Skyline XC - Max Houtzager

Skyline Park, Napa CA
Cat 1 19-39 (35)
Teammates: Tony Smith, Dario Fredrick, Bobby Zidek
Result: 2nd
FOOD

I wasn't sure about this race. I just got back from Europe, had high school graduation/graduation parties, a rest week, and a packed 6 weekends of racing/travel ahead. I've experienced this race once before, attempting to race singlespeed but DNF'ing from a mechanical (had to break the curse). The course is too epic to pass up, so I made every effort to get my back/hip feeling better from my crash in Switzerland on Sunday. I'd ridden easy all week with out the pain getting worse, but it by no means felt good or even ok and was unsure it wouldn't get worse going race pace. The race turned out to be successful and worth it in every single way! I felt my ailments for sure but they didn't hold me back too much. Two treatments and some Rock Taping by the team doctor Sara Lemarch made all the difference!

had a solid start after a long warm up doing half a lap of the course with Dario, which seemed like too much at the time. I was stoked to ride in the top 3 with Mark Weir (WTB-Cannondale-Fox) and Dario, but then settled into the top 10 behind Mark. I haven't raced against all the regional pros in the field this year so didn't know where I stood nor how i'd fair in my longest race of the year yet so Mark's pace seemed solid.



Riding his lines and speed on the first descent was definitely a highlight for my race! I soon remembered that he was riding a trail bike, beefier tires, and a dropper post so rode a bit more with in my control. I passed him on a short climb and then he flatted following my lines (he let me know later), which left me pretty much alone. My plan/goal to pace off him was short lived.

The technical rocky sections were a blast although I mostly just rode smooth is fast with in my ability, which I was fine with given how fun it was and that I really didn't feel like hanging it out after eating it last weekend. I was surprisingly ready for lap 3 to get to ride more of the epic course!

I was stoked that everyone in the top 10 was fast at descending so I never got held up except for minor lap traffic. My rear tire seemed flat on lap 2 so I nursed it to some degree but in the end it was fine. I caught glimpses of Will Curtis at the top of some climbs and could tell I was getting closer on them so really wanted to catch him (also because he's an amazing super fast rider). I wasn't fast enough on the downhills on lap 2 and made a huge effort on lap 3 to catch him, but he started having a stronger lap as well. I did catch Kevin Smallman (Cannondale-Incycle) in the process, so duked it out with him for most of lap 3.

I finally dialed in the descents at this point (forced to since Kevin was on a trailbike). After I got in front of him I knew getting small gaps on the climbs wouldn't be enough especially with the lap traffic. I finally pulled away running faster on a hike a bike section and rode smooth is fast to the finish (still hoping to catch Curtis but not seeing him).

I ended up 6th overall and 2.5 minutes off the winner which I'm totally stoked on given the stacked pro/expert field and places/ways where I can make up time. Nice job to Dario and Tony for going 1-2 and absolutely killing it!