Photo gallery: Opening the Otter

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Sea Otter Classic kicked off near Monterey, California, on Thursday for what is a four-day festival of all things cycling including rides, races, public product expos and industry product launches.

Sea Otter draws cycling enthusiasts of all ages and from all disciplines. Mountain bike pros and amateurs spent much of the day checking out their downhill, dual slalom, super D, cross country and short track courses, with elite racing kicking off Friday afternoon with the Super D.

Roadies got an early start on the action with elites and amateurs contesting a criterium on the Laguna Seca Raceway.

Cyclingnews was on hand to catch some images of the happenings on day 1. Stay tuned for complete coverage of the latest tech and racing from Sea Otter all weekend.

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Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews.  She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.