The DAMN — Day Across Minnesota — is a gravel ultra that crosses the state of Minnesota. It starts at midnight in Gary, South Dakota and finishes in Hager City, Wisconsin. The full double is 480 miles; there’s also a 240-mile option. About 95% gravel roads, very little pavement. The first 160-180 miles is fairly flat, then the last 60 get hilly. It’s self-supported — not a typical race event. dayacrossminnesota.com
At a glance
| Location | Minnesota |
| Discipline | Gravel |
| Distance | 240 miles (also a 480 “double”) |
| Official site | dayacrossminnesota.com |
| Route | Gary, SD → Hager City, WI |
| Surface | ~95% gravel · mass start, midnight Friday |
| Format | Self-supported · 24-hour cutoff |
Results and Race Recaps
2025
Results
| Kyle (240) | 20th overall, 1st 18-and-under |
| Reid (240) | 89th overall, 3rd 18-and-under, 18:05 |
Bike setups
| Kyle | Cervelo Aspero-5 (56) · Campagnolo Ekar 1x 13-spd (9-42, 38T) · Challenge Strada Bianca 40 (28/30 psi) · Garmin Rally pedals · Lezyne 1300 light |
| Reid | Jamis Renegade (54, carbon) · Shimano GRX 800 2×11 + Easton carbon crank · Conti Terra Speed 45 · Bontrager carbon wheels · Lezyne 1400 light |
In 2025 both of Steve’s sons took on the DAMN — Kyle, 17, and Reid, who had turned 16 the week before. Steve wasn’t racing this time; he ran SAG support from the car, leapfrogging the course to meet them at the stops. It was the first 240 for both boys — Kyle’s longest ride going in was about 120 miles, Reid’s 109.
Kyle’s race
Kyle rode his Cervelo Aspero-5 with the Campagnolo Ekar 1x drivetrain he had been racing all season, a setup Steve rates highly for gravel: “I think it’s the best 1x drivetrain, at least in mechanical, from a gear ratio and how it’s all set up.” On the 9-42 cassette the first six cogs are single-tooth steps, so across a 240-mile day Kyle was “pretty much always in a one-tooth gear step,” and then it “basically turns into a mountain bike cassette with jumps” at the climbing end. They had considered swapping the 38-tooth ring for a 44 for more top end, but kept the 38 to protect those tight steps where it mattered most.
The tires were the one miss. Kyle ran Challenge Strada Bianca 40s — fast around home (there’s a road KOM Steve set on a Cervelo S5 that Kyle came within eight seconds of on the gravel bike) — but “the DAMN this year was crazy loose and sandy. There was not a lot of hard-packed gravel… you were just all over the place with the tires.” Something bigger, like the 45s Reid was on, would have been the call. At 135 pounds Kyle ran 28 psi front, 30 rear.
Fueling was dialed: four 80-gram SiS high-carb servings per two-liter bladder — around 320 grams of carbs per segment — plus peanut-free bars (for Kyle’s allergy), Clif Bloks and Honey Stinger waffles. The regret was hydration logistics. They brought a single pack and refilled it at each stop instead of swapping a fresh one. “That was stupid,” Steve admitted — a restock of packs and bladders hadn’t shown up in time. “With the pace you were going, it would’ve definitely been much smarter to already have it and swap it out.” Kyle finished within a handful of minutes of the next place up: 20th overall, and the first 18-and-under finisher.
Reid’s race
Reid’s day was the grittier one. He rode a Jamis Renegade the shop built up as a demo — a carbon gravel frame Steve likes for the money — with an 11-speed GRX 2x and an Easton carbon crank. Reid is a 2x guy: “I like how there’s not much of a gear jump.” For the flat first 180 miles that granularity mattered; on the hilly back third he simply dropped to the small ring to climb and the big ring to descend — “not really” a big deal. He ran Conti Terra Speed 45s, which he preferred over everything else he had tried that year: “I like these a lot better… they roll a lot faster and are more stable on looser stuff.”
Both boys ran a clever trick: a second seatpost and saddle, preset to height and angle, waiting in the car. If a saddle stopped feeling right deep in the race, they could swap it in seconds. Reid did it twice — “I just wanted a different feeling.”
Then Reid’s nutrition came apart. Around 5:30 in the morning Steve got a text: “just puked.” It was about mile 91. They called an audible at the mile-141 pit, swapping the high-carb mix for mostly electrolytes, and from there it was survival. “Whenever I would eat something I just thought I was gonna throw up again,” Reid said. He fought the back half of a 240-mile race on far fewer calories than anyone should. “I don’t know how you got through the whole thing when I saw how little you were actually taking in,” Steve said. Reid’s own takeaway for next time: practice the entire fueling plan together, not piece by piece, and don’t over-mix it.
One image stuck with Steve. Around 3 a.m. a video came through from Reid — somewhere near mile 50, on Kyle’s wheel at the front of a big train, ripping through the dark. Reid finished 3rd in 18-and-under, 89th overall, in just over 18 hours.
For Steve, crewing both kids all the way across the state was the whole point. “Thankfully, my kids are into bikes too… it was really cool to be able to support him for the race.”
2021
Results
| Steve (480 mile) | DNF at 200 miles |
Bike setups
| Steve | Bike: Niner RLT 9 RDO · Wheels: Bontrager Aeolus 37V RSL · Tires: Vittoria Terreno Dry · Drivetrain: Sram Force 1x (38t chainring w/ 10-36t cassette) |
A few shoulda, woulda couldas…
— Poor hydration/nutrition planning and practice. Ran out of water around mile 180 and was in a deep dehydration hole when I met my crew at mile 200. Took 2 hours to cover that last 20 miles and was in way too deep of a hole to get out of at that point. In hindsight, maybe could have taken some time to get rehydrated and finished out the 240, but the 480 was what I was booked for and I was never going to make it back across. Not to mention, I half blacked out or almost passed out at the car falling over into the passenger seat. It was time to call it quits, I was in a bad place.
— Through the night, had to stop and pee every 20 to 30 minutes. Something was way off. This obviously ate up some time, but impacted my hydration status later as well. Sometime in the early afternoon was the last time I went to the bathroom until later Sunday morning. I was pretty empty.
— Not a single cramp, but rode at a very conservative power/effort level as the Double (480 mile) was the original plan.
— Way underdressed for the night portion. Temps got into the 40s and my feet, knees, arms and hands felt frozen and numb. Actually had a hard time even hitting the etap button with my left hand at one point and knees started aching badly. Warmed up quick when the sun came up and then the sun got to me fast and hydration/dehydration flipped upside down.
Fuel / hydration
Wish I had better notes from this, but I don’t. Probably part of the failure.