RR : 2014 Sea Otter Classic and MTB Gran Fondo

Got back on Sunday from the Sea Otter Classic. Good times. The last time I was at the Sea Otter was in 2000, so I was looking forward to the checking out the event. I signed up to ride the MTB Gran Fondo, which was aprox 24 miles with 3500 feet of climbing. I was nervous about the ride because I have not been riding consistently at all in 2014 and wasn't sure how I would do. Still, I signed up for the ride with my crew and off we went. We left Socal Friday mid day, and came back down on Sunday. Quick and fun trip.

Here are the pictures of the trip !


Ready to roll

Cows along the I5



Greener scenery getting close to Monterey


Rolling into Laguna Seca..


Next morning... got there kinda early to beat the crowd..


walking down the bridge.. camp is still sleeping


Aaron, Bo, Me, Berto posing by the start banner before all the participants got there. The MTB and Road rides all rolled out of the same area. I would guess at least 3000 participants that morning.


Rolling into the meadows outside of Laguna Seca area.


Heading into some single tracks.. I didn't get to take all the pix I wanted of singletrack sections. Everyone was rolling single file, and I didn't want to block everyone by stopping.


Climbing out of the singletrack..



Finally some flatter rollers.



Feed zone area.


Oldie but goodie..rode really well.. the bike that is... 3x9 and 26 inch wheels even !


B2 jettisoning some logs before more climbing.


aprox 2 mile climb of single and double track out of the feed zone.


Glad I am not the only one starting to feel the climbs.


Getting close to the top.


Nice view looking back at the hills..



Hike a bike section.. funny how the pictures never seem as steep as in real life....

 

Awesome, thanks for sharing! I'm considering to do this next year and take the family along with me. Are there campgrounds in the area or other recommended lodging?

 

More pictures..


Fireroad section.. I am getting very tired by this point... about the 19 mile marker.. i stopped taking pictures at this point.


at the finish line.. this is how I felt.


after the ride, we headed into the Sea Otter vendor area. Since every other MTB website and Magazine has pretty indepth review of this event, I will only post a few things that I enjoyed to share here..


ha ha of course this bike was on display at the SC booth..and in the Crockett and Tubbs color.. Here I am pushing up the sleeves of my imaginary jacket. I overheard that you are not allowed to wear socks when riding this particular color model.


Rocky Mountain Prototype Sherpa. i digged the custom paint job..


close up of the main triangle.


cool paint job from the folks at TLD booth.




Bo photo bombing the Epiphany 275 carbon


Tony Ellsworth and me. Totally cool guy. We chatted for a while and I even rolled up to his booth on my Trek..


nice old school style....


Cant leave this out for the STR crew.. the 2015 XTR. Finish is reminiscent of the 960 series. I asked the Shimano rep why the decision to only go up to 40t.. and got a long winded answer that went no where...


back view that showed multiple chainring setup options.


I just thought this was the coolest setup.. bamboo...


dual top tube reminds me of the old Torker BMX bikes I drooled over back in the 80's


Foes FXC !! I didnt get any info on this bike as hardly anyone was in the booth. No info on their website yet. I love FOES stuff !! Made locally and not seen everywhere.


Foes F275


Well thats about it... bikes and beer ! Can't ask for much more !

 

Yes, they have an area that you can camp out with a trailer. Lots of folks did that. We just booked a stay at the Travelodge. It was relatively cheap (the whole area jacked up the price for hotels for this event), and was only about 10 minutes away from Laguna Seca.

 

Where was my invite? I wouldn't have gone, but where was my invite?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

 

This seems like an awesome event.

Attending one will be on my bucket list.

 

lol...

We are earning our turns this Sat riding up Monroe Truck Trail... join us !

 

That green F275 looks pretty sick.

Oh, and that beer appears to be on B2's bike, but looks like watered down Bo beer

 

My TWO favorite photos!!! ^^^


Well done Jason!
Must feel pretty good being able to say you raced at Sea Otter.
(accomplishment... badge of honor... number plate will serve as a permanent reminder).

What was your best memory of Sea Otter?
(riding with friends? driving up with friends? the race? seeing all the cool products? food?)

Did you (or your friends)take any pictures of our boy Will racing / standing on the men's DH podium??? If so, do share!

Congratulations! :clap:

 

I raced in Cat 3 this year. It was a great race. My only complaint was there was too many paved road decents. On a down note, I saw the aftermath of one of the worst mtb accidents I've ever seen. Two guys crashed on a really fast downhill that was a gravel road with lots of ruts near the start of the race. I believe at least one of them had to be airlifted to a hospital. It didn't look good as one guy was completely motionless on the ground. Hope they are ok.

 

I saw that crash as well. Did not look good, and was on my mind the whole race. Looked like a couple of really serious injuries. I did not dig those fast fire road descents.

 

Thanks Dino ! Yeah the trip was excellent in every aspect. Just a nice escape for a couple of days with the fellas ! All good !

I will say this though... I was pretty tired towards the end of this ride, and this ride was only 1/2 to 1/3 of the CC/VQ ride..I am so impressed by the riders that accomplished the CC/VQ rides !

I didn't get to watch our boy Will racing. I believe his race was happening around the same time as the Gran Fondo. I hope someone has a picture of him racing and on the podium !!

 

What is happing around here?

I get on this thread to see all the reports of the otter and not much compared to the years past.

Im glad too see skid rows report (thanks button here) but there would be a bunch of reports on this event.

is it just me or is this event becoming over rated.

or could it be that no one on here has much to share...

Im missing the reports here guys and gals lets see some great threads starting with this one for the up coming year.

Thanks Richie Rich

 

Sooo much freee beer out there! Thanks Kenda

 

Thanks for this. Headed to Sea Otter next year on your inspiration.