Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The 24-Hour Bike Race
Located a 67-mile drive from Billings (via I-90 and Highway 306), Rapelje,
Montana, has one post office, one church, one café, and a population of less than
100. So why would this diminutive farming and ranching community have its own
sidebar in this guide? Because it's host to the
Rapelje 24-Hour Race,
the state's
only 24-hour bike race. Rapelje demonstrates the remarkable spirit of community
that keeps small towns like this from disappearing.
The history of this race is inextricably tied to a café and the goodwill of the town
residents. As the story goes, Rapelje's local bar was unable to turn a profit, finally
forced to close in 1997. Realizing that it was essential the town have a place to
gather, in 1998 a handful of individuals decided to buy the bar and reopen it as a
community-owned nonprofit café. Only the chefs at the newly named Stockman Café
received a salary; the rest of the staff worked as volunteers. When it became evid-
ent that even with these measures, the restaurant could not subsist solely on revenue
from local patrons, the residents devised another means to keep the café afloat. The
Rapelje 24-hour Race began in 2001 with about 30 participants and now annually
draws some 200 riders with their friends and families in tow. For one weekend in late
June, the town's population practically quintuples.
A USA Cycling-sanctioned cross-country mountain bike race, the event takes
place on the weekend closest to the summer solstice. The 12-15-mile course runs
through wheat fields, cow paths, and rolling farmland. Participants can compete as
individual riders or relay teams, and whoever completes the most laps in 24 hours
walks away with the trophy. The Stockman Café serves as the hub of activity for the
race, with a crew of volunteers feeding racers throughout the day. As the organizer
of the event, Jason Frank, explained to
The New York Times,
“Here you have a café,
a band, a pancake feed, and a pig feast after the race. Nobody else does that. It's the
town of Rapelje and the people who live here that make this race so unique.”
On the southwest side of town, the
Billings Hotel and Convention Center
(1223 Mul-
lowney Ln., 406/248-7151,
www.billingshotel.net
, about $109) is another large facility with
all the standard amenities. Some rooms are pet-friendly (for a charge), and kids will love
the curly-cue waterslides in the indoor pool.
