Sea Otter Classic XC

[Gavin Parnes]

Sea Otter (Saturday)

I woke up at 7:00 Saturday morning and threw all of my pre-packed bags into the car.  Grabbed a quick bite to eat and hit the road.  I picked up my fellow racer friend Gabby Huffman along the way as we both planned to race the XC, but she was unable to get a ride, so she tagged along.  After the two hour drive, we finally arrived at the venue.  We rode our bikes over to the valet area and walked around the venue for quite some time.  Ran through all the booths and grabbed as much free stuff as we could, and talked to some companies about future components for my bike.  We then headed over to watch the Pro Men’s XC.  Anton Cooper took the hole shot on that and was able to hang onto the lead the whole race.  We saw Jim Hewett from ACME bikes racing as well and cheered him on as he looked strong on the climbs.  We then grabbed lunch, which consisted of chicken curry and tacos, headed to some final vendors, then headed back to the hotel.  We got CPK for dinner, a quality carb loader, then went back to the hotel and slept.

Sea Otter (Race Day)

Woke up at the same time as Saturday, packed our bags, and headed down for breakfast at the hotel.  We ate a sub-par breakfast consisting of yogurt, bacon, bagels, and eggs.  We loaded the bikes on and headed to the event.  As we got their, I checked for all of my equipment and headed over to the start.  My race began at 9:40 for the Cat 3 XC 15-18 Men.  I am not a big fan of the XC at Sea otter, hence my decision for Cat 3.  We lined up, and I got there early enough to be in the front line.  My heart rate was higher than normal, but set for racing pace.  The whistle went off and we started with a solid sprint.  I got hole-shot, but with 3 miles of fire road before single track, it doesn’t do you much good.  I kept my lead for the first quarter mile, than realized I should not waste my energy and should draft.  I dropped back into about 5th and hung onto that trail.  I maintained the position until the single track and was able to keep up with the lead group.  This lead group eventually split up as we headed into the first real climb of the race.  I hopped on the tail of 5th place and we separated out from the pack working together, switching off leader.  This worked well as we eventually caught up to fourth place.  He tagged along onto our tail, and no matter how many times we asked, he wouldn’t put any work in.  He simply stayed at the back and complained about being to tired to take a pull.  We started the last climb (the beginning of the NorCal course) and the rider in front took a hard pull, a small attack which we were able to bring back no problem.  We passed the photo, threw a few whips, and started the sprint up to the race track.  The kid who I had been working with the whole race took a final attack and took off.  I tried to hold so I could draft him down the racetrack but his perfect timing payed off and I barely missed his draft.  This left me and the “tired” freshman we picked up siting in 5th and 6th, respectively.  He drafted me down the racetrack and as we neared the final turn he pulled to my outside. I took the opportunity to start the sprint as he is now at the disadvantage.  I believe he realized this though and immediately hopped back on my wheel and cut into the inside.  It was now just a sprint to the finish.  This “tired” freshman took off like a frickin’ bullet and I was barely able to hop on his wheel.  We were about 600 feet from the finish when it came down to a side by side sprint.  He had me at first, but I was able to pull back and almost close the gap.  He beat me by less than half a second, and I crossed the finish line snagging 6th place.  I congratulated him and went to talk to the other racer who I had worked with while we cooled down.  After a short conversation, I headed in for lunch which was a chicken tikka masala wrap and an ahi tuna poke bowl.  I waited for Gabby to finish, as she crossed the line in 4th in Cat 3 XC 15-18 Women, and we then headed over to see some final tents.  On the way out, we ran into Anton Cooper and had a lengthy conversation with him.  This was definitely a great way to wrap up my Sea Otter experience as we got into the car and headed home.