I registered for the Tour of the Battenkill, America's Queen of the Classics:
America's largest one-day Pro/Am cycling race. Racers compete over 65 miles of rolling terrain on both dirt and paved roads as they travel through the world famous Battenkill Valley. Set in early spring, the race starts and finishes in the scenic village of Cambridge, New York and courses through covered bridges, family farms, and rural villages along the many challenging backcountry roads that traverse Southern Washington County, New York.
The 2013 edition played host to nearly 3,000 amateur and professional cyclists from throughout North America and dozens of nations worldwide.
Well, after talking to a few people who had done it I concluded that the race sounds fun but very hard!!!
So I decided I had to do some work and join Eneas Freyre and his group for a training ride on Saturday March 8. The weather was perfect.
The group of riders consisted of about 8 guys and they all looked like professionals! I was a little bit intimidated to say the least, but I thought to myself, that is how you get better when you ride with faster, better people, at least when you can keep up with them!
We left TTendurance in Westport around 9am and rode towards Weston, the Cobbs Mill Inn where there a few dirt roads, I managed to stay behind...
When we got there Eneas gave us the workout: go as fast as you can on the dirt road going uphill then do a loop on the roads around and do that 3 times!!! I was starting to get worried...
Well it happened to be great fun but of course not easy, and luckily there was another rider about my speed so I was not last!!!
Unfortunately for me I took a spill just before the second time around...and I was glad I had a helmet on as I cracked it! Luckily nothing broken but I can say I am very sore today!!!
After this first part we regrouped and the second part was downhill fast on the dirt road, the other way round, three times again! The group left me in the dust from the beginning, I have a lot to learn! I was not sure where the loop was after that so I stayed on that dirt road and did it up and down again when the group reappeared. Of course they left me in the dust again. I tried a bit harder and could see them on the roads for a while until they vanished into the Weston hills. I tried to find my way and got so lost! Thanks to my iPhone and GPS, I got back to the Cobbs Mill Inn parking lot, just in time for the group picture!
Beside the spill and my to be improved skills, I loved the workout and Eneas was really good.
I need to do some work for sure before April 5 though!!!
To the next training next week!
