This is the 30-year-old's first visit to Monterey, California, and the Sea Otter Classic is one he heard about as a kid in Cape Town. While he may be at a disadvantage, having never raced on the course and having to travel 10,000 miles (16,400 km) to the venue, at least he says he won't be competing at the high elevations that characterize other U.S. competitions.
"Racing in Sea Otter is pretty exciting. I've heard rumors about it since I was a kid and it was always in the magazines. It's one of the few races at sea level. I live at sea level. And it's a mountain bike race. I like gravel, but mountain biking is my favorite. So this race (Fuego XL) is in the right place for me.
In addition to winning the Cape Epic title, the Cape Town native has his sights set on the Lifetime Grand Prix this season. Last season, he finished seventh in the overall men's standings heading into the final round at Big Sugar Gravel in Arkansas. He did not finish the race after suffering a separated shoulder and broken ribs in a crash and finished 14th overall.
"Racing at altitude was a big learning experience from last year. I have to listen to my body more and not just run as fast as I can and recover. I certainly paid the price for that a few times. There is a little bit of elevation in South Africa, but not as much as here," Beers said of his biggest realization from last season's Grand Prix.
"I'm pretty confident about my ability and the fact that I need to do better than last year. In terms of preparation, I've been able to race smarter. Every time you get a shock at altitude. Acclimatizing 10 days before the race has helped a lot"
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He has scheduled three trips to the U.S. in 2024 to give him more time to acclimate to conditions such as high altitude. He omitted one trip to South Africa to defend his South African marathon MTB and gravel championship titles, both of which were moved in May. He will concentrate on the Unbound Gravel 200, which he won last year, finishing 11th, 31 minutes behind Swenson, who won the race.
"Unbound is a big meet and I want to do well. Leadville is high elevation and obviously it's an uphill course. So I accept that it's a course that's not really for me," he laughed when talking about his 5'96" frame.
"The courses that really suit me are Chekamegon and Big Sugar. But I can't target everything. I can target where I can best demonstrate my abilities."
"Yes, I definitely want to do well at Sea Otter. After winning the Epic, I'm confident I can keep up my current form."
This will be the 30-year-old's first visit to Monterey, California, and the Sea Otter Classic is one he heard about as a kid in Cape Town. While he may be at a disadvantage, having never raced on the course and traveling 10,000 miles (16,400 km) to the venue, he said that at least he won't have to contend with the high elevation that has been a feature of other U.S. competitions.
"Racing in Sea Otter is pretty exciting. I've heard rumors about it since I was a kid and it was always in the magazines. And it's one of the few races at sea level. I live at sea level. And it's a mountain bike race. I like gravel, but mountain biking is my favorite. So this race [Fuego XL] is in the right place for me."
In addition to winning the Cape Epic title, the Cape Town native has his sights set on the Lifetime Grand Prix this season. Last season, he was seventh overall in the men's standings until the final race at Big Sugar Gravel in Arkansas. He was unable to finish the race after suffering a separated shoulder and broken ribs in a crash and finished 14th overall. He did not win his portion of the $250,000 prize money, which is distributed equally to the top 10 men and women.
"Racing at altitude was a big learning experience from last year. You have to listen to your body more and not just run as hard as you can and recover. I certainly paid the price for that a few times. There is a little bit of elevation in South Africa, but not as much as here," Beers said of his biggest realization from last season's Grand Prix.
"I'm pretty confident about my ability and the fact that I need to do better than last year. In terms of preparation, I'm a lot smarter about racing. Every time I get shocked at altitude. I've found that acclimatizing 10 days before the race helps a lot."
He has scheduled three trips to the U.S. in 2024 to give him more time to acclimate to conditions such as high altitude. One of those trips was to defend his South African marathon MTB and gravel championship titles, both of which were rescheduled for May. The reason is to focus on the Unbound Gravel 200, which he won last year, finishing 11th, 31 minutes behind Swenson, who won the race.
"Unbound is a big event and I want to do well. Leadville is high elevation and obviously it's a climbing course. So I accept that it's a course that's not really for me," he laughed, talking about his 5'96" frame.
"The courses that really suit me are Chequamegon and Big Sugar. But I can't target everything. I can target where I can best demonstrate my abilities."
He also dabbled a bit in road racing, competing as a stagiaire for UAE Team Emirates in 2019 and competing in events across Europe, including the Vuelta a Burgos. However, after the global outbreak of the Coronavirus, he added gravel to his mountain biking resume and hasn't looked back since, finishing 2nd at BWR California, 3rd at Crusher in the Tushar, and 10th at The Rad Dirt Fest in 2023.
This is her first season with the Specialized Off-Road team, which also includes LTGP Women's Overall Champion Sofia Gomez Villafagne and Grotz, her Cape Epic winning teammate. Grotz, in particular, will be a major force in the race.
"My main goal this year was to be part of the Specialized team. Everything went well. We try tactics. For example, in Leadville, if he [Grotz] is likely to win there, I'll run a similar setup to him. And the same goes for unbound.
"But we are complete opposites [in size]. At this point, we could only share wheels," he laughed about what tools the duo would share.
Will he be able to beat Swenson in the Fuego XL, or will he score enough points in the seven Grand Prix events to take the championship title?
"Keegan is Keegan. "He and Sofia were the first people to help me understand America before I joined the [Specialized] team. Without them, I wouldn't have made it [in Grand Prix racing]."
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