2013 Tour of the Battenkill

Drove out the morning of the race this time.  Past few years I have camped out w/ the family, but the weather was looking cool and rainy, and I had a later start.

It was pretty chilly.  Spend a while deciding what to wear, then went out for a 1/2 hour warm up ride.  Thought I had the clothing figured out by that point.  Got to staging plenty early.  I really wanted to get in the front of the group, and stay there at least for the first several miles.  Goal was to stay with the bunch for at least the first 3 of 6 climbs.  In the past, I was dropped off as soon as the grade lifted.  Did not want that to happen again.  I was going to kill myself to make sure it didn't. 

We went off, and started out at a moderate pace.  Kept my position in the top 10 for the first 15 minutes, then slowly started to drift back as riders moved up, and I was not paying enough attention.  Wide shoulder on the road, so I just punched it and got back up into the front.

Soon enough, we made a turn off toward the covered bridge.  This is a pinch point, as the road narrows to a single lane bridge instead of a full lane plus wide shoulder.  Still in the top 15, so looking good.  Then SLAM!  Two riders go down just off to my right side.  Was sweating it, but was far enough off to clear it easily.  Through the bridge, then onto the first climb.  I stuck in with the back of the pack, and watched as about a dozen riders fell off the pace.  Was killing myself, but hung in there, and we made the short decent, then a short second climb.  On the down hill, saw a few riders who did not navigate the slight curve, and were sitting in the ditch.  A few miles later, past a few riders sprawled out on the pavement w/ a medic treating them.  A bit nervy, but it seemed like most of the crashes were in the first 10 miles.

Proof of the suffering

This is where things got really strung out, and I was just hanging on to the back of the line.  Stuck in there, but by the time we got to the third grade, I was off the back.  Pretty quickly fell in with a group of 3 others, and we worked well together.  Every once in a while, someone would fall off the pace, but catch back on quickly.  There was one guy stronger than the rest of us, and after a dozen miles, he took off, another stopped for a nature break, and then I was alone.  All alone.

Roads were in really good shape.  There had been some rain, so the gravel was damp, and packed.  When it is really dry, some of the gravel stretches can be really loose, and a bit sketchy going down hill.  Not today.

Kept riding solo.  After about an hour, one of my group mates caught on, and we rode together.  He was having some mechanical troubles.  I told him no worries, just another 40 miles and he could get is sorted.  "That's funny.  I need more friends like you."

We rode together for a while.  Every now and then a group from a race starting behind us caught on.  We'd ride with them for a while across the flats, picking up the pace, but at every incline get dropped.  There was a reason they caught us despite starting 10 or 20 minutes after us.  I said "It's not so much that we're slow, it's that they are really fast."  He replied "No, man, we are really slow."  Still, I was really surprised that we never caught up to any riders.  Didn't get passed by anyone in our group, but did not catch anyone else at all. 

After 3 or so hours, he latched onto a group I could not keep up with.  Closing in on the finish.  Caught on to a slower moving group which passed me, and rode with them for a while.  On the next hill, it again broke up a bit.  "Just 15 more nails left on the coffin."  Up what I thought was the last hill.

Raced across the flats, headed to the finish for sure.  I seemed to remember this stretch.  Was not checking the odometer, and when we turned a corner and I saw Stage road staring me in the face, I groaned.  Forgot about that one.

Courtesy of KJS photo http://www.ksjphoto.com

Thrashed up the gravel hill, down, and now we're hitting the finishing flat.  Rolled up to another rider.  It was nice to sit on his wheel, but he was taking it really easy, so I pushed on to try to catch someone ahead.  Never did, didn't loose any ground, but did not make any up either.  I was spent.  Last two times I did this race, I was able to rally in the last 5 miles and pass a bunch of riders.  Not this time, there was absolutely nothing left in the tank.

Rolled into the finish, got some chocolate milk from the local dairy, short recovery ride, then crashed in the van with some food. 

Great race.  Quite disappointed that I turned myself inside out, only to finish in the exact same place as the past two years.  It is a great early season race, and a good workout.  But I'm wondering if I will do the race again, or instead do the gran fondo ride that a few friends did.