KSR is not what it used to be, I'm referring to pre 97 . I 1st raced it as a Cat IV in its inaugural year of 1987... OMG what a mess... Loved the race, hated the promoter, Mauricio Puente i believe was the name... everyday the results were completely screwed up. I still clearly remember the last stage, passing the No 6th GC rider on the last climb who was no more than 10 seconds ahead of me on GC, eclipsing the deficit and looking at my final GC as 11th... I argued and waited for well over 2-1/2 hours to get the results corrected ( unsuccessfully ) .... BTW there was most of the fields riders in the same predicament of messed up results ...
That experience however did not keep me from returning for the next 10 years... Today it would be great if it returned to a 5 day Stage Race format like what it used to be.... 3 days is not enough to separate the Stage Racers from the racers that can bury themselves for 2-3 days .. A long weekend.... But at the 4th day is the critical pendulum where and when you can really see who is spiraling out of control and who is minimizing their loss of form.... No way around it, in a Stage Race everyone degrades, but not at the same percentage....
My advice for KSR is to plan for the worst... Meaning it will probably rain and it will probably be cold.... After the winter we just had ( thought it was over but yesterday was a cool reminder ) I would expect the road surfaces to be interesting. Bring good climbing wheels, as that will be the critical factor.... Look at the bible but take the gradient printed as an approximation. I have never raced in Vermont where the uphill sections felt like the bible described.... They are more often optimistic... Mainly because sections of the KSR climbs will kick up and throw you completely off.. It's a great race, a lot of people work really hard to make it a pleasurable event ( oxymoron ) for the racers.... ( I can appreciate the effort as I used to promote a 2 day Stage Race ) Do get there at the latest early on the day before the 1st stage..... A reconnaissance of the race route is really an advantage if you have never been there.... Killington is quite spread out, you can ride to the start of the bear mtn tram area but if you are solo I wouldn't advise it, especially if the weather is inclement... ( probably will be ).
Do some research on past events of the KSR, a picture or vids are priceless....
I will not be returning to racing until next year, possibly this September at the earliest....
But I may drive up and do some photography if possible...
Good Luck.....
Last edited by Moyene Corniche; 04-17-14 at 09:21 PM.