Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
The second annual North Central Washington 250 challenged a determined group of riders with big climbs, stunning backcountry gravel roads, and expansive views. Our friend Jacob Lambert put together a report and selection of photos from his ride that you can check out here…
Words and photos by Jacob Lambert (@jacoblambertphoto)
If you’re reading, this we’re probably not too dissimilar in that riding our bikes for days on end is mighty appealing for what I feel are mostly obvious reasons. Although, before this recent weekend, I didn’t see the reasons for doing the same thing but in a race format so clearly, a notion that I shed at the start line.
Five in the morning on September 24th, 2022, saw 17 riders march into the short-lived darkness of Wenatchee for the North Central Washington 250, a 250-mile route with 28,000 feet of climbing that tracks what feels like a plus-symbol-shaped counter-clockwise loop passing through Waterville, Chelan, Leavenworth, and Cashmere, with the finish back in Wenatchee. The simplest description of the route devised by Cyrus Desmarais is gargantuan gravel climbs with rugged descents linked by relatively flat backroads in a manner that showcases the beauty of the Columbia Plateau’s western edge and the seemingly unending peaks of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. With three of the seven major climbs standing over 5,000 feet, the views along the way are almost beautiful enough to distract you from the immense task at hand. If you manage to traverse them in daylight, that is.
I first read about the NCW 250 on this very website, seeing it as a fitting end to a glorious summer of riding. As it appeared to be relatively low-key, I figured it’d be a good event to cut my racing teeth. I’ve ridden bikes basically my whole life, but I’d never raced on one, so I was as much excited for the race element as I was in trying to conquer those behemoth climbs. I needn’t outline the draw to racing: I reckon a racer exists in us all and we regulate how that mentality flows into our pursuits, but what I must say is this format of racing (self-supported, multi-day) is certainly the wildest racing format. It adds a bunch of unique elements that push you even further/higher in both riding and introspection. The thing that struck me as most odd was being in a race but barely seeing another racer after the first climb, which happened in the first hour of the race. I knew they were out there, but where and who was catching who?
Bikepacking in general took a pretty steep learning curve at the beginning for me, and I quickly realised that this would be the case on the racing side too. Turns out I can’t just stop whenever I see a sign for espresso and be competitive regardless of how much espresso I consume, at least with the level of riding that was going on at the NCW 250. Espresso paradox aside, I immediately noted anything to do with stopping was bad, including photos, an issue I really struggled with (both the not stopping and the act of trying to shoot while riding), but was something night riding easily solved. I was aware deprivation is critical to one’s pace, but it’s one of those things you need to experience to understand. But, don’t take it from me. I took a seven-hour nap.
It’s bonkers what your brain can ignore when it wants to, and it was after clearing only the first climb that I became aware of this. This climb, along with basically all bar 2, seemed like non-events on the elevation side-view of the route map I’d been using for planning in the weeks prior. Somehow, I’d managed to basically ignore that I’d be almost Everesting in around two days, with my sole focus on being to just start the race, finishing being a huge bonus of course. So, there I pedaled, only a couple of hours in, on the plains, brawling with a headwind, wondering how I was going to deal with these two big climbs. The first one alone was 20 miles and 6,200 feet of up. A cycle emerged early on: struggle up a mammoth, get reckless on the way down, and then spend then next miles of flattish road persuading myself that the impending punishment was going to be a good time. Lucky for me, the descents that usually immediately followed the crests made the persuasion part pretty simple.
Cyrus Desmarais was first to complete the course in 1 day, 9 hours, and 54 minutes and led the race from the beginning, until a tenacious Kathleen Dolan grabbed the lead heading into Plain and carried the torch until Leavenworth. Kathleen crossed the line at 1 day, 12 hours, and 58 minutes, followed by Kristen McCune at 1 day, 15 hours, and 57 minutes. There are a lot of elements that contribute to bikepacking’s awesomeness, but the way it challenges the male strength advantage is rad and exciting, and I believe sports that promote this reality are perhaps the most effective tool we have in progression.
I’ve already demanded a bunch of your time, but if I can make one more request, it’s that you immediately experience a race—especially something challenging like the NCW 250—if you have not already. There’s a brave new world of hugging nature and revelling in the self waiting for you out there.
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