After getting to see the Otter from the other side last year on account of my sideline status, it was nice to be back racing this year. Although last year’s insight on the topic of non-competitive festival attendance was quite entertaining and informative… Also entertaining was actually being at home in Bend for 9 days and getting some quality training, resting and living in for the first time since the Pro XCT series started over a month ago. Much needed to get back on track for this next chunk of racing. Even though it snowed during about half of my rides…
Something about riding in the morning and kayaking in the evening makes my body feel really good. And my brain...
The struggles of driving around California with recreational ADD still fresh in my mind from the last trip, I wisely flew down to the Otter, allowing a pleasant (snowy again) final morning in Bend before a quick trip to work. Upon arriving we immediately went to Giant Family dinner at PF Chang’s. I have a strict rule about Chinese food avoidance but also kind of missed the family and wanted to catch up so an exception was made. Turns out the food is pretty darn good (gluten free menu even) and it was great to see everyone from the Factory team and office. I miss those guys. Getting to room with Carl was a rare treat too. It gave us time to casually decide to, if it all works out, contest the Oregon Trail Rally on May 13-15. The car is healthy and looks rad after the X-Games treatment so we might as well race it…
Speaking of racing, we did some at Sea Otter. I decided to make a tribute to the G.O.A.T. with my finishing position in both the Short Track and Cross Country. It’s a good thing I did some catch-up training last week because he had a pretty low #... Short Track at Sea Otter is always a good time, a solid crowd gathers on the hillside and the racing is generally pretty dynamic on a good, hard track. Having decided to ride the new Composite 29er at World Cup #1 this coming weekend I steeled myself to ride it exclusively before then, no relapsing into the luxurious world of Maestro Suspension… Carl and I were on the fence for the Short Track though, it’s always BUMPY! Eventually we agreed that it was a Short Track after all, and we should probably just man up and ride the Hardtails. Once the box of 622x2.0 Schwalbe Furious Freds were found in the Factory Team trailer it confirmed this decision. A sub-400 gram 29er semi-slick would make any bike the right choice for short track! And it did. Unless you’re Carl, he didn’t get called up on account of not having raced yet this year (lucky!) and spent a minute watching people get up off the ground before we lapped him three laps later. While this was happening, I got slowed up by the front row’s reaction to Brian Lopes’ fairly awesome inside line in the first turn and subsequent holeshot. After letting things settle out for a lap and passing the fading Lopes I started using his line, and a couple other clever ones, to move up to the front. It’s a good thing, otherwise I wouldn’t have had a clear view of Max Plaxton attacking the group of three leaders with impressive power. He made it clear that I should no longer be chasing the win and should instead just settle into 4th place and save a match or two for tomorrow’s XC…
It’s a good thing I saved that match, it was needed on Saturday for sure! Now, I try not to get caught up in complaining about lame courses and general negativity, but the new “UCI approved, spectator friendly” Pro XC track at Sea Otter is a bit on the soul-crushing side of things… Over the course of each 12-minute lap, four or five were spent on the Laguna Seca race circuit, another 4 on dirt road, leaving 2 for climbing dirt and 1 for descending a “trail” that was actually pretty fun, although completely, utterly, non-selective. Unless you were Todd Wells, Jeremiah Bishop and Sid Taberlay on lap one while Max rode a bit slower, opening the gap… I worked hard with a little bit of help from Sam Schultz and Adam Morka for two laps on the pavement to keep their gap steady, and eventually Sid got dropped, suggesting we might be able to make the catch. Plaxton, who’d be dutifully sitting on while his Specialized teammate was up the road, attacked on the dirt climb (which actually had a solid pile of spectators who got a good show every 12 minutes) and I was just barely able to stay with him as we dropped the rest of the non-aggressive chase group and set off to bridge the 40-second gap. I worked hard with Max and hoped he appreciated it enough to not roll and smoke me up the proper climb at some point. I guess not, as I got stretched after two laps and ended up alone for the remaining couple laps. I spotted some fairly obviously crashing tire tracks that matched Jeremiah’s and then saw him out of the lead group and coming my way. But not fast enough… The gap to 3rd came down to under 10 seconds by the finish but I ended up with Ricky Carmichael’s iconic #4 for the second day in a row. Hard racing for sure. The rub with lame tracks is that you’re pedaling for all you’re worth pretty much the entire time instead of the usual, pleasant, up/down/challenge program that makes me love racing XC. And makes it a touch easier on the pins… Ah well, there was actually a good crowd so that’s a bonus…
Watch out for those rocks! Sara Salo has an eye for the technical section photos, nice framing with the Expo area in the background too...
The XTC 29 is definitely growing on me,. Having spent a few days on it at home and it being the perfect tool for the XC race here at Otter definitely upped it’s stake in my eyes and I’m stoked to have it in the luggage compartment on this flight from SFO to JFK right now, hopefully it keeps floating up the climbs for me on Saturday in Pietermaritzburg!
I don't recall the floating feeling in this particular shot... Plaxton is about 10 meters up the road and everyone is shouting that at me. I know...
I kind of blew it with the respectable finish in the XC though, as there was a ride with some kids from the Norcal and SoCal High School MTB leagues scheduled for 4:30… Which is when that pesky podium presentation was happening… I called Chris Spencer of NICA to give him the bad news but he just laughed and said they’d meet me there. What a relief. And maybe the kids would take it easy on me if they knew I’d just raced really hard… We went and rode some fun trails around Laguna Seca then retired to their pit area to chat about bike racing. I was impressed with their skills and stoke on the ride but it was during this extended forum that these kids really showed their passion for mountain biking. Pretty much every good question possible was asked and discussed in a productive manner. I supposed that’s the beauty of an event like The Sea Otter, everyone is already pumped on bikes but once they’re immersed in the culture for a weekend their excitement and awareness goes up a notch or ten. I’m pretty sure this trend will continue forever, or as long as there are kids and bikes…
