New York’s Tour of the Battenkill does and in 2011 racers will ride even more. The Tour of the Battenkill, now entering its seventh year, is the American version of the famous Paris-Roubaix. The race has now become the largest Pro/Am cycling race in the United States with over 2200 entrants and drawing a global field of top professionals. The course is truly unique as it utilizes a combination of the most scenic paved and backcountry dirt roads in Upstate New York, all “rolling” in nature. The word “rolling” is used here as a nice way of saying “you better enjoy quad burning and lung searing uphills (on dirt)!”
This region of New York is rich in history with ground that bridged the gap between the battles of Saratoga and Bennington in the Revolutionary war. We travelled over to NY this past weekend to ride the course and get a look at provisional updates made to the previous route. The race starts in Cambridge, NY, a town known as the founding location of “Pie a la Mode”, strong high school football, and dairy farming. Racers will enjoy the first ~10km, mostly flat, immediately entering scenic wide open farmland, and paralleling the river from which the race bears its name. The course then heads for the Eagleville covered bridge into a brief and flat dirt section then gradually climbs out Camden Valley and Perry Hill roads. All racers should take note at this point as these initial climbs have the grade and severity to split the field. By 20 km into this 100 km event, the field could be shattered. Poor tactics early on in this race could result in some very uncomfortable time trialing. The steep up on Juniper Swamp Rd is tactically important as cyclists that crest the hill near the front of the peloton will benefit from an uninhibited descent on the backside. Athletes further back will be strung out on the dirt as cyclists jockey for best riding conditions; that being the two tracks most worn from car travel…
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