Sea Otter Classic 2011 Report

I came up w the wife. Didn't know if I was gonna race...but I signed up anyways. Unfortunately, I waited in line for an hour to practice...and they shut it down early. So....sorry you'll have to race a track you've never even seen. No thanks. I got a refund. BUT....the Sea Otter is awesome. Highly recommended. Especially if u have kids. Tons to do. Saw 8 pirates....had a great time. Correction, HAVING a great time.

Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggg Pirates on an Expidition aaaaarrrrrrrgggghhh

Sorry to hear about the racing, or lack there of. The vendors & atmosphere sounds & looks good from Pinkbike! Next year for real...

Arrgh, as with every sea otter, i'm wind and sun burnt and I was just there for 6 hrs. I love schwags and new toys. Next up, Interbike.

Got in my practice runs today after some shuttles in Santa Cruz in the morning. Crashed in 2 out of the 3 runs I was able to do (fucking break checking). Grr! I'm not good with lippy jumps!!! But luckily I got to ride with Roger, Nancy, and Nicole. Hopefully I can get 2 runs in tomorrow before race run and just open it the fuck up!

deng, let's see some pics

Ejack and I had a party in our hotel....

Uh-huh.......don't ask.....don't tell.......

Any carnage? Any tail chasing? Any notable pro sightings?

Congrats Ryan E- 59th place 2:26.8
Ryan E. KILLING IT


Graves 1st 2:11.9
Neething 2nd 2:15.1
Immer 3rd 2:15.9

great job Pirates...hope i can make it out there next year...glad it was a good time for u all...

Nice to meet you Cap'n!

Sea otter was so awesome. It was my first year going and had a blast seeing the pro DS and speed and style. I rode the 2 "pump tracks" that where set up and had more fun on them than I did racing.

The DH course was super fun with JUMPS and BERMS...with alot of pedal. My DH rig was way overkill for this but I dont own another bike besides my DJ. I dropped down to sport for this one because I didnt want throw down extra $ for cat 1. Karma is a bitch because the racer starting 20 tics ahead of me fell and i had caught up to him before the last step down before the flat section. He grabbed his brakes for the step down and continued to P-line it. At this point it was either do the same or send the step down into the berm and try to pass him on the right (witch had its consequence of taking us both out). I decided to try and not pass him... grabbed a little brake and proceeded to yell at him to move. He did not and it was just a peddle race to the finish. I ended up finishing a half bike length behind him. I had a few words with him and he said he was sorry and he bought me a Sierra Nevada summerfest...boy was it delicious. After the beer I went to the official at the finish tent and told her what had happened. She said "it part of DH racing" and that there was nothing they could do. Results post and i was in 9th with a 2.44. While the P liner/beer buyer ended up 2nd with a 2.34.9....

Oh well I had fun...and proceeded to the expo tents to booze and dork out on bikes the rest of the afternoon.

jdgrimes wrote:Congrats Ryan E- 59th place 2:26.8
Ryan E. KILLING IT


Graves 1st 2:11.9
Neething 2nd 2:15.1
Immer 3rd 2:15.9

Did I read 59th place right????

Great job Ryan! I'm diggin' the red threads.

i had a lot of fun at the sea otter... great to see those that came.. i also didnt race... but it was worth it just to hang out...
here is a shot i got of ryan on his race run... all style....

Looks like either the start to a low budget porn or rap video.

jdgrimes wrote:Ejack and I had a party in our hotel....

Qikss wrote:Results post and i was in 9th with a 2.44. While the P liner/beer buyer ended up 2nd with a 2.34.9....

There was a mix-up with the Cat1 Women's DH times as well. Kinda sucky because it caused a little bit of tension. After the times were corrected, 2 were knocked off the podium. SoCal was still represented on the podium with a 3rd place win by Nicole Picchiottino (sp?).

I raced and placed last, which I figured I would because jumps still terrify me and I crashed pretty hard on 2 of my 3 practice runs on Saturday. I still raced (after much egging on by ejack and Capn) and actually enjoyed my race run. Took it easy on the sections I crashed on and pedaled hard when I needed to. I almost raced Cat2 because I didn't think they'd let me race Cat1 as you need to be "approved" by USAC to register for Cat1. But the opportunity to do some DH shuttling in Santa Cruz (FUN, FUN SHIT!!) pushed me to try and register for Cat1 (scheduled Cat2 race would have interfered with Santa Cruz shuttling). Looks like I am in the right class because even though I placed last, my time was not too far off from the podium finishers and us bottom 3 gals were only milliseconds apart. If I had raced Cat2, I would have had a 2nd place podium though.

Results:
1 797 Sitkin, Mollie - 27 - Pacifica CA - 02:59.4
2 863 Napoli, Andrea - 38 - Reno NV - 03:00.8
3 871 Picchiottino, Nicole - 45 - Hemet CA - 03:03.4
4 794 Harris, Nancy - 55 - Riverside CA - 03:08.7
5 798 Leber, Bridgette - 19 - Bozeman MT - 03:11.0
6 795 Hairston, Nova - 30 - Marina CA - 03:11.6
7 1064 Luansing-Aguillar, Tara Lucille - 30 - San Diego CA - 03:11.9
999 796 Busher, Donna - 46 - Mission Viejo CA - DNF (she wasn't able to make it out)
999 1016 Chevron, Cathy - 43 - Capitola CA - DNF (she flatted during her race run)

I think the best part of Sea Otter was where I got to stay with JHill. This was our view each day from the living room and bedroom:




Santa Cruz riding. Like I said on Facebook ~ I'm a Socal girl at heart, but I love Norcal riding!




J has more pictures on his phone that he may share.

Yes 59th. See, I have plans for my placing at sea otter. improve by 20 places every year. Last year I was 83rd, this year 60th, next year at least 40th

Ryan FTW in 2014!

That was our very own Wil White that went first in the vid, he placed second behind Semunuk and went on to win first in the DH on the same bike....fucking kid is amazing...

BMeX wrote:That was our very own Wil White that went first in the vid, he placed second behind Semunuk and went on to win first in the DH on the same bike....fucking kid is amazing...

Wil is an awesome rider. However I did give him and his parents grief for allowing him to race DH in the Sport class. He moved up to Expert at Fontana but his parents didn't want to spend the $$$ for his Cat 1 license for USAC races. All Sandbaggers should be tarred and feathered and forced to walk the plank!!!

He should get a damn job like the rest of us!