Sea Otter Classic 08: Cold and Windy!

I was blessed to be able to attend the 2008 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA from April 17-20. I say blessed because I wouldn't have been there had it not been for my company Liberty Mountain and Vaude exhibiting at the event. I worked the exhibition booth while there, but was able to pre-ride the course after the show closed on Thursday and raced early Saturday morning. The pre-ride was amazing, sunny, perfect conditions, and I had a great ride except for flatting 3 or so miles from the finish. Although it was late in the day, a rider from Cytomax stopped and gave me a CO2 cartridge and I got home! I think my rear shock was a bit over pressurized but I didn't have time to mess around with it.

Raceday was cold, windy, grey, dreary, cold, and cold! Did I mention it was cold? Unfortunately, being from Canada and living in Utah, I assumed that California would be super warm in late April so I didn't pack my arm or leg warmers. Fortunately, I had a Mountain Hardwear windbloc zip T I was able to wear under my jersey and I'm sure that saved my butt! The loop is just over 19 miles long and had around 3500 feet of climbing. So about the same as the Mid-Mountain trail in Park City, one of my favorites. There were two super sandy downhills that I was a bit sketched out in, especially because I overinflated my brand new Kenda Smallblock 8 rear tire so it was slipping a lot in the sand covered hardpack, but I made it through alright.

I crashed hard about halfway into the ride when a rider went down right in front of me and I skinned my left knee pretty bad. I kept riding and by the end of the ride I had a sweet dried blood trail down to the timing anklet and sock! The best part of the race was that there was a rider that I kept passing and getting passed by. I would pass him on a climb, and he would pass me back on a downhill section. We did this probably 4 or 5 times over the ride. There is a looooong climb before the last quick downhill finish. I was determined to pass him on the climb and give it hell to the finish. I passed him just before the crest and never gave it up. I checked times and i was almost half a minute ahead of him! That made my 49th place finish out of 72 seem sooooo much better! Hahaha! Overall the race and exhibition was soooo much fun and I can't wait for next year!