Detox! “Sea Otter Classic can be for anybody!” – Video plus tips

Click the “CC” to view closed captions / subtitles.

Mark your calendar for next April’s annual Sea Otter Classic and come see for yourself what Detox is talking about! World-renowned pro and amateur racing are what most people—even Monterey County residents—assume is all that Sea Otter Classic is about. There are many misperceptions about this 4-day Celebration of Cycling.

Bicycling Monterey and most other bike advocates in the Monterey County bike community, and beyond, aim to help rid society of misperceptions about “cyclists” that keep many people away from enjoying the multiple benefits of bicycling. Misperceptions keep some people from this fun bike festival too. But sure, when it comes to that source of local pride, Sea Otter Classic, we may be biased. So let’s ask a visitor, someone who’s never been to SOC before. And that’s what Bicycling Monterey did. As life would have it, the name of the man Bicycling Monterey interviewed turned out to be— Detox!

“Sea Otter Classic can be for anybody!” Hear that and more from Detox, a member of Los Angeles groups Night Riders—”a multicultural group of BMX riders, ‘Some people turn to sports or drugs, but I turn to my bike’“—and the Mountain Riders Bicycle Club of LA.

Scroll down for  a 1-min, 24-sec video with Detox

from April 2018, when he attended his first SOC. 

Above: Detox and his friend and traveling companion, Vince, were in downtown Monterey when Bicycling Monterey’s founder met them following their first day at Sea Otter Classic. 

Detox immediately agreed to chat with Bicycling Monterey while Vince was shopping by bike nearby. They’d just come from their first day at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, “home base” for  Sea Otter Classic. SOC also includes activities beyond Laguna Seca.

In fact, Detox and Vince registered to participate in one of those activities: one of Sea Otter’s Gran Fondo fully supported recreational rides. They passed over the 2018 options of a 19-mile Mountain Bike tour, 29-mile Gravel Grinder tour, and 49-mile Coastal tour. Instead they chose the 91-mile Carmel Valley route, which includes miles of the beautiful Salinas Valley as well.

As noted in Bicycling Monterey’s Salinas section of the Tips for Bicycling Monterey County guide, Patrick Brady of Red Kite Prayer remarked about the route Detox and Vince will be on: “The single most important thing I can say about the Gran Fondo [Carmel Valley Route, which includes Salinas Valley] is that it boasts one of the prettiest Gran Fondo courses I’ve ridden….. The opening 40 miles [primarily Salinas Valley] were countertop flat…all the beauty with only 1/3 the suffering.”

Maybe you’re thinking: For everyone? 91 miles? But remember, there’s something for everyone—people of all ages, abilities, fitness levels and more, something for anyone with an interest in bicycles—at Sea Otter Classic. From festival activities for kids to North America’s largest bicycle expo with over 500 vendors, there are many options for having your own Sea Otter Classic experience.

As Detox said,

“Sea Otter Classic can be for anybody!”

See Bicycling Monterey’s tips about Sea Otter Classic. Visit SeaOtterClassic.com for more. For a sampling of SOC history on bikemonterey.org, click here.

You may wonder what Detox meant about some things, such as…

the way to Sea Otter is brutal.

It doesn’t have to be physically brutal, of course. He and Vince chose to bike to Laguna Seca, and more power to them! Many people bike-and-ride there, and some just drive.

As for Detox’s reference to “sure, there’re some nice rollers:” Yes, there are some rolling hills in Monterey County, but also lots and lots of flat places to ride, including a beautiful 18-mile section of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail that is mostly flat-as-a-pancake and virtually all Class I (for definitions of classes, click here, then scroll down). See Bicycling Monterey’s post on Bicycle maps / Mapas de bicicletas – en español and also where to bike in Monterey County.

And as Detox showed, although he had on road shoes meant for bicycling, and wore bib shorts under his clothes), he wasn’t all “spandexed out.” Detox shows that riding a bicycle—even the distances that he does, such as biking from San Jose to Monterey—doesn’t always require spandex.

Whether you like to bike in your everyday casual clothes, as Detox was, or to bike elegant, or bike in spandex, just bike! 

Moi? My biking that vicinity stops about here! I’ve always skipped biking that “brutal” route and instead done a bike-and-ride trip to Sea Otter. But maybe now that I’ve given up being an e-assist snob, I just may pedal all the way there.

This post was published April 20, 2018. Short link http://bit.ly/DetoxSOC.