Inside Bay Area

MONTEREY — With Lance Armstrong now gearing up for a seventh straight Tour de France victory before retiring, it seems like any event featuring two wheels, handlebars and a pair of hard-pumping pedals can draw huge crowds of avid local fans.

Certainly, Bay Area residents aren’t about to let Armstrong’s impending retirement make them abandon a sport more and more people are growing to love.

In Monterey last month, the annual Sea Otter Classic certainly proved the public’s appetite for wheels, spokes and sprockets remains a fever pitch as the Laguna Seca Raceway became a launch pad for the grittier, dirtier and many believe, more exciting side of cycling.

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