Sea Otter Classic Race Reports

Sea Otter Classic Race Reports by various authors whose identities should be protected but we'll post them here anyhow: Pro/Expert single speed: It took me 2 years to forget the pain and suffering this category can inflict if you're not prepared. Good thing I have a short memory. I was lined up in mid pack as the gun went off and dropped further back by the end of the climb to the corkscrew. Jeff Hane was gone like a shot- didn't see him again till the finish line. Really my goal was just to finish since my preparation for this race was minimal. I wasn't feeling very speedy at the start but near the end of the first lap I started to catch a few people that had gone by me earlier. Soon after that I found myself surrounded by expert women who started 5 minutes behind me, which turned out to be a good thing- they are much more polite than the men when passing (or should I say " when they're kicking your ass") and they smell way better. The dreaded Cramp Monster started to come after me but I fought him off. I was having fun after that and finished the first lap with a 1:33 and was feeling very decent. I thought I may be able to make a race of this after all, but it was not to be as the Cramp Monster returned halfway through the 2nd lap and wouldn't let go. After that I had to walk up most of the hills and finally pulled off the course to stretch and massage my legs so I could finish. Somehow I managed to get up the fireroad climb to the racetrack without dismounting so I think all the GU that was eating finally kicked in. The race was fun: great weather (for the experts), felt good to ride again after my pre-season injury. Surrounded by expert women. Not a bad day. Side note: Since this category has no age groups, I was lined up next to a 15 year old young man and we struck up a conversation. Turns out that the single speed he was riding was his first ever mountain bike and this was only his 2nd race. Insane!! Mike U. Sea Otter was a blast! Friday was a beautiful day. Although it rained much of Saturday and poured early Sunday morning, the XC race was a lot of fun. But that course was sooooo sloppy with mud. I was a little frustrated for the first few miles (which were the worst for the mud) and my only goal quickly became an attempt to not slide off the side of the trail. How did everyone do? I raced Sport 30-34 and placed 80th. Finished the course in 1.37.34. I'd like to say that the muddy conditions slowed me down but that would probably just be an excuse. ;) -David Ambrose It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The best: - Watching everyone falling on their asses as we descended on the first section of single track. I had to remind myself that most of these people grew up in CA and are not use to adverse conditions. It would have made my day had there been some slick tree roots added in. - The race actually had a much better flow than years past. Sure there were the typical C-Ot bottle necks but not nearly as bad. - Not having to climb all the way to the water tower. - Watching some guy in the middle of the race that just had had enough. He picked up his bike and threw it to the ground, twice. I almost said something but decided that it would be an appropriate time to keep my comments to myself. That was a first! - Its always fun to pass people on the three sisters while they are walking and your weaving in and out of them. - The guys are Veltec for being super cool. - WhiteLightning for keeping my drive chain moving w/o a missed shift. Worst: - Being out of shape and watching everyone go flying on by. - Mud caked up in my wheels preventing them from moving. - Rain, Rain, C-Otter Rain. You would think a month later would resolve this issue but it didn't. - The course having Single Track removed to add in more fireroad. And here I thought it was a "f"ing mtb race. Dave Sport 35-39 103 out of ??? Well, all I can say is I almost didn't do it. If I hadn't agreed to ride down with Todd, I probably would have blown the whole thing off due to the rain. I kept waking up all night to the sound of torrential rain. I awoke at 5:30 to suit up and head out. Cold, dark and rainy. As Todd and I headed down, it really seemed bleak. Then we passed through Salinas and the weather broke. Got there in plenty of time to get through registration and warm up. Of course standing in the lineup for 45 minutes didn't keep anything warm. Fortunately, the weather was perfect for the race. Very cool, but not wet. Off we go and I'm quickly out of gear and my legs feel like cement. I try to take it easy and not blow up. We get into the single track and all you can do is dog the guy in front of you. Still it's fun, but all the jumps(er water bars) after the tree I couldn't get a sight line on so they weren't as fun as in the pre-ride. At the early part of the race I was about mid-pack. We head down into the valley and it's a slip slidin fun fest. People were crashing and sliding all over the place. I, on the other hand, have the good sense to ride with knobs on my tires, still slidey when they cake up, but I had no problem. Then we hit the climb before hurl hill. Everyone was walking. No traction to be had anywhere. So, off and walk I go. Soon we get onto more solid ground and back up to race pace. Up to hurl hill and once again we are walking. I rode everything in the pre-ride(except the hike-a-bike, and the 3rd bitch) and now I'm walking all the easy crap. Oh well. After hurl hill, the long fire road down was a festival of flyin mud. Going along at 30+ with only one squinty eye open is interesting(I didn't wear glasses for the race). After that, it was nothing but fun. All through the rollers and the goat trail were a blast. I always love to dog the fully suspended dudes in there. Soon we are at the feed station and I take a bottle, but can only down a little, plus some clif shot. I start to turn the heat up and pass as many before the hike as possible. I get up to another SS right before the hike. I climb quickly on foot and leave a few behind. Jump on and go at the top. This is another fun section in and out of the bushes and trees. Sandy turns, couple of mini jumps and bumps. March on to the 3 bitches. Which turn out to be much more of a bitch with the mud. One or two of the guys I'd been jockeying with walk the 2nd one, which I ride. Then they pass me before the 3rd again. So after the 3rd, I'd not been thinking clearly that I should have been up front before the single track in the trees. I was much better at the downhill than the others in my pack, so I ended up stuck the whole way down. When we hit the long climb home, I couldn't hold the fastest of the 4 of us, but stuck with the other 2. Soon the other 2 dropped back and I pounded on alone. I was hoping to do the roadie move and work together up the climb, but no one was with me. As I got to the top of the climb out, the other dude on a SS must have been hiding behind me in my blind spot as he darted out around me right at the top onto the track...Crap. How did I miss him...oh well. Onto the track and it's mostly coasting. It's just way to fast for a SS. As I let the geared guys go on by without a challenge, I kept trying to squeeze as much speed out of my legs as possible, but couldn't reel in the guy who passed me before the top. Cross the line and it's a done deal. 22nd in the sport SS class. Time 1:34:34. Sure was nice to see all the TWW faces around the place. What a bunch of studs! Keith Looking back, I must say that I really enjoyed the practicing Weds-Fri after work (I just worked half days those days); the split between Exp and Beg/Sport really helped to make for better practice sessions (meaning: shorter lines in the pre-race day practice sessions). Sure, the new lower section was a peddler, but I liked the new challenges of this year's course. No crashes for me, but some close calls - the way it should be! My race run on Saturday wasn't my cleanest run, but it went pretty well, and was good enough for a 3:08:something, which got me 9th/21 in Exp 35-39. I about died trying to stay standing up while peddling the bottom section! More XC/road riding is being self-prescribed for me now... 007 in two weekends - just sent my reg in today - who's all going? -Schlachter PS - thanks to those who cheered me on my race run - didn't see who it was, but I heard ya! Well, I can tell you it was a great time in the TWW camp area. I started on Wed and Thurs volunteering for ROMP ( {HYPERLINK "http://www.romp.org"|http://www.romp.org} ) for a good cause and as a bonus, FREE race entry. It's a great way to start the race and help our local trail advocacy groups. The 2 pre rides just before the race really made it easy to find my lines. I did one more to break in some new WTB tires. I know, they say no race day changes, but these tires looked awesome. I got to the start line early for a front row start. As usual, there were quite a few "cheaters" who warmed up to the last minute that snuck in with the rest of us who were getting cold. I told at least one to get back there. The start was great, with all of us battling for the top of the track to hit the singletrack. I felt great and was the first to the top of the track and about 4th through the mud/tires to the first slippery downhill. The course was MUCH muddier than the night before. I started to settle in riding great lines in the grass while others were slip sliding away in the mud. BHam passed me, but then I passed him along with dozens of riders on the main muddy trail. BHam passed me again and we kept each other in sight until the long road home. My drive train sounded like a grinding mill and hoped it would make it back. I only had one minor chain suck, no crashes or cramping and the MOOTS with Grip shift/Race Face drive train worked GREAT. I used the water from the water stop to clean the drivetrain. Wish I had some lube though. The one tip that I really appreciated was from the WTB guys to use the EPIC WOLF...what an awesome tire!!! I'm pretty sure I'm hooked on this tire for all conditions. I felt great throughout the race and place 24th as of the last posting. This was a FUN race and well worth it. I'd also like to thank Eve for a FANTASTIC time camping and dining with TWW. Check out TWW's sponsor page for other great race proven products... http://www.teamwrongway.com/sponsors.html Uhhh, I'll see you at the Napa Valley "Mud" Classic? Maybe, if the weather warms up?.... See ya on the trails! http://www.teamwrongway.com/schedule.html Joel This Sea Otter was probably the wettest one I can remember. This was supposed to be Jade's first introduction to camping but due to unpreparedness by her parents, she couldn't spend the night on Friday night because of a crappy sleeping bag. Jade still liked hanging out by the fire with the rest of the kids. The downhill course ate a lot of our riders. Ken Jeffreys got a pedal in the back of his leg in practice but still managed to score podium with 5th place on his first downhill race. Way to go Ken. Jon Hiem-ster broke his hand (?) on his first practice run. At camp it looked like he was wearing a flesh colored boxing glove. He managed to hold up for most of the weekend and finished 7th in expert class. Jeff Hane manged to make it down the course fast and without any incident. Nick crashed at the bottom of the course and dislocated his shoulder. I can't remember his placement but I think he did quite well. Maybe Nick can fill us in if he can type. My race went well. I wasn't expecting to do great so I just went for a nice Sunday ride. The XC course took a lot of rain Saturday night but for the race we were bathed in sunshine and it was quite pleasant. It was sliperier than snot up until hurl hill. I had to walk a lot more than usual since I couldn't get the traction. The course was easier and shorter than previous years despite the rain. I finished 44/73 with a time of 1:44:56 - just barely eeked out my challenge of beating Mike Gin's time. Good time was had for all despite the rain. It was great to have an extra hour in the evening and we were given a very cool rainbow on Saturday at dusk. --Mark Chad and I got to Laguna Seca on Thursday morning for DH practice. We got 4 practice runs in before we headed back to set up camp. Jason brought his helmet cam footage of Expert DH practice and we all sat around watching the video on the TV until time for dinner. Fridays practice session was way more crowded and Deb was nice enough to shuttle all of us so we got 4 more runs in. I spent the remainder of the day driving the shuttle truck for the Expert practice session. Thanks to everyone for having dinner ready when we got back late :) We felt pretty good going into the race, not fast but comfortable. I have to give props to the WTB tires which really worked great in the sandy and off-camber terrain. Saturdays race run could have been better, ran a 3:14.3, but it was good enough for 2nd place in the 40-49 Sport class, .04 seconds off of 1st! I've got to practice more!!! Chad ran a 3:35.4 to place 32nd/75 in the Jr. 16-under class. Sunday's XC race...this is the day I have been waiting for. I get to the start line just as the group in front of mine is pulling up to the start. I manage to squeeze into the 2nd row without anyone complaining to bad, Russ and a few others give me a good natured hard time. At the start I do my best to spin instead of hammering a big gear right off the bat and I get to the top of the racetrack somewhere around 5th. One guy dumps it in the chicane leading out of the racetrack and I pick off Russ on the climb up the sandy hill leading out to the singletrack. I hit the singletrack full tilt, the WTB Nanoraptors are hooking up like a dream. After seeing riders sliding around I'm glad I decided to drop the tire pressure for better traction. I see Deb and the others as I pass by the TWW campsite and she tells me I am in 3rd place. Down the hill I go passing riders where ever I can. The entire Sport Women's classes were in front of us which made for nice scenery but a lot of passing to do. I get the 2nd place rider on the first little climb and now I can see the 1st place guy. I pass him before Hurl Hill and away I go, slamming Hammer gel and grinning wide. I know Russ will be coming so I settle into a pretty good pace trying to stay between 85-90% on the heart monitor. Up Hurl Hill spinning like a monkey and on to the downhill fireroad where I hit 40+ mph doing my best roadie imitation. Finally I see Kirsten on the section leading to the Hike-a-Bike. She is hammering along and looking good! I see Patrick on the Hike-a-Bike and resisted the urge to help him carry his bike up, wouldn't want Sgt. Meyer on my case :) Everything is going great until I get to the 1st Sister, my rear cassette starts skipping. I am trying to adjust the cable but nothing helps. I finally find I can run in the big cog and the last 4 cogs without skipping, turns out I bent the 2nd and 3rd cogs over somehow. Anyway, by time I reach the fireroad climb out I am out of Hammer gel and reaching for the backup Cliff shots (thanks Pete). The average pace is too slow so I end up riding the entire hill without any drafting partners, although I had several riders hanging on to my wheel from time to time. By time I get to the top I feel great!! On to the racetrack and into the big gears. A quick check behind doesn't reveal anyone I recognize but I'm not taking any chances. Around the track I go and sprint down to the finish with a 1:28:53 time, good enough for 1st place in the 40+ Clydesdale class, I was freakin ecstatic! I think I have figured out the right combo, plenty of fuel for the body. Total consumption to power my 225# butt across the line.... 1 Cliff bar 47g carb 1 Hansen's energy drink 42g carb 6oz Hammer Gel 240g carb 5 Cliff shots 210g carb That's about 29.9 gram per mile, pretty good mileage for a SUV! Frank Walden First off...great job Frank! I was the one to tell Jeff at Santa Theresa last year that you looked to be getting stronger each time I rode with you or I saw you race. Second...I never made it to Sgt. during my time in the army. They want you to extend your time in service by 6 months or a year before they give out the promotion one earns. I figured three years was enough! I definitely was not excited about this race. I was hoping the weather would be a good excuse but... Lined up at the back I could feel Jeff starring back to me. Oh well. Poor, not warmed up starts are common for me. Passing Patrick off to the side of the trail, he was kind enough to inform me I was too far back. My legs felt like lead until the cresting of Hurl Hill. I really like the Goat Trail. After passing several women, I was surprised when another woman did not let me pass. I have never seen this happen in all my previous Sea Otter experiences. She explained that there was a fire road up ahead. I tried to tell her that besides herself there were at least two women behind me who could kick butt on that road and I was trying to get some distance before then. She didn't seem phased. I must admit to a certain feeling of satisfaction on the second lap climb home after I went past and she asked how much longer to go. Chris, Paul, Ligaya, Phillip and Cheryl all said I looked much better going through the gate on my second lap (~1:35:00) then I did at the start. Besides feeling better I was jazzed to know that Nick and family plus Johnny and Sya, Laura B and others were hanging out on the climb out. Two laps is a long during the race (more so than when just doing it for fun!). Passed by the leaders on the first "sister" during the first lap was amazing. On the climb out bunches of guys in formation passed on by. There were some awesome women there. They worked well pace lining both trips up that road. Happy to be done, Happy to see Drew at the end and really happy to find that Drew had directed and helped the boys to pack up camp! 3:15:59.5 best part of racing with the kid...he finally admitted my time was pretty good as my first lap beat his! Kathleen First of all - well done Frank. Outstanding job with his 2nd in the DH and 1st in the XC. My race started well, was in the top 10 into the first single track until i hit the slime in the valley. My bike was going every which way. I went down a few times, the worst of which left me with my handlebars a little off center - you quickly learn to adjust. Got back on only to see Joel cruise bye on the grass sholder. Found my rhythm after this and traded places with Joel for much of the race. The mud really jacked up my drive train and by the time I got to the fireroad climb out the only ring that I would not get any chain suck on was the big one. My climb out was strong and I had a couple of riders drafting me as we plowed up the hill. Soon as I got to the race track, they passed me (I hate that) like I was standing still. Finished 20 of 143 in 1:33:20 (Sport 40-44). Great weekend. BHam Well my second attempt at this race proved to be a bit more successful then the last. I tried a different approach this time by launching out to the front of the pack at the start (very much the opposite of my normal style). This proved to be helpful as far as keeping the slowpokes out of the way on the decents. That is until I caught up with racers in previous starts not too far down the trail. Oh well, at least I was in front of my competition. Things were pretty uneventful. The ride was overall pretty nice despite the usual frustration of being stuck behind slower people and no way to pass or riders stalling and falling over in front of me. Uggghhh! (Is this less of an occurance in the sport class?) Anyway, with all the humping it at the beginning of the race I didn't have much to give at the end. I was spent and just plugged along on the climb out. The results in the end were 7th place in 1:47 (womens beginner 30-34). The best news for me was that my time was 12 minutes better than last year, yeehaw! Maybe next time around I can train a little bit prior to the race and make the podium. Like they say 3rd times a charm, right? Until next time, Sunshine Sea Otter Weekend. Camping was a blast… thanks Eve for putting it all together. I got there late on Friday, but still got to stuff my face w/ food! Saturday: Rain, Rain, and more Rain… since I’ve been slacking, and hadn’t ridin’ since the pre-ride I took a trip during a dry spell out on the skinny tires from the camp site through Montery. It really was beautiful, up until the ride back, where I was met w/ some severe headwinds, and lot’s of rain! … my anticipated 45-60min spin turned into 1:45min. Still fun though. And then there was Sunday Morning: Lining up for the Sport 30-34 race, I thought there would only be a few people I know… instead, there was plenty of buddies there to hang with! Jesse, David A., Chris D, the two Johns, Ken, Doug R,.. etc…. basically, it was nice to have a social, fun, starting line. Then there was the guy who decided to relieve himself in the middle of all of us.. hmm…. When the whistle blew, I kept myself about 50-60 people back or so, knowing I didn’t have the fitness to stay anywhere near the front, but not wanting to get caught way far back. The first climb to the windy “single-track-metering” section was fast, but felt good and held my position. I went by the campgrounds w/ Ron Chai telling me I was bout 62nd place. Same slippery, sliding fun that everyone else had… and lucky for me, I never went down. Then sometime before hurl hill or so, the mechanicals started… more chain suck than I could handle. Not just the little chain ring, but much of the middle too! I stopped many times, but conceded hiking/running, and grinding big gears (too big for my whimpy legs) the rest of the race. By the last climb.. my legs were shot: Cramps! I grinded a big gear with cramped legs all the way up, and I really think that’s where I lost way more time than all those stops trying to fix my bike. But hey! I got to see some good racing pass me by, like Joel and B-Ham going at it! Being that the race was so slow for me at that point, I was actually pleased to see that I beat the 2-hour mark, with a time of 01:45:07 and placing of 120 out of 180. I stayed late enough that afternoon to see our expert and single speeder’s start, and tried to catch peeps going by near the campgrounds on the second lap. The sun was shining, no one was even close to as dirty as all of us morning racers. Thanks everyone for such a fun weekend! And again…. Great job to everyone.. especially Frank w/ those tip top results, and Jeff and Ken for placing well in their very 1st DownHills. Lloyd My Sea Otter experience started Thursday. I drove down and straight to the DH course. I heard about the extra pedalling section and I thought, AWESOME!!! My kinda race. Frank and I did some practice runs. On some runs, we both took off together and followed each other on different runs. We found there were places where Frank would excel in parts and I would excel in other parts. Nothin' but clean runs for me. That night at camp TWW, we BBQ'd and watched some of the DH video's that Franks buddies taped. Friday, I tried to step up the pace but wasn't feeling too smooth, making mistakes but learning alot. Saturday morning, I did one practice run very clean and was ready to race. Racetime came around and Frank, myself and another guy Rich were on the trainers. Rich and I a bit too long and we missed our start times. Doh! The starters were able to fit us in near Frank's run and off I went. My run was ultra fast. The double jumps up top were clean and I launched of the table top jump (for the fans), every pedalling section on the course was done with extreme prejudice against the non pedalling Downhillers, I hammered like a mad man. I took the log steps without a hitch, I heard a ton of my fans screaming "Catch up to him!!" I looked up and saw the guy who started 30 seconds before me and again hammered like a mad man catching up to him at the bottom of the hill right before the loose 'S' section. At this point, he was holding me up and I called out for a pass, he wouldn't move over. Ken Jeffries was at the little drop after the berm and he started yelling at him to move over. Thanks for gettin' my back homie! He finally moved over and I passed. The rest of the course was fast and furious, I took the pedalling sections on the course with extreme prejudice against the non pedalling Downhillers and I hammered like a mad man. This is where I made that final fatal mistake. Every practice run I had, I took the jump at the end near the finish line. It was discussed that not taking the jump was faster so I planned on not taking the jump during my race run. The course leads you on a right turn then into the jump, I had gained soo much speed on the flat section that once at the jump, my trajectory was straight for the jump, well, I had no time to set up for it and took the jump. Boy was it UGLY. I landed on my front and started sliding to the left side of me towards the fenceline. A pole finally stopped me and also dislocated my shoulder. I get up, twist my bars back around and started pushing my bike towards the finish line, I throw my arm over the bar and get back on the bike and pedal through stopping the clock at 3:29:??. Good enough for 7th/19 place. Frank was at the bottom helping me out, thanks bud! He got a good laugh when the paramedics stood me up and I passed out, earning me a ride in the ambulance straight to the hospital. The doc's reset my shoulder without sedation and I was on my way out the door within a couple hours. Needless to say, I'm not Jon Heim so I didn't race on Sunday. Sunday was spent as a spectator and that was pretty cool, no race pressure. All in all, I had a great weekend. I feel great and I'll be out for the next 4-6 weeks, sitting on a trainer. My goal is not to lose my XC fitness while recovering so you guys better watch out. Jackpot Nick, the one armed bandit Oh, yeah! After I passed out and was on the stretcher, some yahoo with a TV camera started interviewing Frank, I yelled at him and told him I was the injured one. And!!!! While I was being carted off to the ambulance, I gave the signature 'Bender' 'Rock On!!!' sign. The crowd gave a big roar!!! It was khuuul. Nick, Your run was ugly, especially the guy who you caught should have been in the beginner junior girls class. I would have knocked him on his a$$ as passing. As far as my DH race, I made to the start in plenty of time after doing some stretching and a warm-up. They said there would be a 10 break, which lasted about 40 minutes since the timing system had problems. It was raining and the wind was blowing. I had no jacket and was getting wet and chilled. Finally I was able to enter the starting tent. When the timer went off for my start, I forget all about the cold and went into a trance, pedaling as hard as a could with all the aches and pains from my practice crashes and the pedal whacking me in the back of the leg. I was unable to stand on the pedals after the table tops since I was running out of steam. I then remembered I had a tough time on the banked turn just before the log jump because of the soft dirt. Then came the log jump and I really don't remember going over it. After cresting the hill from the straight-away and doing the downhill s-turns, I probably clear this section faster than any of the practice runs since the rain helped with improving the traction that it lacked. After hitting the dirt after the gravel road, I could see the rider who took off before me in my sights. I was hot on his a$$ and finally caught him at the finish. WOW, what a trip. Managed to do a 5th place finish without killing myself. If I had to do it all over again, I would have reached down further and pedaled a whole lot harder. Oh well, next race. Don't ask me about my XC race that I wimped-out in. Back to work, Ken Back to Main Page