I hooked up with Cindy, Michelle, and Lesley. Unlike last year’s ride, we all did the course for the sport class at the coming race and nobody got lost. Big victory! Michelle’s friend Brian started the ride with us, but soon he took off and we never saw him again. This was a girls’ ride after all. Where else would you see the GPS stats that show a 2h11m moving time with 1h19m stopped time?  There was a lot of chatting and laughing, but we also did some do-overs. I guess time just flies by really fast when you are having a lot of fun.

I was quite looking forward to this ride because last year when I was on the course, I was a total newbie. I remember I had to get off of my bike at many places and I had a hard time at the infamous sand pit on the course.  Since I have been riding a lot last year, I was eager to get back on this course again. Progress has been made. Granted, the trails are in a better condition (more packed with moisture) than last year so it seems a little easier, but many places I had trouble with last year did not stop me this time. I dabbed at the sand pit, but over all, I was able to get a hang of riding it and having fun while doing it. Yes, the key is keep the front end light and skate right through.

The day started out being gray, but later turned out to be gorgeous. It got windy on the last climb out, but that seems to be the norm in that area. After the ride, we were joined by Cindy’s husband Eric at our post ride lunch/dinner (4pm). There isn’t such thing as laughing too much, right? For a while, it almost seemed there was. Laughing is always a good way to end a day.

All the photos are up in the gallery now. Here are a few highlights:

Here is the interactive map from mtbguru. (You might only see a blank map in IE browser. Please click on the link below it to access.)

Distance (mi) 18.4
Total Ascent (ft) 2908
Moving Time 02h 11m 54s
Stopped Time 01h 19m 21s
Average Speed (mph) 5.2
Average Moving Speed (mph) 8.2

Here is our group at Denny’s for breakfast on Sunday morning. Ryan whom Jeff and I rode with went home last night. Erik came down at 1:30 in the morning after work and went back to work after breakfast 

Nick with scratches in his chin and his mangled up front wheel

Pink color scheme. Flowers. Cute T-shirts. Hmmm…. I wonder if this tent is for girls….

Here’s a girl who does free-riding

How do you feel about having an ice cream cone?

There are many structures like this for little kids to have fun in

Ryan Leech can do some sick tricks.

I took following photos as the Expert Downhill race.  Please visit the gallery for full-sized photos.

I have to confess though my motive in signing up for the ride was not pure. Erik had ridden at Sea Otter a few times. Last year when he quit riding there (not interested any more), his buddy Derek got us in the festival for one day on his extra passes and we got some swags and bought some items at good prices. This year, Derek thought he would have one extra pass, so not knowing that one could buy day passes separately, I thought I would have to sign up something just to get in the festival. Yep, I did not sign up for the ride; I signed up the tour for the swags. Plus, being there would enable Erik to hang out with this circle of MTB friends. As luck had it, Erik ended up having to work long hours on an IT project over the weekend and did not even make it down.

Why was I so happy about myself making the ride then? Well, always having enjoyed long distance riding, I had made up my mind to do the long version of the tour (called the sport, or 20-mile, course). However, I had only ridden at Sea Otter once (last weekend with eight dirt divas) and only did most of the beginner course. So there were about 7.5 miles of trails I had not seen. I did not know what to expect. I found myself awake at 3am wondering how technical it could be on those trails unknown to me. The time finally arrived at 9:30 am on Saturday morning. “Well, I guess I’ll find out.”

There were eight of us in our group, but it would have been almost impossible to all stay together anyway. So, from the beginning of the ride, I hung on to Jeff and Ryan. The very moment the riders left the pavement, I witnessed a crash — a little kid (about ten years old) went down when his wheels washed out on the gravel dirt road. He was wearing full protection gear though, so the crash did not look too bad. I was a little nervous when we hit the first single track because that was where I went down last time. But the ride went quite uneventful. I caught up with someone who obviously had taken a tumble judging by the dirt coverage over his body and passed him when he stalled in a sandy bend. I was never very fast, but I was not on my brake much either.

For the most part, I did well climbing and even got some compliments from a total stranger whom I leap frogged with for a while. But at one very short steep technical (rutted and loose) climb, I guess I was trying so hard to impress the guy pushing his bike right next to me that I rode off the good line I had planned on taking and veered into a deep sand patch. The bike stopped moving forward, and started tipping sideway. I landed almost right next to his feet. And it took me a few seconds to unclip my right shoe. Hmmm… embarrassing. The good thing was I landed on my right hip, which already got a pupple-blue bruise from who knows when, so it was no big deal. What’s even better was that was the only crash for me on this ride.

For the most of the way, Jeff stayed in front of me, and Ryan stayed behind me. Sometimes when we hit a downhill/technical section, I had the previlage to watch Jeff catch some air and do some fancy stuff before he totally disappeared. But we regrouped often along the way, chatting, drinking water, eating, and answering nature’s calls. On the last long climb out, Jeff and I stayed together in the feroucious wind. At one point, the side wind blew me right across the wide fireroad and added a bit of excitement to the ride. We made it to the finish after 2 hours and 45 minutes from the start. According to my GPS and motionbased, my riding time was 2:24. I am feeling pretty good about it.

There was a mishap in our group though. Nick, Derek’s teenage son, crashed hard after his tire blew up, most likely due to a pinch flat from a dip. The front wheel was all mangled up. He got a ride out on the course service truck. The bruises and wounds in his chin and legs did not take his smiles away though. A tough kid, I must say.

My camera was too bulky to be carried around on a ride, especially when I’m not sure if I can staying away from crashes. So, it’s a pity that I have no pictures to show for this scenic ride. But the lack of photos did not seem to stop me from typing — man, this trip report is getting lengthy again.

Oh, wait, before I finish it off, last year, I heard Sea Otter gave out one festival pass for every ride/race one signed up as well as a guest pass, which obviously has been cut this year. From what I heard, the post-ride lunch plate for the finishers also got quite a bit less fulfilling despite the higher registration fee. It makes one wonder where the event is headed. Guess we’ll find out next year.

The sport course map (19.53 miles)

Elevation Profile (3885′+/3860′-)

P.S. Please see my Sunday’s post for photos from Sea Otter.

P.P.S. I guess I forgot to elaborate on how the course was, especially the section that was not on the Beginners course.  Overall, this course, in my mind, is very beginner-friendly. For the most part, it is very smooth. The main technical aspect is that you need to deal with loose sand here and there. But unless you are unlucky, I don’t think eating some sand will hurt much.  The Sport section was not bad either — there were no logs to hop over or a steep cliff side to fall off of.  I remember there was a section of fairly steep downhill section that was a little rough, but I had enough time to pick the best line and ride it, so it really was not that bad at all.

Around 10am, everybody gathered at a parking lot at Laguna Seca. Nine of us! I’ve never ridden with a group of girls before. This was new to me, and I liked it right away! Our ride leader Janet handed out a map to everyone — color-printed, map with turn by turn directions on one side, and the vicinity area map on the back side, guess just in case some of us got so lost that we accidentally ended up in Salinas or something. Oh and she wrote her cellphone on each map too. This had never happened on any other rides I’d done, but of course I had always ridden with guys.

Before the ride, I had heard about the sandy sections on the course. When I saw them, I realized they were just like ocean beaches, except that the sand was not packed by the tides. To ride it, it was challenging, but it was also fun and exciting. The bonus is when I came down because the front wheel washed out the first time I hit a sand patch, it didn’t hurt at all! Later down a sandy trail, I took the advice I heard to heart — do not brake the front. The front wheel wiggled around in the loose sand. I rode, I dabbed, but I stayed upright. By the end, my right forearm was hard as a rock. Oops, I guess I over-braked the rear wheel.

Near the end of the course (Mile 9 – 12) was a long gradual uphill ride out. The group was spread out on the fire road. Somehow, four of us in front ended up separated from the rest of the group. Hmmm… were we lost? Even with Janet on the other end of the cellphone communication, and with maps in our hands, we rode this way and that way (as you can see between Mile 12 and 15 in the elevation profile). At one point, it seemed I had the others convinced that I knew the way out (which turned out to be indeed one way out). I told others my husband would be laughing if he knew this because it was known that I could get lost in a closet. We all cheered when we met the group back at the cars.

One thing I noticed that’s different from other rides I’ve done was after the ride, everyone wiped the sunblock off, brushed their hair, and changed. Suddenly everybody looked like she was going to a mall or something.

Oh, and another thing, it was hot like I said earlier. I’m guessing it was in the 90s. There were coolers around alright, but I didn’t see beers. The guys would be chatting away each holding a beer. I opened my cooler — a few iced bottles — we had icy water to drink on the way home. Yup, this is a girls’ ride.

Mudworm with the dirt divas (Janet was taking the picture). Did you notice we find some flowers for the background?

“Everybody look mean now.” We really tried, ‘coz we were going to kick some butt!

Wow, who would have guessed these girls just finished a 15 mile ride!

The elevation profile according to my GPS.

For a few more pictures, please visit the gallery.

[Note: As usual, this report was first posted to our forum.]

Following is added on April 14, 2008:

After studying the map and my GPS recording, I figured out where we, the four of us, had missed the turn. It’s shown in yellow in this picture:

Our ride was not shortened though because in the end, we rode back and forth near the race track while trying to find our way back.

Oh, after Janet read the trip report, she said, “I think we need to work on our ‘mean & tough’ looks. I don’t think we could scare a rabbit off the trail!”