Sea Otter Anyone?

[maxwell]

Well, it look's like I may be taking Lacey to the Sea Otter. We had planned on going to Az. to the NOVA race, but it turns out to be the same weekend as her Winter Formal.
So I started looking at the Otter, and it seems to be about the same driving distance away as Az. was going to be.
Are any of you guys going?
Have any of you been?
Should we camp, or find a cheap motel?
I know it rained last year, and pretty much most of the years before, so I think camping will be a last resort.
Any info or opinions to share?
Thanks.........

[roadkillross]

i may be going to do some DH action

[Kid A]

have never raced there but hit the XC course while on a road trip a few years back. pretty fast/non tech. have heard campsites fill up fast. You guys are gonna have a blast. best of luck at race

PS. i have camped before with friends ahead of other mtb events and while fun (drinking, cooking on campfire, drinking, talking smack, drinking, etc), cannot say the best sleep i got ahead of ride. imagine a warm comfortable bed and shower ahead of race may be big towards race results JMO

[andy aka rut]

Heyya Maxwell!
I've been going for years. Always a blast, even in the rain. I plan on camping with Dan Fitzi this year. I think we will even have a couple kegs!! Camping is tough though. It might even already be sold out. You better check into it. Staying in a cheap "inexpensive" hotel really is the way to go. You stay dry, warm and can take long hot showers. The only drawback to the hotel thing is driving in everyday. The line to get in is at least 30 minutes if not more.
Be sure to say hi. I'll be working at the MTBR booth again. I normally do the Sunday raffle for them. If you make a big weekend out of it, be sure to hit the Demo Forest in Santa Cruz. Amazing riding!!!
Lacey will do great at Sea Otter. The course should suite her great.

[CRASH JORDAN]

Maxwell,
Shannon and I are moving up to San Luis Obispo next month so we're more than likely going to be heading up to it as well. It's only a couple hours away from SLO and Shannon keeps talking about wanting to go check it out. I'm not sure if we'll be camping or staying in a motel that weekend.
We'll be cheering for Lacey.

[Innes]

I haven't been for years, but I'm going with a buddy from work. No racing. Just going to tool around and check stuff out. Camping fills up fast.

[Wrecker]

We're going up!

We'll be staying in a hotel--much warmer and I get better sleep there. They still have a few deals on rooms (orbitz, expedia and all). The down side is the drive in, though I think the sleep side pays off.

The trail is amazingly beautiful. I'm sure that Lacey will enjoy it.

[1x1clyde]

We are camping again this year but reserved a spot in November of 2006 to get the hook-ups- electricity, water and waste. Last year we camped by the corkscrew and our generator almost floated away plus
after last year's super flood I don't think it can get much worse!
The XC course is more like a road race, super fast and not much to worry about tech wise.
The short track was horrible last year, peanut butter mud up to your ankles if you got off the bike, which was often
BOB, CrashJordan & Chelle make sure we hook up so we can hit a pre-ride lap together and then gather some mucho schwag.....I've got some "connections" there and it helps supplement my wardrobe otherwise I'll most likely be working the Lynskey Performance booth with my teammates so that should be pretty cool too!

[Shannon]

BOB, CrashJordan & Chelle make sure we hook up so we can hit a pre-ride lap together and then gather some mucho schwag.....I've got some "connections" there and it helps supplement my wardrobe otherwise I'll most likely be working the Lynskey Performance booth with my teammates so that should be pretty cool too![/quote]

Neil, I think you have the most happening wardrobe I've ever seen on a ride! I love it. You guys are more than welcome to stop over at our new house up in Morro Bay/ SLO. And we'll be there for sure. I like Chelle's idea abt a hotel room.

And I'm hoping for another single speed ride. We'll have to hook up before we leave. We actually postponed our actual move up to SLO so we could cheer all the STR guys/ gals who are doing VQ and CC! We'll be at the finish line cheering for everyone.

[Pain Freak]

I've only been to Sea Otter one time that it didn't rain, but every time I've been it's been a lot of fun. It's a great event and I highly recommend it for people who have never been. Do the xc race if for nothing else just for fun. It will be fun! The rooms up there are not all that much. Just look around for the cheaper little ones. We stayed in one that was 33 dollars a night, and it wasn't all that bad. Demo is well worth the trip. I'd almost go up there just to do that again.

[Wrecker]

Shannon, you may have to wait a LONG time to see me there

As for Sea Otter, we should take a poll on those going up and plan for dinner, if nothing else

[maxwell]

Yeah, camping is fun, but not before a huge race like this. I've booked us a place at the Laurel Inn, in Salinas, for $62 a night. Should be a lot of FUN!

Originally Posted by Chelle

Shannon, you may have to wait a LONG time to see me there

As for Sea Otter, we should take a poll on those going up and plan for dinner, if nothing else

We'd be into that!
We're going up on Friday after she get's out of school, and comming back on Sunday afternoon.

[Wrecker]

We stayed in Salinas last year; cute little town and takes about as long to drive in from there as from Monterey, I think.

[Schecky]

I camped the year I went. It rained all weekend and I slept in the Jeep. Not the best way to prep for the race. I will definitely hotel it next time.
The booths are fun, as is finishing the race on the track.

[andy aka rut]

Originally Posted by Chelle

We stayed in Salinas last year; cute little town and takes about as long to drive in from there as from Monterey, I think.

Salinas has an English Pub named the Penny Farthing. For "English" food it's pretty good, but the beers are tasty!!! The MTBR guys all catch up there every year. Last year we even did some karioke (or however you spell it.) It was WAY awful!
We also do a Demo Forest ride. We end up with about 30 riders. Francis and the boys lead it. They know the way around. Normally we do the ride on Friday, so it doesn't interfere with the xc racing on Sunday.

[mtnbikerdude87]

If i get time ill probably go and race this year too. Camping is already full so that leaves me with the hotel.

[1x1clyde]

If you have a camper or can rent one, I would recomend camping...Yes - The "real campgrounds" are full (usually they fill up within the 1st week or so) but there are ample "dry camping" spaces still available (you just need a generator). We "dry camped" last year in campsite E https://www.seaotterclassic.com/camp...oseSites&CID=4 it's on one of the turns of the race track so you get a great view of any thing going on. Just don't reserve one in the mid 370's - there is a drain in one of those sites and all the water drains through your campsite, trust me it's dreadful.These sites are on hard dirt or asphalt so I would not suggest tenting it. Especially when it's wet. It was very muddy last year...The fellow next to us was tenting it and finally packed up his "swamp" and found a hotel.
There's nothing like being there!
The idea of a nice bed, warm shower and meal's cooked for me sounds fantastic and we've considered it often, but my family loves to camp and just be in the thick of it the energy is pretty awesome and you don't have to wait to park each day!
As we get closer to the date all are welcome to come hang out and we will plan a BBQ for one of the nites.

[Buzzsaw]

Will be there this year as well. The Motel thing is in my plans. This will be my 4th year now and would say to anybody who's thinking about it.......Just go, you'll be floored by how much fun it can be. It's everything biking and in my book a must do for anybody who's into the mtb thing. Rain or shine it's fun either way.

[Red Hawk]

I'm intrested in going, I've never done it. How many people are thinking or are going this year?

[sauce]

I'm going. I'm thinking doing a cheap motel in Salinas or Monterey or something ... anybody want to split a room or something? Maybe we can get a group together? The shitty part about this race is that the women's single-speed category is "beginners/sport." But it'll be a blast I'm sure.