Sea Otter Illustrated

It’s been exactly one week since I got back from Sea Otter Classic and I am already yearning for more like a hooked gearhead back from CES.

We’ve featured a few pieces of gear in a previous post, and here is more about all the other things I saw. Some gear, but mostly photographs that wouldn’t make it into a story otherwise. I guess you can call it my visual journal.

eBike pre-race
As in year’s past I started day one in the Wolf Hill parking lot where most attendees parked their cars. Yeah sure, media parking is a lot closer but I absolutely love the vibe at Wolf Hill, like this guy attaching his race number for the 3rd annual eBike race.
Bike valet Sea Otter Classic
With the first day of Sea Otter being on a Thursday, it was more chill and the valet bike parking was pretty light. Speaking of chill, it was windy and cold and everyone just wanted to pack up, ditch happy hour and go home at 4pm.
Sea Otter Classic Parking lot
If you have never been to Laguna Seca and are planning to visit, bring comfy shoes as your main mode of transportation will be via walking. Lots of walking.
Sea Otter Classic XC-Pro racing Cross Country
It took me 15 minutes to walk from the expo to the XC-Pro race, but it was well worth it to be able to see how smooth and fast these guys are.
Sea Otter Classic XC-Pro racing Cross Country
I shot mostly road races during my limited time last year, so I decided to shoot some XC.
Sea Otter Classic expo
The expo area from afar.
Sea Otter Classic Dogs
Cool dog, cool bike, picture time it is!
Sea Otter Classic Ibis Bow Ti
Still one heck of a bike after all these years.
Sea Otter Classic Salsa Cycles
In case you were wondering what was happening at the Salsa booth…
Sea Otter Classic Rodeo Labs Spork
The biggest takeaway after visiting the Rodeo Labs booth: I love their little details like this embossed spork on its fork.
Sea Otter Classic trials show
No bike festival is complete without a trials show.
Sea Otter Classic Ryder Innovation Nutcracker
Hailed from South Africa, Ryder Innovation’s Nutcracker is a mini tool that combines a valve core remover, a valve core holder, a wrench for the stem nut, and a disc brake pad spreader in one compact package. A must have for those running tubeless.
Sea Otter Classic Structure Cycleworks SCW-1 WTF
With its linkage fork, Structure Cycleworks had perhaps one of the wildest looking bikes at the show. Having said that, I would love to give this 150mm front and rear enduro dualie a try.
Sea Otter Classic fi'Zi:k Transiro Infinito R3
A large vent on the sole of the new fi’Zi:k Transiro Infinito R3 triathlon kicks
Sea Otter Classic Erik Zabel ABUS
Erik Zabel, yes the Erik Zabel, second from right, hanging out with a bunch of guys from ABUS.
Yeti SB130 Lunch Ride Yeti
Sure, Yeti showed off a souped-up SB130 dubbed the SB 130 Lunch Ride here, but all I really cared about was this yeti.
Manual Machine Sea Otter Classic
Manual machines sort of went viral last year… so let’s bring one to Sea Otter. It sure was a popular, not to mention, fun place to just watch.
Sea Otter Classic mannequin
Found that lost mannequin.