‘He just dominates’: Exploration fuels passion for cycling

NORTH LIBERTY — As a teenager, Nate Kullbom grew up riding BMX bikes around his hometown of Burlington. He would watch races at Snake Alley — a steep, curvy road that serves as a race venue and has been called “the crookedest street in the world.”

It wasn’t until his early to mid 20s, when he attended the University of Iowa, that Kullbom started to compete. Now at 41, he has a pulse on every bike path in the area and plays an integral role in the local cycling community.

Kullbom, general manager of Sugar Bottom Bikes in North Liberty, is on the board of the core4 race that takes place at Wilson’s Orchard and that in short time has grown to become Iowa’s biggest gravel event, with 670 participants in 2023. He also puts on the Lake Macbride Fat Tire Classic with the Solon Centennial Lions Club, which takes cyclists on a hilly, challenging route through trails and gravel roads at the state park.

  Buy Photo

He started with biking short distances, and gradually extended that range farther and longer, fueled by a desire to explore. He seldom rides the same route twice.

“As you increase that radius, you see new roads and you want to see, ‘Where's that one go? What's that like?’” Kullbom said. “And now it's to a point where I've ridden like every road within 100 miles and have even found the private ones and the things that aren't roads.”

Liz Hubing, who met Kullbom when she took over as brand manager for Bike Iowa City, said Kullbom is a nice person and an intense, competitive cyclist who works hard and performs at a high level.

  Buy Photo

What stands out about Kullbom, Hubing said, is that he's good at all forms of cycling, not just one.

“He will win a gravel race, and he will win a cyclocross race and he will win a mountain bike race,” Hubing said. “Typically when you talk to a cyclist, they might be good at one part of it, like they're just a good road racer. But for him, his athleticism and competitiveness spans all the different spectrums of cycling. … He just dominates.”

Alex Buhmeyer, race director for core4 and a fellow Burlington native who met Kullbom at a cycling event in Arkansas, said Kullbom is “at that elite level” as an athlete.

At some of the biggest mountain bike races in the Midwest, he said Kullbom has performed well against pro-level athletes, which requires dedication and training. He has won the men’s 100-mile core4 for the last two years, beating a Wisconsin pro rider in the inaugural year in 2022.

  Buy Photo

Creator of ‘beautiful routes’

With his extensive knowledge of roads and trails in the region, Kullbom is the go-to guy for drafting race routes. He looks for winding roads that make more of an interesting ride and typically have more compelling features or added elevation.

“He always adds elements that are a bit unexpected,” Hubing said. “He’s really creative in that way — making these spaces and events people can explore places they typically wouldn’t.”

Buhmeyer said when he started planning the first core4 in 2021, he wanted somebody who was highly knowledgeable of Johnson County roads. And Kullbom is a “creator of beautiful routes and experiences.”

“He’s that guy,” Buhmeyer said. “There’s nobody else from a cycling perspective who knows the scene here. … We want to show off Johnson County and our part of Iowa, but we also want to make it approachable, too.”

  Buy Photo

The core4 race is named for the four surfaces it takes places on: tarmac, gravel, single-track and B roads, or reduced-maintenance roads. It starts and finishes at Wilson’s Orchard and involves 15 to 20 miles of the two main trail systems in Johnson County — Sugar Bottom between North Liberty and Solon, and Woodpecker single-track in Coralville. For everything in between, that leaves lots of room for creativity.

Races like core4 and the Fat Tire Classic wouldn’t happen without Kullbom, Hubing said.

For the Fat Tire Classic, Kullbom said Jay Proffitt with the Lions Club approached him with the idea. Now, the unique ride — the only one he’s aware of at a state park — takes cyclists on trails that typically don’t allow bikes other than for the race.

As general manager of the bike shop, Kullbom said when people have a cycling idea but don’t know where to start to bring it to fruition, he’s in a position to help because of his involvement in the local cycling scene. All the events he supports are good for business at the bike shop, but they also boost the local economy — driving traffic to other bike shops and encouraging people to dine at restaurants or stay overnight at a hotel.

Fostering an inclusive cycling community

Through the races and other cycling opportunities Kullbom facilitates, he’s opened doors to the sport and promoted a more inclusive bike culture.

Wednesday Night Gravel traditionally has been a fast, competitive gravel ride. While that remains, Hubing said Sugar Bottom Bikes has offered three levels this year to be inclusive to more riders and encourage participation. Rides are at a fast or medium pace, and there’s also a no-drop beginner/youth ride where no rider is left behind.

He’s also promoted accessibility within the local cycling community with events like the North Liberty Bike Swap. The second-ever event, hosted with the city of North Liberty, took place Saturday and allowed vendors with cycling equipment and gear to sell it. The first event last year drew over 500 attendees, ranging from local bike shops to cyclists looking to unload old gear.

“He does things that people have never done before, which is really cool, and brings new, innovative, fresh ideas to the cycling community,” Hubing said. “He sees opportunities to fill gaps in the cycling ecosystem and he does that.”

Fostering inclusivity even factors into race organization. With core4, Kullbom said the team is prepared to celebrate everyone’s race finishes, whether you’re the fastest or coming in DFL — dead freakin’ last. He’s stayed up until 11 p.m. for the last finisher to get a trophy after crossing the finish line.

“It's definitely super important, just part of growing and being popular,” Kullbom said. “You’ve got to cater to everybody.”

  Buy Photo

Coaching the next generation

As a parent, Kullbom’s kids — ages 8 and 11 — inspired him to mentor younger cyclists. They are still years away from being able to keep up with Kullbom — who can go more than 20 mph in a 100-mile gravel race — but they ride together often as a family.

Kullbom said he was never into mainstream sports, and it’s good for kids to have other opportunities for sports.

“A lot of our kids are kids that didn't fit in in any other spot and they've really found something that they enjoy,” Kullbom said. “It's very confidence building.”

A bike shop customer whose first race was the Fat Tire Classic recently started the Iowa City Mountain Biking Club for youth ages 8 to 17, and now Kullbom supports the club as a coach. As of Feb. 16, Kullbom said there were 63 kids signed up this year. About one-third of participants, including his 11-year-old daughter, are girls.

Buhmeyer said the number of youth participants climbs every year and is “a testament of people wanting to get into the sport and Nate being involved and helping that happen as a mentor and coaching.”

As older cyclists age out and fewer youth have taken up the sport in the last couple of decades, Kullbom said, the boom in youth interest will benefit the future of cycling.

“Now we've got this new generation that is going to be exposed to it, and hopefully a handful of them continue to do it as they get older,” Kullbom said. “That’s adding to the population of local cyclists.”

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com