specialized
The Downieville Classic Race Day Bike
EDGE
Almsthre
GUP
Maxxis Tires
Specialized
Explore Sea Otter with us
2025 April - Monterey CA
Stay at Sea Otter
Camping at Sea Otter
We purchased a camping spot at the race.
379L
Cost $115 a night
-Usually they start selling spots for the next year starting in July! We are looking forward to hopefully getting a spot with hook ups for this coming year! That would have solved a lot of our issues at this years event.
We rented a Large RV from Cruise America! We can't wait to get on the road to Monterey!
Our spot was located on the hills overlooking the festival. It was such an amazing view. The boys made friends with all the kids near the puddle that hosted a ton of tadpoles. All the kids around the campground came to check them out. All the kids enjoyed that! There are port-o-potties located near the spots, with trash cans, and such. The spots are tight there. You get to know your neighbors quick!
The walk down to the festival takes about 10-15 minutes depending on how many of your children give up on the way there. But over all it's an easy walk, then you cross over the bridge to the event entrance and you're in! There is a bike babysitter there if you don't want to walk your bike around the event. Which is convenient. I may use it for wagon parking next year!
Play at Sea Otter
The kids zone was awesome, so many riding opportunities. There were different types of tracks for the littles to experience. One of them was a dirt pump track, the second was an obstacle course, and the third was a plastic style pump track. Each had its perks. The area was surrounded by booths that were offering kid friendly giveaways like stickers, helmets, bike lights, reflectors, and more! The boys really loved the bike rental booths. There was biky and vroom, I was looking forward to having our boys try out the prevelo bikes but they were not located near the kids zone. The did still get to try them out near their booth though which was nice. The kids zone hosted an easter egg hunt, kids race, and more! Each rider at the kids race got their own little award pin which was so awesome! They were all stoked to show dad after his race! My only recommendation for that area would be to offer seating for the parents. As our littles wanted to stay all day and there was no where to sit unless you were on your butt in the dirt. Also, having a healthy food and coffee option right there would have been ideal!
Eat at Sea Otter
We tried tons of food, I only wished that there were some healthier options. It was typical fair style food. Which was disappointing for an event that is specifically for athletes. I found a few vegetarian options that weren't fried. But there was burritos, pizza, ice cream, and more. As for the racers they get a meal catered to them following their race. Which is awesome and that food looked amazing. I would have paid for our family of 5 to have been able to have join Kevin in eating after the race. But, it was exclusively for racers.
At the campsite we had a total fail for food. I brought meals and then when we got there we noticed our fridge froze most of our food. And we didn't have any hook ups so there wasn't an easy way to cook without the generator. Rookies! So we cooked most of our meals on the bbq. Only problem was that it was so windy that it was cold and kind of miserable to be outside cooking & eating. Now we know for next year!
Coffee was free and amazing and packed with good stuff at the lifetime booth! I am actually really looking forward to getting coffee there again next year. One you can't go wrong with FREE COFFEE, two it was the best coffee of the whole event. I should know, I tried every booth!
I brought a bunch of snacks for the boys in our backpack coolers and I didn't quite need all of them but it was great to have them when we were watching the races. Because it was too far from the course to just grab something real quick.
Race at Sea Otter
Race day...
...was an early morning, which we were not fully prepared for. Because we couldn't use our generator for coffee in the morning or to cook. The racers all get race day breakfast which was nice. So we all went up there and got breakfast and headed down to the course so Kevin could warm up. We got there late-ish which made it so Kevin had to push through to get to his correct corral. Now we know that we have to be fed, fueled, dressed, and ready even earlier on race day next year!
We loved the fresh crisp air on the track as we got excited to send Kevin off on his trek. We screamed and yelled and got his attention a few seconds before lift off and said a prayer to god to keep him safe.
About 2 hours went by of the kids riding around the kids zone and I checked strava. Kevin was already on his was down for his second lap and we needed to find the feed zone and get his edge bottles ready for fueling him up! We ran fast as we could to the track and got in the right spot. (which is apparently right past the start of the race, on the uphill. you'll see it there are a ton of people there!) Then as soon as we settled we saw Kevin riding down the hill toward the race start. We had to be ready! The boys all had a job and Kevin looked in good spirits and pumped with a smile on his face. He was stoked and that made us just at stoked .
Then the boys and I got something to eat and adjusted our second lap alarm to shorter that 2 hours as Kevin was kicking ass and I wasn't going to miss him crossing that line! We showed up at the finish line and The energy was electric. We saw his friend Robert come down the hill to the finish and he said Kevin was not far behind! So I got the boys out of the dirt they were playing in and we got bellies against the fence and waiting to ring our bells and cheer on daddy!!
Then there he was, smiling and excited still! He crossed the line and we cheered and I barely got a photo because I was so excited and cheering him on. It was so great to see him accomplish one of his Goals and we were there right by his side.
The boys all wanted to see his medal. Which spun! They thought that was pretty rad!
We caught up with some friends after the race and got the scoop on all the happenings out on the course.
Such good vibes.
"Sea Otter Classic was amazing"
-Wake Boys
Giveaways Galore
Freebie heaven! These kiddos scored big—about 25 water bottles, 100 stickers, 30 rubber ducks, and 8 helmets! It was like Christmas morning at the track. And to top it all off, they got to race on the legendary Laguna Seca Raceway.
Race Info
The Sea Otter Classic Website & social media are both managed very well. They are functional and helpful in getting a pretty great perspective of the event! Can't wait to see you there next year. Stop & say hi to the fam!
Location
Laguna Seca Racetrack
1021 Monterey Salinas Highway, Salinas, CA 93908
Hot tips
-Good camping spots available to book starting July
-Bring winter & summer clothes
-Buy Sea Otter Classic Attire as soon as you get there so they have your size! They will run out!