News

Preview the GRiT Courses With Us — Saturday June 27

Posted on by Chris Rodde

Want to know exactly what you’re getting into on July 18? Come ride it first.

On Saturday, June 27, we’re heading up to Snoqualmie Pass to preview the 2026 GRiT courses, and you’re invited to roll out with the Off Camber crew. This is a chance to get a feel for the terrain, dial in your setup, and ride alongside the people who put the event on. It’s the best kind of homework, and it’s free.

The Details

  • When: Saturday, June 27. Pre-ride meeting at 8:45 AM, rolling out at 9:00 AM.
  • Where: Meet at the Snoqualmie Pass Pay Station right across the street from the Laconia Market at Snoqualmie Summit. 📍 [Map location link]
  • Parking: Please do NOT park in the Laconia Market lot. There’s ample free, all-day parking right on Highway 906 — use that instead.

This Is a Self-Supported Ride — Read This Part

We’ll have ride leaders out there to keep the group together, but make no mistake: this is a fully self-supported ride. That means:

  • No aid stations
  • No course markings
  • No emergency support – call 911 in the case of an emergency

Come ready to take care of yourself out there. Load the map for the course you plan to ride onto your GPS device before you show up, and plan to rely on your own navigation. Bring what you’d bring for any big day in the mountains — enough food and water, tools, spares, layers, and a charged head unit. The Cascades don’t hand out second chances on preparation.

Pick Your Course

Ride whichever GRiT course you’d like. Download the GPS files and load them up ahead of time.

The courses below are different from the actual GRiT courses for the ride on July 18. These courses leave from Laconia Market at the pass, not from the Crystal Springs Sno Park where the GRiT takes place, so they are a bit longer.

Afterward: Informal meet up at Dru Bru & the Commonwealth

Once we’re back down, we’ll regroup at the Commonwealth & Dru Bru for food, drinks, and the kind of post-ride community that’s half the reason to show up in the first place. Come hang out — you earned it.

Let Us Know You’re Coming

This isn’t a registered event, but we’d love a rough headcount so we know how many riders to expect. Take a second to fill out the sign-up form:

👉 Sign up here

See you at the Summit.

— the GRiT crew

2026 Course update – The Mountain Had Other Plans. So Did We.

Posted on by erikatoffcamber

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.

New start/Finish location

Posted on by erikatoffcamber

We are excited to see you at The GRiT this Saturday! We have some important changes to share.

Summary of Changes:

Details…  

1) The start/finish location is now at Crystal Spring Sno-Park, near exit 62 on I-90. This is just down the freeway from the original start/finish location. Here is a link to that location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6G18v41cgY8hhWP98
 
2) Courses updated. Because of the venue change, the courses have been revised, please update your GPS tracks! Gone is the WA-906 section between Summit Central and Hyak. We are going to ride the first hill & Palouse to Cascades backwards. The three major climbs are all exactly the same. New courses are posted on our website at https://thegrit.bike/course-details-grit-2024/
 
3) All races start at 9:00am. Finally, we are going to combine all three course starts into one wave at 9:00. The reason for doing this is to move riders through the descent of the first climb (the one we are reversing) quicker. This will lessen the impact on traffic and keep everyone safer. It is really important that you stay on the right side of the road on this and all the descents as the road is open to traffic.

So, what happened? 
We needed to move the venue because of some insurance requirements that surfaced very recently. We worked closely with all parties to get the changes in place, but there just wasn’t enough time. Thankfully, we had a backup venue in our pocket! We actually think this will be a better venue and make for better courses, avoiding that soul-sucking two mile road climb at the end of everyone’s ride. We apologize for the late change and any inconvenience this might cause.

Also, don’t forget that if you registered on/before 6/29 you get a cool GRiT pint glass that we will fill with a beverage of your choice, if you pick up your packet at Dru Bru on Friday night. Details here: https://thegrit.bike/event-details-grit-2024/
 
Sorry about this late change and thanks for your understanding! We look forward to seeing your sweaty, dusty, faces on Saturday. 

The Off Camber Team 

The GRiT Teanaway 2023 is Canceled

Posted on by Chris Rodde

Hello GRiT community,
We are very sad to announce that GRiT 2023 is canceled and refunds are being issued. Details below.

We are planning two informal rides and some fun social vibes in the Teanaway on June 24 and at Snoqualmie Pass on July 29.
 

What happened?

When we opened registration in December for the GRiT Teanaway we didn’t expect any problems given that we were doing the same course with the same plans as last year. The most important permit we were seeking (covering key sections of the course) was with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) going through the Teanaway Community Forest (TCF). We worked all winter to secure the permit but ultimately were turned down by the DNR.

We are disappointed and we are very sorry for this cancelation. We are hopeful that the GRiT Teanaway will return next year. If you have inroads with the DNR and would like to help, please let us know.

Join our mailing list or follow us on Instagram or Facebook to stay abreast of the latest.

 

GRiT 2023 Date Announced!

Posted on by erikatoffcamber

The GRiT, a bad idea that just keeps going, is back for 2023! This year we are going to make a bet that spring isn’t so cold and move up a couple of weeks to June 24th. We are also moving to Saturday so that folks can

  1. Enjoy their epic accomplishment and party in town
  2. Spend more time in the beautiful central Cascades

We hope to offer some further course improvements and rest stop fun. The course markings will be dramatically better as well.

Stay tuned for details. We didn’t learn our lesson and we hope you didn’t either!

Rider Instructions

Posted on by erikatoffcamber

Check-in

  • Unless you checked-in already with us at Weds Night World Champs, everyone must check-in to get a number plate and their timing tube in the system
  • All the check-ins are at Dru Bru in Cle Elum
  • Check-in Times
    • 5pm to 8pm on 7/9
    • 6am to 7:30am on 7/10

Day of Race

  • Pre-ride meeting at 7:30 at start line
  • 8:00am start

Timing tubes/chips

  • If you have your own timing tube from a local race series such as MFG, CXR, WNWC please bring it to check-in. It will work with our system.
  • For those of you who don’t have a timing tube, you can purchase one for $10 at check-in
  • Please wear your timing tube on your helmet

Course info and Aid stations

  • You will be in the backcountry for much of this race so please be ready and able to self-support with food/water/repair
  • We have 2 excellent aid stations with food/drink/repair/first aid
  • See the Google map for details including where spectators can access the course

After party and Podiums

  • The GRiT crew is going be ready to party once we are all done
  • We will provide post-ride snacks and a free Dru Bru beverage
  • There will be two food trucks on site
  • Podiums (3 deep) will be about 2 hours after the first finisher of each course/category.
  • We think this will happen at 2pm (GRiT), 4pm (L), and 6pm (XL)
  • We have a stage & music! (Thanks to Wick from Cross Revolution)