Along For The Ride at The Sea Otter Classic
Somehow, even into the 28th year of the Sea Otter Classic, the event continues to grow and pull in more exhibitors and athletes. It’s a true melting pot of almost all of the cycling disciplines where regardless of whether you’re riding flat bar or drop bar bikes, there’s something for everyone. From competition to fun rides to the festival that features nearly every industry brand, as events go, the Sea Otter has no equal in North America.
For us, it was a busy week coming on the heels of our SES 3.4 AR launch and what better way to show off the wheel and get some miles on it than under the California sun? With a couple of cycling journalists, some of our pro athletes, in addition to a few of us from ENVE in tow, we rode 140 miles down the coast from San Francisco to Monterey–starting the week off in the best possible way, on the bike.
Sea Otter itself was full speed from Thursday through Sunday as we showed off our redesigned booth with interactive M Series, G Series, and SES displays, in addition to our new inflation station that was a hit with everyone wanting to dial in their exact tire pressure through our tire pressure guide and digital inflator.
What’s the only thing better than hanging out talking about bikes? Actually riding them! So that’s what we did on Friday and Saturday. Rebecca Rusch lead us on a 15-mile gravel ride on Friday, while Saturday’s Gravel Grab with IRC tires and Sage Bicycles allowed us to offer a scavenger hunt style ride with some of the best singletrack the area has to offer. Riders went home with free tires, saddles, and even an ENVE Gravel Bar.
On the racing side, we had athletes competing in every discipline during the week, from downhill to the road race, and everything between. Cody Kelley of Alchemy finished in 5th in the pro downhill, while Christina Birch took third in the pro women’s criterium. Giordana-Meteor X rider Kevin Girkins won the pro men’s criterium the day after logging 142 miles with us on our way down the coast.v
