Bike Page > Bike Races > '02 Sea Otter Classic

Pictures from the 2002 Sea Otter Classic
Monterey, CA

Almost didn't get to do this race, as I was fighting the tail end of a nasty cold. Hadn't ridden the entire week leading up to the race, but since we had time off from work and reservations, we gave it a go. Once I got down to Monterey, I still didn't have much oomph, but was definitely feeling better than I had. Went on an easy ride two days before, and my legs didn't fall off, so I figured that it'd be worth a spin. So, I checked out the course a little the day before - they'd changed the exit from the Laguna Seca climb so that it went further up than before, then pitched through a singletrack section with a little gully hop. I figured that would be where everyone bottlenecked on race day.

   
The next morning, I suffered and ground slowly up the start climb, figuring that I should start easy and then go harder if I felt better. Luckily, about half of the racers were politely walking singlefile through the bottleneck, so I was able to stay in touch with a pretty decent group. I did start to feel a bit better, although they pulled another trick at the end. Normally, you would drop down onto the raceway where the red netting was stretched in the center photo. However, they now led us up another hill, down through the Mountain Cross (or was it BMX) section before dropping out onto the Laguna Seca circuit.
   
The most curious event of the day ocurred when, upon crossing the finish line, a crazed fan began ringing a cowbell at me and bellowing - it turned out to be my friend Derek, who had decided to head down to Monterey for a few days, and figured out when I was racing.
    

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