Today at the Sea Otter Classic in beautiful Monterey, I had the opportunity to race the new Zeppelin Elite in the Super D competition. This was my first foray into Super D and I wasn't quite sure what to expect.
They had us lay our bikes down at the finish line all facing the same way. There was so many riders in my group that the bikes were stacked 2 deep. Then they had us walk back about 20 yards, sit down with our backs facing the bikes with our hands on our heads. When they said "Go!" we sprinted up to our bikes and ran up the grassy field up to the fire road. I got a great hole shot from the run and I think I was about the first one to my bike. However, that was short lived.
My goal here was more to finish my first Sea Otter racing experience with all limbs still accounted for so I really didn't go at it with all the vigor I might have given more experience. That resulted in a lower than usual finish, but I also wasn't involved in the big crash that resulted in one participant leaving in an ambulance. I hope he is okay, but at speeds of about 35 mph, it isn't surprising that a crash would result in a major injury. But like I said I hope he is okay.
The race was about 4 miles mostly downhill on wide open fire road with a few climbs thrown in just for fun. After about what felt like 5 minutes of flying down hill, I at the finish line feeling like I wanted to keep going, but that was all there was. And that was my first racing experience at Sea Otter.
The things that stood out to me during the race about the Zeppelin Elite were the ability of the brakes to handle the extreme conditions. I never felt like I had any lack of power or noticeable fade. For a value oriented brake (Tektro Agura Comp), I think that says a lot. The Rock Shox ability to adjust from 85mm to 135mm of travel was also handy when making the transition from a rapid decent to a steep climb.
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