Tuesday, April 12, 2011

"Battenkilled"

Tour of The Battenkill race report
April 10, 2011
http://www.tourofthebattenkill.com/

Battenkill has become North America’s premier spring race and attracts top Pro-Continental teams. It is a 102 km road race and includes ~20km of dirt roads and 1,400 meters of gross elevation. 

Our race (Cat-5) began with a 1km neutral rolling start. I quickly settled into 16th wheel as the group formed two parallel pacelines. Knowing (from our reconnaissance ride 10 days earlier) that Battenkill’s course starts with 15km of mostly flat sections, I decided to stay protected from the wind before we reached the climbs. The pace was comfortable, which suited me just fine; today would be a long day.