For some reason people all this race a classic, but I just see it as any other road race except that some of its roads are a bit shitty. It never appealed to me even when I lived in NY, and I always thought that its hype was part of the recent overweight-think-were-sprinters/classics hardmen-because-we're-overweight-and-old Belgian fanaticism that has seemed to have swept cycling in recent years. I'm no lithe climber by any means, but it seems that many think that just because you can use gravity to help your thoroughbred-sized legs create some speed for a few seconds that you're automatically the King of the Pave. Combined with the long drive, need for overnight accommodations, and the fact that a race with repeated, punchy climbs shouldn't suit me on paper always convinced me that it wasn't worth it.
I felt great on the last day of camp and was finally riding well after my bout with influenza. A teammate mentioned that he was going to camp out for the race so I figured I might as well go do it. I hate being trapped in DC and I'm pretty bored of doing the same loops and the same rides every weekend so it was a good chance to go somewhere and race something interesting.
The drive up was about 9 hours total and my sleep was pretty poor. We set up camp and pre-rode the first part of the course past the Juniper Swamp climb, which is definitely hard, but not really all that long. I didn't do any kind of preparation for the race nor did I really care how I did. I just wanted to ride it, have a good time, and try to get a good result if possible. I rested up a bit for it after a fairly brutal camp, but I still wasn't that fresh for it.
I got in a decent warm up and lined up about mid-pack. The field of 125 was full and there were quite a few teams of 8 to 10 riders. One team with heinously wannabe Euro kits that looked like the cover of a terrible late 80's German techno album immediately got on the front and started drilling it full bore. I don't know why cat 4 teams have the tendency to ride like Saxo Bank, but at least its them doing the work and not me. There was a scramble for position before the bridge, but I was fine and made it up and over the first climb ok. Juniper Swamp sucked, but I managed to move from mid pack to about 15th place, where I was content to stay and do absolutely 0 work. I'm sorry, but I have no one to pull for and I really don't care if you don't like me for it because my ass is trying not to get dropped and I'm fine with not pretending that I'm riding a real classic and that I'm actually strong enough to work on the front for 'America's hardest race' and still have something left in the end.
The course profile we were given was completely inaccurate and it showed a bunch of flat sections that were actually rolling hills. The pace stayed high until the climb on Joe Bean Road, where the field shattered into 3 large pieces. I looked at the profile and it showed a short, steep climb similar to Juniper Hill. I paced myself as such only to find out that it was a 10 minute long stair step climb that I definitely overcooked. I lost tons of positions and ended up in the 2nd group, which had the worst and most unorganized chase I have ever seen; people were pulling through on both sides, sprinting through, refusing to rotate with the wind, etc. I finally got tired of it and just dropped it down two gears and went off the front of the group with 3 riders in tow.
We managed to work together well enough to close the gap by the next climb- the long, shit-smelling, windy dirt bastard that looked like it had been transplanted from post-bombing raid war zone. I looked down to see how much time was left so I'd know when to eat, but my Garmin had decided to free itself from my possession and was no longer on my bike. Great, makes the powermeter just a stupidly expensive crankset.
So where were those teams from earlier drilling off the front? Well, they were now hurting off the back and their best rider finished 28th (still not that bad, but the rest were down in the bottom 25%). The team that sat midpack took 2 top 10 spots and all finished in the top 30, which is a lesson that lower category riders (myself included) should definitely learn from. I guess you can get a bit delusional by doing dozens of laps around Central Park (where the team was from) and forget that a 100km undulating road race with some challenging climbs isn't the same as the c race at the local crit series.
People seemed to have a habit of completely freaking out any time there was a dirt section. Having just ridden a dozens of miles of gravel and dirt at camp the week before, I was a bit used to the stuff and didn't think much of it. Its kind of fun to find a fast line and drill it past people as they flip out about riding over bumps. I moved up from probably 60th all the way up to 20th (you'll see how I know this later). I have no idea how, but I've been doing well on long, sustained, grinding efforts this year and I slowly passed riders with a max cadence of probably 75 rpm.
At the top of the hill it was myself and 3 other different riders and I got stuck with pulling on the descent. I used my weight and ability to turn a big gear to my advantage and set a high pace over the rollers, which unintentionally shelled two of them. The other guy attacked just before Meeting House and I didn't respond thinking that I didn't want to do anything stupid with so much more to go and completely bonk out like so many people ended up doing. Well, my elevation map had torn off and Meeting House was actually the second to last climb. I didn't know this until after I was half way up and an official told me and then I picked up my pace slightly. I remember that it was about 20km from the finish, so I had roughly 30 minutes left give or take. A rider that had been dropped on the other climbs caught me and offered to work with me, but I declined thinking that I would just waste energy to drop him on the climb. He ended up 10th, about 7 seconds off of 9th.
After shunning said rider I set about picking up the pace and enjoying myself. I was high-fiving spectators, attempting beer grabs, and just having a good time. I hit the last climb just as I saw the 10km to go sign and went as fast as I could possibly go. I was passing riders by the dozen, but they were all either really slow 3s, masters, or juniors from earlier and it wasn't with 4km to go that I saw people in my race. I passed 4 of them between 4km and 1km like they were standing still and ended up finishing 15th. I was shocked that I was that high since I thought that I was surely much lower down and that I was off the back of some larger pack, but I wasn't. I ended up feeling great during the last 10km and highly regret not working with the aforementioned rider to try and get some points out of the race.
The race was fun, but not really because of the course. I often worry too much about points, pedal strikes, and positioning and with Battenkill I just didn't care. I tried to stay up front, ride smooth, and make smart choices and 15th out of 125 is my best finish this year (perhaps a lesson for the future). My teammate had some bowel issues and almost had to stop to let a total ripper unleash in the woods, but camping was a good time and it was nice to race something different. The Summer is going to be filled with lycra Nascar, laps around Greenbelt, and the odd road race here and there so any break from the norm is good.
With that said I'm not sure the race really lives up to the hype. Its fun, its well-run, and the course is definitely hard (unless you do well doing 25 or so punchy climbs with a few longer ones thrown in), but there are a few other road races that I have done in New York that I found to be much more enjoyable. A $95 entry fee is a bit steep despite the fanfare and free shirt, but at least I've done the mythical beast that Stijn Devolder fanboys have wet dreams about and lived to tell the tale. It was truly hilarious to see the dozens of green stripes of fresh-out-of-the-box Vittoria Paves, double wrapped bars, belgian colored kits, extra bottle holders, and even people riding CX bikes. I was more than fine with just changing to 25mm Gatorskins and letting some air out, but I guess some people are just scared shitless of anything that isn't asphalt. I was really hoping to see people out there on full suspension 29'ers, but the lack of mountain bikes was replaced with conversations about one's embro recipe and how Flandrian the course was.
Next up, Carl Dolan and some fun stuff that takes place in the middle of cities, has an oblong and curvy course, and is constantly interrupted by calls of 'hold your line'.
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