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Friday, March 21, 2008

Sea Otter Dual Stunt

I'm not a huge fan of the sea otter, just a bit to big for my taste. I do have to say that the inclusion of the new events this year and the addition of the cool little side things like the pump track are very nice editions. Thanks to NSMB.com I just found out they are having a freeride style dual slalom course battle. That's sick. I just emailed them to find out availability of spots.

Sea Otter Classic launches SRAM Dual Stunt
New style of exhibition racing for this year's event in Cali

MONTEREY, Calif. - Competitive cycling will have a new name at this year's Sea Otter Classic. SRAM "Dual Stunt" adapts a Dual Slalom race format to a flat course featuring wood and dirt obstacles. How it works: two racers compete side-by-side on identical 400-foot long courses scattered with notorious North Shore-style elements like wooden bridges and dirt jumps.

The timed event pits competitors against each other where the maximum time differential can only reach 1.5 seconds. The slower racer either makes up the time and advances or concedes defeat – same as in Dual Slalom. The semi-invitational event kicks off on Friday, April 18 with qualifying rounds.


"This is a sport that originated in mountain biking and is specific to mountain biking," said Jeff Lenosky, who will build the Dual Stunt course along with fellow racer Kyle Ebbett and Ray Petro of Ray's Indoor MTB Park. "It really doesn't favor one discipline over another - you can have a podium filled with a trials rider, a dirt jumper, freeriders, or a world champion downhiller, it's really across the board. If you're a good bike handler, then you could really excel at this discipline."

Still unclear about Dual Stunt? Have a look here at an event that Lenosky designed, which is similar to Dual Stunt.

To race Dual Stunt, racers could compete on pretty much any kind of bike, according to Lenosky, but he adds that the ideal bike would be a freeride hardtail. To try it out, the Dual Stunt course will be open in between racing for practice sessions. 64 is the maximum number of racers allowed for the debut event. Contact Jeff Frost, director of athlete and sponsor services, at frosty@seaotterclassic.com for invitation information.

Dual Stunt continues on Saturday with elimination rounds and ends on Sunday, April 20 with finals.

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