Revolution Bike Fest 2018 Wrap Up?

Hard to tell a story as sexy as we experienced through this weekend at Revolution Bike Fest at Castaic Lake.  So many pieces; in story telling of this weekend it’s easy to read and miss the WOW FACTOR that really embodies Revolution Bike Fest.  But we’d rather include you than throw a flippant “You just had to be there” retort. So get here next time if you missed it…if you were here you’ll know the energy in the below gallery is contagious.

If I had to summarize the weekend experience at Revolution Bike Fest it would be in the feeling of awe, wonder, laughter and challenges.  Coming off a week of horrific local experiences with the Thousand Oaks shooting, and Woolsey Fire in Thousand Oaks and Malibu it was a sad framework feeling empathy for many of our friends and people in need of help and support.  Many family members and industry friends had to stay close to home, though they planned to head out to Castaic, due to evacuations road closures and family concerns that they needed to attend to.  It had an impact, and we are grieving with those of you who lost people, pets and homes, and celebrating the others who narrowly escaped the fire and are grateful for your health and the safety of your people.

Challenges often set things in perspective…and so it was at Revolution Bike Fest.  The wind clipped through Sunday at 20-30MPH—the RBF Expo and Demo canopies flew, dust coated the Mazda display, our podium banner wouldn’t stay and yet the 50 exhibitors, and over 1,000 people daily were smiling and enjoying the energy of being together.  We were left with a sense of gratitude that we could be together doing what we loved.

Revolution Bike Fest is here to stay, and it’s definitely “Where Good Times Roll!”

Just a few highlights from the weekend

Our First Gravel Race

HUNKR went off with local celebrities Tinker Juarez, Brian McCulloch and Victor Sheldon. They each said it was a tough route and great experience rolling out with the CHP and Mazda MX5…so many tired smiles after 4-7 hours on the bike rolling back into RBF Headquarters at the end of the day.

The race rolled out with CHP and Mazda leading the group along with our friend, Todd Brown, joining the group to ride his first HUNKR with the friends he created it for.

Demo Bike Event of the Year

Leading Brands, Ebike Makers and Cult Leaders were constantly doling out their whips. Ibis, Santa Cruz Bicycles, Giant, Specialized, M1 Sportechnik, Prophecy Cycles, Penhale Bicycle Co, Cannondale, Haibike, and Bulls E-Bike were among the group who had bikes ridden 180-200 impressions on their demos. Hard to imagine, but people waited for a bike to hit the trails, pump track, or accelerate up the hill with an assist.

E-bike Land

Ebikes and gravel and mountain bikes all living under the same sky was a huge WIN for us to see.  The gap in understanding and shared use is shrinking which is highlighted by Santa Clarita and Castaic’s forward thinking pro-health and pro-bike initiatives. Bull’s Christian Husband took the win a couple places ahead of our friend Toby Henderson, former BMX pro and now Box Components lead. Thanks to our friends Sam and Ben at Open Trails eBikes for helping us set up the E-Bike course and demo loop.

Camping under the stars

Food Trucks feeding the hungry faces…

Mountain Bike Racing

The Fat Tire variety raced 33 classes on one of our favorite urban MTB courses in SoCal…Castaic Lake. PedalFest’s Flanagan family played host at their home stadium of Castaic, making sure everyone was welcomed with a smile, hug and epic 2-wheel experience. Our style of competition is fun for everyone, and it showed with the vintage of bikes, and the wide field of kids to 70yrs old. Click Here for Results.

World Class Jump and Flow Pump Track

The Pump Track designed by one of the magicians behind the Oakley Dirt Lab, Brian Johnson, and built in collaboration with Carl Aguilar was and will continue to be the talk of the festival, and we plan to resurrect it in 2019 … but as they say, all good things must come to an end… looking forward to the day that we can leave it up next time.

Kids Smiling and Riding & Racing

Bands and Beer

Bands played in the evening as tasty suds were poured from Docent Brewing and Wolf Creek Brewery

SoCal League Youth Racer and Family

Jennifer Timmermans took the podium as the winner of the Mazda bike giveaway. Pretty fitting since she’s been to every Over the Hump MTB race and Revolution Bike Fest with her High School daughters who race for the ElMo Mtb High School Team.

Participation from teams in Santa Clarita, the Valley, Orange County and San Diego were all represented.  Proceeds from the beer garden will be donated to NICA, and we love to see kids racing and playing bikes.

Kid’s Movie Night & Bike Parade

Kids have all the fun, no matter what age.  The kids hunkered down with sleeping bags and blankets on a cool November night to watch a movie and recoup from the day’s lactic acid build up from playing too hard on the Jump and Pump Track, or jumping on the bounce house.

Collaboration with Great Bike Companies and Sponsors

Fun from the Cannondale crew doing Timbo’s Limbo, Bunny Hop Contest and the infamous Stryder Spin Relay.

Special offers on bikes and product being passed along to attendees to who visited RBF over the weekend including BOX Components, Giant Bicycles and Bicycle Johns, Haibike, Bulls E-Bikes and Open Trails eBike all found ways to connect the hands-on demo experience and the fun of riding with a practical field trip to fun-town as we all are in search of the perfect ride!  Cannondale and Santa Cruz Bicycles teamed up with Incycle to connect the brands that serve the store, to allow the store to serve their customers.

Mazda Experience

Mazda owners were treated to Free VIP Parking, soft drinks all weekend, a pump track lesson with Trevor, an Incycle Enduro Pro, and a free lunch Sunday.

Mazda also gave away a $6,000 bike to winner of this year’s Bike Sweepstakes Jennifer Timmermans

Family, Friends, Volunteers (They Are the True Family that Pulled Together Revolution Bike Fest)

Hey guys, thanks for helping us throw the best Bike Party we know how. Matt’s Mom, Dad, daughters, and In-laws were there to lend a hand and enjoy. Lola’s husband and boys, Greg and Gina’s close friends, Suzanne’s husband, and many of our friends from Orange County like Missy and John, Amy, Charles, Ricardo, Mike, Chris, Evan, Philip, Matthew, Pat, Scott, Brent…so many it’s impossible to name. The lion’s share of moving parts was made possible by people like you coming for the party, helping us clean and polish a little, and enjoying the weekend.

Heck when we all come together that’s when the magic happens.

So…the one word that sums up Revolution?

“MAGIC”

Thanks for joining us, Friends.  From all of us to you, thanks for coming out and joining the party. We’ll see you at the next Revolution Bike Fest, November 8-10, 2019 at Castaic Lake.

–Matt, Gina, Greg, Lola, Suzanne, Todd and everyone else that’s part of the family

Catch highlights from the event over at our Facebook Page, and while you’re there like RBF page if  you’d like to stay up on the latest news from Revolution Bike Fest. We’re also on