Here are the results for the 2010 Sea Otter Classic DH which is considered the first race of the season…

Men Pro

1 Jarred Graves
2 Aaron Gwin
3 Brian Lopes
4 Mick Hannah
5 Cameron Cole
6 Dan Atherton
7 Eric Carter
8 Steve Peat
9 Justin Leov
10 Chris Kovarik

11 Andrew Neethling
55 Greg Minnaar

Women Pro

1 Melissa Buhl
2 Rachel Atherton
3 Tracy Moseley
4 Sabrina Jonnier
5 Leigh Donovan
6 Jill Kintner
7 Fionn Griffiths
8 Joanna Petterson
9 Kathy Pruitt
10 Claire Buchar

Photo credits: Chris Worden / Brightroom / John Mahan

Here are some images from Monterey of the Sea Otter Classic…

Respective Photo credits: Chris Worden and Brightroom

My good buddy and photographer Daniel Porter sent in some photos he took at Sea Otter…

all images copyright Daniel Porter

The year off must have been good for Hannah because he is on a roll right now…

by press release
corner photo credit: VeloNews/Brad Kaminski
Header photo credit: NSRMTB/Lloyd Ramsay

Hot, parching conditions scorched the Sea Otter downhill course while top downhill racers burned up the fast, dusty track beneath them. UK national champion, Tracy Moseley (Trek), covered some bad moves with hard pedaling while Mick Hannah (GT) succeeded in reversing last week’s runner-up finish to Greg Minaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) by putting Minaar in second instead.

Both Hannah and Minaar admitted to mistakes near the start of their runs; Hannah was just able to slice away more time on recovery than Minaar.

“My run started off reasonably well – I made a little bit of a bobble at the top but other than that, the rest of it was pretty good,” Hannah said. “I didn’t feel like I had enough – I knew I’d done good but I didn’t think I’d stay ahead of Greg. He’s really strong at the moment and he’s coming off winning the World Cup last year but it worked out all right – it was only a tenth of a second but it worked out well.”

Hannah likened Sea Otter’s downhill course a bit to the one in Canberra, Australia, which is where the world mountain bike championships will take place later this year. With the world title clearly in focus, training for Hannah has been a mixture of BMX, road riding, and, of course, downhill.

Hannah’s time to beat today was a white-hot 2:08.1

Absent from the podium was world downhill champion, Gee Atherton (Animal/Commencal), who suffered a crash that took him out of the podium chase. Atherton might have agreed with Greg Minaar’s comment after losing so narrowly to Hannah, “That’s racing.”

Power and fitness dominated downhill but despite her superlative skills, one racer became victim of her own racing talents. A fit, fast Melissa Buhl (KHS) looked to double her wins for the weekend, after having won yesterday’s dual slalom but was delayed on her way to the top of the podium by the racer in front of her on the finishing stretch. A visibly frustrated Buhl finished .6 seconds off the winning pace of Moseley, who returned to Sea Otter this year after a four year break to collect the podium’s top spot.

“On this track everyone is pretty equal at the top, there’s not much technical stuff to separate you from everybody else so a lot of it comes down to who can put the pedal down where it needs to,” Moseley said. “A track like this – where there’s so much where you need to carry your speed – that’s the important thing here: just staying smooth and carrying speed.”

Despite unclipping on some jumps near the start, which burned time, Moseley sprinted to the finish with the best time of 2:21.6.

“I definitely wasn’t too happy with the run but I tried to pedal hard where I could and I was obviously just good enough,” Moseley said. “I think maybe it was unlucky for Melissa who got caught up with someone so maybe I was pretty lucky with that. But it was a good race and I’m pretty happy with a win at Sea Otter.”

Top 3 Women:

1. Tracy Moseley (Trek) 2:21.6
2. Melissa Buhl (KHS) 2:22.4
3. Kathy Pruitt (Jamis) 2:27.7

Top 3 Men:

1. Mick Hannah (GT) 2:08.1
2. Greg Minaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 2:08.2
3. Andrew Neethling (Trek) 2:08.8

The full results can be found here

Last weekend they were in Africa, now in Monterey, California…

by press release
Hill and Buhl photos by Brightroom.com, header image by Lloyd Ramsay

MONTEREY, Calif. In a close final that saw both riders overshoot the same turn, Melissa Buhl (KHS) edged top qualifier Jill Kintner (Red Bull) to take her first-ever win at the Sea Otter Classic’s SRAM Dual Slalom.

In the first of two rides in the final round, Kintner braked hard through the final corner on the blue course and ceded valuable time to Buhl, who rode first on the generally faster red course.

When the riders switched courses for the second ride, it was Buhl who misgauged the blue course’s last turn, but Kintner was unable to make up enough time to overcome her deficit from the first ride.

Despite a career that includes the 2008 UCI World 4-X Championship, this was Buhl’s first Sea Otter victory. “I’ve always been close, but it’s been many, many Sea Otters without a win,” she said. “It was a day to ride smart and be patient.”

Kintner, the BMX bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympics and a two-time 4-X winner at Sea Otter, said, “It was close, but just not meant to be.”

2006 Sea Otter dual slalom winner, Kathy Pruitt (Jamis) beat out Japan’s Mio Suemasa for third.

In an edition of Sea Otter’s SRAM Dual Slalom that saw its fair share of upsets, crashes, and even a tie, Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized) took the win after Cody Warren (Team America-Specialized) hit the deck in the second ride of the final round.

Hill, the UCI World Downhill Champion in 2006 and 2007, made it past NorCal local, Mike Haderer, in the quarterfinals and reigning DH world champion Gee Atherton (Commençal) in the semi’s, while Warren went through his teammate Kyle Strait and Giant’s Jared Rando.

According to Hill, the warm weather dried out the course and played to his strengths. “I felt strong in the corners, the slippery conditions were good for me. I felt more comfortable and stronger [on the pedaling sections]. The downhill tomorrow should be fun.”

Rando, who ousted top qualifier Mick Hannah in the quarterfinals, took third place ahead of a Atherton in a rare tiebreaker that went to the winner of the second ride in their consolation round.

But the day’s biggest cheers went to 39-year-old Eric Carter (GT), the gated racing legend who qualified third and finished sixth. “I didn’t have any expectations,” he said, “the goal was just to have a good time with the spectators.”

On his future, he added, “I love racing bikes, and I’ll be here as long as I have a sponsor like GT.”

The Sea Otter event is being held this weekend in Monterey, California and they are on their game already announcing next years event…

by press release

Monterey, Calif. (April 15, 2009) – The Sea Otter Classic has announced the dates for next year’s event: April 15-18, 2010.

Next year will mark the twentieth anniversary of the largest cycling festival and consumer trade show in North America. Sea Otter also marks the start of the “season” for the cycling industry. Over four days, it includes a wide variety of bike races and fun rides for every kind, level and age of rider, an expo with more than 250 exhibitors, club zones, a product demo area, a ride zone, stunt shows, access to the best teams on the race circuit, kids activities and a bike playground.

Drawing over 50,000 spectators and 10,000 athletes every year, the Sea Otter Classic is the must-attend event of the year for athletes, vendors, industry VIPs, cycling fans and enthusiasts. They will all converge on Monterey this week, April 16-19, 2008, from all over the world, to watch the best racers, compete against the best in the field, and check out the year’s new products.

Plan on attending the 2010 Sea Otter Classic!

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About Sea Otter Classic, Inc.

The 19th Annual Sea Otter Classic will be held April 16-19, 2009 at the Laguna Seca Recreation Area, Monterey, Calif. The four-day “Celebration of Sport” is considered the world’s largest cycling festival, hosting nearly 10,000 professional and amateur athletes and 50,000 fans. More information can be found at www.seaotterclassic.com or by calling 800-218-8411.