When I wasn't racing, I was...

Checking out the huge vendor expo, and talking to sponsors/potential sponsors. With the rest of my free time, I hung out in Monterey and saw the sights. More on that later.
While browsing the expo area, I saw the new Sram road grouppos. They both look awesome, and the shifting is revolutionary (though I know it will take some time to get used to it). I think Shimano and Campy will have some stiff competition, and I for one am sold on the Sram stuff. I even got to talk to the designer of the Sram mountain bike trigger shifters for a little while. Cool guy.

(Left)The Sram neutral support bikes.

To be fair, I also checked out the new Shimano XTR prototypes. Shimano seems to be going in the right direction, though I think I'll stick with my twist shifters.
One thing that really stood out to me, were these wheels from a company called Industry Nine. They are a small company just breaking into the wheel market, and they have a pretty unique product. They use aluminum spokes that thread directly into the hubs they make. There are no nipples at either end. Because of the use of aluminum in their spokes and hubs, they can anodize them in all kinds of colors, and can even do fades for some really flashy wheels. They are only making mountain bike wheels now, but should have road wheels next year.
I had a little free time before I caught my flight home on Monday, so I decided to check out the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. I've never visited it in all the times I've been to Sea Otter, so this was a must. It was the most amazing, high-tech, expensive looking museum-type place I've ever been to.
Above, Sea Otters in Monterey Bay hang out in Kelp forests to eat clams. Left, a view of a Kelp forest from below the water.
It's amazing how relaxing it is to watch fish. I stood mesmerized in front of several of the tanks watching fish, jellyfish, sharks, and other animals just going about their daily business. In one of the tanks, was a Sunfish (see below). This is one wierd looking fish, and also a big one. If I curled into a ball, it would be bigger than me. There were also Tuna in the tank that were even bigger than the sunfish!
I'll leave you with one last picture. This is a early morning shot from the Monterey Peninsula (near Pebble Beach) looking back towards Laguna Seca. Monterey is such a beautiful place. I'll miss her until next year.