Race Report: Sea Otter Circuit Race – Men’s B Race Report 2024
Race: Sea Otter Circuit Race – Men’s B Race Report 2024
Date: April 20, 2024
AVRT Racers: Matt C, Maxime, Henry, Drew, Brad
Top result: 5th in men’s B general division
https://www.athlinks.com/event/36141/results/Event/1062752/Course/2407478/Division/2340424/Results
Course: Turn the burners on high for this exciting race on the famous Laguna Seca Raceway. Experience the thrill of descending the “corkscrew”, and the grind of the climb from Turn 5 to top of corkscrew. The racetrack is 2.238 mi (3.602 km) long, with a 180 ft (55 m) elevation change. This is a multiple lap event covering the time assigned to the category you are racing – categories race from 30 mins. – 60 mins.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11226554152/overview
Report written by Brad Lovegren
Nutrition: two bottles with Gatorade mix
Recap:
It was a cool, cloudy Monterey morning. I knew it would it would warm up and eventually clear, but the early parts of the race were characterized by mashed potato fog. I spotted the teammates before the start. We pinned numbers on each other and did a few minutes of warm-up. Having never done the race before, I didn’t have much of an idea of how to strategize. Thankfully Matt C provided some insight as he had done the race prior. He indicated a good spot to “send it” if you could hang in the front. I think our general strategy going in was to just survive in the front group until it was time to break it.
After getting the legs warm, we gathered at the start line only to realize we had all pinned our numbers on the wrong side. Cue the human centipede of frantic re-pinning! With anxiety already high, this snafu just added gasoline to the fire. We were already at the back of the field which doesn’t bode well for a smooth start. It should be noted that the field combined general Men’s B, collegiate men’s, as well as some masters men’s. Altogether, there were probably over 70 people on the start line.
When the gun went off, the racers hit the gas and we were off to a swift, heart-pumping start. It was a short race, only 45 minutes in length. And because of this, it was full gas from the gun. Due to the size of the field, I knew that getting close to the front would be imperative as the field was likely to break up. And I was right. I, along with a couple other AVRT guys, made way towards to the front of the field. Max, Matt and Henry seemed to all be along for the ride. The first portion of the lap served to be the perfect spot for making up positions as it was a brutal, one-two punch ramp that seemed to separate the men from the boys.
Having never done the course before, I was in for a thrilling (albeit somewhat terrifying) experience. After the climb at the beginning of the lap came a descent that practically made my eyes bleed. It was awesome – screechingly fast, yet so smooth and controllable. After the descent came a series of hairpin turns that required some technique and trust in the bike. Racers accelerated out of the turns like bandits on the loose. This served to be a real “match-burning” series of events.
The field (although strung-out) appeared to stay together for the first lap or two. I believe one guy broke off the front towards the beginning but he was later caught. For the rest of us, it seemed that we were just trying to survive and feel out the course and our competitors. It was full gas, stem-chewing from the get-go. Slowly but surely, the steep climb and hairpin turns started creating some separation. Guys started falling off the back.
And then something major happened midway through the race. The field completely broke apart into two halves. Someone gave it the gas at the front and a large portion of the back half got left behind. Unfortunately for fellow comrades Henry and Drew, they were part of the back half. Henry recalls missing the group by a mere 5 seconds. Max, Matt, and myself were still in contention for a decent placing.
We bobbed and weaved through the course maintaining sight of the leaders. In my mind, I was just watching the minutes slowly slip away thinking when should I pounce.
It was one lap to go. Matt gave me a look and uttered some words. I knew that the time to punch it was at the steep ramp at the beginning of the lap. I gave it the beans and did 460 watts for two minutes (which after 40 minutes of full throttle racing definitely hurt). Guys fell off and the field was completely busted open.
After the climb and descent, I found myself in the front group with maybe another 10-15 guys. I was hurting after the climb and just trying to save something for the final sprint. The accelerations out of the final hairpins practically broke me, but I managed to hold a wheel. I held on to dear life and gave it all I could at the end. But by that point, I was practically dead and just had enough to hold the wheel in front of me. Max and Matt finished shortly behind me while Henry and Drew came in after them.
It was not exactly the most organized effort team-wise, but as with a lot of these races, chaos ensues and improvisation is required.
I knew I did ok considering the size of the field was massive and I thought I was top 15 (or maybe 10 if I was lucky). But when I checked the race results, I really surprised myself. Because they scored collegiate, masters and general men’s b separately, I took 5th in the general division (out of 39)! Max was 9th, Matt was 18th, Henry was 23rd, and Drew was 26th.
It was a thrilling, exciting endeavor and I will definitely be back next year for this one. I think with a little more organization and better number pinning, we could have optimized results. It was fun nevertheless and we all wound up doing some miles in Monterey afterwards smiling and chatting all the while.
Brad Lovegren