He'd flown before, but how was it taking a just-turned-one-year-old on the plane? We lucked out big time. Conrad cuddled up and slept nearly the whole way!
Landed in LAX and headed straight for a hotel near Bonelli Park in San Dimas, where the first round of the US Cup Triple Crown took place. I got Conrad settled in while Jeremiah drove around the hills to pick up his new Cannodale Factory Racing (CFR from here on out) Scalpel to assemble for the weekend's racing. Our east coast jet lag had us saying 'rise and shine' around 4 a.m. the next morning. We were the first ones to breakfast, strolled around San Dimas before In Cycle had wheeled a single bike outside the shop, and watched Jeremiah ride off to train on the course well before lunch time. It was starting to feel like we really could travel and bike race with a toddler in tow!
The first race weekend was a lot of fun. We saw many of the familiar racing faces whose presence we might take for granted until they disappear into winter's off season. I especially enjoyed the weather: warm enough for shorts and sunblock, but still pleasantly cool. Conrad romped around the park playing with pine cones, spotting airplanes and picking dandelions.
With a course that zig-zagged through the open space, the races were great for spectating. Conrad watched from his Chariot while I tried not to make a fool of myself in the XC feed zone - it'd been a while since I'd handed up a bottle. But each feed went smoothly and I'd cheer Jeremiah on after he raced by. Conrad almost slept through the short track race, until he woke up just in time to see Jeremiah race through ahead of the pack. Jeremiah didn't know how many laps were remaining until just one to go -none of the riders did- so his off-the-front attack had even him guessing. He settled back into the group and sprinted to the line for fourth place - good work for a "marathon guy."
From San Dimas, we packed up and relocated to Whittier where we stayed with Jeremiah's CFR teammate, Tinker Juarez and his family. They'd only been moved into their new home for three weeks when we arrived, but they had completely settled in and we felt at home and relaxed.
Staying with the Juarez family was definitely a highlight of our trip.
It was fun to watch Conrad as he warmed up to Tinker's three-year-old son Joshua. By the end of our stay the two of them were taking turns chasing each other around the first floor. A cute encounter involved Conrad tumbling toward one of Tinker's towering bookshelves filled floor to ceiling with trophies from his many races. (Jeremiah could have spent days examining the trophies and asking Tinker to recall each of the races!) Joshua quickly jumped between Conrad and the lowest shelf, arms outstretched, and said sternly "these are NOT toys!" Such a cutie, and so well behaved! I hope Conrad took note.
A more frightening experience was being jostled awake at 4 a.m. to an earthquake. I'm pretty sure Jeremiah yelled "earthquake" and I yelled "get the baby!" (who was fast asleep in the middle of our bed). We bolted to the door, where I stayed put with Conrad (who was still asleep somehow). Jeremiah, Tinker and Terri scurried around in the hallway, checked on Joshua and Tinker's mom Rose. All was okay, so the only productive thing to do was go back to bed. But I couldn't settle my nerves so easily and tossed around for an hour or so before falling asleep again. When we woke up later that morning, the news was covering the event and said it'd been a 4.4 magnitude with the epicenter one mile to our west and 13 miles straight down. After talking about it with people who've been through some earthquakes, they all seemed to agree that for the magnitude, that one was a pretty violent shake.
From Tinker's house we moved on to an area closer to the start of the next race. Our little car was packed tighter than tight with all the riding and baby gear and I was getting nervous because we were running low on gas. The plan was to drop Jeremiah off at the start of the Vision Quest course so he could get in a good day's workout and preride. As we made our way up Black Star Canyon through Silverado, I pulled over and made Jeremiah tack on a few extra miles. I really thought we were approaching the middle of nowhere and I was going to be stuck with rental car packed to the gills, without gas, with a baby, in a canyon where the residents obviously don't want to have anything to do with anyone. In hindsight, I should have realized that L.A. was just around the bend and it would be alright.
It was alright after all, we got gas and Conrad and I had breakfast before venturing to Laguna Beach. Conrad put his feet in the Pacific for the first time. It was a spectacular day, and I'm going to let the pictures do the talking for me.
For the last five days of our trip we stayed just between the beach and the foothills, a good compromise that allowed Jeremiah easy access to good training and Conrad and I were occupied with things to do.
In Laguna Beach, we visited the Crank Brothers headquarters, and even though it's probably been said a thousand times - those guys have an AWESOME location. I'm convinced their products are so cool because their desks are about 200 meters from the beach. Work? Vacation? Both? Nice.
Throughout our trip we tended to have early dinners since that's what parents do when they don't have a resident Grandma. Eating early added a nice sense of relaxation to our evenings. By no means was our trip a vacation, but it was nice to enjoy our little family being together when we would have otherwise missed Jeremiah from the cold east coast. And, after the Vision Quest we took Conrad on his first trip to the zoo - the San Diego Zoo! This experience was incredible and Conrad totally enjoyed himself. He loved it, and we loved that he loved it! Lots of photos are up, but more are still coming, to the Gallery at left.
Throughout our trip we tended to have early dinners since that's what parents do when they don't have a resident Grandma. Eating early added a nice sense of relaxation to our evenings. By no means was our trip a vacation, but it was nice to enjoy our little family being together when we would have otherwise missed Jeremiah from the cold east coast. And, after the Vision Quest we took Conrad on his first trip to the zoo - the San Diego Zoo! This experience was incredible and Conrad totally enjoyed himself. He loved it, and we loved that he loved it! Lots of photos are up, but more are still coming, to the Gallery at left.
I could go back over the trip a hundred times with more exciting events and recollections. It seems like so many new or exciting things are happening all the time. And when you're a bike racer surrounded by bike racers, or a new mom surrounded by other new moms and little ones, things can begin to feel ordinary. But, when I try to step back and take it all in, I'm thinking we've got it pretty extraordinary right now.
:-) Erin
Labels: Adventures, Family, Photos, Where in the World
