Sea Otter, Part Deux!
We decided to put our leak issues behind us for the day and immerse ourselves in everything bicycles! For our RV'n readers', this is the equivalent of the FMCA National Convention! All the bike, parts and clothing manufacturers are here. You can test ride bikes, talk to the factory reps to get tips and info and talk to the pro racers.
It's fun to check out all of the different types of events they have going on. All around the site, the racing is non-stop. All of the rain made the conditions horrible. In my previous post, I showed you the conditions of the cross country course (which is why I bailed out on actually doing the race). Let's take a look at some of the other events:
The road events were taking place on the road race course that surrounds the fair grounds. Once the rain started, people were crashing all over the place.
The dirt jumping competition is always a crowd favorite. These guys are crazy! The dirt launch pads are 8' to 10' high, and they were reaching heights close to 20' in the air! They were doing 360's, meaning turning themselves completely upside down, between the 2 ramps!
Here's the dual slalom course. It is very similar to a slalom course in skiing, but with bikes. Two riders, side by side pass through the flagged gates. The mud was so bad on the 'blue' course, the riders were not even close to being evenly matched. You can see the difference between the riders in the pic.
Here is the mountain cross course. Think BMX or motorcycle motocross. 4 riders come out of the gate, first one across the line wins. Again rain destroyed the course, made for muddy, slow races, with lots of crashes.
And finally, the Downhill, another fan favorite. Riders shoot down an obstacle filled course on bikes with 6 to 10" of suspension travel. A timed event, so fastest down wins. The rain made for mud pits up to 12" deep, so as the riders came down the course, they would hit these pits and spray the crowd with mud!
After checking out most of the events, Laura and I made our way through the Marketplace. We did a really good job of not spending money. We only purchased some new cycling socks at 'the Sock Guys' booth. We scored free lunch over at the Cytomax booth (endurance drink, like Gatorade). The highlight was the GT stunt show, featuring world famous(at least in the biking world) Hans Rey! Hans has been doing bike trials for 20 some years. They had this obstacle course of tables, barrels and ramps set-up and can just jump, hop and ride from place to place. Pictures just don't do it justice, you have to see it for yourself!
Now I really feel like getting out and riding(only riding in the past 2 weeks has been around the Sea Otter grounds)! The next 4 weeks are going to be filled with some of the best mountain bike riding in the country. First Sedona, AZ, then up to St George, followed by Moab (the Mecca for mountain bikers world-wide) Finally, wrapping up in Salt Lake City and a bbq with friends from Michigan, I can't wait!
-Rich-
It's fun to check out all of the different types of events they have going on. All around the site, the racing is non-stop. All of the rain made the conditions horrible. In my previous post, I showed you the conditions of the cross country course (which is why I bailed out on actually doing the race). Let's take a look at some of the other events:The road events were taking place on the road race course that surrounds the fair grounds. Once the rain started, people were crashing all over the place.
The dirt jumping competition is always a crowd favorite. These guys are crazy! The dirt launch pads are 8' to 10' high, and they were reaching heights close to 20' in the air! They were doing 360's, meaning turning themselves completely upside down, between the 2 ramps!
Here's the dual slalom course. It is very similar to a slalom course in skiing, but with bikes. Two riders, side by side pass through the flagged gates. The mud was so bad on the 'blue' course, the riders were not even close to being evenly matched. You can see the difference between the riders in the pic.
Here is the mountain cross course. Think BMX or motorcycle motocross. 4 riders come out of the gate, first one across the line wins. Again rain destroyed the course, made for muddy, slow races, with lots of crashes.
And finally, the Downhill, another fan favorite. Riders shoot down an obstacle filled course on bikes with 6 to 10" of suspension travel. A timed event, so fastest down wins. The rain made for mud pits up to 12" deep, so as the riders came down the course, they would hit these pits and spray the crowd with mud!
After checking out most of the events, Laura and I made our way through the Marketplace. We did a really good job of not spending money. We only purchased some new cycling socks at 'the Sock Guys' booth. We scored free lunch over at the Cytomax booth (endurance drink, like Gatorade). The highlight was the GT stunt show, featuring world famous(at least in the biking world) Hans Rey! Hans has been doing bike trials for 20 some years. They had this obstacle course of tables, barrels and ramps set-up and can just jump, hop and ride from place to place. Pictures just don't do it justice, you have to see it for yourself!
Now I really feel like getting out and riding(only riding in the past 2 weeks has been around the Sea Otter grounds)! The next 4 weeks are going to be filled with some of the best mountain bike riding in the country. First Sedona, AZ, then up to St George, followed by Moab (the Mecca for mountain bikers world-wide) Finally, wrapping up in Salt Lake City and a bbq with friends from Michigan, I can't wait!
-Rich-
posted by Laura @ 9:10 PM
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