Skyline Race Reports

Yo,

I had reason to be down in the Bay this weekend so was happy I was
going to get to race one of my favorite races - Skyline. I turned up
at the venue around 9, got all setup. I noticed is was pretty cool
out and lots of the expert types were going with just bottles so I
rejiggered my setup - dropped the camelbak and stuffed my 2 C02s and
enormous 29er tube into my jersey pockets along with some food. Note:
I've been having technical issues, particularly flatting with my 29er
this year, so I knew I needed a tube.

Lined up w/ the sport guys and headed off feeling pretty warmed up and
ready - I've been riding a lot lately and I figured the extra 02 in
the air would help me. I quickly passed Leonard and many other folks
and then settled into the single track, feeling pretty good. I road
the wheel of whoever was ahead of me, occasionally getting to pass -
lots of jokers dismounting for really trivial step ups and things
causing the whole race to get a bit jacked up. I think it's worth
going out super hard at this race just to not get stuck behind all the
fast-climbing roadies I think since they are challenged by bumps over
2". I felt like I was moving through the pack pretty well...

Post creek, the descent was going reasonably - the route was different
than the other times I've raced skyline but I was enjoying it.
There's MORE than enough gnarly rocky sections on this thing. It
really requires some sacking up to ride various parts, at least for
me. Anyway, I passed someone fixing a tire 15 feet off trail who
called out "Hey John!" ... not sure if this was causal but I almost
immediately stacked in a rocky section, flatted my front (Stan's
tubeless) tire and ripped open my knee pretty good. Turns out it was
Kirk saying hello... save it for the parking lot next time bro!

Anyway, I put in my patched 29er tube and inflated with one C02, took
a concerned look at my seriously bleeding knee (same spot I got 50
stitches in 6 months ago at La Ruta) and set off, at least to finish
the lap.

My patched tube quickly lost it's air so I was walking and pondering
my pitiful state when I came upon a guy w/ a broken chain who sported
me a 26" tube. I got that in and inflated with the other CO2 which I
now realize are not big enough to inflate 29er tires. I was running
maybe 12 lbs of pressure and I gingerly limped back out to the start,
walking all those fun downhill sections for fear of pinch flatting or
ruining my rim. The bike felt totally wacked out - the brakes were
rubbing and engaging way too early, the steering was off (probably the
low pressure) and just funky.

I rolled into the finish and got someone to pump up both tires (dude
said the back was at 20?!!? lbs which should have alerted me to the
upcoming issue)... I talked with Squeeky Mouse Paulie - he had broken
his seat and I was trying to decide on the wisdom or riding the
shredded knee... decided that it was an okay idea and rolled back out.

The gauge on the pump must have been off b/c I felt like I was on my
road bike the tires were so hard. And I was doing a little figuring
on the climb... if I road the gnarly sections and crashed again on my
knee, I'd really be in pain AND since I would be trying to not crash,
of course I would crash... and I was out of tubes AND out of CO2 and
my tires were having issues apparently... and my knee was really
starting to throb... and I was probably DFL with all the delays so I
decided to just finish most of the climbing and then descend the way I
came, saving my skin for another day.

Chock up another DNF for me for the year. Lame! Great course though
and good to see you folks, if briefly, at Skyline.

The knee looks better than I expected - really just some scrapes - no
kneecap showing or anything.

BUT, I am interested in wearing knee pads now! I'm tired of thrashing
my knees. So anyone have recommendations for a cross-country racing
type of knee pad?

See some of you in Tahoe next week I hope!

-John Hillstrom

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Skyline Race Report


I ended up driving up with Ty and ran in to quite a few familiar faces. We parked next to Dave and set up shop. I went for a little warm up up the initial fire road and was not feeling it. With the lack of sleep and riding, its been really hard to keep up with the big boys. Anyway, after an hour of goofing off and chatting with people, I headed over to the start with Rafael. Ran in to Hillstrom and said hello. We take off, and I feel like within the fist 5 minutes, I am in pretty close to dead last. There was a long string of people in front of me. Oh well, my plan was to see if I could stick with the fast guys for the first 30 seconds to a minute, and if that was impossible, throw in the towel and just enjoy an great day of riding on some amazing trails.

So I kept chugging along and surprisingly, on the march up the first steep hill, I was able to run around about 5 people at the very top. I kept my moderate pace on the flats, but every time we hit a technical section or a hill, I was able to ride or run around 5 or so people. Midway through the first lap, I was hurting, but having fun. I saw Hillstrom on the side of trail fixing a flat. After getting the signal that he was okay, I kept on the gas. On the big decent, we ran in to some single speeders and got hung up, but I didn't let it bother me. I knew the leaders in my category were long gone. So we got around when possible, and I nailed it on the fire road back to the S/F.

Lap two, more of the same, just less people in my way. I could feel I was falling off the pace a little, but for the most part didn't have people in my way to hang me up on the fun stuff. Some riders I had passed early on in the first lap on the technical stuff came whizzing by me on the climbs. No big deal, just stuck with my race, thinking I'd possibly catch them on the decent. I did, and passed a few. Towards the end of my last lap, I saw Antonio (the Colombian guy) on the side of the trail with a flat and no pump. I decided to let the guy behind me pass and let Antonio grab my pump out of my camel back, knowing very well, that the guy behind me would pass me soon enough now that we were out of the technical stuff. Turns out Antonio grabbed my shock pump and didn't realize it until I'd already jumped back on my bike. Oops.

So on the last little rock steps in the switchbacks, I just didn't carry my momentum and started to slowly go over the bars, but ended up falling on my side in to the nice soft grass on the upslope of the hill. I laughed it off and yelled to the guy with the flag that I was fine. Back to the finish line with a smile on my face and turns out I was 9th out of 15 with a time of nearly 1:48 even. I took a look back at previous results and starting from 2005, my times have been 2:14, 1:50, 1:37, and then 1:48 this year. So about 10.5 minutes slower than last year, but with the kid and a lot less riding, not too bad. Next up, well, not sure. I've once again decided that Downieville isn't in the cards. Some day I'll get up there. So maybe the evening Bike Monkey race is next up on July 19th.

9/15 Sport Men 19-34

Matt Leonard

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Another Skyline Race Report

Decided right before the pre-reg deadline to enter and race with the
singlespeed in prep for the SSWC. But I wimped out and entered sport
so I wouldn't have to do 3 laps (Ive been on a vacation from training
since the Coolest 24 race). Plus, its only the second ride on the SS
in a looong time.

Saw Matt, Dave, Ty, and others getting ready as I pulled in, so I got
ready and cruised around the parking lot a bit. I warmed up the fire
road climb with Matt which was a good thing as I learned I could make
it with the SS, and also not to go too hard or else I wouldn't make it
to the doubletrack. Was feeling okay after the warmup considering the
lack of recent training.

Once the race started, I settled toward the back of the pack since my
hamster spinning abilities aren't the greatest either, but once the
hill picked up, I was wasting energy weaving around all the guys in
their small rings. Ive never ridden at skyline before, so I found
myself going too hard on some climbs, and not hard enough on others.
I think I passed Dave on the initial fire road, and he passed me back
on the singletrack. Right after one of the small dips, he had a flat.

The techy downhills were fun, but got clogged up on the first lap.
Once we got to the last fire road stretch, things opened up for the
second lap. The second lap was much clearer. I knew I was way back,
and I just paced myself. I pretty much rode the second lap by myself
I cruised through all the downhills on the first lap, but walked the
downhill section where Matt leaned over on the second lap after I
caught up to a SSer that was going through it very slowly. He was a
Sycip rider that had took a spill and had a pretty scratched up chin,
so I finished the switchbacks behind him then passed. I knew I wasn't
gonna catch anyone else, nor be caught, so I just took it easy to the
finish. Maybe a bit too much as I still had some left over at the
end, but I find out my second lap was about 4 minutes faster than the
first. hmm.

I think I needed one more tooth for the techy climb section between
the two downhill sections. Besides the two obvious hike-a-bikes, I
had to walk a part of this section on both laps, but think I could
have cleaned it with a 32x20 instead of 19 (29er). I was warned ahead
of time to lower my gearing, but I got lazy.

Finished sport 19-34, 10th/15 1:57:09.

I think I could have shaved several minutes if I had my geared bike,
but I am happy with the finish considering the SS.

Rafael Rius