Erica's story: Bedrock Valley Gravel Ride
BaseCamp athlete Erica Ramos shared her experience at the 2026 Bedrock Valley Gravel Ride in California.
This was my first ever gravel event, so I didn't really know what to expect. We were also expecting rain, which is rare for our Southern California region. What stands out about this event more than anything was the support offered by my fellow BaseCampers as I was preparing. I had never raced in rainy conditions, and as I was stressing about preparing last minute, I realized that I had an incredible resource in our Circle groups. I made a post and very quickly had multiple responses with gear recommendations, clothing and layering suggestions, and bike care guidance, along with messages of overall support and motivation that are so typical for our crew. Between that and Amazon, I felt very prepared for the ride, even though as most rain predictions are in Southern CA, it turned out to be much ado about nothing.
The race itself was a little nerve-wracking but a simple one for my first go. The course was a loop and flat, more rock slabs and sand than I was expecting. I skidded out in one sandy corner, and from that point, my hand wasn't feeling very strong in my grip. My original plan was to do two loops, but I stopped after one, as I didn't feel very safe keeping hold of my handlebars. After multiple other bigger and more challenging events, it's easy to look back on this one as somewhat uneventful, but the support of the BaseCamp crew made it incredibly memorable!
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