Race Report: 2025 Sea Otter Circuit - Women’s B/C/40+/Collegiate
Race: 2025 Sea Otter Circuit - Women’s B/C/40+/Collegiate
Date: 4/10/2025
AV racers: Hannah Chen, Kristin Hepworth
Top Result: Kristin (6 of 18 overall)
Course: 5 laps of the Laguna Seca raceway (2.2mi long with 180 ft elevation per lap) . There’s a small climb and then a smooth, fast descent of the corkscrew
Nutrition: none
Race Summary (by Hannah):
The women’s turnout was very small with only 18 racers combined amongst 4 different fields. I guess being on a Thursday morning didn’t help much. It was very foggy and cold. Kristin and I struggled to find anywhere to get an adequate warm up because the roads were filled with cars getting to the expo.
At the start of the race, I was already shivering. The gun went off, we started up the climb, and then I got totally dropped :( Bad day. I couldn’t get my legs to work and I wasn’t riding out of the saddle. This was the universe telling me I should be going to Egan again. Message taken. Plus, Egan rides are really the best.
I saw Kristin go off with the group and mentally wished her a great race. With the fog, I pretty much never saw anyone again. I suspected there were a couple people just slightly ahead of me because I’d see just the tiniest glimpse of a figure in the fog. I zoomed down the descents, focused on maintaining a steady pace, and was able to warm up a bit on the subsequent climbs and get my legs to work. I was already so far behind that I was never going to catch the group. Eventually I passed a person or two.
Even though the race itself felt like a bust, I did get a good interval workout in and it was really fun to zoom down the corkscrew. Plus, afterwards I went to Clayton’s BBQ (thanks!), won a raffle at the expo for a saddle I actually use (SQ lab), demo-ed an e-mtb at a women’s mtb clinic, and got to see a bunch of friends. All in all it was a great Sea Otter.
Race Summary (by Kristin)
I stayed with the front group through the first two laps, feeling steady and well-positioned. On the third lap, the rider ahead of me (17yo) launched a break on the climb. I committed to the chase, knowing it was a risk, and burned a lot of matches trying to close the gap. Despite a strong effort, I couldn’t make contact, and the effort took a toll.
Before I could recover, the rest of the front group caught and passed me. I was deep in the red and had no response. I managed to regroup slightly and caught two riders on the corkscrew descent—a section that played to my strengths and gave me a second wind.
With four riders up the road, the three of us worked together for the final two laps. The fog was thick, making visibility difficult and adding an extra layer of challenge heading into the finish. We stayed tight until the final sprint, where I came across the line in 6th.