The official kickoff to any mountain bike season comes with the Sea Otter Classic each spring in Monterey. This year’s event, running from April 10-13, is already shaping up for “best-ever” status.
One noteworthy change this year: Subaru is now the title sponsor. While we always smile at the irony of a car company sponsoring a bike event, we understand who has the really deep pockets here. And for mtbers at least, what gets us where we need to be.
Volkswagen held the title sponsorship the last couple of years, but to our mind, Subaru is a better fit for Sea Otter. You can’t show up at a mountain biking gathering, whether a weekend ride at your local trailhead or a big festival like Sea Otter or Crankworx, without seeing a fleet of Soobies.
Our favorite model, the Outback, swallows bikes for breakfast. In Sun Valley last summer we hooked up with a couple from Marin in an Outback. All of a sudden the four of us had shuttle options galore.
Subaru has held various sponsorship levels over the years and brought a number of great events to Sea Otter. We hope they’ll be showing off their latest lines at this year’s fest.
Another new and sure to be a crowd-pleasing addition is the Pump Park Invitational, officially sanctioning the informal pump-track pickup races of recent Otters. It’s a pretty simple format: Two riders face off and the first to the finish line wins.
There’s lots more to talk about, but one thing’s for sure: April can’t come too fast.