We heard a lot of complaints from the pros about the conditions but they hammered through the mud anyway. There were many Euros at the race including several current or former world champions. Everyone wanted to see Gunn-Rita Dahl race and were not disappointed. Our friend, Mary McConneloug beat Gunn-Rita by 2 seconds in the TT, the first time she had ever been beaten by an American! This was a major accomplishment as was Mary's 2nd place in GC and Mike's top ten.
It was great to see Jimena Florit back racing mountain bikes for the Luna squad. On the men's side, our boys from Kona had a so-so weekend as Ryan had mono and Barry also broke a seat in the TT.
As usual, the event organizers routed the XC course through a poison oak field. Brilliant.
At least I did not get it this year. Sea Otter remains the biggest "happening" in the US bike world with 10,000 racers and 25,000 spectators. Really amazing. At times the expo area was so crowed there was no place to walk! |
