Battenkill Category 2 Race Report, BBS Style

Here's the race report you will see for BBS & our fans. Check out the squad at http://bostonbicycleschool.org/, things will be updated over the next week or two with team camp coming up woohoo! This was written on the trip home from Battenkill with Andrew, the mechanic/rider/driver manning the 'team car'.

First off, I’m pumped to be on BBS this year and to be authoring my first report. The crew for this venture to the infamous Battenkill was Andrew and myself (Travis). We learned that the Stan’s NoTubes team smartened up this year and is now riding Giant Bikes as well. The plot was going to be a “Northern Spring Classic” savage smashfest. The competition would be prepared and the field was pretty much as stacked as you can make a northeast 2 field. We drove over Friday morning and watched, with teary eyes, as our amazing roof-mounted bicycles became layered in 1/4 inch of ice. Yes. In April. Also, the roads were treacherous (33MPH on highway and a cornucopia of cars off the road) and so bad that if the weather was in Cambridge, NY like it was in Western NH it’d be a possible cancellation. Fortunately this was not the case, and it turned out to be well-packed dirt with some muddy parts and more potholes than desired.

He is quite a ways off the road. But was not close to alone.

In theory, this race was shaping up to be an “unleash BBS 2013 on the world”: Andrew is coming off a very impressive high-octane winter work ethic and I am coming off of solid Arizona base mileage. In reality, this was not the case as Andrew had a junk week thanks to a flared up left hamstrings tendon and I had trouble coming back from the 45 hours of driving from AZ & cleaning out my house to put on the market. We headed to Battenkill with knowledge it would not be optimal, but that we would rely on the previous months of work, and not the recent weeks of misfortune. This was capped off with 7 hours of driving and an extra hour of standing to clean our bikes that were properly thrashed by the elements on said drive.

The race: 83 miles, 6000ft, 20mi+ dirt (well…15 dirt & 4 mud & 1 potholes), 38F start temp. AKA Classic Battenkill. The race started off slowly and before we knew it a break had a 2:00 gap. On the field’s second turn up Juniper Swamp (600m, 18% max, dirt) an ambulance had to pass. We were neutralized for 10 minutes due to a nasty Pro/1 crash on a sweeping dirt descent. Shortly after resuming, the break had upwards of 3:00 which held for quite some time. The next 30 miles was a mix of dirt, rolling hills, and a couple solid climbs…all which slowly shimmed the 150-man field to under 100. There was an impressive moment where Andrew hit a deep pothole, got dangerously bucked, and somehow recovered. I was hoping A) he landed on grass and B) his fork didn’t shatter. Neither was the case, and his bike stayed happily together and wheels in perfect true. We caught fragments of the 12 or so man break, but 4 guys held it strong. By 55 miles both Andrew and I were confused at the leg cramps that were hitting us…we had trained well, but training only goes so far for an early race such as this. Coming into the two “selection” climbs – Meeting House Rd & Stage Rd, our field was still fairly large. Gaps, big gaps, started to open. Having course knowledge I was a bit better positioned for the first one than Andrew. I was in the first group and Andrew was quick to help bring the second group back up. Field status: 50. Into Stage Rd I had Andrew move up with me and we were well into the front half of the field. Note: since mile 40, Andrew’s tendon was really flared up and was heavily pedaling ‘righty’. This one slip up the right side sealed my fate. We both hit Stage Rd, completely locked up, and had an enlightening first experience of overcoming the leg cramps that plagued us earlier. Closing a couple big gaps I was able to make group 2. Hammering the descent and flat with 5K to go, my group merged with the leaders to make the final selection of 25. Andrew and Dean “the robot” Phillips worked to claw their group back in the final K’s. They would finish 30 seconds back and Andrew 4^th in the group into a 29^th place. Coming into the finish any punchy effort triggered cramps. I was able to grab 15^th place and $50 in the dodgy sprint finish.

The Bikes, Battenkilled. Or, in Andrew’s words, Batten-thrashed.

Andrew's Steed that survived a heavy blow.

Phoenix got a bit dirty on this gig.

It was a great kickoff for the Northeast racing season and a nice way to clear out the last 2 weeks of rubbish from our legs. Time to hit the reset button, recover, enjoy our team camp, and get ready Tour of Dragons. Can’t wait to spend next weekend in Beantown with Boys looking forward to the months ahead.