On the frontlines: Sea Otter Classic

We made the trip out to the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA for the 2022 Sea Otter Classic to see what our Mountain Bike crew is up to. We found 70,000 people in attendance and over fifteen of our top Monster Army athletes in competition ranging from Amateur all the way to the pro podium

Mckenna Merten (above) stays low and tucks into the high-speed saddle on the Infamous Sea Otter downhill track. She would finish off her weekend with a 12th in the elite women’s class DH after a hard-fought top ten battle in dual slalom the day before.

Cole Suetos (above) has his eyes on the prize as he heads towards an 11th place finish in the elite men’s downhill.

Nik Nestoroff (above) on his way to a 13th place finish in elite men’s downhill. Nik started his week off early, racing Enduro on Thursday and finishing with a very impressive 3rd place in a field of more than seventy-five competitors.

Kailey Skelton (above) went out of her comfort zone to race Dual Slalom for the first time and further expand her skillset. After battling her way through qualifying to make it into the Pro Slalom final Saturday evening, she would then go on to finish her weekend with a 6th in Elite Women’s DH on Sunday.

Steven Walton (above) rounds out a corner in Pro Dual Slalom finals. The pro field in slalom had a record turnout of competitors with over 100 athletes battling for a top 32 qualifying position to move on to finals. On Sunday, Steven slid into a 19th place finish in Elite Men’s DH out of over 110 competitors.

Dylan Maples tucks through the high-speed saddle in Elite Men’s DH finals. Keep your eyes on Dylan this year while he tackles a full schedule of the UCI DH World Cup alongside teammate and fellow Monster Army athlete Austin Dooley.

Dante Silva (above) found his way to the Sea Otter Classic in between his busy world cup schedule. He would go on to finish in the top 32 of pro dual slalom and have an excellent finish of 12th in Elite Men’s DH. We’re excited to see what the rest of the season entails, and we can’t wait to watch him at the Fort William World Cup next month.

Mathew Sterling (above) stays low through the main rhythm of the Strait Acres designed Sea Otter Classic dual slalom.

Nate Kitchen (1st) had a perfect weekend winning both Junior Pro Dual slalom and Junior Pro downhill. Caden Gray (2nd) battled with kitchen all day in slalom and ended up in a strong 2nd place followed by a 4th in downhill. Close behind Nate and Caden was Sam Toohey and JT Fisher, finishing 6th and 7th respectively. Aiden Reams rounded out our Junior’s with a second-place finish in the men’s 15-16 division.