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Mon, 27 Apr 2009

Battenkill Race Report

Here is race report the Skylands Cycling Team Contingent that traveled to upstate New York for the Tour of Battenkill on April 18, 2009.  The Skylands Team included Larry Henderson, John Jackson, Mark Salazar, and me.

            All in all, this was an excellent Skylands Cycling Team trip.  It should be acknowledged that the trip really began early in the cold, winter months of 2009 when folks decided to sign up and thus commit to this race.  The event is 60 miles in length including about 15 miles of dirt roads.  While this distance is not exactly in the realm of Paris-Roubaix, it is long enough that you can’t realistically decide to “give it a go” just a week or two before the race and expect to finish.  The best way to prepare for a long, hard race is to train with long, hard rides.  I commend this group for the many times they put on the booties, glove, and winter jackets to get the miles in for this race.

              Our team decided that heading up to Upstate NY a day ahead was the best way to get our game face on.  We left Friday morning and made the 200+ mile drive to nearby Saratoga Springs and checked in to the local Marriott.  It was clear, windy, 60 degree day; in other words a perfect day for a warm up ride.  We did just enough of a pace-line and hill interval work to break a sweat and get our appetite up.  We headed back to Saratoga for pasta, hot tub, and to bed early.

              Race day!  Everyone has their own little pre-race routine that includes certain foods, traditions, etc.  Part of both the challenge and reward of traveling as a team is aligning your own personal needs with team needs.  Some people can be very dedicated to their pre-race oatmeal!  What works best in these situations is that if you can accommodate, than do accommodate.  In the end, we all helped each other make sure we had the right food, clothing, equipment, race information, and most importantly frame of mind.  Although we were all in different classes (Larry 50+, John CAT4, Mark, CAT5-45+, and Kevin 40+) it really seemed as if we were in just one class.  That part was very cool.

              The moment arrives and we finally get the whistle to start the race.  It’s amazing how your heart feels like it’s “in the red zone” at the moment; despite the fact that it’s a neutral start until we get out of town.  When the groups finally hit the open road the first 15 mile are actually at a fairly leisurely pace on flat terrain.   Finally, we go through a covered bridge and hit the first dirt section: Race On!  The next 2+ hours was a near endless onslaught of hills, dirt, viscous attacks, regroups, and terrifying descents.  The only way to stay alive in this type of a race is to be prepared for any type of riding at any moment.  Long races have this ability to make create “mind-jumps” that go back and forth between enjoying the rural vista to intense focus on that one bike 20 feet in front of you that you are trying to re-establish contact with.  At Battenkill, these mind-jumps usually occur as you transition from road to dirt and shift your body from a comfortable aero position to a more stable cyclocross position.  Without fail, every time we hit the dirt I’d see water bottles jump out cages, tires puncture, and the occasional cyclist just lose control and ride right into a ditch.  With a battlefield mentality, one has to think “too bad for that guy, but that’s not going to happen to me” if you want to survive.

              After 2+ hours in the saddle you’re mind-jumps keep coming back to two points: I was reminded how much I love this race because of the dirt; and I was simultaneously reminded of how much I hate this race because of the dirt.  In my case, I was lucky to hang on to the lead group until the final dirt section with ~5 miles to go.  By now, the water bottles are empty, the legs are a bit wobbly, and I was using all my mental energy on producing efficient riding.  But the big names in cycling know that the best time to attack is when everyone else is hurting the most; that is exactly what they did.  The dirt kicks up in front of me one more time and the final pack strung out into groups of two and threes.  I knew at this point that the winner of the race was in front of me, but I also knew that a strong finish was still possible if I could just keep my engine near the red line for a few more minutes with blowing up.  About 2 and half minutes after the winner, I tempo cycled across the finish line with an anonymous like-minded partner.  It wasn’t an arm straight up finish, but just a quiet satisfaction in finishing “America’s Queen of the Classics”.

    See you on the road soon. Kevin

Final Results http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/04/18-Tour-of-the-Battenkill.asp
CAT 5 Men 45+ 5th @  3:10:28   Mark SALAZAR
Masters 40+ 30th @ 2:53:56   Kevin KEANE
Masters 50+ 29th @ 2:57:03   Lawrence HENDERSON
CAT 4 Men Black Group 46th @ 3:08:45   John JACKSON


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