26 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY april 20-26, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com Pedal People The Sea Otter Classic is a temple of all things bicycling, for all kinds of bicyclists. By Sara Rubin Annijke Wade twice had to find her way into the world of mountain biking. First, in 2019, she was new to Santa Fe, New Mexico when a coworker invited her to a mountain biking club. Wade was interested, but had never done it before. “I was looking for new ways to explore my new home, new ways to get involved,” she says. So she ordered a mountain bike online, assembled it herself, and went on a test ride, starting small at three miles. “It was pretty challenging for me, but I was like, ‘This is cool, I can do this.’” Wade showed up for her colleague’s group ride prepared, but at a different trailhead—they never found each other that day, a scenario that might scare some people away. But for Wade, it was an invitation to ride herself, and to discover a passion. “I was hooked,” she says. “I really enjoyed the zen-like feeling—all I could think about was the trail in front of me. I became really laser focused on mountain biking.” As a Black woman, Wade encountered relatively few riders who looked like her. But her love of the sport, combined with her ability to build a community online—where even today she continues to connect with other mountain bikers who are women and people of color—keep her community growing. “Being a beginner is intimidating in and of itself, regardless of your identity,” Wade says. “I found a lot of strength in connecting with people who do look like me.” That strength helped propel Wade to 2021, when she had her first pro sponsorship, and was registered for 13 races in gravel riding and mountain biking. But also that year, riding with friends at a New Mexico bike park on a weekend off, Wade hit a jump “just a little wonky.” She tried to reduce her speed, but it didn’t stop her from a catastrophic fall. Lying on the ground in the middle of the trail, Wade couldn’t feel her legs, and immediately knew something had gone terribly wrong. It was day four of a months-long recovery from a spinal cord injury Above: Annijke Wade of Seaside is a pro mountain biker who became an adaptive rider after a spinal cord injury. “I think of myself as a realist,” she says. “I try to just make the best of situations; I think life is supposed to be fun.” Left: Sea Otter Classic is expected to draw 6,000 racers, plus some 74,000 fans and 1,000 vendors to Laguna Seca. Daniel Dreifuss Daniel Dreifuss
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