Gravel Race: Illinois’ Rough Road 100 Brings Spring Classics to the Midwest

When you dub your race the Midwest Spring Classic, you better have a race that backs up the claim.

Illinois’ Rough Road 100 does just that by breaking down its gravel route into nine rough-road sectors, much like this coming weekend’s Paris-Roubaix does.

Now in its fifth year, that the race is set up like a spring classic is no mistake.

“I used to ride the roads growing up and always enjoyed the Euro Spring Classics, put the two together, in my mind at least, and here we are,” race director Craig Patnode said.”

The Rough Road 100 is based in the Illinois River town of Morris, which is about an hour southwest of Chicago.

The “100” stands for 100 kilometers, and there is a shorter 64 km route offered as well. According to Patnode, the route is about 65 percent pavement and 35 percent gravel, making it spring-classic-like.

“The gravel disappeared a lot since I was younger, but the setup in this area lends itself to our Spring Classic style,” Patnode said.

Earlier this spring, we covered the rather hilly Dirty South Roubaix in southern Dirty South Roubaix in southern Illinois Morris is in the part of Illinois flattened by glaciers, so the Rough Road 100 route is much flatter, as one might expect for Illinois.

The route does pass through the Illinois River valley two times, giving riders some elevation to deal with.

“For us about, 1,300 feet of climbing, it would be hard to find much more,” Patnode said. “I feel some climbs are deceptive. There are a couple of punchy ones that could give someone a break if they were willing and some longish ones that are exposed so you hope for no wind. But yes, I’d agree, mostly flat!”

The Rough Road 100 course is relatively flat, and yes, there is plenty of corn to be seen. 2019 Rough Road 100 Gravel Race. © Craig Patnode

As mentioned above, the race advertises nine gravel sectors that help give the race its Rough Road name. The last sector is a nearly 13-kilometer drag to the finish line that can get kind of gnarly during a wet spring.

Unfortunately, not on the route anymore is what was once the toughest of them all.

“After Year 2, one of the municipalities put fresh gravel over, unquestionably, the toughest sector,” Patnode said. “That being Mine Road, so that was a bit of a bummer. They all present certain challenges being spring because you don’t know what the melt off will uncover.”

Even though the toughest sector has been removed, there is still plenty of gravel on the RR100 course. 2019 Rough Road 100 Gravel Race. © Craig Patnode

The Race

The 2019 Rough Road 100 took place on Saturday. The race offers 100 km Open and 64 km Open categories as well as a USAC 100 km Open race.

Nearly all gravel events we have covered have done their best to stay away from the USAC designation, but Patnode said his team did not see a problem going that route.

“We wanted to expand what we were after, knowing that the Rough Road 100 is pretty unique in our space. A lot of people wouldn’t consider us a strict gravel event and we’re good with that, we just want people to ride or race and have fun doing it.”

Equal payouts went to the top three women and men finishers in both the USAC and Open categories.

In the Women’s USAC race, Madison’s Kaitlin Agnew took the win. 2017 Masters Cyclocross national champion2017 Masters Cyclocross national champion Sydney Guagliardo finished second, and Allison Schroeder (PSIMET Racing) finished third. Anna Ganju (Collective Coffee) and Lauren Wiscomb (Bonkers Cycling) rounded out the wide-angle podium.

For the men, Spencer Seggebruch (Pastaria – Big Shark Racing) headed north from St. Louis to get the win. Tim Strelecki (Franco Factory Racing p/b Brightleaf) finished second and Rory Jack (Velosmith Bicycle Studio) took third. Tim Doelman (fairlife) and Tom Keller (Bloomington Cycle and Fitness) rounded out the wide-angle podium.

Another result of note is Laurel Rathbun’s win in the Women’s Open 100 km race.

Results for the USAC category are below. Full results for all categories are can be seen here.

Photos by Robotfresh are available from the race.

Women's USAC Results: 2019 Rough Road 100

Men's USAC Results: 2019 Rough Road 100