Battenkill - Forum Archive

Nov 15, 2012 at 03:36 AM

Jules said:

josephmueller said:

I'm planning on signing up tomorrow. Anyone else?

you need to ask?

If I remember correctly you said that "next year I'm not doing battenkill." But don't worry I feel like I say that every year

Jules

Nov 15, 2012 at 09:06 PM

josephmueller said:

Jules said:

josephmueller said:

I'm planning on signing up tomorrow. Anyone else?

you need to ask?

If I remember correctly you said that "next year I'm not doing battenkill." But don't worry I feel like I say that every year

Yeah, I think I'll say it again this year.

Pay no nevermind, registration opens at 7pm SHARP.

(as an aside, every year people start new threads like "Battenkill 2013" instead of continuing the existing threads - in this case "Battenkill" and this sucks because we lose the continuity of 2, 3 even 4 or more years of race reports on a certain race. If you can, please try and continue existing threads so that new guys & gals can have the benefit of past years reports without too much searching)

Jules

Nov 15, 2012 at 09:07 PM

Registration opens in less than 3 hours

https://www.bikereg.com/Net/17502

Jules

Nov 15, 2012 at 09:29 PM

Guys, there is a Cat 4 "open" *and* a Cat 4 40+

I will be registering for the Cat 4 "open" field. This race is more fun with teammates. Gardiner, you ready for some winter training?

Adam

Nov 15, 2012 at 10:11 PM

@Jules

Why not put the big races at the top of our homepage as stickies (Tour of Catskills, Killington Stage Race, Green Mountain Stage Race, Battenkill, L&C Cup, NYC Spring Series) and simply migrate the previous threads into those.

Jeff Owens

Nov 15, 2012 at 11:38 PM

Is Battenkill $200 yet?

josephmueller

Nov 16, 2012 at 12:01 AM

@JeffOwens - Looks like the price went down $5 this year! That means extra muffins. Reg just opened, lets see if bike reg can handle it this year.

ian ellis

Nov 16, 2012 at 12:07 AM

Answer: NO. I was planning on this in 2013, but I have already lost patience with the registration

Thierry Bonnaire

Nov 16, 2012 at 01:07 AM

I signed up for the race.

vlad

Nov 16, 2012 at 01:51 AM

I'm in. $90 is bullshit though... going to have to get some of that back. $1500 10 deep is going to make it interesting.

Rick Perner

Nov 16, 2012 at 02:36 AM

Me too

Jules

Nov 16, 2012 at 02:48 AM

@Jules

Why not put the big races at the top of our homepage as stickies (Tour of Catskills, Killington Stage Race, Green Mountain Stage Race, Battenkill, L&C Cup, NYC Spring Series) and simply migrate the previous threads into those.

Adam I merged most of them earlier this summer. Sticky idea is interesting...

Jeff Condon

Nov 16, 2012 at 03:04 AM

I can't believe we're talking Battenkill already. I feel like I just stopped road racing.

I'm most likely in. I was originally thinking about the 40+ but looks like its sold out and if everyone's doing the Open that where I want to be anyway.

Jules

Nov 16, 2012 at 03:29 AM

@Jeff they just opened a second 40+ field, but we might mock you for sandbagging

mperlberg

Nov 16, 2012 at 03:48 AM

The $90 fee is absurd. The 82 mile cat 2 race makes it appealing. I just don't know.

Ryan J

Nov 16, 2012 at 04:10 AM

I'm not paying $90...hellz to the no

eragot

Nov 16, 2012 at 12:33 PM

well, almost $1/mile. But wait - the drive is so damn long.
I'm out...

mperlberg

Nov 16, 2012 at 01:45 PM

for contrast, the 70 mile turkey hill race costs $35, the 54 mile ronde van mullica costs $31.

and don't say logistics. the 75 mile “Hills of Somerset County” which is probably logistically very expensive costs $50

eragot

Nov 16, 2012 at 02:26 PM

I'm going to target Mullica this spring. Good early April race.

josephmueller

Nov 16, 2012 at 02:36 PM

Jeffrey White

Nov 16, 2012 at 03:43 PM

I think you'd have a hard time convincing anyone who's seen the registration numbers that Dieter has mispriced his race. I definitely got ripped off at Battenkill last year, but I think that race with its unique course and level of competition is worth more per mile than most of the racing in our region. And I do think that a race with that many participants costs more logistically.

Ronde Van Mullica, for example, is a pretty random comparison to Battenkill. It's a relatively flat circuit where the only real course feature is the wind, and it requires little road closure. I had fun the year I did it, though.

Adam

Nov 16, 2012 at 04:41 PM

The race is run by Anthem Sports, the company. The same company runs loads of the other races (Tour of the Dragons, Tour of the Catskills, Hunter Mountain....). Battenkill is their most sought after product (it's uniqueness, length, time of year, 'one-off' in the season type of nature are all features that make this race so sought after; hence the massive subscription each year on the day of registration). The price of $90 is not for this race only, but it also, using this, the company subsidises their other events. For all you guys who tried to get Supercross running, you know how hard it is for races to even brake even, and even then the race is dependent on volunteers. If there is a race which makes money (probably the Tour de France and Giro are the only other two in the world that do!!!) I think it's a great idea to use that, earn cash, then re-invest in other races. I do not think $90 is unfair, I mean, shitty park races are $30! One Battenkill is better than 3 park races. Also, they do give the opportunity to win it back: Cat 3 winnings of $1500 is 17 entry fees alone.

I would gladly pay a little more each race to ensure a broader, more complete calendar of races to chose from across the year.

eragot

Nov 16, 2012 at 04:48 PM

I wasn't comparing. Just stating that I'm going.

Ryan J

Nov 16, 2012 at 07:28 PM

I don't have a problem with the FACT that he charges $90. People pay it, so whatever. I just don't feel personally like its worth it for me, this year.

mperlberg

Nov 16, 2012 at 07:36 PM

I'm comparing.

When i started racing triahtlons in 2001, Olympic distance races (slightly over 2 hours) could be found for as cheap as $25-30. Ironman distance events for $300. Last year, Ironman New York was selling entries for $1,000+ and you can rarely find an Olympic distance event for under $100. I fear we will see this happen in our sport and racing will become luxury. I love to race, and this change essentially priced me out of tris unless I was content to race 3-4 times per year max.

Look, if Deiter wants to use healthy profits from his 20 cat 4 fields at Battenkil to support creating a bigger racing calendar, I'm all for it. I don't really buy that that is what is happening. I'd have to pay $75 to race is spring or fall hunter mountain race. still a hefty fee for races that by all accounts were pretty normal.

I just think the lesson we are going to learn down the road is that the norm will be more expensive racing all around. Having one guru race director isn't sustainable in the long term. We need lots of clubs and selfless individuals pitching in as Charlie and Myles do, as well as a bunch of folks around the region.

This past year, we saw Housatonic and Granogue disappear. Our out of town calendar is shrinking. Will deiter save that? I doubt it.

Now that being said, I'd love to do Battenkill but it just doesn't seem feasible at that price.

tito

Nov 16, 2012 at 10:31 PM

I'd like to take this opportunity to invite anyone who is not racing Battenkill to a training weekend at William's house in Millbrook.

William will be making pancakes and giving rubdowns.

Jules

Nov 17, 2012 at 01:53 AM

This is the bigest road race in the country, and Dieter's races are very well organized.

I don't know if Dieter will save Housatonic and or Granogue but I cannot see how NOT doing Battenkill will.

To my mind Battenkill is an iconic out of town race that Dieter makes accessible to people who aren't neo-pros. He has a 45+ Cat 5 field for cryin' out loud! Last year he had LeMond there signing autographs and doing a charity ride afterwards.

People's enthusiasm for this race spill over and and so do the economics; my sense has been that a large part of early season racing (in the lower categories) is preparation for Battenkill and it is the standard to which many of the later out of town races are held.

As well it is a boon to shops, coaches and cycling spin classes all over the place. Lots of people sign up and gear up for BKill specific programs.

Having premiere races like this on the calendar is only good for the sport. As for the 90 bucks; it's a sold out race so we can't say it is "too" expensive. Apparently that's the price the market is willing (crashing bike reg at 7pm!) to pay.

Plus, the chocolate milk is to die for :P

alyoshas

Nov 18, 2012 at 07:25 PM

Penciling it in! had a great time in 2012...looking to improve this year.

tito

Nov 20, 2012 at 03:37 AM

I think that everything Jules says is true - except the rather subjective matter of the entry fee. The fact that it's $90 and has sold out just speaks to Mike's point; it's part of a trend making amateur cycling an increasingly elitist sport. I'm not mad at anyone who has the means to pay their way for a race - I just know that as a broke student who is looking at a career with a pretty modest income, a race like Battenkill just isn't in my sphere anymore. And I think that's a bummer.

tito

Nov 20, 2012 at 03:44 AM

I was leaving the Runcible Spoon in Nyack last week and another cyclist was pulling his Pinarello out of the rack. He looked at my bike and said "winter beater, eh?" I was like "uh nope...this is the only one." He got embarassed and stammered out some follow-up comment. Whatever. I wasn't offended or annoyed, it just made me lol inside. Anyway, this kind of mentality is what I'm talking about.