April marks the annual Sea Otter pilgrimage at the Thompson household, the re-introduction of pain threshold testing and once in a blue moon, sunny skies around Monterey, CA. The blue moon rose this year for the best weather in Sea Otter memory.My wife and I packed our 1yr old, bikes and a mountain of gear into the trusty Subaru for the 10hr drive from Bend, OR leaving behind the frosty spring weather for 70's and 80's. Troy and the gang had the big green Cannondale truck set up, bike stands out, with demos, new products, and reps ready for the onslaught when we arrived on Friday for a pre-ride and sponsor meet & greets.
Apparently they haven't had much rain down here because the course was fossilized dirt with a nice layer of decomposed granite on top, providing super fast ridge-top riding broken up by endless, short, steep climbs through the trees. Super fun and a welcome break from riding in the snow back home. As always the course followed the long, exposed doubletrack road into a consistent headwind back to the venue at the end of each lap.With over 150 guys lining up for the PRO XC start, things got a little hectic on the track as we all rolled out in the heat of the day on Sunday. Nobody wanted to be on the front in the wind, yet everyone wanted to be near the front as we funneled into the singletrack. This led to lots of bumping elbows, tire buzzing and road rash for some.
Having navigated the start mayham, I gave it 110% to stay near the front until my radiator blew in the 90+ degree heat after about 45 minutes. Yes, it boiled over and out as I was racing, but that seemed to help a little as nearly everyone entered survival-mode racing. Stopping at feed zones to pound a bottle, the lucky appearance of bottled water out on course, as well great feeding and support from the family in the start/finish area allowed me to maintain an even pace and finish 36th while almost 1/3 of the field dropped out.
GU and Hydrapak were put to the test with the conditions this weekend and came out shining. Thanks guys for making our job a little easier. The new BREW recovery drink actually has me considering going out for ride this morning. Troy - thanks for taking care of of us needy bike-racer types who couldn't turn a wrench if our life depended on it! Looking forward to the "official" start of the season now with Sea Otter in the books!Ben Thompson
Cannondale Factory Racing
