Despite my lackluster race yesterday I had a great day otherwise. My first stop was the Open booth, where I got to meet Gerrard and Andy, founders of Open. It was so awesome to finally meet them. They were both really cool to talk to. It was also great to see a fleet of Open's next to my own. Along with their booth were the folks at Pro Bike Supply, one of Open's largest retailers and all around great shop. Jayson was there, who helped me put together my ride. Great to finally meet him, too.
My second stop was the Specialized team trailer and expo, where I met with my new boss as well as the head honcho himself, Mike Sinyard. It was so surreal standing there. It was just a year ago where I came to the same tent, and met Ned Overend for the first time, never expecting that one day I'd be working for the big S. The day's start was pretty emotional for me. I wish I had more time to spend at the festival, but I had to suit up and get to the start line.
Actually, our day started out with a minor bump. On our way down Jeremy's care got a flat tire, but was quickly fixed. We had plenty of time to get down to Laguna Seca, check out the festival, have lunch and warm up.
After the race was done, I hung out at the finish line and waited for my friends to roll through. We all suffered, maybe except for Jeremy who put in a really solid race, finishing 11th out of 32. He bumped up to Cat. 1 this season, and is doing quite well. After cleaning up a bit we hooked up with our crew, had a celebratory beer and checked out the Clif Bar BBQ, and grabbed a burger before driving home.
What day. What a week! And it's all just getting started. I look forward to taking some much deserved time off, recharging my batteries both mentally and physically.