This year’s Sea Otter Classic 2013 was as good as they come: Gorgeous warm sunshine, tons of riders of all ages, lots of racing excitement and vendors and spenders. We got to demo bikes to our heart’s content, talk with lots of bike folks, check out all the new equipment and ride the big loop.

What more could a bike fanatic ask?

Here’s the official race recap provided by Sea Otter, day by day. If you couldn’t make it to Monterey for this year’s fest, at least you can enjoy it vicariously here.

Congrats to Seattle homie Jill Kintner and U.S. standout Aaron Gwin on their big wins in the Downhill! Jill took double gold, also winning the dual slalom on Saturday.

Race results.

High in the Methow...

Cascade and Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance are teaming up on the event, the local version of the International Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. There will be plenty of stuff to do, from riding and jumping to drawings for great gear. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. things will be popping!

As for high-country mountain biking, Winthrop will be the scene this weekend with its annual Methow Valley Bike (and now Film) Festival, highlighted by the premiere of “Pedal-Driven,” a film looking at Pacific Northwest trail use and conflicts and how they get resolved. The Winthrop Barn will be the focal point but lots of stuff going on, including rides, a bike giveaway, presentations and film showings. Be sure to stop and say hi to Joe Brown at Methow Cycle and Sport right on Highway 20 down from the Barn.

Spokespeople destination South Lake Union Park.

No matter where or what you ride, the weekend promises to offer lots of wheel time!

Tiger Mountain's own Luke Strobel.

For race run I was in the start watching the rain fall. Not that rain is bad, mud is fun, but not being able to see is my least favorite thing ever!!! I suck at pulling tear offs, and forgot to do it in the one spot I needed to, and rode tentative. Oh well, main thing yesterday was riding aggressive and not braking, but it is really difficult to do in such conditions. I had a good time, but not that speedy of a run compared to what I was capable of. Saint brakes were working too good:). I still took a top 10, which is actually decent for my first year downhilling. For sure need to build up my tolerance to full runs and speed in rougher conditions.

On balance, Jill had some bad luck with the draw and the weather. But Mont-Sainte-Anne is a crusher of a course, too — even if it’s dry! The fact she did so well in a discipline she is still learning attests to Jill’s versatility and grit.

In other results of local interest, Seattle-based Evil took down the silver in the men’s downhill with a smashing run from B.C. standout Steve Smith. It’s been awhile coming for Smith, who’s had some luckless days as well. But this time it all came together — congrats to him and the gang from Evil — including Smith’s teammate on Evil, Issaquah’s Luke Strobel, who was impressive with 16th in the men’s final.

Sam Hill, former World Cup rainbow-jersey winner, won as world champion in the men’s category and Tracy Moseley won for the women.

Full results here.

A 20-year-old Seattle woman rode naked on a bike near Bremerton.

Actress Kelly Brook did not ride naked, although StarPulse.com undoubtedly wishes she had.

And Cyclelicio.us reports that “bike sharing” can, under certain circumstances, have a sexual connotation.

As with a spouse or child, you cannot win an argument with a bicycle. But you can lose one.

Intersection by intersection, the city keeps improving bike and pedestrian safety in Seattle.

Seattle’s Jill Kintner is at Mont-Sainte-Anne in Quebec for the World Championship downhill competition. Best of luck to Jill, whose blog will chronicle the race from the inside.

Jill Kintner crashed hard 10 seconds into her run and that was all she wrote. More on her blog, always a great resource for the inside story. Best of luck next weekend Jill!

There’s a cross-country tandem cyclist who rides shotgun, letting the stoker sit in front. Why, you ask? Gene Bisbee explains.

Seattle’s Jill Kintner wasn’t the dominating force at this year’s Crankworx that she was last year, but she did take top honors in the Pump Track competition. You have to be super strong to do pump track right. Jill’s progression toward World Cup downhill success continues apace. Check her blog for the full scoop.

Cam McCaul injury update.

Dan Atherton injury update.

Crankworx partial injury rundown: “Brandon Semenuk suffered a neck/collar bone with back flip on last drop. Darren Berrecloth suffered an arm/wrist injury on last jump 360. Yannick went to hospital after a crash on an odd landing.”

Every time Seattle proposes a road diet to reduce speeding cars, traffic congestion, hazardous conditions for cyclists and pedestrians and other ills of contemporary transportation management, a few people get scared.

Good news from Crankworx Colorado was that Seattle homey Jill Kintner took top honors in the Dual Slalom and the Downhill. At Whistler, however, Jill got off to an uncharacteristic start, taking “only” 3rd in the opening-day Dual Slalom. On her blog she complains of being “off my game,” but watch for her in the other Whistler events!

Intriguing story from Cyclelicious on military funding of blood doping research. Well worth a read.

Normally a time trial, where lots of riders are on the road at the same time and it’s obvious an event is under way, is the last place you’d expect a car to strike and kill a cyclist. But when it comes to cars and bike, expectations count for very little.

BikeJuju wants to know: Why are you here?

VeloNews interviews Johan Bruyneel on Team Radio Shack’s Tour de France and outllook. Two questions we wished they had asked: Does he think doping allegations had anything to do with being dis-invited from the Tour of Spain, and without Lance, what are his expectations for next year’s Tour?

A downhill glint in her eye.

As a longtime Jill-watcher we’ve been speculating she would move to the Big Dance (after dominating Dual Slalom) given expert counsel from boyfriend Bryn Atkinson. Next stop: World Cup tour! (We hope.)

More from Jill’s blog. Full report from PinkBike.

A downhill glint in her eye.

Northstar isn’t the World Cup of course, but Jill has shown she’s a contender no matter what the venue, and her competition was no pushover, including Kathy Pruitt, Melissa Buhl and the unretired Leigh Donovan. We’ll look forward to tracking her progress through the season as she puts her stamp on the Big Dance. (Jill’s blog has her typically pithy commentary, along with women’s and men’s DH results.)

At the U.S. Open last weekend, Jill finished second in the downhill slate behind Tracy Moseley and ahead of Melissa Buhl. What makes this all the more remarkable is that Jill had just taken the Grand Slalom title, beating both Moseley and Buhl.

On her blog Jill makes clear that she would have won the downhill as well had she not taken a detour where she’d crashed in an earlier run.

You have to love her attitude:

After my crash yesterday, I had orders from Bryn (Atkinson) and Lars (Sternberg we assume) not to hit the finish line jump, so I had to ride the go around which was about a second slower. Finished 2nd by 0.4 seconds!!! Doh. Decent run, did the rocks clean, Just a exited the lower woods in an interesting spot, hit the low line by accident and lost a bit of speed. Still learning how to put together full runs, and I know what I gotta do next time, so I am happy to be learning and progressively getting better, which is my goal every race.

It was quite a weekend for Kintner, auguring big things for the rest of the 2010 season.