May 4th , 2004

Sea Otter is old news now, but it was fun while it lasted. I’m sure everyone has already read what went on, who did what, what the bikes looked like, and who had the ugliest uniforms. Or maybe not. So just in case here is my little recap.

It was really good to be back with the whole team present. The only change up was the addition to our new mechanic from Durango, Tom Nebb. The weekend was not nearly as hectic as the year before so he was stoked. When we got there Frank had already put a VT together for me and AC’s for the guys fitted with Sherman forks and ready for the DH. It ended up being perfect for the course instead of running our regular DH bikes. That was a nice little surprise.

The weather looked iffy for the weekend, but after it was all over it held out and never ended up raining. I always plan on rain at Sea Otter and then if it doesn’t I’m just that much more happy.
Sea Otter is always a bit stressful just because you’re always running from DH practice to either Slalom or Mtn.-X practice or qualifying. But for some reason this year was different. At least it seemed that way for me. Maybe it’s because Elke bought a little comment board for the team. You know, to “express” our feelings and it turned out to be awesome. So in between all the madness Dustin, Rando, and I would have a little fun with it and the time was a bit less daunting I guess. O.K, well it sounded better in my head. Whatever.

So as for the racing it went well. The first event was the Slalom and things got interesting in the semi-final round. I went up against number one qualifier Sabrina Jonnier. We had two good heats with a minor bobble in the gate on my first run, but she was on a mission and took both heats. I ended up in the small final against Anneke Beerten who by the way was riding great. She beat Leigh Donovan in the round before to get to the small final. I ended winning both heats and finished with 3rd for the day.

The next day was the finals for both the DH and the Mtn.-X. I was having so much fun riding the DH course that I just never really got nervous for the final. I know when I’m having fun on the runs that it doesn’t really matter and to just keep it fun. It was a lung burner at the end and in the finishing straight I felt like I was pedaling squares. I ended up third behind Marla and Sabrina.

So far I had two third places and Sabrina had a first and a second. So the Omnium would come down to the Mtn.-X, which I had qualified first in. To be honest I did give the Omnium much thought. I just wanted to be consistent in all three and I figured if I was then we’d see what happened. I was feeling really good on the Mtn.-X course even though I was hitting the doubles at the top. They were pretty tricky and I knew when it came down to the race no girl would be able to jump them. Jumping them in practice is completely different than hitting them in a race with three other people around you and not being able to set up perfectly. So once I saw a couple try it and struggle I just practiced what I needed to. At the bottom there was a water jump and for some reason it never looked difficult to me. I followed Dustin off of it and it was easy than I thought so I just dialed in the rest of the course.
The final ended up being myself, Katrina, Marla, and Jamie Lilly. We lined up in the gate the same way with me being in lane one. Jamie got an unreal gate and I was second going into the first turn. We all rolled the doubles and I just couldn’t wait to get through them to start pedaling again. I was trying to get close enough to Jaime to make a move and just tried to patiently wait. We headed into the last turn with the water jump and for whatever reason Jaime decided to go around it to the right. As soon as I saw her hit the brakes I took a couple cranks and jumped it and won the finals. I didn’t care if I kissed the shit out of it. I was jumping the jump. Needless to say I was really happy. And to top it off Sabrina ended up not making it out of her semi-finals and that’s what needed to happen for me to win the overall. I didn’t realize it till’ after it was all over.

It was a great way to start the season off and have my Mom, my aunt and uncle, P-dawg, and Elke at the bottom was really cool. Thanks to all of my sponsors for helping out over the weekend and I hope we can do it again.
Thanks!

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