Gravel Ensenada in Baja California is a challenging and new Gravel event at the doorstep of the States with a hilly course through the vineyards of Mexico’s wine region and organized by the team behind the Mexican UCI Gran Fondo World Series events.
Course
UCI Gravel Ensenada is a demanding race that runs through some of the most beautiful sites of the Baja California peninsula. It begins and ends on the Villa de Juarez, a small village 20km north of Ensenada, Baja California. The event has a granfondo course of 144km (90 miles) and a 85km mediofondo (53 miles) course with a demanding route for cyclists who want to qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championship.
Start and finish are only 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the US border and the routes winds north towards that border to make a turn at only 15 miles from the States to get back south to finish in the same location.
The 144km has 80% gravel with a challenging 5km climb with its top after 50km and some more steep climbs further up the course with a final difficulty 20km before the finish line.
A part of the course goes through the Valle de Guadalupe, between some of the vineyards in the region.
The 85km mediofondo course which counts as qualifier for the older age groups have the same start and finish, but make a shortcut after 39km to skip the northern part of the course.
85 km
official qualifier distance for men 60+ and women 50+
144 km
official qualifier distance for men 19-59 and women 19-49
Profile
The profile of the event in in Baja California is starting at an elevation of 250m (820 feet) to go up and down on undulating roads until the first real climb of the day after 45km. The 5km climb goes up to an elevation of 700m to reach the highest point of the day. What follow is a flat part and downhill towards the Pacific with a second steep climb between km 85-88 to then slowly go down to a valley before approaching the final climb of the day just after km 120 with 20km before the finish line. Total elevation for the 144km is 2640m which makes it a challenging and hard course.
The shorter 85km skips the hardest climb of the day for a total of 1110m of elevation, only taking the final climb of the course.
85 km
144 km
Ensenada
Ensenada is located at the doorstep of the States at only 1,5h drive from the US border with easy connections through the international airport of Tijuana or by car from California.
Ensenada is known as the “Capital del vino Mexicano”(Capital of Mexican wine) since it is one of the entrance doors to the Wine Route in Baja California. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortés, it is the largest municipality in Mexico due to the great physical geography, flora and fauna that it has. This attractive destination is ideal for nature and outdoor activities lovers.
Start by walking along Adolfo López Mateos avenue or Calle Primera, one of the most important avenues in the Ensenada´s downtown, here there is a great variety of activities that can done, from visiting museums, eating in one of the restaurants, having a coffee , buy handcrafts and wait for the evening for some nighttime fun.
Further on is the Plaza Cívica, known as “Las Tres Cabezas” (The three heads), a large plaza in which huge sculptures stand out with the heads of important figures in the history of Mexico: Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juárez and Venustiano Carranza.
If you want to feel the sea breeze and look at the waters of the Pacific Ocean, go to the Malecón. Here you can see the entry and exit of large tourist boats and merchant ships. Then, walk to the Mercado Negro (Black Market), to taste dishes made with seafood from the region. Later you can cross the Costero Boulevard bridge.
For more information visit https://www.ensenada.travel/en/
