Battenkill Cat3 Green Report, long version:
Course description: Hilly 62 mile loop through upstate NY. 25% of the course is on dirt roads (which were in great condition this year, minus a few hellacious, bottle ejecting pot holes/craters) and the other 75 % is on crappy pavement that had seen better days.
Weather: low 50′s sunny and very windy. I recall 18-20 mph out of the west with gusts around 30 mph. But over all aver nice day to race bikes.
Time to see what the race, the course and my body had in store for me,
The first 10 miles are pretty uneventful and we all sit in as a nice, friendly group. I worry little about my position and enjoy the day, until someone hits pothole and stops moving. As I’m behind said pothole hitter, I too stop moving, fast. Crashed on left side of body and luckily got up post haste and chased back on to group. whew! (left brifter is wonky but still functioning. rear wheel is a bit bit out of true and rubbing brake… i though i’d adjusted brake enough to prevent rub, but at the finish, I realized I had a TINY bit of brake rub for final 55 miles of the race.) All in all, lucky! So, back to the racing:
At around 10 miles in we hit the first hill of any consequence and for 3:30 I averaged 5.1 w/kg (440w) and stayed firmly attached to the main group. Good start, body!
A mile later we hit the first steep dirt road climb which lasts for a painful 2 minutes (6.1 w/kg. 530w).
Good, still on. A little bit of time to hurt a little less as we churn through more dirt roads and I try to draft a bit but it’s a bit of a crapshoot as potholed roads make holding wheels a confidence destroying experience. My teammates were both back on now too, yeah!
Time to chill a bit before the steadiest climb of the day @ mile 29.
Mile 29 hits and we start a nasty 3 step dirt road climb.
Body does well and I do 6:20″ @ 4.9 w/kg (424w) followed by a gentle dry heave (tastes like raisins) and a short bridge to stay attached, still! wow, pretty happy with Body’s performance.
The next 25 miles are not too bad. Pack slows, we do a couple of 90″ – 2 minute climbs up around 5 w/kg and I become slightly detached again but expend little effort to catch back on. A very smart and efficient race, for me. Yeah, Brain!
Around mile 50 i got detached again but a 3′ bridge in the IABs @ tempo pace was plenty to catch back on. Still feeling ready for the carnage to come over the final 5 miles where the steepest and longest dirt climb punches you in your race-fatigued soul. I was feeling ready.
4 miles from the finish, the carnage begins as what’s left of the main field breaks apart like a fine porcelain vase dropped off the empire state building. kaBOOOOOOm!!! Ha! Carnage, I love it!
I average 4.7 w/kg (410w) for the next 6:20″ and get nicely detached from the lead group. Dang. Recover really quickly, punch over the last uphill section and know that we have about 3 miles of flats into the finish.
TT mode. I wasn’t done. I wanted more suffering! the last 3 miles were on the rivet as I tried to bridge to the leaders and accomplish my goal of finishing with the lead group.
It looked like this (note speed, IAB’s go fast)
race to the line, a TT story::
Duration: 8:05
TSS: 10.5 (intensity factor 0.885)
Norm Power: 321
VI: 1.02
Distance: 3.515 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 771 315 watts
Cadence: 64 141 106 rpm
Speed: 20.9 36.8 26.1 mph
but alas, not enough. Oh well. Another mile and we may have re attached. Either way a valiant effort! the final 17 minutes I was @ 370 NP. good legs that deep into a race. I was very pleased with how I felt and the race was a ton of fun.
I had a super day with great friends (teammates) and thoroughly enjoyed this years Tour of the Battenkill.
Other numericals of interest:
7.8% of this race was spent in my VO2 max zone (380-438w) and
15.7%/ 30′! was spent in my AWC zone (439watts or above!)
totals for the race:
BKR:
Duration: 2:48:42
Work: 2548 kJ
TSS: 245.8 (intensity factor 0.935)
Norm Power: 339
VI: 1.35
Distance: 61.35 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1077 252 watts
Cadence: 35 141 96 rpm
Speed: 4 48.7 21.8 mph
-Leo
3 Responses to “Battenkill 2010 race report:”
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Hey Leo, we have photos of some Treshold racers from the Tour of the Battenkill in our race gallery at Zenfolio:
http://tamia.zenfolio.com/tdb2010
Pix are at the top of the first page.
We’re still going through the 1400 photos and probably have more of you guys, but I’d love to know who’s smiling (and who’s not) for our photographer…
keep em coming.
Youve got Gert R. (with glasses in helmet)
and Brad S. (red bib shorts)
thanks!!
Thanks, Leo. I’ve amended their names to their pictures. Will let you know if I find more teammates!