Bike Geeks Big Day Out

.....Or, Sea Otter - as some people call it. Having lived here for over four years and never been, I was extremely excited to head south to Monterey with Chris for, what would be, a massively indulgent day of bike p0rn. A vast racetrack filled with row upon row of vendor tents, lovely bikes, toys, anodized bits and pieces, plus the chance to watch the best exponents of the sport perform right under our sunblocked noses - and all for less than 10 quid. Awesome stuff. There are races to be done at the 'Otter. XC and downhill both had sports categories. But we elected to pass on physical exertion and, instead, just mooch around and look at all the lovely goodies on display.... and grab as much free shit as we could. Anyhow. Here are some snaps from the day's adventure :

Stunning emerald green V10 with amazing inverted forks.

New Santa Cruz Bronson. Early 90's colours seem to be all the rage with the kids these days. Every bike manufacturer there had some garish dayglo fucking green or pink or yellow frame on display.

Sam Hill's Nukeproof.

Very striking Ellsworth DH rig.

Me and Chris both took a massive shine to this fat tired mo-chine. Perfect for sand, but probably great fun in the mud too. If I ever end up back in Blighty, I'll get myself one of these beautiful bastards.

Ryan Leech gave a solid, hugely entertaining trials demo. An amazing talent and a real gent to boot. Me and Chris both drew a lot of inspiration for our week night urban shenanigans. 

360 Nose Hop. Executed whist talking the crowd through what he's doing in an impossibly calm voice.

Boom! A nice bit of pedal kick high-jump action.

Riders face off in the speed and style event. A tight pump track with berms and one huge ramp gave the riders the opportunity to woo the crowd with impressive air tricks and beat eachother with wicked speed. Great stuff. 

Dual Slalom. Literally every top downhill rider was there to represent and race one on one down the awesome twisty course. Definitely some inspiration for how to tackle Tamarancho's lovely new flow trail....