Skull Valley Road Race

The Skull Valley Road Race this past weekend in Prescott was a great close to the road racing season in Arizona. Technically speaking there is still a crit and a couple time trials. But they surely can’t compare for location or quality of the course.

Although I haven’t ridden every course on the calendar, Skull Valley is easily one of the best. Located just outside of Prescott the scenery and terrain is a beautiful sample of Northern Arizona. The course itself is mostly a mix of short rollers and power climbs. One longer climb just after the turn around however is long enough to decide the race if a strong group finds the motivation. Otherwise a false flat uphill set up a punchy uphill sprint finish.

The one weakness of the race was a low turnout this year. Its a shame when a parking lot crit in Phoenix can draw a larger crowd than a spectacular course. Its hard to know what role gas prices or placement on the calender might play in the turnout. Or whether racers just need a kick in the ass. But this is one race worth the extra effort.

I brought the camera out for the pre-ride on Saturday to capture some of the fun.

Back to front Elliot, Brent (skittles), and “Fast” Bryan getting ready.

Fast Bryan poses with the Draft “ass” Master Rack.

The course starts with a mellow downhill perfect for the self portrait attempts (Mike).

Will and I doing our best Euro-peloton impression.

Will

Aggress double paceline.

Fast

Skit

“Slow” Brian and Elliot.

Slow Brian

Will

 

Fast

Fast looking back.

Will and Mike

And a bunch of group shots in front of the kind of place that you can only find in Westerns and places like Skull Valley.

We clearly rocked it in the pre-ride, so how about the race?

In Cat 3 we went 4, 5,6 with Fast Bryan, Mike, and Slow Brian. Skit and Elliot had solid rides in Cat 4 finishing in the pack. And Will represented in the Cat 5s as well. Overall, good results and great weekend.