www.montereycountyweekly.com april 20-26, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 27 when Wade decided: She was going to get back on a mountain bike, and she chose her model, a full-suspension, all-electric Bowhead Reach. Now, Wade, 38, is again a beginner, building up her skill level. She moved to Seaside (where she grew up), and is mountain biking as an adaptive athlete on Fort Ord and, most recently, a technically challenging trail at Toro Park. And she’s again forging a community with cyclists who, like her, have mobility limitations. In her two identities, as a Black cyclist and as an adaptive cyclist, Wade has found power in connection with a community. She is far from the only cyclist who’s found power through connection, and at this year’s Sea Otter Classic, which runs from April 20-23, she will join a few other leaders in the effort to make biking more inclusive. Wade will join a discussion about how to encourage more equitable representation, followed by a 12-mile bike ride— not a race, but just a ride. Everyone is welcome, especially cyclists who are not white, cyclists who are queer, cyclists with disabilities, cyclists who come from a marginalized background. This is the festival’s explicit way of inviting everyone, whoever you are, to engage in the world of biking. “Everybody that rides a bike is a cyclist,” Wade says. “There is no one way to ride, no one way to show up. You don’t need to wear anything in particular—you should wear a helmet— but you don’t need particular shoes, or a fancy backpack. Just get out there and use a bike.” But reality is that there are indeed barriers to entry. Bicycles are expensive; bicycling infrastructure in many places is dangerous or nonexistent. And yet, lots of people ride bikes, at all sorts of speeds and for all sorts of reasons (for exercise, for fun, for transportation). Leaders in efforts to expand our understanding of who bicycling is for (spoiler: everyone) will join Wade in the Q&A and gravel ride. Rachel Olzer is executive director of the Arkansas nonprofit All Bikes Welcome; Renee Hutchens is a Navajo bicyclist and storyteller; and Brooke Goudy is owner of the health and wellness company Rowdy Goudy, which aims to introduce cycling to women of color. (Goudy also plays an advisory role in government in Denver, Colorado, encouraging bike infrastructure that supports diversity in cycling through infrastructure.) Goudy, a Black woman, got into mountain biking a few years ago when she was dating a middle-aged white man—the kind of person who was all too often the face of the sport. Goudy has excelled in the world of cycling, earning sponsors through adventures like biking across the United States, and completing a fourday race in Iceland (600 miles, and “climbing a ridiculous number of feet”). But she defines herself not as an elite athlete, but a regular person who decided she liked riding a bike and wanted to do it more. “Nobody is looking at a pro racer and saying, ‘I can do that.’ But maybe they are looking at me, the girl next door, saying, ‘If she did that, then I can do that.’ I am really excited about that, especially as a Black woman,” Goudy says. Since Life Time Inc. acquired the Sea Otter Classic in 2021, it has Kids on Bikes There’s no better time to learn how to ride a bike than now, and that is especially true if you’re a kid. Children ages 12 and under enter the festival for free, and Sunday, April 23, is family day— that means up to two adults may also enter for free, so long as they are accompanied by a child. There are also kid’s bike races for various age groups (9 and under, 10-12) throughout the weekend, and a family-friendly bike tour of Fort Ord National Monument takes off at 11:30am Sunday, April 23. Cross Country Last year, Sea Otter went bigger than ever on racing ambitions and this year you can expect some favorites to return. The Sea Otter Fuego XL is back for a second year, on a two-lap course that covers 65 miles and 7,800 feet of elevation on Monterey’s Fort Ord National Monument. It also kicks off the 2023 Life Time Grand Prix series presented by Mazda, where 70 of the world’s best cyclists will once again compete in seven events for a $250,000 prize purse. The races starts at 9am Saturday, April 22, with staggered start times until 9:35am. Getting Branded Expect more than 1,000 brands to be represented at an expo featuring all things bicycle, from the latest in bikes themselves to up to speed Rachel Olzer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, created the initiative Pedal 2 the People to elevate the voices of people of color within the cycling community. She’s written for publications including Bike Magazine and Bicycling. Kids are treated as VIPs at this year’s Sea Otter Classic, with free admission and a number of youth races. (Accompanying adults get in free on Sunday.) Sea Otter Classic has long boasted a strong expo where vendors introduce new gear (left). New festival organizer Life Time Inc. brings a racing emphasis; spokesperson Holly Colson calls the combination “a perfect marriage.” speed continued on pg. 28 people continued on pg. 28 Daniel Dreifuss Daniel Dreifuss
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