Mishigami Bicycle Challenge

Join us one more time in congratulating Katie Schmelzer as this year’s first and only Solo woman finisher.

Alongside the usual suspects of self-supported ultra racing, this edition of Mishigami presented a new layer of obstacles, and Katie continually balanced patience and perseverance all the way to the finish.

She’d be first state how strong of a ride Jenny Terlinden had until her eventual withdrawal from the race due to the worsening air quality from the Canadian wildfires.

Buried under some of that smoke are countless tales from the trail that we look forward to uncovering. In the meantime, we caught up with Katie to pass along her trophy and hear a little bit about where she was when she learned of the smokey conditions.

The following few scenes were graciously shared from Katie as she documented her experience while out on route, culminating in a warm community hug back here at the finish.

Kudos, Katie 👏

Success at Mishigami, by any measure, requires reliable low light visibility and consistent headlight [exposure].

Lighting the dark path with minimal lumens isn’t enough. The need for drawing a stark contrast among the illumination litter of the city stage is paramount.

Safety | Confidence | Power

We’re longtime fans of our friends .lights , and are grateful they came together to support this year’s overall winner with a prize package.

After a blisteringly fast, record-setting lap around the lake, was all the more deserving to take home a new Torro light. 👏

After last night’s finishers Katie Schmelzer, our only women’s finisher this year, and Nikko Piccione, we’re left with just one rider out on course for this 2026 edition of the Mishigami.

Kris Armstrong is closing in on this year’s Lantern Rouge with just over 20 miles between him and the downtown Chicago finish.

We were fortunate to catch up with Kris on the second afternoon of racing and hear a little bit about his approach to this massive undertaking, firsthand.

He’s a 10 MPH kind of guy, and whether than trying to stretch that reality, he’s learned to embrace it, balancing it with the newfound opportunities that visiting new places only at that speed can offer.

We appreciate competition and the camaraderie it generates, but we also deeply value a sense of adventure from the saddle of the bike as that’s something we can all share, regardless of your speed.

To those of you following along, questioning whether or not you’ll ever be able to attempt the Mishigami, Kris is putting on a master class in his bite-sized approach, doing so with a steady spirit and grateful heart.

Let’s go, Kris!

The 2026 Mishigami Podium:

🥇: Dylan Pearce of Oro-Medonte, Ontario Canada

🥈: Austin Denton of Longmont, Colorado

🥉: Fernando Soto of Chicago, Illinois.

Before the smoke from the Canadian wildfires moved into the city, we celebrated our first ever race podium near Adler Planetarium. Up against the backdrop of the iconic lakeshore skyline, this was a natural curtain call for this year’s overall winners.

While there, Dylan found his way onto the ABC newscast, not to highlight his race winning effort, but to acknowledge the heatwave that had suffocated the region, and how it was affecting riders still out on course.

Closing out the afternoon, we paid a visit to our friends to get Dylan fitted for his new custom shoes.

Originally founded in the North Chicago suburb of Evanston in 1982, we’re grateful to partner with local, industry leading brands that value their product as much as we value the experience they provide.

Capping off a record-setting ride with a pair of custom shoes was a natural fit we’re proud to be a part of.

📸 :

soil.media

The fifth afternoon of racing brought us our final Mini-Gami finisher Sam Gabuzzi, just following the final pairs Daniel Levin and Michael Gonzalez.

Nick Pinto of Nevada rolled into a strong 4th place finish, two hours in front of Marek Kadamus. Both were greeted by family, and full of stories.

Bradley Haverkamp beat his old college friends Daniel Gelderloos & Ryan Lafleur who were our first ever official pairs winners with a time of 4 D 14 H 46 M.

Rounding out the night, ultra enthusiast and Mishigami friend Jack Davidson closed out an epic race, riding into a warm welcome of friends and family.

With riders continuing to roll into the finish, the cracks in the sidewalk here on the corner of Lake and Sangamon street continue to fill with stories from around the lake, mixed with sweat and tears of joy.

Zooming in on the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan this morning, we still have a handful of riders on course who managed to hunker down during the recent bout of smoke plumes blanketing the region from the ongoing Canadian Wildfires. Others have made the decision to not continue for a multitude of reasons, and we commend you each for your efforts, regardless.

Day 4 scenes offered up a balanced Mishigami charcuterie of final pushes from main event front runners to pure jubilation within the Mini-Gami contingent.

All within the scope of the Chicago skyline, we celebrated various ride accomplishments between both race distances as the heat index peaked 100 degrees. Sidewalk stories changed from day to night, but each were rooted in the magic that only a lap around Lake Michigan provided.

Updates from day 5 and the evolving course conditions to follow as we track 17 riders still on course.

Following Dylan’s monster finish yesterday afternoon, we welcomed back Colorado rider Austin Denton and local Fernando Soto to round out our men’s overall podium.

All rolling in well under the 4 day mark, these guys laid down some inspiring efforts, each battling their own personal battles throughout.

Austin takes the cake for most ice cream consumed on route, while Fernando reigns superior in the late night disco cycling category.

The needle of what’s possible here at Mishigami continues to get pushed a bit further, and these guys did so with class and grit, finishing on an absolute smoker of a hot Summer Chicago day.

There’s plenty more stories to unpack from the front of the pack, but for now we’ll pivot to the large contingent of riders still aiming to finish their journey around the lake.