RACE TIME: 8am Sunday May 19th

• Onsite registration will be open on Saturday night at the race site (Lake Howard) 4-7pm.  Camping is available onsite and we will be cooking out Saturday night.  We are asking for a $5 donation to COGS (the local mountain bike group that maintains the trails) if possible.
• Race morning registration will be open from 6am-7:30am.
• Race starts at 8am.
• You are allowed (1) one gallon drop bag. It must be at the registration table by 7:15am in order to make it to the turn around.  Please do not use coolers unless you are willing to wait at the finish for the volunteers from the turn-around aid station to return.
• There will be (3) aid stations on course that will be stocked with cold water, Heed, Hammer gel, and bananas. The Heed will not be premixed.
• There will be ProGold chain lube at the aid stations. Otherwise, you are required to be mechanically self sufficient.
• There will be necklaces at the turnaround. They are big enough to go around your helmet, but not so big that they will be a problem. If you do not have your necklace at the finish, you will be a DNF.
• The majority of this race takes place on forest service roads and jeep trail which are OPEN TO TRAFFIC. Use your head when bombing into a blind corner. All of these roads are two way race traffic as well, keep that in mind. While there is no yellow line, act like there is.
• There will be food for racers and volunteers after the race.
• Podiums will be after the race so stick around and enjoy some food.

2nd ANNUAL SKYWAY EPIC MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE
SUNDAY MAY 19, 2013
SYLAWARD TRAILS AT LAKE HOWARD
SYLACAUGA, ALABAMA

The Skyway Epic is an endurance mountain bike race in the Talledega National Forest. The race will be 60ish miles long and feature enough climbing to satisfy a mountain goat, enough rolling forest service road to satisfy a roadie, enough crazy descending to scare the timid and satisfy the unstable. The race will begin and end on some of the finest flowy, grin-enducing singletrack in the southeast via the Sylaward trail.

COURSE INFORMATION

SKYWAY EPIC RACE FLYER

$90 Bikereg.com
$100 Day of Race

PAYOUT

Open Men- 1st- $300 / 2nd- $200 / 3rd- $100

Open Women- 1st- $250 / 2nd- $100 / 3rd- $50

All other categories will receive great prizes from Cahaba Cycles  (Camelbaks, Park Tools Work Stands, etc).

KOM & QOM Presented by Eddie Freyer State Farm & Bici Coop

$100 each for our Queen and King of the Mountain!

I haven’t seen much chatter from folks regarding their opinions of how the race went save for a few (very) notable ones in Brian Toones’ great blog and Scott Thigpen’s as well. Those were great write ups and they seem to cast a positive light on how the race went down.

So, here is my perspective: The race went really freaking well!…and by that I mean – We had a hearty little crowd of racers who all seemed to be on the same page with endurance racing and they were literally from all over the country. Nobody got lost, nobody got hurt, the weather was great, Raymond Black didn’t get mad at us, none of the support vehicles broke down on the way to their checkpoints, nobody lost their $100 bill and everyone had a good time, despite the death mask many were wearing when they finished.

The turnout was a little over 60 and I was pleased with this number, mainly from a logistical standpoint. It is probably best to try something like this out for the first time with a smaller crowd.

Many folks stepped forward to help and may not be recognized because they were not sponsors. I would like to say a special thanks to:

Matt Burks for working for months on our website and many other thankless tasks.

George Mattison for just being awesome and always there to help.

Billy Ritch for asking to help and then being a major player in the production.

My awesome father in law, “Tacky” Jack for the motorhome and the always great gumbo…and being our ambassador to Mr. Black.

My wife for being there, always.

Bob Schlemmer, Bo Nolan and Frank Davis for being my good friends and sweeping the skyway on the polaris while somehow handing out $100 bills to the kom’s and beer to those who needed liquid nutrition.

Tim the tile guy for being sous chef

The entire COGS group who put a huge effort into the trail cleanup, course marking and running the aid station like bosses.

Lindsay Burks for always helping Jacquelyn with registration.

Christian Leask for always answering my stupid questions.

All of our sponsors. Most of you just stepped forward and said “yes”, let’s do it. Thank You. You all helped bring epic racing to Alabama and it only continues, because it has to.

We are changing the time for packet pickup on Saturday to 4pm. There is a fishing rodeo at the lake that morning and we need to wait until it clears out a bit. Also, the mass start is at 9am. It was posted as 8am on bikereg. We need that extra hour to get volunteers setup on course.

Full Map:DOC051712-001

KOM:

I am copying and pasting from the Skyway Facebook page. It’s hard for me to keep all the info flowing on twitter, this page and facebook…seems like I would be smart enough to work that out…or not. If you haven’t joined the fb page, please do, it is just too easy to discuss and trade info there.

Brian probably provides more information in one ride than I can or have in 10! http://toonecycling.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/skyway-epic-plus-alabamas-newest-cat-2-climb/

We will have (3) aid stations. (1) at the beginning of the skyway ~10 mi. into the race. (2) at the turnaround ~25 mi. into the race. You will hit aid station #1 again as you return. (3) at the turn off of wiregrass rd. to 601d ~49 mi. into the race. You will receive (1) Hammer Perpetum pack with your race bag Strawberry-Vanilla, Orange-Vanilla or Caffe Latte. The aid stations will be stocked with Hammer Gels Orange, Apple-Cinnamon and Heed Lemon-Lime and Strawberry. There will be no tools or mechanical supplies at the aid stations, you are required to be self sufficient mechanically. It will likely be HOT, but with the spacing of the aid stations and the stock, you should make it with (2) water bottles…just remember to stop and fill up! There will be some perpetum packs left over and we will send these to aid station #2 (turnaround), first come first serve. We will have some of the best home cooked gumbo you have ever eaten at the finish along with dogs, chips, drinks, cookies.

Bo Nolan (E-Box) has fashioned our proof necklaces. When you reach the turnaround point at hwy 77 you will recieve a parachute corded medallion that goes around your neck. We will also have a secret checkpoint to make sure you get all the singletrack at the end!!!

I will be doing some cleanup at the re-entry of to the singletrack 601-d this sunday, if anyone cares to get dirty, come on.