FUN IN THE SUN: SEA OTTER EUROPE 2021
Words by Mike Rose
Photos by Maria Soteras
After a crazy 18 months it was great to be able to meet some people, ride some bikes and get back to some level of normality. The 2021 Sea Otter Europe, in the beautiful city of Girona on the Costa Brava (Spain), provided the perfect excuse for the INTENSE Europe team to get together and to show off our bikes to the public.
Girona may be over 9,600km away from Monterey Bay in California (the birthplace of the original Sea Otter Classic) but that didn’t matter one bit. The weather was hot, the bikes were prepped and the riders were ready. This was the fifth time that Sea Otter Europe had taken place, and this year saw over 45,000 people and over 240 brands attended the three day event.
We took a fleet of 15 bikes, which were demo’d by over 150 INTENSE fans. It was a great opportunity for riders to try out our bikes but also for us to meet people face to face and to get their views and opinions, and feedback on the bikes.
We had our complete range at the event, and we also took along our brand new prototype mixed wheel Tracer 279 (above). The Tracer, along with Bernat Guardia’s M29 downhill bike, got the most attention at the show.
We knew that our Tazer eBike would be a firm favorite to be taken out on demo, but we were also very pleased to see (and maybe a little surprised) that our Sniper XC and Sniper T ‘downcounty’ bike were also receiving a lot of attention. Lightweight, super fast, short travel bikes are still very much in demand.
We were fully booked out the whole three days. There was no let up for the team. I don’t think they ever want to change a set of pedals or set up the sag on a bike ever again!
It was also great to have INTENSE Europe ambassadors Luca Leonardi and Mariano Mari (Mariano’s Carbine above) on hand to help out, especially with their knowledge and experience of the bikes. If that wasn’t enough we also had the team from 4Riders Park Park (where we have our INTENSE downhill track) giving out free bike park passes and prizes to the lucky few.
Everyone was happy and the vibe was good. “You guys made my day”, was the best feedback we could hope for. It was an awesome three days. If you came along and tried out one of our bikes, then we hope you enjoyed it. If you didn’t, hopefully we might see you in Girona next year.
