We woke up today to sun and 60 degrees. Knew this was going to be a great day of racing. The morning started out with the second event of the Pro Mountain Bike Stage Race, the Time Trial.

The Time Trial is a 2-mile course that the ladies race as fast as they can. Aside from this being a lung buster in general, add 7 inches of thick mud to make it more interesting. The mud fest was fun to watch though tough on the athletes. Another evening of tough work for the mechanics.

In the end Mary McConneloug, Team Seven Cycles/Kenda, raced flawlessly to take the lead.

There were some very thick, muddy sections, some boggy sections; you kind of needed to know where there were mud pits and where the ground was going to be a little more solid. It was easy to slip out and easy to lose a couple seconds with the wrong turn so it’s going to be exciting to see the results.” -Mary McConneloug. “

Keeping the pressure on was the force of Gunn-Rita Dahle, Team Multivan Merida Biking, in second, followed by Alison Sydor, Team Rocky Mountain, to take third.

The Time Trial is rough because you do not even get started before it is over. -Gunn-Rita Dahl

Today we also witnessed the first event in the Road Racing category. The Amateur Circuit race was quite thrilling. The racers crank around the Laguna Seca Racetrack for 50 minutes. The sprint to the finish line is quite a sight to see. Womenspecific.com board woman, Amanda Riley, had her first Sea Otter Race today. She was entered as Elite 3 women category. Looking strong the entire way she made her sprint for the finish and placed in the top 10. Later we find out that she dropped her chain at the top of a section called the cork screw, had to stop to put it back on, then sprint to catch up with the lead group. Yeah…this lady has some determination. She is looking strong and will recover and rest up for the 46-mile Road Race tomorrow.

The rest of the evening consisted of keeping dry from torrential downpours, having a couple of beers (carbo loading of course), checking out the products on display in the Sea Otter Marketplace, and just relaxing in Monterey, CA.