ABOUT

The Swedish Days Ride is the premier cycling event in Northern Illinois and the signature event of the Fox Valley Bicycle & Ski Club (FVBSC). Now in its 54th year, the Swedish Days Ride travels the quiet, scenic and relatively flat paved roads of rural Kane, Kendall and DeKalb counties, meandering through cornfields and through shaded thoroughfares. 

 

The Swedish Days Ride offers six routes ranging from our NEW FAMILY RIDE (12 miles) to the iconic Double Metric Century (133 miles), providing a “just right” distance for cycling families to competitive athletes. This year you can also create your own ride by combining colored loops.

The ride is fully supported with one centralized rest stop boasting AC/indoor facilities stocked with nutritional items served in a COVID-responsible manner, onsite morning emergency mechanical support and bicycle supplies, and roaming SAG patrol vehicles. With over 75 helpful volunteers, the Swedish Days Ride provides a superior riding experience to approximately 800 guests each year.

 

FVBSC donates 95% of the proceeds from this event to support organizations promoting safe cycling, education, advocacy, infrastructure development and cycling for people with disabilities, such as the Ride Illinois, Illinois Prairie Path, Project Mobility, Kane County Parks Department (Fox River Trail), League of American Bicyclists, Easter Seals (bikes for kids) and Open Door Rehabilitation Center (bikes for people with disabilities). Our event has no affiliation with the Geneva Chamber of Commerce’s Swedish Days Festival.

SHOP MERCHANDISE

Get the official jersey of SDR 54! Our sport-level, Pactimo Continental Collection provides the quality, fit and design that Pactimo has become known for while meeting the demands of beginner to avid cyclists. Jerseys in the collection offer a roomier, traditional fit. Pactimo is the Colorado-based provider of high-performance technical clothing to customers around the world. These products ship direct from our factory with your custom order. Pactimo is recognized by Velo, Peloton, Bicycling, Road Cycling UK, and many others as one of the top clothing brands in the world.  The order deadline has passed to get your jersey before the ride however you can still get this great jersey by ordering before July 14. 

The Continental Jersey offers a comfortable, roomier fit without appearing baggy. It is the ideal choice for the rider wanting all the advantages of a high-performance cycling jersey, who is not fond of the skin-tight look, at a value price-point. For additional comfort and styling, we designed the Continental with raglan sleeves to allow for a large range of motion. The Quattro-Lite fabric is extremely durable and has a flattering drape over the body. A full semi-auto lock zipper with rubber pull for better gripping and ease for venting – merely flip the pull up to unlock the zipper, pull open the jersey with one hand, and flip the pull back down to lock the zipper in place.

PRODUCT SPECS:
- Quattro-Lite wicking fabric
- Full semi-auto lock YKK zipper with rubber pull
- Silicone waist gripper
- Elastic sleeve openings
- Upright collar
- 3 full-size rear pockets

IMPORTANT: To better accommodate larger sizing needs, Pactimo has upgraded the majority of the 2023 upper garments. The sizes affected are Men's Size XL-XXXL and Women's Size L-XXXL. All bottoms are unchanged. It is important to consult our size charts for your size.

CENTRALIZED REST STOP

Harter Middle School is the centralized rest stop, featuring AC, indoor restrooms, and an assortment of nutritious food and drink options to keep you fueled for the ride. All items will be served in a COVID-responsible manner; food will be individually wrapped, drinks will be dispensed from touch-free spigots, and hand sanitizer will be readily available. Food items will include Jimmy John's sandwiches, Uncrustables, assorted energy bars, nuts, pickles, fresh fruit, Gatorade and Coke.

 

 

 

SAG SUPPORT VEHICLES

Five radio-equipped support vehicles will patrol the routes from 6:30 am to 4:00 pm. In addition, a SAG phone number will be provided for cyclists to call for help should the need arise. Support vehicles can transport riders and bikes back to Harter Middle School. However, cyclists are responsible for changing their own flat tires.

 

DAY OF RIDE

Arrive at Harter Middle School, 1601 Esker Drive, Sugar Grove, IL on Sunday, July 7 between 6:30 am to 9:30 am.  Park in Harter Middle School parking lot or as directed.  Walk to registration area, check in and pick up wrist band for access to rest stop.  Maps and cue sheets should be printed at home and/or electronic route files downloaded before the ride (scroll down page for routes).

 

Please refer to the DISTANCE/TIME MATRIX (coming later) to identify your best starting time depending upon your route selection and anticipated speed.

 

All routes loop to one centralized rest stop at Harter Middle School, which runs from 7:00 am to 3:30 pm.  SAG vehicles will remain on patrol until 4:00 pm. All cyclists should be off the course no later than 4:00 pm. Cyclists will end at Harter Middle School, which will remain open until 4:00 pm (stop in for some post-ride ice cream!).

Note:  We have eliminated the Kaneland High School start/end location from years past and centralized the ride at Harter Middle School.

 

 

BICYCLE REPAIRS & SUPPLIES

Emergency bicycle repair services and last-minute supplies (tubes, cartridges, helmets, etc.) will be available all day.  Cyclists should get their bikes tuned up and working in good mechanical working order before the day of the ride.

 

 

 

PHOTOS

Several photographers and a drone will be onsite taking pictures. All photos will be uploaded to SmugMug. You are welcome to download pictures for FREE or order prints.  We cannot guarantee that every cyclist will be photographed.

https://fvbsc.smugmug.com

 

 

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS

FVBSC is committed to hosting this event in a highly COVID-responsible manner, including offering individually packaged food items and touch-free drink dispensers, abundant hand sanitizer, and more. We recommend that all Swedish Day riders are vaccinated for COVID-19. If you are experiencing fever over 100, chills, cough, shortness of breath, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, or any other flu-like symptoms or respiratory issues, please do not attend.

 

 

 

 

ROUTES

RidewGPS electronic routes available now!!!

Can I Do The XXX Mile Route?

We have 6 different route lengths to choose from. Which route(s) can you do? Which route is “best” for you?

These questions are best answered by understanding your riding level and start time and then comparing against the course lengths and the course support times.

The chart below shows the open and close times for the 1 (and only) rest stop location (Harter Middle School) along with the opening and closing of the ride registration. It also shows the estimated times for each route based on a 3 different average speeds (pace). The chart uses a Rest Stop time of 15 minutes and then shows the estimated completion time based on your pace. Note that some of the longer routes are not possible due to the Rest Stop and the routes being closed.

We strive to be good ambassadors for the cycling community and run a well-organized event. Therefore we ask that you adhere to the course open (6:30 am) and close times (4:00 pm). The chart also shows options for various start times.

Let’s start with a couple of examples at the extremes of the possible options.

132 Miles (The Double Metric Plus)

This is the longest route meant for the seasoned cyclist and the “Big Dogs”. You know who you are! Start times and a good pace are important for this ride. Plan on starting early to give yourself a buffer. Pre-registration is highly recommended!

 

12 Miles

This is a great ride for casual or younger riders. At a casual pace of 10 mph, you have plenty of time and can start as late as 9:15am. With that in mind, if you want to start really early; we suggest your earliest start time be 6:45am. That way the fast, long distance riders will be on the course ahead of you.

 

If your pace doesn’t exactly match one of the examples; just be conservative and pick the closest example and add or subtract time. Remember that weather, longer rest stops, and unexpected mechanicals (a flat) will lengthen your time.

Real World Example

You want to do the Swedish Day ride with a friend. You have done 100 mile rides in the past; but your friend has fewer miles under their belt and you both agree the 72 mile “metric century plus” (~116 km) makes sense. You conservatively estimate you can average a 14 mph riding together. You have a 30-minute car drive to the event and you do not want to start super early. Conversely, you have an engagement that night and want to be home with a little buffer in between.

Looking at the matrix for the 72-mile route, we focus on the 15 mph information since it is closest to your 14 mph pace estimate. The matrix indicates that you could start any time between 6:30am to 9:15am and still complete the ride before the course closes. You target the 7:30am start time as being a good compromise. The matrix indicates you will be finished at about 1:15pm. Knowing that you are targeting a slightly slower pace than 15 mph; you can add a little extra time. (For this example, the difference between a 15 mph pace and a 14 mph pace for 72 miles is ~20 minutes.)

 

For the same example, let’s look at a worst case scenario. Say you had a flat to fix on the course AND it was a windy day that slowed you down AND you met a friend at a rest stop and stayed longer to talk. We can look at the 10 mph pace with the same 7:30am start time and see that you can still finish the course before it closes with an estimated completion time of ~3:45pm. Not the same amount of time before your evening engagement; but you still have a buffer.

 

Use the matrix as a reference tool and pick a route and start time that matches your ability and goals.

 

Have a great ride!