Race Report: 2025 Sea Otter Fuego XL Women
Race: Sea Otter Fuego XL
Date: April 12, 2025
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang
Top Result: 1/15 W19-29, 9/61 Overall
Course: Two loops of 35 miles of singletrack, gravel, and some road
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14159819881
Race Recap:
I did this race last year with the elite field and was coming off of being sick, so did very poorly. Going into it this year, it was a redemption run. Based on last year’s elite women results, I thought I would be about mid-pack, so gave myself the goal of finishing in 5hrs 30min.
I lined up with all the women racing up to age maybe 40. The course started with an uphill on the track, and immediately, I could tell the difference between this and the elite race. I was pretty easily able to pass all of them on the climb with my pace, and we went off onto the singletrack. For the first 30 minutes I was really pushing to make the gap as big as possible between me and the girl behind me, being very vocal to each person in front that I wanted to pass them. Since most of them were not truly racing and just riding for fun, they let me by with no hesitation and almost immediately as well.
Once I really couldn’t see the women behind me anymore, I felt like I was racing alone and that there wasn’t really any competition, so unlike other long endurance mountain bike races I’ve done in the past, I started pacing at a pace I knew I could hold for a while without hurting. So basically I wasn’t trying too hard. At moments I thought about going harder just in case one of the women would catch up.
At the first rest stop, there were volunteers holding out gels like people do with bottles at feed zones, so I grabbed one, looked at the flavor, Neversecond espresso, ate it, and it was so good and easy to go down that at the second rest stop, grabbed one, held it with my mouth to free up my hand, and grabbed two more.
The lap ends with a 800+ft climb, which killed me last year and this year chasing Steph up the hill on my MTB bike while she rode her gravel, so after the climb, I was surprised at how good I felt when I finished the first lap. I looked down at my Garmin and it was at 2hr 40min, so slightly faster than my goal of 5:30. Maybe it was the easy pacing on the first lap, but I was feeling really good, not tired at all, didn’t feel the need to stop, so when I found Clay at the feed zone, I got my two bottles and left. Normally I would have gotten off my bike at the feed zone, grabbed a bar or gel or something, quick rest, but this was, stop, two bottles on bike, go.
My legs started feeling kinda tired in lap two, and I tried not to dial it back too much. I started taking it easier and not trying as hard to pass people, even pacing with some people. Near the end of the second lap, I felt the same part cramp, my inner right thigh, but it wasn’t bad enough so I kept going. After that though, I started pedaling harder with my left leg. By the last large climb, I gave it a little more knowing it was the last of the race. I finished at 5:33:15, securing 1st in my age group and 9th overall including the elite riders.
Nutrition: 1.5L hydration pack with Fluid Fresh Citrus drink mix on the first lap, 2 bottles Tailwind Cola drink mix on the second lap, mix of Torq and Neversecond gels throughout the race (~5-6 total)