Alexey Vermeulen | Sea Otter Race Recap

My Sea Otter experience is quite limited, in fact I have only been to Monterey once before in 2019 and I was blown away, somewhat overwhelmed, by how much was going on and how much bigger it was than any other race on the calendar. I was interested in how small the racing portion was and yet there seemed to somehow be an event for everyone. In 2020, Lifetime bought the event and with it including the kickoff for the Lifetime Grand Prix this year, many of us were anxious to see the cycling world get back together.

I flew in with Avery from Denver and met Trafford at SFO. We picked up our rental car and played a quick game of adult Tetris with the Tacoma and 4 bikes before setting off towards Menlo Park, CA to meet up with the ENVE crew. Sea Otter kicks off on Thursday, but today is Tuesday, why? Because we are going to ride to Monterey tomorrow.

We woke up Wednesday, ate breakfast and headed out for the 102-mile ride through Watsonville and down along the coast to Monterey. The weather was perfect, the views stunning and cookie stops every 20 miles or so – this was the life, if only all bike rides could be like this!

Wednesday’s activities quickly gave way to Thursday as the event began in earnest! Much of Thursday included registering, meeting up with friends, pre riding the mountain bike course and getting acquainted with the venue. We used the ENVE booth as a home base/ logistics center in our attempt to nail everything we wanted to do. Success at Sea Otter has a lot of parameters, and the expo can be quite like a casino in terms of losing track of time during the during the day! Wandering around 500+ vendors looking at new tech and chatting with old friends is time consuming and makes each day go SO FAST.

After saying all that, you can imagine that the racing at Sea Otter can become somewhat secondary, but also incredibly special as there is an event or discipline for EVERYONE.

Downhill and Dual Slalom to Road Racing and ebike races: You are covered. Seeing people take on multiple events is super cool because I think it shows cycling is growing in the right way…balance is everything, no pun intended.

Friday would be my first race and one of the busiest days Expo wise so we started it in the best way I know how…with an all you can eat buffet. Although Lifetime GP is the focus, I couldn’t help jumping in the road race on Friday. A somewhat unorthodox opener session, but I race well fatigued so why not? The race was 68 miles with about 6500ft of climbing, 9 x 7 miles laps and then finishing on a short climb. I raced with the understanding that my big goal was the next day, so I needed to stay relaxed as much as I could.

I was able to conserve energy by following moves and staying near the front for a majority of the race and only had to put in one big dig to bring back a move I was quite worried about. With about 5 miles to go L3GION lined up a small lead-out train. With 1km to go I was in 3rd wheel and trying to be patient - an uphill finish like this needs to be left LATE. With 200m to go Cam Piper jumped and I was so focused on Freddy Ovett that I hesitated a bit and he was gone…I managed to finish 2nd and quickly remembered that this was all for fun anyway – be happy!

Willie and I made a trip to the podium and got a medal before getting off our feet to rest. Less than 12 hours until I toed the line again for the 80k MTB marathon.

Saturday was an early morning kicking off with an instant oatmeal breakfast out of Chipolte queso cups (ps. You can fit two packets inside a cup), breakfast isn’t always as glamorous as an all you can eat buffet!

We got to the venue by about 6:45 for an 8:05 start…it was chilly and a tad eerie to see the venue such a ghost town. I dressed up and was out for a warmup by 7:15 knowing that there were no call ups…I would have to be at the line early. I did a couple spin ups, checked out the start for the last time and got to the line around 7:45 – already a tad late, I would have to deal with a 2nd row start. The course was fast, and position would be VERY important. I was pumped to be riding my new FACTOR Lando HT…making choices to race to my strengths (climbing) and not my weaknesses (descending).

The start was CHAOTIC, I was very happy to make it into the single track in the front 10 and quickly moved up a couple more spots to 8th. For most of the first 25 mile lap I yo-yo’d off the front group of 7 before being caught by a small group at the end of the first lap. I kept motivated and focused on my overall goal – top 10, don’t get hurt, avoid mechanicals.

As we started the 2nd and final lap I rode a majority with Lachlan Morton and Rob Britton. We were racing as 9th, 10th, 11th on the course and I did not want to leave it to the end. With about 4 miles to go I started pushing a little harder to see if I could create space before the finish, as I came into the final climb I was pleasantly surprised that not only did I find some time, I was also much closer to the group racing for 4th ahead of me…game on. I started making bets with myself (and people I passed) if I had the legs to close the 45 ish second gap before the finish. As we got to the top of the climb I was just off the back, maybe 15 seconds. 2 miles to go…I tried to recover as we descended and hit the racetrack for the final mile.

I was spotted at this point as I saw the group lurch forward…I put it into 6th gear and made contact just seconds too late as we entered the final 200m of single track. 9th would be all I could muster, but happy to stay safe and start the series off well – lots to come…500+ miles of racing to be exact. Keegan won, Russell was second and Alex Wild third…result of the day goes to Tobin with some damn panache if I have ever seen it! I finished off the day with an ENVE group ride, mostly for Willie, before cashing out my chips and finding my way out of the venue around 6pm.

Sunday started similarly to Saturday EXCEPT, Avery, Trafford and I switched jobs… it was my turn for bottle and camera duty now and it was their turn to race. They smashed the 40k MTB race and then I spent the rest of the day chatting with friends and partners. At the end of the 4 days, everyone was happy, heart filled, and EXHAUSTED. We helped with tent teardown mid dust storm before heading back to the hotel to pack bikes.

To cap this off, Lifetime killed it, Sea Otter is back post Covid and I cannot wait for 2023. Seeing friends faces in real life and not little boxes is worth the lack of sleep. If I didn’t convince you in the past 1300 words, I’ll say it more simply, put Sea Otter on your list. Whether racing or spectating, it is an event to behold.

Next up is BWR San Diego, hope to see you there!

Ciao,

Willie & Alexey