A lot of big names were missing from the 2008 pro men cross-country race, due to the World Cup in Houffalize, Belgium. The race started under sunny skies with Kona's Ryan Trebon taking an early lead. Late in the first lap, a pack of seven racers, including number one plate Sam Schultz, Ryan Trebon, Chris Sheppard, Carl Decker, Ken Onodera, and Miguel Martinez, swapped spots on the long rolling fire road climb back to the Laguna Seca race track. At the beginning of the second lap, Miguel Martinez broke away and stretched out a huge lead, eventually winning the race by almost three and a half minutes. Sam Schultz ended up taking second, followed fourteen seconds later by Sid Taberlay. Fourth place finisher, Mitchel Peterson, crossed the line a minute and a half later and Federico Ramirez Mendez took fifth a little over 6 minutes after Miguel Martinez crossed the finish line.

Photos were shot with the Canon EOS Rebel XSi / 450D and the Canon EOS 40D. This article was brought to you by PhotographyREVIEW.com. Learn more about digital cameras and photography on Mtbr's sister site, PhotographyREVIEW.com!

A cool new addition to this year's Sea Otter expo was the demo area, which had dirt jumps, pump tracks, and workshops by the Bike Skills guys. It was a little hard to get to so a lot of people may have missed it. Hopefully, next year it will be placed more prominently. In any case, it was cool to have a place where people could demo bikes, play on some jumps, and generally polish their mountain bike skills. And the pump track pulled in some dirt jump and gravity pros, including Intense pro rider JD Swanguen (see photo directly below), who beat Brian Lopes at the Ray’s indoor pump track competition this past winter. These photos were all shot with the Canon EOS 40D digital SLR. To learn more about shooting mountain bike and other action photos, check out the Sports Photography forum on PhotographyREVIEW.com.

The Canfield brothers, Chris and Lance, were showing their 2008 bikes next to the Sea Otter demo area. At Interbike they introduced their new "Perfect Suspension" concept, which is supposed to pedal the same regardless of the chainring, standing or seated. It's one basic bike design in four configurations, the Sauce, One, Can-Can, and the Can-Diggle. The Canfield Brothers One linkage (below) is shared among all four "Perfect Suspension" bikes. The complete One bike is pictured at the top of the page. An extra mini Canfield Brothers Can Can bike (below). The Can Can features the "Perfect Suspension" design in a dirt jump and park-friendly frame. Note the super short seat tube post and low top tube. The Canfield Brothers Can Diggle (below) is a sturdier, 7 to 8-inch version of the One. Being intended for more serious terrain, it has a 1.5-inch headtube and Maxle rear axle. The Jedi (below) is the Canfield Brothers latest, updated version of their classic Formula 1 frame. It has a rearward travel linkage system, short chain stays, and it's made for the most punishment. For more information on Canfield Brothers bikes, visit their Web site: http://www.canfieldbrothers.com/

A cool new addition to this year's Sea Otter expo was the demo area, which had dirt jumps, pump tracks, and workshops by the Bike Skills guys. It was a little hard to get to so a lot of people may have missed it. Hopefully, next year it will be placed more prominently. In any case, it was cool to have a place where people could demo bikes, play on some jumps, and generally polish their mountain bike skills. And the pump track pulled in some dirt jump and gravity pros, including Intense pro rider JD Swanguen (see photo directly below), who beat Brian Lopes at the Ray’s indoor pump track competition this past winter. These photos were all shot with the Canon EOS 40D digital SLR. To learn more about shooting mountain bike and other action photos, check out the Sports Photography forum on PhotographyREVIEW.com.

Walked around the SRAM booth and here are some Roadbike pictures.