LA Tourist Race Beginner 2024-3 Angeles national forest gravel cycling

First gravel bike race for us!
When I first started seeing info on this race a few years ago it immediately struck me as something I wanted to try. The premise is: Start and return to Let's Ride Cyclery in Burbank CA while hitting checkpoints (GPS coordinates where books are stashed) in the mountains surrounding LA, no set route, self supported ride any bike you like (as long as it's not an E-Bike) and have fun.
This is the third of three races offered this year and the first time we participated. The full tourist route was 90+ miles and 10k+ feet of climbing which would have been above my confidence level right now so we elected for the shorter "Beginner" category. After careful consideration and two or three nights of route planning we decided on a clockwise loop:
Burbank to LA Canada- Angeles Crest Hwy to Redbox - Rincon Redbox road to Valley Forge trail camp - Back up to Redbox - Redbox road to Eaton Saddle trailhead - Mt Lowe Road to Altadena - Altadena to Burbank via Chevy chase, Glenoaks and Victory.
Our Route was give or take (Our Garmin's didn't completely agree for some reason)
62ish Miles
7000-7100ft of climbing
6ish hrs of moving time
7ish hrs total
The HUGE factor is that for us the rain didn't actually start coming down until the last 1-2mi give or take. There were sprinkles here and there and the wind at Mt Lowe got temps down to about 38f but nothing crazy.
Super cool event put on by a Local independent bike shop, Go check them out: www.letsridecyclery.com
Majority of our kit is from the Eliel Factory Team program:
www.elielcycling.com/pages/elielfactoryteam
Bikes were put together by me in the garage with help from my wife and dog. The blue one my wife rides:
Niner RLT9
GRX 800-600 2x11 with 11-36 PG1130
DTswiss alloy wheels
IRC Doublecross 700x42 tires
The yellow one (The Banana slug aka my kooked out soft top)
Felt Broam 30
GRX 800-600 2x11 with 11-40 Deore XT and a Wolftooth goat link
DTswiss alloy wheels
IRC Boken 700x40 tires
Thanks for watching and to all those that helped with the event and the EXTREMELY strong riders who participated in the beginner and especially the full events. You guys make me stoked to ride bikes and get better!

[@eatfortheearth1765]

Amazing! You guys are terrific!