A lot on my plate

Holy crap it's been over two weeks since I've posted here. Few reasons for that. My father is here from Turkey getting treatment. Plus, my other blog www.amerikanturk.com has been taking a lot of my time and attention with all the recent news involving the Turkish Republic. (also, October 29th was sort of the Turkish version of "July 4th") My sister visited last weekend from NY.. My brother visited the weekend before that.. Add to all of this three new millwork projects at work and the time and money I've been putting into our new business venture: www.weebike.com... and it's clear to see that I've had no time or energy to ride for the past couple of weeks, much less blog. As for the new business.. it's really in it's infancy.. still developing. We have a lot of interesting ideas we want to try.. such as co-sponsoring a team.. sponsoring criteriums with some prize money.. starting a little bike club for kids age 3-5 with regular meets.. Setting up a display at some of the area crits and giving free trials of the bikes we carry.. even some "run-bike" kid's races at a few local crits. Not every idea is excellent, I know.. but if we're to have any amount of success selling these high end kid's bikes, we need to do more and do it differently than the typical internet retailer (most of which do nothing more than post a single picture of the bike, a list of features and a price.. Lame.)
The new blog contains detailed photographs and detailed descriptive information about every feature and component of the LikeaBikes. I'm hopeful that people make their buying decision based on the company which helps them more than any other, to make an informed buying decision. Makes sense to me!.. I'd love for people to weigh in and tell me I'm nuts or tell me I'm onto something. Hopefully you'll keep me in mind if the subject of kid's bikes ever comes up.
The LikeaBike product line is very strict about retail pricing. The prices are "fixed".. for lack of a better word. But by virtue of the costs to sell on Ebay, plus the cost to get paid from Paypal, plus the cost of shipping (which is free by all retailers) I'm convinced that it would be a reasonable exception to discount the bikes for direct sales.. meaning that with cash sales outside of Ebay and Paypal and delivered in person at a bike race, these cost savings should be passed on to the buyer. For this reason, I want to extend a 10% discount off the list price for any and all sales to my friends in the bike racing community. There are links to my Ebay Store in the www.weebike.com blog. You'll find the list prices there. Racers can take 10% off (but don't bid on Ebay!) Just leave me a comment here and I'll take of you.

Murat's Ebay Stuff

Stuff I have for sale is shown in the widget at top right, in case you didn't notice. Not interested? Cool! Scroll down and play Pac Man.

Murat is distracted..

..by the gray weather.. by my brother visiting this past weekend.. by my father being with us from Turkey for more cancer treatment.. by my other, much more famous blog.. Amerikan Turk .. where I vent about everything other than bbike racing. (Avoid clicking if you want to avoid crossing swords with me on matters of politics) Haven't ridden since Sunday.. and already I've added a couple of pounds. Can't seen to restrain myself! What does one do with all the time that they aren't riding? Eat. The end-of-summer/winter doldrums are upon me. Please click on a few of the Google links. It adds a few pennies to my account.. which I might need to help pay for anti-depressant meds. (Kidding. I've never taken any such pill in my life, and won't begin now) Seriously, click some links. Let's see if you can make a blip in my Google earnings. Be nice to see over a dollar a day for once. Make my day.. and you have a great one yourself.

Commuting again

Though I'm not sure for how long. It was cold this morning.. enough that I wore a long sleeve base layer, long sleeve jersey, leg warmers, wool socks and hat. Forgot the gloves and my hands hurt a bit, especially with the stubborn, crusty scabs still on my knuckles.. The ride home should be more pleasant.. I am really not interested in epidermal metabolism. It's not worth risking illness to burn a few more joules.. My fitness is out the window of course.. I shouldn't complain though. I took a nasty spill without breaking or spraining anything and I healed up almost completely in two weeks, didn't break or even scratch my bike (except for the slightly bent rear wheel, blown tire, ripped bar tape, and gouged pedal).. Others are not so lucky.. Like Solobreak.. who is nursing an open cavity next to his ass, once occupied by an ounce of puss. Get well brother..   

Road Rash Update

Pulled the last of the soggy scabs on my fore arm and shoulder OFF this morning.. after bathing of course or why else would they be soggy? Yuck. Seems the only thing really holding them there was some hair. Ablarge scab is left on my kneecap which will take at least another two weeks to heal completely- it's kind of deep. Since crashing on Sunday September 16th, I've ridden the bike twice. Once on a spin up/down the bike path last week, and again yesterday for a little over an hour. Actually pushed myself a bit yesterday, rode tempo the whole time (210 w avg) and it felt like I was friggin time trialing.. Legs feel fresh but weak. Have also added 3 pounds since before my trip Turkey. I'm up to 168-169. I may grab the bike at lunch time and ride to/from work the rest of the week. Kind of miss it, but not that much. I don't enjoy the morning chill.

Facial road rash: You have to watch this crash

Union Velo Cyclocross Training Races: Tuesday Nights

New content

I haven't anything real uplifting, sorry.

My father's health is poor. Been fretting about that quite a bit lately. No bike riding for 11 days now. Seems I'm in quite a deep funk. Spent the past many days clearing our extra lot of trees and brush, just had it hydroseeded yesterday so that our little one has a safe place to play outside. Gonna pave/gravel a little track around the perimeter for him to ride his bike on.. That's about 86 yards around- more than enough for a four year old. Other than that, my new hobby is picking at scabs.. especially the ones still held in place with arm hair. Snip-snip with the mini scissors in my Swiss Army knife.. Lunchtime already? I have no apetite. 

Sandy Martin: Addressing Bob Beal Issues

We received a recent comment from a reader who expresses severe dis-satisfaction with the Bob Beal Road Race. Sandy Martin stumbled upon it and asked that her response be posted here, as follows:

There were supposed to be police on every major corner, there is no way to marshal every drive or side road, I am sorry you felt that I blew you off, I took every comment and added them to the list to make the race better next year. The one road that the police left, which was Switch road, I completely understood as [I later discovered that] there was a fatal [traffic] accident [here previously].. I did not find out till that race was done, or almost done. I did have a talk with the police and we will have more of them next year, or MCRA will have marshals.I do not condone unsafe courses and whenever possible I would correct the problem. As for the arrows, most courses are not even arrowed, I spent 2 hours arrowing that course, and had no complaints about that. Sorry you feel I did not address the issue. Sandy

Pain in the ass: Hemmorhoid surgery

http://solobreak.blogspot.com/2007/09/pain-in-ass.html

Figured I'd mirror Solobreak's latest and weigh in, since I can't comment from work..

I know your pain Solo.. In 2003 I had multiple 'rhoids and on top of that, a spiral tear inside the rectum.. The result of lots of riding and racing, lots of straining myself to go faster on the bike, combined with a constipating high protein diet.. Long story short, I went in for surgery.. remember doctors looking down at me in the OR and then blackness.. Woke up in the recovery room, all doped up, with a special gauze and spray foam dressing applied to the inside of my exit. Threads from the stitches they had to apply in there, were hanging out.. I had to pee, bad.. or so I thought. Couldn't stand or walk.. Bring on the cathoter! (sp?) A very nice middle aged nurse came and inserted the tube for me (ouch) and I hardly peed a half pint.. As it turns out, they opened me up about the diameter of a can of Red Bull, and went to town stitchng me up INSIDE, and cutting away all of the 'rhoids.. Needless to say, the first time I took a dump a few days later, I thought I might pass out from the pain and terror of it.. Percosets make you constipated.. You will be given stool softening pills.. It will hurt when you pee (or rather when you clench your bladder shut) It will also hurt when you cough, sneeze, laugh, or lift anything remotely heavy.. I missed about 4 weeks of work, even collected disability for a couple weeks.. and I walked funny.. I took the pain medication non stop for 4 weeks. Always high and loopy! Addictive.. Watch out.. I had some withdrawel after stopping the meds.. Long story short (I said that earlier, yes) I am pain and 'rhoid and tear free ever since. Until I had surgery, it was always a chronic thing for me.. fine one month, then bad for a week.. repeat. I am sooooo glad I had the surgery. Everyone I know who's had this done is always a much happier person afterwards. So good luck with yours.. hopefully it's not as bad as mine was. And it's probably not much consolation, but fall is the best time to do this, after the road season winds down. May it pass quickly.

For il Brucie: Ruprecht goes to Oklahoma

If this fine example of Steve Martin's natural gift doesn't make you "LOL", then check your wrist for a pulse.. This is a classic scene from the movie "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", which Brucie hasn't ever seen. Reference: My recent comment about Oklahoma

Road Rash: 48 hours and the fore arm has improved

The day after:
48 hours later:
It's not fun when you forget about your injury and thrust your hand in your pocket..
This hurts less than my fore arm, believe it or not. This is the day after.
This is 48 hours later.Fingernail rips are painful. I've bandaged this tight so that it might reconnect a bit.
Not pictured: Hip.

Day three: Lube for the Stiffness

Okay, minds out of the gutter! My shoulder and forearm REALLY HURT when I try to move them around too much. The road rash is slowly drying out, developing scabs around the perimeter.. limiting range of movement.. If I force it, the scabs and regrown skin crack and cause an insane amount of pain. So this SurgiLube stuff will hopefully help me with this, and keep the bandages from sticking. I bought a case of 144 little convenience packets for $12, and another case of 100 of the 3" x 4" non stick pads from the surgical supply store in Cranston.. I'm at work again, trying to be productive.. wondering if I can heal in time for the YMCA Crit and the Jamestown Classic on October 6-7.. How much form can I hang onto until then? Maybe a 5 day break from the bike will recharge the batteries a bit, make me miss it a little. Need to change the tire on my bike and I can't do it with these busted up fingers and knuckles.  

Surgi Lube..

recommended to me by a team mate who crashed this year.. As the road rash heals, it begins to skin over and the draining slows down, making bandages stick to the raw flesh. This SurgiLube stuff is designed to keep injuries moist and prevent the "non-stick" bandages from sticking. Hope it doesn't burn. Anyone tried it?

Looking at the TT times from Bob Beal, I'm consoled by the fact that I only missed a top 5-6 placing by 10-11 seconds, on a bad day. Murat cramped up fiercely at the base of the RR climb on lap two. So much so that I could see the muscles in both quads contort under the skin. I stopped for a full minute and shook it out, walked it off, then continued.. and soon caught up to my four groupetto companions.. At the base of King Factory Road, I could feel the cramps returning, so I sat up and spun, resigning myself to DFL as my friends rode away from me.. As luck would have it, they all took a wrong turn and I beat them to the line, without even realizing what had happened. So ironic.

"Finish what you start" takes on a whole new meaning. It's worth it.

At any rate, I had some residual crampiness in the TT (hamstrings were acting up just before my start), and my confidence was shaken a bit because I was dropped. Hey lasy year we had holders at the start of the TT.. What happened this year?  

The aftermath

I am hurting all over. Knee, shin, hip, fore arm, wrist, both hands, shoulder.. All raw and oozing and clinging to my bandages. I'm at work, but I'm not concentrating too well. One of my carpenter foreman working for me up in Salem remarked that road rash is the equivalent of 3rd degree burns. I think that's over the top because I already see signs of healing, where burns take a lot longer to heal, and hurt constantly no matter what. Taking nothing but some occasional Advil for the pain. Everyone at work is astonished that I'm not doped up with narcotic grade prescription drugs. That stuff is as addictive as heroin. I used it a few years ago when I had a spiral tear in my rectum that needed stitching up. They also removed all my hemorhoids at that time.. That required Percosets, no way I could have managed without them.. This is nothing but nuisance pain.. although I will eat my words the next time I take a shower.. which I am trying to avoid for as long as possible. Starting to get a little gamey.. 

Bob Beal Criterium 2007: Video is Live

2007 Bob Beal 30-39 Criterium from Murat Altinbasak on Vimeo.
Here's the video from the Bob Beal Criterium, as promised. The crash is somewhere in the 8th-9th minute (in slo-mo too), if you want to wind ahead.. Also some footage of the aftermath, cleansing my wounds at the car with dear wife. If she wasn't there with me, I don't know what I would have done.. As I said to her on the drive home.. STILL better than a good day at work!
Also notice: When you're through here, I've posted some cool pictures from our recent trip to Turkey, at the other blog: www.amerikanturk.com
Thanks for looking/reading/watching.

Bob Beal Criterium 2007: Cameraman takes a fall

Here's a video grab upon impact with the ground.. I was feeling good, using the corner to gain some position.. then I seem to remember striking a pedal, and my rear wheel lifting.. when it smacked back down on the road, it exploded. Looks like the clincher freed itself from the rim and blew out.. Back to tubulars for me?

The camera man being yours truly... Murat crashed hard today. At the beginning of the 4th or 5th lap, diving into the hard left hand corner, my rear tire blew out, and I went skidding and sliding on my left side for what seemed like an eternity. My first thought upon standing up and checking myself, was taking a free lap and getting back into the race. Then I saw my brake hoods both bent inwards, my knuckles all shredded, and my rear flat.. I limped back to the car and nursed my wounds. I will post the video soon, which includes gratuitous coverage of my injuries, post-crash.. I also recorded a few short clips of the last laps of the crit, which was won my Amos Brumble of CCB in exemplary fashion..solo.. Dan Butler of BRC (who was parked next to me at the TT) took an impressive 2nd (1st for the 35-39), seconds ahead of a charging field. And team mate Rick Kotch took the field sprint for 3rd, bagging valuable (2nd place) points for his overall placing.
I counted a total of 25 isolated areas of skin loss, half of them on my hands. My shoulder, hip, elbow, wrist, knee and shin have all been stripped of skin. I bathed when I got home, and scrubbed every wound in the shower with soap.. The most pain I've felt since being hit by a car last year..

Bob Beal 2007 Road Race 30-39 Part III: Grupetto

Bob Beal 2007 Road Race 30-39 Part II: "the Hill"

Bob Beal 2007 Road Race 30-39 Part I: Start

Bob Beal 2007 Road Race: Start from Murat Altinbasak on Vimeo.

Last minute stuff..

I'm going back to Union Cycle to buy a new cassette. Changed the chain and I fear it will skip.. Also picking up an aero helmet. Almost bought it on my lunch break, and declined.. Now I want it. No shoe covers at the shop, anyone have an extra pair I can borrow?

If anyone has an extra set of Profile or similar clip on aero bars, bring them tomorrow. I know of someone who's looking for a pair to buy, last minute..

JB, you're freaking me out. Turkceyi kimden ogrendin kardesim?

For JB: Bob Beal road course

Yes the course has changed, but I've never been on this new one (just parts of it). A trusted source says that there is some climbing, but that it's only kind of steep for a few hundred feet.. the rest being more gradual, more big ring kind of stuff, like the original course.. Last year I don't remember ever using the small ring. Maybe I'm confusing it with the Topsfield course. 

last minute TT bike change?

Took the old yellow epx out for a spin last night. This is the bike I had before the LOOK 486 came along. Rolf Vector Pro tubulars with Schwalbe top shelf tires on them.. Campy Chorus drivetrain.. 172.5mm cranks!

First I was amazed that I ever raced on the thing.. Then I marveled at the narrowness of the handlebars. Then I noticed how absolutely smooth the thing rides.. Shifts are whisper quiet.. Tires seem to float  across the road.. All brake and shift cables neatly concealed in the bar tape.. Then I got to thinking about whether I'd be hurting or improving my Bob Beal TT time if I decided to use it Saturday afternoon.. There are advantages.. but I'm fearful of injuring my knees or developing an unexpected pain in my back or a pinched nerve.. I'd also be sacrificing the use of my Powertap (such a dirty word these days.. especially for those who've been racing since the Lemond era, as I have been) Big deal, right? It IS a big deal. I'm not a machine that knows how hard I'm pedaling instinctively.. When time trialing is your weakness (as it is for me), you need to know how much effort you're putting out. Months of trainig with the Powertap has established my CP6 to be about 325 watts. So.. it's simply a matter of keeping my eye on the average watts from beginning to end. This avoids blowing up and it insures that I go at a rate that I've proven I can sustain, and it also tells me how much and when to light the afterburners to average it up in the final mile. As for aero gear, I have the Profile clip-on bars and I may tape over the vents in my helmet, lose the bottle cages, and buy or borrow a pair of lycra shoe covers. Oh and the skin suit.. These are all enhancements over last years attempt. So.. I guess I wish my PT whel was a Campy at this point. Switching bikes might be a poor choice. 

Ninigret, Jetlag, Infection, Blah blah blah

In Turkey, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting some ancient ruins.

Per usual my adrenaline spikes in those first few moments of the crit and I'm sprinting through the first couple of corners and dragging a few other opportunists with me, away from the field. Within one lap, we had the gap which was maintained all the way to the end- about 15-20 seconds. Regrettably, I felt weak and tired after the first three laps and had to either sit up or risk an irreversible implosion. I feel very jetlagged and the cold I caught while in Turkey is still working me over, not fully cleared up yet. On a better day, I would have been fine in this break- the speed wasn't mind-blowing. It's been a recurring theme though. I'm terrible at grinding it out at a steady pace, and favor repeated hard accelerations and quick recoveries. I handle it better. All season long I've been putting myself in the breaks which end up winning, but always lack the experience/power to survive for more than 5-6 minutes. As team mate Rick Kotch commented afterwards, maybe I'm burning too many matches, pulling through too hard, or for too long. Maybe it's nerves or maybe it's an overly ambitious desire to be a big contributor to the break. I'm kind of fearful of being fingered as a weak link, so I try to hard to avoid a deliberate "let's drop the dead weight" attack. It ends up costing me. Needless to say, my five team mates were astonished and pissed that I didn't stay up there (rightly so, but this is a training race, and I have team mates who encourage us to chase them when they're in a break). One team mate even promised never to block for me again, which is fine because I've never asked or expected that of anyone. I put myself out there, gave it my best shot (all things considered) and came up short. Where were they at the start? Nothing stops them from co-attacking with me from the gun, right? Oh well.. bygones I guess. I'll continue to do this- get into breaks as much as possible and work on this weakness until it's eliminated. I just need to succeed once and prove to myself I can do it. After that I'm sure that success will breed success. After surrendering from the break, I started to get a little dizzy and a nuisance cramp in my lower right abdomen was really bothering me. With about 12-15 laps to go I took a lap to check myself, catch my breath and refocus. The light headedness might be from the bio clock being all messed up. Racing at 6:00 pm Eastern is like racing at 1:00 am for me right now.. Couple more days and I hope to be back to my former self. I've put on 2-3 pounds since before traveling to Turkey, and it's pretty obvious that this trip- even with all the form-preserving rides I did while over there- has taken something out of me. Shouldn't expect to be 100% for a little while. As for Bob Beal- I hope to simply have lots of fun in the RR and Crit, but I plan to hit the TT with guns blazing and leave everything I have out on the course. There's a 40 ouncer at stake.. and I'm not really sure who is supposed to chug it if they win the bet, which is against me beating last year's time by 40 seconds. If it rains as predicted, the bet's off. We should change the terms to a top ten finish instead. (21st last year) Thanks for reading.

Bob Beal.. Interesting..

I'm all pre-registered and find it hard to believe that they will not accept race day entries, especially given the fact that there are only 25 guys in the 35-39 category (we had 33 last year). What's so interesting is that out of the the 25 guys registered for this weekend, only 3 of them were pre-registered last year. Hypothetically speaking.. if race day entries were accepted on Saturday morning, another 30 riders could potentially be added to the 35-39 start list. On the condition that no one moved up an age group, of course. I'm sure there's some shifting of categories in there. I have team mates in there with me this time! Cool. Last year a few of us were scattered among different age groups. Time to go to Ninigret!

Blackberry me

I'm getting one tomorrow, from work. Every project manager but me already has one, because I was expected to  move into the estimating department and do very limited travel. This transition is going to be delayed, so my unit is on order. I'm not sure if this is something to be happy about, but I love techie stuff, so I guess I'll like it for at least the first few weeks. Any good video games in those things? On that note..

You know what the world needs? A bike race video game. Similar to Grand Theft Auto, except you're an American in Europe, start out broke, doing odd jobs like trafficking dope to survive, to buy bikes, race, get fit etc. It could work. Put me down for one, when it comes out.   

Rankings a joke?

Hey Solo: Does this seem to be a joke too? Did I make it to 5th with my suckiness and by not winning anything? Apparently so. Consistent mediocrity pays.. Besides, you're looking at TT results for a narrow band of masters. Remember that if S.F. has only one or two TT results, he's given default points (maximum) for the deficient events. Give yourself some friggin credit. You're no slouch in the TT department.

Look at the bigger picture in Mass..

Automobiles

Is it me or are the cars on the road in Turkey just so much cooler than the ones we have here? Fiats, Peugeots, Renaults, Citroens.. You have to see some of these things. Our friends in Istanbul have a Citroen Picasso (C4?) It's a minivan like I've never seen before. I won't bore you with details.. except that when you put your hand into the map pockets on the front doors, they light up inside. One example. The dashboard is a-mazing. (Am I easily impressed?) In Istanbul, we spent a little time in Bebek, which in my mind, is the equivalent of Beverly Hills. I saw more Land Rover Discoveries in one short drive than I've seen all year in Providence. An Aston Martin was double parked with it's four ways blinking. WTF. Man, those Citroens are cool.. all of them. And if you haven't seen the new Peugeots (no longer sold in the US for 10-15 years) go to their website and look. They're hot.   

Profile aero bars..

..bought a pair before leaving for Turkey and tried them on one of my rides. Really like the extra leverage and power you can produce by bearing down on the elbow pads.. Nice. I may video myself on the windtrainer and post it for your comments. This TT stuff is new to me.. Not sure if I'm supposed to move the saddle forward a touch.. Looking forward to this weekend! Cautiously optimistic about this weekend.. Now if only I can borrow someone's Oakley MP3 sunglasses for the TT! Jesus of Suburbia!

Home sweet home

We made it home last night, safe and sound. More later!

Checkin in..

Real quick.. famous last words. I am as happy as a tornado in a trailer park. Fit and tan.. Even did a little test 3 mile TT today. Burdened with tons of water, two spares, a camera etc, I eeked it out in 7:00 flat, 314 watts average. I had gas left at the end, could have done better, and I was even delayed a touch by a bus.. Took lots of pictures and video of some ancient ruins this morning, on my ride, that is.. Aspendos. Many pictures to come, I think I've taken over 200 so far.

One thing.. and I hate to sound racist.. but the Russians who populate these resorts are bar none the rudest most ignorant pigs I've ever encountered. I may regret saying this later on.. but trust me, these people would sooner spit in your face than piss on an open wound for you, much less smile. Whatever.. No disrespect for Russians in general, just the few who can somehow afford to be here. Douche bags.

Sunday: Turkish F1 Grand Prix

Hey maybe we can catch a glimpse of this as we land in Istanbul Sunday afternoon? -Murat

Ferrari Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Brazil enters the pits during the first practice session at Istanbul Park racetrack in Istanbul August 24, 2007. The Turkish F1 Grand Prix race will be held in Istanbul on Sunday. REUTERS/Max Rossi (TURKEY)

McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain drives during a second free practice session at Istanbul Park race track in Istanbul August 24, 2007. The Turkish F1 Grand Prix race will be held in Istanbul on Sunday. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY)

McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain takes a curve during a free practice session at Istanbul Park race track in Istanbul August 24, 2007. The Turkish F1 Grand Prix race will be held in Istanbul on Sunday. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY)

Break dancing

Last night, Ninigret Criterium. Per usual I find myself in the break that forms right after the start. Actually had to work hard to bridge up to it.. then the pain really began. Five or six of us in a fast rotation put my CP-5-6-7 deep into 300 watts- not something I can sustain for an hour. That's one of the beauties of the Powertap- once you're in a break, you can reset a new interval and track the average watts. If it's early and you see that you are doing 120% of FT, basically going VOmax, then you know in advance that this isn't your break- you're going to pop if you don't ease up.. On the other hand, if there's only 3-4 laps to go, then you might decide that you can hold on.. I look down and after the first 7 minutes I'm averaging 325 watts, and struggling to pull through. The rotation was fast and I wasn't getting the amount of recovery I needed between pulls. With guys like Paul Curley, Billie Mark and Bill Yabroudy in the break, you can be assured that I was hurting more than anyone else in there. With 50 more minutes to race, I smartly drifted back to the field and took up chasing instead, which I've decided is a lot more fun than being chased (for now). They were caught within another lap.. Mid-race I found myself in another high powered five man break for a couple of laps.. but this one disintegrated right after the sprint for the prime.. I was oblivious, didn't even realize the bell had sounded. Later, another three man break forms up the road. Not a big gap, but something that I know will take almost a lap to shut down. I go for it, full gas for 1/2 lap, missing the connection by a couple of car lengths.. Well.. there were two guys on my wheel who fired around me in the instant I discovered them back there. It was Bill Yabroudy and another Gearworks guy, not sure which. I'm left in no man's land, spent.. They connected with the other three and stayed away until the end. With one to go I put another dig at the front (did this many times actually), trying to contribute to the effort to catch these guys (we had no one up there) So I empty the tank up until the final bend before the finish, and let the strung out field swarm past me on the final straight. I think I did an honorable race. Set some new highs for CP6 and CP7 watts too.

No Ninigret Crit next week, according to the pre-race announcement, and the following week the race is Thursday night, with the "A"s starting at 6:00 (not 6:30) Check your sources to verify. 

California has..

930 ranked Masters Criterium racers. OMG... and Michael Hutchinson, who raced with us out here at the NBX Crit in June, is ranked 5th or so in Cali. You can see him ride away from me in the race video I recorded in that day's 35+ event. Talk about mis-matched wattage.  

It's Miller Time..

Only five days to go before we drive to JFK, board an Airbus A340 for Istanbul, fly 10 hours, get a connecting flight to Antalya, then picked up and driven to our resort courtesy of my father in law. The bike will be unpacked and assembled before bed time on Sunday.. Wake up call for 6:00 am.. and I'm out exploring roads which lead to ancient ruins, back in time for breakfast.. Then it's water slides, snorkling, spying topless sunbathers from behind the Rudys and all you can eat gourmet food and drink five times a day.. a room with a water view, a balcony, and a minibar that's all inclusive- no added cost to deplete it completely, as needed.

Keith Berger Criterium:

Keith Berger Full Results

..not the result I expected, but it's an improvement over the previous two editions of this crit. A leg breaking 2 minute 414 watt 30 mph solo pursuit [to what I believed was the winning move with 6 laps to go], took my breath away.. I caught them.. and then a Target Training rider caught us.. and the six of us simply failed to keep turning over the gears and failed to work together in spite of TT guy's sincere encouragement.. I was kaput.. the field was wise to chase.. we were caught with 4 to go..leaving me with only enough recovery, power and position to snag a top 20 out of 55 finishers. I skipped the Pro-Am.

Witch's Cup Pro-Am Criterium 15 August 2007

Here's the vid, as promised. Two ways.



Witch's Cup Pro-Am Criterium 15 August 2007 from Murat Altinbasak and Vimeo.

View All of Murat's Race Videos

A link to this post is added in the sidebar for future reference. I will update this list regularly.




Bob Beal 2007 Road Race 30-39 Part III: Grupetto
Bob Beal 2007 Road Race 30-39 Part II: "the Hill"
Bob Beal 2007 Road Race 30-39 Part I: Start
Witch's Cup Pro-Am Criterium 15 August 2007
2007 NBX Criterium
Wells Avenue Criterium 070603
2007 Hartford Criterium
2007 Palmer Library Road Race 35+
Rick Newhouse Criterium 2007
Wells Avenue Criterium April 1, 2007

Mystic Velo Crit: The suck knob has broken off..

That's me, 3rd wheel.. in the distance you can see the break , more than a 1/2 lap ahead of us..

I'm thinking more and more that the peak of my form was back in July.. When will I straighten up and fly straight again? I guess the improvement curve can aim up for only so long.. Grrrrrr. This G-d damned cold cost me a lot. Still hacking up globules of shit and still draining similar crap from the sinuses. Racing today felt like bloated suffocation.. To wit, I did a repeat of what happened to me at last year's Canton Cup: After the race I expelled about a half pint of phlegm from my throat. It just kept coming. Then after a nauseous tour of the Coventry Super Wal Mart we came home and I evacuated again.. let's just say there was an island named after me.. Tell you what, when the lungs get effed up from a cold, you lose fitness, speed, watts, functional threshold, all of that just DROPS. Stay healthy.

I finished the 35+.. even spent a few laps in the winning break, but it was just too hard for me to do for 20 more laps with them.. didn't have it..again..so I drifted back and we (the field) gradually absorbed all but six of the original break.. I didn't sprint at the end.. with two to go I dropped back and burned a match or two helping team mate Rick Kotch lap the field and effectively catch the two who already lapped us (and who we kept on a short leash). Would have liked to lead him out, but I was gassed and barely held on to the tail of the field on that last lap. In the end it didn't matter much. Rick got 3rd. Gale force winds sure broke things up though. We were doing 19-20 mph on the finishing straight, 28-33 on the back side. I was glad when it was over.

Too many races?

NCC 9th Tour of the Hilltowns (Sat)

The Mystic Velo Criterium (Sat)

Keith Berger Memorial Criterium (Sun)

Norwell Circuit Race (Sun)

So not including the always well attended Wells Avenue Criterium, we have five events in our area this weekend. Word on the street is that the Norwell event is hurting for participants, or else.. Looks like the Hilltowns race has filled up nicely. Hills.. I'll have plenty of hills to climb in Turkey in about 10 days. If there's one thing I miss on the PT, it's the Polar's altitude graphing. I indian-gifted my Polar HRM to my brother this summer, warning him in advance that I may want it back one day.  

I'm about to embark on a travel day in CT. Oh joy.

Threw the bike in the car after riding to work, in case I decide to take a two hour lunch ride while I'm out there. Explore some of the inviting side roads which I've driven past all summer. 

Happy Hour at the church

Tonight I think I'll go meet the big boys at the church on Route 12.. It's been a few months.. and back then those guys were really putting me in the hurtbox. My training program has been so badly derailed with illness this past week or so, that I just want to do what I feel like doing, for one day. I'm racing at Mystic and Keith Berger, and a recovery day tomorrow will suffice. The way I'm built.. and it's probably a mental thing.. I feel stronger after a hard day than I do after a rest day. Legs might be a little sore, but I feel stronger. Besides, I could use some cameraderie. The solo commutes are getting oh-so-boring. 

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