Downieville Memories

So I headed up to Downieville Saturday afternoon to meet up with Jeff who was staying up with his family in town so he offered me the couch for the night so we could book a late shuttle and ride again on Sunday (Much thanks) I was dying to try out my new ride for the summer a Santa Cruz Blur TRC (yes back to 26" wheels) loved my TBC but had been wanting to give this bike a whirl! It had rained the night before so the conditions where near perfect and Jeff and I had a great ride! On Sunday John came up and we rode with Joe and his son Angelo  and we had a great ride as well.  Funny every time I get on the mountain It's like all the stress in life is just lifted off your shoulders and your mind is wiped clean of all the crap everyday life can throw at you! Then again that's pretty much why we ride! right? :) Anyways afterward we got a burrito at the local Mexican place and then headed over to our friend Will's place (49 Wines) and had a beer or two or three:) Will and I ended up closing the place and just talking about life in general (mine and his) and we both came to a realization that life is all about the memories you have and give to people and not material objects or money so many of us strive for!
So I thought to my self Downieville always gives me great memories so here are a couple of my favorite shots of my favorite place to ride! Enjoy and I'll try to post a little sooner next time :)

Thanks
Sean

Hazard Peak Trail

I was going thru some pictures of my bikes from the past and came across this shot I had taken down in So Cal near a job we did at Morrow Bay. The Hazard Peak Trail system has to be on my top 5 funniest places to ride so far. The trails are clearly marked and each trail head they provide shovels and rakes for people to help maintain the trails! Wait people actually wanting bike riders to have a place to ride? Crazy!!! Any how if you get a chance to get down to So Cal you must stop and spend the day riding these awesome trails near the ocean! FYI mines the Nomad on the left :) 

Giving it all for a good cause!

So it's been awhile since I've last posted but it's been pretty crazy. Last weekend I ran with a 12 person team for "The Relay" a race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz!  Basically each person ran a total of 16 or 20 miles in a span of 24 hrs (or 30!:)

and this little gem was at our 2nd van hand off near Petaluma.

All in all it was a great time and for a good cause but I still prefer riding my bike than running! ;) 

Wicked picture

Friend of mine is going off! on the nature shots!

Just a cool shot!

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