Another Sea Otter Classic is in the can

The rain capped off the end of the 2006 Sea Otter Classic on an otherwise unexpected sunny event.

This is the first year that Team Wrong Way took over the volunteer coordination for course marshalling the dual slalom event. Michael and Jain Light had been doing the DS coordination for a very long time and they felt it was time to pass the torch. Michael contacted Henthorn and myself and we took the oportuntity to coordinate the volunteers. I have been arriving at the Sea Otter at 7 am on Thurs, Fri and Saturday to hang out on the swale all day. Free lunch, free race entry and hanging out on the hill with a view of the entire venue, a good view of the short track mtb and the best view of the dual slalom event. Not a bad gig.

For me, the California IMBA summit on Friday was the highlight of the event. After so many years of being a schwag 'ho at the Otter, my focus has shifted to advocacy and I'm more interested in trail politics and building relationships with like minded advocates, sympathetic industry types, land managers and resource ecologists. These people interest me much more than the titanium and carbon fibre goodness that permeates the expo.

I decided to blow off my race. I was registered in sport single speed but I haven't been training nor did I pre-ride the course. Three days of hiking up and down the swale was totally exhausting. My legs were tingling when I arrived home on Saturday night and I was in no condition to wake up early to race.

Instead, I spent a leisurely day at the Otter with my family. The big attraction for us was the Easter Egg hunt, the bouncy castle, cheering on the XC finishers and talking with advocates at the IMBA booth. We rode the Tracer and the Marin with his and her Fox Talas RLCs up front. People were impressed with Jade's seat setup on the Tracer. We were using it as a $3000 baby stroller since it's the best way to get around the event. The afternoon rain was just enough to make us leave rather than hang out and spectate at the mountain cross.

Good times, good weather and great people. Defintely one this was one of the better Sea Otters for me.

Whew! I'm glad it's over. I can't wait until next year.

Brokeback Mountain Biking

Jill Kitner does trail work on the Sea Otter dual slalom course with the course designer Keith DeFiebre looking on in the background. So the picture isn't a Mike Gin masterpiece satire of the movie poster but it's a real shot and I like the irony.

Six weeks of unrelenting rain turned the Laguna Seca swale into a swampy mess. The dual slalom course couldn't hold up to the seep from the hill and the berms trapped the water and turned into "pigs wallows". Many shoes were lost in the pit during the amateur race. Bikes were eaten and we were entertained with mud wrestling - which is wrestling the bikes from the mud.

The pros handled the wallows much better. Before the qualifiers, Cedric Gracia grabbed a shovel and took trail work into his own hands. Jill Kitner grabbed the shovel before the finals. Watching the male and female racers in the world holding shovels was precious to a long time trail worker like myself. I should have taken more pictures. This is Eric Carter dragging his bike past the pigs wallow.


It was an amazing day of racing. The riders did their best dealing with the mud by hammering through the muck. At the end of the day Brian Lopes edged out Cedric to win the pro men category.