Hollenbeck's Road Race Preview

I drove out to Virgil this afternoon, feeling very businesslike about previewing the Hollenbeck's Spring Classic course. It was a stellar weather day, partly sunny with highs in the mid 60s. The ride gave me a pretty good sense of how to approach the course on race day—specifically where to push and where to conserve energy, and how many false summits there are on the biggest climb before I really hit the top. All systems go. I felt strong, and I was fairly well prepared for the course, thanks to many trips up Remington, Ringwood, Cascadilla Park, Yellow Barn and others. Once you complete the Parker St. climb at the 6.5 mile mark, there is no significant climb remaining, except for the 1/4 mile stretch at 17.5 miles on Babcock Hollow Rd. that is around a 15% grade. After that, it's a swift push to the finish. I averaged 20.7 mph over the 22 mile course.

I've been studying the elevation profile and even drove the course once, but it's so much different when you ride it. The roads that I worried about were no longer a concern, the climbs were suddenly very real and therefore less intimidating, and it turns out to be a really beautiful loop. There was even a little bit of snow left on top of Greek Peak, which is a bit hard to fathom.

After the ride I did a quick hillclimb up Van Donsel Rd., which takes you up 600 ft. in 2 miles to just above Greek Peak. Nice way to round out a scouting mission.