INTERVIEW: Professional Cyclist Chase Wark

Chase Wark, a professional cyclist and past winner is the new race director of The Day Across Minnesota. He lives in Winona, Minnesota, where he also hosts other gravel cycling events and offers coaching services at www.warkscyclingservices.com

What led to you take over the role of DAMn race director?

When Trenton Raygor (originator and former race director) decided to stop directing the DAMn, many of us in the Minnesota gravel riding community were kind of bummed because it was a pretty special and unique event. I got the opportunity to take it over, and even though I was already directing two other gravel races at that time, I just wanted to bring back this super-meaningful, grassroots-type event that is getting bigger each year. It’s so special to people and I wanted it to allow it to continue, and try to grow it in a slow, maintainable way.

Gravel cycling has grown in popularity quite a bit over the past several years. What makes the DAMn stand out in a crowded gravel cycling event calendar?

It’s unique compared to most in that it’s a point-to-point race. It also starts at midnight, which is a different twist compared to most other long gravel events. In the DAMn, you get one day, and everyone knows that the cutoff is the following midnight to officially cross the finish line. Another detail that makes it unique is that your support crew can set up anywhere on course, and you only get up to three stops with your crew, which is different from any other race I’ve seen.

What makes riding across Minnesota in a single day such a unique test, beyond the high mileage.

Certainly, it’s challenging pedaling across the state in a day! Another challenge is that you’re going to get tired at some point because starting at midnight, you don’t really have any sleep in you. That 4:00 - 5:00 AM period before the sun comes up is really challenging. Everyone also must logistically plan how they’re even going to get to the start line, where they’re going to get food, and how they’re going to get home after the event. I’ve seen several people posting about issues getting to the start or trying to catch a ride from someone to the start. That’s something I’m working on for next year, so hopefully we’ll be able to have something like a bus that can help bring riders to the start. Racers will come across some challenging terrain, especially on the eastern end once you get into the outskirts of the Driftless Region and the hills in that area.

Since the race starts at midnight, that adds a psychological twist. Why is the middle of the night start important to the race?

The midnight start goes back to the original race director, Trenton. He started the ride and did the first one on his birthday with a couple friends. The story goes that his wife had said it’s a birthday, not a birth-weekend, so he gets one day to do the ride. So obviously then if you start at midnight, that gives you the most amount of time to bike in a single day! Since it’s the Day Across Minnesota, it allows people the most time possible to finish it, so it has continued with the midnight start.

The race travels across the southern part of the state from west to east. How does the changing terrain challenge racers as they make their way across the state.

The western half is flat, and I think you experience the first hill that takes more than about thirty seconds to climb at around mile 90, so you can really cruise that first half. It stays flat until about mile 150. However, the gravel on the western half of the state is kind of sandy and pebbly in many sections, so it’s not the fastest gravel out there. On the eastern half, you start getting into more rivers and hills. Once you get into the Driftless Region, you start getting more of the limestone gravel and the climbs get longer and more frequent.

Any advice for a rider considering DAMn 2026?

Registration opens at the beginning of the year, so sign up for the event and make a New Year’s resolution that you’re going to put in the training for it. That should give you some motivation to do more long-distance riding and planning for the race. Once you register for the event, hopefully you’ll feel as if “OK, well now I have to ride my bike and work hard to get better at riding over long distances”. Find a support crew - there is a Facebook group “The DAMn Riders” where you can post questions. You may want to consider a coach and research coaches in your area, and I’ll plug that I also offer coaching. Find a good support system and look for people to train with. Most medium to bigger towns will have clubs, and you can reach out to your local bike shop to see if they have a club or know about other group rides.

If you want to “test out” the DAMn, try a relay option for teams of riders to take turns riding sections of the course, rather than each individual riding the full 240 miles. If you want to get a crew together and ride, it can also be a good way to see what the DAMn is like, and to see if you might want to do it solo in the future.