When stars align...

[Paul Montgomery]

This year’s Sea Otter turned out to be my most satisfying race to date. The Twentieth Anniversary of the event marked my third try at getting a “decent Cat 2 result” (oxymoron). Based on the racing so far this year, I knew a podium finish was a legitimate goal. The strategy was to get my most underused muscle into the act, the one on top of my shoulders. The tactic at the start was not to lead out the entire field (59 riders), as I had in the past. The idea was to get to the front and slot-in a few wheels back, and wait until we hit the dirt. …this worked perfectly.

At the top of the first downhill I was relaxed and in third. By the last of the fast rollers I had been joined and passed by a couple of Marin riders (Michael Yoham and David Curtis). In the course of dicing with those guys we dropped one rider, so now I was fourth and strangely still relaxed. Michael and David were on the gas, as all of us rode nose to tail through the first flowing single track section. Unfortunately a slower rider held us up toward the end of the section and the main field closed our gap. Still up front and together, about halfway up the first real climb, I noticed the man out front (Francisco Vidal) was starting to gap us. Being two wheels back, I was getting anxious. Luckily, we popped out onto the fire road before drastic measures were needed. Francisco took the opportunity to surge. The race was officially on. We were also knee-deep in rolling chicanes from the younger age groups.

The three of us took off after Francisco. Soon it was only Michael and I in pursuit, but battling the on-coming traffic was taking a toll. We were losing touch with Francisco. As Michael and I swapped positions through the Manzanita, Francisco checked out for good. Although, having two riders work the crowd certainly made a big difference in energy expenditure and motivation, it seemed second place was now the goal.

Rolling through the last aid station, we were in the final phase of a Sea Otter XC quest, “the grind”. Feeling surprisingly fresh (IOW, no cramping), I cranked up the cadence; careful not to go into the red, and immediately hit my “race groove”. Nice. At the top of the last asphalt section, all alone, it was time to hammer. Luckily there was minimal traffic in the cow path section, and I was able to get to the last fire road at race pace. With plenty of room for passing, going full throttle up the infamous finishing hills was only limited by that ever-present burning sensation. Approaching the bottom of the last climb, I recognized a familiar silhouette. Francisco! Bada bing, bada boom...

Passing Francisco, there was no response. It was my race to lose. Crossing the bridge and greeted with enthusiastic encouragement from teammate Mandy Borden, the course turned…uh, LEFT. (Luckily I pre-rode this new section the day before, not knowing if it would be included for Cat 2.) The tight serpentine nature of the added loop made it easy to check any threats from behind. None.

1st Place, 2010 Sea Otter Classic, Cat 2, 50-55, Time 1:38:35. The sea-otter-monkey is officially off my back... for now. Up to Cat 1. Thanks to Michele and Porter for driving down and making the 7:30 start…and Team Summit.

[Carl Sanders]

Nice work Paul. Congratulations!