Sunny Sea Otter! April 17-19, 2009

Having not been at Sea Otter last year, I was excited to return. And the forecast was looking good. I think most would say perhaps it was too good. Too warm. But spirits were high, the crowds were there and it was game on. Erin Ford and I did the drive to Monterey in one day, taking a brief stop in Redding to spin out the legs. What a fantastic idea!

Beautiful river trail in Redding. Downhill both ways. Really.

Friday we spent most of our day hurry up and waiting, parking too far away, making a trip to the airport, waiting for my bike to get dialed and then pre-riding the course. It was amazing weather, so it was just good to be outside.

The views from the course at Sea Otter.

Saturday was short track. I had a miserable last row call up. Not exactly sure how that worked out, but I didn't panic. I also didn't really move up all that much. It was hot. My legs didn't feel like going as fast as I wanted them to, so I ended up getting pulled from a short track for the first time in a long time and finishing 20th. I lasted for most of the race, but oh well. Highlight of that race, having Tinker shade me prior to the race. How many people can say that Tinker has shaded them???
Sunday the temperatures had soared and they made a decision to cut our course. One lap instead of two. I was initially pretty annoyed, as I had prepared not only mentally, but food wise for 38 miles and I knew I had some endurance in me, just not a lot of high end speed. With only 19 miles, high end speed was going to be essential. While racing, although I felt like my skin was going to melt off of me, I hydrated well and started to pick up towards the end, seeing more people to chase down. 10 more miles was all I needed, but in the end, I missed top 15 by 3 seconds, and finished 16th. I can not complain, because I felt a lot better than Fontana and for someone that does not like racing in the heat, I thought I did a fairly good job.

The Monavie-Cannondale compound. It was a busy place.

It was great to have everyone on our team in one place at one time. Sort of. We still couldn't manage all being in the exact same place at the same time. I didn't get around the venue very much in my heat avoidance mode each day. Bummer, because there I missed some people I would have liked to see. Maybe next year.

Team Monavie-Cannondale attempts a team photo.

Our amazing hosts, Alex & Karen!