards the end. My legs were hurting and I found myself hoping for a paved road around every corner (more often than not, I was disappointed with yet another gravel road). Slowly but surely the miles started to tick down, and finally I found myself on the home stretch back into Pearl City. I finished strong (with the help of a long downhill) and rolled back to the starting point around 7 PM, exactly 10 hours after starting. Success!

Bike Setup

I rode my Soma Double Cross. I used drop bars, 700x40c tires, a 46/30 crankset, and 11-32 cassette. That was a pretty typical setup among other riders, with the exception that most people probably had slightly lower gearing.

I’d estimate that 80-90% of riders were on drop bar gravel bikes. The flat bar bikes were mostly mountain bikes (except for one crazy guy on a single speed; he must have walked up a lot of hills). Among the drop bar bikes, it was close to a 50/50 split on 1x vs. 2x drivetrains.

My tire size was probably close to ideal for this event. Maybe slightly wider (42 or 45mm) would be a little more comfortable on some of the rougher and looser gravel sections, but 40mm was easily sufficient. Wide mountain bike tires would have been sluggish on the road sections (one of the riders on a mountain bike confirmed that when I talked to him).

My gearing was also good, probably close to ideal for me. I used every gear in the range, including a lot of time in my lowest 30/32 gear on the hills. On a few of the longest, steepest climbs it I would have like another lower gear but I didn’t really need it. And I could given up one or two high gears as well—I never really need the 46/11.

Food

With long events like this, it’s just as much an eating challenge as it is a biking challenge. Here’s how I’d rate my food choices:

• Pretzels: 9/10. Really good, especially late in the day when I was craving salt. Only downside is they’re really dry (obviously).
• Fig bars: 9/10. Good, and easy to eat while riding.
• M&Ms: 8/10. Good, but they melt a bit when it’s hot and I stopped craving them towards the end. (They’re also usually overpriced.)
• Sour Patch Watermelon: 5/10. Great for carbs, but difficult to eat on the bike because they’re so chewy. My stomach gets upset when I eat too many gummy candies.
• PB&J sandwich: 6/10. I ate this around the halfway point.The jelly side got a little soggy after sitting in my jersey pocket for hours.

I ate almost all of my food, plus a bag of Smartfood, a chocolate chip cookie, and a can of orange soda at the aid stations. I also had some calories in my electrolyte mix. I didn’t count calories, but I probably consumed between 4,000 and 5,000, possibly more.

Water

I carried three water bottles: two 26 oz bike bottles and one 750 mL Smartwater bottle. That was a good max carry for the event (the longest stretch without a water stop was about 55 miles). I actually had slightly more water than I needed, and I donated some to another rider who was running low around mile 90.

I started with my homemade electrolyte mix in two bottles and plain water in one, and I did the same thing at the halfway point. That worked well for me.

Tips and Tricks

If you’re going to sign up for Ride Ten Thousand or a similar ride, here are some things that have worked well for me. Your mileage may vary, of course.

• Keep moving. It’s tempting to take a break in the shade at the top of a long hill. But if you do that often enough, the time really adds up over a long ride. Better to stay on the bike as much as possible, even if you’re moving slowly.
• Take it easy, especially in the first half. Spin up the hills in your lowest gear. No sense in tiring your legs out early.
• Don’t pedal the downhills. Coast and let gravity do the work. The extra few mph from pedaling won’t make much difference and you’re better off conserving a little bit of energy. I got passed a bunch of times on the downhills, but I passed even more people on the uphills.
• Apply sunscreen often. I like the little sunscreen sticks because they’re convenient to apply while riding. And bring chapstick with SPF.
• Cycling gloves would be a good idea. Yes, those dorky fingerless ones. I don’t have any but will probably get some. Without them, I got a sunburn and my sweaty hands slipped around on my brake hoods.
• Carry lots of food and eat often, even if you’re not really hungry.
• Above all else, try hard and have fun!