This weekend will be my third race of the season. So far this year I have completed the American Zonfingen Long Course, a hellish duathlon in the lower Catskills and the New England Ragnar Relay, where 11 friends and I ran for 32 hours straight from Yale to Harvard for a total of 192 miles.
This time I am returning home. I will be racing the Tour of the Catskills, a 3-day bicycle race through the central Catskill mountains. On Friday, 7/30, the race kicks of with a 2.3 mile Prologue Time Trial in Tannersville, NY. Should be a fast and furious day.
On Saturday Stage 1 takes us to Windham, NY for the Catskill Epic Road Race. The course takes the riders through the towns of Acra, Durham and Prattsville before returning back to Windham. During this we manage to travel 52 miles and climb more than 2900 ft. The Pros will ride an additional 30 miles before the end of the day.
Finally, on Sunday we hit Hunter, NY, the site of the Mountaintop Classic for the final stage. Starting in downtown Hunter we make a 57 loop through Jewett, Windham and Palenville were we hit the hill at about mile 45. Here lies the infamous “Devil’s Kicthen”, about 1100 ft over a 2 mile climb at average grades exceeding 12%. Hopefully I brought even gears!
In 1990, the Tour de Trump, a bicycle stage race that went from Wilmington, DE to Boston, MA, included the Devil’s Kitchen. It was reported that the climb was so hellishly tough that several of the Pro’s had to walk. Doesn’t bode well for us common folk, but we will give it 110% regardless.
Just coming off of 3 weeks of the Tour de France it will be an exciting time to get out there and race. According to the ToC site there are over 600 riders registered to race this weekend. The weather looks like it is shaping up to be just about perfect. So here is to a great weekend of competition and fun.
Whether you are racing the ToC, another race or just training be safe on the roads, and Let’s go Racing!
