(pics by Natalie Starr & Leo Veleff)

Spring doesn’t technically start until March 20th, but that doesn’t typically apply to us.

L.A. has great weather, where you can pretty much do what you want year around.

This winter has been quite the exception in that when you’ve looked forward to something awesome, you’re gonna get rained on.

I’m pretty excited to get back into some dirt riding, but on top of snow being a factor at upper elevations, I’m just not doing the mud thing anymore either.

 

 

That’s why Ryan Steers’ Birthday Gravel Feast this Sunday is pretty timely.

It looks like we’ll finally get our first full week of clear skies meaning conditions should be perfect (of course, it’s supposed to rain Sunday night).

If you haven’t ridden some of the trails around the Calabasas area, then you’ve got a lot of educating to do.

 

You’re allowed to ride with both wheels on the ground if you like. (pics by Natalie Starr & Leo Veleff)

 

Maybe you think of the area as being a landscape of large, expensive suburban homes, but there are miles of open space that makes you feel like you’ve transported to the Central Coast.

This time of year is particularly the best because the hills have a verdant felt look to them from all the rainfall.

The ride itself is fifty miles, with about 6,700 feet or vert, but if you’ve been strictly a roadie, my rule is to add 50% on dirt to the amount of feet climbed to get a feeling how tough it’ll be.

You’ll definitely need all your gears and wider tires out there because there are some pretty stiff challenges including Calabasas Peak, a stretch I have not been able to tame.

No doubt, if you’ve finished this course, you’ve done good.

 

Really? This is just in our backyard?

 

And if you’ve done good, you also get a couple of New Belgium beers and a Taco Feast to properly help you recover.

Of course, all this is starting out of Pedalers Fork at 8:30 a.m.

Tickets are still available at $50 ($60 on day of), but if you use the promo code “ciclavalley”, you’ll get a $10 discount.

Don’t worry, they won’t confuse you with me.

Even if you don’t own a gravel or cross bike, take out your mountain bike as this will be a great experience to see what gravel riding is all about.

And it’s not looking like you’ll need your mud flaps either!