Johnson County bike race, core4, returns this weekend

The first athletes to leave the start line at this year’s core4 bike race will not be wearing bike helmets, bike shoes, or even riding bikes.

Instead they will lace up their running shoes and take on 5K and 2.5K trail running courses through the race’s home base at Wilson’s Orchard, located north of Iowa City. The two foot races will be held on Friday, Aug. 15, one day before the cycling events on Saturday.

Race director Alex Buhmeyer felt the addition of a run was a natural fit.

“Getting people experiences in the Iowa Landscape has always been part of our ethos so adding a run feels like a natural progression to that mission,” he said.

The core4 multi-surface race is named for the four riding surfaces encountered — gravel roads, single-track trails, level b roads, and pavement — over race distances of 20, 40, 60, and 100 miles. The race started in 2022 with more than 500 cyclists participating from 24 states.

The addition of the runs is not the only change to the event. New this year are separate starts for the men’s and women’s elite fields as part of the Gravel Earth Series, an international series of gravel races with points accumulated at each race determining an overall winner. The series includes races on five continents including notable events such as The Trakka in Girona, Spain, Gravel Worlds in Nebraska, and the Migration Gravel Race in Kenya.

  Buy Photo

The inclusion in the Gravel Earth Series Calendar, as well as the prize money for the elite categories provided by the River Products Company, which fittingly manufactures much of the crushed stone that makes up the Road Surfaces, has attracted an increasing number of registrations from professional riders, according to Buhmeyer.

This year that includes riders such as EF Pro Cycling’s Lachlan Morton and SD-Worx Protime’s Geerike Schreurs, as well as several men’s and women’s riders from a gravel specific team fielded by clothing manufacturer Pas Normal Studios.

As the race grows into an international event, Buhmeyer believes it is important to stay focused on the community, noting that roughly three quarters of riders still are Iowans and encouraging community members to attend the race “whether you want to come out (to Wilson’s Orchard) and ride it or have a meal, watch the riders come in, and listen to live music.”

Buhmeyer hopes the race can be a celebration of both the community and the landscape of Eastern Iowa for participants and spectators from local to international.

“I love that part of it, showing Iowa off, it’s such a beautiful state” he said.