So there's about 10k to go. We tried to use our numbers. Jules, Dave and I took turns attacking and letting other teams bring us back with John in tow. Alas, at some point the final rollers were too much and we lost John. I think he'd just given it everything he had to be there with the mostly smaller guys who made the selection. Dave V had mentioned he was cramping and at about 3k to go I realized we'd lost him too.

So, its me and Jules and 10 or 12 others. At one point a guy sneaks away and gets 20-30 seconds. Jules gets into a conversation with Siggi's about why they have three guys and won't help us work. They get defensive and insist there is no one up the road. "Shut up Jules, you had your chance" was one of the first gems. Shortly after, the moto comes back and says "guy up the road - 30 seconds." But as Owens said those guys don't pay $2,000 a year to admit they're wrong so when Jules persisted one of them just exploded. "Fuck you Jules, fucking Kissena, we've been chasing your guys all fucking day blah blah blah blah blah." Um, yeah, idiot you've been chasing us all day because you don't have the brains to work WITH us.

I told the guy in soothing tones "dude, its a bike race, we're just talking about what's happening. It's not personal, no one is attacking you." This embarrassed him a little and one of his teammates agreed with me and told him to keep his mouth shut. So that was good. But I gotta say, I'm really sick of that squad and their unsportsmanlike conduct. I have so many examples of times where they (A) get shockingly belligerent; and (B) do so defending some argument that is just 100% obviously wrong (i.e. there's no one up the road when there is, or being pissed because someone won't help chase down their own teammate." Sorry to go negative but I'm sick of those guys and it pissed me off when that jackass went off on Jules, who did nothing wrong and is, like, one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet!

So, anyway, drama resolved. 1000m to go. I look around and assess my chances. I figure I can probably (A) just follow wheels and end up somewhere in the top 10 or (B) I can take a chance and go balls out for second, which will probably help Jules if it doesn't work. I took option B and attacked as hard as I could. Got a gap of maybe 4-5 seconds and made the turn into the finishing stretch at 500m to go. Ran out of steam at maybe 250m, got passed by nearly everybody, ended up 11th. Shit.

Good aggressive move that didn't work out? Maybe. Dumb wasted chance at a much better result at a big out of town race? Probably. Hopefully it helped Jules to his 3rd in some way.

Anyway, thanks to the guys who helped protect us. You're all strong and will no doubt have your turn to be protected soon. Also thanks to Jules for hosting dinners and breakfasts at the awesome pad. And big thanks to Norm and Joe for the good vibes and lots of laughs on the way up and back. It was fun contrasting Norm's "paleo diet" with Joe's "nothing that doesn't come fully processed and individually wrapped" diet.

Finally, the post race burrito at the "Rattlesnake Cafe" after a couple hours at the hospital was AWESOME.

Looking forward to the next one.

JP, sorry to hear of your injuries, hope you get some solid rest and recover soon, you will come back stronger in no time!

Great results for Jules and Harry, congratulations.

I look forward to joining next time!

A few photos are up here and there. Here are a couple good ones:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbulmer/7078537781/in/set-72157629817507943
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbulmer/7078025777/in/set-72157629817507943

Awesome race. Interweb prevents me posting a full report until tonight.
(Ryan, you early moved clinched my spot on the podium it was pure genius - win/win decision at the key final moment - they could let you go or set me up to sprint)
Our team was smarter, stronger, braver and more sportsmanlike. You think one of those velocity guys would have chased for an hour on a jankey misfit yellow bike?

Yea hope you heal soon JP and that your lung inflates back up so that you may race as soon as possible! To Patrick as well who looked pretty roughed up at the finish line.

I'll write a short summary of my race:
Overall, The steep gradient felt alright and I just wish the climbing was a bit longer to create more of a selection. I often found myself around the front w/ a gap and riders that were dropped would make it back on the downhill.
I felt good until mile 40, after that I was struggling hardcore!
I was at the back of the pack on the 2 last dirt sections and got dropped on the second one. I found myself having to bridge over riders that couldn't hold the wheel in front of them so I wasted quite a bit of energy that way, and eventually gave way myself...probably when the front of the group was attacking furiously on the uphill dirt section (mile 48 or so).
What was cool was that after finishing the last dirt section more or less solo I found people to work with. Jeff C said he could see me up the road pretty much the whole time. Some were weaker at first, I tried to work with them but they couldn't stay on my wheel. I eventually went up to the next riders and latched on to 2/3 guys, we drilled it until we caught more guys. By that time, I found myself struggling to take pulls in the rotating pace-line and had to skip turns as I was turning myself inside out. On the last series of short climbs: stage hill road, a foundation rider on a look 585 broke his chain and was super pissed, I would have been! We were 7 working together towards the finish; when we turned, I went too early...got passed by the rest of the group and had not felt so happy in a long time to be getting off my bike! Pure ecstasy.
I was glad to find the rest of the bunch mingling at the end but too tired to really pay close attention to what was going on.
Overall, I had a really great experience. Thanks to Jeff Condon for driving and coordinating the logistics and Jules and Lisa for hosting the team dinner. Congratulations Jules for placing once more and the rest of you guys for being in top shape and making things happen! Congrats to Harry as well, who must and should be very pleased w/ his result.

PS: I agree w/ Ryan, moves need to be more explicit and planned before jumping. I was expecting breakaway artists to salivate at the opportunity of someone up the road but I think people were scared of not really knowing the road ahead and not fully confident of their ability, which is understandable at our level.

Looking forward to more of this!

PS2: Jeff White, next time we'll def have to go bowling and visit the support tent to make sure they have a nice yellow bike already ready just in case! last night I had a dream that this was happening to me during a race.

I had a lovely time with the guys. Big thanks to Ryan and Joe for being travel mates par excellence, and super big thanks to Jules and fam for helming a fine pre-race dinner and providing access to that lovely base camp facility. And all you guys were great to hang-out with and -of course- to race with...

Speaking of racing, early in the race I worked on my goal of moving up to the front and staying up there. Notably, I made-up for my dismal Eagleville Rd turn last year (overshot the turn heading off-road by moving up way too late)... I did so by moving-up at my scouted move-up point on the course, and seeing that I was arriving at the front on the far right, I dived-in on a perfect apex leading the field through the turn... felt nice. I kept-up the pace, heading through the bridge and the first dirt section --seriously big apologies to Jeff, if I had taken a moment to think that you might be chasing us, I would have eased the pace.

I stayed in good position for quite some time but lost focus and slipped back a bit too much coming into the Juniper Swamp climb. I held position on the climb passing plenty of riders but some climbers passing me (watched Ryan motor by me --his legs were looking really good) but the front third of the field did string things out more than I realized so I had to work a bit hard to get back on. But the descent off Juniper was really fun... I had a blast on all the dirt sections, a little squirming about but that sensation just reminds me of riding my banana-seat roadster bike on the farm roads back home in Cackalacky...

Rolled through the feed zone feeling somewhat tired, but OK. Then we came into a 90-degree left turn onto a steep little asphalt ramp --everyone got out of the saddle to stomp it up the little rise and very quickly I hear that crackle-crackle of carbon on tarmac. I was just 3 or 4 riders back from the crash and I roll by and see Patrick on the ground among the other 2 guys who went down. I saw blood coming from his eye, so I stopped. I talked to Patrick for a couple of minutes to make sure he was OK, after he assured me about 5 times that he was fine, and the ambulance arrived (super quick since they just happened to be up at the feed or somewhere else close)...

So, I began pedaling, bridging-up group to group to group to group... seemed like a familiar scenario... and I began to sing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12-X6wkbBI8

And --uh-- that was my race...

- Speedy recoveries to Patrick and JP.
- Big congrats to Jules and Harry on their podium finishes! Awesome!
- Looking forward to the next race with all you dudes!

First off. Wow! What a superbe race. 60-70 degree temps and blue sky made for one of the sweetest single day races. If you haven't entered before, I'd put BK on the top of the list. Also, the Roazen's sorted us the most mack'n riverfront house next to the covered bridge, private golf course included.

Ryans RR is on point, so I won't blather on... OK, yes I will. Humungous thanks to Jeff, Ally and Norm for signing up to play fox to the hunt, in such a hard race it was an act of sacrifice to be out the front even for a couple minutes let alone the twenty+ of Jeff Condon and Ally's repeated solos. That was very cool to watch, as was Vollbach absolutely destroying the field in the worst section of rubble—a hard exposed section of side wind—for mile after mile. In hindsight, yeah, we could have sent more people at once up the road, properly recon'd the course and chosen our mile markers to put the screws on, but to end up with 4 guys out of 13 in the closing kilometers was pretty bloody good.

For me, the long 25 minute section of climbs was hardest for sure, and I was making all sorts of Lord of the Rings type guttural noises to stay in position. These climbs weren't very civilized affairs either; I was elbowing people for the best line, busting through gaps past fading riders Ben Hur style (hate to think what the back was like as I was top twenty going in). It was at this point, on top of all the sharp little 5 minute 400-500-watts-to-stay-on-front munters, where the legs started to go. And spin as much as I could, dragging that 197 pound suitcase around eventually led to some pretty heinous phosphate-smashing cramps. Over the top and then one leg went on a long kicker, but managed to claw back on the descent. We had a little breather where we talked strategy and sent guys up the road, things were looking good. But, 8 or 9km out the last 3 stepper, totally cooked me. All the cramp counter measures seemed to let go at once and I had the sensation of electric burning pain that made me sit bolt upright to get a leg straight. Over the top I could see the break at about 30 seconds, but I had a hard time getting above 260 Watts. Door closed, and was left to chase in with an Expo Wheelman, gathering an also cramping Vollbach along the way. Recovered a bit and pipped the local Battenkill guy on the line for 13th. Was totally pumped to hear that Jules bunch sprinted in for third!

And to Jeff W. Feel for you dude, impressed that you went for the long chase. Your RR should be one of those stress-mares you have the night before, where you go the wrong way when you're in the lead. As old Ben Kenobi said "I felt a great disturbance in the Force..." SRAM will pay with blood!

Great drive home with an unstoppable JP there's-no-tube-poking-out-my-chest Partland.

Congrat's to Jules (3 years, 3 podiums) and Harry on his courageous second.

Putting in upgrade to three!

Congrats to all and I wish a speedy and especially complete recovery to JP and Patrick.
@ JP. My chest scar from the Alps is six years old, but we'll still be able to compare them...
@ Harry: John is upgrading...

Some pics: Kissena's No.1 fan. Friday pre-ride mystery tour.

the crusher and the crusher dust

...

Michael, William and I were tearing up hills in Dutchess County yesterday in y'all's honor - Michael read BK reports to us from the iPhone as we spun on the flats.

Great reports, all - and fantastic results! On top of that, such good conduct and cool headedness on the road. Makes me all the more proud to be part of the best club in NYC.

Patrick and JP - mend well, dudes.

Total congratulations to Jules (Ryan, John, D, A, J, J, N, P, J . . .) and Harry. The stories and results almost make me want to do it.

Jules is like our Johan Museeuw (w/o the drugs).

JP: feel better and get well.

photos http://www.ksjphoto.com/Sports/Cycling/Tour-of-the-Battenkill-2012/22257474_XKHBBz#!i=1794890773&k=xQbGDq7&lb=1&s=XL

^ Fucking awesome photo. Half-glad I wasn't out there for Operation Wrecking Ball.

First off: BIG congrats to Jules and Harry for placing. Amazing results, well-deserved, and even better that it's by a couple of the nicest guys on bikes you'll ever meet. And, chapeau as well to all of the strong men who helped get Jules to the podium...those stories have already been well told. Sorry to hear about JP and Patrick's injuries. Heal up well, gents.

This was my second go at Battenkill (tried it last year as a 5). I improved my time by 25 minutes. I'm pleased with the progress, but not satisfied. I am certain I would have improved it by 25 more but for the ridiculous cramps that set in at mile 30 and really took a lot of the wind out of my sails.

It was a glorious day for bike racing, I'm glad I did it, and am motivated as fuck to come back stronger next year. If I was 25 minutes faster this year, there's no reason I can't be 25 (or more) minutes faster next year. 15 less pounds might help.

As for my finish: they say a picture tells a thousand words

Posted By: John MalcolmsonWhat a superbe race.

Make that a Superbe Pro race! (Old guys, you likey the pun?)

Posted By: Ryan JThe first 2/3 of the race was sort of uneventful. The expected attrition happened in the expected places.

Yeah, maybe for the top guys. And this is where I love to read about your team antics. Having a quiver full of strong guys ready to sacrifice themselves to help whittle the field down to more manageable size is what makes me especially proud to be a part of Kissena. Being a back of the pack rider of late, let me tell you. Every roller, ever rocky stretch of road that you front guys glided over with nary a second thought is pure misery for the back markers.

Posted By: Ryan JThe problem with the solo moves was we were neither putting someone up the road with a chance to succeed, nor were we hurting the bunch - the peloton would just ride tempo and let our lone soloist die a slow death in the wind. So we were just wasting strong legs. We needed to do a better job coordinating with Hudson, Siggi's, Sids, all those local guys we know to actually try to take some guys with us. With some teams represented (A) our guys are in something that has potential; and (B) the bunch is forced to work with out protected guys sitting comfortably on.

This is a really crucial observation. Ryan's right on target here. On the post CP race ride up to Piermont Ashley and I had this same conversation with regards to how some of his Cat 5 races have played out. If you can't get another team to bridge up because they are all "waiting for the sprint," then it might be worth trying to send up a Kissena for some 2-man TTT action. That will either get the pack motivated (in which case, bridger-up Kissena jumps on a wheel of someone going by and hitches a ride to the first Kissena), or they'll let you go too. And if the first Kissena rider peaks back and sees a teammate coming up, it's time to slow it down a bit to allow him to make the juncture as quickly as possible. Then regroup and pour on the big meat and watch the pack shrink in the distance.

The other thing to think about doing, and it truly sounds like you attempted with all your might to convince the tools in your field what would be some good options, is to be very vocal during the race. "Kissena is racing for a break. We have no interest in a group sprint, so if you see a Kissena go, and you get on his wheel, you will have at least our team blocking and riding for YOU." I mean, I don't know why a lot of knuckle heads can't figure that shit out within the first 5 minutes of a race themselves, frankly. But as was reported, it really sounds like you tried that tactic to no effect. Sigh.

Finally, Harry, what gives?!?! Is this payback for all the times we gave you shit for your emoticon/symbol laden, paragraph absent, dizzying race reports? We're all DYING to hear about what surely must be an epic tale of velocipede killing.

You guys are all awesome. Loving reading the reports. Kinda maybe regretting I didn't do it. Congrats on the results, but also congrats on just racing that beast.

Mike

First Battenkill for me and I had an amazing experience overall. Most of the race has been pretty well documented here by I'll add my POV.

I felt pretty good through most of the race staying near the front for at least the first half if not more. I made it up the initial climbs okay and around mile 15 Ryan and Jules asked me to make a move. Having never initiated a break before I just took to the the front on a riser and soloed away. I got a decent gap and was on my own for a good mile or mile and half. After getting caught, I tucked into the pack and hung back for a while until called upon again around mile 30 (I think). Jules directed me to talk to a Hudson guy on the front to try to get to join me. That communication never happened (my fault) and I ended up basically repeating my previous attempt (out in front solo for 1.5-2 miles). Clearly this isn't the way to do it and I was questioning the wisdom of these moves as I rejoined the pack, but wanted to do my part for the team. I do think a more coordinated effort with multiple Kissenas or really engaging other teams in the effort before going off makes sense.

Right before the final feed zone when the dirt got nasty and folks were either puncturing, swerving or slowing down I got caught in back and the pack took off. I didn't have the energy to chase on at that point and took my pace up the climb hoping to catch up after the crest. I could see Alyosha in a group up the road and wanted to get in with him. As I was soloing there I jumped in with a group and we pace lined within striking distance. As we entered the Stage Road climb I lost contact with some of the group and fell back. I took the last rollers back pretty much on my own but played a little cat and mouse with a rider in our race (red kit by not an NYC team). After the last climb he passed me on the descent and I
TTd to the finish. At about 500m to got I caught him and passed at the corner (at least one more place I thought) and rolled over the line.

I wondered if I would have been able to hold on longer if I hadn't burnt those matches earlier in the race, but I look at it as great learning experience. I hope my efforts had some affect on the team outcome. Next time we'll do it smarter.

Big congrads to threepeat Roazan and thanks to him and (most importantly) Lisa for hosting the team dinner.

Awesome job, Harry, on your podium finish. Hell of a race to do it in.

JP and Patrick, glad your okay, heal fast.

Looking forward to the next big one.

Francisco Mancebo took the pro invite field.

I'll echo what everyone has already wrote, but WOW, Jules is a beast! Another podium finish at Battenkill (3 for 3!) ain't too shabby! Congrats to all the Battenkill boys in general, you made the jersey proud! Harry, amazing result! I really wished I was there to help! 'till next year...

Best wishes to Patrick & JP! Heal quick guys!

Ok, I'm finally back. Kids in bed, JP's bike on it's stand in his home (JP will heal, the bike, maybe not so much). We have rescued both Harry "First Try Podium" and "Handsome" Joe's wheels. We've been away from home for just a couple of nights but it feels like we packed a whole season of "away" races into this weekend.

I almost feel like we need a "trip report" in addition to the race report.

Trip News:

Johnny Wrongway does a SNL worthy impersonation of an Australian Stunt Crew director. Warning: do not drink anything you don't want to fly out of your nose when you hear it.
Chatted with Greg LeMond this morning - really nice, down to earth guy.
The ONLY gear casualty from the trip was Normanzo's coffee grinder which now has a cracked bean-holder thingy. Sorry Norm!
Josh - knocking almost an hour off last year's time is no joke. Chapeau!
Oh - Holy Crap John! If that's what you can do on a bike built *last century* with your shoes taped on with "extra" weight I feel genuinely sorry for those lads next year...
On the way back we stopped in Hudson to visit the Fire Museum; very cool for kids - I highly recommend it for braking up a long trip.

Tour of the Battenkill 2012

Three years, three podiums.

Cat 4 Third Place!

What a great birthday present!

So many thanks to the team that made this happen. Wow.

Our challenge going into this race was that we had a LOT of strong guys, and therefore a lot of responsibility to "make it happen" even though that meant asking people who could otherwise place top 10 or top 20 to work harder and earlier, thus jeopardizing their own chances.

The plan was for Jeff White, Jeff Condon, Aly and Norm to cover or instigate moves early and do their damnedest to make sure the field was shelled by the time it got to the second feed zone, or about 30 km from the finish. (This is a big race, and it is difficult to overstate the generosity of these teammates in being willing to "go early" to make the field suffer on the bet that a few of us could go the distance.)

We knew if John could make it to the final sprint he'd win for sure, so he was our surprise card.

If Ryan, Jules & Dave could make to 70km together we were going to unleash Plan "Smash Race Like Thor's Hammer" and ride in like victorious kings.

The race started pretty quietly; I had about 4 different bathroom trips to deal with pre-race jitters, and John & I did a light warmup ride on the way in. I was shaking with a combination of nerves and early morning chill until at least halfway up the first climb...

The early promenade was quickly over and we took the left turn into the approach to the covered bridge pretty aggressively, but thankfully nobody had any real trouble. Once through, the race was really on.

Juniper Swamp was nasty, but watching John tough it out in the saddle was good motivation; and it was eerie how the sound of the peloton changed from a chatty, "on your left" group ride into a quiet, breath catching knife-fight. I think I did over 400 for two minutes there.

Things seemed to slow a bit after that and someone (Ryan, Patrick?) told me that Whitey had broken a brake lever and hadn't started… ouch. (Little did I know that he was chasing on after missing the start by 3 minutes - riding a yellow Mavic bike - a 45 minute chase that ended only when he flatted. Dedication Sir White! Chapeau!)

Ryan and I conferenced a bit and decided we needed to make every part of this race hard - I found Jeff Condon and asked him to "attack at the next hard spot"

Let me tell you; if you've never asked someone to attack 20km into Battenkill - try it. It is tough - and Jeff jumped to it like a champ. I'm not sure what kinds of bargains were available at the front of that pack but apparently not many; Jeff was off alone before long with a 30 second gap that was growing.

This was a bummer because there were so many strong teams, we really wanted FGX, Velocity, Hudson, Foundation, etc to bridge or send guys with him. Nada.

Big lesson there; 4's ride this race almost as scared as 5's. Or at least they did this race.

to be continued...

After a while Jeff was caught and it was about then that Aly found me to tell me that Ryan was off the back with some kind of mechanical. I asked Aly to drop back, find Norm and tell Norm that he should wait for Ryan and TT him back up. This was way to early to lose 1/3 of our best chances and Norm can TT like a motorbike.

Another huge Chapeau to the guys for being both willing and able to execute on something like that.

Next up was Aly to inflict some hurt on the peloton, and we were riding so tight and the rollers were so fierce I honestly had a hard time getting up next to him to say "your turn" but eventually I did and he shook his head ruefully, "I have no legs"

That was tough. To be honest, I had very little legs myself at that point. I think I said something encouraging like "Dig deep Aly, you can make it happen" and then started looking for Norm - did he get Ryan? Was he able to go on the attack?

I'd seen Norm up at the front quite a bit and I knew that riding at the front was one of his number 1 goals for the race, so I was surprised I couldn't find him, but I had enough trouble keeping my position that I wasn't able to drop back to look for him for fear of never getting back up to the front myself.

To my delight though, soon enough I saw Aly's familiar form tearing off into the distance up ahead - he found the legs! Go Aly Go! I silently cheered.

I thought fondly back to LA when I'd watch Aly disappear ahead despite my best efforts to keep him close. Let those guys on the front deal with that!

Unfortunately (again) the other teams didn't have our brand of Brooklyn Courage; Aly wasn't joined and he slowly slowly came back.

Damn!

I found Jeff again and asked how he was doing; he gave me a wide grin and said "good"

I asked him if he could go again and he said "yes" to which I answered, ok, but DON'T GO ALONE. We were using our strongest 1st half team and not drawing out the stronger guys from other teams It was so frustrating to watch.

ed note: after the race the velocity, axis and hudson guys were FURIOUS at all the work they'd done chasing Aly & Jeff early in the race. To the point of screaming profanities at us about it. Just goes to show how perception and reality can differ during a race.

Jeff tore off up another hill and got (I think) a bigger lead than he had the first time; occasionally getting out of view. Again though, the fear was strong and nobody wanted to bridge. Eventually he too came back.

After the halfway point we hit a stretch of road that wasn't in the previous two years (Cheese Hill Road?)

It was basically sharp gravel on a four to six inch layer of sand. Flat as a pancake on an exposed field. Dave - who probably wins the club's Tomke look-alike contest - got to the front with some big guy in yellow kit and they DRILLED IT. It was awesome. A massive cloud of dust, people slipping and sliding everywhere, strung out single file in an exposed crosswind. I kept just a wheel or two behind the front and it was hard. Really hard. I was so grateful for all the cross racing we did last fall, and the mentoring we go from the likes of Eric, Myles and Marc. I shuddered to think what it was like mid or back of the pack. This is the Arenberg of Battenkill. Even the moto driver told me afterwards he had a hard time keeping it upright through that stretch.


to be continued...

Soon enough we were at the second feedzone, and Ryan rolled up next to me, "You, me, Dave and John are all here" Dave looked over and gave a smile that made me truly sorry for our opponents. It was like someone had just handed a sledge hammer to a 14 year old and said, "hey, do you think you could help me remove all the windows in the school?" He was so ready to Bring the Hurt.

We drilled it. I was first onto the descent before Meeting House road and it was as sketchy as I remember last year. I was in the center crown of the road in a full tuck and a gust of wind from the left shoved me all the way over to the righthand gutter. YIKES!

You can see a shot of me driving it up the far side with Dave on my shoulder and Ryan just behind. We were well into executing Thor's Hammer. After the top of Meeting House I got away for a bit with Paulie from Hudson before we were caught. Then we had a bit of cat & mouse with the Foundation guys on the front; Ryan & I took a couple of turns trying to get them to make a move but to no avail. At one point Ryan went on a little flyer when I was second or third wheel and a guy left of me jumped out of the saddle to chase and basically barged into me, nearly knocking us both down. "HEY!" was all I could yell.

Some other guy, unattached to the Barger shouted "stop blocking ass-face!"

I nearly laughed out loud. "Ok, poo-poo head," I thought. He must really be in the cave if he's reduced to grade school insults.

When we next cornered and I was beside the Barger he apologized profusely; the wind had shoved him into me and it was all he could do to stay upright; he couldn't even utter a word of warning at the time.

At one point Ryan came up out of nowhere with John and started saying, "John you are going to win this F-ing race! There is nothing else that is going to happen. You are going to WIN THIS RACE! Do you hear me?"

Awesomeness. Ryan, that was a really rough spot in the race and those declarations of victory were just what my flagging spirit needed.

Before long, we crested a hill with about 15km to go I chatted briefly with John & Ryan, "Dave's cramping bad," said Ryan.

"Somebody's got to go," said John

Ryan had just come back from a move with Foundation and to be honest John's instinct is just too good to ignore. So I went. Hard. Really hard. Out of the saddle, head as low as I could go I hammered thinking, "You only have one or two matches, so make them count". It was a section of paved road so I settled into TT mode and tried to stay as low and strong as I could. There were fifteen km to the finish. I took one descent with awesome form; low, knees in, and feet level.

Looks like my file says 30 seconds at 45 mph and 2 minutes at 37. I admit when I attacked I hadn't thought of staying away, but after a few minutes I started to wonder; two teammates behind blocking, only 12 km to go… this could happen again. It's only 2 laps around the park. I pushed harder.

to be continued...

Eventually I heard the moto. What? The motorcycle pulled up next to me, "Pull over! Cat 4 White coming through!"

"That's *my* field!" I replied, annoyed
"Nobody is ahead of me he" he said, looking puzzled
"I'm ahead of you" I grumbled, continuing to mash the pedals

He relented, wordlessly, and a green FGX guy came past me on a steep hill and I just couldn't hold his wheel.

JP's advice was ringing in my ears; if you are going to get dropped, you have to decide if you want to go 100% into the red to hang on, or save something so that you can catch onto the group behind you and try again. I'll never know if a) i had any more %'s to use, or b) what might have been had I been able to keep his wheel, but he went on to win our race by a 20 second margin.

I backed off, and saw a chase group of 8 or 9 coming up. They came by me on the same hill and I tried but failed to latch onto the back. Merde!

Somehow (I'm not so clear on this part) I managed to claw my way back onto the end of their group and begin to recover. I wasn't even sure who was there from Kissena - I think it was just me & Ryan. There were maybe 5km to go.

FGX was up ahead but not far.

I rolled up next to the three velocity guys (none of which had been in a move, or taken a turn in the wind all day - or so I thought) and said, "Guys, there is a guy up the road and there are three of you here. Are you racing to win or what? There isn't room for all of you on the podium. Get up there and get him back!"

This precipitated a maelstrom of invective and recriminations. What a bunch of jerks. One of the foundation guys said to me, "You want him? How about you do some work?"

"Fine!" I thought and go on the front. I took about 30 seconds worth of wind and my left leg cramped harder than I have ever experienced. I actually shouted out in pain and surprise and pulled off to the right side of the road, unable to pedal and barely able to balance my bike.

"I guess this is how it ends, 5km from the finish," I thought ruefully.

Again, I'm not really sure what happened, but I somehow got my leg working and fought my way back onto the back.

3km to go.

Ryan came up to me "I'm carping really bad" he said.

In my one moment of clarity I said, "I am too. They are all cramping. Trust me, everyone is shelled" I'm not sure how right I was but it made me feel better.

1km to go.

I made sure to get into the right gear for a sprint.

800m to go.

Ryan shoots off the front like a scalded cat. Perfect! He can make it from there.

Guys start chasing early, and I follow wheels.

400m to go.

Ryan is caught and we are 50m from the final right hand turn into the finishing straight

JP's advice again in my head, "Take that last right hand turn into the final sprint wide, keep all your momentum."

Wide I go, as JP's instructions are not to be taken lightly.

I follow wheels, hands in the drops, jump from one guy to another, follow Alexi from Velocity briefly because he can sprint… he drops anchor and before I know it I'm on a Hudson wheel, with another Hudson further up ahead…

50m to go and I jump.

BamBamBamBam my legs are overcooked pasta but I keep my head as low as I can and suddenly one Hudson guy is falling back, back there is only one ahead of me….

The arch, the finishing line is right there - I sit up and raise my arms in triumph; I have done well in a finishing sprint. Well enough for 3rd overall, 2nd in the sprint.

(as I look at the photos I cringe at how early I sat up, and vow never, ever EVER to do that again)

to be continued...

My podium celebrations were quickly tempered by the news that JP crashed out of his race with broken ribs (and a collapsed lung) and the view of Patrick's bandaged arm and cut up cheek.

The Payout:

One bottle of chocolate milk (Drunk, sad to say, that baby is "in mah belleh")
One hundred bucks! That's a whole lotta muffins guys; stay tuned for victory celebration details

Lessons learned:

Got to find a better nutrition plan for 100km races (maybe race more to practice?) - my belly was never happy from start to finish.
Plan ahead with other teams around early breaks? Tough one, but worth it.
There were quite a few surprises on this course; including the last "heartbreaker" hill which doesn't show up on the map. Pre-ride of the whole course would have really helped.
Comparing power notes with John; neither of us had any screaming records; this is a race of attrition. It's all about conserving to the bitter end.
That flat (cheese road?) is brutal, and Dave's pace there was brilliant - it really shelled the pack. Consider it the Arenberg of Battenkill.
Apparently my max HR isn't as low as I'd thought; I saw 188 today at the end of the sprint
The human mind is a strange thing. Leading up to this race, if I was a pound over my target race weight and I was defeated even before I lined up, a pound under and I was an unbeatable champion. Neither truly mattered.

Thanks:

A long list starting with
My beautiful wife and kids for putting up with my bizarre hobby and playing such a hostess/birthday MC extraordinaire
Thanks to my coach Max - a kindred spirit and a damn fine trainer
Thanks Kissena! Team Smash - incredible support; we didn't realize it at the time but the 3 or 4 moves made early beat the snot out of our competition. I truly look forward to repaying you in kind. A great bunch of guys to line up with - I honestly don't think there was a single team out there that worked together - or as well, or as selflessly as we did out there. My coach had similar words, essentially saying, "Uh… well… that's not really how Cat 4 teams race… at all. You guys are are quite unusual. I hope you guys know that"
Thanks to John for his sprint tutoring and encouragement. In his gentlemanly way he let me win a couple of sprints in the park and come into this race with some much needed sprint confidence.
Thanks to Ryan for organizing the LA trip and pushing us all to smash our legs into stronger weapons.
Thanks, thanks, thanks guys. I couldn't have done it without you.
Thanks to Peter Bysshe for befriending me during this intimidating race two years ago; it may seem small but the idea that this race could be savagely difficult and a source of camaraderie with one's opponents at the same time really opened my eyes to the sport and lit the fires of enthusiasm for this race in particular.

LeMond - I really liked how he took the time to chat with this kid - he wasn\'t just signing & running.

Some pre-race planning

The Podium (aka "It's my birthday!")