The Tour of the Battenkill is America's dirt road classic. 160 kilometres of rolling tarmac and unpaved farm roads through Washington County in upstate New York, with 2,000-2,500 metres of climbing that hits hardest on the dirt. Roughly a third of the route is unpaved — hard-packed dirt, loose gravel, rutted farm roads — and the dirt sectors contain the steepest climbs. The paved sections link them through the kind of quiet rural roads that make you understand why people move to Washington County.
The concept is straightforward: take the northern classics format — road racing with unpaved sectors as the decisive challenge — and transplant it to upstate New York. Paris-Roubaix has its pave. The Tour of Flanders has its cobbled bergs. The Battenkill has its dirt road climbs. Short, steep, often loose, always decisive.
Here's the thing that most riders from outside the northeast underestimate: the conditions. Mid-April in upstate New York is not settled spring weather. The dirt roads can be frozen hardpack at 07:00, thawing mud by 10:00, and dry dust by 14:00 — all in the same ride. Some years the roads are perfect. Some years they're a mess. The riders who finish well are the ones who trained for all of it.
Here is how to train for it across 12 weeks, with the right physical demand, the dirt-specific sessions, and the tyre strategy that turns the unpaved sectors from a liability into the part of the day you look forward to.
Key Takeaways
- 12-week build for the gran fondo with a 6-8 hour weekly base
- Peak volume 10-12 hours/week with at least one weekly ride on mixed surfaces
- 3.0 W/kg minimum for the gran fondo, 3.2-3.5 W/kg for a strong finish, 3.5+ W/kg for the sharp end
- 32-38mm mixed-surface tyres run tubeless — tyre choice and pressure gain more time than peak FTP
- At least four training rides on actual dirt or gravel before race day
- Cold-weather fuelling: 60-80g carbs/hour from the start, force-fed if necessary
- Save matches for the final dirt sectors — the back half is where the race happens
What Makes the Tour of the Battenkill Different
Most sportives and gran fondos are surface-consistent. You ride tarmac for six hours. The variables are gradient, distance, and how you feel at hour four. The Battenkill is not surface-consistent. You ride tarmac for 10 kilometres, then turn onto a dirt road for 3 kilometres, then back onto tarmac for 8, then a dirt climb, then paved descent, then another dirt sector. The constant switching is the challenge that road-only training does not prepare you for.
The dirt road climbs are the crux. They're short — most are 1-3 kilometres — but they're steep. Eight, ten, twelve per cent gradients on loose gravel or hard-packed dirt. On tarmac a 10% climb is sit-down-and-grind territory. On loose dirt a 10% climb is a traction problem. Standing breaks the rear wheel loose. Over-gearing bogs the cadence down and stalls you. The technique is fundamentally different: stay seated, weight on the rear wheel, spin a gear lower than instinct suggests, and accept a power output 10-15% below what you'd push on the same gradient on tarmac.
The racing heritage is real. The Battenkill started as an actual road race — one of the most prestigious on the US domestic calendar — and the gran fondo grew from that. Two to three thousand riders across all distances and categories, and the front of the field races hard. The atmosphere is half sportive, half American spring classic, with the kind of post-race scene that makes you want to come back.
And then there's the wind. Washington County is open farmland. The dirt roads run through fields with no tree cover, no hedgerows, no shelter. April wind across open ground at altitude adds a layer of effort that the course profile does not capture. A headwind into a dirt climb is where most riders lose their composure.
Course Profile and Key Challenges
The gran fondo covers approximately 160-175 kilometres with around 2,000-2,500 metres of total elevation gain. The route loops through the Battenkill River valley — the river that gives the event its name — and the surrounding farmland of Washington County.
The Dirt Sectors
Roughly 30-40% of the route is unpaved. The dirt sectors vary in character:
Hard-packed farm roads. The fastest sections. Smooth, firm, rideable at near-tarmac speeds in dry conditions. In wet conditions they turn slick and demand careful cornering.
Loose gravel climbs. The decisive sectors. Short steep pitches — 1-3km at 8-12% — with a surface that shifts under the tyres. Rear-wheel traction is the limiting factor, not power output. These are where the race splits apart.
Rutted and washboarded descents. The technical sections. Spring freeze-thaw creates ruts and washboard surfaces on dirt descents. Line choice matters. Wider tyres at lower pressure absorb the chatter; narrow tyres at high pressure bounce and skip.
Mud sectors (wet years). In a wet April, some dirt sectors become proper mud. Gears clog, brakes cake, and the pace drops to survival speed. There's nothing you can do about this except run tyres with enough tread to clear, and accept that the day just got longer.
Conditions Year to Year
This is the variable that separates the Battenkill from a predictable sportive. April weather in upstate New York sits in a window between winter and spring. Temperatures range from 0-2 degrees Celsius at the early-morning start to 12-16 degrees by midday in a good year. Frost is possible. Rain is common. The dirt roads respond to all of it.
A dry year on frozen-then-thawed hardpack is fast. A wet year with active mud is slow and mechanical. Most years are somewhere between — patchy mud in the shade, dry dirt in the sun, frozen ruts on north-facing slopes that thaw by the time you pass them on the return loop. Check the forecast the week before, but prepare for the worst case.
Fitness Benchmarks
Three numbers frame your Battenkill finish. Use the W/kg calculator to set the target and the race predictor to model finish times against the course profile.
| Metric | Gran Fondo Target | Strong Finisher | Sharp End | |--------|-------------------|-----------------|-----------| | FTP (W/kg) | 3.0 | 3.2-3.5 | 3.5+ | | 5-min power (W/kg) | 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.0+ | | Longest training ride | 5 hours | 5-6 hours | 6+ hours | | Dirt/gravel rides completed | 4+ | 6+ | Regular | | Weekly volume (peak) | 8-10 hours | 10-12 hours | 12+ hours |
The 5-minute power matters here more than it does at most sportives. The dirt climbs are 3-8 minute efforts. Your FTP keeps you moving between them; your 5-minute power decides whether you hold wheels on the climbs or watch them go. Use the climb time calculator to estimate how fast you'll clear the key pitches, and the VAM calculator to track climbing rate across different surfaces.
Short power plus endurance is the combination. A 4.0 W/kg FTP with weak 5-minute power will cruise the flats and fade on the climbs. A strong 5-minute power with poor endurance will attack every dirt climb and blow up at kilometre 120. The Battenkill wants both.
The 12-Week Training Plan
Three blocks of four weeks each: Base, Build, Sharpen and Taper. Volumes assume a starting base of 6-8 hours per week.
Weeks 1-4: Base
Volume: 7-9 hours/week.
Four to five rides, 80% in Zone 2. Stephen Seiler's polarised principle is the discipline here — easy stays easy. The temptation to hammer base rides because you're nervous about April is the fastest route to arriving tired.
Anchor session: Long Zone 2 ride building from 3 hours in week 1 to 4 hours by week 4. Include at least 60 minutes on dirt or gravel surface each week — a local trail, a farm track, a gravel path. The surface-specific handling needs to accumulate over weeks, not cram into the final fortnight.
Strength work (twice per week): Lunges, Bulgarian split squats, single-leg press, step-ups, core stability planks and pallof press. The dirt climbs load the legs differently — the lack of traction means you're muscling a lower cadence with more torque per stroke than tarmac climbing demands. Single-leg strength covers that.
Gear check: If you don't own a bike that clears 32mm+ tyres, now is the time to sort it. Borrowing one is fine; discovering on race week that your frame maxes at 28mm is not.
Use the gear ratio calculator to check your lowest gear against the 10-12% dirt pitches. A 34x32 or similar is the minimum — if your easiest gear is 36x28, the steepest dirt climbs will stall you at 40 RPM on loose surface.
Weeks 5-8: Build
Volume: 9-11 hours/week.
Two quality sessions appear alongside the Zone 2 base. The aerobic engine is established; now it gets loaded.
Session 1 — Threshold intervals. 4x8 minutes at 95-100% FTP with 4 minutes recovery, building to 3x12 minutes by week 8. These set the tarmac cruising pace between dirt sectors. Do them on the road — the precision matters and the road surface lets you hold the target wattage cleanly.
Session 2 — Dirt road simulation. Over-geared seated climbing: 6x3 minutes at 55-65 RPM on a 5-8% gradient, staying seated, RPE 7-8/10. This replicates the torque demand of the Battenkill dirt climbs. On a trainer, use a heavy gear in ERG-off mode. On the road, find a climb and stay in a gear two shifts harder than natural. John Wakefield prescribes this kind of low-cadence torque work to his World Tour riders at Bora-Hansgrohe — the same stimulus that builds neuromuscular capacity for seated climbing on technical terrain.
Long ride: Building to 4.5-5 hours with at least 90 minutes on dirt or gravel. Practise the seated climbing technique on every unpaved pitch. Practise cornering on loose surface. Practise braking before the dirt, not in it.
Fuelling rehearsal starts now. 60-80g carbs/hour on the long ride, every long ride. April temperatures suppress appetite — you feel less hungry in the cold — and the riders who rely on hunger signals in April under-fuel by 30-40% without realising it. Eat on a timer. The fuel planner and hydration calculator will set the hourly targets for your weight and effort duration.
Track your training load across the build block with the TSS calculator and training load calculator. The build block should ramp 5-8% per week — more than that and you arrive at the sharpen phase already digging into a hole.
Weeks 9-10: Sharpen
Volume: 10-12 hours/week. Quality tightens. Volume holds or slightly increases.
Session 1 — Race-pace mixed surface. A 3-hour ride that alternates tarmac sections at high Zone 2 with 4-6 dirt climb efforts at threshold. This is the race simulation: cruise the tarmac, attack the dirt climb, recover on the descent, cruise again. If you can do 5 dirt climb efforts of 3-5 minutes at 95-100% FTP within a 3-hour mixed-surface ride without fading on the final one, you are Battenkill-ready.
Session 2 — Short power development. 5x4 minutes at 105-110% FTP with 4 minutes recovery. The dirt climbs are 3-8 minute efforts and they reward riders with strong power above threshold. These don't need to be on dirt — the road or trainer is fine.
Long ride: 5-6 hours with the final dirt-road simulation: ride 4+ hours of rolling terrain, then finish with 3-4 short steep dirt climbs on tired legs. The last 30 kilometres of the Battenkill contain the hardest dirt sectors, and you need to know what those efforts feel like at hour four, not hour one.
Bike handling: Dedicate one short ride per week to technical dirt skills. Descending on loose gravel. Cornering on hardpack. Braking on mixed surfaces. The riders who lose time at the Battenkill are not always the least fit — they are often the least comfortable off tarmac.
Weeks 11-12: Taper
Volume drops 30% in week 11, another 40-50% in week 12. The fitness is in. You cannot add more in these two weeks; you can only lose freshness by doing too much.
Week 11: Three to four rides. One session of 3x5 minutes at threshold. One 90-minute ride on mixed surface at endurance pace. The rest is pure Zone 2 spin.
Week 12: Two to three rides. One session of 4x90 seconds at VO2max power (120%+ FTP) to keep the snap without adding fatigue. One easy 60-minute spin the day before travel or two days before the event. Rest, eat, sleep.
Pre-race logistics: If you're travelling to Washington County from outside the northeast, arrive Friday. Pre-ride a section of dirt road to dial tyre pressure for the conditions. Check the weather forecast and adjust tyre pressure strategy. Sleep in the town. Don't drive three hours on race morning.
Key Sessions in Detail
The Dirt Road Simulation (Trainer or Road)
This session is the most Battenkill-specific work you can do indoors or on tarmac when dirt access is limited.
Warm up 15 minutes Zone 2. Then 6x3 minutes in a heavy gear at 55-65 RPM, seated, on a moderate gradient (5-8% on the road, resistance mode on the trainer). The effort is sub-threshold — RPE 7-8/10, around 88-93% FTP. Recovery 3 minutes spinning at 90+ RPM between efforts. Cool down 10 minutes.
The low cadence and the seated position replicate the torque demand of riding a 10% dirt pitch at controlled effort. The recovery spin at high cadence teaches the legs to switch between grinding and spinning — exactly what the constant surface changes at the Battenkill demand.
The Mixed-Surface Long Ride
Once per week in the build and sharpen phases. Minimum 4 hours, ideally 5. Plan a route that includes at least 40% dirt or gravel surface. On the dirt sections, practise:
- Seated climbing. Stay seated on every dirt climb, even short ones. Weight on the saddle, hands on the hoods, smooth pedal stroke. No standing unless the gradient forces it above 14%.
- Line choice. On loose dirt, the hardest-packed surface is usually the tyre tracks. On washboard descents, ride the edge where the surface is smoother.
- Braking. Brake before the dirt corner, not in it. On loose gravel, front-brake-heavy technique that works on tarmac will wash the front wheel. Use more rear brake than usual and accept a wider line.
- Gear changes. Shift before the gradient changes, not during. Mid-climb gear shifts on loose dirt can break traction.
Cold-Weather Threshold Work
April in Washington County can be 2-5 degrees Celsius at the start. Train threshold efforts in the cold at least twice during the build phase — a 6 AM ride on a cold morning, or an outdoor session when the temperature is below 8 degrees. The body responds differently to threshold work in the cold: heart rate lags, power feels harder, and the tendency is to under-pace. Race morning will feel like this. Get familiar with it.
Tyre and Equipment Strategy
This is the section that gains or loses more time than any training session. Get the tyre choice wrong and the fitness is irrelevant.
Road Bike vs Gravel Bike
Road bike with clearance for 32-35mm tyres and disc brakes. This is the fastest setup on a dry year. The tarmac sections — 60-70% of the route — roll faster on a road geometry with narrower tyres. The dirt sections are manageable on 32-35mm with the right tyre and pressure. This is the choice for confident bike handlers who have practised on dirt.
Gravel bike with 36-40mm tyres. The safer choice. More comfortable on rough dirt. Better traction on loose climbs. Slightly slower on tarmac but far more forgiving on the dirt. This is the choice for riders newer to mixed-surface events, or for wet/muddy years when the dirt sectors become technical.
The wrong choice: A road bike limited to 28mm tyres. No. The dirt climbs at 28mm are a puncture waiting to happen and a traction problem even when they don't puncture.
Tyre Selection
The ideal Battenkill tyre is a mixed-surface tread — not a pure road slick, not a full gravel knob. Something with a smooth centre strip for tarmac rolling speed and side tread for dirt traction. Options that work:
- Panaracer GravelKing SS (32-38mm)
- Continental Terra Speed (35-40mm)
- Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M (35-40mm)
- Challenge Strada Bianca (33-36mm)
- Specialized Pathfinder Pro (32-42mm)
Run them tubeless. Mandatory. A sealant-filled tubeless tyre handles the small punctures from gravel and flint that an inner tube does not. Carry a plug kit and a CO2 canister for anything the sealant cannot handle.
Tyre Pressure
This is where most riders get the Battenkill wrong. The instinct is to run road pressures — 75-85psi — because most of the route is paved. On the dirt sectors, that pressure bounces, skips, and breaks traction on every loose climb.
| Rider Weight | Dry Hardpack | Mixed/Damp | Wet/Mud | |-------------|-------------|-----------|---------| | 65-70kg | 48-52psi front / 50-55psi rear | 42-48psi / 45-50psi | 38-42psi / 40-45psi | | 75-80kg | 50-55psi / 52-58psi | 45-50psi / 48-55psi | 40-45psi / 42-48psi | | 85-90kg | 52-58psi / 55-60psi | 48-55psi / 50-58psi | 42-48psi / 45-52psi |
These are starting points. Test on local dirt before race day. The right pressure feels planted on dirt and only slightly sluggish on tarmac. The wrong pressure feels fast on tarmac and terrifying on the first dirt descent. Prioritise the dirt — you lose more time sliding on a dirt climb than you do rolling 2 kph slower on the tarmac.
Use the tyre pressure tools to refine for your weight and tyre width.
Other Equipment Notes
Gearing. A compact crankset (50/34) with an 11-32 or 11-34 cassette. The 34x32 gives you a bail-out gear for the steepest mud-clogged pitches. Running a 36x28 as your easiest gear on 12% loose dirt is how you end up walking.
Repair kit. Tubeless plug kit, CO2 canister and inflator, one spare inner tube (for catastrophic tyre damage), multi-tool, chain quick link. Practice a roadside plug before race day.
Clothing layers. Base layer, long-sleeve jersey or gilet, arm warmers, full-finger gloves, shoe covers. The start at 07:00 can be near freezing; by noon you want the layers off. Pockets are your wardrobe. A packable gilet that weighs 80g is the single most useful item in your jersey pocket at the Battenkill.
Mudguard option. For wet years, a lightweight clip-on mudguard on the downtube keeps the worst of the spray off your face and drivetrain. Not essential. Not ridiculous either.
Nutrition Strategy
April in upstate New York is cold. Cold suppresses appetite. Suppressed appetite leads to under-fuelling. Under-fuelling in a 5-7 hour event on mixed terrain is the silent cause of most second-half collapses at the Battenkill.
The fix is simple: eat on a timer, not on hunger.
| Hour | Fuel Target | Notes | |------|------------|-------| | Pre-race (2-3h before) | 100-120g carbs | Porridge, toast, banana. Nothing experimental. | | Hour 1 | 60g carbs | One gel + one bar or half a rice cake. Eat early. | | Hour 2 | 70-80g carbs | Two gels or a gel + drink mix. Appetite is lowest in the cold — eat anyway. | | Hour 3 | 70-80g carbs | Drink mix + bar. This is where under-fuelling starts showing. | | Hour 4 | 70-80g carbs | Gel + real food if available. The dirt climbs in the back half demand glycogen. | | Hour 5+ | 60-70g carbs | Whatever is palatable. The appetite often returns as the body warms through the day. |
Hydration. Cold weather reduces the sensation of thirst but you still sweat — just less obviously. 500-750ml per hour depending on temperature and effort. Electrolyte mix in at least one bottle. Use the hydration calculator to set the hourly target, and the wind chill calculator to estimate the real temperature you'll be riding in when the April wind adds its contribution.
Sodium. 300-500mg per hour via electrolyte tabs or drink mix. Cold-weather sweating is less visible but still costs sodium, and a sodium deficit at hour four is why riders cramp on the late dirt climbs when they felt fine at hour two.
The cold-weather trap. Riders who fuel properly in summer training rides at 25 degrees routinely under-fuel by 30-40% when the temperature drops below 10 degrees. The body does not ask for food in the cold the way it does in the heat. The only fix is mechanical: set a 20-minute alarm, eat every time it goes off, regardless of hunger.
Weather and Conditions Planning
The Battenkill's mid-April date sits in the most variable weather window of the year for upstate New York.
Temperature range: 0-4 degrees Celsius at the 07:00 start is normal. 10-16 degrees by early afternoon in a mild year. Sub-zero starts with frost on the dirt roads have happened. Plan for cold.
Wind. Washington County is open agricultural land. Wind comes off the fields unobstructed and hits hardest on the exposed dirt road sections. A 20-30 kph headwind on a dirt climb adds 15-20% to the effort — and it's the combination of wind, gradient, and loose surface that breaks riders who were pacing well on the tarmac. The wind chill calculator will tell you the real temperature.
Rain and mud. Spring rain turns the dirt roads from fast and firm to slow and clogged. In a wet year, the mud packs into brakes, derailleurs, and between tyre and frame. There's no elegant solution — run tyres with enough clearance to shed mud, accept the slower pace, and clean the bike properly afterwards.
The freeze-thaw cycle. Morning frost creates a hard crust on dirt roads. As the temperature rises through the morning, that crust softens into the top layer of mud. North-facing slopes stay frozen longer. South-facing slopes thaw first. The same dirt road can be concrete-hard at km 20 and ankle-deep at km 80 on the return pass.
Checking conditions. Monitor the weather from Monday of race week. Rain on Wednesday or Thursday will mean wet dirt on Saturday. Three dry days before the race usually means good conditions. A freeze the night before means hard roads early and unpredictable thawing mid-race.
Race Day Pacing
The Battenkill is a back-loaded event. The hardest dirt sectors are in the second half. The riders who finish strongest are the ones who held back in the first half.
First Third (0-55km): Bank Time Carefully
The opening tarmac sections are fast and the adrenaline of 2,000+ riders leaving together will push the pace above plan. Resist. The first dirt sector arrives at around km 30-40 and the group will surge into it. Hold your endurance pace. The dirt climb feels easy in the first hour — it is not easy, it is fresh. There is a difference. Monitor heart rate, not feel.
Middle Third (55-110km): Manage the Dirt
The middle section contains the bulk of the dirt sectors. This is where pacing discipline pays. Each dirt climb is 3-8 minutes. Each one feels like a separate effort. The temptation is to attack each one — especially if you feel good, especially if riders around you are attacking.
Do not attack the dirt climbs.
Ride them at 90-93% FTP, seated, controlled. Let the attackers go. Most of them will come back to you on the next tarmac section or the next dirt climb. The dirt road surface adds 10-15% to perceived effort at the same wattage — what feels like threshold on dirt is actually above threshold when you account for the surface resistance and the micro-corrections. Pace on heart rate through the dirt, not power.
Final Third (110km+): Use What You Saved
The last 30 kilometres contain the steepest dirt climbs. This is where matches matter. If you rode the middle third at 93% instead of 100%, you have 2-3 hard efforts in the legs for the closing climbs. If you attacked every dirt sector in the middle third, you have nothing.
The final dirt climbs are where the Battenkill is won and lost. Riders who paced well and fuelled properly will pass 50-100 riders in the final 30km — riders who went harder earlier and are now grinding in survival mode. It is not a pleasant feeling to be patient at km 60 while riders pass you on dirt climbs. It is a very pleasant feeling to pass those same riders at km 140 when it matters.
Common Mistakes
Wrong tyre choice. Running 25mm road slicks on the Battenkill is a puncture, a traction loss, and a confidence problem all at once. Minimum 32mm with mixed tread, tubeless. This is the single most common equipment mistake and the easiest to fix.
Wrong tyre pressure. Running road pressures (75-85psi) on a mixed-surface event. The tarmac sections feel great. The first dirt descent feels like riding on ice. Drop to 45-55psi for the mix. Yes, the tarmac feels slightly slower. The dirt feels 300% better.
No dirt practice. The Battenkill dirt climbs demand a specific technique — seated, rear-wheel-weighted, lower cadence, smooth stroke. Riders who have never climbed on loose surface default to standing and attacking, which spins the rear wheel, breaks traction, and wastes watts. Four rides on actual dirt before race day is the minimum.
Pacing dirt climbs like tarmac climbs. On tarmac you can stand, surge, and recover. On dirt you cannot — standing breaks traction, surging wastes energy, and recovery is harder because the surface never lets you coast efficiently. The technique is steady, seated, controlled. It is less exciting and far more effective.
Under-fuelling in the cold. April in upstate New York is not a warm-weather sportive. The appetite drops. Riders who eat by feel instead of timer arrive at the final dirt sectors with a glycogen deficit that no amount of fitness can compensate for. Set a 20-minute alarm. Eat.
Attacking the early dirt sectors. The first dirt climb at km 35 feels easy because you are fresh and the adrenaline is up. The last dirt climb at km 145 decides where you finish. Every match burned early is a match missing late. The Battenkill is a patience game dressed as a road race.
Ignoring the wind. Washington County wind across open farmland is relentless and invisible in the course profile. Riding alone into a headwind on a dirt climb at hour five is where mental preparation matters as much as physical. If you trained indoors in a warm room, the reality of a 2-degree headwind on a dirt climb will be a shock.
No plan for mud. In a wet year, the dirt sectors are a different event. If you packed for dry conditions and the roads are mud, there is nothing to do but accept the slower pace, keep the drivetrain as clean as possible, and ride through it. The riders who panic in the mud lose 10 minutes; the riders who accept it lose 5.
Inside the Community
Inside the Roadman Cycling community on Skool we host plan templates, session libraries, and weekly live calls where riders preparing for events like the Battenkill can ask specific questions about their build. The mixed-surface work — the dirt simulations, the tyre strategy, the cold-weather fuelling — is the kind of detail that gets lost in generic training plans. Free to join.
How to Think About the Battenkill
The Tour of the Battenkill rewards versatility. Pure road riders with big FTPs will struggle on the dirt climbs if they have not practised the technique. Pure gravel riders will lose time on the 60-70% tarmac sections if their road fitness is not sharp. The riders who finish best are the ones who are good at both — competent on dirt, efficient on tarmac, smart with pacing, and fed properly in the cold.
It is not the hardest event on the calendar. It is not the longest. It is not the highest. What it is, is the most interesting — a day where the terrain changes under your wheels every 20 minutes, where the weather can rewrite the event conditions mid-race, and where the riders who did the specific preparation have a genuine advantage over the ones who just trained hard.
The dirt is the race. Train for the dirt. Choose tyres for the dirt. Pace for the dirt. Fuel through the cold. And when the final dirt climb arrives at km 140 and the riders around you are fading because they attacked every unpaved sector from the start — that's when the patience pays.
