Sea Otter Classic: A dream ride

This past week the full Ribble Outliers Team were in action at the Sea Otter Classic in California racing the Pro gravel race on Thursday. I've raced all over Europe and South Africa but racing in the US has been a dream for a long time. Watching the Lifetime Grand Prix from home I've always been in awe of the coverage and events. It's always been fun comparing myself to the US athletes when they come over to Europe but now we get to take them on on their turf. This year we as a team are lucky enough to be racing the first two rounds of the LTGP, Sea Otter and Unbound. 

Some of the team took the opportunity to fly out over a week before the race but I flew out last minute on Tuesday. Not great for jetlag but with a four year old son I'm maybe better used to having rubbish sleep than many athletes. 

Our race on Thursday was part of a much larger festival with loads of different road, gravel and mountain bike events over the full four days and a huge expo with hundreds of brands. The expo was a great opportunity to meet many of our team sponsors. The nearest European event I can compare Sea Otter Classic to would be Roc d'Azur but the expo here in the US is much bigger. We were all blown away with the scale of the event which takes place at the spectacular location of the Laguna Seca Raceway near the beautiful beaches of Monterey. 

On Wednesday the team went out to ride a lap of the course, a 30 mile circuit, which we'd race around three times on Thursday. I can honestly say this was one of the best gravel race routes I've ridden, I was absolutely buzzing by the end of the ride, a good sign for the following days race. As fun as the course was to ride I knew it would be incredibly tough to race. The last 5km of each lap was just the most brutal hill, on the Wahoo ELEMNT climb profile it was just red the whole way. 

Race day dawned, the 10.30 start for the men and 10.50 start for the women meant an unusually relaxed morning. No 4am breakfast here. Once we negotiated the usual US traffic jams we were ready to roll. Warming up on the start climb on the raceway with the venue packed with people ready to watch the pro race and explore the expo the atmosphere was already electric. The legs felt good, maybe not as great as the day before, but the bike felt fast. 

A good third row grid position gave me a chance to slingshot to the front if I felt good or try to hold my position rather than having to fight my way forwards like others who began further back. I knew from watching coverage of previous year that the start was crucial as after the climb out of the arena on the car race track it was downhill for the next 5 minutes. The commentators were hyping up the crowd, the countdown begun, the tv helicopter hovers noisily above, this race is about to begin.

Photo: Life Time/Dan Hughes

Bang! We fly off the start line, heart rates are already elevated from the adrenaline but soon we are at max heading up the smooth but steep black tarmac climb. Just when you think you can't go any faster the acceleration begins for the 180 degree turn onto the gravel. Elbows out, through the corner, then another max effort for 30 seconds to the top of the climb. The pace down the long descent is just as ridiculous! My teammate Jenson and I fight our way into the lead group. Part one of the mission accomplished. I was pretty worried about how sketchy the first descent would be with the high speed and jostling for position but we all survived to tell the story.

Into the lead group, the selection is made. After this the race was pretty tactical and the pace relatively comfortable. Sitting in the bunch I was quite often cruising at zone 2 heart rate. Each climb the pace would be wound up and people were popping off the back. Then with 15km to go on lap one we approached the long singletrack trail, the race for a good position into the trail was pretty comical, everyone sprinting like it was the finish line, then two wheel skidding into the left hand corner on gravel.

At the end of the lap was that hideously steep climb, we raced into it to get a good position, the legs then full of lactate as the climb began. Everywhere else the course had a decent breeze which provided some good cooling from the hot California sun but here on this climb there was no wind and you were in the exposed sunshine. Temperatures seemed to rise 10 degrees centigrade and heart rate 10 bpm as a result. My core body temperature was well over optimum which I'm sure handicapped me here, I just couldn't hit my usual watts in the heat on this climb. By the top of the climb the group was in bits, a frantic chase through the arena and back onto the first descent of the lap ensued. Sadly by this point Jenson had dropped off the back, I'm excited for more races where we have numerous members of the team in the front group together.

Photo: Life Time/Dan Hughes

By the base of the downhill we'd burnt a few matches but were back in the group. The pace was then a lot more chilled until the sprint for the singletrack. Lap one the trail was ridden pretty slowly, the same luxury was not experienced lap two when US sensation Keegan Swenson hit the front using his MTB skills to stretch out the group. At the end of the singletrack there was a bit of chasing to catch back up but powerhouse Matt Beers hit the front with his billion watt threshold. 

The bike setup was perfect for this week's fast pace race with the loose gravel and singletrack. My Ribble Gravel prototype freshly serviced after the mud of Italy was fitted out with Ribble UB-2 aero bar and stem, Sram Eagle Transmission gears (52t cassette) and 46t chainring, Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels, Selle Italia saddle, Schwalbe Thunder Burt 54mm front tyre and G-One Pro RS 50mm rear (21 and 23psi), Squirt SEAL tyre sealant, Restrap Race Top Tube bag and Wahoo Elemnt Bolt computer.  

As we reached the hottest part of the day the last climb was even worse than lap one. The lead group split, by the top of the climb I was well over the limit but chased with all I had and made it into a secondary group of 5. We came to within 5 or 10 seconds of the lead group but after that they rode off into the distance. We were still fighting for around 13th place and there was a chance others would fall back from the lead group. The group cooperated relatively well but the impetus was not always the best which cost us some time and maybe some places by the finish.

With the heat being so high the team were very thankful to our support crews in feed 1 and 3, in total I consumed 480 grams of carbs in 4 and a half hours via a mix of Precision Fuel and Hydration energy drink, gels and chews. Total fluid intake was 4.5 litres from 6 bottles. The icy cold water bottles being handed up from the neutral support were a lifesaver, pouring them over head and back was instant relief. 

The race flew by and soon we were on the last savage climb, the group split from the base, every man for himself. Keegan was already crossing the finish line to win, Matt Beers second and Alexey Vermeulen third. In the women’s race Hayley Batten took the win ahead of Sofia Gomez Villafane and Cecily Decker.

I gave every bit of remaining energy to reach the top of the last hill and from there could only freewheel to the finish line on the verge of cramping. Over the line to take 17th place, a number which doesn’t illustrate the strength of this result in a super competitive field. As the first round of the LTGP this event attracted the best athletes from around the world. My first two races this year have been not far off world champs level of competition.

That was Sea Otter Classic done and definitely dusted! A really fun week in California with the Ribble Outliers racing our bikes, exploring Monterey and San Francisco, visiting some beautiful beaches and doing some amazing riding through the national parks. We’ll be back in about six weeks for Unbound, the second round of the Life Time Grand Prix.

Photo: Life Time/Dan Hughes