The downhill course at the Sea Otter isn't exactly world class, but even with its sub two-minute length, it makes for a good show. For years, top descenders have been coming to the Sea Otter for the dual slalom event, so it seemed natural to add a DH course to the mix and give them some time on their motocross-like bikes. As a result, a good group of downhillers made it to Monterey this year, for the second DH in Sea Otter history.

	Chausson

Still, the course isn't hard enough to warrant the use of the long-travel bikes. Many pros race on hardtails and short-travel freestyle bikes here. The women's winner, for instance, won convincingly on a Jekyll — a freeride bike.

Anne-Caroline Chausson was a bit slow to add this event to her schedule. Considering her success, she's hardly in a position where she needed the practice (or the frequent flier miles) for such a small hill. But now she rides for an American team, so the sight of her on both the DS and DH course seemed inevitable.

"The field was chock full of fast men like Steve Peat, who only managed 7th...."

Chausson was all smiles after wrecking the other ladies' morning with a dominant run on the short course. Her jubilant mood was partly because she won both gravity events for the weekend, but mostly because she now gets to go home to France. She's been in the US since training camp, while her speed-skier boyfriend crashed in his record attempt in Vars, France. So she understandably is anxious to get home and tend to his broken bones.

Nathan Rennie, who beat Brian Lopes by less than a second in the men's race later in the morning, is hot right now. He is the Junior World Champion and recently got a factory ride with Yeti and a new teammate, Marla Streb. Rennie says he'll be crashing on friends' couches until the World Cup starts, staying in California rather than going home to Australia before the season begins.

Eric Carter (USA, GT) had set the early lead in the men's race, but was eclipsed by Rennie and Lopes late in the final run. The men only had a final run with no qualifier, so we had no idea who would come out on top today. The field was chock full of fast men like Steve Peat, who only managed 7th.

	Carter

No women, however, came close to Chausson whose time was a full six seconds faster than 2nd-place Elke Brutsaert (USA, Schwinn/Toyota). Donovan was only a half second behind Brutsaert, and Missy Giove was less than a second behind Leigh.

With this weekend's warm-up out of the way, the downhillers now have a long break until the World Cup season begins in Les Gets, France, and can start dialing in their bikes for the long season.

Racing gets serious next week with the debut of the Tissot-UCI Mountain Bike World Cup's 2000 season in Napa Valley. See you there!

— Ari Cheren, wind-blown and feasting on airline pretzels, for MountainZone.com