You’ve got options.

1. Individual mass start like most gravel events (100 mile or 60 mile course).

2. A three-person team incremental start format to complete the course together for time (also 100 mile or 60 mile course). Three-person teams must start together, finish together, and most importantly, have fun together!

3. A 20 or 40-mile course as an individual or your whole crew! Everyone in these distances signs up individually but feel free to ride with as many as you wish!

Yes. Categories include womens, mens, non-binary in the open, fatbike and single speed in the 60 and 100 mile options. We also have age cats! Please check out our Bikereg for details.

That’s understandable. We built a difficult course because humans are hungry for a challenge. So, yes, it will be hard. But if you knew you could finish, would it even be that appealing to try? We’ve got 100 mile or 60 mile courses with all the surfaces. For those not ready for singletrack try out the 40 or 20 mile options. Just sign up! Go for it. You can always change your distance as your training develops.

Flat bar, drop bar, gravel, mountain bike, touring bike. The choice is yours. Just make sure it’s set up and ready for rowdy terrain (tire width, tubeless, etc).

Yes, the course will be loaded with fast, flowy singletrack. Our best guess is 10 miles (for the 50 mile course) and 20 miles (for the 100 mile course), and rough B-roads mixed in alongside gravel and pavement.

Tire selection depends on hundreds of factors, but a few of these suggestions below might help you decide what's right for you and your rig.

1. TIRE PRESSURE: here's an online tire pressure calculator we like that has never done us wrong. For core4, we recommend picking category 3 or 4 gravel surface. **This tool asks for your tire width AS MEASURED, not just what it says on the tire sidewall, as tire sizes can vary 10% or more depending on brand and rims.

2. TIRE SIZE/TREAD: Depends on your riding style.

For all rider styles, we recommend at the VERY LEAST a 35mm tire with semi-slick tread and at the most to max out the tire size and tread that will fit your bike. If you can fit 52mm tires and you think the single-track will be challenging, then go for it! If you can deal and thrive on bumpiness, slow down, and/or choose your lines VERY carefully, then you can rock 38mm-42mm and be just fine... it's gonna be rough for a few miles... but you will be faster everywhere else. If you have concerns or less experience with bumpy/gnarly trails, a wider tire is gonna be your friend, but it's gonna cost you everywhere else, so choose wisely.

3. PUNCTURES. This one is easy. Choose tires with some puncture resistance/flat protection. It just ain't worth messin around with light and supple tires. Iowa gravel isn't the sharp rocks of Arkansas, but there's fast descents and knobby roots like you've never seen before and some gnarly B-road terrain.

4. RAIN/MUD. This is a rain or shine event, so, yes, we have a wet route for that. It includes fewer miles of single-track and some grassy B-road alt routes, so we recommend sizing down a tire size to allow for mud clearance (if your bike fits 42's and you were planning on running 42's, think about dropping down to 38 or 40's with a slightly knobbier tire.

We won’t leave ya hangin’. Be sure to download your routes for specifics.

We’ve got awesome camping options on-site at Wilson’s Orchard! Camping and all shapes and sizes of RVs are welcome, just no official hookups. Additional RV campgrounds are available at Sugar Bottom Campground.

If you’re not into the great outdoors overnight, there are lots of bike-friendly hotels and Airbnb’s in the Iowa City and Coralville area. We’re working on hotel blocks for 2023 - stay tuned for more details soon!

Registration is live! Early registration helps us plan and saves you money. Sign up to challenge yourself. You can always change your distance as your training develops.

A time-sliding scale provides early access to ensure an unparalleled experience for everyone and deliver support for our non-profit advocacy partners.  Sliding scale is about more than just income, it is about access to other resources, community and privilege. It's a way we can challenge injustices that are built into our economic system on a local level. Basically if you can spare a square, share! Let's do this thing. If financial or other barriers prevent you from joining this event, please email info@core4.bike. Our community has your back.

Routes can be found here. But if you’re interested in the element of surprise, we can tell you this approximately:

100 mile: mix of all 4 surfaces. 6,000 ft. elevation

60 mile: mix of all 4 surfaces- 3,000 ft. elevation

40 mile: mix of gravel, pavement and b-roads. no singletrack. - 1,500+ ft. elevation

20 mile: mix of gravel, pavement and b-roads. no singletrack. ~1,000 ft. elevation

First things first, make up a unique team name! Who knows, maybe the best team name wins a prize? Pick a team captain to register and pay for your team on BikeReg. The captain can enter each rider’s info all at once or send links out to each rider to provide their own details after the team registration has been paid. If a coupon code is entered, the discount will apply to all three members' entry fees.