My life behind handlebars: Tour of the Battenkill race report

Lets just get right into this since I have much to talk about. This past weekend was the Race that all of us work so hard to be in shape for. BATTENKILL. I will try my best and give you a good rundown from the start of the weekend till the end.
Friday morning I got up in my own bed at home and looked outside to none other than rain! Fantastic! For those who don't know, tour of the battenkill is like 30% dirt roads and that rain is most likely heading toward the town of Cambridge where it will turn those dirt roads into a giant mud puddle. The forecast looked ok for Saturdays race day so I had my coffee bitched to Erin about how my legs hurt blah blah blah. So me being a pain in the ass I decided to pack my bike inside the car, which makes everything else a bitch to back.

It looked like that

So Erin and I hit the road to our destination, which was about a 2 hour drive north. The ride is very boring because there is literally nothing to look at, but luckily for us we had sirius. We herd an awesome song on the way up that is def going to be the song of the week, but ill post it at the end of my ramblings. About 30 minutes from the start town "where early number pickup is" the rain was turning into this big white semi frozen shit called SLEET! GOD DAMN IT I CANT GET AWAY FROM THIS SHIT! I figured that overnight and into tomorrow morning everything would dry up and the roads would be clear............

I was so fucking wrong

The thing I hate the most about riding in salt is that the shit gets everywhere! One time I actually got it on my ass cheeks! HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN! but that's another post.

So we finally arrived to early registration. The sponsors were just getting finished setting some stuff up and some sponsors were still arriving to the race. I casually walked with Erin up to the number pick up and presented my USAC license and got my number, then got my free T shirt and headed to the merch tent cause Erin wanted to pick up some cow bells to band loudly in racers faces as they ride uphill tomorrow. So before I get to race day I will leave you with the only three pictures I took from early registration to the lake house.

(mavic neutral support, you def see these guys at every pro tour race)

( This is a $19,000 bike sitting in the rain)

( and this is how they get maple syrup)

Now that we arrived to the lake house, it was time to unpack my over packing of cycling shit I brang with me and relax for a while before Erin and I headed to dinner. After we got back from pre race dinner " which was fucking amazing BTW" I threw on my compression tights, stretched and drank a few glasses of wine to get my nerves calm. You wanna see how cool I look here........

( multi tasking like a mother fucker)

So now we come to race day!!!! The first sign of how you are going to feel for the day is right outta bed. I get up, and BOOM LEGS FEEL GOOD! Now time for breakfast, which was a banana and Nutella wrap. It was now 9AM and I needed to be at the race and warming up by 10. So in the 45 minute span before I left, I shit like 4 times "yes my nerves go wild". So I kiss Erin goodbye for the day. I will add too that my sister in law, her boyfriend Scott and great friend Colin were on there way up to meet Erin at the lake house and get a nice spot on Joe Bean Rd to tailgate and cheer me on....AWESOME!!!!!

I get to the race parking at 9:55 and the lot I usually park in is closed....fuck! so I am then detoured to a field by the starting line that is a mud hole and I obviously get parked at the end of the field the farthest away from the line.

( It looked like that)

So I gear up and start rolling though the mud to the road, my bike starts acting up. Great if I cant get my chain to the climbing gear " which is the small ring" I'm fucked, because during this race its a must. I finally get it working and head to staging. 30 seconds.......3.....2....1....and away we go. We keep a casual pace for the first 5 miles until we hit the eagleville covered bridge, and the race is on. Theres nothing more scary than cruising at 25mph down mud roads. I don't want to bore you with lame words but long story short I hung with the peloton for about 35 miles then lost contact and could not bridge the gap by myself on the dirt roads " which was like riding through molasses". I finished in 3:17:25, 46 out of 96. Pretty bad, but considering what I went through this winter and spring, I was.....well not happy but content I should say. Well I will train harder next year. Before I wrap it up I want to thank Erin for being very patient with me all winter and spring. I am a real asshole when it comes to battenkill and I don't think she knows it, but If it wasn't for her, I would be seeing a sports psychologist by now. I also want to shout out my sister in law Aileen, Scott and Colin for making the 2+hour trip to watch the race and enjoying the weekend, and getting me drink 30 seconds after finishing. And I should also add my good friend Tom finished 2nd in his cat! stellar and more to come for him! I will now leave you with some of my favorite photos from the weekend with a little commentary from myself. Sorry this post was all over the place and short but I wanted to get it up today. Until next time....... Rubber side down. Mike