2014 Sea Otter Downhill Photo Recap
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 Cody Johnson getting his jump on during the opening of the "pro practice". With the big kids in Africa, Johnson looks like one of the ones to beat: fast if you want to win here, he's fluid, and keeping low when he needs to. |
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| An unidentified rider scrubbing schpeed on the tables in the upper section of the Sea Otter (ho hum) DH Track. I only saw one person run the track on a legit DH bike; the rest ran 150-160 travel Enduro machines. Pretty much, the time of the AM/Enduro machine is now: lightweight, strong amazingly capable, and a joy to shred on. |
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| Kyle Strait just cruising along. |
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| Mike Day from GT--yeah, Olympic BMX silver winner, aka "365 Day"--was looking comfortable aboard his new GT Sanction, a bike with more than a bit of DNA taken from the GT Fury. |
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| Nope, this isn't the line up at sunrise trackside on the DH Track. Nosirree; this was the line with 20 minutes to go before the End of DH Pro practice. Everyon on the left is an ameteur in line for their practice. Plate number 27? He's racing. |
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| Mikey Hadderer letting his Fabio locks of hair do his sweet talking to ladies alongside the track.. |
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| Diamondback's Kyle Thomas getting his "Enduro"--I mean DH Practice--in the can. |
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| Kyle Strait leading out T-mac on a fun run down the track. |
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| The second jump on the DH track was missing Cedric Gracia's antics, but that doesn't mean it was at all boring, though... |
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| Pin in to win it. Racers were getting after it today. Freshly manicured berms were an invitation to give 'er on Sea Otter's DH track... But I think I could count on one hand the number of riders I saw actually practicing with a DH sled. Sea Otter's track is much more suited to a modern AM rig with good angles than a full squish sled. |
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| Not quite a ghost town but not the numbers we've seen the past couple of years... Sea Otter's pro DH practice saw a bit of a dip in numbers with most of the big kids vying for World Cup Glory in South Africa. |
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| Carson Storch getting upside down during his race run in the men's Cat 1 DH field at Sea Otter. |
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| Second place Logan Binggeli appears to be back to 100% following surgery to insert a titanium rod in his femur, the result of his 2013 Red Bull Rampage crash. Binggeli was second on the day. |
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| T-Mac getting sideways on his race run. |
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| Tim Krentz sending it with a bit of red, white, and blue. |
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| "American Dream" Curtis Keene floating through the berms that most riders were opting gap over. Keene pumped through this line ridiculously fast. |
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| Two Words: Giant. Condom. |
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| Adam Craig has come a long ways back to his DH roots after a multi year career for Giant's XC squad's. Craig's mostly an "Enduro" guy these days, but the Sea Otter DH is too fun of a track to pass up. |
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| Anneke Beerten pinning the same rock line that almost took out Hipley. |
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| Abby Hipley almost going nose first into the dirt off of what I believe is the only rock on the track. |
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| The big booter on the DH course...always the most fun spot on the course for the spectators. |
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| Kirt Vories throwing in a little style to spice things up. |
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| Railer through the left-hander leading into the lower section of the course. |
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| Logan Binggeli narrowly squeezing in for second spot two-tenths of a second in front of Josh Carlson. |
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| Lopes on his way to winning the 2014 Sea Otter Classic Downhill. |
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| Lopes smashed the competition by finishing almost two seconds in front of second place. Dude's still got it. |
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| Sea Otter crowds crowding out of the venue. |
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| Beer to water/Redbull ratio indicates a good time was had by all. |
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| See ya Sea Otter! |
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www.pinoymtbiker.org/forum/showthread.php?t=57099
www.bikeradar.com/news/article/uci-ban-skinsuits-and-open-face-helmets-for-mountain-bike-competition-19021
Not a fan of the harlequin pj's either, but at least their roots can be traced back loosely to Palmer, who was/IS cool. Whereas skin suits go back to roadies... which have nothing to do with DH.
I ride road and mountain. No one, and I mean NO ONE, is as stressed or judgmental about appearances as DH riders. Not by a long shot.
Everybody is judgemental - to whatever degree depends on the situation and the people - not the clique. When I see a group of roadies out hammering away in baggie shorts and t-shirts, then I'll believe they're not stressed about appearances. Its a bug that everybody has... vanity knows no bounds
Roadies wear lycra to cut wind resistance and noise, mostly noise at the slower levels, ever ridden with someone with a piece of clothing flapping in the wind like a flag?
The thing that makes me laugh though is cotton T-shirts and cotton shorts on any bike, about as comfortable as sitting on a cactus.
Makes no sense. Why would roadies wear non-functional clothing that makes them slower and makes carrying food/tools/supplies more difficult? DH riders, OTOH, wear their clothes pretty much just to look like moto riders (or to look UNlike roadies). Roadie clothing is performance-driven. DH clothing is image-driven. Not saying skin suits are necessarily the perfect choice for DH, but between roadies and DHers, I'd say DHers are the more image-conscious ones.
"Why would roadies wear non-functional clothing that makes them slower yadda yadda yadda..."
You don't think that DH clothing has a purpose? Whether it's full on kit gear or if it's baggier shorts that go past our knees to a loose fitting jersey or t-shirt, I can think of a number of functions the clothes have.
Some who ride like to ride with a thin layer of upper body armor when we go ride gnarly shale ridden courses or mountains. The larger shirt or jersey fits nicely over that. Then, if we take our bikes to a flowy trail with less consequence, we can ride in the same t-shirt without the armor without having to buy a ton of different clothing.
Baggier shorts are nice for movement. Believe it or not, you move a lot in what can be a bunch of odd positions. Some may not like the feel of their shorts attached to them. If they are too small, they actually can restrict your range of motion, especially with the thicker material that some of the gear is made of. Which brings us to another point...the material. DH is subject to major wear and tear on clothing, so why not wear some clothing built to take the punishment? As far as the length of shorts...personally I like them longer because I wear shin/knee guards, and when pedaling or doing just about anything, shorts like to rise up. And they can tend to rise up and catch on the knee pad if they are too short. PITA.
I can also put small things, such as necessary tools, keys, what have you in the pockets that I have without suffering any riding consequences.
Finally, I can go to the bar afterward in my bike gear comfortably, and not make anyone else uncomfortable when I'm ordering a drink next to them.
Each discipline of biking has "functional" gear, but it doesn't mean that any other discipline isn't functional because it's a different style.
Wear what ever you want, so long as you understand the difference between "Cotton" and "performance" and how when excercising the only place Cotton has is in the towel you dry yourself off with.
It's a good thing when they move away from needing a specific bike for each event.