I’m doing this as a B race in April. It’ll literally be at the very end of my Sweet Spot Base 2 recovery week, which works really well.
However, their website is terrible and I’m unsure of which bike to take – the Checkpoint or the Emonda? Has anyone ridden this before? Is it truly a gravel ride and needs a gravel bike, or can I throw 28s on the Emonda and be fine? The checkpoint is obviously more comfy, but I’d rather go faster on my roadbike and thereby endure less pain overall. Plus, the Emonda is the only one with a power meter right now.
Well damn… now I have to enter. This may be the closest race to home for me by a long shot. If I can get a charity level entry I’ll be on a road bike with 25s or 28s if I really want to play it safe.
I live in the Western Catskills and NEPA is pretty similar. You could ride a road bike.
I did the Tour of the Battenkill on my 25 Gatorskins (poor choice there) but fared well. I was taking a look at some of the pictures and I’m concerned that a road bike isn’t the right choice for Lu Lacka. I live in the area and we do have some “dirt” roads that are… more suited to a gravel bike.
More importantly, and this sealed the deal for me after some thought, my A race is absolutely on the gravel bike (SBT GRVL in Colorado) and so I’m going to use the gravel bike for this if just for the training and getting used to it for greater lengths of time, etc. It’ll help me iron out any kinks and get ready for the brutal day in August that awaits me.
Let me know if you’re definitely coming, a bunch of friends and I will be there and we’d love to have a beer with you afterwards. @Tanner1280
I’ve ridden it the last two years. I’d estimate it’s ~40% gravel. I’ve been ridding it on a cross bike with 35c Schwalbe G-One tires and will be again this year but there are people on road bikes and they seem to have a good time of it as well. I think there’s probably only two places where you’ll really regret not having a road bike; there’s a pretty loose gravel climb that never ends and some (probably muddy given this year’s weather) rail trail towards the end, otherwise there’s just a few descents you 'll have to pay more attention on. Here’s a few pics that should give you a good idea of the non paved terrain.
You’re welcome!
Last year I came in around 7:30 riding time with my two buddies being a half hour faster and slower than that.
The ride’s a blast, one of my favorites of the year. I’ll be on the gravel bike again because I find the scenery distractingly beautiful and it’s nice to have slightly more stability.
Here’s the elevation profile for the full route. The last 15 miles is a nice break from the hills.
I forgot to add, there is probably about a mile or so of flat singletrack towards the end but it’s not too bad.
Looks about right. I live 80 or so miles NW of Pittston in the western Catskills (middle of nowhere). There are no flat roads. All short steep climbs and descents. You can easily rack up 1k ft climbing per 10miles without trying.
It’s gorgeous riding but you’ve got to work for it.
This thread is pretty old, but I’m curious what the opinion on road vs gravel bike is on this now? It is the first event on my calendar this year. Will I regret some 700x40 fatties?
Just going to throw this out for other people in the future, it had rained the day before, but my knobby 40mm Tufo Swamperos were overkill for most of the day. I was able to rip and roll right through the mud and singletrack I would say better than most, but it is a long day on the bike and you only really need the knobs for 5 minutes of the ride. There was muddy singletrack right when you leave town and then right when you’re getting back into town(after you walk up the stairs).
