"It's my first ever Trans-style race, I knew it would be hard, but I didn't expect back-to-back 5,000 foot days. We were all pretty tired but we were in it together,” said Jill Kintner.

Day four was the final day of racing for Trans Cascadia 2021 and anticipation was high. Like days prior, camp was bustling long before the sun began peeking through the trees with another big day on the horizon and a long, steep hike-a-bike section gaining nearly 4,000 feet waiting to test the field.

"We planned on the racers eating for two, but in fact they're eating for three."

Nestled deep in the Okinawan–Wenatchee National Forest, racers woke up to another day of unbelievable weather and riding. After daily Covid testing and a quick brief, breakfast was served under the Shimano tent with Hannah from The Bayou Catfish and her staff working round the clock to feed over 100 racers and support staff…

This is definitely a unique event. You're kind of just out there in the middle of nowhere taking in all the sights! — Jill Kintner

Slowly emerging from their tents, racers took their time preparing for another raw, long day in the mountains. A late start allowed extra time at breakfast for a third cup of Trailhead coffee, enjoyed round the daily morning fire. With shuttles loaded and lunch packed, the camp emptied as racers started the course…

Day 1 of Trans Cascadia started with a bang, deep in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. This land is traditional indigenous territory of the Wenatchi and Syilx people.

After an unfortunate but necessary break in 2020, the race is back with rider safety first and foremost. A blind enduro, racers are given each day's map the night before, with no chance to explore the trail prior. This makes for quite an interesting event, leveling the playing field for all riders….

“We’ve been doing this for five years and I don’t think I’ve had a better day out there with better people.” - Alex Gardner, Race Producer

When racers woke up on the morning of Day 4, snow could be seen on the ridgelines just barely above camp. Racer Director, Nick Gibson, and Lead Medic, Nick Hall, headed up the hill and quickly realized that there would be no racing. It was a beautiful snowy landscape, but they weren’t the conditions that would allow the organizers to send timers, start gates, and volunteers out on course all day long. And the overcast skies would prevent a helicopter from aiding with any emergency medical extractions...

“Some of the best riding I’ve done – I don’t even know really how to put it into words.” - Thomas Vanderham

Saturday, Day 3, was move day. The plan was for racers to pedal out of camp from Takhlakh Lake and to pedal into camp at Green River Horse Camp at the end of the day – Mother Nature had other plans. The night before, as Race Director Nick Gibson delivered the details for the following day’s race, it had begun to snow.

“I think it was probably my best day ever on mountain bike trails. Stage 6 and 7 were unreal; perfect flow, sweeper corners, and hero dirt. It was amazing. I was smiling all the way down!” - Romain Paulhan

“It’s not going to be warm and it’s going to be wet.” The weather report that Tommy Magrath delivered the night before was still ringing in the ears of the racers as they rolled out of basecamp on Day 2. Headed for stages 5, 6, and 7, they were promised cold temperatures, mixed precipitation, and more incredible trails.

“We’ve been out here scaring ourselves since 2013, and I’ve never seen tracks this good. You guys are in for a treat!” - Alex Gardner

Racers arrived at basecamp on Wednesday and for those who have never experienced a Trans-Cascadia event, they were in for a bit of a surprise. “In my riding scene, I’m a bit of a ride organizer so I’ll bring a barbeque or whatever and get people organized a little bit,” says freerider Matt Hunter, “and I showed up here and I was like, ‘woah, who did this?’ It was pretty amazing.” Racer tents were set up along the shore of Lake Takhlakh with Mount Adams in the distance, a fire was already lit, and two stocked bars were ready to serve as racers exited their shuttle vans.

“We started coming out here 13 years ago riding our dirt bikes in this forest and we fell in love with it,” Alex Gardner, Race Producer told the racers. “Being on those ridgelines and seeing those mountains, from certain aspects you can see all four on a clear day, we started wondering how mountain bikes would work on these tracks. We weren’t quite sure and didn’t have the skills yet to host here, but we spent our time in Oregon and we figured out how to do it. And now we are back, so it’s a pleasure to have you guys out here enjoying these tracks. I think we’ve put together some of the best – for mountain bikes at least.” The rain held off for the last day of racing, allowing riders to experience the incredible mountain views and fall colours that first inspired the Trans-Cascadia crew to come to this area.

“The stages have been amazing; the riding has been absolutely incredible.” -Greg Minnaar

 “Tomorrow morning, we are moving camps,” Tommy Magrath, Director of Logistic, announced to the racers on Friday night. “So, this is your last night in this beautiful area, before we move to another beautiful area.”

“Because Day 1 was such a hard day of climbing, today is payback,” welcome news from Nick Gibson, Race Director. “We’ve got three big shuttles and your stats are 8,000 feet of descending with 2,000 feet of climbing.” What was best described as an active recovery day saw racers shuttled to the top of the ridgeline east of camp three times to enjoy a wide variety of terrain – including what became known the ‘spiritual experience’ of Stage 6.

“Welcome to the fourth generation of Trans-Cascadia and I mean that, this is like a generational thing, this thing gets weirder every year.” - Nick Gibson, Race Director

Racers settled into Horse Creek Lodge on Saturday night with hot indoor and outdoor showers, a roaring fire pit, and another gourmet meal created by Chef Chris Diminno; provided by Chris King.

After a long day in the rain, sleet, snow, and slippery river crossings, the happy, but exhausted group cheered when the event organizers announced the cancelation of a stage for the final day. “Because we are ambitious, Day 4 is an ambitious day,” started Nick Gibson, “but we are going to be slightly less ambitious and cut out Stage 16.”

The excited energy at basecamp this morning was palpable. Not only was a massive day of blind racing on the horizon for the participants, but it was a completely new course for the event team as well. Today’s stages represented the essence of why Trans-Cascadia was created. “It’s exciting,” said Rosara Joseph, wearing her leader jersey. “New trails are always cool – and I’ve heard only good things about today from people in the know!”

Day 2 of Trans-Cascadia stretched over 18.1 miles of riding for Stages 6-11. The course sent racers backwards on the first three stages of Day 1 around Lake Timpanogas, which included some surprises; like a straight line down the scree field they hiked up yesterday. It may be the same trails but in reverse it has a different attitude, according to Lars Sternberg who raced in 2015 and is now back as a crewmember.

OAKRIDGE, OREGON, September 29, 2016. As the racer buses rolled into camp at Lake Timpanogas last night, the first time jitters experienced by many of the racers became overshadowed by excitement. Given just enough information about where and when to meet the shuttles, racers were truly in the dark about what they were getting into; even returning racers aren’t guaranteed the same experience as last year. 

It is Monday morning and racers are still lingering by a smouldering fire in the middle of camp – no one really wants the Trans-Cascadia race to be over..

OAKRIDGE, OREGON, September 26, 2015. Day 3 took racers to a new network of trails closer to Oakridge, Oregon. Not only were the trails a progression from the rather untouched trails...

OAKRIDGE, OREGON, September 25, 2015. After 17.8 miles of trail on Day 1, yesterday may have looked like a minor reprieve on paper at 15.6 miles...

With only a few days to go until the inaugural Trans-Cascadia race, the Modus Sport Group has been out getting the trails into prime condition...