By Skittles
Following the Sea Otter Classic, we made our way north to find out what everyone at the race was talking about: the epic-ness of the Santa Cruz mountain bike trails. And OMG were they sick!
Most of the trails we rode started with long long long climbs to be followed by bomber downhills. After one epic ride, both David and I were wishing we had some plush full suspension bikes to cruise the trails on! Lucky for us, our friends Ryan and Val, let us demo some of their awesome Bionicon bikes that have a unique feature that let’s you adjust your geometry on the fly!
Our biking adventures in Santa Cruz wouldn’t be complete without some of the new friends that we were lucky enough to make. Troy, Haley, Johnny and Ashley all came into our lives after meeting some of their mutual friends while we were on the road. Thanks for showing us the goods in SC guys!
For anyone in the SC area, you need to check out these awesome trails: Magic Carpet at UCSC, Enchanted Forest in Nisene Marks and the Top of the World!
Wow, what a weekend! For those of you who have not yet had a chance to attend or race the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA - holy heck, what an event for both racers and spectators! First off, a huge shout out to, Skip, one of the coolest race directors we’ve come across. He hooked us up with a sweet booth spot for the weekend which literally made ALL the difference. Thanks for everything Skip!
Our time at the Laguna Seca State Raceway started on Wednesday night after a beautiful, but grueling drive up the PCH 1 from Santa Barbara. The Pacific Coast was a sight to see from our huge RV windows and we made a couple of touristy stops at the Hearst Castle and to see the elephant seals (who were beached to go thru their annual molting process - ewww gross!) along the way. However, after about an hour into the drive, the twisty, narrow roads got to us and we were so so glad to finally hit some freeway heading towards the race venue!
This was our first bike race of the trip and we were stoked to be able to get the word out about 
As for our booth….it was probably our most EPIC event yet! We handed out over 1500 samples of our
After two beautiful days of Sea Otter Expo WE SOLD OUT OF SUNSCREEN! Unfortunately, we had underestimated the number of folks at the race who would be looking for functional and organic ways to protect their skin - both our 
Following our epic times in Vegas, it was time to start the trek up the west coast! Since we didn’t get enough “play” time in while we were there in January, we decided to head back to JTree for a week to hone our crack climbing skills. Unfortunately, at about the same time, Mother Nature decided to throw in 50mph wind gusts to add to the challenge of climbing rocks in JTree. Have you ever tried to finish on classic JTree slab moves while the wind is pushing you sideways? Scary! Towards the end of the week, we were joined by Dave’s long time friend, Trevor, and his girlfriend Darcy. It was fun introducing them into the world of climbing and climbing in JTree!
After yet another humbling experience climbing at JTree, we headed towards San Diego to spend some more time with Trevor and Darcy. It was an opportunity for us to get some much needed “work” time in, as well as visit local retailers to carry our product line. But best of all, we finally got to take Torr to the beach! And he LOVED it! The first day at the beach, he was doing hot laps up and down the beach because there were FINALLY dogs to run with and there was water (although he said it was salty and tasted bad). A huge thanks to Trevor for the hospitality, hooking us up with a lifetime supply of GU and for giving us a sick original Gordon Smith surfboard!
Our time in SoCal seemed like a whirlwind of internetzing, visiting shops, spending time at doggie beaches, checking out local MTB trails and visiting with friends as we made our way north up the coast. Good times catching up with the Shepherds in Huntington Beach, then with Dave’s friend Skyler who now runs, 
Continuing north, we headed to Ventura to holla at our friends at 
