Sea Otter Classic kicks off at Laguna Seca

A warning for drivers as the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca starts.

It’s North America’s largest cycling festival and brings people from all over the world for pro and amateur events.

The event brings in more than 70,000 people to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Highway 68 traffic didn’t see a huge impact from the event on Wednesday. Still, one driver says he’s not looking forward to the traffic hiccups he thinks may be coming.

“I think it’s going to make the commute really bad. We were here just trying to get out to the 101 and had to pull off because the wait was so bad” said Highway 68 driver Adam Gracia. “I can’t imagine if there’s some type of large event here, it would really be hard to get around.”

Not everyone is focused on the traffic troubles the 4-day event could cause. One family participating in the event says the Sea Otter Classic is something they look forward to every year.

“This area is so nice, we’ve been coming for at least 10 or 12 years and just the location, the weather is always perfect it’s never too hot, it’s not too cold. Obviously the topography here is really nice and the bike event itself is just phenomenal” said Tom Birkenfeld from Atascadero.

Tom’s son Kyle will be racing in the event’s downhill course, and made the two hour drive just to participate.

As for traffic going into Laguna Seca, Thursday from 6 AM until 6:30 PM you will be directed to use the South Boundary Entrance, the 218/Canyon Del Rey route.

A link with more information on traffic for the event’s other days can be found here.