Sea Otter - The Circuit Race, Sat. April 19th

For some reason I do not think I was meant to do well at Sea Otter. We woke up early to eat the breakfast of champions, eggs, toast and coffee and looked to see that the weather was going to be. High of 55degrees with high winds. We bundled up and pre dressed and off we went. It was awesome being so close to the course. We went straight to the pro parking which is on course and put out the trainers and chairs. Burrr! It was only 46 degrees and the wind was howling probably dropping the temperature quite a bit. We sat in the van as long as we could to not get too cold. Morgan meet up with us and we were back to hanging in the van. I thought I would get on the trainer as close to the start as possible in order to be warm.

Even “warming” up with the cover of the van from the wind was freezing cold. Our host family kept mentioning that it is never that windy in Monterey but of course we were racing so it had to be. At the start we were all shivering just waiting for the whistle to blow. At least the climb got you warm but then the quick descent down the corkscrew would make you freezing cold again. X stuck some newspaper down her jersey in the front which was a smart move. As the laps went on (we had to do 22) the pace picked up. On certain laps it was a Queen of the Mountains competition and on others a sprint competition. I was suffering with my asthma as the cold air was hitting my lungs hard and I was wheezing horribly. I was hanging with the pack suffering on the climb and then would move up on the downhill. Each time we hit the down hill the wind would push itself into your lungs which made you hyperventilate as you were gasping for air from the climb. This pattern continued on and I was suffering. Due to my asthma I knew I was not getting enough oxygen. A group got off the front on one of the QOMs and the chase was on. X was very aggressive and riding super well. I was suffering just trying to hang on. The sand from the race course was blowing so hard across the finishing straight you could barely see. I considered it a free but miserable dermabrasion. The entire time during the race our host family was cheering for us on the side of the road and it inspired me. They are great for sticking out the cold to watch us.

The race continued and some of the girls from the break were caught as the pace ramped near the end of the race. I knew if I could just hang on I might have something left for the bunch sprint. With about 3 laps to go there was an attack on the climb and that just broke me. With not having oxygen for 2 hours my body was spent. I rode with 3 other riders until the end of the race. Bummer day for me. I finished in 36^th place. About 70 girls started the race and only about 40 finished. Ugh! So far my trips to Sea Otter have been very much influenced by the weather. X and Morgan finished jut outside of the money and rode well.

Showing off the Nuun product. I love the stuff!

After the race X and I walked the festival and visited our sponsors to say hi and thank them for their support of our team. The wind was just so strong that it was miserable even walking around the festival. Everything was covered in dirt and the vendors were suffering just holding onto their easy ups to keep them down.