917-691-2705

We could catch up Sunday morning as well.

I am feeling much better after riding this week. I am not at 100% but still feel I could do some damage and help Joe out. I would like to be one of the protected riders if possible.

See you guys at 9:15am tomorrow

David Gardiner
718 2107697

I have raced Battenkill twice: two years ago it was my first ever cat4 race and I flatted on mile 7 without wheels in the van. Last year the cat4 race started around noon and I had not eaten enough before or during the race. As a result I bonked on a dirt climb well into the race. I mention this to say I have a score to settle with this race and to suggest you don't make the mistakes I made.

I agree with Norm's comments that we need to stick close together, communicate, and be ready to adapt to the dynamics of the race. One suggestion: The final dirt section is a stair step that precedes a downhill to the finish. If there are several of us in a break or pack at that point it would be smart to take turns attacking and let the other teams chase. If the pack catches whoever went away those of us who have been conserving energy in the slipstream can counter. We will either get someone away or tire out the other teams right before the finish.

I too am hoping for a good showing and I feel good about our prospects as a team. Looking forward to meeting up before the race and racing together.

See you all in Cambridge

Patrick

Hey there,
Sorry to be silent during much of this, but I thought this might be the case, I'm out. My wife is too close to her due date for her to feel ok with me out of town for a day, probably silly, but I understand. Very disappointed, but I hope yall have a great, great race. Be with you guys in spirit.

Bill

ps - if anyone wants to borrow a wheel or a bike rack, it's all yours, shoot me a text (718-810-3295)

Joe, David and Patrick --sounds great! Glad you guys are feeling good.

Everyone, have a save drive up. I'm riding up with David Stearns --we're staying with his folks in Albany... so I will see you guys in the morn!

Hey Bill --best wishes to you and your wife for the new arrival!

We'll miss you at the race!

Dear 14 Cat 4 warriors...

A few suggestions. Pick a road captain. Think about a couple of 3 or 4 guys who could place. EVERYONE meet up before the race, even if it's just to say, "I'm doing my own thing today." Eat or drink something substantial every hour you are out there (bars take longer to absorb, so plan ahead, or stick to gels, chews, gews, electrolyte beverages).

Good luck!

Guys,

I nominate Norm to be road captain. He has been active in organizing the pre-race discussions, knows most everyone and is likey to be there till the end.

What do you think?

Patrick

Thanks Patrick --but I was going to nominate you.

I'd love to be cap'n out there tomorrow, but my form has been off so far this spring, I haven't done many long rides at all --and I'm still learning the ropes of positioning and some other basic stuff. My goal is to guard the front in the early to mid-race, then curl-up on the side of the road and wait for the broom wagon. Of course, I do hope to finish. I just know that race hard on this course is going to bring about major objections from my untuned body.

Your racing experience, course knowledge and good fitness make you a much better candidate.

I also think Jeff Owens would do well in this role.

Folks, I just wanted to offer my thoughts on Battenkill for those who have and those who haven't raced it before. I raced it twice as a cat 4 and did decently each time - the first time crashing out of the lead group late in the race, and the second time, finishing 11thish from the first chase group behind Greg.

In '09, a group of ~25 rode away from the field (or shattered it) on the first climb. I expected something similar in '10, but instead, things pretty much stayed together. There were a few probing attacks (including Greg Donovan riding away for the eventual win with 32mi to go) but nothing major. Things only broke up on the final climb, which is the hardest - a good 10 minutes, and steep. So, really, it could play out either way. If things don't break up early, expect people to ride conservatively and save it for the final climb. Considering taking advantage of that - it worked for Greg. Tito's attack thoughts (stay seated, accelerate gently) are good - it's a long race and it's good to avoid burning a big match just to get separation if it means you'll lose it and fall back to the pack before too long.

Much of the dirt is quite well-packed - or at least, was last year. Be careful of the dirt descent at ~50mi to go. There's a sweeping lefthand turn and it's not easy. For most of the off-road stuff, sit back in your saddle, keep a relaxed grip on the bars, let the front end of your bike correct itself, and watch out for occasional potholes. It'll be easier near the front.

If you're in a hard-riding group coming off the final climb and coming in to the finish, remember:
THERE IS A 90 DEGREE RIGHT TURN about 300 or 350m before the finish. If you're breathing through your eyeballs it's easy for your IQ to drop precipitously. Be prepared for this turn; know which way the wind is blowing, and get in the lee of the group you're in so that when you take that corner, you can accelerate and then sprint sheltered from the wind.

Good luck, all! Fly those colors well.

I've arrives in Saratoga Springs for dinner and the place is full of cyclists. I'm pumped.

As for Norm's nomination, am willing to act as road captain I you guys will have me. I am also fine with co-leading or simply letting someone else do it. For me the key is that we meet up in the morning, identify a captain willing to call shots and communicate during the race. It would piss me off if we show up with the most guys and don't place due to lack of coordination.

We've got the legs and brains. Let's go kick some butt.

Patrick

I'm all for Patrick as captain. I'm basically all for anyone who knows what they're doing yelling at me and telling me what to do.
See y'all tomorrow!
t

Whoops, this is Tito - not William.

Good luck tomorrow, fellas!

Just back home from Battenkill. The short story is: the cat4 Pink crew --and I know the entire club-- is very proud of Joe Mueller's excellent performance: 2nd Place! David Gardiner also raced very well and may have edged into the top 15 or top 10.

Great racing Joe and David! Please recap your races here once you've rested up a little.

Thanks to Patrick for captaining --which was very helpful early in the race.

Hope all the other Kissenas raced well today also.

That's awesome, great job guys!

Congrat's Joe and nice job everyone!

Awesome job guys. Joe you've been flying all spring and this is a great result. I am looking forward to a race report. David, for somebody coming back from a 3 week illness you definitely were still very strong.

Race results are up:

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2011/04/10-Tour-of-the-Battenkill.asp

Pre Ride Report.
I rode up with Rich on Saturday and we pre-rode the first 15 miles of the course to get a feel for the bridge and the dirt sections. We pushed pretty hard up the hills to open our legs up and get a feel for climbing in the dirt. I ended up flatting on the first descent which made me nervous that I would puncture in Sundays race. Just out of precaution I ended up switching to my training wheel because it had a thicker tire.


Race Report:

Short version:
It hurt and I got 2nd

Long Version:
Ran in to the team when I was dropping off the wheels for the pre race ride and we set up a plan for the race. Tito and I did about a warm up lap then went to the start line.

For the first 5 miles I made a conscious effort to stay at the front and be ready for the immediate right hand turn after the covered bridge. From there I tried to stay tucked into the pack for protection and keep an eye out for anything that looked threatening at the front. The Hudson team controlled the tempo early on and looked well organized. Jeff White had mentioned that one of their riders could really climb and to keep an eye out for him. The race stayed together till the second climb and a group of 25 riders made the break from the peleton. I have to say thanks to Patrick for pulling me up to the break this was a lifesaver and I really appreciated not having to burn a match here. At this point in the race I was feeling pretty good hadn’t done much work and the climbs seemed easier than they did yesterday.

Looking at who was in the break I think we had 3 Kissenas: Dave Gardner, Tito, myself. Tito was marking the front and making sure no serious gaps opened up. Going over CR 64 there was a big surge from the front on the climb and it shattered our lead group. About 6 guys were 30 ft ahead of me when I made it to the top, I looked around and maybe had 2 or 3 around me that we could chase back on, but decided to just get it over with and bridge the 30/40ft to the leaders. This was the key decision that allowed me to place 2nd. But that was also when the suffering started.

Once I bridged the gap we had a solid group of 5 riders: 2 Hudson riders one of which was the guy Jeff said keep an eye out for, a rider Phil from Primal, another and myself. We worked well together from 18 - 35 miles all taking turns pulling. The mystery rider fell off the group at Carney-Cassidy Rd then not long after the weaker of the Hudson riders dropped off around 45 miles. By now I was hurting and really really hating the hills that just kept coming. Unfortunately looking around at what was left of the group I was the weakest rider so I was going to have to play the race smarter if I was going to try and win. Both the Hudson and Primal guys looked like they were just getting warmed up.

As the three of us went over Becker Rd I got dropped. I tried to chase back on but I just didn't have the legs that they did on the climbs. I hoped maybe on the down hills I could make up lost time.

Halfway up the Meeting House climb I noticed the Hudson rider had pulled over. My first thought was he finally cracked and just gave up. But when I called out to him to find out what was wrong he told me he had flatted. I cant express how bad I feel for him. He was probably going to win the race yesterday. I guess unlucky things happen but what a bummer to be so close to the end and flat.

I actually lost sight of the Primal rider so now I was going to have to solo in the last 15 miles. I made sure I was either in my drops or a TT position for the rest of the race to reduce drag no matter how much more comfortable it is on the hoods. This stretch of the race had a very strong mix of a head wind mixed with a crosswind on any of the S curves. I would pick people in the distance to focus on until I passed them this helped make me feel better about the time I was loosing between any groups chasing behind me and the pain. I finished off my last bottle with 10 to go and was hoping not to cramp out on the last climb. I forced myself to turn the pedals over and said that everyone else was probably feeling the same way Going over the last hill it didn’t seem to bad but I wasn’t moving all that fast knowing that it was almost over was good enough I think. Staying in the drops I counted down the kilometers until .5 then knew I was home! I finished 3 minutes behind first place and 2.5 minutes ahead of third.

Thanks again for all the help team, Patrick and Tito you guys especially made a big difference protecting David and I.

Interesting comparing the various winning times of the races.

Our guys in the Cat 3 race had the fastest cat 3 field. William would have won the other cat 3 field with his finishing time, Mike would have been close behind

Our guys in the cat 4 field raced basically the equivalent of the cat 3 Grey field.

Joe's finishing time would have won in the other cat 4 races.

We didn't choose our races, and we race against racers, not the course. All the same, it's good to know how competitive we were.


Cat 3 Pink Winning Time 2:58:37
Cat 3 Grey Winning Time 2:52:17 (william finished 29th 5:38 down)
Cat 4 Brown Winning time 2:57:51
Cat 4 Orange Winning time 3:02:22
Cat 4 Pink Winning time 2:58:42 (joe finished 2nd 2:53 down)
CAt 4 Grey Winning Time 3:03:19
Cat 4 Blue Winning Time 3:01:44
Women Pro/1/2 winning time 3:15:30
--all of the above raced 64 miles

4:07:37 for 99 Miles 23.99 mph (winning pro average speed)
3:34:38 for 82 Miles 22.9 mph (winning cat 2 average speed)
2:52:17 for 64 miles 22.29 mph (winning cat 3 average speed)
2:58:37 for 64 miles 21.49 mph (winning cat 4 average speed)

I thought that was pretty interesting as well JP. But glad our race was one of the faster ones.

Great job guys and big congrats to Joe for killing it again.

I'm @ work so can't write a full report @ the moment but unfortunately I was caught out in the back half of a field split and the race went up the road without us. About 7 of us mounted a chase but never quite caught back on due to pretty poor paceline rotation. starting with only two bottles (couldn't find a third in time) and out of water with a good chunk of the race to go, the the cramps set in and it was game over.

Posted By: josephmuellerI actually lost sight of the Primal rider so now I was going to have to solo in the last 15 miles. I made sure I was either in my drops or a TT position for the rest of the race to reduce drag no matter how much more comfortable it is on the hoods. This stretch of the race had a very strong mix of a head wind mixed with a crosswind on any of the S curves.

First of all, congrats!

Second of all, this is a good reminder to everyone. Aerodynamics makes a difference, especially when you're going steady for a while. Get in the drops, bend your elbows, get low!

I'll keep this super-brief, since I gotta get back to the books:

First 20 miles, I was in front marking moves, as was said. At some point Patrick rolled up behind me and told me I could chill a bit - we just needed some Kissenas in the top twenty, not killing it in front. I should've listen to our fearless leader. I decided to chase down the Primal guy (not knowing that he was Battenkill-winning material) just before the first dirt climb, and I paid for it. My legs turned to wood on that climb and I watched the field blow apart with me dropping to the back.
I ended up alone for the next 7 miles or so, which was the nail in my particular coffin; by the time the chase group caught up to me, just before the next dirt climb, I was done. Patrick gamely tried to push me on - I asked him "what's the plan?" and he just laughed and said "hold on for dear life".
Well, I couldn't even managed that - I ended up burning match after match just trying to catch up. By the final climb I was breathing through my eyeballs, and my legs were cramping like a mofo (first time I've had that experience). Jeff White was with me, and he told me to pedal through it.
I finished way in the back somewhere, disappointed with my lacking fitness but aware that I gave it all I had and put in some good work in the beginning.
Finding out that Joe finished second and that David was in the top 20 immediately raised my spirits. And then Perlberg gave me a cider donut, and all was right in the world.

The End

i could tell tito went very deep cause he couldn't figure out which of his post-race snacks to eat first

he was just sitting there in the middle of the parking lot kinda looking back and forth between the Gu, the water, the coke and the beef jerky

i had to get in there and give some snacking guidance

Sorry if I screwed up names, brain was a little glucose deficient yesterday. Lined up with Aaron, Josh and Joel at the start. Not much in the way of strategy since things were likely to get spit up early. So, basically the usual, stay in front and try not to get dropped. The pace was pretty leisurely up the first paved climb and the group was relatively intact heading up Juniper. Pace was hard up Juniper but managed to stay with the front group. Going over the top, I pulled a Schleck and dropped my chain. Really stupid, was trying to upshift to the big ring, but didn’t realize it was already there. Of course I saw this right as it was reverse shifting to the small ring, and then off all together. Failed at getting it to pop back up and had to stop and get off my bike. Took me a couple tries to get it back on, but at that point the lead group was gone and there was a gap in the field so I had to chase solo. Gave it the old college try and gained some ground on the gravel, but once the road widened and got to the pavement it was over. Really disappointed, legs were feeling good too. Oh well, that’s racing I guess. Anyway, was a great day to be on the bike, didn’t crash or puncture, weather was perfect and got some kick ass tan lines on my arms. Can’t wait to show those babies off at the beach. It was also my final race in the 5s and just sent in my request to upgrade!!!

Saw Aaron on the course and just after the race, he was going to get a beer so I think all was well for him. Joel, Josh?? Didn’t really stick around too long after the race so not sure how things ended up for you guys??

Now, going to drink some beers and watch Roubaix on my DVR. Watch someone else feel the pain for awhile…

Congrats Andrew on your final cat 5 race.

The most memorable moment from my Battenkill race was very early-on as I surged behind Patrick and Rich as they accelrated up the right shoulder of 313 around the pack --to rip a hard left on to Eagleville Rd. I was a bike length or two back of Rich (who was right on Patrick's wheel) and still accelerating hard... I thought we had another 100m to the turn... but, it wasn't so.

See attached graphic showing my Garmin data from this brief moment in time.

I had a similar race. Dropped my chain due to a stupid shift at the 16 min mark (first paved uphill, i wouldnt even call it a climb) . Off the bike and fixed asap, but lost the pack. Had a few people in sights and chased real hard to catch them - ends up "them" was one guy who had no juice and didnt want to try to paceline with me (the rest must have dropped him). Passed two more guys with mechanicals. Rode insanely hard for maybe 30 min to try to get back on but no luck. Called out for the time splits from spectators but didnt get them, then at 36 min in (20 min past my dropped chain) some farmer said the field had 10 min on me. G-d I hoped that wasnt true and he was a bad estimator , kept hammering.

Eventually I settled into a pretty good rythm and got mentally ok with the situation (dropped due to stupidity instead of a pending being dropped on some hill). My right leg has been really tight for a few weeks, and in a fit w\ video I found out I have this funky left leg sideways motion I need to correct, so I had realistic expectations anyway. My results definetly are not matching my training right now. Road hard whenever I could, ate and drank on schedule, cramped a bit anyway, ate and drank more. I knew in the back of my head, there was a climb at either 10K or 10M to go, so i saved a bottle to lead me into there. Then some guy tells me "no climbs past 10 miles, all downhill" . I almost believed him.

14 miles to go, hit the base of a do-able climb, and see some guy towards the top walking it. I happen to see his # and he is green. OMG, is he our race ? I start hammering it up the hill to pass this guy. I get up close to ask if he is ok , and he complains of the worst leg cramps ever, then he remounts and nearly kicks me in the face. He must have seen my # as well, cause cramps or not, he hammered it down this hill. I keep him in my sights some but not all of the time, and eventually lost him . I was mad/sad that I lost him, thinking "this a-hole had the advantage of the pack and probably dropped later - I hammered solo most of the way, how great would it be to get him?". I totally made him evil so I could try to mentally trick myself and give it more.

10K to go, hit stage road, remembered he had bad cramps, and gave it my all to climb fast . Thank you JP and Norm for that little cheat sheet and the reminder of this climb being there. Towards the second half of Stage Road I get him in my sights and let out a "I am gonna get that Mother-Fer" and then realize I said it out loud and hope he didnt hear\see me coming. Towards the top of the climb I approached him and and leg cramps and all, he pushed it. I passed him right before the top, and just all out went for it. This was with maybe 4 miles to go, maybe not the best strategy, who has heard of a 4 mile sprint? He reacts but must have been done, since I was fighting some major cramps too (didnt care, just had to go faster ) and I checked a couple of times and the gap got bigger and bigger. Coming into town I lost some of the juice, and someone passed me right before the hard right, got worried it was the same guy, saw his # and it was someone from a diff race. I waited at the finish to see him cross, and he was a good minute or two behind me. I mentally jotted the guys race # down to check in the results later. Ends up I got 01:19 on him. And it totally made my race.

Saw Norm/Joe/Rich right after and they came running over to ask about my race. I gave the whole rundown from above, got a couple of congrats and way to gos. Felt awesome. ....Joe doesnt even mention, "oh yeah, by the way, I got 2nd in my race" . Dude, way to go, that is rockin.

33rd of 35 finishers, did 15 really not show ? Our start seemed like we had close to the 50 , I wonder what the breakdown of DNF vs DNS was . Can't wait to go back as a 4 and do it again.