Michigan Coast to Coast Gravel Grinder with Jackie Gregory

“Race the setting sun as you cross the mighty Mitten on bicycle” – a beautiful traverse starting at Lake Huron and finishing in Lake Michigan.

In 2021, our ambassador Jackie Gregory took on her first Michigan Coast to Coast 100 mile gravel grinder. This weekend she returns for her third time, and her first 200 mile point-to-point traverse on single speed. Gregory, from Fairbury, Nebraska, shares her experience, challenges, and motivation throughout multiple journeys tackling Coast to Coast. Let’s dive in!

Cantu Wheels [CW]:  What drew you to the Michigan Coast to Coast gravel grinder?

Jackie Gregory [JG]:  I kept hearing people talk about it. This event sounds amazing and Michigan is so beautiful up in Northern Michigan. My family's from Michigan, so my sister didn't live that far from there. Michigan is cooler. The elevation gain was so much less. This was an event I really wanted to try.

CW: Tell us about your first experience at Coast to Coast.

JG: My first one was in 2021, and I did it by myself. I had my mom be my SAG support in case I didn't make it. I signed up for the 100 route. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. It was one of the first monsoon years. I was nervous because I had never done a ride by myself, but I really wanted to ride it. So, I thought, ‘Okay, I'm gonna do this.’ It rained the night before, and it rained up until the start. I thought about not riding it, but I also thought, I've driven a long way.  I took off and it wasn't that bad until about halfway through.  I hit the sections with a lot of sand. I think it's called the Big M Rec Area. The sand was so thick, we walked. There was a good section that we walked maybe a mile and a half, two miles, because it was like the beach. It was terrible.

I got lost. They put us on snowmobile trails in the forest. You could barely see anything, but trees on each side of you. I thought I was following tracks, but I think I was following tracks of other people that got lost. So, I was in the middle of nowhere. I think I went about three miles and then I finally ran into somebody, but the guy was not helpful. He barely wanted to talk to me. Before that, I was freaking out because they had warned me that there are bears. All I thought in my head was, ‘I'm gonna be eaten by a bear.’ Every time I heard something in the trees, I was like, ‘It's a bear. It's a bear.’ I ended up turning around, and I followed the guy to the where we made it [back on course] and we found the sag.

I don't think I struggled at all for actual riding. The low was when I got lost, and it got in my head. I was really discouraged I wasted all that time. My GPS had gone out, and I didn't take cue sheets that year, so I didn't have any way to back it up. It was definitely the getting out of my head and not thinking that I was gonna die out there.

When we hit the sag, they told us we couldn't go on, that we hadn't made the cutoff. I think now that I look back, that wasn't the cut-off for us. It was the cut-off for the 200 mile riders, but they didn't know. I think it was just volunteers telling everybody that they didn't make it. I was already at mile 80 something by then, because I went almost 10 miles out of the way, in the wrong direction. By the time they told me to quit, I was like, well, ‘I'm just done.’ My mom came and picked me up, and I was really disappointed that I didn't get to finish. I could have finished. I felt fine. I think I would have had at least 10 miles over what I should have had.

CW: What was the terrain and climate compared to what you ride in Nebraska?

JG: It’s about 10 degrees cooler there. There's no humidity. The 100 mile route is a loop that starts and ends in Ludington, Michigan. The first 40 miles was actually pretty flat. I think that the whole route was maybe 3,000 feet of climbing for the 100 miler. It wasn't bad. There were open fields, but the gravel there isn't like the gravel in Nebraska, thick or chunky white rock. There, it kind of reminds me of Colorado gravel, packed down and more dirt, so it can get pretty fast. Then you cover the sections in the forest and it hits the snowmobile tracks. That's where the mud was at and the thick sand.

CW: How did you approach training in your first year?

JG: I didn't. I am very good if someone's like, ‘Hey, do you want to do this?’ I'm like, ‘sure.’ I probably won't train for it. I'm just gonna go ride it. I've done that several times. I had just came off of doing bodybuilding competitions, so I was in good shape that year. I wasn't nervous about the miles. It was just more that I was nervous about riding by myself, because I had never done that. I was nervous about getting lost, which I did.

CW: What are you most proud of looking back on your first Coast to Coast experience?

JG: Mostly, that I did it myself, because it took a lot for me to sign up for it. Then I think in the back of my head, I kept saying, ‘No, I'm really not gonna ride it. I'm just gonna sign up.’ Then I got there. I think it helped that my my mom came too and she cheered me on. It helped that somebody was there and I knew I wasn't by myself. It was definitely the first ride that I didn't have anybody help. I'm proud of myself for doing that. I didn't think I'd do it.

CW: What was it like coming back in 2023 to ride the 100 mile again, this time on single speed?

JG: I wanted to finish since I didn't finish the first year. There were two in the [female single speed category]. My goal was to beat the first one. We rode the first half pretty much side by side, but then we hit the sandy section again, and it just took it out of me. It wiped me out. It was hot that day, and I think I bonked. We made it. I think I was about thirty minutes behind her.

It was fun, because [Rob] did it with me, so I knew I wasn't alone. I felt good. I went in there like, ‘oh, I've been here before.’ I know the first half, but I didn't know what the second half was gonna be like. It was fast. The first half, we were flying. 15 mph plus is pretty fast for me. It was so dry and the roads were so fast. It also hurt when we got to the sandy sections, because it was so dry. There was nothing that had packed down any of that sand. There were definitely still the couple miles that we had to walk. You couldn't use the downhill to get up the next hill, because you'd reach the bottom and it’d just be a sandpit.

CW: What has training looked like this year for the 200?

JG: I've just ridden more. Starting in the winter, I rode the trainer a lot. I'd at least try to get 100 miles a week. When it got warmer, we started to go out and get a couple shorter rides during the week and longer rides in during the weekend. That's all I've really done differently. I knew I just needed more time in the saddle. It's just going to come to the day, ‘This is it. We're doing it.’ I'm excited and terrified at the same time.

CW: Was there an event or training ride that has built confidence for you to tackle the 200?

JG: I think it was the Flint Hills Gravel Ride. It definitely put my mindset in a different spot. A group of us normally bikes down [to Americus, KS]. It's enjoyable and fun. Then we’d do the short 30 mile course. This year, since we knew we were doing the Coast to Coast 200, we signed up for the Flint Hills Gravel 87 miler. That day was so windy, and I had never rode that far through those hills. I didn't really know what to expect riding that with my single speed. There were definitely hills that I had to walk because it was just too steep, and I'd just start spinning out. The wind, it was terrible. After we turned back towards Americus, I bet it was blowing 30+mph with those wind gusts, but I made it. After that day, I felt so good. I think this is okay. I think I could do it.

CW: What goals do you have for the Coast to Coast 200?

JG: I just want to finish. That's my biggest goal. I've never done that many miles. I just want to know if I can do it. I know I can. It's in my head. I'm pretty stubborn. I also know that if my body doesn't feel like it, I'm also not afraid to quit, because I'm not going to push myself. I don't want to hurt myself. I'm not a pro, so it's not worth risking it. I don't know if I’m going to finish this or I'm going to feel bad. I don't have to finish it. I think that's the best feeling is I know I don't have to, I want to.

CW: What is your motivation to ride? 

JG: There are definitely the days that I don't want to get on the bike. A lot of it is that we do so many rides with friends. We have our Tuesday ride that we put on, and I make the routes for, so that pushes me to go on Tuesdays. Wednesdays, we sometimes go up to Lincoln and do wilderness rides. Those are shorter rides and it's something different, but doing that something different helps break it up. Even our long rides that we've set up, we threw them out there to our friends, and we're like, ‘no one's going to want to come ride.’ We rode from Lincoln down to Fairbury for 90 miles. We're like, ‘no one wants to do that.’ I think we ended up with ten people. We were like, ‘Wow, there's ten people that are just as crazy as us.’ We have so many friends that just love to ride as much as we do, and even if I don't feel like riding, someone's always pushing that. I know we're going to ride at least two or three times a week.

CW: What got you hooked on single speed, and what do you enjoy about it? 

I was looking at bikes one day and saw that Storm Chasers aren't that expensive. Before I had [a single speed], I thought, ‘What is wrong with those people? Why do they wanna torture themselves and ride with no gears?’ I didn't even ride one before I bought one. For Christmas, I bought Rob and myself one. Seriously, ever since we got them, that is all we've ridden. I don't have to think about shifting. I don't have to worry about if I'm gonna break something. I just ride. If I can't make it up the hill, I walk up the hill. It's not a big deal because sometimes I'm getting up the hills still faster than other people.

CW: Tell us a bit about your single speed bike setup for the 200?

JG: I’m riding the Salsa Storm Chaser, 17x38 gearing. I did put aero bars on. I'm just worried, I had shoulder surgery. Having that constant pressure on my shoulder, I thought maybe having aero bars might be nice getting a different position, and getting the pressure off of my shoulders. I have the Cantu Rova gravel wheels with Donnelly X'Plor MSO 700 X 50C tires. I am running 50C, because I like the wider width. When we did it two years ago, we ran 48s or 47s. They ran great, but I think these fifties are going to be a little better through the sand.

CW: What are your tips for people interested in signing up for Michigan Coast to Coast?

JG: When I signed up that first year, I got on their Facebook page. They put tons of pictures up there of the course, you see what it looks like out there, and you can ask questions. Reach out if you need to ask questions. They're all very helpful. It’s a great course. It's very well put on. On each course, there's only maybe one stop that is actually a SAG support, and then it's really only water, so you are on your own. You do have to figure that out, but there are gas stations. Their website's really well done and it has breakdowns of what to expect on each section of the course.

CW: Any shout outs you may have?

JG: Well, definitely to you guys, Cantu Wheels. We love all our wheels. I can tell they make a huge difference on my bike and I love them. Thanks to Mark and Renee at Backroads Bicycle. Mark has done a ton of stuff. He's he's pretty good if something goes wrong, we can call him up, and we can go down there. Rob works on his bike and Mark is there to help him if he needs anything. They've been really good at that, and he's the one that has set up my wheels on all of my bikes. We definitely couldn't do stuff without without Mark.

I'll shout out to Rob, because he's the one that pretty much makes all my bikes work. I could change a tire, I can lube my chain, do the bare necessities, but he does a lot of it. I probably couldn't make it through a lot of the rides without him. Also, a shout out to Cycle Works, who we ride for and our sponsor that has done a lot for us too.

CW: What are you looking forward to this year coming back?

JG: Oh, I'm nervous. I'm nervous for 200 miles because I've never rode over a 110, maybe. I'm looking forward to the weather. It's gonna be nicer, less humidity. I'm really just looking forward to riding and enjoying the scenery, because I've never ridden on the eastern side of Michigan. I'm just looking forward to looking out there, seeing the countryside, and riding the different roads. We've got some of our good friends for SAG support, so we're gonna make a trip out of it, and my birthday is on the Sunday after, so I'm just going to enjoy it.