Sea Otter

This years otter was awesome. For once it was dry all weekend, relatively warm and the Mona Vie tent was the hit of the venue. Opting out of the short track, I decided to heckle on my teammate Bryan as he blasted his way from the back row into the teens on the first lap. Between serving Mona Vie shots, pre riding the course, checking out the venue and doing photo shoots, I don’t really know where all the time went……..wait a second……now I do.

The Semi Pro XC race was in the morning on Sunday. Brisk with calm winds, it was the lesser of two evils since the winds in the afternoons must have been at mach 10 speeds. At 8:00am Matt Ohran and I lined up at the start line. I caught up with some old friends and got ready to take off. The field was pretty big, roughly 70 starters. As the gun went off I got pinched off next to the fencing and got stuck back in about 15th or so. As we rounded the Leguna Seca Speedway I followed wheels and worked my way up to the front. As we neared the start of the jeep road I attacked. Soon enough I was in a train of about 15 or so and the field splintered. As the race progressed, some people caught on the train and others popped off. Somewhere in the middle of first lap I decided that the pace was slightly too high and another lap of this would not be tolerated by my legs. As I backed off, a few guys passed me, panting as if it was the beginning of the race. I came into the Start/Finish area in no mans land, all by my lonesome. As I got my feed I was told I was in 13th. Considering I had never busted the top 15 until the previous week in Colorado I was stoked to be feeling good and riding well. As I came off the racetrack and onto the dirt road for the second time I could see a train of about 10 guys working together trying to catch me. I gave her everything I had on the jeep road hoping the “out of sight, out of mind” theory would kick in. The next thing I knew I was catching people who were completely blown from the pace set earlier in the race. At this point I wasn’t sure if I was running from the competition or hunting them down. Completely motivated to be where I was, I rode with conviction, taking risks and going for broke. Whether it was one footing it as my bike broke loose going 25mph through loose sand or pushing my legs on the climbs to the point to where I could almost feel them cramping I gave it everything I had. Knowing that I only had about 3 miles to go, I threw caution to wind, put my head down and hammered. As I crossed the line, I knew I had achieved something special. Comes out I got 8th, only 7 mins down from the winner in a 2:45hr race.


While the race result might not be a podium, or winning a huge race it was a completely new experience for me. For the first time in awhile I really raced from start to finish and was in the mix. I don’t think I recall a moment like this since racing expert a couple of years ago. This race was a breath of fresh air and a reminder that the time and dedication we athletes put into this sport actually does pay off sometimes. While progression seemed rather stagnant the past couple years, this year seems to bring something new, something worth working for and something to keep chasing.
With my race in mind, I watched attentively to the Pro race hoping someone else could have a breakthrough like I did. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed. Jason battled health problems but others were more fortunate. Tinker Juarez, being an endurance specialist raced a great race coming in 11th in a sprint for the top 10. That was cool, but the real excitement came from the flying tomato, Mitchell Peterson. At 21 years young Mitchell came through the first lap of the pro race with the lead train. Everyone turned their heads thinking, “oh, he’ll pop”. However Mitchell dominated the course and came in 4th, enough to score a spot of the box, along with winner and former Olympian gold medalist Miguel Martinez. Watching Mitchell only added to my regained enthusiasm for racing.


I couldn’t think of a better team and group of people to race with. The encouragement and support is an inseparable package with the MonaVie/Cannondale Team and I can’t wait for the next one

In worse news. This week I got hit by a car, who drove off and Kiel had to drop out of Vuelta de Bisbee due to a crash, he was going to win too!

Picture courtesy of Velonews, check out the article as well.

Everyone is recovering and on the mend, I just hope the crashes are done for the year. Finals are right around the corner and things are about to get hectic. Good luck to everyone, especially teammates Mitchell and Sue racing in the world cups, thats big time!