queerpunk

Me and two cars full of teammates drove down from NYC for this, as training for Battenkill later this month. We had studied the course profile before. 13.4 mile loop, done three times. About 4 miles of 'hardpack' roads, some short punchy climbs. Since we're hardnosed NYC punks who are used to rough terrain we figured we'd do well. We pre-drove the course. The hardpack was gravel. The gravel was deep. The turns were tight. The downhills were fast.

It was a hard race and the pace was balls-out from the first unpaved section - flying along at 30mph trying desperately to find a decent line through the gravel and failing - there were no good lines. Not on the flats and not on the turns, either. People went sliding and sprawling everywhere.

The first six or seven miles of this race was among the hardest riding I've ever done. Sliding through downhill, off-camber Z turns in deep gravel. Pace pushing up close to 40mph on unpaved roads, followed by steep, steep gravel roads. What do you do when you can't brake, can't turn, and shouldn't go flying off the road?

Any of y'all race that race?

If not, plan for it next year. Holy **** it was great. In the way that makes you want to cry Photos are here: https://www.cyclingcaptured.com/galle...1_mCbE5#P-1-20 - and they definitely don't do it justice.

I flatted sixteen miles in as I was thirty seconds away from the lead group. Riders started flying by me. I finished fixing it as the wheel truck drove by saying, "We're all out, sorry!" Got up and pummelled the last two laps as best as I could to get a respectable 15th; my teammate was in the front and took a 5-person sprint to town and won the damn race.

Half the 4 field didn't finish.

Can't wait for Battenkill.

Pablo.

Nice report. I was gonna go up there with you guys assuming you had room, but a crash and following injury didn't allow it. I looked at the results, and congrats to Will for a nice win! What happened to Cooper? I didn't see him in the results.

Battenkill will be a blast.

queerpunk

Cooper flatted twice in the first four miles. I saw him about ten miles in, motoring up to get up to the race as best as he could, but he was pretty far back. And then a few miles later I flatted and didn't see him till the end.

Battenkill probably won't be as challenging as Fawn Grove, fortunately.

Pablo.

https://www.cyclingcaptured.com/galle..._mCbE5#P-13-24

Some of those gravel roads look ridiculous.

epenthetic

Yeah, the first half of the loop was ridiculous, whereas the second half was mostly false flats. I took a lap beforehand to warm up, flatted the front on the first big gravel downhill, and just missed a stand of rose bushes at the bottom.

Awesome race, but I hope they rethink a few of those turns in the first half for next year. I was seeing flatted riders every quarter mile and I think the 1/2/3, 3/4, 4, and 4/5 all had barely half the field finish.

epenthetic

And he's on a cross bike!

sibaudio

Just saw this thread now.. I raced the 4/5's as my first race ever. Holy hell the first part of this course was hard. I only got to drive through the first maybe mile or two of the course by car before the race. One hill in particular was a killer and anyone who raced this knows which one that was. Being my first race my goals going in were to not flat and to not crash. At the starting line I was about 3 from the back and basically I just watched people drop like flies from flats or from losing control on the gravel. First turn onto the gravel all i see is a rear wheel in the air the carnage had begun! I passed a few
people during the first lap and basically just did my best to hold on. By the second lap the pack was stretched pretty thin and many people dropped out. Going around the line starting the second lap all I'm thinking is "I need to do that AGAIN?!". NYC didn't prepare me for these hills but I past the line giving big moms the thumbs up (yea my mom came out what u know!?) and all of a sudden was overcome with motivation telling me yea I can do this. So I turned it up a bit now more familiar with the course and how to handle the gravel roads. For most of the second lap I was on my own just enjoying the ride, the pain, and the beautiful countryside. More confident I started taking the gravel descents at 30+ and when the sharp gravel turns came I knew how to brake through them and how I needed to shift my body weight to avoid losing the back end of the bike and going down. By the end of the second lap after riding the majority of the lap on my own I neglected to check my rear and all of a sudden on a slight steady climb 3 riders from my category come out of nowhere and pass me. Had I seen them coming I wouldve turned it up to stay ahead but by the time they had passed me it was too late and I didn't have enough left in me to get back ahead of them. This happened right before the 1km to go markers. I dug deep and used my little remaining energy to sprint it to the finish from 200 meters out.

Ended up placing 31st out of 39 who placed and what they said were about 50-55 who started. Not great by any means but for my first race on such a hard course I'm pretty satisfied. And needless to say i had the time of my life and I'm now totally hooked on racing and can't wait until my next one.. Maybe something with a few less hills.. Oh, and paved roads.