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Wild west terrain and setting at 2025 The Rock Cobbler (Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)Contributors needed to navigate the purchasers and bar space of Ethel’s Previous Corral Cafe(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)The well-known 24-foot fiberglass statue known as ‘Giant Indian’ was once at the route at Ethel’s Previous Corral Cafe(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)The patio space of a neighborhood saloon, Ethel’s Previous Corral Cafe, was once a part of the classes(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)Peter Stetina rocked the No. 1 bib as protecting winner of Boulder Cobbler (Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)The town of Bakersfield within the distance on one of the climbs(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)‘Hike-a-bike’ segment at The Rock Cobbler 12.0 supplied some traction with the dry prerequisites(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)A brand new ‘hike-a-bike’ segment with beneath 10 miles to head at The Rock Cobbler 12.0(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)Routes handed via a California winery(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)Mass begins for The BMC Rock Cobbler 12.0(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)Friday evening motorbike barrel racing(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)Motorcycle barrel racing was once a part of tournament ‘shenanigans’ the evening ahead of The BMC Rock Cobbler 12.0(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)Belt buckles have been prized awards at The BMC Rock Cobbler 12.0(Symbol credit score: Wil Matthews Picture / The BMC Rock Cobbler)
Whilst extra of a ‘wild journey’ than a real gravel tournament, the BMC Rock Cobbler delivered over again for a twelfth version in central California, entire with “a damn challenging route with awesome, unique features” together with a move via a cowboy bar.
Peter Stetina (Canyon) took the lads’s solo victory in the second one version of the 96-mile Boulder Cobbler whilst native Bakersfield rider Denise Miller received the ladies’s department. At the vintage Rock Cobbler route, which got here in with reference to 23 miles shorter, Lance Haidet (Specialised) and Ruth Holcomb (Santa Cruz htSQD) received the lads’s and ladies’s classes, respectively.
The occasions aren’t critical races, with out a podiums or prize cash, however function an early-season gauge of health with a touch of ‘shenanigans’ to remind contributors that the punishing terrain was once meant to be a ‘playground’, the emphasis on ‘play’, in step with Haidet.
He described sections of the route starting from massive berms, whoops, slalom singletrack and hero dust. The dry prerequisites have been a ways other than when he competed two years in the past when he completed 3rd, particularly at the notorious ‘hike-a-bike’ climb with beneath 10 miles to head, the steepness harking back to the cliff known as ‘gorge of everlasting peril’ from the film, The Princess Bride.
“This year featured a new Cobbler run-up that felt longer but was slightly less steep. I tried to ride up, but only made it about a couple hundred feet. There were all kinds of spectators cheering riders on, and we were catching riders from the Pebbler (short route), so it was pretty cool to have some company while trudging tired legs up the climb.
“The elements and route prerequisites have been in our favour this yr. The cheesy dust was once tremendous rapid rolling and had unending traction, which allowed us to profit from the playground of trails,” Haidet said.
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For Holcomb, it was her first-ever gravel event, having started as a junior in mountain bike racing and spending the last two years with a US road team.
Coming off a win at Low Gap in the Grasshopper Adventure Series, Stetina earned a win at the Cobbler for a third time in four years and called it “probably the most a laugh days you’ll have to your motorbike”, or off the bike when trying to remain upright on the final climb. Haidet confirmed that many of the amateurs on that climb “have been cursing Sam Ames’ (route mastermind) identify”.
All three routes had individual mass starts from the Pyles/Lake Ming Picnic Grounds near the Kern River on the east of Bakersfield. Friday opened with bicycle barrel racing during the pasta dinner, and Saturday morning rides began in waves.
The 96-mile Boulder route included 12,600 feet of climbing, while the Rock Cobbler came in at 75 miles with 9,200 feet of elevation gain. Organisers offered aid stations and course markings for the rides, with the tech guide stressing “route markings over rule GPS”, protecting an emphasis on protection in addition to area of expertise.
