Sea Otter weekend!
The race season starts early for those fortunate enough to live in California. By mid February the local training race series starts up and by mid March I am back on the regular weekend race regimen with the San Dimas and Fontana races. Logging in early season mileage is easy to do with so many cyclists in the community who are ready to motivate the weary even when the weather is less than ideal. By the time mid April rolls around, many of the top level racers already have 3-4 months worth of training in the legs with a goal of going fast at Sea Otter, this year was no different.
The week prior to Sea Otter I had the opportunity to meet all the Specialized factory riders who were in town for the weekend races. With numerous past, current and future world champions, it was awesome to be sitting in a room with the world's best cyclist. We ended up doing a quick Q & A with questions coming off the internet and from people in the audience. I chimed in for a minute about 45 minutes in; you can tell I was feeling the pressure. I Am Specialized for the Q & A.
The racing for my teammate Matt Ryan and I started on Friday with the Super-D. Considering how fast and smooth the course was, I swapped out my usual 42-30 tooth double chainring set for a 44 tooth ring and cranked up the Brain on my Specialized S-works Stumpjumper. It is amazing how versatile the Stumpy is with its ability to be tuned to handle such a variety of conditions. Anyways, the race started with a Le Mans start, followed by a quick descent to a 45 second climb, followed by a fast fireroad descent to the finish line. We had 30 or so starters in the pro field, which four minutes in separated down to about 15 racers as we plunged down the hill to the finish line. We topped out at around 48 mph (the fastest I've gone on the dirt) all while bumping elbows and jumping waterbars with riders to my left and right. Once again Decker got off the front and developed a gap on the chase group finishing first, with 2nd through 11th separated by 3 seconds. I finished 6th along with teammate Matt Ryan finishing 11th, not a bad showing for the Specialized Trail Team. Check Specialized 411 for race footage. As you can see in the video, I think it is time to get a haircut, hehe.
The week prior to Sea Otter I had the opportunity to meet all the Specialized factory riders who were in town for the weekend races. With numerous past, current and future world champions, it was awesome to be sitting in a room with the world's best cyclist. We ended up doing a quick Q & A with questions coming off the internet and from people in the audience. I chimed in for a minute about 45 minutes in; you can tell I was feeling the pressure. I Am Specialized for the Q & A.
The racing for my teammate Matt Ryan and I started on Friday with the Super-D. Considering how fast and smooth the course was, I swapped out my usual 42-30 tooth double chainring set for a 44 tooth ring and cranked up the Brain on my Specialized S-works Stumpjumper. It is amazing how versatile the Stumpy is with its ability to be tuned to handle such a variety of conditions. Anyways, the race started with a Le Mans start, followed by a quick descent to a 45 second climb, followed by a fast fireroad descent to the finish line. We had 30 or so starters in the pro field, which four minutes in separated down to about 15 racers as we plunged down the hill to the finish line. We topped out at around 48 mph (the fastest I've gone on the dirt) all while bumping elbows and jumping waterbars with riders to my left and right. Once again Decker got off the front and developed a gap on the chase group finishing first, with 2nd through 11th separated by 3 seconds. I finished 6th along with teammate Matt Ryan finishing 11th, not a bad showing for the Specialized Trail Team. Check Specialized 411 for race footage. As you can see in the video, I think it is time to get a haircut, hehe.
posted by Aaron.Bradford at
12:52 PM
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