Sea Otter Classic 2018

Leading to the week of sea otter I was just waiting for the week days to be over so we could head to Monterey! This was my first time attending Sea Otte, so I was super exited to have the opportunity to   Go. Around eight o’clock Friday morning we packed up everything, put it in the trailer and started our six  hour journey to the race venue. The drive felt forever, but the scenic views made up for it. When we finally arrived I was shocked of how big the whole race venue was, and our camping sport had a great view and was located in a great spot!

Saturday was the most eventful day of the weekend, it started by waking up early to pre ride. Due to the course being thirty miles long we only pre rode some of it, I really like the feel of the course and how flowy it was. After the preride we cleaned up and went for “the walk” with the whole team. It was super exiting to meet some of our sponsors and take time to talk to them. One of the highlights of the walk was going to the Ellsworth booth and meeting Tony Ellsworth and get the inside scoop on the new xc full suspension bike, theTruth! After hitting some more booths it was time to go back to camp, so our legs would rest for the next day. Around six o’clock we spontaneously decided to go to the beach! The beach was at high tide, so we couldn’t see the tide pools, but it was still super fun. Then we made a quick pit stop a chipotle for a prefect pre race dinner, headed back, and hit the hay! 

Sunday morning started with waking up, eating breakfast, and getting everything ready to racc. On my warm up I started to get pumped for the long race ahead. I thought about how it would be like going race pace for thirty miles and how hard it was going to be, but I was determined to give it my best. Riding up to the start line it was getting hot, so we put some ice in our back pockets to stay cool.   Once we took off the first mile felt really fast and I tried my best to keep up. A couple  miles in the groups split and it was just my sister and me working together to catch up.  The most challenging part of the first half of the course was the sandy steep uphill that I had to run up, it felt like forever and my calf’s were on fire! The single track was full of making passes and keeping up the pace. Hayley and I stayed together until after the feed zone, where I was able to break away and stay all by my self the rest of the race. There were many fun single track decents and some long climbs. The last fire rode climb I felt strong and gave it my best to stay at a constant speed. The last five miles was a rolling single track with many ups and downs. My legs were very tired at this point so I used all the energy l had left and finished in 9th place!

Overall this weekend was beyond amazing and I had a lot of fun. I was pleased with my results considering this was my first Sea Otter. I’m so proud of all my teammates and how well they did! A huge thank you to all the sponsors who made this race run so smoothly, can’t wait till next year!!!