Superbikes At Laguna

I got to shoot the final round of the AMA Superbike championship as we know it this weekend. The series has changed ownership and with lots of in fighting and politics between the new owners and the established teams and manufacturers, no-one's currently sure what will happen next year regarding classes, rules, rounds, teams and riders. It's all a big mess.

However, back to the weekend, I had a second shooter working with me - yes, Jez and Sally are over visiting and I managed to get Jez a photo credential, so he came along and shot the races with my back up camera. We had a great time with Jez even shooting the grid for the Superbike race.

You can see us in action below (thanks to fellow photog Michael Troutman) discussing where to shoot the start of the Supersport race from on the hill above turn 3.


You can see the results of our efforts at the links below:
Saturday Morning Photos
Saturday Afternoon Photos
Sunday Race Photos

Kayaking on the Bay

After a few false starts over the years, I've finally managed to go sea kayaking. It was great fun.

We went to Elkhorn Slough, about halfway up the side of Monterey Bay and rented kayaks from there. You rent the kayak and all the gear (wet suit, paddle jacket, life vest etc.) and are given about a 10 minute lesson in how to get in and out, how to paddle, where you can and can't go and a few gotchas.


The main gotcha they warned us about was that going into the slough, we'd have the wind behind us and the tide pushing us in, so we needed to remember it'd be harder coming back out when the wind and tide were against us. This turned out to be true, but with that warning, it was not a problem.

There is tonnes of wildlife in the slough, so we got up close and personal with sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions, pelicans and lots of other shore birds. The wildlife is used to kayaks being around, and they're quite inquisitive, so frequently were popping up around us as we paddled. In the photo below, you can see a harbor seal just off the bow (yes, technical term!) of my kayak as I paddled along.


A great way to enjoy the bay.

A Weekend in the Saddle

And yes, my butt is now officially tired.

First came Saturday. I got to take the new bike up into Fort Ord and give it a proper workout on the trails. Took in my normal 10 or so mile route up and down the sandy hills around the old military base.

After some (more) pre-ride adjustments, I'd got the brake lever feel to where I wanted it, and boy those brakes are good - I had to get used to the sensitivity (compared to my old regular brakes) - but once I'd done that, the brakes are controllably fierce.

The ride takes in a fair portion of the Sea Otter cross country route - and parts of that route are suffering from lack of rain (typical at this time of year) - lots of sand etc.

The ride was a lot of fun, the bike climbs well, though my "tiny air" jumps were especially tiny as I was wary of going too mad on the new bike.

Then on Sunday, I ended up going for a ride with Wella to Castroville, 15 miles away - well to be truthful, it turns out to be a little further than 15 miles, as Wella frequently pointed out after we passed the 15 miles point and we were still not at our destination.

On the way back we detoured into the recently opened dunes area in between Highway 1 and the ocean - very peacefull, very empty and very scenic - definitely made this particular ride a lot more pleasant.

Weather all weekend long was somewhat typical of September, starts off a bit overcast, then turns to sun - not really hot (the sea breeze keeps it cool), but for a white English boy like me, just about perfect.

Below is a shot of the Monterey Peninsula from the coastal trail in Sand City - the house is in there somewhere (as I can see this bit of the trail from the house), but the camera's resolution doesn't allow me to pick out its exact location.


So, just over 10 miles of fire road and single track riding on Sat (with lots of climbing - 2000'+), just over 30 miles of paved trail and road on Sunday (and it was far from flat, but not that much climbing), no wonder my butt's sore as I break in a new saddle.

And finally, yes, butt is American for arse.

My New Bike

Yep, it looks rather flash - has a bunch of race components on it, disc brakes, umpteen gears etc.


I got to ride it for the first time tonight - on the roads (off-road will come later) - so far so good, still adjusting the seat, bars, levers etc. trying to get it to fit just right.

It's weird, it feels really large!

A Sunday Hike

This last Sunday, I went hiking at Point Lobos State Preserve with Wella.

We did a six mile hike around the periphery of the preserve, with lots of wildlife and scenery on display all the way around, including all the weird rock formations.


At one stage we could see a Turkey Vulture out in the bay sitting on top of something that was bobbing around in the water. Whatever it was on was edible as it was pecking away at it. Other vultures came in to land, but most couldn't manage it as the carcass they were feeding on was relatively small and moving around.

Even with the bins, we couldn't tell what it was, but it was seal sized, so that's the most likely thing.

The weather remained overcast for the whole hike, but when we drove back into Monterey, we were soon in the sunshine. After a couple of failed attempts to get a late lunch (who knew these places were closed mid Sunday afternoon) we eventually ended up at the Italian festival on the customs plaza.

Fried calamari and a beer soon satisfied the lunchtime cravings.