Skylands Tri 9/13

I haven’t raced this but my wife has several times. It is a very challenging bike course that goes up several hills. The bike course has some pretty steep grades on it, on the downhill’s you can see people get up to pretty high speeds. From watching it in the past and talking to several people who have completed the race in the past a lot of people walk up Mountain View road. The run isn’t so bad as far as elevation in the park it is mostly flat. The race has been wetsuit legal as long as I can remember.  If it’s your second tri and you decide to run it, do it to complete, no matter what time you finish in, completing is a great accomplishment. I’ll be there with my son watching my wife race, the Belly of the Beast HIM / Sprint is 2 weeks later not sure if your going to do that sprint too or not but the bike on sprint course has a hill or two but is no where near what Skylands is. I don’t know where you are, but if you can find time try to drive the bike and make the decision on whether it will demoralize you or not.

I did this tri 2 years ago... the bike course is very difficult. There is one hill that most people walked there bikes up. however you go back down a hill just as steep so you can get up to very high speeds.

The run is very flat you just run down to the boat launch and back. work on your leg stregnth for the bike and you should be fine ...

Thank you all for your replies. Unfortunately, I live over an hour away in Princeton and don't have a car, so getting to Skylands for a dry run is not an option right now. Hence, your responses are most useful.

If anybody knows: On the scale of bike difficulty, which race has a more challenging bike portion/is a better race: Skylands or Buckman? It seems that both races make a point of mentioning the difficulty of the bike part. They are both the same weekend. I see now that Buckman is slightly closer, but Skylands is not so far away that it is out of the running.

 Any other races that weekend that are also worth considering? How is the Monmouth Country Parks Sprint? Judging by the geographical location of this race, at least it promises to be fairly flat.

There are worse hills in Hunterdon County. - ain't that the truth!!!! A number of roads from Hopewell and Pennington down to Lambertville, Stockton and Frenchtown have been some of the most difficult roads I have taken shots at climbing.

I have done Skylands the last 4 years, and Buckman the first year it was offered (07?). The hills are different. Skylands starts off with some rollers, then a steady stay-in-your-seat climb alongside a highway. Shortly thereafter, you hit 3 steep hills consecuttively. These hills are very steep and far steeper than anything in Buckman. That said, it is manageable and unique....just make sure you are in your grannie gears.

The payoff is sweet, though. Shortly after you climb the three hills, you will descend down a closed highway, which is a lot of fun.

The swim is an easy, well marked out and back on a lake, and the run is flat as can be (although the mile markers are always wrong).

Skylands is a great race and the hills make it very unique. Do it!

 too bad they are in the same weekend, my friend! The Skyland and Buckman both have steep hills. The Buckman is probably the most beautiful swim and I would rate the b ike slightly easier. Easier being a relative term.  The after party at the Buckman is a typical Joe P/Greenbrookracing blast. It's always nice when a racer puts on a  high quality race.

So it seems like I'll be going to buckman! The swimming is longer (good for me), the biking is (slightly) easier, and, most importantly, it's closer. Who else is thinking of going?

I'm  nervous for the 17 miles on the bike. As I said, it's only my second tri, and I definitely feel the weakest on the bike portion.

For Buckman veterans: what is the water temperature like there?