Matt Beers: Coming off Cape Epic win, I'm pretty confident for Sea Otter

"Yeah, definitely at Sea Otter I really want to do well. Coming off the Epic win, I'm pretty confident I can carry some of the form that I have."

It's the first time the 30-year-old has been to Monterey, California and the Sea Otter Classic, which he heard about as a child in Cape Town. While he may be at a disadvantage with no race experience on the course and travelling 10,000 air miles (16,400km) to even get to the venue, he said at least he won't have to battle at high elevation, which seems to be a trait for other US events.

"It's pretty exciting to race at Sea Otter. I've heard about it since I was a kid; it was always in the magazines. And obviously, it's one of the very few races at sea level. I live at sea level. And it's a mountain bike race. I do like gravel, but mountain bike is my first love. So this race [Fuego XL] just hits all the right spots for me." 

With another Cape Epic title checked off the list, the Cape Town native has made the Life Time Grand Prix his focus for the season. Last season he was seventh in the men's overall standings going into the final race at Big Sugar Gravel in Arkansas. He suffered a shoulder separation and broken ribs in a crash so did not finish and finished 14th overall, meaning he missed earning part of the $250,000 prize purse distributed evenly to the top 10 men and women. 

"Racing at elevation has been a big learning curve from last year. You have to listen to your body a lot more and not just go as hard as you can and then recover. I definitely paid the price a few times. We have a little bit of elevation in South Africa, but nothing like here," Beers said about his number one epiphany from racing the Grand Prix last season.

"I'm a lot more confident in terms of my ability and what I need to do better than last year, in terms of preparation and racing a lot smarter, not just going until I blow up and then never come out of the hole I made. Every time it's a shock, at altitude. I figured out that getting acclimatized 10 days before the race has helped a lot."

He has set a schedule of three trips to the US in 2024 to give him time to adjust more to conditions like the altitude. One back-and-forth trip to South Africa that he eliminated was to defend his titles in the South African marathon MTB and gravel championship events, both moved to May. He will remain in the US at that time to focus on Unbound Gravel 200, where he was 11th last year, 31 minutes behind winner Swenson. 

"Unbound is a big one where I want to do well. Leadville is high altitude and obviously, it's very much a climbing course, and I'm quite a big rider. So I've kind of accepted that doesn't fit me very well," he laughed when talking about his 6-foot, 4-inch (1.96 cm) frame.

"Courses that really suit me are Chequamegon and Big Sugar. But you can't target everything. I can target where my abilities [are best]."

"Yeah, definitely at Sea Otter I really want to do well. Coming off the Epic win, I'm pretty confident I can carry some of the form that I have."

It's the first time the 30-year-old has been to Monterey, California and the Sea Otter Classic, which he heard about as a child in Cape Town. While he may be at a disadvantage with no race experience on the course and travelling 10,000 air miles (16,400km) to even get to the venue, he said at least he won't have to battle at high elevation, which seems to be a trait for other US events.

"It's pretty exciting to race at Sea Otter. I've heard about it since I was a kid; it was always in the magazines. And obviously, it's one of the very few races at sea level. I live at sea level. And it's a mountain bike race. I do like gravel, but mountain bike is my first love. So this race [Fuego XL] just hits all the right spots for me." 

With another Cape Epic title checked off the list, the Cape Town native has made the Life Time Grand Prix his focus for the season. Last season he was seventh in the men's overall standings going into the final race at Big Sugar Gravel in Arkansas. He suffered a shoulder separation and broken ribs in a crash so did not finish and finished 14th overall, meaning he missed earning part of the $250,000 prize purse distributed evenly to the top 10 men and women. 

"Racing at elevation has been a big learning curve from last year. You have to listen to your body a lot more and not just go as hard as you can and then recover. I definitely paid the price a few times. We have a little bit of elevation in South Africa, but nothing like here," Beers said about his number one epiphany from racing the Grand Prix last season.

"I'm a lot more confident in terms of my ability and what I need to do better than last year, in terms of preparation and racing a lot smarter, not just going until I blow up and then never come out of the hole I made. Every time it's a shock, at altitude. I figured out that getting acclimatized 10 days before the race has helped a lot."

He has set a schedule of three trips to the US in 2024 to give him time to adjust more to conditions like the altitude. One back-and-forth trip to South Africa that he eliminated was to defend his titles in the South African marathon MTB and gravel championship events, both moved to May. He will remain in the US at that time to focus on Unbound Gravel 200, where he was 11th last year, 31 minutes behind winner Swenson. 

"Unbound is a big one where I want to do well. Leadville is high altitude and obviously, it's very much a climbing course, and I'm quite a big rider. So I've kind of accepted that doesn't fit me very well," he laughed when talking about his 6-foot, 4-inch (1.96 cm) frame.

"Courses that really suit me are Chequamegon and Big Sugar. But you can't target everything. I can target where my abilities [are best]."

He dabbled in a bit of road racing, competing as a stagiaire with UAE Team Emirates in 2019 and riding at events across Europe, including Vuelta a Burgos. But he added gravel to his mountain biking resume after the coronavirus global pandemic and hasn't looked back. 2023 was a big year with second at BWR California in 2023, third at Crusher in the Tushar and 10th at The Rad Dirt Fest. 

This is his first season on the Specialized Off-road team, which also includes LTGP women's overall champion Sofia Gomez Villafañe and Grotts, who was his teammate for the Cape Epic victory. Grotts in particular can be a big asset in races.

"This year being part of the Specialized team, that was a big goal of mine. It all fell into place, which was cool. We will try tactics. Let's say for instance at Leadville, if he [Grotts] has a good chance of winning there, then I'll kind of run my setup similar to his so if he needs something I can help. And then the same goes for him maybe at Unbound, because I really want to do well there.

"But we are complete opposites [in size]. We could share just wheels at this point," he laughed about the duo sharing any equipment.

Can he beat Swenson at Fuego XL, or take enough points over the seven Grand Prix events to unseat the reigning champion? 

"Keegan is Keegan," he said. "He and Sofia were the first people to help me out before I was on the [Specialized] team figuring out the US. Without them, I wouldn't be able to do it [Grand Prix]."