The infamous Sea Otter Classic at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA. I've been wanting to attend this event for years and now I have an excuse. The 4th round of the US Cup took place at the SOC (Sea Otter Classic). The SOC isn't just a race, it's a 4-day festival where there's something for everyone such as vendor exhibits, mtb/road racing, beer gardens, live music, and other entertainment. It's the biggest bicycle event in the nation that attracts over 5000 athletes and 100,000 visitors.
Matt and I decided to leave early Thursday morning so we would have enough time to pre-ride the XC course that afternoon. We also decided to stay at a cheap hotel in the city of Salinas which is about 20 minutes away from the SOC. Let me tell you, Salinas is definitely not a vacation spot. That place is a shithole. We arrived at our killer Days Inn hotel right next to the ever loud 101 highway around 12pm. We couldn't check in yet, so we decided to head on over to the SOC and get the pre-ride over with. I couldn't believe the size of this event. It was freaking HUGE!! It was a cyclist's dream. Seeing the actual Laguna Seca track was cool in itself. I've seen plenty of motor races at this track on TV and it was just awesome to see the track in person. Lots of history there. Anyways, Matt and I suited up for our pre-ride. It was pretty windy and chilly at this time. The course was well marked off and we were on our way. The course had a little bit of everything and I found it to be a really awesome route. This was my first time out there and the word on the street was to beware of the sand as well as the beach downhill. Other than that, it was really fast with lots of fast flowing singletrack, a short pavement climb and a longer fireroad climb as the deal breaker at the end. The wind really started to suck at that point as well. I was hoping it wouldn't be an issue come Saturday. Our pre-ride took us about 1:45 (including Matt's bathroom break). My goal for race day was to break 1:30 and hopefully finish in the top 5. I knew the competition at the SOC would be tougher than a regular state series race. The race already had 62 pre-registered racers in my category.
After the pre-ride, we decided to go checkout the exhibits and low and behold...the first vendor I see is SANTA CRUZ!! Not only did they have the brand new Blur LT Carbon on display, they had two Blur XC Carbons on display. One in orange and one in silver. The reason I was so excited to see the BXCc was because I just ordered a large BXCc frame in silver that Monday. I was able to drool, touch and molest the new BXCc at the SC booth! Man it is so sexy! I should make it my new girlfriend. They had a large size and I was able to sit on it to make sure the cockpit fit and it felt great. I'm glad I decided to go with the large. I should have the new frame in 4 - 6 weeks time. I spent way too much time at the SC booth talking shop to the guys. Once I got tired of that...ahem...I mean Matt got tired of waiting for me, we cruised around some more. There was so much time an effort put into this event and in definitely showed. We eventually found the Felt booth where we found Nick of course since he works for Felt. It was cool to see him and we would get to hang out and ride with him Friday. It was getting late at this point and we headed back over to our 5 star Days Inn Hotel next to the loud 101 in Salinas. We checked in, went to Chevy's for dinner downtown and then a night out on the town of Monterey with Donald Jackson. We met up at a bar called the Mucky Duck where the $2 drafts of any type of beer were flowing. That was a fun time and we even managed to play some ping pong at some other bar. A ping pong table in a bar has to be one of the best ideas in the world. That was so much fun. We got back to the hotel late...err...early morning and called it a day.
Isn't she sexy?
Friday was much or less of the same with the SOC except alot more traffic. We ended up getting there a little bit later in the morning. I managed to get pulled over by the Salinas law enforcement on the way there. The officer let me off with a warning for no front license plate probably after finding out I'm such a great law abiding citizen minus my license plate. We checked out more of the vendor booths and eventually got burned out on doing that. We met up with Nick and Abby from WI, who was out here to race in the Pro Women's XC event, and we went for a little 10 miler pre-ride with them. The ride was starting out great until Matt snapped his chain and smacked his knee into his fork crown. Good thing it happened the day before our race instead of during. It just sucked because he was hurting from that impact. I forgot to mention that we started to ride during the CAT3 beginner race. I don't think it made the CAT3 guys feel really good since we were passing alot of them. Oh well. We had a nice pasta dinner hosted by Tim Z. from the Sho-Air team at their campsite. We arrived an hour late because we couldn't find the incorrect site. We had the wrong info. It was getting late and we decided to get some good rest before our early morning race start of 7:30am.
We woke up early the next day and arrived at the SOC with plenty of time to get ready. The word on the street was to stage at the starting line about 45 minutes before the race. As we did our little warm up on the track of Laguna Seca, I found out that they delayed the race by 30 minutes. Damn! That's 30 minutes of sleep I could have had. Oh well, it actually worked out for the better because the morning was really chilly and the fog was thick. The extra 30 minutes gave it enough time for some of the fog to burn off which would end up being a really warm day. I ended up chatting with a few other racers and some team members while waiting for the start. Each category would start in 5 minutes waves as opposed to the 1 minute waves with the previous US Cup races. I really liked that format better since it gives you more pedaling room due to lesser traffic out there. Matt's wave left 20 minutes before I would see the starting line. I tried to size up my competitors, but 63 of them were new to me. Only one other racer I knew was there and he happened to be a teammate. I got a good starting row position near the inside wall...GO!!! and away everyone went. Like Sagebrush, I was hoping no one would take off like a rocket really stressing the whole group. The pace started off hard, but wasn't a frantic pace. I stayed near the top 10 of guys sticking on the wheels of the guys in front. The rear of the group was in a big blob, while the front was more in line with racers trying to draft each other. I was in that group. As we approached the top of the cork screw, the course would veer off onto the dirt via a small entry way. I got through the fence before the pile up of guys. That was good. Now it was an all out sprint to catch the leaders and get to the 1st singletrack. The fog was bad at this point and it turned out to be a bad idea to wear eye wear. I didn't have time to really pull them off so I had them pulled down resting lower on my nose so I could see. There was a high speed downhill and to crash there would really suck. I made it to the 1st singletrack guessing I was in the top 5 or so. It was really hard to tell since we weren't marked to tell who's in the category. I had a good pace in the singletrack and it's always a good sign when you catch up to a racer while recovering at the same time.
I came up to the beach and it was like a war zone out there. I saw 2 guys in front of me go OTB and guys walking their bikes down. It was just a mess. I had no mishaps at all while skiing through and dodging the human obstacles. It was actually fun weaving in and out. I pedaled on and kept a really good pace. I caught up to a couple more guys in my group and one guy decided to hang on to my wheel. We trade positions a few times, but I decided to change that towards the last few stretches of singletrack. I up'd the pace while charging the fun-flowing singletrack. I didn't look back, but I knew there was a big enough gap there since I heard nothing behind me. I wanted to make sure I had enough in the tank to attack the final climb of the day and attack I did.
That last climb, the pain was really starting to set in. I could feel my muscles twitching which a sign of the cramps to come, but I was able to fight those off. I passed alot of riders here, but I figured most of them must have been from the previous waves. I had no idea. I crested the final hill while a spectator was offering donuts to those who wanted any. I respectfully declined, but it was quite funny to see that. I charged down the course, crossed the track over the bridge and sprinted to the finish line...the race was over. I was happy to see that I completed my goal of finishing under 1:30:00. My overall time was 1:28:44. I was really happy about that.
It was great to see Ryan and Sarah there at the finish. They drove up the night before. After changing and getting the bikes packed up in the car, we went to the awards ceremony to find out they already started...Yikes!! We got there just in time, but for some reason there was some sort of problem with the 30-34 results being finalized. I took that time to check the posted results and to my amazement I placed 2nd out of 65! I was ecstatic, but at the same time a little disappointed I missed out on winning the SOC. Don't get me wrong, 2nd place is an awesome result for a field of 65 especially at the SOC. The competition is generally tougher at these bigger national races.
After about 30 minutes or so of waiting in the blistering 85 degree weather, the results were finalized and I got my medal with swag bag. It was at this time I got to see the guy that got first. Now, you would expect some fit looking guy with muscle definition all around, but no...this dude was the exact opposite. We punned him the Mr. Bean looking french doughboy. He looked like Mr. Bean, he was french (didn't speak a lick of English), and he must have worked at a bakery eating nothing but donuts. I couldn't believe that this doughy guy beat me. Just look at the podium picture. The only way he could have beat me is if he ate one of those donuts on the final hill. I just don't understand it. Completely at a lost there, but whatever. Still a terrific result and I was happy to go home with some hardware. On a side note, Matt beat his nemesis Joey and finished 13th out of 66! An awesome result and he should get a little edge with points for the season.
We hung out for a few more hours, watch some dual stunt, ate some food, drank some beer, and then left. Officially ending our Sea Otter weekend and it was a great weekend. It was good to finally get home and get some real sleep. The weekend was exhausting. Next weekend is Santa Ynez/US Cup #5. The race season is in full effect. I don't get much of a break until mid-May.
PS: You can see my Sea Otter pics on the photographer's site. I don't think they are worthy enough for a purchase.
http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=48040&PWD=&BIB=1728
Matt and I decided to leave early Thursday morning so we would have enough time to pre-ride the XC course that afternoon. We also decided to stay at a cheap hotel in the city of Salinas which is about 20 minutes away from the SOC. Let me tell you, Salinas is definitely not a vacation spot. That place is a shithole. We arrived at our killer Days Inn hotel right next to the ever loud 101 highway around 12pm. We couldn't check in yet, so we decided to head on over to the SOC and get the pre-ride over with. I couldn't believe the size of this event. It was freaking HUGE!! It was a cyclist's dream. Seeing the actual Laguna Seca track was cool in itself. I've seen plenty of motor races at this track on TV and it was just awesome to see the track in person. Lots of history there. Anyways, Matt and I suited up for our pre-ride. It was pretty windy and chilly at this time. The course was well marked off and we were on our way. The course had a little bit of everything and I found it to be a really awesome route. This was my first time out there and the word on the street was to beware of the sand as well as the beach downhill. Other than that, it was really fast with lots of fast flowing singletrack, a short pavement climb and a longer fireroad climb as the deal breaker at the end. The wind really started to suck at that point as well. I was hoping it wouldn't be an issue come Saturday. Our pre-ride took us about 1:45 (including Matt's bathroom break). My goal for race day was to break 1:30 and hopefully finish in the top 5. I knew the competition at the SOC would be tougher than a regular state series race. The race already had 62 pre-registered racers in my category.
After the pre-ride, we decided to go checkout the exhibits and low and behold...the first vendor I see is SANTA CRUZ!! Not only did they have the brand new Blur LT Carbon on display, they had two Blur XC Carbons on display. One in orange and one in silver. The reason I was so excited to see the BXCc was because I just ordered a large BXCc frame in silver that Monday. I was able to drool, touch and molest the new BXCc at the SC booth! Man it is so sexy! I should make it my new girlfriend. They had a large size and I was able to sit on it to make sure the cockpit fit and it felt great. I'm glad I decided to go with the large. I should have the new frame in 4 - 6 weeks time. I spent way too much time at the SC booth talking shop to the guys. Once I got tired of that...ahem...I mean Matt got tired of waiting for me, we cruised around some more. There was so much time an effort put into this event and in definitely showed. We eventually found the Felt booth where we found Nick of course since he works for Felt. It was cool to see him and we would get to hang out and ride with him Friday. It was getting late at this point and we headed back over to our 5 star Days Inn Hotel next to the loud 101 in Salinas. We checked in, went to Chevy's for dinner downtown and then a night out on the town of Monterey with Donald Jackson. We met up at a bar called the Mucky Duck where the $2 drafts of any type of beer were flowing. That was a fun time and we even managed to play some ping pong at some other bar. A ping pong table in a bar has to be one of the best ideas in the world. That was so much fun. We got back to the hotel late...err...early morning and called it a day.
Isn't she sexy?
Friday was much or less of the same with the SOC except alot more traffic. We ended up getting there a little bit later in the morning. I managed to get pulled over by the Salinas law enforcement on the way there. The officer let me off with a warning for no front license plate probably after finding out I'm such a great law abiding citizen minus my license plate. We checked out more of the vendor booths and eventually got burned out on doing that. We met up with Nick and Abby from WI, who was out here to race in the Pro Women's XC event, and we went for a little 10 miler pre-ride with them. The ride was starting out great until Matt snapped his chain and smacked his knee into his fork crown. Good thing it happened the day before our race instead of during. It just sucked because he was hurting from that impact. I forgot to mention that we started to ride during the CAT3 beginner race. I don't think it made the CAT3 guys feel really good since we were passing alot of them. Oh well. We had a nice pasta dinner hosted by Tim Z. from the Sho-Air team at their campsite. We arrived an hour late because we couldn't find the incorrect site. We had the wrong info. It was getting late and we decided to get some good rest before our early morning race start of 7:30am.
We woke up early the next day and arrived at the SOC with plenty of time to get ready. The word on the street was to stage at the starting line about 45 minutes before the race. As we did our little warm up on the track of Laguna Seca, I found out that they delayed the race by 30 minutes. Damn! That's 30 minutes of sleep I could have had. Oh well, it actually worked out for the better because the morning was really chilly and the fog was thick. The extra 30 minutes gave it enough time for some of the fog to burn off which would end up being a really warm day. I ended up chatting with a few other racers and some team members while waiting for the start. Each category would start in 5 minutes waves as opposed to the 1 minute waves with the previous US Cup races. I really liked that format better since it gives you more pedaling room due to lesser traffic out there. Matt's wave left 20 minutes before I would see the starting line. I tried to size up my competitors, but 63 of them were new to me. Only one other racer I knew was there and he happened to be a teammate. I got a good starting row position near the inside wall...GO!!! and away everyone went. Like Sagebrush, I was hoping no one would take off like a rocket really stressing the whole group. The pace started off hard, but wasn't a frantic pace. I stayed near the top 10 of guys sticking on the wheels of the guys in front. The rear of the group was in a big blob, while the front was more in line with racers trying to draft each other. I was in that group. As we approached the top of the cork screw, the course would veer off onto the dirt via a small entry way. I got through the fence before the pile up of guys. That was good. Now it was an all out sprint to catch the leaders and get to the 1st singletrack. The fog was bad at this point and it turned out to be a bad idea to wear eye wear. I didn't have time to really pull them off so I had them pulled down resting lower on my nose so I could see. There was a high speed downhill and to crash there would really suck. I made it to the 1st singletrack guessing I was in the top 5 or so. It was really hard to tell since we weren't marked to tell who's in the category. I had a good pace in the singletrack and it's always a good sign when you catch up to a racer while recovering at the same time.
I came up to the beach and it was like a war zone out there. I saw 2 guys in front of me go OTB and guys walking their bikes down. It was just a mess. I had no mishaps at all while skiing through and dodging the human obstacles. It was actually fun weaving in and out. I pedaled on and kept a really good pace. I caught up to a couple more guys in my group and one guy decided to hang on to my wheel. We trade positions a few times, but I decided to change that towards the last few stretches of singletrack. I up'd the pace while charging the fun-flowing singletrack. I didn't look back, but I knew there was a big enough gap there since I heard nothing behind me. I wanted to make sure I had enough in the tank to attack the final climb of the day and attack I did.
That last climb, the pain was really starting to set in. I could feel my muscles twitching which a sign of the cramps to come, but I was able to fight those off. I passed alot of riders here, but I figured most of them must have been from the previous waves. I had no idea. I crested the final hill while a spectator was offering donuts to those who wanted any. I respectfully declined, but it was quite funny to see that. I charged down the course, crossed the track over the bridge and sprinted to the finish line...the race was over. I was happy to see that I completed my goal of finishing under 1:30:00. My overall time was 1:28:44. I was really happy about that.
It was great to see Ryan and Sarah there at the finish. They drove up the night before. After changing and getting the bikes packed up in the car, we went to the awards ceremony to find out they already started...Yikes!! We got there just in time, but for some reason there was some sort of problem with the 30-34 results being finalized. I took that time to check the posted results and to my amazement I placed 2nd out of 65! I was ecstatic, but at the same time a little disappointed I missed out on winning the SOC. Don't get me wrong, 2nd place is an awesome result for a field of 65 especially at the SOC. The competition is generally tougher at these bigger national races.
After about 30 minutes or so of waiting in the blistering 85 degree weather, the results were finalized and I got my medal with swag bag. It was at this time I got to see the guy that got first. Now, you would expect some fit looking guy with muscle definition all around, but no...this dude was the exact opposite. We punned him the Mr. Bean looking french doughboy. He looked like Mr. Bean, he was french (didn't speak a lick of English), and he must have worked at a bakery eating nothing but donuts. I couldn't believe that this doughy guy beat me. Just look at the podium picture. The only way he could have beat me is if he ate one of those donuts on the final hill. I just don't understand it. Completely at a lost there, but whatever. Still a terrific result and I was happy to go home with some hardware. On a side note, Matt beat his nemesis Joey and finished 13th out of 66! An awesome result and he should get a little edge with points for the season.
We hung out for a few more hours, watch some dual stunt, ate some food, drank some beer, and then left. Officially ending our Sea Otter weekend and it was a great weekend. It was good to finally get home and get some real sleep. The weekend was exhausting. Next weekend is Santa Ynez/US Cup #5. The race season is in full effect. I don't get much of a break until mid-May.
PS: You can see my Sea Otter pics on the photographer's site. I don't think they are worthy enough for a purchase.
http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=48040&PWD=&BIB=1728
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