By the third day everything had turned into a blur. There was not a lot of racing going on that we were interested in so Mark and I headed into the tent village. We ran into Ron and Ben from bike magazine. Solid guys who actually ride their bikes - not just write about it. A little fact about Bike, there are just 5 guys running that magazine. We have more working on this web site!

As Mark and I walked through the village we ran into the famous (infamous?) Bender. A quick conversation ensued and he turned out to be an ordinary guy. Nice talking to you Bender.

Dangerous Dan had the Flow Show rolling so I hung out for awhile. Those guys are insane. I have seen the show a couple of times but I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. There had to be at least 500 people watching Dan, Tyler and Eric bringing the shore to the people.

The highlights of the day were the Dual Slalom and the Dirt jump competition.

The DS final had Mike King going up against Brian Lopes. The race was neck and neck, when not 15 feet from the finish King slipped a pedal and body slammed the ground at 30 mph. He bounced 3 times and and slid sickeningly to a complete stop. He was taken away by ambulance. He was hurt but not badly enough to stop him from racing the DH the next day placing 11th!

Earlier in the day I saw the Diamondback BMX team and walked away thinking that mountain biking has a long way to go. I took that back after watching Timo Pretzl launch a no-footer back flip followed by a back flip with a bar tweak. The always smooth and stylish Gareth Dyer pulled a one handed heal clicker followed by a no handed strong man landing. Three tail whips were attempted but none landed. Needless to say I was impressed.

Day 4

Sunday was a big race day. Wade Simmons, Dave Watson and Gareth Dyer raced in the DH. I had a chance to walk the course and it looked like a lot of fun. Actually it looked like A-Line up at Whistler. Dave Watson placed best of our crew with 14th place. Thomas Vanderham got 2nd the day before in the juniors.

The kick ass event of whole weekend was the Biker X. This is going to be the event that dominates mountain bike competitions. It was clear winner with the crowd. To see these guys and girls annihilating a course that would bring a lesser being to a standstill is a sight to behold. The stutter section had 15 bumps about 1' high and 1' apart. The pros would literally skip across the tops without slowing. The mens final was stacked with Brian Lopes, Wade Bootes, Eric Carter and Cedric Gracia (listed in their finish order). The women had a great final as well with Anne-Caroline Chausson, Katrina Miller, Tai-Lee Muxlow and Sabrina Jonnier. My conclusion from that race is Anne-Caroline Chausson would make a meal out of the majority of the mens field - that girl is FAST!

And that is how the Sea Otter finished. The sun was out and I was warm for the first time all weekend. Watching all the tents being taken down and the vehicles heading home was a little sad but I am already looking forward to next year.

COuch