Domilise's

One of my favorite feelings in the world is stepping out the airplane door and getting first feel of the new environment. Before the climate-controlled embrace of the terminal, it is those few moments of walking through the jetway that really let you know you arrived. It’s the humidity that gets you first - even getting off a redeye before 6AM.

A nap and coffee later, Po Boy was the first order of the day and Domilise’s Po Boy and Bar was the destination. Started by the Domilise family the joint started as a bar way back in 1918 before starting to serve up lunches to longshoremen. After WWII the next generation of the Domilises took over with the founders’ son Sam and his wife Dorothy “Miss Dot” Domilise becoming the new owners. Over the years the Domilises have served up many thousands of crispy Leidenheimer bread topped with fried shrimp and oysters or hot roast beef soaked in gravy. Miss Dot took over ownership in 1981 after Sam’s passing and ran the place with a loving hand, never trying to modernize or expand. She too passed away in 2013 and the next generation of Domilises took over. Still serving up po boys, still living in the space just above the bar.

 

Road Tripping NorCal with Pas Normal Studios

Back in October, I travelled down to the Bay Area to spend three days on the road with Pas Normal Studios. The trip covered some of my favorite roads in the States.

Day 1: SF -> Healdsburg
Day 2: Healdsburg -> Bodega Bay
Day 3: Bodega Bay -> SF

If you ever get a chance to ride some of these roads in Marin and Sonoma, make sure you do. It’s worth it for the climbs, the quiet roads and the ever-changing landscape. And wine. There is also a copious amount of wine.

Over the Mountains and Through the Woods

Last weekend we packed our bikes and headed south to the Gifford Pinchot Forest. Last year's experience served as inspiration for the second installment of the Cascade Triple Crown rides put together by Rapha Seattle. This time 28 riders came down to ride a variation on the old rando route called 3 Volcanoes. Here are the stats for the group:

Full distance: 185 miles
Gravel segments: 35 miles
Elevation gain: 16,500ft
Number of dog bites: 1
Number of people accidentally winding up on the res: 4
Last finisher time: 10:45PM
 

Tour of Utah - 2014

With this year's edition of the Tour of Utah right around the corner, I started looking back at some photos from the 2014 edition of the race. It was my first time working a "big" race and I was lucky to connect with Drapac Pro Cycling, a small (at that time) pro conti team from Australia. This became my favorite way to work with a team: moving, transferring, eating, sleeping and breathing as one unit.

A few months later I returned to work with Drapac in California, where I happened to walk in on a meeting between the team principal and a certain Jonathan Vaughters and the rest, as they say, is cycling history.