Sea Otter Wrap Up

Another Sea Otter is in the books. I had a great time with my teammates, Nate did an awesome job taking care of us and our bikes all weekend, the recovery rides along pebble beach were beautiful and of course the quality time with our sponsors was fun. This year had by far the best weather than in years past, as we typically withstand some kind of biblical-type weather event like pouring rain, hurricane force winds, or 100 deg. heat with 4million percent humidity. This year was perfect: just warm enough, calm and dry .


My short track was pretty terrible. After bumping serious elbows at the start, narrowly avoiding a crash and getting left behind a bit at the gun, I had to get off and push across the mud bog-side hill and pretty much struggled the entire race. I just didn't feel good. I bobbled the mud bog more than a few times and generally rode like a weenie until I got pulled. Even though the shortrack was my opener for the XC which was to be my true tune up for Cohutta, it's never too fun to ride so flatly and embarrass yourself on a national stage. Oh well.

Uber-manager and coffee roaster, David

The cross country was a much better race for me. True to my diesel engine style, after a good 80 minute warm up it took my legs and my head an additional 2 full laps to wake up. This year, the course was 3.2 mile lap, almost half of which was pavement and it was tough. Lots of climbing on bumpy terrain, tricky high speed descending and road tactics. Yup. I said road tactics. The standard of what constitutes a mountain bike race has certainly been changed. You had to stay on the gas the entire time as there was nowhere to rest, no where to hide. I rode poorly the first 2 laps...kind of like I was in a fog. Finally, about 45 min in I started to feel better. I had been riding around the gals who ended up 15th-20th on the day, so I was pleased that I continuously moved up and not backwards as the race progressed. I finished in 1:25, good enough for 14th. Georgia Gould schooled the field in about 1:16. That's a short race if you ask me. If only I had another lap or 2...or 6. I may have caught up to some more.

Now we're hanging in San Francisco doing city things like eating good Vietnamese food, hanging in hip coffee shops and visiting with great friends. We even went to a show in Oakland last night (Vampire Weekend) and I didn't wear compression tights. Life in the fast lane, I tell ya...Tomorrow morning I hop on a flight to Chattanooga, TN for the Cohutta 100. It's my first try at an unsupported 100-miler out of a bike box and a rental car. Wish me luck!