After basically a 3 year hiatus from racing I decided 2007 would be the year to get back into the scene.  I have not been riding all that much, but I have joined a spinning class at my gym for 2-3 mornings a week.  This has helped but it does not compare to being on a real bike.  When I decided to race again I also decided to build up a new bike considering that my only mountain bike is a Yeti 575 -- a great bike but a bit much for XC racing!   So, I decided on an On-One Scandal 29er, geared, from our sponsor.  I built it up about 3 weeks before the Sea Otter and tested it out 2 times on Sea Otter pre-rides and 1 time at Demo.  The bike is a blast and the big wheels do make a difference.   Most of my bikes over the past years have been full suspension so going back to a hard tail was interesting.  I can say that the big wheels do make riding a hardtail much more pleasant. 

 

Anyway, race day comes around and I am totally psyched to be back in the scene.  The vibe at the Sea Otter is amazing and the new course (well, new for me as the last time I raced the Sea Otter was in 2004) is a blast.  While warming up, however, I started having second thoughts.  It was just the typical pre-race nerves.  At the start line I see that my group is big.  Doug Rea is next to me and off we go.  I entered the fire road probably mid-pack and just wanted to keep it that way for as long as I could.  Hey, I had zero expectations going into this race so just finishing with a some what respectful placing was all I cared about.  As usual, there were a few bottlenecks, but overall the pace was good.  I got passed by a heck of a lot of people and decided to save whatever I could for the final climb out.  I managed to pass a lot of people on the last climb.  The finish screaming down the the raceway was fun and having my name and team called out as I crossed the finish line was the icing on the cake.  This is racing baby!!!  What a blast.  Can't wait for the next race.  Finished 74/103 with a time of 1:48 and change.  I am pleased with this result considering my 'paternity leave' from the scene.  Dave, Paul, Jenny you only have about 2 years left on your leave!!  I hope you can make it back sooner than I did 'cause after 1 race I am hooked again. 

 

Peter