The Sea Otter Classic!

The Sea Otter Classic is a lot like Christmas. There is a lot of hype before it gets here, lots of fun while it is here and once it is gone, it's gone. All the manufacturers' show off their latest creations, most of the world cup pro racers are in town for the traditional kick-off to the season (not the case this year because the first world cup was the weekend before) and there is just a smile on everyone's face. This year the weather was warm, very warm! Very little wind and temperatures reaching the 90's both Friday and Saturday made it one of the best Sea Otter's ever!

Point One Racing partnered up with Fuel Energy drink and Stone Racing (thanks guys!) to show off their products, along with something new and very special. A lot of hype surrounding these beauties:

Thanks to Jason @ Sicklines for the photo. Details to follow.

Alex Amaral had a lot of momentum coming into Sea Otter, winning three CCCX races, he was definately a podium favorite! Pulling double-duty, he made it to the 2nd round in slalom, but was beat after a small mistake, and a 6th place in DH, barely off the box!

Rick Rasmussen photo.

Graeme Pitts and Evan Turpen are both racing on the same team this year, but that did not keep them from both looking very fast. Graeme is just coming off of a broken arm, but was still able to race. Evan pulled a 2:14.77 and Graeme with a 2:20.73, awesome!


Katie Holden got her new stems and bikes built up just shortly before Sea Otter and was already ripping on them. She pulled an awesome 8th place in Pro Women with a time of 2:35.60, way to go Katie!


Co-founder Scott Orehek was back for another race! He practiced so hard that is fork blew out and had to borrow a bike and still had a great finish in the expert class!

Rick Rasmussen photo.

Chris Lauber had a nasty fall during practice, however that did not keep him from racing, however a couple mistakes in his race fun did keep him off the box, but it did not keep him from throwing style off the hip jump.

Rick Rasmussen photo.

Founder Jimmy Amaral focused only on DH this year. With a lot of training at the CCCX races, he was sure to have a strong finish! A couple small bobbles in his race knocked him down 20-30 spots than where he would have finished. However 79th of 140 is still a terrific finish considering all the talent that comes to Sea Otter.


Jordan Lopez also had a few bobbles and a crash on one of the jumps, he got back on the bike and charged hard, still managed to beat 40 other pros even with the crash.


Full results at SeaOtterClassic.com

Special thanks to everyone for helping, photographers, all our racers, and fans! We will see you next year.

CCCX DH #3

Last weekend was the third round of the CCCX series in Salinas, CA. A pre-Sea Otter classic downhill race for everybody to shake out some butterflies. The course was very typical in CCCX fashion, with fast fireroads and tight single-track, it resembled the course from round one.

Patrick Tidd is currently in fine form, easily winning the expert 45-54 class, bug eyes and all!


Ian Massey had a quick moment to take a look at the camera, still good enough for fourth place!


Jimmy Amaral must have taken the fast line down the course, because he crossed the line in second place, just right behind Mark Weir!


Scott Seery has been going insane fast all series! He was not sure if he was even going to race, but the tank is full and the pistons are moving! Racing hardtail and single-speed (on a rigid cruiser), he has been pulling double duty all along and scores a double win in both classes!


Alex Amaral is now 3 for 3 in winning the Junior Expert class, insanely fast and insanely impressive!


Co-founder Scott Orehek showed up out of nowhere and shocked everybody with doing countless practice runs and putting down an impressive time. I think he may be back to stay.


Mike Amaral took the super fast inside line on this left hander. He seems to be back up to speed and putting down some great times. We look forward to seeing how he finishes up the series in June.


For full results, please click here.

Special thanks to Rick Rasmussen for the photos.

2nd place for Emmeline Ragot!

Big congratulations for 2nd place rider Emmeline Ragot (FRA - Suspension Center/Point One) at round one of the UCI World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa!

Please click here for full results.

Fontana City National

Round 2 of the US Cup (no longer NORBA) was held in Fontana, CA on March 28/29. With beautifully warm Southern California weather, it seemed as though the racing would just feel right. Fontana has held a national round for the past couple of years, however with the first world cup race this weekend, a lot of heavy hitter pro racers were not in town. This leaves good potential finishes to all the former semi-pro racers.

The Beginner/Sport course was separated from the much more technical Expert/Pro course. They had to launch themselves off several boulders and navigate down a series of "waterfalls" with sharp rocks and dusty powder for traction. This gnarly section of the course claimed more than a few racers...

Alex Amaral was smoking fast all day in practice, until a fortune over the bars crash left him with a wounded time.


Chris Lauber moved up to the Expert 19+ category and realized that he could hold his own speed. The older guys are fast too and Chris felt very comfortable on the technical course until an unfortunate bobble in his race run hurt his overall finish.


Jimmy Amaral moved up to the Pro class full-time and looked absolutely smooth in practice. He told me that he had all his lines pre-dialed because of the course walk and was able to accomplish them in practice. After so many runs without a mistake, it was his final run where he flatted not only his tire, but his dream of a podium finish.


Jordan Lopez also felt fast and smooth in his practice runs, but in the end, he would unfortunately succumb to the same fate as Jimmy. Check out his website here and race report.


Full results can be found here.

Photos by Christopher Wood.