Road Bike Racing - 2008 Battenkill-Roubaix race reports:

Mine first:
I raced cat 4 black (there were 200 or so cat 4's, so we were split into 2 groups, black and red).

6 miles in on the first climb/dirt road section a selection was made. I quickly broke away with 1 other rider (the eventual winner) and worked with him in a 2-man break for 4 miles or so and we then got caught by about 5-7 other riders. Some sloppy pack riding turned into the eventual winner going off the front solo, where he stayed solo for the remaining 40 miles of the race... monster! he won last weekend in a 45 mile 3 man breakaway as well. he is upgrading soon.

So, my race develops at mile 15 or so into a 6 man break with no one else in sight, we work a decent paceline for a while and I seem to pull ahead on the un-pave sections and felt very strong. I zoom away on the down hills (1 weight 190, you see) and get caught miles later, happy to work in the same pack again. A nice pack of 6 of us ride smoothly for miles and I'm barely working, partly because the pacelining is decent (and pretty slow...) and because if I work any harder I risk a serious hammie cramp. The 80+ degree temps and hot sun seem to destroy everyone. we passed a guy lying in the gutter in the fetal position... still clipped into his pedals. apparently heatstroke in upstate NY in april is possible. lots of water and endurolytes keep my cramp free.

Miles pass and I'm sensing that the solo break has stuck and it's down to the 6 of us. I recognize the general suffering in our group and begin to get excited for the sprint, as I feel pretty good.

Flying through the last dirt road sector, I'm confident that I'm taking second at this point, but either way, I was looking at top 7. then, as I'm pulling hard through a nice rocky road: POP!! PTSSSSSSSSssssssss. expletive! I punctured badly. Tore throught he sidewall of my pro2race rear tire. ****.

I cruise to a stop, pull off the wheel and wave down the car behind us... they dont even stop. apparently it was a wheel vehicle for another category. ****. (incidentally, our wheels vehicle NEVER passed me for the remainder of the race. useless.) so I throw the wheel back on and ride on the rim for 20 minutes or so until I get passed by a buddy/saint who throws me an inflator and a tube. I tear off the tire and throw the tube in and inflate it halfway as the new tube bubbles out of the ripped sidewall. I then proceed to ride the final 4 miles or so enjoying the scenery, knowing that I raced a great race, feeling a bit disappointed in the result but confident that I should have podiumed in one of the toughest races of the new england race season. A bitter sweet ending to 3 of the most fun hours of my sporting life. Truly a tremendous race.


I look forward to reading other reports, so post them here!!!


great to meet you, Tom!!

tired and dirty,

-Leo

I raced the cat 4 red.

It was indeed friggin' hot. Stayed with the front group the whole time, feeling OK, but with the fear that any moment I would start feeling like ****. I ate a gel and it gave me heartburn immediately. I just prayed the finish line came before I started feeling really bad. It did, and I was so relieved at the end I didn't have much of a sprint. A measly 800 watts, but the whole effort was good enough for 7th place.

Truly epic day, and at the moment I'm pretty shattered.

Outstanding day guys. All of you did outstanding!

I'm putting all of my pictures form the day onto my flickr account. (http://flickr.com/photos/23525912@N03/sets/72157604633242781/)

Please send this link to your friends. Hit "All sizes" on the top of the pictures you like and SAVE THEM.
I'll be trashing this set sometime down the road, so check em out and save them!

Battenkill-Roubiax 2008 Pictures (http://flickr.com/photos/23525912@N03/sets/72157604633242781/)

does anyone have links to some of the photographer's websites that were shooting the race?

does anyone have links to some of the photographer's websites that were shooting the race?

Here is one,
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=3708923

I had a great day at Battenkill, I always enjoy racing there, the people are friendly and the cyclists are made very welcome.
I raced in the CAT 4 Red, I flatted at mile 28 down one of the gravel roads, the wheel car was on me in a minute, fortunately. I wasn't even gonna try to catch the lead group as they were really hammering when I got the flat, but, I figured I would give it a shot, I went into Vo2 for a few minutes and caught sight of them, then held it there for 10 minutes 'til I was past the stragglers falling off the back, and caught up with the main group. One guy got away at mile 50, I didn't know this, I was at the back of the rotation when this occurred. He wasn't chased down and solod the last five miles. There were 10 of us in the group fighting for second and up, I left it a little late to sprint and ended up with third, I was happy with my finish but learned that I have a lot more power than I give myself credit for, my heart rate for the sprint was 172, I should have had it up to 185-190, at 172 it's only an LT for me,

Again it was a nice race and I met some good guys there.

Raced the 3's.

Was feeling excellent yesterday. First climb left me unfazed, me and WJOD were bantering up it. Second climb, however, was dirt and 17%. I was in the top5 going into it, but the only two guys ahead of me tried to stand up on the climb and wound up having their wheels spin out. They boxed me in when they stopped, and I had to dismount and run up the rest of it. Took me a minute to remount at the top as I was shaking, lost contact with the front group and tried to chase back on. Eventually a second group absorbed me, and we were able to catch back up to the front. Burnt some matches there.

Was able to stay with the front through the middle of the course, which was ridiculously painful. All very steep climbs, being 170lbs doesn't make em feel nice. It was so hot and I wasn't drinking enough. I felt like I was going to puke.

Ran out of liquids at mile 40 (I only brought 2 bottles- stupid!) and was starting to cramp up. The final dirt section was like riding through sand, but I worked my way to the top 5 in the field again. When the road turned upward for the final climb, I just couldn't hang any longer. Drifted off the back, by the top I was about 5-10 seconds behind what was left of the pack.

Tried to chase back on on the paved run into the finish. Was joined by 5 other guys. We started working together, and were making ground on the leaders. We went over a small roller, my legs cramped, and I wound up getting dropped. The guys I was working with actually wound up catching the pack. I finished about 30-45 seconds behind the pack. Somewhere around 25th. Should have been a contender, but naturally, I was stupid and didn't bring enough to drink. That's not a mistake I'm ever going to make again.

Mine along with my TT report here (http://www.pelotoneast.com/showthread.php?p=7772#post7772).

To save the tedium, I lead out a teammate for the field sprint, I bantered with KP, and I won the TT. 4/4 for TT's this year.

Now you know why I don't do our local little Sat. 'training' ride in Orange County. Mainly because the usual suspects include Mr. Freifelder and Joe Straub. ff finished 2nd in the 3's at Battenkill, Straub is ranked #1 in the TT in the 35+ in NY.

Give me a friggin break. That's like Pee Wee Herman trying to ride with V. Ekimov. Nice job Doc. By the way if I ran the USCF, two Road Nazi troopers would show up at your house and force you to upgrade to Cat 1.

Raced the 3's.

Was feeling excellent yesterday. First climb left me unfazed, me and WJOD were bantering up it. Second climb, however, was dirt and 17%. I was in the top5 going into it, but the only two guys ahead of me tried to stand up on the climb and wound up having their wheels spin out. They boxed me in when they stopped, and I had to dismount and run up the rest of it. Took me a minute to remount at the top as I was shaking, lost contact with the front group and tried to chase back on. Eventually a second group absorbed me, and we were able to catch back up to the front. Burnt some matches there.


Hey... I even tipped over there. Dismounted, ran up - never made contact with the front 8. Chased for the next 40 miles, some solo - some with a group. 12th it was. Full race report to come soon with the power numbers, etc.... Truly the hardest thing I've ever done on a road bike. Truly.

I don't like the sound of those gravel roads and what they might do to your wheels.

Gravel would have been a godsend. Think of riding across a sandy beach littered with some 12 fist sized rocks per square meter. Now put that on a 15% grade. both up and down.

The noises that came from my frame and wheels made me sure that I had cracked the carbon no less than 20 times. The dirt was brutal.

Ahhh, if it was only gravel...

Any of you dudes who did Bkill are on some other bike racing planet from me. Pcad doesn't deserve to be wasting your valuable oxygen supply.

I'm moving to another planet with less evolved beings like myself. I'm going to the Fred Nebula. Chipcom, fire up the spaceship, be sure to pack the cooler with plenty of Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice Cream. I hope they have Versus and the Mets on cable there.

I don't like the sound of those gravel roads and what they might do to your wheels.

I flatted on one downhill in the front tire. I was cleaning the bike this evening, I rode with my strongest set of wheels-Ksyrium sl3-there is a bad ding on the rim of the rear-won't effect performance, hopefully. The front has an indentation on the brake surface, hopefully I can fix it.
SOOOOOOO glad I did not even think about riding carbon wheels.

BTW-Nomad VW were you in the 4 red group?