I would practice local then go up a day early and pre ride sections then.

@ Stearns. I'm keen! Already signed up to do the pre-ride as I can't make the race this year.

from BKill's facebook page, last night around 6pm:

Considering the multiple fields in some categories, we are considering adding an invitation only, 22 mile grudge match race on Sunday morning before the Pro race for the top finishers on Saturday. Winner take all.

@Josh

Wow, I was just thinking yesterday how cool it would be if they did that.

And how f'ing hard that Sunday race would be!

Grudge match... what excellent pain would that be!

this will make norm happy, as he was quite displeased with the "5 Cat 4 winners" approach last year....

There is an organized ride in Central Jersey to warm up for the BattenKill similar profile with dirt roads:

http://hellofhunterdon.com/

Anyone going Cambridge up for recon other than the group ride?

1march
just signed -up for BattenKill.
love to do some pre-ride, either when one day race weekend in NYC Spring series or anyone going up north for elevation/climbing during the week.
-harry

So, getting used to riding dirt roads in preparation for Battenkill...

There's a way to go on dirt almost all the way from 9W and stateline to Haverstraw. And then you can do it both ways.

First, once you cross into NY on 9w going north, you go down a hill and through a light. Shortly after the light there's a right turn into a dirt parking lot. This leads to a dirt road that drops you to piermont. Take it.

Once in Piermont, ride to Ash. Climb it. When you come to an old train station house, you're at an old rail trail that leads to Nyack. Turn right. Take to Nyack. Once in Nyack, you ride to the main street, aka Route 59. Turn right until you get to Broadway (the runcible spoon is on this road). Turn left. Take to end.

At the end of northern end ofBroadway in Nyack is a drop to the Hudson. Take it. There's a dirt path there that goes to Haverstraw. Take it. Know that on nice weekends, the first few miles could be crowded with pedestrians.

Once in Haverstraw, turn back and retrace steps.

It will be a long ride from brooklyn, so if you want to "save" some time or your legs, start at the GWB.

Im on the waiting list for the 5's -35, not holding my breath.

@JP - These are great suggestions for everyone, not only Battenkill folks. Get on those dirt roads and ride em!

WHAT THE FUCK, BATTENKILL IS ONE HUNDRED FUCKING DOLLARS NOW?

Almost 600 Cat 4's registered for this baby.

Cat 4 squad per Bikereg looks like this:

David Stearns
Jeff Condon
Jeffrey White
John Malcolmson
Jorge Aguilo
Jules Roazen
Norman Swygert
Patrick Grehan
Ryan Johnston
David Vollbach - Dave you should shoot Dieter an eamil and update your team to "Kissena Cycling Club"

This is a damn strong team. I am interested to hear peoples thoughts on strategy; the usual "lets all ride at the front and see what happens" doesn't strike me as the best use of our considerable talent for this race.

The biggest problem is that there are 1/2 dozen of us are legit contenders for top 10 or podium. I don't want to discount anyone's chances *or* ride without a plan.

This is a high-class problem if ever there was one...

I'm registered too.

2012-03-15, 8:07am

only 10 spots left in the Mens Cat 4

only 8 spots left in the Masters 30+ 1-4

only 7 spots left in the Men Cat 5 : 55+

Jules having never done this race I'm quite unsure about strategy here. I'd like to hear thoughts from Marc and others.

I will say that I'm hoping to do well, although this race is not one of my real targets.

I actually think we can protect 3-4 riders. More than that could get tricky. Recall we protected 3 very well at Catskills last year with a similar crew.

Cat 4s:

The goal should be to win this thing. Jules say you have a legit shot of 1/2 dozen guys on the podium or top ten, I'd say a legit shot at 1/2 dozen guys winning it.

With that in mind, I don't think a wait and see approach is best.

Quick Idea:

Send Volbach and Norm out on an early attack.

If it gets brought back, counter with Jules / Aly / Patrick.

This is probably dependent on the part of the course. The hills will be hard, folks will be gunning it, but things will come back together on downhills. Go when there is a lull.

If it is together on that long dirt stretch with 10 miles to go, line it up and start splitting it apart, all hands on deck. Whitey, Jorge, Jeff, . Set RJ up to go solo up the last hill to win or to at least break it down to a smaller group.

If it comes down to a sprint. John is there for the win.

Talk to each-other, if the last selection is biggish, figure out who is the best sprinter and how to set him up.

Training question for Battenkill. There's pretty much park races every weekend leading up to it which I was planning on doing. My challenge is I have time constraints on weekends and can't usually go out for two long rides so I'm not getting in hills in preparation for Battenkilll. Should I forgo a couple of park races in exchange for some hill work? I feel like doing hills after a race may be overdoing it plus it's a 90 minute ride to Alpine from Prospect.

Love to know what others are doing.

@ Aly: sorry to have missed you (I just copied/pasted from bikereg) you NEED to get your team updated or you may not be in the same heat as us.

@ Mike: I agree, I think we have a number or real contenders.

I think waiting for the final selection (hill) is too late. I tried that in 2010 and I barely made it over ahead of the bunch; one guy (Peter Bysshe) was able to climb with me, and since there was a solid 10 miles to go he time trialled to the win - I was literally hanging on his wheel for dear life - I could gap him on each of the little rollers, but overall he was faster to the line.

That final climb isn't long enough to put the strong TT'ers far enough off the back.

Last year I went at the 70km mark; my thinking was that if I went hard enough there (at the 70km mark) whoever (whomever?) could come with me would be tenderized by the final climb where I could deal the death-blow. Only 1 guy came with me at 70km and he didn't last long.

I like the idea of super-strong pairs attacking (Vollback & Norm, me & Ryan, Aly & Patric etc) but I worry that the field will chase pairs more aggressively than singles.

I think there are two main options:

a) dedicate a rotating rotating group to decimate the field (and themselves) for the first half or as long as they can go then let the protected riders attack

this option will be most effective in shredding the field because people ride this race scared but it means people have to commit to being 100% toast by the 1/2 way mark...

option b) coordinated attacks & counters with some people dedicated to pulling back breaks & moves that look dangerous. This is more sociable but it means the pack will be much fresher by the final selection.

See the image below for the 2011 attack

@Jeff - I firmly believe that you need to get in a couple of really hard, 3+ hour hilly rides before Battenkill. Your legs need to be ready for 3+ hours of race pace.

Posted By: Jeffrey White@Jeff - I firmly believe that you need to get in a couple of really hard, 3+ hour hilly rides before Battenkill. Your legs need to be ready for 3+ hours of race pace.

Strongly agree; but more than hills is just the time in the saddle. You need some 3.5 to 4 hour rides in your legs or you are going to be in for some unpleasant 'sensations' in the 2nd half of the race.

Definitely worth skipping some park races to get those in. If you figure a warmup, and a solid 3++ hour race, you're in for a 4 hour day on April 14th

All that said, you have plenty of time between now & then to get this done. Just don't go shred yourself the weekend before race day

you can also race the park and continue riding hard.

PS:

I don't really know what I"m talking about there. Just felt like throwing something out there. But history tells us in cat 4s breaks happen, sometimes early, sometimes late. Best to be ready for them all.

This season especially I'm worried that people are really strong, and a winning move could go very early.

last year, our Cat 5 group basically soft-pedaled the first 15K and nobody did anything till the first stair-step climb. i assumed the field started slow knowing what lies ahead. that said, you could probably put a few K's (my hand is up) in the front early to set a high tempo, string out the pack and put the hurt in people before you even hit that first climb, and then send Vollbach/Norm on the first attack at the base of that first steepie.

just being realistic, i likely won't be in the mix at the end but i'd be happy to burn matches early to set something like that up. just a thought, anyway - i'll defer to the captain(s)....either way - i'm getting pretty friggin' excited for this. here's hoping the weather is as stunning as it was last year!

Has anyone had any experience with being on the waiting list? Im on it, not sure what I should expect.

I see im 5th in the list (out of 8 so far)

i was on the Cat 5 waiting list last year, Ashley. I think if you're 5th in the list, your odds should be pretty good. Good luck!

@ashley,
experience says 8-11% on wait list get in race, more if poor conditions less if good weather reported. I suggest you also write the race director let them know you are on the KIssena Cycling Club and are keen to ride!

amy.a.drake@gmail.com

i am also on waiting list; i plan to travel and "will ride one way or another" i am on masters cat1-4 +50& as recommended by Amy Drake she wrote me to say that i should contact her again after April1 if i had not already been notified.

so, plan on riding!
-h

I want to do the non competitive ride I need a ride on friday anyone leaving erly I need to get there before 5