I wish I had more time to spend at the festival itself. It would have been great to catch the short-track races, as well as road and the dual slalom. The picture above is the Specialized Factory Racing tent. The racers on the left are Lea Davidson and Rebecca Rusch, respective World Cup and Leadville 100 racer/winners. It was really cool to see how they prepped before each race. All the mechanics were buzzing around getting everything ready.
I drove down to Monterey by myself in a reserved Audi A3 Zip Car. I forgot how much I loved driving to far off destinations for bike races, easily one of the best things about the whole experience. Northern California has some of the most beautiful landscapes I've seen, with its rolling lush hills coupled with rocky/sandy beaches. It was about a two-hour drive south from San Francisco.
Every major bicycle brand you could think of was at the Sea Otter Classic. It's the best place to see what's new in the world of bikes; products, innovations, vendors, and not to mention all the top North American Pro riders. I easily could have spent my afternoon visiting each booth and talking shop, but I wanted to stay focused at the task ahead. I had one goal, and that was to check out the Specialized Factory Racing team booth, and meet with some of my favorite racers. I was lucky enough to catch my long time hero, Ned Overend, kicking it with the rest of the team.
Even Rapha was present, slinging coffee all day long. They were so nice to hook me up with a free musette.