Race Report–Tour of the Battenkill—Cat 3—2011

New recruit, Paul Sennot and RMM after finishing their brutal races.

Chris Gagne, Andrew Krulewitz and myself made an expedition out to upstate New York to test our mettle and try to win glory. Mettle was tested and glory was won. Andrew and Chris were there to support me if they could. But mostly we were all there to enjoy a day on the bike and turn the screws if we could.

The Tour of the Battenkill has become the premier test of Hardmen/Hardwomen in the Northeast. It is a 64 mile road race that take place on both paved and unpaved roads. While it climbs no huge mountains, it is a contstantly rolling course that tests a rider’s fitness and bike handling skills. There are dirt climbs with 18 percent grades and 45+ mph descents on gravel roads with potholes and sand patches. Flat tires and crashes are frequent. It is a race of attrition.

Race day brought temperatures in the 50’s. The roads were dry and dusty. If you ride in the back of a Battenkill peloton on a dry day, you can count on coughing up Upstate NY dirt for days afterwards. We had been praying for demoralizing rain, but Jens Voigt’s god failed to hear our desperate prayers.

Our race started out tame. The 125ish riders were content to sit in. There were a few half hearted attacks, which were quickly brought back. I stayed near the front in order to avoid trouble. I had determined that I would rather brave the wind at the front than risk crashing on a dirt descent because of someone else’s poor bike handling.

The first climb was an eye opener, as dudes got on the front and started pushing the pace on the steep dirt climb. I didn’t go into the red zone, but I wasn’t particularly comfortable as we started the descent.

With 50 miles to go a New York , BH/Garneau, attacked solo and got a tremendous lead. He was 2 minutes up on the field and dangled there for 30 miles of racing. At the front, we were discussing his chances of holding off our lackluster chase effort. Actually, there was no chase. We rode tempo until a climb, then upped the pace a little and descended without hammering. Actually, I pulled on many of the descents; again, I’d rather brave the wind than a crash.

Andrew Krulewitz got caught up in a crashing situation and flatted. He got a wheel within a few minutes and rode like a mad man to regain contact with the field. I was impressed. Andrew’s result does not reflect how well he rode.

When BH was brought back the race heated up. I knew that game was on when I saw Paul Curley at the front braving the wind.

The selection came on the Meetinghouse Road dirt climb with 10-15 miles to go. I was on the front going into the sketchy, sandy corner at the base of the climb. I didn’t brake, my bike went squirrelly, but I kept it upright by not panicking. The rest of the peloton took the corner gingerly (this was the case in every dirt corner I led into) and I got a 50 meter gap without pedaling. I debated attacking the climb from where I sat, but thought better of it. I fell back into the front group and was slowly shredded by it. I didn’t blow up, but I was unable to keep pace with the top 7-10 climbers who were pushing the pace.

I dropped into a determined chase group that was well organized and gaining on the leaders on the rollers after the climb. I couldn’t believe the speed that we were descending on the loose gravel and sand.

The next climb came up quick. I was not recovered. I started out well; with the leaders in sight and confident that I could keep pace with them on the climb and then catch them in the final 6 miles of rolling downhill to the finish (with help). I got a hamstring cramp that nearly had me off the bike. I was able to pedal through it, but I was forced to dial back the effort significantly and I fell back into the next chase group. A former team mate Nessim Mazrahi who gave me encouragement as my hamstring screamed in agony.

My group rolled fast to the finish. I don’t know if anyone had illusions of catching the front group, but I certainly did not. I was thinking about the sprint for what I thought was 15th or 20th. Also, I didn’t really want any of the groups behind up catching on. I took my pulls, but kept them short and didn’t push all that hard. I have been blowing sprints all through the early season and I didn’t plan on blowing this one too.

Coming into the final kilometer, there are some tough corners. In fact there is a 90 degree corner at 225 meters to go, making for a very technical sprint. I came into the final kilo at the back of our 8 man group, but well rested. We were strung out in a line and I got worried that even if I unleashed the best sprint, I’d not take it because I was too far back.

At every corner I gained a spot. I tucked inside and took a tighter line at a faster speed than everyone else. I popped out of the final corner at 4th wheel and was able blast though all but one of the other racers for 19th at 2 and ½ minutes down on the leader.

I could have ridden more conservatively in the early part of the race, staying out of the wind. But I was so freaked out by the potholes and the poor bike handling that I was willing to trade my result for safety.

Andrew finished up 46th and Chris 74th. To put this in perspective, about a quarter of our field didn’t even finish the race.

Overall, we all had a great day on our bicycles.