Here we are on the eve of the Tour of the Battenkill.  I've done my training, I've ridden my dirt roads, I've spent the past week relaxing and letting my legs do nothing.  Still, facing some of the steep dirt climbs of the race course and the sheer length (64 miles this early in the season is a bit tough) have me jittery like a college freshman drinking a pot of coffee the Sunday before finals.  Well, I've got my plan as to how I'm going to tackle this race, I went on a very easy ride to stretch my legs this afternoon, and now I'm rocking the compression leggings and formulating my plan. All that's left is to execute it tomorrow morning.  Let's see how that will (hopefully) play out:

Nutrition

I'm planning on splitting my bottles between Accelerade and water, one of each to start, and one of each bottle at each of the feed zones.  I know from training rides that food just doesn't go down well with energy drink, and there are some times when just a quick gulp of some carb filled liquid can make the difference between cramping, bonking and doom and summiting the stupidly steep climbs that we'll be facing.  In terms of food, I'll probably be carrying a bagel and some Honey Stinger waffles (more on these in another post) in my pockets, along with a couple of gel flasks for quick shots of energy.

 

Equipment

Instead of running carbon tubies with 21c tires, I'm gong to run my Powertap/DT Swiss clinchers with Vittoria Rubino 23c tires.  These are my regular training tires, and they've seen plenty of duty on dirt roads, rough gravel and frost heaved, cracked pavement.  For a 23c tire, they tend to run a bit large, more like a 25c tire, so I should have plenty of cushion on the dirt roads in the race.  I'll keep my bike in standard road racing configuration, going with a 39/53 and 12/27 cassette.  For clothing, I'll likely wear padded gloves (since roads will be rough) and my standard team kit.  Thankfully, the weather will be in the upper 50s, so no thermal kit should be needed.

 

Race guide and strategy

64 miles, 4500 feet of climbing, 10 sections of dirt road totaling about 15 miles.  From the race map, it appears the first major split will happen on the 20% and greater grades of Juniper Swamp road.  Splits will probably develop along the way, but the race will be really on come Meeting House Road and Stage Road.  My plan is to hang onto the pack as long as I can, and just stay sheltered in the wind.  Since very steep grades tend to mean survival more than racing, I'll do my best to remain in contact with the group as long as I can.  Having never raced Battenkill before, I'm flying a little bit blind, but just racing for fun is going to be plenty of pain and elation.

 

We'll see how it all pans out.  You'll hear from me afterwards as to how it went.

Anyone else racing?  Leave me a comment and let me know how it goes!