Good Racing At Sea Otter
Sea Otter was the final stop in our month-long California expedition. We had great hopes of a big result, and why not, we had last year's winner in Daniel Ramsey!
We all had a really solid lead-up to the race, actually got some training in, and were fired up to finish the California Swing with a great race.
It didn't quite work out that way, but we did show that we were there to race. The day of the race was cold and super super windy. I don't know how to describe the wind without apparently exaggerating - but I'm not, it was something akin to a gale.
The race started with a group of two going off quickly, I tried to follow and burned through my full book of matches within a lap or so and came back in a bad way. After the first foray of aggressiveness, the race got down to business and the wind and consistently tough pace did a number on the 120 starter field. Every lap riders were coming off. The big hill was made even worse, as it enjoyed a violent crosswind over the top, and the normally super fast descent through the corkscrew was made precarious at best with the insane winds.
Barlevav, Myerson, and I didn't have the best of days, but Soladay, Stoop, Guttenplan, and Ramsey rode ably.
Tom nearly made it across to the winning break at one point with a fantastic bridging attempt, but didn't quite make it. Ramsey made the superstar break with Borrajo, Sutherland, et al. and rode very well in it. It looked for awhile that the group of 10ish might go across to the four leaders that spent the whole day out front, but it didn't quite happen.
Stoop, out in California just for Sea Otter, showed he was ready to play and bridged across to this select group. He was behind the infamous eight ball after the effort though and was popped after Borrajo went nutty up the hill. Guttenplan was up to his normal tricks and stayed in the race quietly and efficiently.
Through it all though, it looked like Ramsey was going to come through with the big result, because once again, he looked strong and very capable in the groups he was in. Unfortunately, some bad cramps put paid to any chances in the final few laps, and we finished the day with Ramsey in 21st and Guttenplan in 22nd.
The results don't quite show it, but for anyone who saw it, TIME raced their bikes, and it was quite a show to watch.
We all had a really solid lead-up to the race, actually got some training in, and were fired up to finish the California Swing with a great race.
It didn't quite work out that way, but we did show that we were there to race. The day of the race was cold and super super windy. I don't know how to describe the wind without apparently exaggerating - but I'm not, it was something akin to a gale.
The race started with a group of two going off quickly, I tried to follow and burned through my full book of matches within a lap or so and came back in a bad way. After the first foray of aggressiveness, the race got down to business and the wind and consistently tough pace did a number on the 120 starter field. Every lap riders were coming off. The big hill was made even worse, as it enjoyed a violent crosswind over the top, and the normally super fast descent through the corkscrew was made precarious at best with the insane winds.
Barlevav, Myerson, and I didn't have the best of days, but Soladay, Stoop, Guttenplan, and Ramsey rode ably.
Tom nearly made it across to the winning break at one point with a fantastic bridging attempt, but didn't quite make it. Ramsey made the superstar break with Borrajo, Sutherland, et al. and rode very well in it. It looked for awhile that the group of 10ish might go across to the four leaders that spent the whole day out front, but it didn't quite happen.
Stoop, out in California just for Sea Otter, showed he was ready to play and bridged across to this select group. He was behind the infamous eight ball after the effort though and was popped after Borrajo went nutty up the hill. Guttenplan was up to his normal tricks and stayed in the race quietly and efficiently.
Through it all though, it looked like Ramsey was going to come through with the big result, because once again, he looked strong and very capable in the groups he was in. Unfortunately, some bad cramps put paid to any chances in the final few laps, and we finished the day with Ramsey in 21st and Guttenplan in 22nd.
The results don't quite show it, but for anyone who saw it, TIME raced their bikes, and it was quite a show to watch.
posted by Jered at
1:40 PM
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