Another Great Trip to Santa Cruz

Men’s podium for overall and prone paddler finishers (L-R Anthony Vela, Roch Frey, George Plsek, Don Miralle, Aaron McKinnon)

One of the highlights of my family’s last two summers has been our annual trip up to Santa Cruz, California. We not only go up to compete in the Jay Moriarty Race, but also take in all the great sites up there including the rides on the boardwalk, train rides through 100ft redwood trees, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the miles of beautiful coastline, and see old friends and make new ones. If you ever get a chance to get up to Santa Cruz, even if you don’t want to compete or watch one of the best paddleboard races in the US, you will not regret that you made it to one of the coolest cities in NorCal.

Lauren, Luke and Micah making like Wild West Settlers in Roaring Rapids and Big Trees Train Camp.

Big thanks to all the folks from the JayRace and all the sponsors for putting on the best community-driven event for a young, quickly growing sport with all proceeds going to Santa Cruz State Junior Lifeguards. Special thanks to Duke Brouwer from Surftech, Kim Moriarty, Bob Pearson, Frosty Hesson, Denise White, Chris Hollingsworth, Brian Foss, and Aaron McKinnon for their efforts in making the 12th Annual Race the best ever! LIVE LIKE JAY!!!

Aaron McKinnon and I battling out the race lead with the Santa Cruz Boardwalk as the backdrop.

Boys pick me up after we get our hardware at the JayRace Afterparty

Beautiful Steam Train ride through Redwoods at Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad.