The trip has come and gone, and I am glad I decided to go. What a great few days it was. 5 of us packed into a pick-up truck and set off for Monetery, CA around (;30 Wednesday night. After snowy/icy conditions in Utah(the storm that dumped feet in Colorado), a cruise down the Vegas strip, and 15 hours later, we arrived in one sleep-deprived state. A nice little pre-ride and a tour of the expo, and it was off to In-N-Out for some food, then sleep.
PICTURES OF THE TRIP-BETTER THAN WORDS
TECH/EXPO PICS
Did another loop of the course on Friday and checked out some other races and went through the expo in deep. What a great venue and scene. Weather was the best ever at Sea Otter and everyone there was in a great mood. Went to the beach later for some sunset action and touch my toes in the Pacific for the first time ever.
Saturday started off playing in the waves and having a blast in the ocean. It was a little cool, but we didn't care. Off to the venue to pre-ride then watch some racing. I opted out of the short track and was glad I did. Not much passing, and most people were done in 10 minutes. It was a great race to watch. The womens was animated then Emily Batty blew them all away with an attack on the last lap. The men's race was full on Specialized domination. They made everyone look like they were creeping. After a flat tire from Susi, it was down to Todd and Burry, but they killed everyone.
Sunday was race day. I went off with 140 of my closest friends at 1:30. It was really hot at 10am, and hit record high temps in the afternoon. They shortened the race a little due to the extreme heat. It was up in the 90's and most people are not acclimated to it yet. The first lap was so hot and miserable. The course was fun and cool riding with that many people, but the heat radiating in the woods was unbearable. You couldn't pin it or you would totally blow up. Just ride a good tempo and look forward to passing others and seeing the finish line. I finished 78th of 140 pro starters. Not bad for the first mountain bike race of the year. Legs felt good, but the heat just zapped everything. You could tell everyone was suffering and that was what kept me going.
Hopped in the car, ate In-N-Out, and drove straight back to GJ. Got back at 9am with 1hr of off and on sleep in Utah. Did a few things, then went for a sweet MTB ride with friends. Finally went to bed at 6:30, and got up at 9:30 this morning. Now it is off for a few good rides this week, then conference championships this weekend and off to Tour of the Gila on Tuesday for 6 days. Sea Otter and MTB racing was a great little refresher.
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