My recent letter to Velonews RE: Belek Turkey

Dear Velonews,

Today's article called 'Kash' caught with Vuelta cash contained a somewhat misleading representation: "Last year's third-place Vuelta podium-man was located in the remote Turkish town of Belek"
Please take note that the town of Belek is just a cab ride from a major city- Antalya, and is a very popular tourist destination of people from all around the world, especially Russia and Germany. Belek, and all of the other coastal towns surrounding Antalya Turkey contain a large number of all-inclusive "holiday villages" that are beyond rating and cost between 100 and 250 Euros a night. Use of the word "remote" gives an unfavorable image of Kash's whereabouts at the time of his "catch and release" testing. The word "remote" is more aptly used to describe positions in Afghanistan and Iraq, not Turkey.. He was obviously on holiday taking some quality rest in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. I will be vacationing in Belek/Antalya at the end of this month as well.. with road bike.

Murat Altinbasak
Providence, RI

PS: There are breath taking mountains in the background and Turkey's International Presidency Tour passes through this region (Antalya). This is the same UCI event where Joe Papp was tested and caught using testosterone in 2006.

I'm back from the Witch's Cup

What a trip. Mind numbing traffic both ways. After gutting it out for six whole laps averaging 27.8 miles an hour, I withdrew and cursed and beat myself up for a little bit. Then I got over it. Almost.
The course is a pathetic little triangle, barely 1/2 mile around, populated with an abundance of potholes, cracks, and bumps. I've never seen so much "caution" spray paint before. To me this is a huge factor because racing on an unfamiliar course is a big enough disadvantage without having to navigate over shitty roads and corners. In this case, it was like trying to avoid raindrops. Unless you're head's completely in the game and your heart is committed, it's too easy for a softy like me to play it safe, hold back and get shelled. I am not one who has ice water running through his veins.. From the very beginning I gradually lost position, until I was among others who were also chewing through their handlebars to stay connected. Following the wheels of such people is hard. You have to go around them and find a solid and steady wheel to focus on. No such luck today. I'm astonished at how the many young elites fearlessly thrash their bikes around such a course. I tip my hat.. Besides myself, 28 others abandoned and only 60 finished. No regrets though. There should never be any regret for trying.
We stayed and watched the rest of the race. When we hit to road to return to RI, dear wife reminds me of a scene in a movie.. "The Last Samurai".. where Tom Cruise is getting his ass kicked in a sparring match with one of the locals. "Too many minds" she says.. "Remember that scene?" Thinking about too many things to focus properly on one. She hit the nail on the head.. Between getting myself to the race and fretting about the strength of the field and about recently getting over a cold and being psyched out by the short course with the crappy surface, I completely lost sight of why I was there.
Oh well! At least I got some video footage out of it. The bumpiness of the course is all too evident in the vid.. I would discourage those who are prone to seizures from watching it.
Full results Check the distance and the elapsed time.. That can't be right.

I'm off to the Witch's Cup Criterium

Wish me luck

Big Pro-Am field!

What's your ideal soundtrack?

Yesterday morning I was feeling especially mischievous so I snagged my mp3 player and strapped it onto my arm for the ride in to work.. Resolving never to use it in traffic, I waited until I boarded the bike path to insert the earpieces and power it up.. The Cranston path is deserted in the morning, no worries. So I'm toggling through the playlist and I pick my favorite.. a song touted to be the new "Bohemian Rhapsody" for today's generation of dis-illusioned and over-teched youth.. Before I confirm your suspicion of what song this is, let me just say that my power file from yesterday's commute clearly shows that the watts were spiked by about 10-20 from the time the song began until the time it ended.. and not deliberately.. and I'm wondering how it might be possible to perform my Bob Beal TT with this music in the background.. without getting DQ'ed or getting my hand slapped.. There are ways.. So I ask my dear readers: If you could have any music you wanted in your ears during a 3 mile VOMax time trial, what song(s) would it be? I think this would be my pick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2rlX0rF2oE

Voices in my head?

No.. that's just my clock radio blaring with the raspy voiced "DJ" woman going on and on and on about how the upcoming "Sex & the City" movie will include "Mr Big".. among other useless trivialities, all tactlessly infused with remarks about how wonderful it is to comsume Dunkin Donuts products.. (This was yesterday.. or last week, don't remember) This morning was not much different.. First my cell phone wakes me at 6:00 with it's alarm. I turn it off and sleep. Clock radio wakes me at 7:15.. precisely the time when I need to hit the road, or else get ready in fifteen minutes flat and ride the 8 mile shortcut to work. Long story short, I got here at 8:20. Nobody cares. My office is in the lower level, away from the other PMs, and I use the back entrance from the parking lot.. Saw my Refunds Now friend Joe on Minnesota Ave, taking a shortcut of his own to avoid Post Road as much as possible. Such a beautiful morning.. tempting.. The air is delicious today. Last night I was caught in a rain/wind storm of such ferocity, cars pulled over to let it pass. I soldiered on at 10 mph, out of the saddle. The rain actually hurt it was coming down so hard. Arrived home weighing about 10 pounds more than when I left.. Stuffed the shoes with newspaper before bedtime. Still damp but rideable this morning. Noticed on Sunday that my skinsuit doesn't fit me anymore. Maybe it's a bit worn having been washed about 10 times this season, but I have to believe it's partly because of weight loss. Someone at work remarked yesterday that I seem to have lost 20 pounds. Bought five packs of wrist bands from the Adidas store in Wrentham Outlet mall on Saturday- I was too sick to race and dear wife had me standing in the sun for hours with out little one while she shopped. I took out his over-priced LikeaBike Jumper and he raised hell flying around in the outlet center with it. He loves that thing. I recently changed out the rubber suspension boot since he's over 35 pounds now. Also switched to the longer seatpost which it comes with.. Features not found on the Skuut or the knock-off found at Target. For $245 we bought an heirloom quality aluminum kid's bike with suspension and Schwalbe tires weighing all of 8 pounds and completely indestructible. No fear of termite damage either.. So after arriving home yesterday I hosed off the bike and rubbed off the brake residue.. Carbon fiber sounds so cheap when you're aiming a high pressure stream of water at it. Same sound as the cheap resin patio chairs make, but chintsier.. I am almost over this cold completely. My energy is up, the infection has pretty much dried out. Some residual coughing to clear the lungs and some sinus drainage is all that's left. Coach looked at Sunday's charts from Fall River and says that I was VOmax for the whole time, both races. Kind of explains why I wasn't on my game. The lungs were deficient and this caused a premature acid bath for the legs I suppose. Witch's Cup crit is on my mind.. tomorrow night at 6:30.. A nice big field will actually increase my chances of a decent result.. How do I define "decent" in such a stacked field? Top 20... or top 10 in the field sprint. Thanks for reading. 

Fall River Criterium 2007

The five man break of the Pro race, which split into two with about 5 to go.. S.F. and the guy behind him opened a ton of time between themselves and the three behind, somehow, in the span of one lap. Didn't stick around to see the sprint, but I'm pretty sure I know who got 1st and 3rd..
Murat's a foolish mofo.. Sure I felt pretty good this morning, bounding out of bed like a gazelle.. But the rotten schmoo which lined my lungs was in stealth mode I guess, because it wasn't until the first few minutes of today's 35+ event that it dislodged and made for the exit- my throat and mouth. Gross.. But you don't come here to read about peaches and cream, do you? A hot day combined with two days off the bike and the tail end of bronchitis does not a good result make.. Officially I am positioned at 18th on the results out of only 29 finishers.. 11 were up the road, ALMOST including myself.. Yes at about 10 to go some Corner Cycle guy got fed up with our laziness and dragged eight of us up the hill at un G-dly speed and away from the remaining 20 or so who were still in the "field". I had just enough to pedal past Thom Norton after the top of the hill and I died.. He went back around me and stuck with the now 7 man chase (four up the road) while I faded back to mediocrity.. Without this infection, this constriction of the lungs, this goo build-up in the back of my throat, I had a good chance of snagging a top 10... No such luck. Felt good on that little climb. Spinning up in the 53x19 or 17 felt the best.. Afterwards, I wondered if I might have done better if I got out of the saddle in those last 50 meters.. Probably held back to avoid puking. Whatever, I needd to lie down in the grass in the shade to get my wind back. Pro race was about 2 hours later so I thought I'd find my second wind by that time. Wishful thinking. Only 30 guys lined up, including two former national champs and one current national champ.. I was done after about 8 minutes. No gas. No air. No power. Before popping, I also stupidly gapped about four guys who were behind me and I am terribly sorry about it. The blinding pain took away my good judgment.. I was still fighting to hold on, and thought that I had given enough tells that they would know better than to choose my wheel. Someone said "Well that's nice" as he sprinted around me. I felt like dog doo, and was too winded to say sorry.. but I am. Bygones.. You guys connected no problem. Seems I wasted $10 or $12, depending on how you look at it. Thanks for reading.

No racing for me today

It's almost 1:00 pm and I just got out of bed a little while ago. Almost rushed over to do the Silver City Pro race.. then I had a very productive fit of coughing and decided I'd rather not choke on my own phlegm in a crit. Would have been pushing it besides, it's about a 50 minute drive. Fall River is tomorrow. I want to be there no matter what.

Don't be a Weenie: JOIN OUR NEW GROUP

I'll try to keep this message at the top for a few days. Here's the deal. I established a YAHOO Group many moons ago, but never found the time to promote it. To date, there are two members: myself and Gewilli. What is it good for? It's a message group designed such that you will be able to reach an [eventually] large group of like minded folks with one fell swoop (one e-mail address) Could prove to be particularly useful to keep each other informed of issues, changes, cancellations, weather, start times, stuff for sale, training races and events. (Why hunt for such knowledge in the comments of 15 blogs?) There are many Yahoo groups out there, but they're limited to one club or one team. Let this be the one which ALL New Englanders use to inform eachother and keep informed. That's the idea. Originally I wanted to limit this only to racers who blog, but such exclusivity is not going to help our New England racing scene. (those outside of New England are welcomed aboard too). So go now and sign up. First new member to sign up wins one of my pre-enjoyed wrist bands. Can we get ten new members in the next ten days? That would be a good start.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Packfodder/

The Last Word

Glad I didn't even think of riding in today.. Overslept anyway. Need rest, but will likely do a quick spin on the rollers tonight. Still at work, but not in spirit. Drippiness of my nose is getting kind of annoying... I will be recording another race video next Wednesday at the Witch's Cup Criterium in Salem. This one will be another ass-fest, but judging from the number of visits to my Hartford Criterium video... (Google it to see) ...no one seems to mind. Racing with some real talent on that day. Kind of nervous.. but nervousness channeled properly is a good way to add watts to the effort I suppose. Nervousness is better than apathy.. and I'm excited. It's rainy and miserable out. perfect night for a tv dinner, some hot tea and camping in front of the tv under a blanket with wife and child and watching a good movie together. In spirit, I'm already home I guess. Time to go.

Best of luck to everyone competing this weekend. 

Ninigret with a cold..

Raced hard at Ninigret last night.. in spite of being badly congested and stuffed up. Let's just say that the old wrist band was not/could not be used to evacuate the milky white shit clogging my nostrils.. I had to blow it many times.. ambidextriously.. meaning I must turn head left for left nostril, right for right.. I think I got some on Mark McCormack by accident.. Sorry.. My goal last night was to finish, not let anything get away, chase everything and rack up a few hard intervals. Check, check and check. Got a lot of attaboys from people I've never met, pats on the back even. Thought I was getting all famous and stuff for a split sec, then remembered my name is on my bike, right above the rear brake. Very cool of people to give praise. Puts a spring in your step/pedal stroke even.. Thanks.. I slipped far far back with a few laps to go and just did a final interval with 1/2 lap to go, winding it up all the way to the finish somewhere mid-pack. Our boy Rick Kotch almost did a repeat of Womp and attacked solo with three to go. Was caught on the back straight and sat up.. Nice sized field. Great weather.. friggin perfect actually.  Today I see that my infection has moved down to the bronchial tubes, where it always ends up. Coughing a bit today, but that nasty soreness is gone from my throat. Best thing for a sore throat- anything with Pectin in it. Don't buy cough drops that don't have Pectin- or else they're useless. I'm racing Silver City and Fall River this weekend. Weather such that it is, hard to believe at this point. I plan to hit the sack at 9:00 tonight. Have not slept a full night in a couple of months. I'm in the habit of waking briefly at 2-3:00 AM every night for whatever reason. I grab a bite to eat and go back to sleep, but it's taking it's toll. I'm sleep deprived. Surely it's affecting my performance at work and on the bike. Just in denial I guess. What can I do? I take no medications whatsoever, and don't want to start.. especially anything sleep related. Those kinds of pills scare me. Stay dry.   

See you in two weeks, Antalya

People enjoy the slides in an aquapark in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya August 8, 2007. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas

Andrey Kashechkin Busted in Belek, Turkey

Ha! He was no doubt there on holiday when the UCI tracked him down (?) Belek is a Mediterranean tourist trap populated mostly by Russians, Germans, and other Eastern Europeans. Interestingly, Joe Papp was also tested and caught in Turkey last year, where he competed in the Turkish Presidency Tour and won a few stages. Months later I purchased a new helmet on ebay, where the seller turned out to be none other than.. Joe. Weird. I had been chatting with him via e-mail to get his insight on racing with the elites in Turkey. My point is not to disrespect Joe. He's paying the price like a man and I find him to be a good person.. my point is that Turkey, while lacking any road racer superstars, is no slouch in the fight against doping. It's taken quite seriously.

Back to work..

..but not quite 100%. Back of the throat is still suffering from a bit of nastiness.. No ride to work today. Probably spin on the rollers for 1/2 hour tonight instead. It was a scheduled recovery day anyway. Besides, need to change the rotors on the Hyundai.. Asked Firestone for a price. They wanted $340 to change the rear rotors and pads. I told them to put the car back together and forget it. Rotors from NAPA cost $25 each. I already have the pads. Besides, I asked them to check out the shaking in the front end, which they didn't do.. They wanted me to sign on for the rear repair before they even looked at the front end. I was born at night, but not last night.. Besides, it's apparent that I overtorqued the lug nuts and warped the front rotors, causing the front wheel wobble (which did not exist before I installed the new front pad over the weekend). Okay so new front rotors are $30 each at NAPA.. Disappointed. Bought four tires from these guys a week ago, and they treat me like some kind of ignoramus this time around. They charge $60 for $20 pads and $60 for $25 rotors.. Whatever.. I am so close to just trading it in for a new Rabbit..

I see that Solobreak is at it again.. bad knee and all.. trading pulls with my team mate at Womp.. 2nd place was no fluke this time. We salute you.. and Rick Kotch of course.. Come out to Ninigret tomorrow so we can thrash everyone with two to go.. Oh and thanks for the flashback from grade school.. when rotten little classmates would also call me "rat". Just undid three years of therapy.

It may come as a surprise to some that I was born in Flushing Hospital, Queens New York, funny name and all.. When I asked childhood friends to begin calling me "Mark", it was for my mental health.. Nowadays, I'm known as "Mark Basak" in my professional life. Saves me oodles of time spelling and re-pronouncing my name to idiots who can't even pronounce "park" or "car"..

Recycle those race numbers

I have found another great use for the growing pile of race numbers. Not only do I reuse the No 1s, 2s and 3s at Wells Ave.. (having a name beginning with "A" gets low numbers in pro events) Now that my training programs are focused more on intensity than endurance.. they are more complicated and harder to remember. So now I take a permanent marker and write the more detailed programs on the back of an ols race number and stuff it in jersey pocket. Not only is it indestructible, it can be used again whenever said workout is repeated. I am the Martha Stewart of bike racing.

Out sick

Our little one has had a nasty cough for a few days, and last night my throat felt like I had swallowed crushed glass. This morning was even worse. I called in sick and went back to bed.. until 11:00. Ran a couple of errands and I'm about to leave the house for a ride because I know that increasing the rate of blood flow tends to speed up my recovery. Probably just mental.. going for a ride always makes me feel better. Question is, should I do the prescribed intervals? I'll play it by ear. If the legs don't want to go, then I'll give them another rest day. I expect to feel better tomorrow morning. I haven't had a cold since late winter, so I think I was due for one.. Better to get it behind me now than during all those crits which I've planned for the coming weeks.

Distracted as HELL

With a string of criteriums coming up (see below) and a two week vacation overseas in three weeks, Murat has the attention span of a four year old. Here's a snippet of a recent e-mail between me and coach:

 

[Murat] Please suggest some exercises to tone up my upper body, especially pectorals. You said no push-ups! Seems the more weight I lose, the flabbier my chest appears. I don't mind adding a pound or two of muscle to look/feel better! I have 10, 15 and 20 pound dumbells and a bench at home.. Sit-ups? Crunches? I want to do 10-15 minutes a day working on this. In spite of all the weight loss, there's still flab!

[Scheske] so what – do you want to ride fast or look good at the beach!  Losing some weight has likely caused some flabby look – it'll go away as the weight stays off.  We'll do some minimal upper body over the winter – but certainly not to build you up – just some toning stuff – lots of reps, low weight.  Your pecs don't propel your bike – so you won't look all buff on the beach, but who cares when you ride fast!

 

..Todd is such a no-nonsense, cut-the bullshit, eye-on-the-prize type of person.. Lucky to have him keeping me focused on what really matters. I'm easily distracted and need that.

Clarity

Murat hasn't been thinking clearly.. take that last post over at Amerikan Turk as evidence.. but I'm much better now. A day off the bike felt good and I had no separation anxiety. The rest-of season outlook looks like this:
Thurs 8/9: Ninigret training race
Sat 8/11: The Silver City Flyer Criterium
Sun 8/12: Blount Seafoods Fall River Criterium
Wed 8/15: Witches Cup Criterium
Sat 8/18: The Mystic Velo Criterium
Sun 8/19: Keith Berger Memorial Criterium
Sat 8/25: depart for Turkey
Sun 9/9 return from Turkey
Sat-Sun 9/15-16: The Bob Beal Master's Weekend
10/8: 32nd Annual Jamestown Classic Bike Race
Looks like I am going to miss the Topsfield Road Race this year.. Too bad. Jamestown should conclude my season, unless the weather on that day is cold and wet, then Bob Beal will end up as my finale. Then I'll grab the cross bike and try to have some fun off road until the weather goes to complete crap. Cross races? Don't really appeal to me, especially with my bad right foot/ankle. It can handle the riding, but maybe not the running and jumping. Been sensitive ever since that bad sprain in June '06. I may still do a couple of events close to home for fun and fitness, we'll see.

Bridges

Yesterday I had to drive to Falmouth, MA and this required me to cross the bridge in Fall River and the Bourne Bridge, twice each. I don't mind admitting that the recent awareness which has been stirred with the epic failure of that bridge out west, seems to have given a lot of people the willies. I couldn't help noticing that [myself included] people were accelerating towards the end of the bridges, just to get off the damn things quicker.

Today I'm traveling to Vernon CT again in this oppresive heat and humidity.. Rode in using the short cut and will be riding home real easy. Did 10 sprints last night and I'm hurting. First time all season that I've had sprints in the training program.. and let me tell you.. I have the grace and form of a one legged ostrich.. explains why I've been doing my sprints seated all season- if I get out of saddle I'll crash, it seems. Funny, I was a very crafty sprinter in a past life. I wish my handlebars ware a bigger diameter in the drops and I wish they were wider. Might switch to 44s and double up the tape on the drops.

Tomorrow AM I do an extremely difficult program which includes intervals at both 135% and 200% FT. Then we're off to NYC to visit family and deposit someone at JFK. Not riding on Sunday. Remember, Ninigret is Thursday next week, so you can do three training races in a row, if so inclined.  

New Pictures in the Flickr badge

Taken at the Attleboro Criterium and at the Cox Classic by Peter Hall.

That's the way you do it... lemme tell ya

A salute! A toast! Lift your 40 oz Colt 45 Malt Liquor in the air with me and rejoice! When a fellow blogger wins a race, it's a special occasion, even if said blogger is an aging, stubborn, self coaching, self hair-clipping, blogging, technology shunning piss head. Our esteemed Solobreak has been throwing a good amount of mud on the wall lately, including at the Hartford Crits and the Attleboro Crits, taking two-to-go solo flyers off the front. Last night at Wompatuck some of the mud finally stuck, and SB took top honors. Opportunity knocks once. I practically soil myself when I win a prime, so I have to assume that he's walking on air today. Why, just the other day he was pining about how the final lap at Wompatuck is too fast for anyone to jump out from. There are better ways to win a race, as Solo convincingly demonstrates. I'm jealous but in a good way. See [his/all] pictures from the Attleboro Criterium [offered for purchase]. Nega Coach must be proud... or not.

Second Thoughts (?)

As I said earlier, tonight was scheduled to include some hard intervals.. but as I was warming up, soon after getting on the bike path in Cranston, this twisted evil grin appeared on my face, kind of like The Grinch.. which is ironic because lately it's Solobreak who's stealing my fire with his Nega Coach alter ego.. At any rate... after 20 minutes of warm-up I reset the Powertap and started to accelerate.. Set the display to show me distance (speed and watts are on there too). Put my hands on the hoods and resolved to increase the watts gradually, beginning just under my FT (275) and working my way up. By the time I reached the one intersection which I'd have to cross before completion, I had the average up to 290. Then as you can see, I needed to coast for many seconds before grabbing the breaks and checking for traffic. By the time I crossed and began to accelerate again, I had lost quite a bit of momentum (speed dropped to 9 mph), but I made some of it up by getting out of the saddle for a few seconds on the other side. Back on the hoods and trying to make up time.. until an obstruction clipped my wings again. Dang. I wasn't worried too much, as all I wanted to do was give a nice sustainable effort the whole three miles, slightly over FT. The path is pancake flat, but the last minute or so of my tt I had a very gradual downhill. I was able to keep adding watts until the very end, which is a good sign. A half-hearted effort? Not quite. I worked hard, sort of. But if you examine the average heart rate and compare it to my Bob Beal TT chart from 2006, there's a huge difference: 161 bpm versus 182. Add to this the fact that riding south (per usual) means going into a slight head wind, then the results are even more interesting. Granted I didn't do a 42 mile road race beforehand, but a tough day at work might be the equivalent. It's seems pretty conclusive to me that I am fit enough to take 30 seconds off of last year's time, which was officially 7:12. Add some niceties such as a skinsuit, tt bars, aero wheels and helmet, and it would appear that a top five result is within reach this September, especially considering that I still have about 6 weeks to improve my form. Thank you Nega Coach for lighting a fire under my ass. I am more motivated than ever.

After about 30 minutes of recovery pace I did my three intervals without as much difficulty as last week (same workout) and without losing many watts at all on the 2nd and 3rd tries. Even did a gratuitous 4th interval after 30 minutes of zone 2. I call this a good day of training.

Intermission (2)

Just lost a nice blog post due to clicking on a link in Outlook.. Grrrrr. Now to recreate..

Nose to the grindstone at work trying to get caught up on my projects.. More accurately, I am trying to avoid the guilt of accepting a paycheck every week. That's some brutally painful truth.. More intervals of pinpoint precision intensity await me tonight. For those pretending not to care, it's the same workout as last Tuesday, when I felt like throwing chunks at the end: 3 minutes at 120% FT with 3 minutes rest in between, three times. Sounds easy, I'm sure. My 120% FT is 330 watts, no big deal right? Well it's not the intervals which get you, it's the short rest in between.. Last week is fresh in my mind. The first one I was like "Pffft! this is easy! bring 'em on!" Second one was I was like "why don't my legs want to go like they did last time? Phuc. Ouch". Then the third one hit me like the last km of a crit, I was like "What is that burning taste in the back of my mouth? Did I eat recently? Nope!".. Needless to say, I can't wait to get going..

Coach and friend Todd Scheske got some nice street cred recently via Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle.. Here's a nice read: When Roadies Hit the Trails

Avoid junk miles. Use a power meter.

Discovery

Last night riding home I can feel some tenderness just above my left knee. Hmmm. My inner thighs also seem to be touching the seatpost more than I've noticed before. <Shrug> The handlebars.. seems like I'm constantly reaching for them. ???

This morning the coin dropped and I figured it out. Pulled over on the bike path, looked at the saddle and found that it was jammed alllll the way back as far as it could go. No amount of painful whacking with my hand would free it, and I don't carry tools (huh-huh, except for one) This probably happened at Attleboro. Three consecutive races and 135 laps seem enough for such a malfunction. Those last two lefts on the course aren't exactly smooth.

And yes, as long as there are no preconditions about equipment, I accept the challenge to ride a 6:32 at the Bob Beal TT this year. (Last year I did a 7:12 with no aero advantage whatsoever) Let the taunting begin.

Should I do intervals at my CP6? Should I do 3 mile intervals? Should I do CP6 intervals for 6:30?.. or for 3 miles?.. whichever comes first? Decisions.. Help me NegaCoach. Read some more articles about power and get back to me please.  

Once a pickle, always a pickle (?)

I can't comment from work...so...
Nega-Coach chimes in:
"You and what seems like a hundred other people I know buy the power tap and then start training, rather than the other way around. It's not the gadget that makes you stronger, it's the training.
Point taken... but let's make one distinction.. I also pay a coach to tell me how to train, and it's centered around the FT established by the PT. The Powertap does not tell me how to train. It's just a tool to make it possible to follow very precise instructions and record progress. Me with just the PT and no coach would not be much better than me and just a HRM.
That said, there is one thing about your strenth/weakness that is obvious from looking at this power file summary. Do you know what it is?"
No friggin idea. I have many weaknesses, NC.. power output being one of the foremost..

Another hot one at Wells Ave

Last weekend, I completely fell apart 1/2 way through the crit. It was hot, muggy and the air quality was just plain poor. Today was no different! Hotter even. But I was better prepared.. I ate something in good time, carried two water bottles, didn't jump into any early breaks.. The highlight of my race was a prime lap with 28 to go.. I had resolved to attack just past the start/finish, just before the right hand corner. I'm moving up the left hand side, gathering speed, when the bell sounds! Perfect. By the time I am through the corner, I have a nice gap, so I continue to accelerate, into the wind. Cresting the part of the course where the tractor trailers are usually parked, I started to lose steam, but not speed.. At one point I thought for sure I was going to blow up. Looking back, I see no one. Head back down, drilling it up the long finish straight.. look back again, and one lone rider is in no man's land, impossibly far from catching me. I don't win primes too often, or even go for them, but this was a textbook case of doing the right thing at the right time. I juiced the watts all the way to the line. It wasn't until over 1/2 lap later (near the trailers) that I was consumed by the field. They let me go, I know this. But I don't believe that just anyone could have done it without falling apart. Those intervals I've been doing are bearing fruit.. Heart rate reached 189 towards the end.. Average speed for the two minutes pictured is 28.6 (46 km).. Mind you this is not a sprint. It's a vein popping two minute interval at 410 watts (443 watts if you look only at the duration of the attack, which was exactly on lap-see above) Won a large 40 oz sized banana flavored Shaklee drink mix. Banana? WTF?

At the end with two to go I was setting up nicely when someone's front spoke popped and the field scattered like pigeons.. No one knew which way to swerve. This shook up the field a little, with only about one lap left to go. I chose the wrong wheel and thusly erased any hopes of a top three, then came to my senses, powered around said mistake and up the road, snagging 8th. Knowing that I had the legs to do much better, I guess I can live with that. Here's the final lap below. Average speed is 31 mph, and tops out at only 34. You can see my moment of hesitance (and cursing) before I just emptied the tank in the last 20 seconds, seated the whole way. That was my top 20 seconds of the race: 666 watts. Not quite a sprint, but enough that I picked off about ten guys, and no one came around me.

Forgive me for the arrogant chest beating.. Yeah 8th at Wells is nothing to write home about, neither is getting a prime.. but I'm getting fired up about what the rest of this season will bring. Modesty is never a good fuel for success..

A note about the Powertap. Today I expressed my love for the thing to a team mate as follows: "I'd give up my STI shifters and switch to down tube levers, before I ever gave up the Powertap." Said team mate was shocked. It's true. Knowing the power is No 1.. Heart rate monitors teach you nothing. My average HR today was 164. What does that tell you? Not much.

T minus four weeks..

..and then it's time to blow $6000 on my bi-annual vacation! Yes it's been two years and three months since Murat had any real pampered rest.. We drive to JFK and fly direct to Istanbul on the 25th. Then a connection to the south coast city of Antalya, where an air conditioned room awaits us at either the Ela Quality Resort We are as yet undecided and may choose another place. All of the resorts all-inclusive and are populated mostly by Germans, Eastern Europeans and Russians. Prices range from 50-300 Euro per person per night.. Back in 2005, I went riding up into the mountains and discovered later on that I was riding on the Kemer leg of the WRC stage.. After a week on the south coast we migrate to Bursa, former capital of the Ottoman Empire, and formerly called Busra. Modern Bursa is situated on the lower slopes of Uludag Mountain. It's the city I've called home since I first visited there at the age of one. I know my way around, all the good training roads and the attractions. The beach is only a one hour bike ride away. There's an outdoor velodrome, believe it or not.. It's poorly built and used mostly for soccer games on the infield. I once tried riding on it and almost hurt myself. The road bike will accompany me on this trip of course, and I will fine tune my form for two weeks, in advance of returning and winning the Bob Beal Stage Race.

Recovery Day.. easy commute

Not racing this weekend, except for maybe Wells Ave, if it isn't too hot. Tomorrow promises to be a day of extremely high intensity, judging from the instructions received from Coach. Intervals at 200% FT.. Yikes.. with recovery intervals in between at FT! Who wants to come along? Leaving the house early. Would love to see a regular Saturday morning ride near my house. We meet at the Holy Apostles Church every Tues and Thurs night.. Why not Saturdays? Who wants to go tomorrow at 7:00? It's on route 12 in Cranston, intersection of Pippin Orchard Road. On that note, why isn't there a training race on the roads which surround the Scituate reservoir? That used to be a regular road course, I believe.. Route 116 to route 12 to route 14, back to route 116. Challenging triangle of about 10-12 miles.. Why don't we just show up and do it every Tuesday night? Something to plan for next year? Just need permission from the Town of Scituate.. I'll ask Todd Scheske how he arranges all the training races for the Genesee Valley Cycling Club. They've been doing it week after week for about 25 years, on road courses all over the greater Rochester area. We seriously lack any training ROAD RACES in the New England area. Nothing but crits, which do not help one to become a better road racer, IMHO.

25 July 2007: Ninigret Criterium Domination

Pretty happy with the way it went down last night. I missed the start of the race due to unforeseen delays, but only by about 5 minutes.. Upon arrival, all I had to do was shed my pants, put on my shoes and helmet, attach front wheel and water bottle. This all occurred in about 30 seconds flat, I kid you not. A run up to the sign-in and I was ready to go within one lap of arrival, and I jumped in there on the next fly-by.. (Seems I missed only two laps) Our team had four riders represented. It was a fast race, averaging 26.6 mph and it wasn't long before a break developed and opened a gap. Initially, I spied one Union Velo kit up the road, but later discovered there were actually two. At first I took about 3-4 laps to rest, because just before this latest attack/break, I was up front making myself work.. to the point where I got that tingly sensation in the legs, from the ankles to the knees.. Ever feel that? It means you're in oxygen debt.. Watching people thrash themselves at the front to shut down this break motivated me to add to the effort. That, and I didn't want to see my average watts drop much below 250.. So I went to work. This is a training race after all, and the team mate who I knew was up the road often tells us to chase chase chase no matter what. Get what we came for- training. So by the time there was only one lap to go, I can assure you that myself and about 4-5 others, including a TargetTraining guy, a Benidorm guy (Gary), a GearWorks guy and others, were the main contributors to the average speed of the field. With about 3 laps to go, I cooled my jets a little bit, took some recovery shelter, then started moving to the front in stealth mode. By the time we were on the semi-final straightaway, after the last sharp left-hander, I had a clear opening on the left side of the field and I accelerated. Hearing "Left! Left! Left!" put a grin on my face.. because I know that I'm not exactly a person who is marked for such performance or behavior. I couldn't have planned it better. My jump wasn't nuclear explosive.. it was a more deliberate, metered effort at first.. wanted it to last all the way to the line. I went from 25 to 34 mph in about 10 seconds, according to my chart. Someone on my wheel said "Go! Go! Go!", don't know who, but it helped to get me commited.. I led the field around the sweeping left hander before the long finish, and then made sure to get on top of the gear completely, full gas, all the way to the line. The speed shown on the chart speaks for itself.. I accelerated and nailed the top speed almost the whole way, seated except fo the initial jump. Lost only 1 mph in the final 10-20 meters and only 3 guys came around me- one of which was a team mate. By this time we were on the heels of the breakaway.. so close. (The chart shows you the final minute of racing) Pretty sure one of our Union boys took the win, and the rest of us all in the top 10 or 11. Can't complain about that.. it's a pretty good example of domination. Already looking forward to next week. Thanks for reading.

Oktoberfest: Alexandra Unger (No relation to Felix)

Model Alexandra Unger displays the official Oktoberfest beer mugs during a presentation in Munich July 24, 2007. The Oktoberfest, the world biggest beer festival starts on September 22, 2007. (GERMANY)  REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

On the road

..heading out on the beautiful roads of CT today. Should be nominally enjoyable trip with the new tires on the car.. Last night. Head nearly exploded on the third interval. I know that there are some with a hair across their ass for power stats. If this describes you, too bad. It went like this:

30 minutes TT/warm-up to Holy Apostles Church at about 238 watts (268 normalized)

30 minutes ride with the group, mostly for social purposes- I split off to do my own thing

Three intervals of 3 minutes each (using Rocky Hill Road), with exactly 3 minutes rest in between. 120% of FT.. which for me is 330 watts. I did 333 on the first one, dropped to 320 on the 2nd one, and I nearly popped blood vessels in my head doing 309 on the third one. That is waaay harder than it sounds. Then I just did zone 2 for 45 minutes home. Can feel it this morning riding in.. Ninigret Criterium tonight. Go... VandeVelde! It's really shitty how all Versus talks about or gives cred to is Leipheimer. Meanwhile, Hincapie, Horner, VandeVelde, and others are all way up in the standings too. Lame. Where's Julich this year?

My car doesn't suck (again)!

New tires have made it so whisper quiet.. Been running snow tires all summer. Decided to sacrifice them instead of premature replacementation in the spring. They were cooked anyway. Who's going to Ninigret tomorrow? I want to show you my new tires...

Funny.. on Saturday, team mate Michael Andelman sees my wrist band before we race and says:

"You going to wear that thing in the race?"

"Damn straight I am."

"I was going to wear mine too, dammit"

"It's the coolest thing.. get in on the ground floor, be one of the pioneers"

"Duly noted, wish I brought mine too"

"Don't be a weenie, I have a spare in the car you can use"

"Is it clean?"

"It's cleaner than it's gonna be when you return it"

"Umm.. okay. What color is it?"

"Forget it. Get your own."

"Bitch."

Okay I made some of that up.. the last part.. most of it actually... all but the first three lines.

Catch and release..

I knew he was after me. The way he cut into traffic to avoid losing me up the road. There was still hope until about a mile later. Separated by a Cadillac as we're turning left, the lights and siren powered up as soon as we cleared the intersection. I'm sure Cadillac driver got a scare. I pulled over. Inspection sticker expired in December. Plus I have no front license plate. Having a clean driving record has it's advantages, as it was just a "catch and release", with a warning.. Time to quit pressing my luck? My car needs four new tires to pass inspection. That's $600 which I don't have lying around... Tempting to just trade it in and get a new VW Rabbit. So cute how VW went from Rabbit to Golf and back to Rabbit. Only $14,990 for the stripped-down two-door base-model. Cute commercials too Too bad that I'd probably be offered only about $1200 for my 2001 Hyundai Elantra depreciation nightmare.

The rabbit tramp stamp (above) is by far the most suggestive one can imagine, isn't it?

Year to date miles: 4,694

I don't believe it either.. but it's definitely time for me to get some great results. Looking at the power numbers.. I've trained much harder solo, than I raced on Saturday in Attleboro, and it's unacceptable. No more pissing and moaning and excuses. My form is better than it's ever been, yet I'm blowing it with bad habits such as self-doubt, hesitance and fear. I'm also over-estimating the strength of the competition. No more. It's time to make all of this training worth something. The gloves are off.

Attleboro Criterium Results

Complete results are here

I raced the 35+, the Pro and the 30+

35+.. bad luck galore.. A tire change gone bad blew like a shotgun blast.. Had to change the tube just 15 minutes before the start (Did yoiu know that $50 Schwalbe Stelvio tires are made in Indonesia?) Next.. I have a front flat at the start line.. Go to the pit for a wheel while the field rolls off. I'm forced to take a free lap.. Getting a bit psyched out here.. I jump in on lap 2, get myself in a break right off the bat, and then reach for a drink.. NO BOTTLE! So I'm mooching drinks off of team mates, and even a Benidorm rider (Matt? thank you!) trying to stay calm.. Then a bad crash. Tom Mannion appears to be out cold in the gutter by the curb. He isn't removed from this spot until about 10 laps later, 6 or 7 of which were neutralized.. We restart the race with ten to go, giving the break a 14 second head start.. By now my head is so NOT into it that I've resolved not to take any crazy risks.. Even so, I get so badly wronged just before the final dog leg that I have to squeeze both brakes and lose about 10 mph with 200 meters left to go. So I put my head down for 24th of 49 finishers. Glad that horror show was over.

On to the Pro race.. 60 laps.. this one's easy.. race was quicker than the 35+, a lot more smooth.. about 10 guys were up the road in the closing laps.. I sprinted safely to 20th out of 40 finishers. (nothing to cry about, getting 10th in a Pro field sprint I guess- gotta look at the positive) Felt pretty good overall, but simply finishing this event was an achievement for me, so my expecations weren't high enough to make me a contender. In three previous attempts I DNF'ed hoping to save myself for the 30+.. and that was getting old..

Jumped right into the 30+ after the Pro.. (many thanks to Ted Shanstrom for getting my number pinned for me, and to the SRAM neutral support that let me use that awesome ZIPP front wheel in all three events) Well, 40 more laps seemed easy enough, but with 20 to go I was cramping very badly in both hamstrings.. The field was quite lethargic, and filled with guys who either didn't race at all previously, or who skipped the Pro race.. Five guys rode off the front (originally six- Gary Aspnes got in there but lost contact due to some cramping) There was no chase to speak of, the speed was pitifully slow, and with cramping of my own limiting me severely, I could only eek out a 19th place sprint out of only 31 finishers. (not so bad when you consider that five had lapped us and my legs were more or less seized up..)

Trivia: Winners of all three events had fresh legs (no previous races) 8 of the top 20 in the 30+ field had fresh legs, 8 skipped the Pro race, and 3 were into their third consecutive race of the day.. Of the 47 finishers in the 45+ event, fully 20 of them jumped into the 35+ event.. In contrast, only 7 of the 49 finishers of the 35+ event jumped into the Pro event.. Including myself, only 3 guys did the 35+, Pro and 30+ in succession. Out of 120 total individuals in the 45+, 35+, Pro and 30+, total of 80 did only one event, 35 did two events, and 5 did 3 events.. Of the 40 finishers in the Pro race, 31 had fresh legs (no previous racing).. I could go on.. If anyone wants to see a matrix showing you all of these sortable results, I spent a few minutes preparing it in Excel, out of curiosity. E-mail me and I'll forward it to you: reiscotools at yahoo dot com. It's very telling when you examine it closely.. You learn a lot about a person by seeing which events they skipped and which ones they favored..

Murat's minimally satisfied, but wishes the 35+ race was less problematic. I had good legs for it and it was a waste not to take advantage of the freshness in my first event.. Da 'sit for now.

Except for this: I must salute Michael Shireman of our Union Velo team for taking the win in the Cat 3 event.. Nice photo finish on Bikereg shows you just how close the sprint was against Mike Norton... Well done!

So much to say..

..so little time. Attleboro Criterium was great fun.. Three races back to back to back. More later.

Slow Your Roll: Making Triathlete-itis contagious

Excerpt:

"While a strong majority of the general public inaccurately thinks bike lanes are for double parking, so too, they think the triathlete is somehow "cool". However, I am here to tell you that they most certainly are not. In fact, they are very uncool. For instance, take their fruity choices like riding with no socks. Or, the way they used to put Powerbars on their top tubes for future consumption. Does that sound cool to you? No. I didn't think so."

Funny- read it all

Shaking out the cobwebs

So it started raining right around 5:00 today.. Damn and blast it.. had to drive home. No 3 minute hill repeats for me.. not on the road anyway.. had to do them on the wind trainer. Holy shucking fit.. that was hard.. After 20 min warm up I did the first one.. figuring that 300 watts is deep enough into my VOmax, that's what I tried to hold for the first 2-1/2 minutes.. after which I go full gas for the last 30 seconds.
Interval No 1: 313 watts average at 88 RPM
Next comes 8 minutes of recovery, and I needed every second of it.. but not a second more..
Interval No 2: 305 watts average at 108 rpm average
Ouch. After this one, I felt like my head would explode. Spun it out for 8 minutes afterwards, resolving only to do one more of these..
Interval No 3: 296 watts at 96 rpm
I really felt myself fading during this one.. and for a change, instead of charging out of the gate at 350 watts, I tried to start out slow and build up.. Didn't work too well. I felt so cooked afterwards.. but little voice in my head said "finish what you start".. Coach said four of these are required.. so I did a fourth..
Interval No 4: 308 watts at 94 rpm
That was better than interval no 2! Proof that being warmed up can add watts to otherwise tired legs.. IMHO.. I must say.. I've done these same intervals on actual hills and they never felt this difficult.. As Coach Scheske put it on the phone today.. taking a rest week isn't about coming out of it faster or stronger.. it's about being prepared and fresh and responsive to the next period of adaptation (or "build" as some call it) There's a big difference between tapering and taking a rest week. My expectations were not realistic. I don't think I'll be 100% at Attleboro, but that takes a little pressure off, which is a good thing right now. I am gunning for a top ten,.. no, a single digit finish in at least one event on Saturday.. which will be no easy feat with the caliber of the fields I see developing on Bikereg.. I wonder if the old man and the clydesdale raced at Working Mans in this rain?

Over-trained?

That's what a reader suggested that my symptoms indicate. It's possibly true on some level, but my main issue is that I feel tired mentally. The body then feels tired in sympathy. Lack of sleep, stress and worrying about work issues, my father's illness (he has lung cancer), my son going to pre school (the impending high cost of it I mean), a tough month financially (both prop taxes AND homeowner's insurance are due this month), planning a cost prohibitive vacation to Turkey, my red car needing $1000 in brakes/tires etc, planning a small retail business on the side, hating my great-paying current job, but feeling stuck.. all of these things weigh heavy on the mind lately. For a while there I was blocking out all of that shit and focused on training more than anything else.. It's all caught up with me it seems. and it affects how hard one can pedal a bike. Does this come as any surprise? I have two nights of decent sleep behind me. Hopefully I can repeat that tonight and Friday night. A hard training session tonight and then the Attleboro Criterium on Saturday will be the ultimate litmus test. If I feel anything like I did at Wells Ave last Sunday, then I know I need to stop riding for a few days, need to miss the bike a little bit. Thanks for reading.

Wells Ave melt down

I don't know if it was the fact that I didn't eat except for some cereal, five hours before the race (what was I thinking?), or if it was the effort given to the first four laps in a four man break (we had a great gap- I have pictures), or if it was the heat and humidity, or if it was because I spent Saturday felling tree limbs and very large trees on our lot.. but after 20 minutes in the Wells Ave crit, all systems failed, the well ran dry, the power was cut off, the tank was empty.. I took a one lap breather and thought I'd get back into it, but after 1/2 of a 1/2 hearted lap trying to stay in there, I understood that I just plain "didn't have it" yesterday and so I packed it in early. It's disappointing that a so-called "rest week" can end this way, but my sleep durations and quality were also very poor all last week too. Man, am I full of excuses or what? I received the next four weeks training program last night.. sends chills up my spine. After the Attleboro Criterium this Saturday, I don't race again until the 11th of August, when I will commence racing at five venues in nine days. This will include the Witches Cup on the 15th, which is right down the street from my Salem High School project. 

Doesn't FEEL like a "rest week"

I've been doing nothing but easy commuting all week, at a recovery/endurance pace.. yet for whatever reason my legs feel quite tired and achy. Might be due to a lack of sleep over the past few nights.. I don't know. My weight (post ride) is down in the 162s.. (164-ish in the AM) Woohoo! When I returned from San Diego at the end of February I was a bloated 180 pounds.. This morning I was half asleep while I rode in to work.. Completely out of clean clothing too.. (Wife trying to tell me something?.. Like STOP RIDING SO MUCH??.. Maybe I can drop hints too.. I'll stop putting my paycheck in the bank.. meaning STOP SPENDING SO MUCH!! Just kidding!!!) Mind you, I have seven UNION VELO kits which I wear in rotation. Now I'm resorting to wearing old team kits.. Yesterday I wore the GVCC jersey which I bought back in 1988 (still fits, still in good shape- ASSOS is the shit) and today Colavita shorts with an anonymous jersey and no base layer.. Gotta wear an Under Armour base layer at all times.. For two reasons. First, the nipples get irritated from abrasion without the skin tight base layer..(too much information?) Second, the base layer does a good job of containing my [diminishing] "flabalanche". Last fall I was at Marshalls and they had Under Armours on clearance.. for $10. I bought five of them at the time. And my New Balance three-pairs-for-five-bucks cycling socks which I bought in 2005.. got my first hole in one of them yesterday.. That was money well spent. Should have bought more because I can't find any of the same socks these days.

In other news, coach and friend Todd Scheske got 20th in the Masters 35-39 Nationals Road Race. At 2004 Nationals he was 4th on the five man podium. If I can hold on to this good form over the winter and build some more onto it in the spring, I would like to go to Nationals in 2008. Either that or forever regret not trying.. Life is short.

There I go doing the title before anything else, and the post's relevance to it is minimal.

Lunch with Gewilli

Had a great meal at the sushi place on Wickenden with our esteemed Gewilli (already forgot it's name.. Sakura?... I'm way overdue for a vacation, it seems..) I also got to see the infamous Paramount bike complete with quill stem, crappy fork, Powertap wheel with tattered disk covers, improvised fenders, sawed off cowhorns, inactive front derailleur, missing front chainring, 8 speed "freewheel", trailer hitch, brakes that don't work, and a chain that belongs in the scrap yard.. No, in fact, if the scrap yard had a rubbish container.. this chain  belongs in THERE. Anyways.. we had a great lunch. Seems Gewilli has broken down and gotten the dreaded 'bike racer haircut'. Me, I'm still going for the "lion's mane which can't be tamed" look. Hehe. As I explained to Ge between bites of sushi, I got my first bee sting in 30 years yesterday while riding home. On my thumb of all places.. (The previous incident at the age of six was something like that scene in the Chris Farley movie "Tommy Boy", except for real..)  Hurt like a mofo for 1/2 hour. I'm over it though. Working Man's Stage Race? Not for me. It's too far north in no-mans' land for me to travel to, after work. But I sure look forward to reading the race reports of both Ge and Solo..

2007 Criterium Nationals Results

While we were getting ourselves dizzy in New Britain on Sunday, many of our local racers were competing for some serious bragging rights in PA..
Skip Foley has won the jersey in the 40-44 Masters Crit Championship race. Congratulations!
My personal coach and friend Todd Scheske earned a 10th place in the 35-39 National Crit. Very happy for him! That's nothing to cry about IMHO.
I'm sure there are more familiar names to drop here, but my time is limited. Besides.. The full crit results are here Check it out.

Succulent brain drippings

I'm in the habit of naming posts before I write a single word. Should probably do it last... Oh well...

Gary Aspnes is on fire.. The lone Horst Benidorm rider who resides in RI.. he leaps up to 3rd from about 9th in the RI Masters Crit Rankings with his recent good results.. Nice work at New Britain, Cox, Fitchburg Crit and Hartford.. The extremely low penalty points at Fitchburg helped him immensely, but you have to be in it or else not complain. He deserves it and I always enjoy seeing him in the races. Question: Do the Horst Benidorm team realize that no one can comment at their blog except for they themselves? Probably.. Frustrating though because I sometimes want to go in there and say 'hi' or 'good job'.. and I can't. Their team deserves a salute for performing at New Britain with guns blazing. They all raced with passion and tenacity..

So few ArcenCiel riders at New Britain Sunday! Jon Lowenstein crashed hard at Ninigret two weeks ago and has a broken collarbone. Sympathy.. I could always count on Jon's silky smoothness in the crits to help me to avoid panicking. But not on Sunday. I was on my own, it seemed. Get well Jon. Another Arc, Ted Shanstrom was in action Sunday, finishing three events and looking ready for some rest.. Recent fine results have him sitting in a solid 4th in the RI Crit rankings for Masters. Ted let me borrow $5 one day.. an amusing story which involves me borrowing my wife's car with a habitually empty tank, and me forgetting my wallet..

I think I know who Christopher Dale is now.. Exceedingly friendly NBX rider who I've never been introduced to. Seems a great guy.. positive, upbeat, strong. Hope to see you racing on Wednesday Chris.

Saw my friend and former team mate Keiran Paul Lynch on Sunday, which is always a pleasure. He asked me how I did.. and per usual, showed a genuine interest in my blabbering about how I messed up the finishes blah blah blah. Self-centered dipshit that I am, I didn't ask him how he did.. Mid pack in the 4s and the 30s, which is a lot better than the REST of his team did! Bloody hell, where are they? See you Sunday at Wells.. (?)

Lastly, our infamous Nega Coach and gifted race reporter, Dave Foley aka Solobreak.. eeks out a podium finish at the Hartford Criterium on Saturday.. by one second he beats the chasing field to the line.. Gotta respect that.. Besides being the only other blogger in New England who I get to race with, he holds the added distinction of driving the same exact shitty car as my 25 year old kid brother drives. Great job in Hartford.. and a good story, well told. This event begs the question: Will FnF give a shit about his Masters Crit Standings in MA? I doubt it. (I may be the only weenie who follows it.. it motivates me! what can I say?)

Changed the Powertap hub batteries tonight. Fretted a little about not having a proper spanner to remove the dust cover. I tried some dastardly methods which might make your toes curl.. but in the end just increasing my hand's friction with a little spit did the trick.. I'm taking a rest week- no intervals, no hill repeats, just easy commuting and maybe Ninigret and Wells Ave thrown in for fun and learning.. Letting the spring unwind a little bit.. I may be in rare form for Wells Ave Sunday.. even Ninigret.

For those of you who are too cheap to pay for Versus.. or who are shunning the '07 Tour.. today's crash with 1k2go was pretty spectacular.. Bob Roll called it: Someone pulled out of their pedal, shifed hard right and took everyone out, without hitting the deck themselves. Hope they weren't Speedplays.. but I doubt it. Remember these AWFUL pedals?:

In 1988 I was perhaps the only idiot in the world using them. Back then, light meant crappy I guess. Ironically, the person who now coaches me, Todd Scheske, beat me in a field sprint for 3rd at the 1988 UB Classic [juniors] Criterium. I pulled out of my Keywins with about 20 m to go. No one crashed. The following year, Ryan Muncy beat me in the field sprint for 2nd.. I had reverted to clips and straps for that one.. (Still have them) I miss those days.

2007 New Britain Criterium

No video camera footage. No fancy photographs. No detailed race report.
Just this: When you are paranoid enough (as I am) about being swarmed before the final corner and left in the dust (as I am) before you even have a chance to accelerate (as I am).. then do as I do and LEAD OUT both the 35+ field sprint, and later, also the 30+ field sprint.. like a dumb-ass.. (as I am). What did I think would be different? Being FIRST to come out of the final corner after going full gas up the S-curve and over the "hill", is NOT a FRIGGING ADVANTAGE! What was I thinking! (Oh yeah.. paranoia about being DFL through the last corner) The smart ones were lined up behind me, winding it up while I burned my last matches. So... Murat holds on for 12th in the 35+ race and 14th in the 30+ race. Nothing to cry about, all things considered, but I wish I had played my cards smarter than that. Being first through the final corner was a rush, no doubt.. but reality sets in about 50 meters later when rider after rider ticks past you..
The Pro field had 39 pre-regs.. I decided I'd register for it in between events. Another dumb move. Would you believe all 61 openings were filled and I had to get on a waiting list? No Pro race for me... or for about 25 others who drove out there just to do that one event. Begging the officials was futile. Insurance issues. We ended up going to Scarborough Beach.. I swam, rode the waves, and built a sandcastle of shame, which our little Reis gleefully destroyed..
Anyways.. when the self-hate (of my tactical retarded-ness) subsides a bit, maybe I'll tell ya more.

Almost the Last Word

Last night at TJ Maxx I found a pack of sweat/wrist bands by Nike. Limp-wristed colors, but they had a gasket where you insert a little digital time piece, included for $15.. If not for the colors being pink, purple and orange, I was going to buy all of them.. Maybe I still will. Can always dye them I s'pose.. Tuesday night at Ninigret, I forgot my wrist band, kept wiping my drippy/sweaty nose on my bare wrist. Funny how we adapt to things..

The Powertap, now in service since May 12th, has 2005 miles on it. How long before that hub battery putters out? By the way, who wants to sell me a nice used light weight tubular Powertap wheel, cheap? My checkbook is out.

Still on the fence about Hartford tomorrow. Trying to convince myself that I can race 20 miles and still be 100% for New Britain the following day. The cost is a factor too. Entry fees are off the chart expensive these days. So is gas. Maybe a beach day would be better for me. Could always ride out and back, while family drives. Nice easy pace to eliminate the soreness, recover, be fresh.. I really want to uncork my very best at New Britain.    

 

Haruki: go experience lunchtime bliss

Superb. I ordered the "Chef Box" for $12.00 from Haruki's Lunch Menu.. and now I can die a happy man. You get California roll sushi, you get vegetable tempura (carrot, squash, pepper), shrimp tempura, shrimp dumplings, Miso soup, side salad with sesame dressing, and a serving of fruit! Chopsticks, wasabi and soy sauce all thoughtfully included. I am so satisfied. Highly recommended for those days when you want to blow more than a fin on lunch. Worth every penny. Treat yourself now and then. I always feel more energetic leaving Haruki, than when I arrived. The food seems to fit just right, every time. In Cranston, Rhode Island.

Yesterday: 90 minutes, 223 watts/75 kg = 3

Feeling a little down at work yesterday, I left the office at 5:00 with an ax to grind. Poured that energy into the bike and put out a respectable 90 minute average watts of 223. Thusly:

15 minutes warm-up at endurance/tempo, around 200 watts

25 minutes of FT intervals, 4 minutes at 275 watts, followed by 1 minute recovery

20 minutes strong tempo averaging 245 watts

30 minutes light tempo averaging 210 watts

Overall, 223 watts average, which is solid tempo zone 3 pace.

Since this ride did not have a proper warm-up and cool down, the overall watts/kg (223/75) turned out to be exactly 3, which is good for me on a 1-1/2 hour ride. Otherwise, this value averages down with the wu/cd. I want to race in Hartford tomorrow, but It will blow my recovery for New Britain on Sunday. I guess I need to decide whether I'm in it to have fun or in it to win.. Then the choice becomes obvious.

Pettachi out, Boonen IN

Quickstep team rider Tom Boonen of Belgium is photographed as he attends a medical test ahead of the 94th Tour de France cycling race in London, July 5, 2007. (BRITAIN) REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Is the weekend here yet?

Just told the boss here at work that I'm going away for two weeks at the end of August. Call it a pre-vacation request. They don't like it when anyone takes two consecutive weeks.. so it's best to tell them as early as possible. Where am I going? To the Republic of Turkey of course! Where else? I should be back in time, fresh and strong, for Bob Beal and Topsfield RR.. Who's gonna let me borrow their bike case? Just think, you'll get some very nice exotic security stickers on it when it's returned to you..  

Some levity:

 

Borat: [while driving] Look, there is a woman in a car! Can we follow her and maybe make a sexy time with her?
Driving Instructor: No, no, no, no, no, no!
Borat: A-why not?
Driving Instructor: Because a woman has the right to choose who she has sex with.
Borat: [stunned] WHAT...? You joke?
Driving Instructor: It must be consentual. How 'bout that?
Borat: [turns to Instructor, pauses] Ahahahahaha!
Driving Instructor: That's good, huh?
Borat: [pause] Is not good for me.

 

More great Borat quotes

While it may be true that "Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium, all other countries have inferior potassium.".. Turkey has almost 63% of the world's boron potential and boron reserves... How boring.

Cleaning Day! (Night?)

Cleaned my little red Hyundai inside and out.. and just now, I finished cleaning my chain, cassette and chainrings. Weird time to be up, but I've been meaning/needing to do it for weeks and never felt like it until 11:00 pm tonight.. Yes it took two hours. I scrubbed the cassette (while on the wheel) with a scrub brush soaked in laundry detergent (nothing less will emulsify the grease). It's shiny and like new (smells good too) The chain is a horror show.. I don't have a chain cleaner tool, so I blast it 5-6 times with a spray solvent and wipe it down in between applications. How to get the grime from inside of the links? Thread a long thin piece of cloth through there, three links at a time, and pull it through. Took a while.. but I'm not in the mood to buy a new chain. Chainrings were easy.. Brillo pads in the sink. And of course I polished the entire bottom bracket area before re-installing the rings. I've had this bike since August 3rd of last year. Bought it off Thom Norton (after getting hit by a car and losing my EPX bike) for a great price (I should have bought all of his inventory back then.. regrets) I'm thinking I want to get a Powertap race wheel- tubular. Maybe Ebay has something I can afford.. Speaking of Powertap.. I've come to the conclusion (and Solobreak will give this a hardy "Bah!" when he reads it) that Powertap is such a vital tool for improvement that I'd sooner give up my STI shifting than give up the Powertap.. Yes, I'd rather have SIS downtube shifters than ride without a power reading in my face at all times. It's a realistic position to take, once you've tried it. So it's almost 1:30 AM. Oh well. Gotta take care of the bike if it's gonna take care of me.. I'm almost over yesterday's melt down. Beating myself up for racing poorly, with indigestion and fatigue.. even after making a great bridge to the break.. Can't be so hard on myself. It's still better than missing the break on a good day, I suppose. Thanks for reading.

Follow up

As I turn the events of last night over and over in my mind.. trying to figure out what went wrong.. I established that this must be how the soccer player who misses the goal by inches feels.. and you see the guy on his knees.. beating the ground.. his hands on his head in disbelief..
Today I didn't feel much better. I woke at 5:30 per usual.. unaided.. from hunger. Ate my daily bowl of Raisin Bran.. thought about riding early.. fed my fish and went back to bed for three hours. Got up again at 10:30.. suited up and hit the road for 2-1/2 hours of endurance pace, zone 2, with about an hour of tempo zone 3 in the middle. That first hour took an eternity.. I couldn't get the energy up, couldn't get warmed up.. Stopped by the side of the road to do some stretching before doing tempo.. Finally started to feel like myself after about 20 minutes at 225 watts. Had to stop after 30 minutes to have a Coke and buy some water and Skittles (best stuff for quick energy, if you have the stomach for it). Finished up another 1/2 hour of tempo and ended up at work, where my car is parked.. Drove home (anticipating rain tomorrow- probably have to drive in).. So overall 2:16 at 193 average watts. Felt pretty good afterwards.

Strange things abound at the Circle K...

Ninigret tonight: I rode at the back of the field for the first 15 laps (out of 30), completely apathetic and oblivious to what's going on up front. Legs strong and fresh. But the mind: stale and tired.. Then I decide to try something, maybe shake off this funk. Five or so guys had opened a gap.. and it was getting bigger. So I dive to the front and take a one minute long pull (464 watts average it turns out, 28.1 mph average into the headwind).. I reach the break and take a rest.. never looking back.. Try to hold my position on the tail of the break.. then I pull through a couple of times.. Then a few guys go past me..then a couple more.. and then no one is left! Turns out I just dragged 8 or 9 guys up to the break, and the field was waaaaay back there. So the 17 of us are rotating pulls.. But something is STILL wrong with me. I don't feel right. Seems that all that I've eaten since noon is still churning in my gut, yet I feel hungry.. and nauseous at the same time. I'm emitting nasty belches.. Energy level so low. Desire to suffer.. none. I had to quit to avoid throwing chunks. Could have sat up and let the field absorb me (it would have taken a lap or so, even if I soft pedaled). No. I made a difficult and critical move and earned the right to be in the break. Wasn't going to spoil the achievement by drifting back to the field. So I confirm today that I can drill it pretty hard when it's necessary.. I did a lot of that Sunday at Wells after all.. but today something was missing. I had the power to make it to the end, I just didn't feel like it. How effin stupid does that sound? Hopefully this is just a gastric/nutrition problem and not something else.

Ninigret Criterium is TONIGHT

..according to my source. Going down there for some humble pie.. Mmm-mmmm. It was either that or hill repeats.. and I'd rather not ride alone. Would rather race til I puke while in the company of others.. See ya down there! The "A"s roll off at 6:30.

Content: Wells Ave Criterium July 1 2007

Real quick, just to beat Ge and SB with 1st post today (I win).. Wells Ave crit yesterday was a blast. Combined A/B field was pretty big and the speed was decent. Headwind on the finishing straight kept things together, with no moves gaining more than about 10-15 seconds. The racers who blog (bloggers who race?).. Solobreak and I were both very active on the front throughout. In fact, I don't think I ever drifted back past 10th wheel. At least that how it seemed.. Solo can turn on the power when he needs to! Got himself in a few moves which brought me to the front to help shut them down. With the two-place half way prime one lap away, I chided Thad Lavalee (whose face I hadn't seen at the front until that time) and said "C'mon Thad! It's time to uncork something!" I guess it kind of "turned his crank" to hear this because he took the half way prime pretty convincingly, with Kyle Gates and I fighting for 2nd. Kyle took 2nd from me pretty convincingly too actually, beating me by a bike length or more. But by this time, the field was about 10 seconds back. Cool. At the finish I wound it up a little early and almost died before the line, but it was good enough for a top ten.. Seventh I believe. Near the line, two riders came up along both sides of me, and both drifted towards me, completely taking away my momentum. I was shut down and couldn't sprint in between the buggers. Got some really good power numbers yesterday too, so I know I did some work. I was supposed to feel pretty tired yesterday after hill repeats on Saturday, but my body is getting better and better at adapting to the training load. So even though I could feel soreness, the power was there. FT is is up to 273 too. Progressing nicely.. Or as Coach Scheske puts it, "for the past eight weeks we've been winding up a spring... and when we release it you're gonna be really flying.."

I have some MOV video and a few pics which I'll post later. One features Solo and I in action- pretty cool. Seems he's the only other blogger who's racing these days! Where are the rest? Playing with their new iPhones?

Waiting for 5 o'clock to happen

I am absolutely buried with work, but my sense of urgency is kaput. There comes a certain point where you're burdened with so much that it's practically a valid excuse to drop the ball or screw things up. I'm taking things one task at a time, or else I feel overwhelmed. Whatever I do manage to accomplish, is going to get done right the first time.. I'm in the business of remodeling of old schools and fit-up of new schools. It's T minus two months before these schools open up again or become occupied.. Needless to say, summer is my busiest time of year. Is it 5 o'clock yet?

Riding to work this morning, as I'm going past the Jewish cemetary on Post Road, I couldn't help but wonder how stressful an occupation it is to work at a cemetary. I saw a few guys peacefully doing some landscaping around the tombstones and thought "Who's ever gonna complain about the quality of their work?" and even if someone did screw up, can it cost anyone any money? Pfffft! My job requires me to make decisions which could potentially put this company out of business or cost hundreds of thousands of dollars... I hate construction. I want to go riding now please.

What's on his t-shirt?

Better yet, what exactly are these cadets "yelling" at the guy? You tell me. Write the best caption for the guy with his hands on his hips, and win a packet of very nifty sweat bands for your wrists, mailed right to your house, from me. (mailed in the contiguous 48 states only, otherwise additional handling charges will apply)

A basic cadet is yelled at to get moving during in-processing for the cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado June 28, 2007. 1,303 members of the class of 2011 arrived today to in-process and begin basic training. (UNITED STATES) REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Weekend plans.. Socks.. Sweatbands..

So tomorrow is a rest day.. active recovery ride to work.. Saturday more hill repeats in zone 5a, just like the other day.. Sunday Wells Ave, where I doubt I'll have a lot of acceleration after hill repeats on Sat.. But my fi-zi-que is weird. Sometimes I seem to feel great after a hard day.. Today was not one of those days though.. I had to do six intervals, four minutes each at FT, separated by only one minute of recovery. Tonight the legs feel like they were pelted with a bunch of fast balls in a batting cage.. Another hot day didn't help, but I did as I was directed to do.. Seems my hopes of a low "penalty score" from the Cox Crit are dashed. For whatever reason, they used 200 as the minimum points (last year it was 125) so I ended up with a 306, which didn't help me to average down. New Britain is the event where I intend to really make my mark. Fire in the belly for that race.. and two consecutive shots at it too: 30+ and 35+. Should I do the Pro event as I did at Nutmeg? Maybe. The left hand is still numb from Nutmeg. The "third testicle" thing is all but gone though. Thank you A&D Ointment!
A word on cycling socks: Don't be a weenie and pay $10 per pair. Ever. Go to TJ Maxx or Marshalls and you will find three packs of top quality socks which are compatible with bike racing, for about $6. I have a load of New Balance socks (you'll notice my cuffs are always red) which I bought in 2005, and I have yet to rip a hole in one of them. That's good advice. Take it. It's free. And buy yourself some sweatbands for your wrist while you're there. The Pony ones sell for $1.99 a pair. Dab at your nose with a sweat band and be a gentleman. Blowing snots all over everyone behind you is so... "whatever". Avril Levigne can't dance.. but somehow I can easily look past that and let her be my girlfriend.

Yet another travel day..

Going up to Salem and Somerville for a couple of jobsite visits. Gotta make myself available for my carpenters, do some field measuring, answer to the contractors and architects who sign the checks.. Seems to me there's a CRIT in Salem MA called the Witch's Cup Criterium on August 15th at 6:50 PM for the Pro race. I can easily set myself up to go to the Salem jobsite on that day, and then race afterwards.. Sweet. Time to drive north.

One thing I noticed this morning, as I do every morning.. EVERY motorist commuting to work seems to have a cigarette between their lips. One woman almost took me out trying to race me into Dunkin Donuts. Slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting me, as did I. Saving three seconds is apparently worth risking life and limb to these assholes. And yesterday riding down Route 1A to the beach.. a black Jeep Wrangler goes past me, riding IN the shoulder to deliberately graze me as they go by. Loaded with college pukes, one of whom was reaching out of the car to do something to me, I don't know what. I'm sure they had a good laugh at my expense. Had I panicked and swerved a little left, I'd be in the hospital or dead. I'm astonished at people's stupidity. I looked everywhere to find them later on down the road. No such luck. If I had caught them somewhere, I'd have a few choice words and of course a face full of water from my bottle would have been delivered right up the driver's nose. "Seems you needed some cooling off, asshole. Pretty courageous of you to endanger my life with your car and speed away.." That's what I would have said. Tried to read the plate, but vision was blurred with copious amounts of sweat on my face. Ride safe! 

Fairport Cheerleaders Die In Fiery Crash

This tragic event occurred in a location close to where I lived for ten years, on a road I have no doubt trained or raced on in the past. Fairport is the next town over from Penfield, NY, where my mother and brother still live. Coincidentally, this is the same area where Jonathon Decheau lost his life recently, when a motorist ran him down from behind while he was training. CNN Story

Hot enough for ya?

It's 90+ degrees outside, the DOW is up 90+ points today, and I've ridden my bike 90+ miles in the past two days.. time to leave work and ride the bike down to Narragansett Beach where the family awaits me with a picnic dinner. It's 25 miles into a stiff head wind.. after an already long and sweaty day out in the field, driving and standing all day.. but my family, my reasons for living, my pride and joy, wait for me at the beach, and I get to ride my bike there and do the training I need to do along the way.. Yes, I'm the luckiest man alive.