By: Nessim Mezrahi

It was a great day to race—40 degrees, sunny skies, and we were blessed with damp gravel - at least for the first section.  I am not sure how many Cat 3 participants lined up, but there were a lot of different kits that I did not recognize. In there two strong riders that deserve an honorable mention: a pro mountain biker, who ironically enough went down pretty hard in the first big crash, and the winner of last year’s Cat 4 race. The rollout was peaceful and easy which helped everyone feel comfortable. The first gravel section eased participants' nerves and the peace experienced during the rollout carried through to the end of the first climb. 

Shortly after the climb, on a well-paved road with no turns, someone pulled a brainless maneuver and took out at least 10-12 riders, including Mr. Pro Mountain Biker, who managed to reacquaint himself with the peloton 30 minutes later (very pro of him). The crash happened in front of me and I was lucky enough to just barely avoid the edge of Kysirium wheel laying on the road. Ten seconds after the crash, another unlucky fellow had a blow-out, probably from squeezing his brake pads too hard on those tubular carbon wheels. More unlucky participants: at least eight riders flatted throughout the race - one of them during the last 500 meters. I am sure that incident will carry him through the off-season and he will be back next year and beat everyone.  Emotions are far more powerful and effective than any threshold testing, VO2max nonsense, lactate level, and all that 3x100 @ XX watts mumbo jumbo. Anyway, my rear tire was flat when I unpacked my bike this evening. I am not sure if it was low on air during the race or not but it really didn't matter. 

Back to the race… After the crash, the pace picked up and I don't really remember that much.  I can say that I have never heard as many obscenities hurled between riders as I did on this race. (Those New York racers can be quite mean and aggressive.) But, it does takes two to tango. Whatever…I got out what I needed to express too—a good session with the shrink. 

The wind was brutal on mile 40.

I am not sure when the break went because I was always last up all the climbs after the first two. The driver of the support vehicle for Cat 3 Pink will remember AABC. I caught back on to the large second group on the downhills and the flat sections. Dragging 186 lbs up those steep gravel climbs was what I went to experience at The Battenkill and I don't want to do it again - at least, not at that weight. 

My race really began at around mile 48 after the climb on Meetinghouse Road. At this point, the large second group had splintered up into three or four groups. I was in the last of them. I was also lucky to be with seven guys, five of whom worked tremendously well to bridge up to the other two groups. I was not one of those five guys and that was when one of my venting sessions took place. Nevertheless, the second group (at least I hope this was the second group) had about 15 riders. I suffered Morgantown x3 on the climb on mile 55. I was working all out just to stay in contact. The downhill from the last climb helped - I knew that the mix of riders on that group were all the sprinting type. We kept a very fast pace during the last four miles. With one mile to go the 'game playing' for top-15 between 15 guys was grueling. There were five hard attacks on the last 600 meters. I saved my match and attacked hard only to be slowed down by a right turn before the finish line - five or six guys took me on the inside corner and I was left looking at their different colored rear ends during the last 20 meters. 

This race was good fun—a must for all you cyclo-cross junkies on the team. T -- today I learned that bikes don’t turn too well on the gravel, but when you let it rip you can sort of drift through the gravel and handle the bike much better. This technique also offers a good rush—that was my favorite part of the race. I placed 24th and really enjoyed the ride.