Finished the Battenkill

It wasn't an auspicious beginning to my cycling competitive career; I arrived at the starting line 15 minutes late. Traffic in Troy prevented me from making the predicted 1 h 05 m transit from advice generated by Mapquest. The organizers were gracious enough to pull my bib number from the file and I signed in. They had a handy junior bike with me to the starting zone. "They left some time ago," was the answer. All I needed was an indication of which way to go.

The ride was fun, I did the entire 60 miles hors groupe, but did pass some and was passed by others. The weather was perfect; cool, very little rain. The unpave was dry, clean for the most part, and the race organizers had a great organization. Turns, intersections, and crossroads were all well manned. No worries on fast turns.

At around mile 50 I managed to relieve the onset of cramping with a break, while rolling, but had to keep pedaling to avoid more cramping. I drank the last of my gatorade, had something to eat, and eased upon my legs. That did the trick until the last unpave section, the hill just outside Cambridge.

Official time: nearly four hours. My watch: 3:38. Bib number: 160.