2017 Sea Otter

[Greg Alsterlind]

One year ago I took a wrong turn at this race and ended up with a Medal that did not belong to me. It took a while to sort this out with the oganizers but in the end all was made right. As foolish as I felt, finishing this race was something I had to do.

Jim and Shiloh at ACME bikes helped me get my Trek Superfly ready for the fast sandy course. Team mate Mark Buell and I headed down 2 days before the race for a pre-ride. No way I could live down getting lost again. The course is unlike anything in Marin and getting a feel for climbing, turning and descending in sand is a must for anyone who wants to do well here. Race day started early. Buell left just past 8 am and Dave Benjamin and I left at 8:05. Our group 50-54 CAT1 was about 18 at the start and loaded with talent. Eric Risley and National Champion Victor Sheldon lead us up the first climb. As we started the descent, Todd Weston jumped ahead of me. I am nowhere near as fit as any of these guys but I was sure I could stay with them down hill all day. Once we hit the single track I fell back to 8th behind Philip Smith and Amir Matityahu, who I lost to last year. I thought staying with Amir for as long as I could would be a good idea so I tried to stay close. About 5 minutes into the first tight single track section my handlebar got tangled up with one of the nasty bushes we were snaking our way through and I went down. I tried to catch back up but never did see those two again. When I hit the hike a bike up the sand hill section, Craig Manning and David Silberberg caught me. For the next hour and a half we battled back and forth up and down the hills. We seemed to be very evenly matched. I decided that I would try to lose them on the Grind (the last long climb of the race). I couldn't shake Craig but we put a few seconds on David. Near the top I was getting tired and needed to save something for the end climb so I didn't pedal much down the Corkscrew and tried to open a gap on Hurl Hill. It wasn't much of a lead but it worked. In the end I finished 8th just a few seconds ahead of Craig. I pulled in to the pits to find Mark Buell waiting for me. Together we waited for Dave who came in a few minutes later. No surprise -Victor won the race by a few minutes over the next guy but the rest of us were fairly close. As for the team- I didn't see Cathy Chevron race but saw she finished 6th( congrats!) . Mark Ingwersen was good enough to come and cheer Dave and me at the start as he heals ( thank you). Carson and Jim were able to make respectable appearances at pro level (inspiring guys!). It was also good to see Otis and his family there, Mike Koppe going strong, still putting in fast times and it sounds like Simon Hewett might be able to race next year? Nice way to end SOC '17.