The Santa Barbarian Winter Solstice Mega Ride
Words by: Tydeman newman
Pictures by: Liam Woods
There is no easier way to guarantee a proper day on the bike than setting out for a 10k day. Whether you're going out to cruise mountain roads or bashing your way up and down the trails, a 10k day is the ultimate day on a bike.
A few weeks back, Trevor sent me a link to a Strava route titled “The Santa Barbarian 2025”. I took a glance and instantly was hooked; three times up SB’s mega climb, Gibraltar Road, lapping out some of Southern California’s rawest singletrack. I’d heard plenty about the Santa Barbara chunk, but had yet to check out any of the infamous trails for myself. I started to feel that little tingle on the back of my neck when I'm committing to something big and gnarly; I quickly texted him back, “I’m in.”
My alarm started blaring, ripping me from my warm cozy dreams and into the 4am darkness. I rolled over and gave Sophie a nudge. Together, we dragged ourselves out from under the duvet and started throwing the last few bits of kit into our bags. Shoes; check. Helmet; check. Chamois; check. Cookies, beef jerky, oranges, and chocolate milk; check, check, and double check! We met Trevor down the hill at the McDonald's, nibbling on McMuffins and hashbrowns as we blasted the hour north to Santa Barbara.
It was still dark when we pulled into the parking spot. Roll time was at 7 am, only 2 minutes after sunrise. We slipped on our gear, filled our bottles with salty-sweet mix, and crammed our pockets full of bars, gels, sausage rolls and oranges. Soon enough, we were all sitting around, giving each other good morning high-fives and hellos. Within a few minutes, we were off and rolling, the fog swirling around as we spun up the infamous Gibraltar Road.
The spirits were high and the pace higher, a few of us drifting off the back of the group, jokingly wondering if everyone knew it was a 10k day. As we poked our way above the marine layer, the orange glow of the sun washed over us and warmed our chills. We spun and spun and soon were at the top, smiles across everyone's faces as the suffering was yet to set in.
Lap 1 was down the notorious Tunnel Trail. If you’ve ever heard anything about mountain biking in Santa Barbara, you’ve probably heard of this godforsaken trail. 2 miles and 2,000ft of elevation loss down the rockiest trail I’ve ever ridden in my life. I was fortunate enough to jump behind a local as we dropped into the gnar. For half a second, the trail was a nice meandering singletrack before sending it straight into the rocks. Fist-sized boulders pinged off my Trail 1 Shed Wheelset as we rattled our way down the first few straights. It took me a minute to adjust to the brutality, but soon enough I was picking up on the sneaky doubles and local lines, finding moments of flow within the jagged edges. At the bottom it was nothing but high fives and stoke, everyone frantically shaking their hands trying to get rid of the arm pump.
By the time we were pedaling up for Lap 2, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful California December day, the marine layer drifting out over the waves. The pace was much slower for the first few minutes until the whipper snapper showed up. My good friend and American MTB World Cup/Olympic superstar, Riley Amos, was in town for a little training block and decided to come join us for a lap, an easy spin for the ripper. We climbed and chatted; catching up and joking around as I introduced him to the day’s crew. Before I knew it, we were on the final pitches and traversing the ridgeline to the top of San Ysidro. Waiting to drop in, everyone poked fun at Riley’s distinct lack of “enduro” gear, trying to guess his tire pressure and asking where his visor was.
Cold Springs Trail is your classic Southern California mountain trail: ripping fast singletrack with plenty of exposure, loose and drifty corners into sneaky switchbacks before finally chattering through a rocky creekbed. Up front we were on a heater; letting off the brakes and enjoying the wind flapping our jerseys. Midway back, Riley was showing all the doubters that XC dudes can shred, dropping plenty of guys on full enduro rigs. It was the least “janky” of all the trails that day, but still gave us some spice as we neared the foothills. Before long we were saying goodbye to Riley and cutting back over to the cars, not before a quick water stop and getting to watch SB local ripper, Collin, snack down on two Double-Doubles and a jar of honey. Top tier ride food. I’d love to hear what Riley’s nutritionist thinks of that.
Sitting at the cars getting ready for the last lap was where the real slog of the day set in. At this point, we had over 7,000ft of elevation gain in the legs and some of the group were really feeling it. As everyone swung their leg over the bike for the last time, a few stragglers stayed sitting on the tailgate of their trucks, promising they would only be a few minutes behind us. We all knew that wasn’t happening.
Spinning up the climb on Lap 3, everyone’s stoked remained high. Although there were plenty of tired groans, nobody seemed to be hurting too bad. In fact, our last time up Gibraltar was almost our quickest! As the sun fell low on the horizon, the fog moved its way back up to the base of the hills, obscuring Santa Barbara and deserting us on the ridgeline as if we were trapped on an island. It was the perfect view to sit up top and joke about the day and who looked more exhausted. But not for long as it was time for San Ysidro Trail.
The top of the trail lulled me into a false sense of security, shredding along with the sun blasting in my eyes, imagining I was in the alpine segment of The Collective. But suddenly we were smacking our way through the flattest, jankiest rock gardens I have ever seen. Every bit of flow leached from my body as I did everything I could to pump and pop the bike through the square edges. Ryan Reish told me it wasn’t more than a few minutes of jank, but boy did those few minutes feel like an eternity. Finally, just as we broke the surface of the ocean of fog, the rocks let up and we were treated to ripping fast trail and damp dirt. Those last few minutes of descending were incredible. The perfect way to finish out a mega day.
It was just a short spin back to the cars. With crusty faces and tired legs, we rolled in right at sunset, making it a true sunrise to sunset ride on the Winter Solstice. Surprisingly nobody accepted the post ride Pacifico, probably too cooked to stomach it. We were done and we were stoked. A proper 10k day.
Left to Right: Ryan, Tydeman, Trevor, Will, Sophie, Jorge
The biggest of thank you’s to Will Kirschke and the rest of the Santa Barbarians for organizing such a sick ride. Also a big thank you to Sage Trail Alliance for keeping these sick trails running year-round! I am already looking forward to some more monster days on the bike this coming year!
Santa Barbara Trails are maintained by Sage Trail Alliance, a glowing example of a great trail advocacy group that Trail 1 is happy to support and in doing so named the Sage Alloy pedals after, donating $1 per pair sold to Sage Trail Alliance.