2008 Mountain Biking, Moto GP & BikeOptions.com

Wow, it has been a long time since I made a post, but I'm back. Since my last post, which seems almost like a century ago, I did a few races this year (2008) on the National Mountain Bike race circuit (Bootleg Canyon, Santa Ynez Firestone, Brain Head Utah) and ton of other day trips, like Downeyville, Kernville, Tahoe...

What a sick year of mountain bike riding. We also made our annual trip to see Moto GP at Laguna Seca which was pretty legendary as usual. Great racing and many great camping stories as well.

One of my bigger projects was to build BikeOptions.com which is a mountain or road bikers dream for parts shopping. Essentially I built a comparison search engine so you can view parts from the big bike retailers and stuff on Ebay as well.

Expect to see a lot more posts from here on various deals I have been finding for cycling enthusiasts. I want to grow my site, so I guess I better start doing the donkey work (as the British sportscasters always say in Moto GP). Hey my sweat, your sweet deal. Here are a couple for trail riders:

SANTA CRUZ BLUR LT SPX FULL SUSPENSION MOUNTAIN BIKE DEMO PRICE: $3499.95 SAVE 12% MSRP: $3999.95 BUY
Mike'sOpinion	Read my Opinion
Details	More Info on this Item
Demo's	Mike's Favorite Bicycle Demo Deals
Save $$$	BikeOptions.com Hot Deal Finder

INTENSE 5.5 FRO XTR XC BABY BLUE FULL SUSPENSION MOUNTAIN BIKE DEMO PRICE: $3799.95 SAVE 30% MSRP: $5499.95 BUY
Mike's Opinion	Read my Opinion
Details	More Info on this Item
Demo's	Mike's Favorite Bicycle Demo Deals
Save $$$	BikeOptions.com Hot Deal Finder

MTB Photos From the May 2008 NMBS Santa Ynez Valley National Mountain Bike Races

Last weekend we attended the Santa Ynez Valley National Mountain Bike Races in Los Olivos, California. We took over 1,000 pictures of the event including the downhill (DH), dual slalom (DS), and cross country (XC) races. We've been busy posting the photos online for everyone. There is no cost to download the photos. If you raced, or had friends or family who raced at the May 2008 Santa Ynez Valley National races, please send them this link so they can go check out their pictures. Enjoy!

Mammoth Mountain: The Air Up There

Mammoth Mountain: The Air Up There
Originally uploaded by launch_racing.

Here is Mathew one of our bro's on a fairly new Specialized Demo-9 goofing off in Mammoth last summer. What a great bike it is. He is an excellent technical rider as well as a cross country animal. Needless to say it didn't take him much time to adapt to the longer travel bike. I hope this year those of us that missed out on his Mammoth trips can make it to the mountain. I hope you can too.

2005 FIM World Superbike Laguan Seca, Umbrella Girls

2005 Moto GP Laguan Seca, Umbrella Girls
Originally uploaded by launch_racing.

Any fans of motorcycle racing out there? I am addicted to dirt: motocross, supercross, arena, cross, FIM & street: AMA, FIM, well I guess pretty much every 2 wheel racing event. This picture is from 2005 the Moto GP races at Laguna Seca. We make an annual pilgrimage to the races, and it absolutely amazing every year. Featured in the picture is our friend Greg C. with the 2 umbrella beauties and there are 3 more of us who make the trek as well. This will be the last year that Moto GP runs 1000cc engines, so don't miss it. Next year will be the new reduction too 800cc. The power, noise and crowd are incredible, and the event draws people from all around the world. Perfect for families as well. Camping is pretty limited, at least close to the track now that Moto GP is back, but there are other sites where they shuttle you in. Personally I am a big Rossi fan, but I also like Hayden too, so it was nice to see him win last year. Also it is awesome meeting the legends of the sport as well, like Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey, etc. I hope you can make it to the track this year...

Ry Dog on Tunnel Trail

Ry Dog on Tunnel Trail
Originally uploaded by launch_racing.

This was on the day of our Specialized Demo Ride. Ryan R. had just bought a new Kona bike so he opted to get use to it as opposed to riding on any of the Specialized machines that were available. However, he certainitly appreciated the shuttle service they provided. He wrecked himself pretty good, not being too use to the bike / out of the saddle for a while. Tunnel is pretty tuff at any rate, but worth it. Now that he has a new baby, etc. we don't see him much, but he is missed. Generally once a year we rally all the boys/girls and go to Big Bear or Mammoth, so hopefully he will be there for that ride...

Cold Springs Run

Cold Springs Run
Originally uploaded by launch_racing.

It sure is fun to hit some high speed, smooth single track once in a while after a massive rock garden session, just to let the old body take a breather, and of course going super fast is a bonus. If your familiar with this Santa Barbara trail, "Cold Springs" you probably recognize this opening that is by a big electric tower. We usually get back on the single track which is just up a few hundred feet on my right. This trail gets a 10 in my book.

The Sign Post Up Ahead....Your Next Stop, THE CAMUSA CONNECTOR

The Sign Post Up Ahead....Your Next Stop, THE CAMUSA CONNECTOR
Originally uploaded by launch_racing.

The Camusa Connector is a great trail in Santa Barbara. There are many different trails up there. The cool thing is you can ride offroad vehicles, so watch out for those guys. The run that we did is an XC climb up hill to start, so we packed light and minimal pads. The downhill is single track, switchbacks, etc. and lot's of fun, although it is fairly short and only lasts for about 30-45 minutes. Still this was a great warm up for us, before we hit some more agressive rides, beautiful country as well. Oh yeah, that is Dave G at the sign, with his Santa Cruz Heckler, and 5" Zokes on the front. I remembered the only bummer was it had rained shortly before we arrived, and the stream was a little high after the singletrack to get back to the car. We made it accross finally, like a couple school girls. As if we put our feet in the water we were going to get carried away down a giant waterfall, like the one in the Land of the Lost. It was probably only 1-2 feet deep at worst.