The new year is almost here and the 2009 season has already started for a lot of athletes. Many of our local teams in California are already holding informal training camps and cyclists are building base miles for next year. For many cyclists with cold weather winters the Sea Otter Classic is the first big race of the year. To get some tips on how to prepare for a race like the Sea Otter we went to former World Champion and many time Sea Otter racer, Ned Overend and asked him.
Ned Overend--into the infamous Otter headwind and climbing strongly. Nate Galpin photo
When it comes to training for a successful Sea Otter XC race Ned says this, “The Sea Otter is a long race for early in the season . Every year I see guys go out too hard and fade in the second lap from lack of endurance. Having some long endurance rides under your belt is important to doing well. Pace yourself on the first lap so you don't blow on the second one. Take on enough calories and fluids before and during the event to prevent the ‘bonk’.”
Whether the Sea Otter is going to be your first race of the year or the middle of your season Ned’s point about endurance is important. Build your early season fitness to make sure you are ready to race for 38 miles without losing speed is as important as building that race speed we all look for.
The second thing we spoke with Ned about was equipment selection. When we asked him what he changed with equipment the first point he made was about full suspension: “I’ve raced
full suspension at Sea Otter since 1996.”
When asked to elaborate of why he said, “The Epic works well for courses like the Sea Otter because there are several areas with smooth fire roads or even paved like the start loop on the track. With the Brain, inertia valve technology the Epic rides as efficiently as a hardtail on those smooth sections. There are some challenging rough sections where having active front and rear suspension will let me go faster and save energy at the same time. The fact that the Sea Otter is a relatively long cross country race makes full suspension important because the longer the event the more suspension preserves energy.”
Sea Otter Photo