I dust this off for special occasions
Battenkill is special, this is the 5th year I think I’ve done it. It’s also a family affair. Battenkill is the first real race of the season, and together with SSAP it forms a target for training in the offseason. So this offseason 16 week block is hugely important for the rest of the year.
To go back
2010 Cat 5, 35+ 5th place, 2 min back
2011 Cat 4 19th place, 3min back
2012 Cat 4 3rd place, sprint finish
2013 Cat 3 39th place, 3 minutes back, dropped on last hill
2014 Cat 45+ 8th Cat 3, 23rd overall, 1 minute back, 3:10.52
I won’t do 45+ again until I'm 60. There are some really fast guys who are cat1/2, and then there is pack which doesn’t want to work. Cat 3 has more octane.
I was coming into the race being 30 points lower on CTL, chronic training load, which is a measure of how much work you put in in recent weeks and kind of a proxy for how fit you are. At 171lbs, I was also 5 lbs over what I weighed last year. But, I was more rested this year than last year. Being rested is important. Last year I really peaked for SSAP rather than Bkill. So while I felt good, I was concerned about the weight. I planned to compensate by having 1 bottle and getting more at FZ, and taking nothing with me except food.
At the last minute, I realized they had junior categories still open, and my kids could race. Which meant they couldn’t feed me since they went off shortly after I did. So I took two full bottles, which lasted me easily the whole race.
Anyways, the race.
- 5-7 man break in first 2 miles, right off the gun! I never seen this. I figured it wouldn’t last. But it did. The pack didn’t want to work to bring them back. Shame. This sucked. My race is essentially over in first 2 miles.
- I was strong on all the hills, down to the last one. Leading the pack up the climbs almost always. I led the pack on downhills too.
- Tried to break with 2 other guys, but this time pack wouldn’t let it happen
- Smart on nutrition and resting up before climbs. Some people put dirt roads or descents on their cue card, I put 3 things- Climbs, When to Eat, and Feed Zones. Those are the only thing that matter.
- In the last stretch, several guys tried to go solo. Pack wasn’t working to bridge. So I worked to bridge.
- Finished in the bunch sprint.
Disappointing to let a break go, I should have been in it. Lesson learned for this category.
Happy that my climbing has improved despite being fatter. Overall very good performance, I’m happy with it. And also the offseason training was pretty solid. We’ll see what happens in SSAP.
