and cycling enthusiasts over the course of four days in mid-April, but president and CEO Frank Yohannan is always looking for ways to grow attendance. This year he’s added an electric bike demo
Night rides, electric bike demos, revamped ride zones headline festival T
he Sea Otter Classic draws somewhere between 55,000 and 60,000 fans, athletes
zone where attendees can test battery-powered bikes on a quarter-mile paved track; guided road and mountain bike night rides; improved ride zones for adults and kids; and more carnival attractions, including a zip line.
service design and build contractor specializing in bike parks and trail development, will also help with the build-out. The company signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Sea Otter.
SRAM, Specialized, IMBA and Alpine Bike
Parks will all collaborate on the expanded ride zones. “We’re seeing many more young kids—
SRAM Short Track races so that they, too, snake through the festival area. “In the past, the short track has always
been off and away by the dual slalom,” he said. “We’ve moved it down closer to the festival area and part of the course will come into the festival, like cyclocross.” Also returning are the popular Gran Fondo rides. The Sea Otter Classic has teamed up with organizers of the Gran Fondo Giro D’Italia this year for the road ride. Yohannan said the alli- ance with Giro D’Italia would attract more Italian
parents bringing the young kids out to the bike play area—so we needed to give it more atten- tion,” Yohannan said. “And as the whole bike park industry continues to expand throughout North America, we want to grow with it. That’s why Alpine Bike Parks is so important to bring into it. They will build different ramps, berms and other elements.” In early March Yohannan said Sea Otter was
on track to have some 400 vendors represent- ing 700 brands set up tents in the expo area to show their products, provide race/athlete support and to offer consumers an opportunity
Festival attendees can literally swing across festival grounds on a new zip line that will be added to this year’s carnival.
“We’re really excited about the e-bike
zone,” Yohannan said. “Sea Otter is the perfect opportunity for electric bike companies to showcase and demonstrate their product to the consumer. We’ll see how it goes and learn from the process and continue to improve that part for 2014 and beyond.” Mountain bike light manufacturer Magicshine is hosting complimentary road and mountain bike night rides. The company is bringing more than 100 lights for road and mountain bikers to demo. Cyclists of all abilities are welcome to take part in these recreational rides. The mountain ride will tour two desig- nated trails at the Fort Ord National Monument. Road riders will get a chance to ride the Laguna Seca Raceway. Returning for a second year is the Sea
Otter Classic Cyclocross hosted by Raleigh America. The race will again snake around and through the festival area on Saturday. This year, Yohannan said they moved the course for the
APRIL 18 - 21, 2013
Mike Steidley and Ryan Leech will entertain the crowds again this year with their mountain bike stunt shows.
companies to take part in the annual festival and would emphasize the Italian roots of Gran Fondo events. “By really embracing the Italian cycling culture, it gives us an opportunity to make the Gran Fondo at Sea Otter really unique,” he said. Two road options are available on Satur-
day—a 49.3-mile coastal route and 96-mile Carmel Valley route. Both will start at 6:30 a.m. at the Sea Otter Classic bridge. The Mountain Bike Gran Fondo moves to Sunday. The 20-mile ride will begin at 10 a.m. Another marked improvement is the SRAM
ride zone. Sea Otter organizers have tradition- ally worked with component brand SRAM on the demo area and with Morgan Hill, California- based bike supplier Specialized to put together a kids’ ride zone. Now they’re combining both ride zones and bringing in the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) to over- see the building of demo tracks for both. IMBA is charged with building a skills area and kids’ play area. Alpine Bike Parks, a full-
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to demo—that’s well over the 350 exhibitors representing 600 brands that turned out last year.
“We’re getting more of our industry. We’re
picking up a couple of triathlon-type companies and some e-bike companies. It’s pretty much across the board—not one specific category that is more interested,” he said. In addition to exhibitor commitments, race
registrations were ahead of last year, camp- ing reservations were up and sign-ups for the recreational rides were also up. Yohannan said Sea Otter also attracts about 350 international media who cover the races and scope out the latest products. “As a consumer expo and festival, our
growth has been very strong in the last three years,” Yohannan said. “Honestly, that’s why we put emphasis on e-bike zones, night rides, Gran Fondos and so forth. We want to continue to build and improve and expand that to continue to draw more and more consumers.”
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