We are a group of people united by one thing - the bicycle. Our ultimate goal is simple; we want to help make cycling in our community better. We plan to achieve that by creating and hosting fun events and provide unique opportunities to connect riders in our community. By connecting riders, we can create a strong network of cyclists that can improve the cycling experience for all.

Our club was started in 2019 by Derek Ludwig with his hope to connect bike racers in our town and one day bring at least one legitimate road race to the Fargo-Moorhead area. Criterium racing was reaching a peak in popularity at the time and that was our inspiration and one of the options we were exploring. We also planned to hold group rides that would offer racing tactics and challenges that are unique to our area, and hoped that a local team might develop that we could take to road races in Minnesota and try to compete and share our love of the sport. There was momentum and optimism in the small group that was formed that year and the winter would be spent dreaming big and planning for more in 2020. Then, the COVID pandemic hit.

As you’ll remember, 2020 ended up being a wild ride for all of us. Group rides were risky, racing didn’t happen, and momentum was squashed. FlatLands stayed alive but in a holding pattern through 2020 and well into 2021. But we continued working to legitimize the club and make a push in areas we thought would be beneficial to the club for the future. We got some kits made, found some sponsors who would support our mission, and felt like at least some progress was happening. Then, early in 2022 our founder decided to move out of state, leaving us at a crossroads. Luckily, there were enough of us here that still liked the idea of this club and the potential and promise it held. So we found new leadership and continue to this day in our mission to advocate for cyclists and promote the sport of cycling in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

We are now officially a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and while we still love bike racing, we are expanding our horizons beyond simply bike racing and holding a road race. We want to advocate for all types of cyclists in our community in the hopes it will make cycling safer, easier, and more fun for all. We also want to continue to connect bike racers and offer them chances to share their love of riding and racing. From that, we hope a grow a diverse group of riders and racers will grow form that can showcase their talents locally, regionally, and even nationally at some of the biggest races in our country.

The best part? You can join us. We are a very young club and there are opportunities available for you to help out. If you want to join our club and help us out, check out the membership page and get in touch.

Advocacy section (what is our mission in advocacy? To me, creating this network of riders and racers, we can rally them together and use power in numbers to make change at the city level to improve bike lanes, create more/safer routes for commuting through town, and clean/protect roads we love riding on. To name a few examples.)

We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was originally created with racing in mind. Our mission has evolved in the short time we have been organized, but racing is still very important to our club. We know there are many people in our city that love to race their bikes, but we feel these groups of people lack opportunities to connect. By connecting riders, racing becomes more fun and riders can improve their skills/results by sharing knowledge and experience, creating teams that can race together, and help keep each other motivated.

We also see room for more group rides in our community. Weekend rides happen here, but sometimes to get involved you need to be in an underground text or email group to obtain ride details. We hope to create opportunities that are more inclusive and more unique. Some ideas we have include bikepacking rides, group rides at local and regional mountain bike trails or gravel routes, and even bringing more opportunities to race locally.

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