Keyesville Classic - Kern River Valley

This is my favorite bike race of the year. The Kern River Vally is about an hour east of Bakersfield, CA, which means we have a pretty long and boring drive every year, but something about driving through all that nothing to emerge in a beautiful valley with huge rocks and amazing views makes it even more special. This year, the wildflowers were out of control, and the weather was better than it has ever been in the eight or so years that we've been going to this race. So I actually went for a hike on Friday while my husband prerode the course. It was great to see a little of this course that I've heard all our friends say is the best course they ride. Afterwards, the husband was feeling tired and a little grumpy, but we went to an early dinner at our favorite once a year restaurant ("That's Italian" in Kernville) and went to bed early. Even though my husband was feeling bad on Friday, he ended up feeling pretty good on race day after all that rest and both of us said it was a really fun race. My husband sometimes forgets to have fun, so that was a great victory in and of itself. He finished around mid-pack, which is pretty good for this early in the year and for the big age group this race had. I'm already looking forward to next year!

The drive along the river into the valley

Holy wildflowers, Batman!

My husband is the one in white

Totally not my husband, but this picture I took of our friend Steve was so good that it is now the lead photo on the Platinum Team website!