Sea Otter Classic 2012

So yesterday was my first Sea Otter Classic Cat 2 cross country race and my first time back at SOC in 2 years. Previously I had ran DH but my fitness had been shitty and bikes to big and heavy! :) So my buddy and I headed down Saturday around 11:30 and checked in our hotel in Monterey and unloaded the bikes and arrived at SOC around 2:30 and it was pretty dam hot out! Stopped by the WTB booth and saw Forrest and Marsh and Dev and got to hold little Finn for the first time! We walked pretty much the whole booth area and grabbed a beer and headed up the hill to the DS final. These guys haul Ass! Cool to see Ryan Condrashoff get 14th killing it in a skin suit! Afterwords we headed back to town for some grub and one last beer before calling it a night. The next day we woke up and headed out to a foggy morning but at least it wasn't sunny and hot as I was concerned about riding in the heat! My Class had 39 riders so I staged my self towards the back of the pack about 5 rows (On the right side of the picture)

So at 8:05am my group took off for a good stint on the road course before filing off onto the dirt. My thoughts of hanging back and not burning out of the start kinda backfired on me because I ended up getting into alot of traffic on the first single track descent so it was a little follow the leader but after a little bit I was able to pass people on the climbs and fire roads. My body felt in pretty good shape but I think I need to push more for sure next time but you have to start somewhere:) My goal was to finish in the second half of the group and I accomplished that by taking a 16th place out of 39 riders in my class with a time of 1:47 Not bad for a traffic filled 20.6 miles:)

So I would like to thank RideSFO and Team Spare Change for there support and looking forward to some more races this year! Sean

Someone is out there!

So this week has been interesting to say the least! Had a great pre ride on the Sea Otter XC course on Sunday followed by a viewing on Monday night for my good friends dad who past last week of Cancer:( Tuesday was the funeral in Pleasanton at St Augustine Church then off to the cemetery for more services. My self and a couple of great friends who I have known for the past 20+ years arrived early and we visited the grave of a good friend we lost back in 1992 and also my grandfather who past in 1985. While walking around waiting for the procession to arrive I was reminded how fast life passes by and talking with my buds I thought to my self "living is really a luxury" think about it, most people complain of not having the greatest toys, houses,cars and bikes :) etc and just assume they are supposed to have it! Kinda like they are owed something just for living! In reality I thinking we owe someone or something else for being able to enjoy the simple things in life like seeing your kids grow up, growing old with your split apart (Wife:) and being able to remember the good old days with your buds at a cemetery! While I'll be the first to admit I'm not much of a religious type I will give in to the fact that something greater than human exist. Sorry for the heavy post but it's interesting to me :) Sean

Post ride delight!

Why we ride!

Month In Review

So thought I would give the month of March a 6 out of 10 for the ups and downs that made up most of the month. Ups where getting started with my new venture in project management and being able to get home by 5pm and leave work at work! Spending more time with the family is going to be a huge plus with this position for sure. I'm so proud of both my children doing really well in school this year my oldest has always done well but my youngest has made a huge turn around and I couldn't be happier about that! Being able to ride without lights is awesome not to say I don't like riding at night but when you ride alone at night you get kinda bored :). Getting signed up for the Sea Otter Classic XC Cat 2 race and racing with my best friend is pretty sweet as well. The down's where some of my co workers having medical issues and one of my good friends dad being diagnosed with terminal Cancer:( I saw him the other day at my friend shop and shocked on how much he changed in such a short time. So as I'm writing this I realized that there might be a little more good than bad but I'll keep my rating just the same and hope for my friends dad somehow gets better. Tell next time Sean