meolsen

I agree, we are being too alarmist. You have better odds at battenkill than you do on an open road in a group ride.

It's all good.

shovelhd

I wouldn't go that far.

meolsen

You haven't ridden on Long Island. ;0

shovelhd

Incorrect.

gsteinb

In twenty years of crit racing I've never seen an injury require a medivac. YMMV. Proximity to area hospitals or not.

Road races are more dangerous than crits simply because they're longer, folks get more fatigued and make questionable moves. The course changes. Particularly in a point to point race obstacles (like sand filled holes) come up that one doesn't have time to react to. In a crit you see the same stuff lap after lap and you can adjust to avoid dangerous obstacles. Did we mention the roads are dirt? No? I haven't done a lot of dirt crits.

MDcatV

i think crits are more "crashy" in large part because folks are less fatigued, are full of hubris, and make questionable moves.

kensuf

Although I personally prefer RR's, I have to agree with this. Another thing about crashes is in crits, most of the crashes I've seen tend to be in corners where the speed isn't as great. In RR's, I've seen **** explode at 40+ mph that have resulted in serious injury and medical evacs (three years ago the Masters 35-45 Florida State Championship RR required six ambulances to pick up the remnants of a crash in the last mile).

Here's a photo. Seriously.

carpediemracing 

I do crits because, among other reasons, I get scared in road races, at least until I get dropped. I'm typically surrounded by guys way more fit than I am but who have less of a clue on how to ride in a group. I've seen some of the worst racers in the Cat 3 field - guys who are really strong but so poor at bike handling that they only way they can do well is to drop people on insanely hard climbs.

I pretty much never get scared in crits - they're much much safer for me, and I'm a very risk averse person.

I haven't been in a crit where I've gone 50-55-60 mph without pedaling much, i.e. coasting. Ultimately speed is the culprit in potential injury. I know it's possible to die at close to 0 mph but realistically you'll have more of a chance of getting really hurt hitting the deck at 40 or 50 or 60 mph than hitting the deck at 30 or 20 or 10 mph. Heck, at 30 mph you're falling at a very very fast running speed. 60 mph is a whole different ballgame. When people ask what it's like to crash at 60 mph I tell them to step out of their car when they're driving on the highway. Oh, and take everything off except some underwear.

I've crashed at about 55 mph, luckily I wasn't hurt badly (pre-helmet days, never touched my head to the pavement). I slid about 150 feet on the road, tumbling a bit after that. I prefer not to do it again.

Trek760

my guess on the airlifts is that they are for speed. The twisty roads of that part of NY do not make for easy or fast patient transport...

shovelhd

No way choppers are used for minor injuries, too expensive. We're talking serious eff-ups here.

TheKillerPenguin

Heads up, we've put a troll underneath the covered bridge, and it'll randomly snatch riders out of the peloton. Dude's hungry.

Also, jagged rocks are being placed at random intervals on all the dirt sections.

Finally, bottomless pit on Meeting House. Check yoself before you wreck yoself, fool.

jstillman

I'm 54, and have raced ToB in Cat5 45+ the past two years. It was my first mass start race in 2010, and I managed to come in 5th in my subdivision of 50. Though I'm clearly not highly experienced at mass start road races, there are a few things that I can share that may be useful to you in addition to some of the good advice already provided by others.

I'd encourage you to find a day or two when the weather's going to be nice this winter and ride the course, or as much of it as is practical. There's a Facebook page for the race, and local riders will often be happy to let you know what current conditions are. There are also sometimes small, informal group rides of the course on Sundays if the weather's decent. While the formal preview ride is a good rehearsal, it's very close to the actual race, and I'd suggest that an earlier ride will help you get a sense of where you need to focus your training, as well as providing you with some early familiarity with what the course is like. I agree with the earlier poster who said that the course's difficulty may be exaggerated. Even in my limited race experience I've ridden one other race I'd say is more challenging from a course perspective, and that's based on the 2010-11 courses; there is less climbing in this year's. Like some of the earlier posters, I've always found that last big climb up Stage Rd. to be particularly hard, yet it's not often mentioned as one of the hardest climbs; it's long, sometimes steep, and I never have much left in my legs by then.

By doing a couple of pre-rides, you'll also get a sense of how the dirt roads can vary in feel, and where they might merit caution. I'd also suggest driving at least key parts of the course a day or so before the race so that you can gauge current conditions of the dirt sections. That's how I learned about the deep sand that the town highway dept. had put down on Meeting House Rd. at the last minute this year to fill in some rough areas.

I have found the Cat5 M45+, and M55+ groups to have a nice balance between competitiveness and camaraderie, and an eye toward safety as well. You'll probably encounter a couple of riders early on that you need to be careful of because they don't know how to ride well in a group, but for the most part, the guys you'll be riding with are pretty safe. In fact, in my experience, word spreads quickly through the pack about any "squirrelly" guys, and they tend to get dropped out of the pack. Having said that, one of the three crashes in 2011 happened right in front of me in my group, though not the one in which someone was seriously injured.

As for the race itself, try to stay in the front third or so of your group in the first part of the race. After a bit, a few people will have sped off into a lead group that you'll never see again, and many will have dropped off to groups further back. If you are successful at staying somewhere toward the front, you'll probably end up in a small group that you can work with for the rest of the race, and that will finish in a reasonably fast time. Just make sure that everyone in the group you're with is doing their fair share of the work and that you don't get stuck up front pulling them along.

As for tires, the advice I got from some veterans when I asked about that before my first ToB was that my regular race tires were fine (700x23), just to go with something that has a reputation for being reliable. I use Conti 4000S 700x23 tires, for example, and they've worked well for me.

Above all, have a fun, safe race and do as well as you can on that day. I have a conflict that keeps me from racing it this year, but will be back next year, it's a great race through some of the most scenic countryside that the northeast has to offer.

TheKillerPenguin

Rode the course on Saturday. It's well balanced, and is definitely among my favorite courses in the NE. The dirt is in good condition as well.

globecanvas

I signed up for it this year. I've never raced it but I've done the course twice and plan to do the new route before April.

To directly address the OP, trying to predict your result from typical average speeds on other rides is totally meaningless. IMO what makes the course tough is that it is a bunch of punchy power climbs, with about 3 climbs that are just on the long side of being anaerobic. So you end up running your legs empty about 10 different times. And there's only about 5 flat miles in the whole course so you're always either in power climb mode or white-knuckle descent mode. There's no major climbs where you have to grind and suffer for a half hour though.

save10

hmm....i was at four races last year that required an airlift. once in my field and the other two in other fields

revchuck 

I'm late to this thread, and don't post here because I have far less experience than the folks who do. This is an exception, because the OP and I are pretty close in experience.

I'm 60, 6'2", 195 lbs., and have been cycling seriously for about four years. In 2010, I did Rouge-Roubaix, a race in Louisiana that is apparently quite similar to Battenkill, though about 40 miles longer and with a bit more elevation gain. Where I live and ride, hills are few and small. Rouge-Roubaix kicked my butt seven ways to Sunday due to the hills and gravel. I did a lot of walking. I came in DFL, but I finished.

I'm doing the 2012 edition of Rouge-Roubaix. I know I'm going to do better, because I've got a couple more years in my legs and a little more experience in climbing, and I have a much better idea what training I need to prepare for it.

For preparation, I'm doing climbing repeats and muscle tension intervals on the trainer during the week, and steady state and tempo intervals on the weekends. (Google "CTS Workouts" if you're unfamiliar with those terms.) I usually do the tempo intervals at the beginning of the longest ride I have time for on weekends.

Like the others have said, ride within yourself. We're not young studs anymore, and can't get away with crossing the line between "tough" and "stupid" like we used to. Finishing that race is an accomplishment in itself. Beating other old farts is gravy.

hubcio96

If you don't have hills, you can use parking garage to practice climbing. Pick an empty parking garage (weekend cicty, or in a business area after working hours, ) and if it's a 4 stories or better, you can do decent seat climbs, if it's 3 or les, standing hill sprints (which what you be doing on a race anyway). You can do either one long climb, or sprint up from level to level - pending how your garage is build. SAFETY first - make sure it's empty, you have blinking lights all over, and were reflecting clothing - parking garage is the last place you would expect a cyclist.
Good Luck. See you there. (I will be in Cat 5 35+ field, but I expect to get drop on the first possible selection. I'm a fat butt.

Pistard

The Battenkill...... cant wait to watch you guys at the covered bridge, "I'll be fly fishing.."

Falchoon

There's plenty of vision on youtube about ToB.

GRVR6

We do have hills on Long Island, and I've been riding them during the last 2 months. They're getting easier. I also changed to a compact crank which works much better for me. Now I just have to lose 10 lbs.

Thanks for all the comments and advice.

meolsen

It's coming up. How is everyone's prep?

8 weeks.

notwist

lately i've been doing a lot of strength, low cadence, and vo2max work. in 2 weeks, some teammates and I are planning on heading on up to pre-ride the course.

hubcio96

Not as planned. So far 2012 is called the year of the "Sick like a dog" First it was me down for a week, than wife, than my youngest, then me egain, than my oldest, then my wife again, and yeterday at "Race-to-Anyplace" charity spinnof I pulled something. Right now my house smells like a Bengay factory.
Taking it easy till Friday, little test on the weekend, and if everythig feels right, starting some calulated HIIT painfest.

meolsen

That's good news. It's been a mild winter. Last year not so much, and even then the dirt sections were pretty good.

globecanvas

I rode the course yesterday with a group that raced it last year. The temp hit 82 degrees! I was out of water by mile 50 and felt like a guy crawling across a cartoon desert by the end. I got a pretty good sunburn too.

The guys I was riding with said the course is easier this year, with the early Joe Bean climb taken out. But, the new course adds a sneaky 2-mile climb around mile 45, not steep, leading directly into the deadly dirt stairs/rollers on Meeting House Road. All together that section is about 6 miles of climbing, which yesterday was hot, dusty and frankly hellish, and my strongest memory of the ride (well, that and the incredibly pungent dairy farm on Cemetery Road). Also, this isn't new, but the last hard climb on Stage Road is longer than it looks, and if you leave everything on the climb, the last 3 miles of the race can get very long.

The dirt climbs were all in pretty good shape. There were only a few spots where it was too loose to stand up. And the area is truly beautiful, if you ever get a second to lift your eyes off the wheel in front of you.