The Sea Slaughter week started with Nicola and myself being shoved to the very back of a MD-80. Row 32 to be exact, but at least I had a nice window seat with a view of the engine. I brought my jackscrew oil but I guess they were covered. After 2 hours and a apple juice/peanuts meal we met Derek in San Jose. California would not be California without a traffic jam so we decided to get in one. Man, people in Cali sure spend money on wheels. I think half the wheels were worth more than the cars they were attached to.
With about a month of daily rain this part of Cali was an unreal green and I think all the cows were very happy. After a couple hours we got into Monteray, checked into the motel and then headed out to meet teammates for dinner.
The next morning we awoke to blue skys and sun. That's what I was needing! We had a great breakfast and then headed up to Laugna Secca to preride the course and visit the vendor areas. This years CX loop was much different than the other two times I had done this race. I t was basically in the opposite direction and a good 3 miles longer. I think the lap came out to be close to 18 miles and we had two to do! We rode the loop at a fair pace checking out different lines and talking about tire choice. By then end of the loop the poor drivetrain on the Spider was having some issues with the mud and sand combo. Hmmmm
We spent the next few hours checking out the vendors and looking for tires for Derek and Nicola. Luckily we ran into Wick at the Kore tent and he talked with Gully at Hutchinson and got a pair of Pythons for a great price. Thanks Wick! With tires in hand and a chile verde burrito replenishing the reserves we headed back into town.
After cleaning up and eating more we begain getting the bikes ready for the XC races. If Days Inn had any idea....
During our adventures looking for tires MP at Kona gave us some invites to a party that night. We headed out there, but being a race night we didn't dent the beer and only lasted about an hour before heading back to the hotel.
Now it's race day...overcast and cool.....uhhh sweet. Racing started about 1PM with the Pro men starting things off. Wave after wave of riders started into the unknown which would soon be known to be a very hard day. To sum things up....broken chains, broken bikes, boken spirits and a few broken bones. Only Mel from our group was able to ride both laps. We all aged our bikes bike several hundred miles in few short hours. Uggggggg
We did find the taco place where who's who was there including Hans Rey, Frishy, Niki, Cedric and others. BTW...salmon tacos are good!
After the excitement of the Otter Pop we loaded up the cars and headed towards Auburn, CA for a mini training camp. With the cold, lousy weather being the theme to this trip the highway sign waring of winter weather was a perfect welcome to this former mining town.
Cali Sunshine greeted us and we kitt'd up for a ride along the American river. The ride was pretty fun even if it was raining a good part of the time. I really liked the DH and rose it about 80%. The trail was good for full speed, but a mistake tossed you into the American river. Not ideal.
