Blue skies, warm, no wind. If only it had been like that all summer. If it had, we wouldn’t have had to do any bogtrotting on the ride! Anyway, had a fantastic afternoon ride with Dave 360, up to Stoodley Pike and back. He easily rode away from me on the climbs so I had to make sure I was faster than him on the descents. I was. A ride with Dave wouldn’t be complete without him crashing and he duly obliged by flying over the bars coming off the Pike. For a change there was no damage to bike or rider!
Back to the Singletrack office for a sit around and a chat then headed out for a kebab to fuel ourselves for the pre-beer festival nightride that was due to start at 1930. So that we didn’t waste precious drinking time the ride was short but great fun. There was a good crowd of us out - Me, Sim, Benji, TimK, Mark, Brant, Carvel and 3 other random people (friends of Mark I think). Up the long painful climb behind Chipps’ house and then some fantastic descents back to the Cricket Club for the Todmorden Beer Festival. Fantastic :)
I awoke to more clear blue skies but no plans for what to do for the day. Bumped into Deano who mentioned that a few of them had planned a tour of some local vineyards by bike. This sounded like a fine plan so Chris, Steve and I decided to tag along. The only stumbling block was that we had no idea where Sara was as she had stayed out in Napa with Troy and Dane. Text messages were eventually responded to and Chris headed out to pick her up whilst Steve and I packed up and got ready to head out when they got back. We drove out to a local deli for breakfast (huge menu, way too much choice but eventually settled on a lovely blt and some orange juice). Shortly afterwards we were joined by Deano, Jenn, Nigel, Russ, Debbie, Adam and Riss. Sam would also have been joining us but he’d managed to arrange a flight home that meant getting back after a flight he was meant to be on to Amsterdam had already left so had to sort out the mess! We eventually pedalled of towards the first Vineyard which happened to be about 200 yards away! We made a bike pile and then headed in to start the tasting.
After tasting 4 different wines we headed off to another vineyard where the process was repeated. We all had a lovely time, riding along chatting in the gorgeous sunshine surrounded by vineyards and we ended up visiting about 4 or 5 of them before heading back to the Deli for the finest beef roll that I’ve ever tasted :)
Goodbyes were said as it was now time to head off to San Francisco (where we’d planned to stay overnight as Steve was flying out from there the following morning and I was heading out of San Jose shortly afterwards). We got to the Golden Gate Bridge which amazingly was not shrouded in mist so we parked up and went for a wander and to take some photographs in the evening sun.
Heading through the streets of San Francisco we decided to head to Incanto, a restaurant where Chris knew the executive chef, Chris Cosentino. This was an inspired choice as we had the most amazing meal you could imagine. I’m not really sure I’ll be able to top it. We got to chat with Chris as well about biking (he was also at the singlespeed worlds and is a former pro mtb racer). From here we headed out and found a hotel near the airport.
Up early the following day we dropped Steve at the airport before heading to San Jose where I was dropped off for the horribly long journey back to Heathrow. Thankfully Nicky was there to pick me up and take me back to her place before I jumped into my car for the drive back up North and some sleep before heading back to work the following day. That was a real struggle and required a large intake of caffeine to get me through it!
All in all, a fine trip. The rest of my pics can be seen HERE.
Tags: california, Incanto, napa, San Francisco, sswc08
Another early start, this time for the ride out to the race course (couple of miles). Got there to find huge numbers of people there getting ready for the race. Found the rest of the Brit contingent and forced some food and drink into my hungover body.
After the depositing our bikes at the bottom of a grassy slope we gathered for the pre-race briefing and before we knew it were running (walking!) off towards our bikes. I eventually got to mine and then hung around for a bit with Damo and his disco bike before finally setting off up the first fireroad climb.
The race for me was split into 3 parts - pushing/riding slowly up the climbs, heckling/cheering/drinking at the top of climbs, hammering the fantastic descents as fast as I could. It worked well although the one lap I did took absolutely ages :)
Eventually finished my lap and decide that was plenty for me so spent the rest of the race cheering on others/chatting/drinking.
The men’s race was one by Giant sponsored pro Carl Decker who raced in a black mankini and matching cape and the women’s race by Rachael Lloyd, both of whom were whisked off to get the customary winner’s tattoo.
After hanging around for ages waiting for the presentations I decided I was too hot/tired to pedalled back to the hotel and spent some time in/by the pool with others who had had the same idea. A few hours later me, Chris, Sara and Steve headed into town for food/drink where we met up with Dane and Troy. There wasn’t really much happening in town which was pretty disappointing after last year in Aviemore where we pretty much took over the whole town for the weekend. I headed back early and joined the BBQ and fun happening back at our hotel.
Tags: california, mtb, napa, singlespeed, sswc08
I awoke with a sore head and vague plans to head out to ride the trails at Annadale with Hamish, Deano, Sam and Goon. Wandered over to find Sam fettling his bike and discuss plans for the day. After a bit of breakfast, waking Deano up and packing a couple of cars we headed off for the hours drive to the trails. We stopped off just before getting there to visit a local bike shop to get a trail map and I also bought some sunglasses as I’d left mine at the hotel. After unpacking we headed off up the first climb. Whippets Deano and Sam shot off the front closely followed by a determined Goon. Hamish & I brought up the rear, struggling to get our tired and hungover bodies up to speed. The climbing was tough, with plenty of rocks to kill any momentum and it was getting pretty hot by now.
The pain and suffering was well worth it though as the downhills were absolutely fantastic. I didn’t even consider stopping on them to take photos as I was having way too much fun! Deano did grab this shot on one of the more open sections…
The best bits were stupidly fast, rocky, twisty sections through the woods and we all got to the end with manic grins. Back at the carpark it looked as if we all had really rusty chains but it was just dust. Ace!
We headed back to the hotel and then back on the bikes to ride out to the race course where registration was happening. Signed on, collected the goodies they were giving out, grabbed a bottle of wine and sat around chatting and drinking for a while. Hunger was setting in so we headed back to the hotel and then out to a local supermarket to pick up meat, charcoal and beer so that we could have a BBQ. Another fun evening ensued, ending with very drunken swimming in the hotel pool :)
Eventually made it to bed sometime in the early hours. Perfect preparation for the race that would be starting shortly!
Tags: california, championships, napa, singlespeed, sswc08, world
Another day, another trip out for a huge breakfast. We headed out along the Coast Road to a diner that Chris had been to before. The food was excellent and we were heckled by the waitress which was good. From here we headed to the Bontrager’s house to see if the bikes that Chris had borrowed for her, me and Steve to ride had arrived. They had! Spent the next couple of hours throwing the bikes together and sitting around chatting with Laura and the kids in their ace garden full of fresh fruits and veg.
We then headed to an excellent local bike shop, the Family Bicycle Center for some essentials. Lots of excellent bikes to look at and we were well looked after by Bob (I think that was his name anyway!) After more chilling out we headed off to San Francisco to pick up Steve from the airport. From here it was back into Santa Cruz where we hooked up with Ferrentino, Kelley, Marty and Susan for drinks and food. A lovely evening despite pretty appalling waitress service. Kelley kindly offered to let us stay at her house for the night which saved us from having to find a hotel and meant that we had a local guide for the trails on her doorstep the following morning. Splendid.
After a long climb we got to ride the most fantastic trail I’ve ever ridden. 25 minutes or so of fantastic twisty, rooty, fast flowing singletrack through the woods. If only I could ride it every day! After lunch at a local Mexican we pedalled back to Kelley’s house where we showered & changed then packed the car up for the trip North to Napa. We chose to go up the Pacific Coast Highway. This was a great choice as we got to see some great coastal views and Steve took some excellent photos (HERE)
We headed through San Francisco and over a foggy Golden Gate Bridge before getting to our hotel in Napa about an hour later.
We rode into town for some Italian food in a restaurant which was way too posh for us and then back to the hotel for a fun night of beer, wine and chat.
Tags: california, championships, napa, singlespeed, sswc08, world
As I was flying from Heathrow my holiday started the day before with a drive down South to stay with Nicky who had kindly agreed to drive me to the airport the following morning. Had a lovely evening with some nice food, chat and a couple of beers and escaped with just a couple of minor flesh wounds after playing with her cat! The following morning started with a horribly early start but I was dropped at the airport in plenty of time where I checked in and had a couple of hours to worry about the stupidly long flight to LA that I faced. It wasn’t much fun, 11 hours is far too long to be sat in a plane. Watched a couple of half decent films (Ironman and Kung Fu Panda) and managed to grab a couple of hours sleep. The food was pretty rubbish as expected.
Got to LAX and prepared myself for the hassle of getting through immigration and customs. It was a PITA and took ages. Bumped into Sara in the immigration queue (she’d been on the same flight as me but 777s are huge so I hadn’t seen her) and we headed across the airport (and had to go through security again!) for our connecting flight to San Jose. Found out that Chris had got stuck at work for an extra day so wouldn’t be there to meet us at the airport which meant making our own way to Santa Cruz. The trip to San Jose on a little commuter plane went fine but Sara’s bike bag took a while to find when we got there. Eventually got to the hire car place and picked up a huge Chrysler Town & Country and then spent ages working out how flatten the back row of seats to get bags in and even longer to work out how to move the driver’s seat forward - “ah, the button moves that way as well!”
We somehow survived the drive, found a cheap hotel on Ocean Street and then had a nice meal and some wine at a local Italian restaurant. Tiredness was really setting in now and we headed back to the hotel where we were both asleep by about 2130. Rock n roll!
Had a nice lie in on Wednesday and then headed out to get some breakfast. Found a nice place to eat just off Pacific Avenue (it really is nice sitting outside in the sun eating breakfast!) and then spent the day strolling around the town with a bit of shopping, ice creams, beer, watching beach volleyball and a wander around the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History where there was a fantastic collection of photos by Christian Ziegler who’d spent 18 months in the tropical forest of Panama’s Barro Colorado Island. Only $2.50 to get in as well. Bargain.
We then headed to the Harbour where we got to see Pelicans, Seals, Sealions and a Sea Otter. Wonderful. Unfortunately I only had my pocket camera with me, could have got some much better shots if I had my dSLR. Oh well.
After a beer in a restaurant overlooking the harbour we headed back along the boardwalk for a couple of games of air hockey (I got thrashed) and some food in a Mexican restaurant on Pacific Avenue. It was then back to the hotel and into the car for an Airport run to pick up Chris. Sara was quite pleased to pass the driving duties onto her for the rest of the trip. Tiredness set in again and it was another early night.
More about the rest of the trip when I get around to writing something. Here are some pics to look at while you wait… SSWC08 Photos
Tags: california, championships, napa, singlespeed, sswc08, world