Date August Local name(s) Dairyland Dare Discipline Road | Region Southwest Wisconsin Nickname(s) Dairyland Dare | |
Organiser Southwest WI Community Advancement Corp | ||
Dairyland Dare is a challenging cycling race with ranges of 50K to 300K held annually in Wisconsin.
Contents
Description
Set in the bucolic hills of Southwest Wisconsin, the 1-day Dairyland Dare event offers a memorable day of challenging climbs, fantastic foods, superior support, and scenic splendor for cyclists ranging from the avid enthusiast to the world class athlete. The hills in the area are not huge, but by the end of the day some riders will have climbed over 20,000 ft - the equivalent of Mt. McKinley.
Endorsements
Betty White says to cyclists, “I dare you to find a more beautiful, more challenging ride anywhere. The Dairyland Dare is the best ride on the planet!” She then added, “I’ve been training for the 300 kilometer all winter, but darn it all, I have to work that day.”
Distances
The Dairyland Dare offer distances of 50k, 100k, 150k, 200k, 250k and 300k. The Dairyland Dare provides a detailed description of these routes on their website in the routes section.
Origins
The Dairyland Dare, also known as the Wisconsin Dairyland Dare Cycling Challenge, was conceived and created by Stewart Schilling and Michelle Godez, avid cyclists from Southwest Wisconsin. The Dairyland Dare is located in Dodgeville, Wisconsin
The ride has always incorporated a 100K, 200K, 266K and 300K option. With a sunrise at 6:00 AM and sunset at 8:00PM, 300K is pushing the limit.
The ride starts and ends at Comer Center(Lands'End HDQ) in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.
Race history
The 1st running was on August 12, 2006 and drew over 400 riders. The ride was conceived in February with the first registrations taken in mid May. With only three months to get the event off the ground, marketing was secondary to route planning, volunteer recruitment, and venue reservations. A poster was produced featuring a milk carton with ride info in place of the Nutritional Information and a mug shot of a crazed cow/bull on the side. Above this cow was the question, "Have you seen this ride?". Three distances were offered: 100K, 200K, and 300K. A jersey was produced (26 were sold) that had red bull (front view on the chest, and rear view on the back).
The 2nd running was on August 11, 2007 and drew over 800 riders. Posters and jerseys featured a rooster crowing at the sunrise formed by a bicycle gear cluster over rolling green hills. The tag-line was, 'From sunrise until the cows come home.'
The 3rd running was on August 16, 2008. The theme was 'wild west' with a light blue, orange, and black color scheme. Posters and jerseys carried the tag-line, 'Saddle up for one rough ride.' Two distance options were added (a 133K and a 266K) for a five route offering (100K, 133K, 200K, 266K, and 300K)
The 4th running was in August 15, 2009. The theme was borrowed from 2008. No posters were produced. The jersey changed color from light blue with black to green with navy blue. A 66K route was added but very few people chose to use it.
Year 5 was on August 14, 2010. The theme of the year was the Dare Devil, an homage to Evel Kneivel. Jerseys were red, white and blue with gold accents. Routes were developed from a clean slate and were built out in 50K intervals. This was the first year to include Mineral Point and Governor Dodge State Park. Route options were 50K, 100K, 150K, 200K, 250K, and 300K with very little overlap. Attendance was 1,100+ riders.
Year 6 was on August 13, 2011 and marked the first year where the event started and ended at the Lands' End Comer Center. The theme for 2011 was 'Dairyland Dare Gran Fondo Wisconsin'. Art took on the feel of early twentieth century Italian advertising. The jersey was shades of midnight blue with gold and red features. The jersey front included a stylized cyclist surrounded by laurels. The back included a prominent horned DD logo. Routes were modified slightly to work cleanly with the new start/end venue but remained mostly unchanged from 2010. The Dairyland Dare was the final stage of the Wisconsin Triple Crown (new in 2011). The prior two stages were : WTC Stage 1 - Arcadia's Brute, and Stage 2 - Kickapoo Kicker (Viroqua, WI). 1,100+ riders participated.
Year 7 : August 11, 2012. Operating from the Lands' End Comer Center for the second year. Routes carried over from 2011. Again, Stage 3 of the Wisconsin Triple Crown. The artistic theme was from 1890-1910 French Art Nouveau. The tag-line was "Course Cycliste du Dairyland" (roughly translated from French to English - 'Bicycle Race of Dairyland').
Serving the community
The Dairyland Dare is organized by Dairyland Dare LLC to benefit community groups whose members volunteer in support of the event. The organization has been directly responsible for community fund contributions of: $12,290 in 2007 $12,925 in 2008 $9,645 in 2009 Details can be found at <http://www.dairylanddare.com/community.html>.