Sea Otter Classic 2018
Leading into Sea Otter I was super stoked and excited because I have never been before. I didn’t know what to except or what the course was like. We left on a Friday, leaving around 8, after packing up everything I needed for the weekend. It was a long drive, but a very scenic one, with beautiful view of farmland and flowers. We got there around 2pm and went to go find our camp site. When looking for it we met two really nice campsite directors who gave us a better spot then what we had, which was really nice because it was a lot closer to the venue. When I first saw the venue I was shocked how big it was. It was huge with tons of pits and it was cool being able to see some of the downhill course from our spot. After settling in it was time to go to bed and wake up early for a pre ride on Saturday.
Saturday started off with getting up around 8:00am and eating breakfast. After breakfast alyssa and I got ready and met up with Coach Heather and Coach Brian to do a shortened pre ride, because the course was around 30 miles. During the pre ride I stayed hydrated because of the heat. The course was lots of fun with tons of flowy single track up and down. Mid way through the course there was a sandy downhill where I was a little timid to go down it, because it was hard to control the bike because how deep the sand was, but I went down it with no problem. Towards the end of the course there was a long fire road uphill, and I could tell it was going to be the most challenging part of the course. After the climb we went back to camp, doing about 13 miles of the course. I got ready and went to go register. After registration it was around 11:45 and then it was time to meet up with my team and do “the walk” to meet our sponsors.
First we took a few team photos and the we went into the venue and started to walk around. We took pictures with a few pro riders. Then we went to the Kenda pit to take a few photos and to look around. We made many stops at pits like güp, odi, and ect. It was exciting to see so many cool products. But my favorite stop was at the Ellsworth pit. We got to see the brand new truth, which was amazing, and tony Ellsworth explained why he designed it the way he did, which a super cool. We took a couple team photos and then it was time to go off to rest up for the next day.
Later that night we went into Monterey and went to the beach in hope to see the tide pools however it was high tide so they were all covered up, but we walked around on the beach for a little while the went to eat dinner at my favorite, Chipotle. After chipotle we went back to camp. I set out everything I needed for the next day. Then it was time for bed.
I woke up and I was excited. The morning went by really fast, I ate then before I knew it I was on the trainer warming up. After warming up and getting all ready it was time to head down to staging, where I met up with some team mates who raced a couple hours before and they answered some questions I had about the course. While staging I got really nervous because there were people I had never seen or raced before.
We got up the the start line, then we were off. And we took off fast. Going up the first few climbs I tried to stay up but the some girls got away and for the first free miles my sister and I were right next to each other. We went through the course passing people from different classes and trying to catch up to our own. The first part was all a blur of up and down some really fun single track. Then midway we got the the sandy hike a bike section, which I never done before because of skipping over half the course during the pre ride, but it was too bad. My legs hurt, but I knew I still had around 15 more miles to go. After that there was tons of passing on the single track and then we got to the feed zone. I grabbed a new bottle then it was time to go up some more single track. During this single track it felt like it lasted forever and I got separated from my sister because of passing. But I could see her just a little a head. I went up and down single track until it was time for the big hill. During the climb I could see my sister ahead. The climb felt very long, but it was awesome to see my family cheering me on at the top. At the end of the climb the last 5 miles were up and down single track. This part went by fairly fast. Then I started up the last climb, my legs burned and I didn’t know when the finish was because I didn’t ride the full course, but I knew it was soon. I came Out of the hills and on to the race track and into the finish. I finished with a 9th place! After the race I did my cool down with my team mated then went back to camp.
Overall this experience was amazing and I will never forget it. The atmosphere of this event was awesome and I cannot wait until next year.
Saturday started off with getting up around 8:00am and eating breakfast. After breakfast alyssa and I got ready and met up with Coach Heather and Coach Brian to do a shortened pre ride, because the course was around 30 miles. During the pre ride I stayed hydrated because of the heat. The course was lots of fun with tons of flowy single track up and down. Mid way through the course there was a sandy downhill where I was a little timid to go down it, because it was hard to control the bike because how deep the sand was, but I went down it with no problem. Towards the end of the course there was a long fire road uphill, and I could tell it was going to be the most challenging part of the course. After the climb we went back to camp, doing about 13 miles of the course. I got ready and went to go register. After registration it was around 11:45 and then it was time to meet up with my team and do “the walk” to meet our sponsors.
First we took a few team photos and the we went into the venue and started to walk around. We took pictures with a few pro riders. Then we went to the Kenda pit to take a few photos and to look around. We made many stops at pits like güp, odi, and ect. It was exciting to see so many cool products. But my favorite stop was at the Ellsworth pit. We got to see the brand new truth, which was amazing, and tony Ellsworth explained why he designed it the way he did, which a super cool. We took a couple team photos and then it was time to go off to rest up for the next day.
Later that night we went into Monterey and went to the beach in hope to see the tide pools however it was high tide so they were all covered up, but we walked around on the beach for a little while the went to eat dinner at my favorite, Chipotle. After chipotle we went back to camp. I set out everything I needed for the next day. Then it was time for bed.
I woke up and I was excited. The morning went by really fast, I ate then before I knew it I was on the trainer warming up. After warming up and getting all ready it was time to head down to staging, where I met up with some team mates who raced a couple hours before and they answered some questions I had about the course. While staging I got really nervous because there were people I had never seen or raced before.
We got up the the start line, then we were off. And we took off fast. Going up the first few climbs I tried to stay up but the some girls got away and for the first free miles my sister and I were right next to each other. We went through the course passing people from different classes and trying to catch up to our own. The first part was all a blur of up and down some really fun single track. Then midway we got the the sandy hike a bike section, which I never done before because of skipping over half the course during the pre ride, but it was too bad. My legs hurt, but I knew I still had around 15 more miles to go. After that there was tons of passing on the single track and then we got to the feed zone. I grabbed a new bottle then it was time to go up some more single track. During this single track it felt like it lasted forever and I got separated from my sister because of passing. But I could see her just a little a head. I went up and down single track until it was time for the big hill. During the climb I could see my sister ahead. The climb felt very long, but it was awesome to see my family cheering me on at the top. At the end of the climb the last 5 miles were up and down single track. This part went by fairly fast. Then I started up the last climb, my legs burned and I didn’t know when the finish was because I didn’t ride the full course, but I knew it was soon. I came Out of the hills and on to the race track and into the finish. I finished with a 9th place! After the race I did my cool down with my team mated then went back to camp.
Overall this experience was amazing and I will never forget it. The atmosphere of this event was awesome and I cannot wait until next year.
Comments
Post a Comment