If you raced sea otter this year, let us know what your experience was like. Did you like the course? Which races did you do? Were you happy with your perfomance? What was the best thing about your Sea Otter weekend?
Post your Sea Otter experience
- Thread starter mtbikermark
- Start date
the course was ok for my first sea otter but the step down landind was kinda flat. my run was ggod but i saved 2 much energy for the last part and by the time i got 2 the bottom i wasnt tired. the best part were watchin the pro and the ladies.
kyle
kyle
First Sea otter trip. The course was fun and a nice change form Fontana, the landing after the second ladder was kinda harsh but you could still clear the hip. I won my class on saturday and stuck around to watch the pros on sunday. Also got my jersey signed by Cedric, Peaty and many more it was a GOOD weekend! :evil:
i raced ds and placed 4th in my class. the course was falling apart in my opinion and i didnt really like it all that much with the drops to flat and all. but all in all it was still fun. i also raced dh and placed 5th. that course was alot of fun. i saved too much energy and didnt push hard enough. think that this was due to the one practice run i got the morning before the final cuz i wasnt totally on top of the course. it was an awesome week/weekend
My 10th year at Sea Otter.
The XC course was great this year - mostly because the conditions were perfect. WTF was up with the sheep-shearing going on?!?
The DS course wasn't as good as previous years, but still amazing, challenging, and enjoyable to watch - probably the best DS course of the year.
The DH course wasn't as good as last years. And last years wasn't as good as the year before. Take out the man-made stuff (jumps, ladders, berms) and run it down the trail. What ever happened to the left hand turn after the high-speed section - that dropped you down a log and some rocks, and dumped you into an off-camber right, followed by a few water bars, a rocky sharp left, more rocks, and across the OLD rocky finish line. You could use this same part, just don't use the finish and turn in right towards the new course. And the top needs to be changed SIGNIFIGANTLY. I'm tired of the same set of doubles and berms at the top for the past 3 or 4 years.
I didn't ride/watch the 4x, but I hear that the course wasn't as well-developed as the DS or DH.
I liked the idea of charging to get into the vendor area, and the free wristbands for competitors. It seemed to work well this year, and I look forward to seeing it next year. I also liked the new location for registration/camping/etc.
FINISH THE CORKSCREW BRIDGE!!! Not Sea Otter's fault, but that was damn inconvienient. Especially for those that wanted to travel from the E/F campgrounds to the "marketplace" or Start/Finish.
I did like the new security team/company that the promoters used. They were professional, organized, and (mostly) friendly.
I hope a Sea Otter promoter sees this. Feel free to PM me for more information or opinions...
-Brad
The XC course was great this year - mostly because the conditions were perfect. WTF was up with the sheep-shearing going on?!?
The DS course wasn't as good as previous years, but still amazing, challenging, and enjoyable to watch - probably the best DS course of the year.
The DH course wasn't as good as last years. And last years wasn't as good as the year before. Take out the man-made stuff (jumps, ladders, berms) and run it down the trail. What ever happened to the left hand turn after the high-speed section - that dropped you down a log and some rocks, and dumped you into an off-camber right, followed by a few water bars, a rocky sharp left, more rocks, and across the OLD rocky finish line. You could use this same part, just don't use the finish and turn in right towards the new course. And the top needs to be changed SIGNIFIGANTLY. I'm tired of the same set of doubles and berms at the top for the past 3 or 4 years.
I didn't ride/watch the 4x, but I hear that the course wasn't as well-developed as the DS or DH.
I liked the idea of charging to get into the vendor area, and the free wristbands for competitors. It seemed to work well this year, and I look forward to seeing it next year. I also liked the new location for registration/camping/etc.
FINISH THE CORKSCREW BRIDGE!!! Not Sea Otter's fault, but that was damn inconvienient. Especially for those that wanted to travel from the E/F campgrounds to the "marketplace" or Start/Finish.
I did like the new security team/company that the promoters used. They were professional, organized, and (mostly) friendly.
I hope a Sea Otter promoter sees this. Feel free to PM me for more information or opinions...
-Brad
I had the worst Otter of my four. Too much going on, family, trying to get bikes ready, etc. I couldn't get my stuff together in the gated racing and did horribly but collected myself by the dh race and rode the big bike-shoulda rode the Prophet, would have been perfect but chose the gemini and was on it all the way to the gravel road section where a gentlman on a bicycle was riding down the road and I nearly creamed him at about 20mph causing me to slam on my brakes and skid/drift sideways as I screamed at him. I got to the bottom of the course and no officials, went to the top and the official sent me on a goose chase that ended up with nada. Not a single rule book in the whole of Sea Otter and no re-run. But, if they were all awesome there would be nothing to challenge us, eh? I love the event and look forward to it every year but they just had lots of problems this year i.e. with courses and no officials, gate problems and no practice or racing on Sat? for experts. Things to grow on. Viva la mtb racing!!
I had a great time. We camped at H, right by the DH start.
DH was sweet. I really liked the course, and on Thursday we got my friend's dad to shuttle so we got at least 10 runs in, because there were NO lines at the top and we could bypass the bottom line. I was pinning the DH in my race run, but then slid out after the uphill on the off-camber stuff. I still got 29th (2.49s) in Jr. X.
DS was sweet. The course got pretty good by Friday, the flat turns got some ruts in them and the sandy pits midcourse were a little better. It was a fun course
4X sucked SO hard. I had to get up super early to get practice in, I wasn't doing very well, hating the course, and once again practice was closed when I was ON THE GATE ready to head down. I got booted in the first round. Sea Otter organizers, that was a horrible course. It had some crappy jumps with soft landings, some rollers, a chewed up 2nd burm, and some drops to flat. Try to put some more thought into it next time.
DH was sweet. I really liked the course, and on Thursday we got my friend's dad to shuttle so we got at least 10 runs in, because there were NO lines at the top and we could bypass the bottom line. I was pinning the DH in my race run, but then slid out after the uphill on the off-camber stuff. I still got 29th (2.49s) in Jr. X.
DS was sweet. The course got pretty good by Friday, the flat turns got some ruts in them and the sandy pits midcourse were a little better. It was a fun course
4X sucked SO hard. I had to get up super early to get practice in, I wasn't doing very well, hating the course, and once again practice was closed when I was ON THE GATE ready to head down. I got booted in the first round. Sea Otter organizers, that was a horrible course. It had some crappy jumps with soft landings, some rollers, a chewed up 2nd burm, and some drops to flat. Try to put some more thought into it next time.
I raced the DS. I didn't mind the course but I liked last year's better. I would like to see more jumps to increase the fun factor.
I hated the lines. With all the cutting that was going on the wait was horrendous. I got in 7 runs in 7 hours (5 practice and 2 race) on Thursday. On Friday, I thankfully got in 2 practice runs. I was seeded 15th (sport) and was eliminated in the first round by the #2 seed. Ce la vie!
The jumps in the ride park were awesome this year! If it is going to be that good next year I may bypass the racing and just ride the park. Way more bang for your buck!
I hated the lines. With all the cutting that was going on the wait was horrendous. I got in 7 runs in 7 hours (5 practice and 2 race) on Thursday. On Friday, I thankfully got in 2 practice runs. I was seeded 15th (sport) and was eliminated in the first round by the #2 seed. Ce la vie!
The jumps in the ride park were awesome this year! If it is going to be that good next year I may bypass the racing and just ride the park. Way more bang for your buck!
3rd year racing mountain cross at Sea Otter and the course was complete crap. Rode half the course during practice on Thursday morning twice and stopped because it was so crappy.It was put together so half assed. Granted the dirt was pretty bad to work with but a straight with two hay bale dropoffs? 40 feet from the start there was a dropoff jump and then immediately into a 90 degree left hander that you just get taken out by the guy in the inside line if he wants to. I was and still am really disappointed about the mountain cross course this year. Pros would be walking by and talking to each other about how ridiculous the course is, waste of their time, how it sucks, etc. Maybe they could get Eric Carter to build it next year?
The course designer was not the issue. It was the amount of water in the soil. Building was such a mess this year. I have never seen so much heavy equipment buried up to the axels in my life. We as course designers can't control mother nature. The landing after the second ladder was awesome when I built it. Then it got rained on for a soild month. All that water mix with the sand and became a beach at low tide. I don't care is Cedric, EC, Rennie, Hill ALL got together and built the MTNX course... It still would have sucked. It's not a easy as ALOT of people think.
I had an awesome time.
Raced Jr. X DH and took 23rd/51, course was pretty cool, but I didn't like the 2nd ladder. THE HIP WAS AWESOME THO.
one thing taht bummed me out, I rolled a 2:46 for 23rd and a 2:45 flat would've given me 19th, thats my own laziness tho
-Ryan
Raced Jr. X DH and took 23rd/51, course was pretty cool, but I didn't like the 2nd ladder. THE HIP WAS AWESOME THO.
one thing taht bummed me out, I rolled a 2:46 for 23rd and a 2:45 flat would've given me 19th, thats my own laziness tho
-Ryan
DS was great.. Keith is very consistant with his courses. Morgan wished that there was a big stepup near the finishline like in 03. Qualified 26th in Jr x, out first round.
MTX, no reason to beat a dead horse but i would add a few comments. The course designer is the same guy who built Mt Snow's Norba course in 04. That course wasnt finished until race time with the same results. Built on a spring, squshy... Im not sure why the S/O mtx wasnt finished until sunday morning. I appreciate the fact the they worked till sunday morning to improve the course but they should have started building the course 2 weeks earlier. Morgan made it to the Semis in Jr x..
To me this is the best event of the year with the most depth and competition. This was our 4th year and I hope we make many more.
MTX, no reason to beat a dead horse but i would add a few comments. The course designer is the same guy who built Mt Snow's Norba course in 04. That course wasnt finished until race time with the same results. Built on a spring, squshy... Im not sure why the S/O mtx wasnt finished until sunday morning. I appreciate the fact the they worked till sunday morning to improve the course but they should have started building the course 2 weeks earlier. Morgan made it to the Semis in Jr x..
To me this is the best event of the year with the most depth and competition. This was our 4th year and I hope we make many more.
Sutton and crew took care of me after hearing of my Surprise visitor. All races comped for next year...very cool.
good, because they sure gave you the run around...that was just stupid...and WTF with making the HT DH'ers go absolutley last after the course had been completely thrashed by the beg/sport riders???...D
This was my 9th Sea Otter, and it was definitely one of the best. I had to take the Greyhound bus up to Kaiser to see a doctor on Thursday, and he gave me the go ahead to resume normal activity, as I had broken my foot 7 weeks earlier. Thursday morning was the first time I rode without a cast on my foot since early Feb. That alone made it a great weekend. Downhill went pretty well, except for the two hucks to flat. The foot wasn't quite healed yet, and I could barely hold on for each one. I managed a 5th in Semi pro DH after falling over on the drop before the hip, so that was super exciting.
Dual Slalom was awesome. My foot was stoked on the lack of drop to flats, but more jumps would have been nice. I qualified fourth, but I bobbled in the round of 16. The mountain cross course definitely sucked, but I'm over mountain cross, so I don't really care. The highlight of the weekend was seeing so many friends from all walks of life. Mountain bikers are all one big family, and it's rad seeing familiar faces with good attitudes at the races.
Sounds like next year is going to be awesome, wish I would be in the States to race!
Dual Slalom was awesome. My foot was stoked on the lack of drop to flats, but more jumps would have been nice. I qualified fourth, but I bobbled in the round of 16. The mountain cross course definitely sucked, but I'm over mountain cross, so I don't really care. The highlight of the weekend was seeing so many friends from all walks of life. Mountain bikers are all one big family, and it's rad seeing familiar faces with good attitudes at the races.
Sounds like next year is going to be awesome, wish I would be in the States to race!
I think the trick at sea otter is to race only a few events. I only raced DH and I had a just as much fun checking out the boothes and other races as i did racin. Ok well maybe not as much, but it was nice to not have to get up too early and do dumbs stuff.
-Ryan
-Ryan
My 16 year old son and I flew out for the DS and MTX. He didn't do as well as I'd hoped. With the level of competition in JrX we realized his bike wasn't really suited for racing. Especially in the tight DS course.
I broke a pivot bolt on my bike during DS practice and Intense was kind enough to let me demo a bike for the race. I also left my shoes at the hotel room so I had to borrow my son's which are 2 sizes too big.
Neither of us did well in the DS but I enjoyed it anyway.
Enough has been said about the MTX course. I felt the amateurs didn't get enough practice. And I hate how they close the courses to practice at nationals. I didn't get enough riding in.
Again, Jr. didn't do as well as I'd hoped in the MTX but he had the eventual 1st place guy in his round of 16.
I won 40+ beg/sport. I was debating about racing expert but with so few there I'm glad I didn't. I ended up getting more race runs.
Next year if we go my daughter wants to go out and race with us.
I broke a pivot bolt on my bike during DS practice and Intense was kind enough to let me demo a bike for the race. I also left my shoes at the hotel room so I had to borrow my son's which are 2 sizes too big.
Neither of us did well in the DS but I enjoyed it anyway.
Enough has been said about the MTX course. I felt the amateurs didn't get enough practice. And I hate how they close the courses to practice at nationals. I didn't get enough riding in.
Again, Jr. didn't do as well as I'd hoped in the MTX but he had the eventual 1st place guy in his round of 16.
I won 40+ beg/sport. I was debating about racing expert but with so few there I'm glad I didn't. I ended up getting more race runs.
Next year if we go my daughter wants to go out and race with us.
Generally crappy time.
It's not worth it anymore. Too many people, too unorganized, and too many idiots running around not taking it seriously.
I'm sure the volunteers try their best, but it's not good enough. Sorry.
It's not worth it anymore. Too many people, too unorganized, and too many idiots running around not taking it seriously.
I'm sure the volunteers try their best, but it's not good enough. Sorry.