Monterey Trip 2010

We really love the Monterey area of California, and we are lucky enough to have an excuse to go to Monterey every year for the annual Sea Otter Classic bike race. The event takes place at the Laguna Seca raceway, about halfway between Salinas & Monterey, and the Platinum team has stayed in Carmel for the last several years at the Hofsas House. Hofsas House is a cheaper option for anyone wanting to stay in Carmel without paying exorbitant rates. We love that the team pretty much takes over this place when we are here, and it is rare that there isn't at least one person we know hanging out by the pool or cleaning their bikes in the parking lot. Here are some pictures of Hofsas House:

Driveway artwork - Right before the driveway drops off in a ridiculously steep grade that the team refers to as "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." It is so silly the husband had to take a picture.

View from the upper level balcony. Weather was awesome while we were here.

This year, I managed to avoid going into the expo area at the race. This is the largest race expo in the country, and it is overwhelming at times for me. It costs $10 a day for spectators just to go in and walk around. I have found ways around this fee (usually involving picking up scraps of racer wristbands and cobbling them together to make my own) because I think it is ridiculous to charge the friends and family money just to get in to the area where you are able to spend MORE money for food & drinks. This year, I avoided the expo altogether and hung out at the hotel or went out with the other wives of the team. Here are just a couple of pics that the husband got (his entry was free as a racer) of the madness:

Before crossing the bridge over the racetrack into the insanity

Just one of the booths - We do love Specialized in this family!

I am rather proud of how well researched I was on this trip. I didn't take pictures at all the restaurants we ate at, but there were some that were worth mentioning even without the pictures. I used Yelp and Trip Advisor extensively to research the types of food we were interested in and to find the best options for our entire group. The first night there, I inadvertantly ended up planning the "team dinner" as more and more couples signed up to join the husband and me at our chosen dinner spot, Little Napoli. The husband is very particular about where/what he eats the night before a race, so I chose this place for its simplicity - Italian food in an American style where you know what you are getting when you order spaghetti & meatballs. We ended up with a table for 12, which was a great size, since everyone was able to interact and no one was left out. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals, especially my husband, who got a spicy pasta with swordfish that he really enjoyed and was a perfect fit for his pre-race needs. The next night, the race was over and we were both exhausted after a long day (husband got 12th, see team website for all the team successes and photos by me!). We decided to celebrate with Mexican food and some margaritas. I found Club Jalapeno on Yelp and never would have found it otherwise, since it is tucked inside a business area courtyard. This place was fantastic. The sauces are unique combinations. I loved the Spicy Yellow Pepper sauce with my beef tamale (roasted yellow bell pepper with habaneros), and the husband thought the Oaxaca style Mole sauce was better than any other he had tasted. Several teammates went here the next night and loved it as well.

Now, onto the food that we DID take pictures of. We had eaten at Katy's Place for breakfast last year, and knew we wanted to go back again. The husband is a big fan of eating out for breakfast, and even my small breakfast eating self enjoyed Katy's Place enough to return. It is expensive, and cash only, but it is a fun environment and has very tasty food. Although they are known for their Benedict items, we have yet to try any of the benedict combos, since we aren't huge fans. The husband's banana chocolate chip pancakes did start a trend, however. After his plate was delivered, we saw several people ordering by saying: We want THAT! I got a delicious strawberry waffle and a hot chocolate:

We also ate at the Sardine Factory, which was our "fancy" meal of the weekend. We had a few recommendations for this location, so we made reservations and headed over to the Cannery Row area. We accidentally stole another couple's table (I swear they said "Moore!"), but thankfully, they were able to accomodate both parties in the lovely conservatory room. We dined on their famous abalone bisque, the albacore special (Husband) and Sole Americana (me - Sole with Diver Scallops and Lobster pieces over local greens, yum!) and finished with their Chocolate Marquis Cake, which was fantastic:

Of course, we also visited the aquarium. We don't visit every year, because it is expensive and doesn't always work into our schedule, but it is a really well run show here at Monterey Bay Aquarium. They are very passionate about saving the oceans and have become known across the U.S. for their sustainable fish consumption guide. I don't always abide by the guidelines while dining out, but I do try and choose sustainable options when buying fish to eat at home. Here are some of my favorite pics of the many I took at the aquarium (having an SLR at an aquarium makes picture taking much more fun!). We loved the sea dragons/horses and the jellyfish, and I think I'm in love with that little sardine with his mouth open!

Santa Barbara Bike Fest

The most exhausting mountain bike race of the year has got to be the one that is closest to home, the Santa Barbara Bike Fest at Elings Park. The course is located on a beautiful bluff overlooking my favorite childhood beach. Part of what makes this a tiring course is that there are numerous spots on the course where spectators can see the racers, so I spend a lot of time literally running around to try and see the guys and/or take pictures. Another tiring aspect is that the coordination of water bottle hand offs is tedious at this race (the elite racers do 4 laps of the course, meaning 3 opportunities for hand offs). Finally, this is a race where so many people we know show up that it is quite the social event, and there is never a chance to just sit and relax. Thank goodness the car ride home is only 15 minutes long! Here are some pictures of the big day:

I showed up late, but still in time to watch John finish strong

And Luke, finishing his 3rd race of the weekend!

Roger on the starting climb

Steve showcasing the beautiful view from the bluff

All smiles and dirt at the finish for our talented team!

Book #18 - Dog in a Hat - Joe Parkin

This is a book recommended to me by my husband the cyclist. I am a huge cycling fan as well, although I'm not a rider, so this was a fascinating book for me to read. When my husband finished this book, he said it was sad, and I thought that would be because of the open way the author discusses how prevelant drugs were in pro cycling. While the discussion of drug use is pretty frank, in this day and age, it honestly isn't too much of a shock for those of us who are fans of the sport. We just continue to hope that science for detection speeds along as fast or faster than the science for new substances and that is how we deal. The sadness from this book comes more from the sudden awareness of how difficult being a pro athelete can be, especially in a sport like cycling, which at the time the author was a pro, was not that popular in the U.S. The author had a mediocre career as a domestique (or helper) rider in the pro fields in Europe. He never rode in a grand tour, he never won any big races, and he certainly didn't make all that much money in the sport. But he is passionate about his love of cycling even today. It is sad because even cycling fans in the US didn't know this guys name. But he had an interesting story and thankfully, we are learning about it now, all these years later. I loved that my husband and I had the same reaction to this book. Sad, but for different reasons than one might think.

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!

Tour of California 2009

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, we have been entertaining houseguests and (more importantly) enjoying the Amgen Tour of California. As many of you know, we are a cycling family and have been thrilled to have had 4 years now of the world's top professional cyclists in our home state and here in Santa Barbara. This year was more crowded than usual, but with my new camera and very new lens, I was able to take the best pictures I've ever taken of my heroic riders. My sister in law and I always stalk nearly every team bus and by choosing to avoid the Astana bus this year (where Lance and Levi are), we were able to get great pictures of nearly every other rider. I also got great action shots of Lance & Levi during the time trial anyway, so there was no need to be trampled at their bus before hand. Keep in mind, these guys were going ridiculously fast at this point and I took the pictures from decently far away with my zoom:

Lance & Levi

Here are some of my favorite pics of the other random stalked riders:

Jens Voigt and George Hincapie warming up before the TT

The two best sprinters in the world, Mark Cavendish and Tom "The Hottie" Boonen

My sister in law posing with Tyler Hamilton and me with Mark Cavendish
The amazing thing was what a zoo it was out there. When we went to the start in Santa Clarita on Saturday, here is what it looked like:

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend. We're hoping that Lance retires again after this year so that some of the insanity dies down. They estimate that the viewers in Solvang doubled due to Lance's appearance at this race. I'm still glad I got a few pictures of him, though!