The Life Time Sea Otter Classic returned to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca this spring, four days of racing, demos, and a sprawling expo from April 16 to 19. Billed as the largest cycling and outdoor sports festival in North America, it turns the Salinas Highway grounds into a temporary capital of the bike world.
Sea Otter has run for decades, and its scale is the whole story. Elite road, mountain, gravel, and e-bike fields share the circuit and the surrounding trails with grassroots riders and families, while an enormous expo lets the industry show off next year’s gear to tens of thousands of people over the weekend. For a lot of riders on the Central Coast, it is the unofficial start of the outdoor season.
The Laguna Seca setting is part of the draw. The famed Corkscrew and the raceway’s hills give the racing a backdrop few other festivals can match, and the venue absorbs the crowds better than most.
The 2026 edition has wrapped, but Sea Otter is an annual fixture on the Peninsula calendar and returns to Laguna Seca each spring. If you missed it this year, it is worth marking for next.
Monterey Current is the Peninsula’s local edit — events, food, sport, arts, and what’s opening and closing, covered by people who live here and pay attention. Browse the events calendar, read more Outdoors, and follow along on Instagram and Bluesky.
