Sea Otter Classic

Wow what a weekend! We arrived in Monterey, CA on Friday afternoon after a 7 hour drive from Corona. Everyone was posting pictures and my heroes were already there, so I felt like I was late to the party! I hopped out of the car and looked out at the massive venue with hundreds of vendors and thousands of people. There were so many things to do, places to be, and people to see, so as a first-timer I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I took some deep breaths, greeted nearby friends, and then geared up to get a preride in with my dad and Marjie before dark. Everything else would have to wait till Saturday.

The course was stunning! Fast fire roads and a mini lake greeted us in the first few miles. We entered the thick, canopied single track that Johnny calls “the jungle” soon after. But no, we did not see any jaguars or monkeys. I was having a grand old time, smiling and whooping as we made our way around the 28-mile lap.

Come mile 20, I was alone on the course since it was late in the day and my dad and sister had gone a separate way to ride Marjie’s shorter cat 2 course. A random drone was following me around for a little while to keep me company, and it came in extremely close behind my head at one point. But eventually it too left me out in the desolate fields alone. This is when it started to feel long. The course just kept on giving! I was able to dial in my lines and figure out pacing in my solitude. I’ve done xc races about half this length, and single-lap endurance races about twice this length, so I was looking to stay within a certain heart rate zone so I wouldn’t burn out yet still ensure a solid effort.

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We were able to stay with our very gracious family members; Susan, Don, and Tyler; for the weekend, so Saturday morning we ate breakfast and got ready for the day at their home. Once we arrived at the venue, it was time to check in with SoCal Devo. Seeing familiar faces and having coaches, teammates, and other parents supporting us at a race this big was great. We all set out on foot into the venue to take pictures with and thank sponsors, collect some swag, meet the pros including both 2016 Olympic gold medalists, Nino Schurter and Jenny Rissveds.

It was the coolest to see so many people from all disciplines of cycling come together to create the biggest cycling festival in the world, and man was it big! The rows of tents seemed endless, and seeing familiar faces at every turn was a true treat. The rest of the day was spent doing another small preride with the team, cheering on the cyclocross racers, more venue walking, and searching for people.

At the top of my list for people to find was my hero Rebecca Rusch, and I was having the hardest time finding her! All day I was checking back at her team tents and asking around if anyone had seen her. It was a wild goose chase, and knowing she was there was eating me up! Toward the end of the day my dad and I ran into Austin McInerny , director of NICA, who gave us a tip on where she was and informed us that she’d be leaving early the next morning. Even though I’d been on my feet and bike all day when I should’ve been resting, we made one last climb up to the dual slalom course in pursuit. Alas, we had found Rebecca Rusch.

My first ever mtb race my freshman year was on a team with Reba and 2 other high school girls competing in the 24 hours of Old Pueblo. Completing a single lap in the middle of the night was the hardest thing I’d ever done, and beforehand I would have never thought racing a bike for 24 hours was humanly possible. I’m so grateful for the inspiration and mentorship Rebecca has offered me ever since, including last year when I competed in 24 hr solo world championships. Getting to talk with her was the highlight of my weekend, and her words gave me motivation to continue training hard and chasing my dreams.

I felt like I had been at an amusement park all day, and the exhaustion came with it. I regretted my lack of rest, but Sea Otter is an experience and I didn’t want to miss out! I did some race prep when we got back to the house then turned in early.

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Race day! I’ve been training for endurance, so with the sustained climbs and long distance, I knew this course was going to give me an opportunity to shine. I’m 18 years old, but since I’ll be 19 by the end of year, my race age is 19, so I raced cat 1 ages 19-29. I lined up with a group of unfamiliar faces on women from all over the country. My goal was to win, but my aspiration was to catch the junior field; cat 1 15-18; that started 1 minute in front of us. We went out hot, but not quite at the speed that I’m used to in the SoCal NICA races. After all, this race was nearly twice the length, so pacing was key. I pulled the group as we made our way around the Mazda race track then onto the graveled fire roads. The field remained tight and quick until the jungle single track, where racers from slower categories were bumper to bumper and only sparsely allowing people to pass. I pictured the jr field in front of us getting farther away, so decided to be more assertive with my tone and aggressive with riskier passes.

Soon it was me and another racer, Alyssa Ringo, with a hefty lead on the rest of our age group. We began gradually passing the junior racers, and when I saw more riders from the more elite Devo teams I thought we might be getting close to closing the gap. But I didn’t want to get too excited yet and focus on my race first. Lap traffic remained a challenge, as the cat 1 add-ons allowed for the slower riders to get in front of us again. I did all of the pulling, but the race was running smooth.

At around mile 20, I thought I could see Gwendalyn’s stars-and-stripes jersey leading the colorful junior lead pack, but I quickly turned my attention back to the trail in front of me. Then we made another turn, and I was able to confirm it was them. I began sprinting like mad to catch them, leaving Alyssa to fend for herself for the moment. I threw my heart rate plan out the window as I locked on. I flew by my dad who was yelling, “they’re only 30 seconds up!” I couldn’t believe it! I felt no pain, knew no boundaries. One of the four of them looked back, told the group I was coming in hot, and then they all started working together to attack. No! But they eventually simmered down, giving me the opportunity to latch on. The last long hill was on the horizon, so I prepared for my next attack. Once I settled into the pack, my legs were searing from the 22 miles already completed including the greatest attack of my life I had just laid down. But this was it. I jolted in front of the group, cringing, and settled into a grinding pace. Coach J had written on my top tube, ‘make up 1 minute.’ I had already done that. Now it was time to keep it. At the top of the climb it was just Gwen and me; a familiar feeling for both of us. “Let’s just keep working together and both win our fields!” I told her, and we nodded in agreement.

We flew up the next fire road climb together and our dads both greeted us at the peak. I was at my max heart rate; something that only sometimes happens at the finishes of shorter cross country races. But adrenaline is a funny thing that can take away all your pain for a moment of bliss. We dove into the next single track, battled lap traffic, battled each other, and in no time were back out onto the paved race track together with no one else behind us in sight. We blasted through the finish in a mighty sprint, both with arms victorious arms flung in the air. We had helped each other win, and got to do it together. And after intensely competing with Gwen all season, I got to say it was a great feeling.

My first Sea Otter experience was an awesome, nonstop whirlwind, and achieving a win made it that much sweeter. Huge thank you to everyone who supported me this weekend! Sea Otter would not have been as memorable without you!

Congrats also to teammate Alexis Vitale on her wins in downhill and dual slalom, Coach Brian for his win in the single speed category, and Coach Stan for his win in the 70+ category. SoCal Devo had a solid weekend., and we’re feeling strong and motivated for the races to come!