BumbleBeeDave
03-22-2009, 06:51 PM
I spent this afternoon driving the route for the Tour of the Battenkill. The Serotta "recon ride" advertised in the forum banner is two weeks from today, and I wanted to familiarize myself with the new race route for that and for race day when I will be photographing the race. My moto driver Evan went along with me.
This new route is, if anything, tougher than the old route! . . . :eek:
In previous years it was a 57 mile loop with an extra 25 mile section for the cat 1/2's. This year the extra cat 1/2 section remains, but the old 57 mile loop has been lengthened to 62 miles and re-worked. Everyone will ride that on Saturday and the pro's will ride two laps of it on Sunday for a 124 mile total.
The race now starts in Cambridge--a larger town with more facilities--and much of the route that is re-used from last year is now raced in the opposite direction. An exception is the unpaved section on Juniper Swamp Road, with it's tough climb. But to keep it in the route, the route has been turned into a series of switchbacks in the hills near that road and the first section of the race is now significantly harder IMHO.
I am planning on trying the recon ride in two weeks, but at this early point in the season I'm also going to keep a couple of bailout short-cuts in mind. Let me know if you want to know them, as I don't know if there's a sag wagon for this recon ride. No matter how much of it you intend to do, though, make sure you take at least two extra tubes and plenty of CO2 for those dirt sections!
Course maps are at . . . http://www.tourofthebattenkill.com/Maps.html
BBD
This new route is, if anything, tougher than the old route! . . . :eek:
In previous years it was a 57 mile loop with an extra 25 mile section for the cat 1/2's. This year the extra cat 1/2 section remains, but the old 57 mile loop has been lengthened to 62 miles and re-worked. Everyone will ride that on Saturday and the pro's will ride two laps of it on Sunday for a 124 mile total.
The race now starts in Cambridge--a larger town with more facilities--and much of the route that is re-used from last year is now raced in the opposite direction. An exception is the unpaved section on Juniper Swamp Road, with it's tough climb. But to keep it in the route, the route has been turned into a series of switchbacks in the hills near that road and the first section of the race is now significantly harder IMHO.
I am planning on trying the recon ride in two weeks, but at this early point in the season I'm also going to keep a couple of bailout short-cuts in mind. Let me know if you want to know them, as I don't know if there's a sag wagon for this recon ride. No matter how much of it you intend to do, though, make sure you take at least two extra tubes and plenty of CO2 for those dirt sections!
Course maps are at . . . http://www.tourofthebattenkill.com/Maps.html
BBD