Road Bike Racing - Regional racing areas in Great Lakes areas

For all of you who know the region nearby Michigan at all.

I live in northern Michigan, which is mostly just a bunch of small towns. There are barely any road races in the summer, just mountain bike races. Does anyone know if there are a lot of races that occur in maybe an area like Chicago when compared to the Twin Cities or Detroit? Anyone know if there are any particular popular spots in southern Michigan? Or will I have to travel as far as Indianapolis to really see a good amount of events?

I've never raced before I just figure I'll prolly wanna get started next summer, and am looking for areas with a good amount of races (beginners (Cat 5?) in particular of course :) )

My brother lives near Ann Arbor, so maybe he could help me out if I wanted to race down there, IF there are any races that take place down there that is.

When you say northern Michigan, do you mean the U.P. or northern Lower Penninsula?

There are a boat load of races in Wisconsin (mostly around Madison and Milwaukee) and in the Twin Cities. I don't know about the Lower Penn. but I do know that the racing scene in Chicago isn't that great for the most part. Many of our races in SE Wisco are attended by riders from Northern Illinois.

If you want to race in Wisconsin, check out the Wisconsin Cycling Association's site at www.wicycling.org. Minnesota has a similar site, but I do not know the url. They are the Minnesota Cycling Federation, I think.

there's also the superweek series here in wisconsin. mostly criteriums with a few road races mixed in.

http://www.internationalcycling.com/