Bosch, Haibike Sponsor Sea Otter's First eMTB Race Today

The Subaru Sea Otter Classic will host its first annual electric mountain bike (eMTB) Race today, thanks to support from Bosch eBike Systems and Haibike of Germany.

Sea Otter has added the eMTB race event to their full line up of Enduro, Cross Country, Dual Slalom, Downhill, and other events for the 2016 season. The April 15 race, co-sponsored by Bosch and Haibike, builds from both companies’ years of experience sponsoring European eMTB races and features challenging climbing and descents on a mix of single-track trail and other terrain over the course of the 1.5 mile loop. The race is time-based – 60 minutes in duration – a hybrid between short track and cross country.

As part of the “Industry Challenge” category, the Industry racer who completes the most laps within 60 minutes will receive a cash purse of $5,000 that will go towards the local trail building non-profit of their choice.

“We added an Industry Challenge to the race as a way to inject some friendly intra-industry competition into this category, but more importantly, to provide an extra tailwind to trail-building associations who are doing valuable work for the mountain bike community.” Says Claudia Wasko, Regional Business Unit Leader of Bosch eBike Systems Americas.

“If people love what they do, they exercise and want to become better. If they become better, they want to compete. In any sport, in any part of life. Same happened with eMTB in Europe and now in the U.S.”  says Claus Fleischer, CEO of Bosch eBike Systems.

“We are proud to sponsor the first e-mountain bike race at Sea Otter.  As the original ePerformance manufacturer, we have been supporting the eMTB race scene in Europe from the beginning and are excited to bring the opportunity to the US.” says Susanne Puello, Managing Director for Winora Group and Haibike.

“eMTB racing already exists in many forms from short races, relays, 24h, to Enduro in Europe already. Why? Because they are exhilarating, physically demanding, and Mountain Bikers love competitive challenges! We’re happy to work with Bosch and Haibike to bring this eMTB trend to the U.S. at the biggest bike festival in the country.” says Frank Yohannan, President and CEO of the Sea Otter Classic, Inc.