Tour of the Catskills by David Gazsi

Drove down to the Catskills this past weekend to take on some of the best climbs and climbers in the northeast at this 3 stage event. Right off the top, I have to say these were some of the most amazing road courses I’ve ever raced, just beautiful twisting, turning, lane-like roads, crazy hard climbs, super fun descents, and really well supported by the three towns that pulled together to put on the event.

Prologue

3.5 km, avg 4% but with some steeper sections and some little descents, not unlike Fortune climb, just a little longer... I had a descent ride, but having chosen just a straight road setup, I realize that except for about 200 meters of very steep road, it was probably best to have ridden a TT bike, or at least with clip-ons... I tried to pace myself, but in that short an event, its nearly impossible.  At about 2.5 k, I pretty much blew, almost stopped for about 15 seconds, then gathered myself and pushed on to finish 3rd, 15 seconds back of Johnny Bold. Bold had outclassed the field, but places 2-20 were separated by about 25 seconds total – class field, very deep!

Stage 1

85km, started with a long descent, then about 20 km of twisty up and down roads, then on to the first major climb, about 7 km of 4-6%, with a 500m section of 12% at the top for the first KoM.  I felt great on this climb, the race having stayed together pretty much till then. The group started shelling riders just from pace, but I rode right on the front, watched a few harmless efforts go off and then come back, as we were really motoring.  I waited for the steep section, and then attacked hard – I normally don’t go for KoMs but I felt good and wanted to test the legs. I accelerated away from everyone, opening up a big gap right away – near the line, John Funk bridged back, so I opened up the sprint just as he got my wheel and took the points.
 
About 20 riders regrouped for some tough rollers, a few attacks, but mostly everyone sat in till the next big climb – I decided I’d go for the points again – a jersey in a race like this is a pretty nice deal I figured, so I road it like a finish. Fred Thomas and Jon Gee attacked early, and I thought I had their measure, but the road really flattened out at 200 to go, and I came around Fred but not Jon, getting second, and securing the jersey for the day.
The next 30 km had some attacks but mostly, we just ripped thru the countryside, bombing these crazy descents and having a blast. Nothing was getting away, and we raced into Windham for the finish, where I took 7th in the small bunch. So had 3rd on GC still, and the KoM to defend too.

Stage 2

Epic! We had another 90 km road race, featuring a KoM early on, then about 50 k of rolling descending and flats, only to be met at the 75k mark with the Devils’ Kitchen, an infamous climb that is about 3.5 kms long, and averages 14%, touching over 20% in several places along the way.  If you know it, think of the first 250 meters of the Rockhurst climb out of Wakefield, but for 3.5 kms!
 
At the first KOM, I just wanted to score without using too many bullets... Jon Gee attacked early and hard, and I got gapped, but soon after, a teammate of the guy sitting second came flying over the top. It was clear Jon would get caught, so I sat up, taking third place points, and assuring myself of the jersey if I scored any points on the last climb. As we sat up after the rush to the line, a lone rider, Robert Lattanzi, attacked hard and, well, nobody paid much notice. We were 70 k and the Devils’ Kitchen away from the finish.
 
For the next 50 k, Bold’s lone teammate and a few others rode on the front, thinking they were keeping Lattanzi in check, while chasing down any other moves, but there weren’t many.  The peloton rolled thru the beautiful twisty roads clearly concerned with what was to come.  At about 70k, the pace picked up, I went to the front with the other GC contenders, and the race to the foot of the climb was on... some guy rolled up beside me and suggested I looked pretty serious, to which I replied, lemmings look serious too... (best I could do on the spot haha)...
 
Anyways, we hit the bottom of the climb, and its immediately a wall – I mean its really a wall of pavement and I’m standing in my 27 and realize I’m under-geared... turns out most folks were turning 28’s, some with 36 or 38 in the front.  A third of the way up, there’s about 15 of us, half way up, we’re down to about 6, and we’re essentially 6 wide, all inching forward at our own pace... Dave Taylor moved a little ahead, Bold moved up, and then John Funk moved up, and all the while, they seemed to be so close that I didn’t think I needed to spend maybe my only .1% reserve to ride up to them – it really seemed like they were so close, but then the gap suddenly seemed to open, and I couldn’t close it.  Brutal!  I was taking turns standing for rest, then would accelerate a bit while sitting, then stand again to rest, it was a total of about 17:30 minutes for the climb, and when I crested, I was a little ahead of a few guys, but had lost sight of Bold and Funk.  Taylor’s head came off, as he noodled along and waited for help to start the chase. I went over the top of him and grabbed 4th place KoM points to secure the jersey – cool – and then a total of 6 of us soon regrouped and started chasing like mad men, for 10 rolling-descending kms that were super hard and really fun.
 
We eventually closed it to 30 seconds, while the 2 leaders picked up Lattanzi – they finished together, and secured the top 3 GC spots in the process.  I took second in our group sprint for 5th on the day, and 5th overall. Not what I was hoping for, but taking the KoM jersey was a real nice consolation prize in a race whose reputation is the severity of the climbs. Meanwhile, the course, the quality of the field, staying with my buddies from the Endurosport team in country lodge, all made for a fabulous weekend of racing.  Finally, congrats to the winner, Johnny Bold, who defended his jersey with a great climb of the Kitchen, and real class riding all the way around – I’ll see him again at GMSR – can’t wait!