Sea Otter XC Race

My call time for Sundays XC race 8:30, which meant I received a 5:30 wake up call.  I arrived at Laguna Seca around 7:00, got changed and headed into to the track.  The weather was cold, foggy and drizzly, so at this point I'm doing the usual debate of how many layers to wear.  I ended up wearing minimal layers and figured I'd be cold on the start, but would warm up once we were a few miles into the race.

The XC race warms up, starts and finishes on the speedway, which for me was a cool bonus.  There's something really special about being on a legendary racetrack and being able to see the corkscrew up close as it faded into the morning fog.

The early morning view from the top of the Corkscrew.

Staging for the start.

The energy on the start was great.  Music was playing and there was quite a few spectators cheering on their friends and family.  I was a bit more anxious than usual because I didn't know any of the riders and had no idea what to expect out on the course.  Was the guy in the tri jersey going to be fast?  Was that guy with the camel back a sleeper who would sprint off the line and take the early lead?

Sea Otter 2015

The trip to Sea Otter is always an early start with a 5:30 am roll out time, but this year I had the privilege of driving solo because I decided to race XC on Sunday morning.   The drive may have been long (and I had no one to split gas with), but it gave me the freedom to stay at the track and pre-ride XC on Friday and hang out after the race for a bit on Sunday.

I rolled out of HB at 5:30 AM sharp (with the exception of a quick stop at Starbucks) and the rest of the crew left Corona at the same time with the plan of meeting up "whenever someone decided to stop for some food".  As I cruised up the 405 I hit the usual LA traffic, a couple of accidents and some construction, so I was sure I was WAY behind Matt and Eric.  When the 5 and 210 freeways merged, I was completely shocked to see what looked like Matt's car a few hundred yards in front of me.  Funny how things just work out....

Yeah, that was pretty good timing.

We arrived at Sea Otter around noon, I checked in at sign ups, and headed in to the venue to check out the vendors and Fridays action.  Of course the first stop was over at the Red Monkey tent to see the HMIC himself.

Red Monkey enters the big leagues with their first booth at Sea Otter.  Thanks for the food (and the beer!).