Just wanted to put up an update on the Sea Otter Action of a couple months ago. It was a wonderful success for team SFurbanriders/IMBA, and many thanks to those whos generous support made our first official race-a-thon such a success.  Mitch Monroe, SF Urban Riders resident fearless flyer, reports on the race scene.

The Race
You guys all agreed to sponsor me and my team SF URBAN RIDERS/IMBA for my race at the Sea Otter Classic last weekend.  It was an amazing weekend of warm weather (hot as f***), good friends, beer, bikes, bikes and more bikes.  My race was the last event of the weekend, going off at 2:00 on Sunday.  By this time the Sea Otter Classic had been in full swing for 4 days, with many of the best bike racers in the world flying in to compete.  I waited in the sweltering heat for almost two hours before my start at 3:56 PM.

I had a smooth run down, hitting the top berm with good speed, flowing through the upper jump section smoothly, fast, but no style.  I pedaled hard through the grassy flats and entered the S-berms above the log drop feeling confident. I wheelied out of the berm, ready to hit the drop, a telephone pole laying across the trail with a 20 foot hole below it.  I lofted it nicely and landed, trying to pedal hard through the rough road beyond the landing.  This section is the fastest part of the course, likely hitting near 30+ MPH.  Trying to pedal through the rough, my feet slipped off of both pedals and I road my seat off a couple of ledges and through ruts, thinking I was going to get bucked off the seat and sent flying over the bars.  Some how I managed to pull it together and found my feet back on the pedals in time to finish out the rest of the run cleanly.  With all that, I ended up on the podium (see attached pic) in 3rd place for my category (Cat 1, age 30-34).  Overall, I was pretty happy with my result and finish time, coming off a spring with little riding.  My time put me in about 15th overall for all of the amateurs that raced the course.

The Fundraiser
Some of you are close friends, other related by blood and other soon related by marriage.  Today we are all part of the SF Urban Riders Family.  I want to extend my deepest gratitude to each of you for reaching out and supporting this cause that is very dear to me.

Thanks to you guys and many others like you, we have raised nearly $7,000.

With our SRAM Matching grant that will come to a whopping $10,500 SFUR can put toward our Youth Bike Program and our First Dirt Jump and Skills area in the City of San Francisco. Through our talks with SF Rec & Park we have a location and can begin fast tracking this in later this summer!!!!!

I appreciate your efforts and look forward to bringing these projects to reality.

l to r: Peter durham, Dan schneider, and Will Aldrich prove that SF Urban Riders look good on podiums.