April 28-May 1, 2006
What is it?
The first year of Northwest Crank was a great success with 45 riders
enjoying great camaraderie as they explored some of the roads around Wenatchee.
They came from all over – Portland, Bend, Vancouver, BC, Seattle.
When they weren’t being treated to great support they enjoyed great
hospitality at Garlini’s restaurant owned by a local Wenatchee cyclist,
and Morgan’s which served up some great food!
Don’t miss out on 2007 as the festival grows with more routes –
including an adventure series, a few seminars, several contests –
and of course more riders!
When
NW Crank started on Friday April 28, 2006, and ended Monday May 1, 2006.
Come early or stay after for even more riding!
Where
NW Crank will be headquartered at The
Inn At The River at 560 Valley Mall Parkway in East Wenatchee, WA.
Wenatchee is centrally located in Washington, less than a 3 hour drive
from most of Washington.
Distances to Wenatchee from:
| Seattle |
150 miles |
| Tacoma |
160 miles |
| Olympia |
190 miles |
| Spokane |
160 miles |
| Tri-Cities |
130 miles |
| Yakima |
100 miles |
| Bellingham |
180 miles |
| Vancouver, BC |
230 miles |
| Penticton, BC |
180 miles |
| Portland |
290 miles |
| Bend |
325 miles |
Cost and Registration
The cost for the weekend is $50. The cost includes:
- Designated route and route sheets for 4 days.
- Support on the designated routes.
- A handful of other routes to be explored in the area.
- The Saturday night presentation on randonneuring and Paris-Brest-Paris.
- Sunday night banquet of chicken, pasta, and dessert at Morgan’s
Restaurant right next to Inn at the River.
- The Thursday night presentation TBD.
- A 5x7 photo of the group taken before Monday’s ride and available
after Monday’s ride.
You are responsible for your own meals and lodging.
A registration form is available HERE
>>. Registration forms should be sent to NW Crank, 9531 112th
Ave NE, Kirkland, WA 98033.
Pre-registration is recommended though registration will be available
in Wenatchee. We can’t guarantee additional banquet tickets will
be available if you don’t pre-register. Packet pick-up will be
Friday morning and Saturday morning at Inn at the River.
Featured Rides
Each day has at least 2 rides to choose from. These rides are the designated
rides with some support. If you choose, you may of course ride anywhere
you want.
Friday features roads to the south of Wenatchee. You will
find very little traffic on these roads as the southern roads all turn
to gravel. The short ride is 65 miles with at least 4500 feet of climbing.
The longer route adds 15 miles and 2700 feet of climbing with an out
and back up to the Mission Ridge Ski Area for a total of 80 miles and
over 7000 feet of climbing. Peak elevation for the short ride is about
3000 feet; for the long ride, it’s about 4600 feet.
On Saturday we head east across the Columbia River with a
variety of routes and distances to choose from. All routes have at least
3500 feet of climbing as they all head up Badger Mountain at 4000 feet.
Please read each route carefully as some have gravel and some have hard-pack
dirt. The hard pack dirt is easily rideable with a road bike; the gravel
is rideable with 25mm tires, though wider would be better.
Lake Chelan is our destination on Sunday. The long route
is 125 miles (200 kilometers -domestic RUSA brevet) and does as much
of a loop around Lake Chelan as is possible. The short route is 76 miles
(120 kilometers) and is an out and back to Lake Chelan. Both routes
don’t have much climbing though expect some challenging winds
along the Columbia River.
Finally on Monday we head up to Plain and Lake Wenatchee and
wonderful return on Route 2 through Tumwater Canyon and Leavenworth.
The short route is 64 miles from Cashmere while the long route adds
18 miles from Leavenworth to and from Cashmere.
We will not provide any maps, only cue sheets. If you want maps, either
purchase an area map or use the Microsoft Streets and Trips files above.
Here are all the NW Crank Routes (XLS) >>
Support
We will have support available at 1 or 2 spots on each ride. Please
check the route sheets for each day to see when and where support is
available. Additional services will be listed on the cue sheet as well.
At each support stop we will have the following:
- Water/water coolers
- Gatorade powder mix
- Bagels and Bread
|
- Peanut Butter
- Jelly
- Costco Trail Mix
|
- Cookies
- Fig Newtons
- Paper towels
- Knives
|
- Ziploc Baggies
- Sunscreen
- Toilet Paper
- Garbage bags
|
You may put your own food and supplies into the support vehicles if
you wish. Please keep personal supplies to a minimum - about the size
of a shoebox. Please collect your supplies at the end of each day as
different vehicles will be used each day.
Volunteer Opportunities
We would appreciate any help with support! Maybe you’d like to
take a day off in the middle. Perhaps a significant other is coming
with you and could help for a few hours one day. Please let us know
if you are interested and able to help. The more help we get, the more
successful the event will be for everyone.
Here is a the list of volunteer
opportunities >>
Special Events and Awards
Saturday’s ride will feature the Ugly Jersey/Ugly Tights contest.
2 winners will receive a $25 gift certificate to Sammamish Valley Cycle
in Redmond, WA, or Performance Bike Shop.
Saturday night will feature a video and presentation of Paris-Brest-Paris
(PBP) followed by Q&A.
Sunday will feature a banquet at Morgans from 6:30 until 8:30.
Sunday’s banquet will feature a White Elephant Bike Part Exchange.
What’s a White Elephant exchange? Everyone brings a wrapped gift
- the gift is mostly a gag and pretty inexpensive. Some examples of
gifts include a bag of tubes that need patching or a solid rubber tire.
All the gifts are put on a common table. Each person can either choose
a gift or the gift from someone who’s already opened theirs. Why
is it called a White Elephant? Good question - I don’t know!
Sunday’s banquet will also feature the presentation of an award
to the club with the most members participating.
Monday will feature a group photo before the ride and distribution
of 5x7 photos after the ride.
Lodging
The Inn At The River has 30 group rooms available under the group name
of Northwest Crank. The rates there are approximately $60/night (+tax)
for a single, and $80/night for a double (+tax). Phone number is 800-920-5406.
This rate is good for booking until April 7th and then the rooms are
freed up and the rates go back to normal.
There are also 20 group rooms available at Cedars Inn, about 2 blocks
away, under the group name of Northwest Crank. The rates there are approximately
$76/night (+tax) for a double. Phone number is 800-358-2074. This rate
is good for booking until April 4th and then the rooms are freed up
and the rates go back to normal.
For more hotels, please check Wenatchee
Valley VCB.
Food
Morgan’s is right at Inn at the River for dinner. Shari’s
is just down the street. Starbucks is a block away for those who need
their morning coffee fix. There’s a grocery store a block away
as well. There are plenty of other restaurants within walking distance.
For dinner each evening we will have a recommended meeting time at
the Inn at the River. From there groups can choose where they want to
go for dinner. For Friday, we will meet at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday we will
meet at 6:00 p.m.; and Sunday will be the banquet at the Inn at the
River at 6:30 p.m.
Family Activities
Bring your family or spouse along and make a family outing of the weekend.
Wenatchee itself has plenty of activities.
Cashmere has Aplets and Cotlets. Leavenworth has some mini-golf and
the charm of Bavarian architecture. Go rafting or visit one of the many
museums. Lake Chelan is beautiful and close by. There’s plenty
of hiking or mountain biking as well. Or take the day and head to the
Yakima Valley for some wine tasting. Take advantage of the ample opportunities
for exploring the area and having fun. For information, visit Wenatchee
Valley VCB. For information on the Wenatchee Apple Valley Festival,
which starts that weekend, go to http://www.appleblossom.org/.
Membership
To learn more about the Seattle Randonneurs, the host group for Northwest
Crank, check out our home page. See the
list of SIR rides. A membership
form is available.
Schedule
Here’s a rough schedule to help with your planning and rides.
Unless otherwise noted, all activities are at the Inn at the River.
Thursday
7:00 p.m. - Presentation TBA.
Friday
8:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. - packet pick up and registration
10:00 a.m. - ride starts (the late start is to accommodate those driving
on Friday morning.
6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. - meet for dinner
Saturday
6:30 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. - meet for breakfast
7:00 a.m. - 7:45 a.m. - packet pickup and registration for those arriving
on Saturday.
8:00 a.m. - ride starts
5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - meet for dinner
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. - PBP video, randonneuring presentation and
Q&A
Sunday
5:30 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. - meet for breakfast
7:00 a.m. - ride starts
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. - banquet and white elephant gift exchange
Monday
7:00 - 7:30 a.m. - meet for breakfast
8:45 a.m. - leave Wenatchee for Cashmere (14 miles - allow 45 minutes
for those riding.)
8:45 a.m. - group picture at Cashmere
9:00 a.m. - ride starts at Cashmere
About Brevets, Populaires, and Control Cards
Sunday’s and Monday’s rides are being organized under the
history, traditions, and rules of randonneuring, specifically the Audax
Club Parisian and Randonneurs USA
which is the US organization. The Seattle International Randonneurs
is a local chapter of RUSA.
In order to verify that riders have completed a brevet, controls and
control cards are used. Controls are points along a route where you
must stop and get your control card signed. Some controls are manned
which means that your card will be signed by a volunteer. Other controls
at “OPEN” which means that you can go to any business in
the control town and have someone sign your card. Using the control
cards will give you an idea of how brevets are run if you choose to
do more SIR events; it’s not necessary for your to use the control
cards during Northwest Crank.
NW Crank - Registration
- Volunteer Opportunities |