In the mix at Sea Otter

This post was written by Catharine Pendrel on April 19, 2009

Ahh Sea Otter, it’s been a while. Unlike the majority of Pro racers out there I have been to Sea Otter a relatively few times; 2003, 2005 and now 2009. Being here as part of the Luna/ClifBar team means it’s more than just racing, it’s about visiting with our sponsors, parties and getting everything dialled for a great season.

Unlike 2005 where I went through a set of brake pads a race and spent a large portion of the Short track running through mud or averting the wheel enveloping mud bogs this year the sun was shinning, the course was dry and dusty and the riders were looking for ways to stay cool.

The short track was a fairly short loop with 1 climb, a long rough singletrack piece and a couple tight corners. As per usual the race was off and I was having girls stream by me. Heather Irmiger and my teammate Georgia got off the front and Chloe, Katerina and I made our way into the top 10. It was a tricky course to move up on as passing on the singletrack was no easy feat, but about 4 laps in I surprised my self by working up to the lead two girls. I should have been more patient, but I’m not really good at that so I went to the front for the climb. At the top my coach told me the girls behind me were redlined. I didn’t want to go only 12 minutes in, but thought I should take advantage of the situation. I got off the front by a couple seconds and felt good. A chase group of heather Irmiger, Emily Batty and Lene Byberg had formed behind me and for 3.5 laps chased me down. On last lap Emily did an excellent sling shot out of the group with Lene on her wheel and got onto the single track ahead of me. Juiced from the climb it was amazing how horrible I felt trying to keep it together across the rough singletrack and at some point, which I honestly don’t remember, Lene also got by. It was now my time to chase, but there wasn’t enough track left and I rode in for 3^rd. Heather Irmiger was in the mix all day and got great footage on her helmet cam that you can watch at cyclingdirt.org