| Sea Otter: Behind the Mic, Part II |
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| Written by John Lefler Jr | |
| Wednesday, 30 April 2008 | |
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Once I arrived at Sea Otter on Thursday afternoon, I was immediately put to work by Head Race Announcer, Richard Fries. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, it was time for Race Announcer "bootcamp"...start list, check...microphone on and hopefully not infested, check...laps to go, time-in, who is in the break, dude, here comes the field, CHECK! And like that, I was calling the Men's Category 1/2 circuit race. Don't ask me to give you names because I really cannot remember. But for the remainder of my four days at the Sea Otter Classic, it was myself and the others communicating a bundle of information including race schedules, awards presentations, sponsor news and information and yeah, we called races, too.
After visiting with family on Thursday night, it was night-night. Crew call was at 7:00am on Friday. Friday was without question the coldest and most miserable of the four days. Temperatures never climbed out of the 40's and the humidity from being so close to the Pacific gave the feeling of constant dampness. I had three layers on and still could not feel my fingers or toes. I cannot even imagine what it was like for the racers. Most of the day was spent calling out reminders for race starts, result postings and the like. More importantly, I had the chance to meet the rest of the crew. The better part of the day was spent with Bruce Hildenbrand, who is my new "favoritist guy in the whole wide world." Bruce is a writer, announcer, cyclist and overall super cool guy. How do I know this...? Well, one of the first things Bruce asked was: "Hey, do you know Kent McNeill and Steve Jarrett? Those are some buddies of mine." How could he not be cool, if he knows those guys!?! Sorry fellas, I could not resist. Hillenbrand writes for ProCycling among other magazines and you can catch some of his writing in the latest issue, which features Damiano Cunego on the cover. Conversations about the domestic race scene, Andy Hampsten among other topics took us through the weekend, which was for me one of the highlights at the top of the list. I would go into more detail, but I would rather you read Bruce's writing for yourself. I am definitely glad to know the guy. Saturday was rough for a number of reasons. 1. The wind was unlike anything I have ever experienced. Being from Nebraska, you know that is saying something. 2. The Sea Otter Classic experienced the first fatality in its 18-year history. The Wind: As a cyclist in the Midwest, you train and race in it constantly. You just get used to it. Some days you curse it and others it is your friend as you are crushing the field while they are sucked into the gutter one after another. This day at Sea Otter Classic was a tale of survival. The winds came up over the hills and descended on the Laguna Seca Raceway with a fury blowing dust everywhere, knocking over fixtures, pulling the awards stage off of its anchor and creating one of the most memorable race calls I have ever done. After spending the morning announcing the Pro Men Dual Slalom qualifying, I hooked up with Richard and Bruce to announce the Men's Pro Circuit Race. This was an NRC (National Race Calendar) event and one that I am certainly excited to have added to my resume. You have probably already read the race recap on your cycling news site of choice, so I won't bore you with the details. I will tell you this, I could not have picked a better race to call as my first NRC event with the lead group of four featuring two notables that I know a lot about, Michael Grabinger and Brian Jensen both of Successful Living. Those two along with their teammate, Bradley White and David Clinger (Rock Racing) put on a clinic powering through the brutal wind. In the finale, The Successful Living trio set-up the sprint perfectly, pinching Clinger out, albeit in a completely legal fashion and launching Grabinger to victory. Remember, Grabinger has only been racing for a few years and started his career at one of my races...in Beatrice! A Sad Day: It's not something you want to mull over or spend a lot of time thinking about, but it is an inevitable part of our sport. A 48-year old, local gravity rider was doing a qualifying run in the Downhill and went down, hard. Witnesses say he never put his hands out to brace his fall. He broke his neck on impact and probably never felt a thing. Speculation ensued and the preliminary investigation led authorities to think that he might have suffered a hear attack prior to his spill, which explains the lack of any sort of reaction. A very sobering experience that did not make for a very festive conclusion to the day. Sunday was the shortest of the four day weekend and featured the Pro Men and Women's XC MTB races. In the Women's event, Kelli Emmet (Giant) won in impressive fashion with a solo effort that demoralized the rest of the field. Calling XC events is hard because you only see the riders a couple of times and then you are interviewing the winner with no real undersdtanding of what just happened. Well, I have to say I did not care how prepared I was to interview Kelli. A very pleasant and attractive young woman. She explained the situation to everyone quite well and I was glad to be the guy holding the microphone. In the Men's race, French rider Miguel Martinez broke away from a group of eight that included among other Ryan Trebon to finish 1st...I chased him down after the finish and in my best french got him up to the stage for an interview with Richard. Note to self...keep working on your french. And is quickly as it started, it was over. Four days, tons of races, every weather condition you can imagine and one of the most memorable experiences I have had in cycling. I assume I will be back to call the 2009 edition of the Sea Otter Classic and hope to pick-up some more races along the way. Where this part-time venture will take me, I am not sure. I just hope they have a start list and a clean mic. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 01 May 2008 ) |
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