Belgian Waffle Ride San Diego

San Diego's May weather typically offers near-ideal conditions, but 2025 proved challenging. "Southern California received a lot of rain this year which rutted out the dirt and made it pretty rough," creating technical terrain issues. "'At least the weather's cool,' I kept telling myself" during grey skies that were "perfect temps for hard riding without overheating."[10]

San Diego International Airport is only 25 miles from Del Mar with easy freeway access, but race day execution suffers from bottlenecks. "With 1,500 riders rolling out together, we got caught behind bottlenecks on early singletrack—losing nearly 45 minutes before the race even really began." The venue itself (Del Mar Polo Fields) provides ample parking, though course management struggles with field size logistics.[1]

This delivers bucket-list gravel suffering across 23 "unroad sectors" through Southern California terrain. Yun and her partner were "two of just 21 women to finish the Waffle that day. Only about two-thirds of the 300 men finished." The course includes creek crossings, Death Valley sections, and Lusardi Switchbacks. Post-race features Belgian waffles and Lost Abbey beers for survivors.[3]

BWR San Diego IS the original. The OG. The granddaddy that spawned an entire series across North America. It's the Queen Leg of the Quad-Tripel Crown and attracts the biggest names in gravel: Peter Stetina, Keegan Swenson, Alexey Vermeulen, Matt Beers. When Michael Marckx created this in 2012, he established a blueprint that the entire gravel world has tried to copy. 15 years of history and counting.[5]

You need legitimate climbing legs and the patience to navigate technical single-track when you're already cooked. This isn't a pure gravel race—it's a Spring Classic with dirt sectors that'll shred tires and egos equally. Show up undertrained for Double Peak's 20% final pitches and you'll be walking in front of 2,800 witnesses.