Last year, I took the opportunity to attend the Sea Otter Classic in Monterrey. For the uninitiated, this is the biggest bike event of the year. I had a good time last year, racing in the circuit and the road race. My results weren’t terrible, and I had such a great time at the expo, that I decided I would go again. I even held onto my numbers, to remind myself that there was to be NO FLAKING. The calender rolled around and I was reg’d and ready to go. I’d had a solid couple of weeks of riding beforehand to get ready. Several of these rides included a lot of rain. Like, the entire trip from Placerville to Town Center in the pouring, drenching rain. I’ve never been so cold in my entire life. I stripped that kit off as fast as possible and was still shivering 20 minutes later, even while sipping hot chai and wearing sweats.

Then the next Thursday, I set out from my sunny house for a nice cruise through Fiddletown. As I gained elevation, the sky started to darken. Soon, it was raining. Then it was hailing. Hail hurts. I was out in the middle of nowhere, no shelter and no cell phone and just trying to get through the hail. Not thinking about anything but putting my head down and pedaling. Finally I got to Fiddletown. I ducked under some eaves to try to pull myself together to get home. Luckily, I had my Smartwool arm warmers, and there is something about wool that just hits the spot. Oh yeah, it’s that it keeps you warm even when even completely soaked from riding in my back pocket. I was able to limp home. In the shower I could see all the red spots on my arms and legs from being pounded by the hail.

After all this weather BS my bike was in sorry shape, but my LBS fixed me right up.
So I was feeling pretty prepared for whatever Sea Otter had to offer. At least it likely wouldn’t hail.
Circuit:
45 brutal minutes on the Laguna Seca track. Up the hill on the back and ripping down the corkscrew on the other side. An absolutely punishing race. Last year I got dropped, had to fight back on, and then ended up completely spun out in the sprint. This year would be different. I talked to Larry before the race and he said the most important thing was not getting stuck behind someone else on the climb and getting dropped that way. My personal performance goal was to pedal on the descent and rip. I’ve been practicing descending this year and have really improved. And that’s basically how the race went down. There were a couple times on the climb where I was in bad position and had to work harder to get around some people, and a two person break got away somehow, but overall a great race. I ended up sprinting for the finish and came in fifth in the field, second in Cat 3 women. Unfortunately, I was tired and sweaty and distracted and so I missed my podium. But now I can keep the number for next year and strive and strive to get on the podium again.
Road Race:
Finish hill. There is an almighty long and brutal finish hill in this race. Last year I blew up, lost contact and got passed. So this year, I was going to save something for the finish hill no matter what. The race started out tame, with some attacks going, but nothing sticking. Then in the 3rd lap, my teammate and a Davis girl started pressuring the climb. I tried to respond, but my legs just didn’t have it. They got away and stayed away for the rest of the race. The rest of us formed a pack and some girls tried to get organized to chase, but I focused on having something left for the finish hill. That was my mantra for the entire race. At the feed zone on the last lap, I saw a woman pouring out her leftover water and followed suit, thinking at least there would be a mental advantage of being lighter. Then we got to the finish hill. After a little jockeying, I planted myself second wheel, behind a tiny little climber, and held on for dear life. The weekend before, at the CR ride, I had an epiphany. I was staring at the wheel in front of me and imagined a little string attaching me to it. No matter what, I could not let that string break. No matter how I felt, I could not let that string break. I bent my mind to the task and it worked. I practiced the same technique. No matter what, I was not losing this wheel. I held on, and with a little less than 200m to go, a woman attacked from the left. I latched on to her and continued on. All of a sudden, we rounded a corner and there was the finish chute. I started to come around her. We were standing and sprinting for all we were worth. I could hear her yelling, NO NO NO and I was yelling the same thing. We got to the line and she was an inch in front of me. We both collapsed on the ground and I tried to make the world come back into focus. It was an amazing finish. I haven’t tried that hard for something in a very long time. After, we got to congratulate each other on a job well done. So I ended up 4th, and proud to be so. My teammate won.

In addition to all the great racing, the expo was awesome. The best part is seeing all my friends from the cycling community, and making new friends. Saturday night is the epic ‘cross race and the heckling and cheering is great. I tried not to drink too much beer, because of the 7am RR start, but it’s hard when most of it is free!
When I got home, I reflected on my performance. I had raced to the best of my current ability and done well. Happy.

Then I got to watch my teammate Natalie’s TED talk about losing. She expertly captured all I love about cycling in 6 short minutes. Everyone needs to watch this.  TI had finished well, but there is still room to improve and a whole season left of racing.