April 9, 2007 – It is hard to say whether brothers Harrison and Clinton Gould and team mate Miranda Miller are looking forward more to the road trip, the event itself or the possibility of a couple of stops on the return journey to take in some US trails.

The threesome depart on Tuesday, April 10th with their Mad March Racing coaches and pro-riders, Shaums March and Mike Jones; biker and manager, Dave Hord; and pro-rider/ performer Wayne Goss for a four day stay in Monterey. This will be a first out-of-country competition for all three of the teens. Harrison will be competing in Junior Export, Clinton in Junior Sport and Miranda will be riding with the Pro Women for the first time. Wayne will be riding in the dirt jump competition and representing his sponsors while Shaums and Mike will be offering training camps, working with sponsors and riding in the ProMen Division. Dave, it seems, will have the hardest task of all — organizing the lot of them!

Mad March is keen to take the kids to Sea Otter for several reasons. Shaums reasons “This will broaden their horizons sooo much! It is the first big race of the season and a lot of the companies are there to show off their latest world cup guys. The two rider teams with their accompanying $100,000 trailers are out in force. I want the kids to see the commitment and responsibilities attached to making this sport a future.” At the moment, Crankworx is probably the biggest event young local bikers attend and, although the level of competition is good, it has nowhere near the depth or breadth of Sea Otter.

This will be, also, their first experience of travel — driving for hours followed by, upon arrival, quickly adapting to a whole new environment. Learning to rest, refocus and not get swept away by the excitement or overawed by the level of competition will be important skills to start to master.

“I really want the kids to see the big picture of this sport — not only the professionalism and the true athletic ability of those who have achieved top honours, but also, the hard work, pressure and responsibilities that come with their sponsorship commitments. It may scare them or excite them, but it takes them beyond the dream to the real thing — it’s a huge reality check!”

The Sea Otter claims its DH course “rewards racers who demonstrate fitness, precise lines, braking, and pedaling skills. This is not the typical alpine rim-basher course. Filled with jumps, turns, pedaling sections and hi-rev speed traps, the course promises a challenge or two for you on the way down”. Shaums says of the course “It is by no means a gnarly course — it is like a really long BMX track, but it is used by everyone on ‘the circuit’ as their first fitness gauge for the upcoming season. Riders will be using it to see how they have come through the winter, measure their endurance, how they shape up nationally and internationally, and where they need honing, hard work and mileage.”

And as for the kids? Miranda Miller was amazed when she saw the list of registered athletes in her division – “Sabrina Jonnier, Fionn Griffiths, Rachel Atherton are some of the best in the world. Sabrina Jonnier is the best.” She was pleased, also to spot a couple of familiar names from BC also — local young women who go on the BC circuit, but she felt “the point of going is to look beyond BC and find out what is out there in this world. To give myself greater experience, a chance to compete with the best, to enjoy meeting some top riders and have fun.”

And Clinton and Harrison? They are anticipating the chance to watch the ProMen — the incredible riders being almost too numerous to name, but the line-up reads like the back cover of every wild biking movie you ever saw — Steve Peat, Nathan Rennie, Sam Hill, Cedric Garcia, the Athertons, Chris Kovarik and that was just the top half of the page!

Harrison is excited at the chance to be an active part of a world class festival. “I want to put in a good solid run at a high calibre race and try to place well.” Clinton hopes that the quality of the competition will give him a kickstart for the upcoming season. “I want to maintain or improve on my 2006 standing so I hope this will inspire me to do it. Oh, and I hope to get a little beach time.”

And to think … they plan on doing homework too!