Sea Otter Circuit Race Pix!

Vanessa, 3rd
Amy, 7th
Jess, 15th

Sea Otter

This was my first Sea Otter. I had heard it was a bit of a zoo but decided to check it out first hand. Luckily, I didn't have to go it alone as Jess and Amy (also her first SO) were likewise lured by a circuit race on smooth, fast pavement. We got there a couple hours before the start of our race and the wind was whipping pretty good. The crowds, the wind, the dust (the drive!) all were a bit much for me, but we managed to navigate the crowds and get ourselves set up for our race. It was a decent size field with a few recognizable faces but lots of girls we didn't know. The start was pretty easy and I got my legs going and tried to check out the course as best as possible on the first go-round. I really liked this course! I liked the climb, the descent and the fun banked corners! A Dewar's girl was on the front and it seemed like we would wind things up a notch but then she decided to go off the front. I started to chase and close her down but changed my mind, wanting to save my legs and thinking we'd catch her working together. Big mistake. We never saw her again... So it was a race for second. I wanted to go faster and faster and had to keep reeling myself back in because being on the front in a windy race does not equal a good result. So I slowed down but no one would come up and take a turn except another rider from femme fetal. We switched off and tried to get a little break going with one of her teammates and Amy, but we couldn't get organized. On what I thought was the second to last lap I started thinking about going for it on the climb and taking Amy with me, and then a race car pulls up and tells us this is it! We have junior boys in the mix, I can't tell who is who, so the femme fatal girl and I take off and round the corner ahead of the pack. I realized I had to try to set myself up for a sprint so got on her wheel, but my legs were twitching and I couldn't stay put (too much adrenaline!) so I came out and put the hammer down- too far from the finish. As a result I petered out toward the line and I ended up getting taken at the line by Kim Ladd from Code 3 (good racing!). Amy and Jess had great results- 7th and 15th! I don't think I'll do SO again- the race organizers stopped our race once to let juniors go by and then cut our race short. It was annoying to say the least. Oh and the worst part- they couldn't figure out the results for about five hours. We sat around in the wind and dust and cold waiting for my stupid podium finish. And all I got was some Cytomax and a medal...