Dennis's story: Gravel and Wine

BaseCamp
May 10, 2025
3 min read

BaseCamp athlete Dennis Wojcik shared his experience at the 2025 Gravel and Wine bike race in Paso Robles, California.

This was a last minute add to my ride schedule but well worth it. After being sick for two weeks prior to BWR CA I wanted to try something different. Found this ride and signed up a week prior.

This was the first time this event was held, and I think they did a good job. It wasn't a huge crowd, but after 1500 at BWR it was nice. The organizer had to deal with a private land owner pulling their permissions the day prior to the event which caused some last minute route updates. This ultimately got me as I missed one of the key route signs as I was tracking to the GPS course.

As far as the race, I was able to get near to the front of the pack prior to first climb. Channeling my inner BaseCamp mantras, I was able to work my way up to the front on the 4.5 mile gravel climb. This was rewarded with some sweeping descents. This is where the time at Mallorca paid off. All that learning and practice descending has me well out front with no one in sight. Yea!! Right up to the point I missed the turnaround and did a 3ish mile 1000 foot gravel climb before I realized my mistake. Succeed and Learn! I really didn't mind because this was not an A race, and the route was just so beautiful. Tree lined gravel with a creek on the side, hawks screeching and vineyards.

I turned around and decided how many people I could real in. I caught 5 and was making progress right up the next Succeed and Learn session. I got my first flat in an event! The sealant did not close the cut so time for a tube. Not a biggie, I can do this! Well I also learned that in the SoCAL area if you don't use your CO2 inflator the seals can dry out. Oops...so much for CO2. Moved on to the backup pump -- SILCA to the rescue. Also learned that in 93 degree heat, the pump gets a bit sticky and HOT. Ouch! All in all it took 15 min or so to get going again, but I didn't push it to hard from their. In the end; I missed first by 23 minutes and the podium by 10.

Other things I learned:

The long sleeve BaseCamp jerseys are great for sun protection even it the heat. It was 93 degrees towards the end of the ride and I felt fine.
BaseCamp nutrition/fuel/hydration training works! I could handle everything today and felt good even with the heat.
My wife is great! She came on the trip with me and sat at the winery that hosted the event. Costoro Cellars was beautiful and she enjoyed knitting on the patio waiting for me to come in.
The price of taking my wife to the race was a trip to an awesome yarn store (Ball & Skein) in Cambria. She had fun shopping, they had water and cookies...
There is a great restaurant in Cambria that has cool vintage bikes all over. The food was good. Especially the pie.
Life is not all bikes. We took a detour to the coast to walk the beach and to see the elephant seals. Glad bike races are not solved like the seals....