Gravel Results: Stupidly Hard Ride … Maybe a Race? … at the 2019 Rock Cobbler in SoCal

“The World Famous Rock Cobbler is a stupidly hard ride bordering on a race.” That’s what the race registration page for Southern California’s Rock Cobbler reads.

Now in its sixth year, the Rock Cobbler starts and finishes at Lengthwise Brewing in Bakersfield. Organizers keep each year’s route close to the vest, releasing the course for the “stupidly hard ride” in the week leading up to the event.

This year’s course was roughly 86 miles—depending on whose computer you ask—with over 6,000 feet of climbing on pavement, gravel and fire roads in the hills east of Bakersfield. The event also offers a shorter Pebbler that still packs in over 4,000 feet of climbing.

The event described the two routes. “Both will be very hard but will be very fun, in a very Bakersfield Way.”

What is Bakersfield fun? Good question. One answer might be “You might do pushups, throw water balloons, laugh, cry, suck your thumb, meet Tacoman, ride thru a church and or swim…but you will hike with your bike and enjoy cussing us. More than once. We have fun!”

Part of that fun included literally riding through a house.

And local celebrity appearances.

Although the race does bill itself as a hard ride and not a race, organizers do give a prize to the top female and male finishers. Since there are prizes and riders put on number plates, well, you know how that works.

The Women’s winner was Echo Rowe (Coureur – Canyon Elite Cycling Team) of Menlo Park, CA. Former DK200 winner Alison Tetrick (Specialized) finished second and Tina Burch (Sierra Nevada – Michaels Bicycles) third. Although there was officially no podium, Mary Dannelly and Laura May (Gravelstoke) rounded out the virtual wide-angle podium.

In the Men’s race, it came down to three with Philip Tintsman (Monster Media Racing) edging out Menso de Jong (Capo – Niner – NoTubes) and David Juarez (Cannondale). Ryan Steers (Giant Off-Road Racing) and Rudolph Napolitano (InGamba Tours) rounded out the theoretical wide-angle podium.

Women’s and Men’s Rock Cobbler results are below. Since it technically is not a race, we have listed results with no finishing positions. To get the full story, you can do the maths…

For a more visual look at the race, #rockcobbler on Instagram shows a little of what riders had to tackle.

Women's Results: 2019 Rock Cobbler Gravel Race

Men's Results: 2019 Rock Cobbler Gravel Race