Sea Otter Classic '07 XC

My Sea Otter ‘07 Cross Country race – I had borrowed Greg’s nine year old Kona Hei Hei, a titanium hardtail, for the occasion.

The Kona felt great on the climbs, with amazing acceleration. Because of its small/medium frame size and straight bar it was pretty nimble on the singletrack as well, but at the same it did have a tendency to induce some back pains – only on the steeper and bumpier downhill sections I missed my Yeti though.

The course was in excellent shape and during the race the weather was near perfect – light sprinkles at the beginning, partly cloudy later. Not for too long though, as around 11am or so Laguna Seca was treated to an incredible downpour – a true cold monsoon! We were walking around on the plaza at that time and dove into the Titus booth to find shelter, and were able to admire the new El Guapo at the same time. Second year in a row that the Otter gets plagued by seriously bad weather – I believe the ongoing road race was cancelled and am sure a bunch of other saturday events got messed up. And tomorrow riders will probably witness the return of … the mud bogs (non-existent today)!