Skyway Epic

In a lost of interest racing a few XC events thus far, I made a last minute decision to toss SERC# 5 at Conyers, Ga to the wayside in favour Skyway Epic in the beautiful Talladega National Forest in Alabama. I really hated to miss out on this race last year. I dig endurance races and really think I fair better at them than cross-country.

So the low down on Skyway... It's a 60 mile race, consisting of 5100ft of climbing. The races starts with about 9ish miles of sweet single track on the Slyaward trails. You finish on the same single track but the distance is cut in half, so there is about 15 miles of singletrack total, leaving 45 miles of double track/service roads and just pure nasty, epic, muddy goodness. This race is awesome because it can favour anyone from a roadie to the die-hard mountain biker.   

Start of the race, me getting the hole shot...

Knowingly, I was in for some good competition, my race tactic was simple. I wanted the hole shot. I wanted to drill it from the gun. And so I did! I knew there were some strong roadies in the bunch, so I worked my strengths and kept the pace high in the single track dropping all but one guy from Florida who ended up flatting 4 miles in. I had a decent gap coming out of the Slyaward trails. At this point so early on in the race, I thought to myself... "do you really want to try and solo this entire race, TT style?!" but lost all my hard work when Brent Marshall(nice dude & race director) came flying up to me in his truck to tell me I missed a turn. As it fans out, the chase group consisting of about 8 or so behind me missed the same turn, so we were all chasing new founded leaders on the trail at this point!

This was my biggest fear. In a group, on none technical terrain with Brian Toone, Jafer Beizer, Jacob Tubbs and Jamie Alexander. Those were the only guys I "knew" of that were strong guys anwwho. I don't think any of them really knew who I was or feared me as a top contender.

Before the Skyway climb came there was a few short-steep sections on the double track and I immediately attacked to dislodge the group. I did not want but a few of us at the top of the Skyway climb, if that many. Only Jamie Alexander and Brian Toone were able to react to my acceleration. We worked well together to the base of Bull Mountain. Jamie was starting to suck wheel and not pull through. I was frustrated simply because I didn't want any free rides when Brian and I were digging deep to maintain our gap over the chase group. What was surprising was Jamie, when he did pull through, was strong as shit! I was starting to fear him more than Brian. After the race I learned that Jamie had been sick all week. I can't believe he was riding as strong as he was with that being the case. Very Impressive. 

Brian and I ended up dropping Jamie. It was here I knew, baring no mechanicals, it was going to be he and I to the finish. We worked well to keep a sizable gap. Climbing up to the KOM on top of the Skyway, our pace slowed a little... I think Brian wanted the KOM as bad as I did. I have always heard stories about Brian Toone, as he is a bit of a "legend" in the area. I doubted myself in being able to take him on top of the climb. We discussed splitting the cash for the KOM  and still sprinting for it anyways. I think this showed his class. Brian is a remarkable cyclist as well as a great competitor and smart tactician-er. I'm a lot more competitive than I lead on. In all honesty, if I had thought I could have gotten the KOM, I wouldn't have agreed... but I thought he would beat me, so I agreed to the deal. There was a bit of cloud cover on the mountain and we thought the 200m to KOM sign was the top. And we were wrong! I barely had him at this point but took one last dig and ended up taking it! 

Jamie ended up catching us at the halfway point of the race. I was off my bike after a dropped chain and he flew by me. I was in awe! Although I think Brian and I could have ridden a little harder, I was underestimating the talent of the racers behind us! We could tell Jamie was hurting so we really hit the rest of the race hard. In fear of continuing to drop my chain I climbed back up the top of the Skyway all big ring, maybe that helped keep the pace high?? I don't know, Brian is a freak and climbs like a goat. 

After the big descent, I really think we were both starting to observe how we were going to drop one another. It was clear no one was going to catch us. I tried dropping him on the long downhill and never got  big enough of a gap were I felt comfortable hammering down with hopes of maintaining that gap. It was all rolling hills with gravel until the last few miles of single track. 

One of many attacks from Brian Toone...

I knew all I had to do was stay with Brian until then. It seemed like any bit of a slight grade there was, Brian was accelerating and lifting the pace. I was hurting bad! He threw in some killer attacks but I wasn't giving up so easily. Brian made me earn this victory attacking me a total of 8 times super hard. I was able to muster up enough fuel and kick up the pace entering the single track that I lost sight of Brian, taking the win! And I hard-earned one at that!

Men Overall Podium... 1-Kyle 2-Brian 3-Jamie

Comradery after a hard days work!

I never once thought I had the race in the bag. I was confident in hanging with Brian but didn't expect the win. I love epic battles like this. One on One, a chess game with mental and physical pains. I know Brian wanted the win as bad as I did and I commend him for a hell of a race!