Just one year ago, I raced in my first Battenkill – known by cyclists as one of the toughest one day amateur races in the Northeast. Last year, I raced in Category 5 and came through with a top 10 finish. This year I raced in the Open Category 4 race and found myself finishing 22nd! But that’s only part of the story…
Kenneth and I drove up on race morning from NYC. We were rolling at 4:30am and arrived at the staging area by 8am – pretty quick! Since my start wasn’t until 10:48am, we had plenty of time to explore the Washington Fairgrounds, pick up my race number, and go for a quick 20 minute warmup jog. We definitely got some weird looks while running around the fairgrounds, especially when the place was getting filled up with non-running, super-dedicated cyclists.
By design, the 2015 Tour of the Battenkill course changes every year, but the main climbs and the covered bridge crossing are permanent staples of the race. This year, we started in Greenwich, so our first large climb was up Meetinghouse Road (dirt section). Another thing to note is that the race took place in the 3rd weekend of April instead of the first weekend of April. On race day, we had temps ranging in the 60s and 70s.
10:48am – here we go!
The first mile of the race is neutral, so we ride nice and slow to settle in. My personal tactic for the race was to keep my position within the top 25 racers (out of 100 starters). Racing takes a lot of focus, so all I remember was spending a good amount of time keeping the front pack within range and saving as much energy as possible.
I wasn’t sure which descent it was, but I was unfortunate enough to hit a large bump in the road, ejecting one of my water bottles. I knew at that moment that I had to ration my fluids until the 2nd Feed Zone, where I would get a water bottle from Caroline. The race plan was going just as planned; stay close to the front…save energy…and keep the guys within reach on the climbs.
By the time I hit the 2nd feed zone, I was depleted of my fluids. Thankfully, Caroline was easily spotted and the water bottle hand off was seamless! I quickly hydrated, refueled with some energy bars, washed it down without losing contact of the group. It’s a good time to mention that by the time we had hit the 2nd Feed Zone that more than half of the 100 starters had already been dropped back. The pack was progressively getting smaller with each challenging climb.
It wasn’t until the Riddle Road climb that I started getting dropped by the front pack. We hit the climb hard and I found myself hammering out over 400watts and knew that I wouldn’t successfully sustain that power for the duration of the climb. I eased off the gas just a little bit and by the top of the climb, I had been dropped by over 20 guys. Luckily, another racer lost contact just slightly up ahead. I picked up to him and we worked together to reel in the front pack. If I had to guess, the entire process took about 5 to 6 minutes of hard time trialing to get back into the group. It was worth every effort!
What broke the camels back, and in this case, my chances of contesting for the sprint finish was the last climb. Not a terribly long climb, but punchy and short enough, to create separation between the top guys and myself. The climb took us up the last dirt section of the race, on Old Schuylerville Road – half a mile long, 200 feet of gain. We hit that climb at a sprint sprint and that was where I lost them.
It was every man for themselves; you were lucky to find a wheel to hang onto. For me, I found myself alone on that climb. Once I hit the summit, it was about a mile to the finish. I held on to finish 52 seconds behind first place, but there wasn’t much left in the tank when I passed the line.
Special Thanks to:
Kenneth Ho and his pro-photo services
Caroline & Dan from The Original Mineola Bike Club
and Deb for coming and supporting all of us! Congrats to all the finishers.
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