# Sea Otter Gran Fondo



## YZ 343 (Oct 4, 2011)

About a year ago, a hardware salesman comes into my sheetmetal shop. After a while, he starts talking about the Sea Otter Gran Fondo that he had just done. It sounded like torture. After sharing his story, he tried to talk a couple of us into doing it with him the following year. I never considered it seriously until buying a new bike last september.
He eventually got us to start riding with him once or twice a week. After getting comfortable with 20+ mile loops, I started really thinking about the Sea Otter. I knew I had to work up to more mileage before then.
My first goal was to climb Mt. Hamilton. The perfect opportunity was the super bowl sunday RBR ride. That ride went good enough for me to know I could complete the Sea Otter. After a couple more months of riding a couple times a week on hilly roads, I felt ready. The biggest obstacle was not being able to ride on weekends do to motorcycle races I was competing in.
April 21st finally arrived and we had a team of 3 of us ready to work together to the finish. We agreed to stick together and have fun. The first 25 miles went off without a hitch. We fell off the back of the front group, but didn't try to catch back up. We ate a little at the first stop and took off.
The next 20+ mile leg was fine for the most part. There was a group of about 10 of us moving along pretty well, but most of the group was not willing to work at the front. We eventually caught up to a bigger group and cruised a few more easy miles to the next stop. 45 easy miles down. 50 hard miles to come.
After stop 2, we began a slow rolling accent up Arroyo Seco rd. About halfway to the turn for the beginning of the KOM climb, our strongest and most experienced rider began to get leg cramps in the 80 degree plus heat. We continued on as he tried to work out his legs, but we slowed our pace. We had picked up a riding partner early in the ride and he stuck with us until we sent him up the road, not wanting to slow him down. We started the KOM climb, and it was survival mode for our lead rider. We stayed by his side and he grinded away uncomfortably. 
We got up to the summit and then took a long break at stop 3. At stop 3, I noticed that there were plenty of other people suffering. Everyone was looking for shade and there were plenty of gaping mouths and flushed faces. We also met back up with our adopted teamate and departed stop 3 together again.
The next part was a nice steady decent for several miles, followed by a few smaller hills and then mostly flat into Carmel Valley. From the second stop on, this ride had great scenery. We formed a group of seven riders and made good time into the final stop. Again at this stop, riders looked whipped. Our adopted teamate tried to call his wife to come get him, but his phone didn't work. He was going to have to finish the hard way now. Also, both of my buddies were now cramping and the hardest hills were still to come, with almost 2300 feet in the last 14 miles. That doesn't sound bad if it's evenly distributed, but it isn't! Laureles Grade is 1500 feet in 3.5 miles. It seems worse after already putting in 80+ miles. At this point, I rode to the top alone and saw several riders now walking or stopped all together. At the top I called my wife to let her know we were behind schedule. After a few minutes my buddies came by. They didn't want to stop and risk further cramping. The backside of the grade was awesome but way to short. The last climb was still to come.
Many riders underestimate the final climb into the Laguna Seca track. The climb has several short but steep pitches in it. The heat was taking it's toll, and many were forced to walk with less than a mile to go. The original 3 were together as we crossed the finish line intact and dreaming of beer!
I'm not sure how my buddy survived 50 miles of intermitent leg cramps, but he did. At the end of it all, it was cool to know that we had accomplished the only real goal. Finish. Already thinking about the next one and finding some new suckers to talk into going.


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## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

Awesome!

With the heat that is quite an accomplishment. 

My good friend did the ride and also suffered leg cramps. (He has an accent and was wearing a white long sleeve jersey.) I think his finishing time was around 6:30, including stops. He said that he burned 4000 calories. 

My girlfriend did that last year but opted for the 49 miler this year. 

I'm a racer. But those gran fondos are no joke. They can be grueling, especially in the heat. Again, kudos for finishing it.


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## Doctor Falsetti (Sep 24, 2010)

Great Job, thanks for sharing


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## jct78 (Dec 12, 2011)

nice!


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## YZ 343 (Oct 4, 2011)

Looking forward to next year. We'll have a bigger group and may try to go sub 6 hrs.


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