Day 2 at Sea Otter brings a little bit cooler weather and tons more fun. The Demo area is rockin and the DH is putting people in the hospital or film!

Friday morning was cool and sunny and the Sea Otter downhill course was busy with spectators and racers doing practice runs. The pros were tuning up their lines and showing off on the jumps at the top of the course. It seemed extra busy for a downhill practice day. It’s hard to say whether that was because of the excellent weather or increased popularity of the event. Regardless, there were tons of people out on the DH course enjoying the sun and the show. Photos were shot with the Canon EOS Rebel XSi / 450D and the Canon EOS 40D. This article was brought to you by PhotographyREVIEW.com. Learn more about digital cameras and photography on Mtbr's sister site, PhotographyREVIEW.com!

What do when you’re speeding up an enormous dirt jump out of control. Well during the dirt jump practice, the rider jumped out of the bike and got the ride of his life. It was a close call but he came out of it unscathed! These guys are superhuman indeed!

 

Watch the video: HERE

George Stephenson III surprised everyone at Sea Otter with his impressive and surprising sock choice. He had, by far, the fastest socks on the downhill course. Cedric Gracia, who crashed in the pro dual slalom finals, was heard after the ill-fated run, cursing his socks. And SRAM is rumored to have new Black Box socks that weren't quite ready for Sea Otter. They should start showing up on top racers in events later this year. Michael Foley, the Sock Guy, told Mtbr that sock choice is an often overlooked race detail that can make or break the best. Michael said, "No one thinks about socks, but they provide part of the all-important connection to the pedals. A fast sock can deliver the fractions of a second it takes to win a race." Fast socks - you read it here first!

Luna team member, Georgia Gould, at the beginning of the pro women’s XC race, which she won by over four minutes.

Below, Kiara Bisaro and Katerina Nash battle it out on the second lap. They would finish in second and third place, respectively, in these same positions.

More pro women’s XC race photos (click to enlarge):

Jeremiah Bishop pulls the front of the pack up to the top of the first big climb, at the start of the first of two 20-mile laps. Looking like they’re out for a Sunday ride (they are), Geoff Kabush, leads on the second lap and took the win in the pro men’s XC race, beating Jean Christophe Peraud of the Orbea team by only one-tenth of a second.

More pro men’s cross country photos. Click the thumbnails to see larger photos:

     

     

Don’t you love dirt in your teeth? Saturday’s short track racers got a mouthful. Here you see Luna’s Georgia Gold on her way to a gritty 5th place in the pro women’s short track. The men had it even worse because the ladies had already churned the course into goo and it started raining harder. Check out Cody Peterson (below) and his new chocolate milk race uniform.

More pro women’s short track photos:

More pro men’s short track photos:

Mick Hannah beat Jared Graves in the final round of the pro men's dual slalom, to take the overall win. Seen above is one of the crowd favorites, Steve Peat, who beat Bryn Atkinson to take third place.

 

 

Just gotta give a nod to a couple of the local boys, Dan K, tearing it up in his moto helmet and windbreaker in the semipro slalom finals; and Jon Hauer, who stepped up to pro this year and got matched up with Kovarik in the first round - tough luck, John

Sabrinna Jonnier, about to beat Jill Kintner for the win in the pro women's dual slalom finals. Jill Kintner took second place, newcomer Rachael Atherton took third, and after a hard crash, Melissa Buhl took fourth.