Harsh weather accompanies US gravel season openers at Low Gap and Old Man Winter - Gallery

While pro road racing season is underway from the warm climates of Australia, the Middle East and southern Spain, the opening chapters for North American gravel dismiss comfortable climates and plunge into the cold and moist northern months of north California and Colorado. 

Peter Stetina (Canyon) and Kate Courtney (Rivian/Allied/Red Bull) grabbed the glory in Ukiah, California on January 26 at the opening round of the Grasshopper Adventure Series, five events on tap through May 10. This past weekend it was Noah Granigan (Miami Blazers) and Lauren De Crescenzo (Factor/The Feed/Wahoo/PERC) who took victories in windy conditions at Old Man Winter Bicycle Rally in Colorado.

By mid-February both the UCI Gravel World Series and Gravel Earth Series will be back in full swing on two continents. In the US, the BMC Rock Cobbler returns for a 12th edition with "shenanigans" on parts of the course, no podium at the end and a serious route of close to 100 miles from Bakersfield, California. 

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The Gravel Earth Series will make a debut in the Philippines at Attck Unrstrktd on February 9. The massive 240km undertaking takes place in hilly terrain north of Manila from Talavera and provides the first base points for the series. The multi-day Santa Vall event returns on February 15-16 from Girona, with 10% bonus points in the scoring. Stage 1 is 80km with 1,100 metres of climbing and stage 2 adds another 500 metres of elevation gain on the 114km route.

In a cross-over season that began in October 2024 with the European Gravel Championships in Italy and Gravelista in Australia, the next event for Gravel World Championships automatic qualification is Castellon Gravel Race in Spain on February 15. The 97km distance qualifier offers 72% gravel, which begins and ends just north of Valencia in Llucena.

Stetina and Courtney win Low Gap

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The 28th edition of the Grasshopper Adventure Series began with what organisers call a 'Hopper Classic', the 47-mile Low Gap event in Mendocino County. Dry conditions and freezing temperatures greeted the 500-plus competitors for the traditional mass start, where elite racers soon made separate on the opening monster climb on Orr Springs Road, almost one-third of the day's 6,150 feet of elevation gain packed into the first nine miles. 

Stetina won for a second time in three years, the fast conditions taking him 2 hours, 33 minutes, and just 31 seconds ahead of Matthew Wiebe. Another one minute back was Jurd Hurd for third. Last year Stetina finished second in a dash to the line behind Christopher Blevins.

"Freezing (thankfully dry!) conditions did nothing to dampen the communal stoke that is palabale on the start line of this perennial season opener. At 47 miles, it’s short in the grand scheme of things, which makes it the perfect tuneup no matter where one finds [oneself] in late January," Stetina posted on Instagram following the event.

"It’s important to start the year off with momentum and I’m pleased to take the [win]. Perhaps more importantly, I still found some minute details to attend to before the biggest international races are in the crosshairs."

Courtney scored her fourth consecutive women's victory, finishing in 2 hours, 49 minutes, 36 seconds, with 10 minutes to spare at the line. From the chase, Chloé Mauvais and Leslie Ethridge sprinted to the line, with Mauvais the best of the two.

Carina Nottingham took the win in the U-19 female category in a time of 3:31. Yoann Perrodin won the U-19 male category, his time of 2:41 putting him in 10th overall among the pro riders. 

For a third year in a row, an innovative program pairing U-19 female riders with adult mentors attracted 31 participants. With 62 total under-19 aged rides, Grasshopper Adventure Series is working hard to create the next generation of gravel riders.

The Hopper action continues with the Huffmaster in Maxwell, California on February 22.

Granigan and De Crescenzo conquer wind and climbs at Old Man Winter

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Old Man Winter Rally out of Lyons, Colorado returned for an 11th edition Sunday with a 75-mile course across Boulder County, racking up 5,000 feet of climbing through canyons with a first timed section on the Rowena trail and the second timed section to Linden with twisty gravel on Wagonwheel Gap headed to Old Stage. The route is traditionally challenging with icy sections that dictate off-the-bike skills and melting snowpack that makes for muddy single track.

This year the air temperatures were well above the freezing mark, but vicious winds blasted across the Front Range for one of the most challenging editions yet. 

Granigan repeated for a second men's title on Saturday, stopping the clock across two timed segments with the best total and holding off Stephen Schaefer by 23 seconds. Last year he conquered the epic muddy conditions of the course, and this time had to fight weather of a different kind, wind gusts of 40-60 mph.

By the time De Crescenzo completed her ride, her parents held up the inflatable arch so it wouldn't blow away in the strong gusts. She used running skills in the first timed segment to overtake four-time champion Erin Huck, going on to win by 29 seconds. 

"Old Man Winter was the perfect way to kick off the season and shake out the cobwebs. The race was top-notch, and segment racing always adds an exciting dynamic," De Crescenzo told Cyclingnews.

"The wind was insane and only got stronger as the day went on, with 62 mph gusts in the afternoon, and racers were still battling through it. When I crossed the finish line, my mom and dad had to hold up the arch to keep it from blowing away!"

Huck, a MTB Olympian and winner of the first Old Man Winter race in 2015, had a 30-second lead on her fellow Life Time Grand Prix competitor heading on the Rowena Pass. De Crescenzo said she used her high school cross-country running roots to make up all that time and pass Huck on a two-mile uphill section of snowpack. 

"This event holds a special place in my heart—it was one of my first big gravel wins in 2018 while returning from my TBI, so taking the W yesterday made it even more meaningful," said De Crescenzo, now two-for-two in the early-season gravel race after a seven-year gap when she won in 2018.