Classically Sea Otter
That
first race, nerves are high as you line up to test whether you have it or not.
There is no hiding, there is vulnerability, there is pressure and there
is opportunity.
This year
my coach Dan and I have taken a different approach to our training. It is the start of another quadrennial. The last quad was undeniably successful, but
ended with a little heartache.
To keep
it fresh and continue improving you have to change up your training stress so we
have taken more of a volume approach to training this year. Typical I have tasted blood several times
before my first event! This year we’re saving the real high efforts for
later. This approach has led to some
fantastic training, but also meant I was going into my first event less sure of
my speed.
Sea Otter
is probably the most chaotic event out there.
It is about so much more than racing.
The opportunity to have so many riders, spectators and sponsors in one
place at one time cannot be passed up and doing anything takes twice as long as
you run into everyone you haven’t seen since last season. Sea Otter is about going with the flow,
having some boundaries, but mostly being adaptable and not sweating the small
stuff.
Short Track
The short
track was going to be the first test of legs.
Despite telling myself to “own the Start line” when we sprinted from the
line I let myself get squished out which was very detrimental on that
course. There was a choke point 150m in
and I had to run a section to stay in the game.
It took a lap and a half, but I found my groove and was chasing down the
leaders when into the same choke point again a rider rode into my front wheel
and in the randomness that can be racing their foot kicked my valve stem and my
tire went completely flat. No tech zone,
no air à no more racing. That was
my mechanical for the year though, right? We raced the Sea Otter cyclocross
course for short track so it was only fitting that it would come down to
Marianne Vos and my teammate Katerina Nash for the top 2 positions.
The
afternoon was spent hanging out with a couple cool high school girls chatting
race prep, finding a shady spot for Yoga and then our annual Luna party. Maybe not your typical pre-race day, but your
typical Pre Sea Otter race day!
Talking race prep with high school racers Cara and Sarah.
The XC
Sea Otter
offers a unique cross-country race. Starting on the pavement of the Laguna Seca
raceway we head out on a 20+mile loop.
The loop has a lot of fire road, twisty, loose descents and definitely
ample climbing. The weather was hot and
there is very little shade so with only one feedzone you have to be pretty
smart about your hydration and cooling.
Because
of the pavement opening, the start is pretty chill. It’s not actually until
several minutes in that someone decides leading is worth pushing the wind.
Annie Last did a lot of the early work and I nabbed 2nd wheel so I
would be well positioned for the first single track.
My race
plan worked well. I lead the first singletrack descent and singletrack climb where
passing is pretty much impossible and I could set a tough pace thinning the
field. At the crest it was only myself,
Marianne, Annika, Georgia and Katerina.
On a dusty rutted descent Katerina took a nasty header. By the crest of the following climb where
Marianne led and attacked every steep section only Annika and I were still
there. From about 30 minutes into the
race till an 1hr 10 we traded up pulls and tried to keep a good pace and
flow. I was leading a long wooded climb
into a descent and headwind with a wall-like climb ahead when Vos made the race
winning move. She jumped out of the
draft with an impressive acceleration.
Annika was able to match her, but I had to watch them race off into the
distance trying to collect myself into tt mode so as not to give up too much
time.
Sea Otter ends with about 10km of fire roads that seem to
mostly climb. I could see the girls in front attacking the crest of every
climb, but luckily couldn’t see anyone coming behind me. I held on for 3rd, feeling pretty
pleased with my form knowing I have a lot of room left to grow it.
Looking forward to the first World Cup in Germany May 19th!
Thanks to our awesome Luna Staff for making for a smooth event!
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