Sea otter...day 2

Saturday was another beautiful day at Sea Otter. My wife and I decided to spend the day cruising the booths and checking in with people. We (and by we I mean I) also wanted to watch the pump track competition, the short-track (featuring Jason Moeschler and Nate Byrom), some trials riding by Ryan Leach, and the Dual Slalom.

After checking out the booths for a while I went by the WTB booth to hang out for a while. Jason was helping people out, but was gearing up for his short-track race. Weir was there being interviewed and I got to catch up with Kenny Burt, a long time buddy of mine. We kicked back in the shade a bit in the tent (I felt like I was one of the cool kids : ), then decided to get some lunch.

Next, I caught up with Kervin from Rotor. I was in dire need of some nice cranks before Otter and he helped me out immensely. The 3D cranks are aluminum, really light, and very stiff. Frankly, I was concerned with my carbon cranks getting slammed by rocks on trails like D-ville. If you are in the market, give the 3Ds a shot. They worked flawlessly.

On the way to the Santa Cruz tent, we watched the pump-track finals. How cool!! These guys were pumping through rollers, the berms, and when they had enough speed, were jumping from berm to berm. Sick!! Having never seen a pump track competition before, I was amazed...they made it look so easy. Of course, it makes you want to build a pump track in whatever yard you have after seeing that...wonder what my wife would think?

On to Santa Cruz. I think it is pretty obvious that Santa Cruz is on a roll right now. They worked on improving their suspension designs for a long time, and stuck with aluminum. Then, when the time was right (I am sure there is more to it than that) they designed a carbon blur xc. Then the carbon LT, and now the Nomad! The Carbon Nomad is completely bitchin if you have not seen it. I am very impressed with the attention to detail that Santa Cruz has shown in their recent bikes. I waited a bit to talk to one of the busiest guys at Sea Otter, Mike Ferrentino. It is always good to catch up with Mike...who wouldn't want to talk to a celebrity! : )

On the way to the Short-track (and on the other side of the mountain bike spectrum from Santa Cruz and WTB) we stopped briefly to talk with Scott Tedro and Ty Kady of Sho-AIr fame. It was great seeing them, as they hang out in SoCal and I am a NorCal boy. Ty is rippin it up after taking some time off and talked of training 8 hours a week...hmmmmm...maybe I have this all wrong. Perhaps less hours is what I need to do. I am sure my wife would be happy. Scott is busy as always, but is as gracious as ever. Perhaps one of these days I will get back down to SoCal to enjoy some korean bbq with those guys. : )

On to the short-track...a very twisty, choppy little course. From the gun, it was Todd Wells...that guy moves!! As Nate and Jason came by, we yelled for them. We had a great place to view from and could see the whole south side of the course. The race lasted all of 30 minutes, and was a mass of confusion with so many pros (About 75) going at once. Soon, lapped riders started getting pulled, and about 20 were on course. Very fun to watch, but when it was done, so were we...off to the trailer and some dinner.

Sea Otter is usually awesome, and this year was no different. I got to catch up with a lot of old friends in one place. I think that is really what Sea Otter is to me. At first, I was upset at having to race on Friday. It worked out great, however, since my wife and I got to really enjoy the Otter with no pressure on Saturday.

Up next...Shasta Lemurian!!!

Cheers,
Chuck