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“In my opinion, it's a great area for cycling. They have so many gravel roads it is absolutely stunning.” -Chase Smith, Race Director and Co-Owner of the Bicycle Station on the route of the Glacial Drainage on March 8  By Abner Miralda
The Glacial Drainage in Madison, Indiana organized by the Bicycle Station returns for its second edition this weekend on Saturday, March 8 and will feature two route distance options of 62 and 32 miles. Named after thawing conditions following winter, the Glacial Drainage is a grassroots gravel race aimed at local racers. “I’m expecting around one-hundred to one-hundred-fifteen [participants],” said Chase Smith, organizer of the race and co-owner of the Bicycle Station. “That's kind of on-par with what we had last year and where our other gravel race (Karst Crusher) has stayed at the last few years.” “I really like to keep it more grass roots; just kind of racing in the community a bit more.” Being grassroots, however, does not mean low-quality production for racers. Both distance options start and end at the riverfront park adjacent to historic downtown Madison, has multiple aid stations along the course, will be chip timed, and will have class podium awards. “Our employee Trey [Shepard] 3D-printed the awards for the 60-mile race.” The trophies are a three-dimensional GPS track of the race parcours, featuring the elevation changes and turns of the course mounted on a base. “It’s super cool to have locally-made awards by someone that's actually racing as well,” Smith said. Additionally, the race will feature an equal prize cash purse for the top three male and female finishers of the 62-mile distance. “The area is extremely hilly,” said Smith, when asked about the terrain. The race tees off with Bee Camp Road, a gravel climb featured last year, that if it isn’t already, will be an infamous feature of the INKY racing lore. The steep grades of the climb cross multiple dry, chunky creekbeds and kicks up to 14% just before the crest. According to Smith, Bee Camp Road is the hardest hill of the day but is optimistic about the remainder of the course. “The hills after that point get easier, but it's very scenic as you go. The majority of the course is gravel, so in my opinion, it's a great area for cycling. They have so many gravel roads it is absolutely stunning.” As far as equipment, Smith was graceful about her recommendations, but discouraged pure road bikes. “Any bike you have is great as long as it can fit knobby tires. If you're trying to show up on your road bike you're not gonna have a good time, it’s not the race for that. But yeah, really any knobby gravel tire.” Then she joked about the burgeoning YouTube Channel the Bicycle Station runs with co-owner Jesse Smith and employee Trey Shepard. “If you ask them, their go-to answer would be 2.1 Thunderburts. So if you want to get specific, we can go 2.1 Thunderburts!” The locals have embraced the event as well, with many participants living in the immediate area and the city government being supportive of the event. “The city is really easy to work with,” said Smith. “They had some flooding down there recently, and they were really quick to get the campground that we’re using for the race cleaned up for us. There’s been good support from Madison.” For anyone attending the event, the race organization also recommends visiting the downtown commercial district. “There's a lot of shopping, several really good coffee shops, and a lot of local restaurants. Anywhere along that main road there's nonstop shops, restaurants, coffee shops.” Online registration for the Glacial Drainage closes on Friday March 7th, and will have onsite registration available at the start of the race. You can find more information at: https://www.bikereg.com/glacial-drainage?orc=1
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 By Abner Miralda
“There will be a lot of competition and a lot of people that really want to race.” -Bailey Wilson, President of the IUCC The Candy Stripe Classic hosted by the Indiana University Cycling Club (IUCC) kicks off the 2025 Mid-West Collegiate Cycling Conference and the Indiana Kentucky road season on March 8th-9th with a full omnium weekend featuring an Individual Time Trial, Road Race, and Criterium in Bloomington, Indiana. “I think with this being one of the first races of the year it’s a great opportunity to come out and dust off the cobwebs,” said Bailey Wilson, president of the Indiana Univeristy Cycling Club. “...use this as a little rust-buster race with plenty of people and plenty of competition.” This year’s race features both collegiate racing in its standard format of A,B,C,D men’s and women’s categories and non-collegiate men’s and women’s racing in the Pro/1/2/3/4/5 categories. In the last couple of editions, the event was held only for collegiate athletes, but the addition of a crit has encouraged the IUCC to open the event to all local racers. This has had the effect of swelling the event to over three-hundred pre-registered participants at the time of writing with four days to go before pre-registration closes on Thursday, March 6th. “There will be a lot of competition and a lot of people that really want to race. The men's 4/5 and Collegiate D field hit max capacity [on Monday],” said Wilson. “We're right at seventy-five for that field, but all the other races still have some availability left if any domestic racers want to come race.” If the registration trends hold, this would make the Candy Stripe Classic one of the largest road race weekends in the region. Both the Time Trial and the Road Race will be held at the Monroe State Forest, a scenic rural area neighboring Bloomington that features quiet roads and rolling terrain. The Time Trial will be an out-and-back with a gentle elevation profile, whereas the Road Race will prominently feature Bean Blossom Hill. The climb’s profile tops out at nearly 14% and will likely be the race-deciding feature of the 14-mile lap of the parcours. “[The IUCC] held a practice race out there last week and going up Bean Blossom was pretty tough, but it is scenic and really cool throughout,” said Wilson. The criterium on Sunday will be at the heart of the IU athletics complex, at the foot of Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium. Wilson promises the 1km parcours of the crit won’t be pan-flat either, which is a break from traditional crit courses. Overall the weekend in southern Indiana will be a break from the stereotype that Indiana is flat and boring, which is proving already to be a huge draw for racers. “I don't think it's that often in Indiana that you're able to get a road race course that has a lot of [elevation], so I'm excited that people are getting to come down and experience that. Also this is already one of the biggest turn outs that we've had for this race. I'd love to see as many people as we can get to come down and just race some bikes.” Information and registration for the Candy Stripe Classic can be found at https://www.bikereg.com/candy-stripe-classic25 |
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