The Maritime Bay Classic, part of the Tour of America’s Dairyland series, the largest competitive cycling series in the United States, will take place in downtown Manitowoc on Sunday, June 18. In addition to watching bike races in a transformed downtown, event attendees can spend Father’s Day enjoying food, drinks, live music, bounce houses and more with the whole family.
Downtown business owners, cycling enthusiasts and Visit Manitowoc have come together to organize the largest Maritime Bay Bike Classic yet. The day’s festivities will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a family and dog-friendly 2-mile walk between the Manitowoc-Two Rivers YMCA and Pizza Garden. No registration is required, but cash donations for the Lakeshore Humane Society are accepted.
Racing will kick off at 11:00 a.m. and continue until 8:00 p.m. During this time, over 400 men and women from around the world will compete in various categories. 6:00 p.m. is Community Hour and features both a kids race and fat bike race open to community members. The kids race is open to children ages 4-13 competing in three age groups. All racers will be eligible to win a new bike provided by Broken Spoke Bikes – a $650 value.
Throughout the day there will be a variety of food and beverage options to enjoy inside the race course along Buffalo Street including a PetSkull Brewing beer garden, Bloody Mary bar at Chewy’s, burgers, brats and hot dogs outside Pizza Garden and Holla’s food truck. Strand Adventures will also have bounce houses for children, Dr. Bombay will perform at 1:00 p.m. and Road Trip will play at 4:00 p.m. prior to the final races.
Volunteers are still needed for the race. One lucky volunteer will win a $100 gift card to Pizza Garden and a $50 gift card to PetSkull Brewing. All volunteers will receive lunch and a free T-shirt.
For more information, including the race schedule, course map, and volunteer and kid race sign up forms, click here.