The GRiT 2026 routes are new — and we think you’ll love them.
We went out to inspect the course this week for the first time this season. We were ready to confirm everything was in place, do a little flagging review, start thinking about aid station positioning.
That is not what happened.
A massive atmospheric river rolled through in December — heavy rain on top of snowpack — and it triggered serious erosion throughout the entire area. The kind of erosion that moves boulders. That redirects drainages. That turns a rideable forest service road into something that looks more like a riverbed.
Two of the key loops that have made The GRiT what it is were completely impassable. Not “rough” or “more technical than usual.” Impassable. The roads we’ve been riding for years are technically abandoned by the Forest Service — they don’t maintain them anymore — and this winter, the mountain took some of them back.
We stood there in the once-road-now-creekbed and looked at each other.
Then we got to work, on creating some new courses.
Some photos from the damaged roads:
What’s Changed
The four courses are still here, with distances and climbing in the same ballpark as before:
- Primus — 20 miles / 1,400 ft of climbing
- Velox — 30 miles / 2,600 ft of climbing
- Fortis — 48 miles / 4,900 ft of climbing
- Maximus — 64 miles / 7,200 ft of climbing
What’s different is how you get there.
We’ve rerouted every course — some roads are the same, others are new, all of them knit together differently than before. The terrain is the same North Cascades wilderness you know. The challenge is real. The suffering is included. But the specific roads, the turns, the climbs, the descents — these are new.
We’ve been out there. We’ve ridden them. We’re excited about what we found.
The new courses are already up on our website. See the routes, maps, and details here.
What Hasn’t Changed
Everything that makes The GRiT what it is.
The start and finish are still at Crystal Springs Sno-Park, Exit 62 off I-90. The cloverleaf structure that lets the same aid station serve multiple loops — still intact. The community, the volunteers, the watermelon at the finish line, the people who show up and suffer beautifully together in the Cascades — all of it.
The mountain changed the roads. It didn’t change what we’re doing out there.
If you haven’t registered yet: Register for The GRiT 2026
The GRiT Adventure Gravel Ride Saturday, July 18, 2026 Crystal Springs Sno-Park — Exit 62, I-90
You’re not in Kansas anymore.
