Sea Otter MTB Race

DAY #1
(Beginner Cross-Country MTB)

We are sitting down to our post race breakfast in our 1970's style "in need of a remodel a decade ago rental."    Heather Cafferata our studly teammate not only garnered a 3rd place finish yesterday in the beginners race, but awoke to make us  blueberry pancakes the size of Simone's face that are so delicious I am working on my second. 

We arrived Thursday with Lindsay, Heather, our men, and friend Richard and Aubri,  grooved on the intense vibe at the venue after finagling our way into premier parking. Yes, we gave a casual nod to the parking guy when he asked us if we were racing in the pro road race (note: our roof held one road bike and 3 mtn bikes).  Soooo, we pre-road the sandy dry course while Heather waited to start her 12 mile race.

Here is Heather's account:  "I was super nervous before my race because I had to wait around at the venue all day, thinking about the sandy, windy course that I would have to ride at 4:30 pm.  Following Lindsay and Sarah's advice, I warmed up on the race track at 3:45 pm, trying to wake up my legs before the 12 mile burn.  My goal for the race was to go for it and treat it like an extended dirt crit effort.  I didn't want to regret anything! 

The race started on the pavement race track with 20 plus girls in my group, and I used Gabe's advice to not do any work, but just drafted off a couple of girls up the hill.  Once on the dirt I decided to turn it on and really work all of the fire road power climbs and try not to brake too much on the sandy descents.  I spiked my heart-rate early, but my legs felt remarkably responsive and strong.   The sandy singletrack was super fun, and I concentrated on steering my bike with my hips and butt (thank you Cathy for that:)  so I wouldn't fishtail a ton.  There were 4 girls in front of me and I worked hard to keep them close, and knew that I would have my opportunity to reel them in on the final, long ridge climb back home. 

We did some tough, steeper singletrack climbs and descended down to the aid station before the final stretch.  At that point, I spotted 3 girls in front of me and felt it in my legs to kick it in gear and go get 'em.  I caught up to a Vella Bella rider and said, "We gotta go get that girl up there, she's from Boston, this is our turf!"  We worked together, and then I rode away from her in pursuit of the girl in second place.  I snuck up on her, hiding behind a few guys, and decided I would try to jump on the final punchy climb.  I tried, but she matched me and then took off.  At least I tried! 

The final stretch home was fun singletrack and then a descent on the race track. I crossed over the finish line 13 seconds behind the 2nd place rider and pretty much collapsed into Gabe's arms.  What a race!!   I couldn't have done it without all of the advice and support of my amazing teammates and Gabe. 

Thank you everyone!! 

 -Heather

Day #2
(Expert Cross-Country MTB)

Sunday morning at 7:00 am Simone, Heather Cafferata and myself drove to the venue as our boys had already left for their earlier start time. I had the same experience as Heather before my race- anxiety by the extreme hype and logistical nightmare that is Sea Otter, especially while managing to balance Simone. I am grateful to Heather here as she took Simone for my race and warm-up, what a teammate!!

So we were lucky as the winds had died down from sat and the day was crystal clear. I started the race overly uncomfortable with nerves and should have gone with Natasha, the eventual winner who went out really hard. I found myself stuck behind a few girls on the first sandy single track descent, losing valuable time in the process. For the first time I have a lot of confidence in descending and am just starting to realize that. The bike really has helped me with that this year. When I got a chance I got by 2 girls and then caught one on the sandy descent which really you cannot break on, you have to surf it. Now in second I caught all but one of the girls in the expert cat before me but still missed first by 1:24 .  Then, 3 seconds later a gal finished behind me who I had passed earlier - phew that was close.

My goal was to podium and finish under 1:40. I did both- second out of 18 and in at 1:34:31, bettering last years time by almost 13 minutes. The course, at 19 miles, is a little on the short end for me, but overall I was really happy with my result and had a great weekend hanging out with teammates. If it weren't for the craziness of the place it would be a great event.

-Sarah P.

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