FOMO Factory: Why the Rock Cobbler the ultimate race to miss
I have fancied the Rock Cobbler gravel race that is “not a race” for a few years now. And every year participating in it eludes me.
This story first appeared in the GRVL Magazine, check out the full site here. All photos from the great Wil Matthews
This year I really thought it would be my time. I even had my reference to the Nu Metal band Korn, which has brought an aura to Bakersfield, the alt-side of Southern California, ready to go.
Nevertheless, my wisdom teeth had other ideas. The weekend before my trip to start my season at the Rock Cobbler I was having enough trouble with my two top wisdom teeth that I had to get them pulled to avoid added complications. Once again, my plans to attend the first big show of the gravel cycling season were firmly put on ice, right along with my cheeks as I was put on my ass for a week.
Considering the race from afar rather than in the mix of the green hills, twisting trails, and cowboy bar, what struck me once again was why the Rock Cobbler has been so intensely on my list of must-do gravel races: it is a perfect distillation of a sport that increasingly runs on factors of FOMO.
While I wasn’t there, the FOMO itself is enough to write about.
What is the Rock Cobbler?
The Rock Cobbler is a bike event, not a race (even if there are results), that has been around for the past 12 years as a very unofficial kick-off to the Southern California off-road season. Yet that itself is a bit reductive. The Rock Cobbler has been around for longer than any “off-road” season has existed. It is really its own event that has been forged from its own individualistic drive to get down and very dirty amongst the cow pies of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. All transpiring in Bakersfield, California, no less, a city that most people will know as a stop along the I-10 corridor and not much else.
That is not to say that Bakerfield isn’t great. As the Rock Cobbler has proved, the town has a deep tradition of both cowboy culture, established by a rich history of farming and ranching in the area, and counterculture, as proven by the aforementioned genre-creating band Korn.
Somehow, all of that ethos has been scrunched up and stuffed into a bike event that has been rendered into beautiful imagery, intense enthusiasm, and endearing middle fingers on the social media feeds of many cool looking people.
“It’s not a race,” Sam Ames, the race director, stressed to GRVL Magazine. “I am always quick to correct people! Many of the Cobbler Crew raced road, cross and MTB’s for decades. We have hosted So Cal championships in all formats except track racing. That ship has sailed for us. We never wanted to deal with podiums, prize money, etc.
“We did want a damn hard ride but pitting the rider against the course was first and then having fun telling war stories, beers and food was what we also wanted. For those that want to race and make money doing it (or for those who want to stack themselves up against others for any number of factors/results), there are plenty of events doing that.
“And trust me, riders who want to race it will do so. Even for bragging rights. We just love seeing smiles on faces and the now traditional giving me the middle finger when it’s over for the hike-a-bike.”
The Rock Cobbler this year appears to be no different. Once again, Bakersfield’s hills played host to the race with its narrow cow trails, sweeping paved hills, and one-of-one route that travels through a cowboy bar and tackles an unrideable run-up. At just 78-miles for its premiere course, the race is short for the spectrum of American gravel racing, but it packs a punch with a ton of climbing and technical riding to make it a tough day in the saddle.
Each year, the course changes, and each year is full of new surprises, as the race gets special permission to access ranchland that is closed to cyclists for the other 364 days of the year. What doesn’t change is the attitude around the race, with festivities Friday night at the start and finish area, which doubles as a campground for the many racers who use the event as a convenient winter escape.
Or so I have heard.
“Most all things ‘gravel’ in the US, and probably elsewhere in the world, work with the terrain, roads, trails and arena they have,” Ames said. “The Cobbler started with a few of us doing ‘adventure’ style rides and exploring and using what Kern County and Bakersfield have to offer. Ranches, foothills – I think we might have 500 yards of ‘gravel roads.’ Seeing the oilfields, ranches and cattle along with orchards and the rugged terrain of eastern Bakersfield is definitely the embodiment of that terrain.”
Behind the FOMO factory
More than most races on the calendar, that social media generated FOMO of the Rock Cobbler is impactful on a deep level because it captures something that is bordering on the mystical: spirit. In a world where race sizes and prices are skyrocketing and the genre of gravel is ballooning, the hype for races has crystallized into something that seems more corporate.
On some levels, that is a good thing. The sport is serious and should be taken, in the context of its Big Important Days, seriously. Yet most of us are here for its unseriousness, especially in the United States and particularly during the confines of the early season schedule.
“We really try and do things that others are not doing. And that’s not to say we are better, heck no,” Ames said. “Some amazing events out there! We are just a bit goofy so riding thru a house, bars, doing push ups, a ridiculous hike a bike – whatever it is we wanna be unique. And the Cobbler has really become a gathering and a party. That is very important to us.”
From that basis, the Rock Cobbler goes from strength to strength each year as its unseriousness begets more unseriousness. Not unseriousness of the physical test, which is plain to see, nor the unseriousness of the organizers, who continue to innovate in terms of compelling course design and course features, but unseriousness in the manner of encouraging nobody to be anything other than their silly cycling self.
“We spend a lot of money on our Cobblers to give them the best food, fun and value with swag and the ‘special gift.’ It was never meant to be a race and never will. We had riders in jean shorts and work boots doing the Pebbler. That shows a broad appeal from kitted up gravel racer to an ‘I think I can do this’ recreational rider.”
With that spirit at the heart of all the images, expressions and sentiments of the day, the FOMO of Rock Cobbler is unstoppable, even though a few bulls have done their darndest to stop the fun before.