45 and counting

I started out only able to do 20, now as of yesterday I can do 45 push ups. Tomorrow I'll try for 50, on my way to 100 push-ups, like I used to do without stopping, long ago. Now for a wet fender-bike ride to work! Joy.
::pause while I ride in to work::
Okay I made it in one piece- they say drizzle, but it feels like rain when you're riding as fast as I am. Two things: it feels like the cranks or pedals on my Redline are bent. I don't know if maybe they're straight and my other two bikes are bent. Maybe there's an alignment tool that can check this out. Anyway, the other thing I noticed is that the freewheel on the Redline is a pretty big gear. I took the 9 mile shortcut this morning, and it includes a punchy little climb. I usually grind up the thing seated, because my messenger bag swings all over the place if I stand. Today I skipped the mess bag, and so I was able to climb standing. There is no way I'd make it up that hill seated without injuring a tendon or something.
So yeah I'm in the office all day today. Yesterday was a death march through Boston. I had to go to three jobsites: One at the Harvard Art Museaum, then to another Harvard project on Oxford Street, and finally my crown jewel 11 floor luxury project on Beacon Street. The company I work for is no secret, though I'll refrain from naming them here. Let it be known that we did all of the woodwork in T_m Br_dy's three floor condo right up the street from my project on Beacon. If you wonder what such woodwork is worth in dollars, think about the median value of a home in Mass and triple it- just for woodwork. I got to see it inside, and gawk at his trophies and at the Audi R8 in his garage. Anyway, I've said too much.. and now I must kill you.
I returned to the office from Boston about 6:00 and yeah- I rode home by bike when it would have been oh-so-much-easier to drive myself straight home. That's what a hard nosed bad ass I am. Skipping a ride is like skipping a dose of Prozac.

1989 UB Classic Criterium

Rewind 20 years to 1988, the year I was 4th at the UB Classic. (3rd place was my good friend Todd Scheske) In 1989 (pictured) I was 3rd- (2nd in the field sprint). In 1990 as a first year cat 2, I was 7th in the 2/3 race, which would end up being the last time I ever raced at UB. Known to be a blood bath.. I'm glad I never kissed the pavement on that twisty course. and looking back, I see that all three times I raced there I finished in the money, and my decent and consistent results there most likely it didn't hurt my chances of being upgraded to Cat 2 while still a junior.
Fast forward 10-11 years and add about 40 pounds (I am about 190 in this picture) This was something I wanted to try for a long time, so around the year 2000, dear wife and I were in Turkey, and I said -uck it, no time like the present. We were at a salon for hours while she and her mom got the royal treatment. I became so bored that I jumped into a chair and said "let's do this thing".. Here, we're at a waterfront restaurant which has a view of one of the bridges connecting Europe and Asia.

Bridges, Tunnels and Carbon

Doesn't it make you all happy inside to see what my AM commute looks like? The infamous West Warwick/Cranston Bike Path- pretty scenic these days and usually deserted in the mornings. The tunnel which is pictured is very dark in the middle (during the day) - such that yours truly crashed violently back in 2003 after striking 6" x 6" x 5 foot long piece of pressure treated lumber (positioned there intentionally by some -uckers) Letters written to the state did get results- they fixed the lighting inside of the tunnel, which now only lights up at night. I guess they missed the part about me crashing in there after sunrise one morning. I guess we take what we can get.
I voted on my lunch break.

Is your glass half full or half empty?

..or maybe the glass is just twice as large as it needs to be.. Whatever.. Here's some visual stimulation which I hope will make your Monday morning a little more bearable. I never considered myself to be vertically challenged until I saw this photo of solobreak, me and ilbruce.

No I did not buy this saddle from Solobreak, but I think it's just as gnarly as the one which he was too cheap to replace when he should have.. I pretended to be sick and stayed home from school on the day that I expected this saddle to arrive from Performance Bike, along with some other stuff that I ordered. It ended up arriving the following day, meaning I had to fake my illness for two days in a row. I bet I'm not the only bike crazy 16 year old to have done this..

The one that started it all- a relic from my glory days as a junior. This Torpado SLX was abandoned upon the advent of SIS index shifting- I keep this bike as a reminder. Of what.. I'm not sure. I laced up that Ambrosio Montreal rear wheel myself when I was 16. Holy crap that was 21 years ago.

My second hand entry level Fuji Cross Pro- a sucky bike compared to the thoroughbreds which lapped me on Saturday, but even with the chain which I swapped onto it from my road bike 1/2 hour before the race, it did not let me down, did not miss a shift or blow out a side wall.

My trusty Redline 9-2-5 commuter recently had a makeover, as you can see from the junk on the floor. Hey maybe I can use those things to do push-ups or something.. I bought this bike on impulse because it had the flip flop rear wheel. A heavy steel fixed gear bike with fenders, bullet proof wheels and tires? Sold! Soon I'll be doing three hour weekend rides on it. Who wants to come with me?

Above, you bask in the reflected glory of my French stallion- the LOOK 486. Sixteen pounds of carbon fiber fury. I replaced the lost chain tool with a trip to REI today, so the new chain was applied and no swear words were used. Needless to say, I couldn't do it without completely degreasing the cranks, chainrings, frame, cassette and wheels. A new chain deserves a clean drivetrain. So.. what's temporarily missing from this bike? I must admit, with it's original Easton wheel installed and all the Powertap stuff and lights and blinkys removed from it, this bike is a very light mofo. Speaking of Powertap- I tightened up the rear hub- no more lateral play. I also discovered that the transmission wire had a break in it, explaining why the PT head is not working.

This is the bike upon which I was hit by a car back in 2006. It's a little big for me, but it I've repaired it since the car crash, so except for the rear tire being flat, it's in perfect condition, making it a fine back-up bike in case something should ever happen to the Look 486.

I haven't shown my face here in a while.. so here's a pic of me after the final Ninigret crit this summer, with a bad case of helmet head. Thanks for reading.

Northhampton Cross

Elite 35+ had 82 starters, 67 finishers. Your hero started from the very back of the field, passed some folks down on the fields, but lost most positions gained by the time lap one was completed. Got lapped by the leaders during my 5th lap, and then passed by 20 more guys just before completing my 6th lap in about 43:30. I did very consistent lap times of 7:05 to 7:15 each. I guess if I had done all 7 laps my finishing time would have been right around 51 minutes, or about 6 minutes down on your other hero, Solobreak (55th), who started right beside me at the very back... When results come out- make no mistake- I was not dead last! That distinction does not belong to Murat. Great weather today. Plus I didn't crash. Bonus! Lapped by only 1/4 of the field. Woo-hoo! Not DFL. Totally awesome! Super intense workout. Yes today rocks! I'll be imbibing spirits at il Brucie's house tonight with Nega-Coach and maybe Gewilli.. Who can ask for more?? Somebody pinch me.

FW: Office dares

Office dares

FYI, For those trying to just hold on to whatever shred of sanity and dignity you have left in your office, keep on keeping on with these innocent office dares to make your skull-crushingly dull and boring work hours a little more lively....

ONE-POINT DARES

1) Run one lap around the office at top speed.
2) Ignore the first five people who say 'good morning' to you.
3) Phone someone in the office you barely know, leave your name and say, "Just called to say I can't talk right now. Bye."
4) To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.
5) Leave your zipper open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say, "Sorry, I really prefer it this way."
6) Walk sideways to the photocopier.
7) While riding in an elevator, gasp dramatically every time the doors open.

TWO POINT DARES

1) Say to your boss, "I like your style" and shoot him with double-barreled fingers.
2) Babble incoherently at a fellow employee then ask, "Did you get all that, I don't want to have to repeat it."
3) Page yourself over the intercom (do not disguise your voice).
4) Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle (there must be a 'non-player' within sight).
5) Shout random numbers while someone is counting.

FIVE POINT DARES

1) At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem (5 extra points if you actually launch into it yourself).
2) Walk into a very busy person's office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
3) For an hour, refer to everyone you speak to as "Bob."
4) Announce to everyone in a meeting that you "really have to go do a number two."
5) After every sentence, say 'Mon' in a really bad Jamaican accent. As in "The report's on your desk, Mon." Keep this up for 1 hour.
6) While an office mate is out, move their chair into the elevator.
7) In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, "Shut up, all of you just shut up!"
8) At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce, "As God as my witness, I'll never go hungry again."
9) In a colleague's DAY PLANNER, write in the 10am slot: "See how I look in tights."(5 Extra points if it is a male, 5 more if he is your boss)
10) Carry your keyboard over to your colleague and ask, "You wanna trade?"
11) Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: "Do you hear that?" "What?" "Never mind, it's gone now."
12) Come to work in army fatigues and when asked why, say, "I can't talk about it."
13) Posing as a maitre d', call a colleague and tell him he's won a lunch for four at a local restaurant. Let him go.
14) Speak with an accent (French, German, Porky Pig, etc) during a very important conference call.
15) Find the vacuum and start vacuuming around your desk.
16) Hang a 2' long piece of toilet roll from the back of your pants and act genuinely surprised when someone points it out.
17) Present meeting attendees with a cup of coffee and biscuits, smashing each biscuit with your fist.
18) During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
19) Arrange toy figures on the table to represent each meeting attendee, move them according to the movements of their real-life counterparts. And if that wasn't enough for you...

How to keep a healthy level of insanity:

1) At lunchtime, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
2) Tell your children over dinner. "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
3) Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
4) Put your waste basket on your desk and label it "IN".
5) Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over his or her caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
6) Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy."
7) Don't use any punctuation
8) Use, too...much; punctuation!
9) As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
10) Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.
11) Specify that your drive-through order is "to go."
12) Sing along at the opera.
13) Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.
14) Put mosquito netting around your work area. Play a tape of jungle sounds all day.
15) Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.
16) Have your co-workers address you by your wrestling name, "Rock Hard."
17) When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I Won! I Won! 3rd time this week!!!"
18) When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot yelling, "Run for your lives, they're loose!"

And the final way to keep a healthy level of insanity....

19) Send this to everyone in your address book, even if they sent it to you or have asked you not to send them stuff like  this 

Pectoral muscles do not propel you forward on a bike

Even so, I'm fighting a war against blubber and lately the enemy has taken positions in the hills of Mantitania. I must flatten those bastards, so I've been doing push-ups, about 4 times a week. I started out with 20 and that was hard. Yesterday, I managed to do a solid 40. Not too shabby.. there was a time when I could do 100 push ups without stopping. Hard to believe, but true. I resolve to harden my upper body this winter primarily with free weights, and this might involve renewing my membership at Bally Total Fitness. What sucks is that the nearest facility is in North Providence. They do have a spin class that's usually very well attended.. and racquetball courts in the East Providence location. Renewing at Bally's for me is about $100 a year- short money. I've also been considering doing the indoor soccer thing again- join a team and play once a week like I did a few winters ago. My ankle sprain of 2006 seems to have healed up because I had no pain down there after last week's MRC race. If I can jump barriers, I should be able to kick a ball again..
I'm registered for Northhampton Saturday only in the 35+ 1/2/3. There are 81 pre-registered in my field and I plan to improve on last weekend's 51st place out of 57 starters at MRC Cyclocross. I don't know what's worse- getting lapped or being at the very bottom of the finishers, but I guess being given credit for "finishing" even when you're one lap down, is pretty cool. I saw that a few guys DNF'ed so there's always something worse than being lapped or DFL.
I was about 5 minutes into my commute this morning and a rider on the bike path passed me head-on. He said "Hi Murat" but my eyes were so glazed from the cold that I couldn't make out who it was or his uniform and it was too cold to stop. I wonder who that was..

So if I go and do my 5th ever cyclocross race..

..this weekend up in 'NoHo', that will mean I've done an average of one cross race every four years.. over the past 20 years.. Lame.
The bike path in Cranston (not to be confused with the very inferior, dangerous, narrow and slick with bird poo and covered with Gewilli's bike drippings East Providence Bike Path).. has been a carpet of foliage lately.. and as this fallen organic matter dehydrates, it sounds more and more like potato chips underfoot..
What is up with bluejays and squirrels? For two mornings in a row, I am finding not less than three of each congregated in a clearing, seemingly in cahoots on some level that I can't understand.
A ride home from work last night at 8:00 pm was indeed invigorating- and I did not take the shortcut- went the whole 12.5 miles.. though I did take the shortcut this morning. I'm lazy and have trouble convincing myself I've had enough sleep. Too much of something that feels so good, can't be a bad thing, right?.. except when you're cutting it too close and making yourself late for work. If I spend an extra 2-3 minutes looking for booties or keys or wallet, that's all it takes for me to relegate myself to taking the shortcut, which is only 9 miles and includes a hill that I don't like. Ha- as if there's one that I do like somewhere..
I'm proud of myself though- it takes more than a little bit of character and determination to get suited up extra early in the freezing cold for a 45 minute commute. Lately, since I'm no longer marching to the beat of the Powertap (though I don't like having to do manual workout entries- I'm trying to keep accurate TSS, CTL, and ATL levels maintained in Peaks software).. I find myself commuting less because of the need to add training volume, and more because I just love propelling myself forward on a bike to get where I need to be. It feels pretty good, once the initial shock of the cold passes and everything acclimates and you feel like you could go on for hours if you had time.. I arrive to work pumped with endorphins and grinning, as my astonished pear-shaped co-workers scratch their heads and wonder.. "why? what's the point?".. and 10-12 hours later I walk into the door at home the same way, smiling and as happy as a tornado in a trailer park..
Thanks for reading.

My fourth cyclocross race ever..

..yeah...about that. My first ever cross race was 1988 Junior Nationals in Milwaukee.. Lapped my Bobby Julich and a few others and DNF. Don't ask. 2nd cross race ever was 18 years later: 2006 Canton Cup. DNF. That sucked real bad. I suffered immeasurably. 3rd cross race ever was one of the 2007 Goddard Park races. I was lapped by only the first 6 or so finishers in the elite 35+.. Fell down once, had a good time.. 4th cross race ever was today's MRC 35+. I was loving the weather! (Man I wish I did a 3 hour road ride instead of race today) No regrets- I had fun today don't get me wrong.. My start position was in the middle someplace and I seem to have held that position for all the way until we reached the first set of barriers before the woods. No actually, I was right in there up until the hard right hander in the middle of the woods. Then a gap opened on the train in front of me and I was feeling so unconfident, so gassed, and so afraid to be the dickhead who impedes the strong legs behind me, that after the turn I made it pretty clear to those behind that I was not a good wheel to follow. Whatever. To regain the element of fun, I had to remove the element of pressure and just let everyone blow past me. Once alone, I could focus on my tempo, cornering, handling, dismounts etc, without worrying about taking someone out. After what seemed like 1/2 hour of riding at my "limit" the lap card said 4 to go. WTF? Each lap felt like an eternity to me.. 3 to go, I'm starting to believe that I can outrun the leaders to the finish- I'm dead last. Then just before the first set of barriers, I trip and fall during my dismount. I know it wasn't pretty because I went down hard when my left foot refused to release and the bike went flying overhead and landed on the first barrier. I was ok- just shaken- and relieved that I didn't make such a spectacle of myself over at the log. I was slow to get over the barriers and back up to "speed", if you can call it that. Then into the woods and just before emerging to the pit area, the leader came through and his chasers were just 5-10 seconds behind. I made sure to keep an eye behind me and give them room and point to the side of me they should pass on. That worked.. But by the time I reached the finish again, the bell was rung, and what should have been 2 to go for me, became 1 to go- I was lapped by 6 people by this time. My final lap about 12 more guys passed me and then it was over. I finished one lap down. While everyone around me was doing a cool down lap, I did my "lap of shame" and called it a day, glad to have dragged wife and child out to Wrentham. Their cheering was a huge boost, their presence made it impossible for me to quit, even though it crossed my mind a few times. Nothing hurt more than the pain in my lower back- like a knife was thrust in there and twisted constantly. What's up with that? My bike for all the screwing around I did the night before, did okay for me. I had bought a new chain for it but could not find my chain tool (hence the fit of rage referred to last night). I resorted to taking the chain off of my road bike and putting it on there instead. (It has a quick link, and the previous chain was rusted into a solid mass of corrosion, after I abandoned the cross bike following last winter's Goddard race) The shifting was extremely sloppy, but I think I only used three gears the whole time anyway.. The cassette was rusted too and I took the rust off using my wire wheel on my bench grinder. Anyway.. I've bored you enough.. I call it a good day.. and to whoever was cheering me every time I jumped over the log- I couldn't recognize the voice and I couldn't look over- thanks a bunch. It helped me stay in there and helped ease the pain too. Thanks for reading perhaps the most insignificant report out there for this event.

After tonight's fit of rage in the garage..

I've decided to limit my bicycle repairs to flat tires, and that I will happily pay others to do everything else.

Got a wheel!

Thank you Providence Bike...
Now... Tomorrow.. Skinsuit or bibs? Shorn legs or hairy? DFL? or can an untrained Murat possibly beat one or more people to the line? What's a better goal: not being lapped or not being DFL? Not that I care.. Ok maybe a little.

Wrentham is $20 richer

I threw my sombrero into the ring and look forward to trading punches with the bottom feeders of the Masters field this Saturday. I just hope I can get a rear wheel put together in time.. plus one of my frog legs is busted and I'm torn between doing a hack repair job on it, or removing them both completely. Looking at my Fuji Cross Pro after I washed the Goddard Park 2007 mud off of it the other day, I realized it's a pretty slick looking bike, even if it's just entry level. The equipment is compatible with my ability, so it works for me. Who rode to work this morning? I thought it would be in the 20s and behold it was 32 degrees when I dragged myself out of bed. No balaclava or thermal jacket needed after all. The only difference from that last cold morning is thicker leg warmers and thicker booties this time. And I took the short cut to work- only 9 miles. It's not smart to be late to work in uncertain times like this.
I'm looking at buying a mountain bike very soon- going to race it in 2009- especially on those weekends when the crits are too far away, or there's nothing but hilly road races to pick from. Mike S and I did an epic four hour mtb ride Sunday at Big River. I used a demo bike from the shop, and liked it a lot. We were lost a few times and even had to resort to the infamous "Ride of Shame" down Route 3 when we lost our way completely. That sucked because I had about 25 pounds of air left in the rear wheel.. At any rate, look out Sport Class in 2009! (or cat 4 or whatever it's now called) Murat is racing on the dirt for first time- may it be great success..

Post 527: A wet weekend in store at Wrentham?

The new Michelin tires I bought for my cross bike are for muddy conditions. (They're called "Mud3" or something.. Should I break them in on Saturday at Wrentham? I still need a rear wheel though.. Even if I use my pristine Easton wheel from the road bike, the cassette on there is an 11-23. How will that work on the Wrentham course? Should I pre-register? Decisions, decisions.. Should I do the 1-2-3 race or the Masters 1-2-3? Both? What better way to prove how much I suck at cross, than to prove it to you twice in one day??
Note to self: Self-depracation is intended to completely remove any and all expectations of a top result, which could otherwise harmfully cause me to feel pressured and required to perform, thusly removing all of the fun from participation. If I have one secret goal, it's to avoid being lapped. How hard could that be?

That was one cold commute..

..especially with just a short sleeve jersey, sleeveless base layer, speedo and flip flops. But after the first times that I drilled it [in between taking pictures of bird poo and seashells] I felt all toasty. That dermatological metabolisis really kicked in and stuff.

Powertap freehub is loose, and I don't mean slutty

Not happy! I've been without the luxury of the Powertap data for about 3-4 weeks. Having also been without a rideable cross bike since last winter, I needed a wheel that I could throw on the cross bike and get it ready to race. I even bought a pair of Michelin cross tires and tubes and a new chain.. So I get the Powertap wheel off the road bike, intending to put it onto the cross bike for a while, when I discover that the freehub/cassette has 2-3 mm of lateral play in it! How the F did that happen? I don't even own a tool for removing the cassette so I can't really see what's going on in there, but when I move it out as far as it can go, there's quite a bit of daylight between the granny gear and the hub body. It's a miracle that I was ever able to shift gears properly these past few days or weeks. So I'm still without a rear wheel for the cross bike. The original wheel has three broken spokes and a seized up freehub. The Powertap wheel needs to be rebuilt or replaced as well. The only way to get me on a cross bike this winter, it seems, is to somehow change my tubular Rolf Vector Pros, from Campy to Shimano, and I don't even know how. From what I've heard, the RVCs make excellent cross wheels. I've owned mine since 2003 and they turned out to be an excellent pair- still as straight as when I bought them. So maybe I exchange the Michelins I bought for a pair of cross tubulars? Ah! What's the point. All this trouble and expense for two or three cross races and near certain DFLs.. Maybe someone will loan me a decent Shimano rear wheel.

LikeaBike Jumpers are in stock- HOT PINK!

I'm receiving a shipment of them today or tomorrow. There's a new color in town, too! HOT PINK. And just in time for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This Sunday morning at Roger Williams Park: MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer

Millwork One has a team of participants. Please donate to the cause if you can spare a few dollars. I know that I will.

If you don't already know, these little bikes are designed for ages two to five, built from aluminum, weigh only 7-1/2 pounds, use Schwalbe tires, have rear suspension, designed for age 2 to 5, and are completely bullet proof. (Leave it in the yard in the rain overnight? no worries)
My wife and I run a small home based business selling these bikes, under the banner of WeeBike.com. We also co-sponsor my bike race team- Millwork One Racing and we fund a lot of the team benefits such as apparel, entry fees and prize matching. It was always my hope that my largest pool of customers would be bike racers who appreciate a high end starter bike for toddlers. If you're in the market for a LikeaBike- any model, please consider buying from a fellow racer who also supports bike racing with sponsorship dollars.
To do our part in the cancer war, (we lost my father to lung cancer this past May) I would like to offer all of the local racers here in New England a special deal. Since I normally ship these bikes for free all over the US, I will extend a $15 contribution to the cancer charity of your choice, if you buy a LikeaBike Jumper from me between now and December 31st. There is one caveat: The bike will be delivered in person, within Rhode Island state lines, at a location that is mutually convenient, such as a cross race, training ride meet-up, or at Providence Bike. The $15 I usually pay for shipping the bike goes to charity, in your name. A pretty good deal I think, and very green since we avoid using UPS. Please reach out to me if you're interested: reiscotools@yahoo.com

To learn more about these amazing bikes, please use the www.WeeBike.com link, where you will be linked to our storefront on Ebay, showing you our prices and selection. We do sell many bikes outside of Ebay, so do not feel compelled to transact there. Reach out to me by e-mail and if you need to pay using credit, I can send you an invoice through Paypal. Many thanks for reading.

Powertap is kaput

I changed the hub batteries and no luck. The unit is still not receiving a signal from the hub. I've reached out to Saris.. This thing has over one year of use on it so I'm not optimistic about them sending me a brand new set-up free of cost. This sucks. Not that I need to see data while commuting. It sucks because it's a pain in the ass entering my rides manually into Peaks. The reason I'm doing this is because I want to avoid a misrepresentation of my TSS/day when I start training for 2009 next month. A semblance of continuity in the data is important to me, even if all I'm doing is 25 miles of commuting five days a week.

Care package par avion

My mother-in-law has been visiting with us since July 15th, and tonight she boarded a SwissAir flight home. In fact she's 6 miles in the air as I type this, somewhere approaching the Arctic Circle and headed towards Zurich. I took the opportunity for free postage and stuffed her bags with schwag for the less fortunate bike racers of Bursa, Turkey. I sent five complete kits with bibs and jerseys from my former Union Velo affiliation, six pretty decent tires and ten tubes which I flatted- each with either one tiny pin hole or a patchable snake bite. And about 12 pairs of lightly used cycling socks. Overall, about $1000 of stuff, if you had to buy it new. The guys I trained with in Turkey this past spring- a lot of them were using equipment and apparel which were quite pitiful. All of this stuff is for their benefit.

Future cyclocrosser

An Afghan boy rides his bicycle past buildings destroyed during the 22-year civil war in Afghanistan, November 14, 2001. REUTERS/File

By the Power of..

I always thought it was odd that he pointed his sword at Cringer and, instead of being destroyed by it's power, he's transformed into a "Mighty Battle Cat". Why doesn't he point it at himself?
Money quote: "Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword.."

Missing: One bike racer's mojo.. Reward if found.

I skipped riding on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but I got myself back on track for commuting this afternoon with a chilly 12 mile ride home. Tomorrow morning's ride to work will have me cursing the change of seasons, I'm sure. It's become painfully evident that when I'm sick and tired of riding my bike and consciously stay away from it for a few days, that I develop symptoms of depression, self hate and withdrawel.. Leave it to Murat to turn a healthy and fun activity into a destructive dependency. I can't tell anymore if I'm chasing something or running away from it.

Toys R Us: No model planes

Before I discovered bicycles, I enjoyed constructing build-it-yourself model cars, boats and airplanes. The brands were Monogram and Revell, if memory serves. The other night I'm suddenly excited about introducing our five year old to this hobby, and I'm convinced that at Toys R Us, I will find a full aisle of such model vehicles, for all skill levels, including the 'snap-together' type which I want to buy for my son Reis. What a disappointment. Nothing. And none of the little paint jars, brushes or cements either. Does this have anything to do with 'glue-sniffing' potentially becoming a childhood pastime?
On the plus side.. I found a couple of very cool vintage Matchbox cars: a 1965 Alfa Romeo Sprint GTA and a 1968 Citroen DS. Son and I had a disagreement when we got home when he claimed ownership and opened them both. I offered him a box of 20 cars at the store and he declined! Anyway, we agreed to "share" the two cars. My idea of sharing was to give him one of the two cars. His idea of sharing was to open both cars, let me look at them for about 10 seconds, and then run off with both.

It's about that time: Arm warmers

Arm warmers.. The indispensable torso-less jerseys of the fall and spring.. Who hasn't been glad for tucking them into their pocket before an afternoon ride in October? Who hasn't cursed them after punching themselves in the face while trying to put them on? Livestrong bands get in the way, depilating our arm hairs. Wrist watches snag them and are usually concealed in haste. As easy to lose as a pair of socks, but less prone to disposal when they're tattered and worn out. Do you feel cool when you peel them off during your ride? Do you live for the astonishment of motorists as they witness your arms magically shedding their skin? "How cool is that?" they must be thinking to themselves.. or not. It's hard for a driver to see a biker when they're toking a Newport Light with the windows rolled up and a screaming toddler being poisoned to death in the back seat.
Three notable things about this morning's commute:
1. A white-tailed deer bounded alongside of me on the bike path in Cranston, for about 1/4 mile. Big. Scary.
2. A car (per usual on Park Ave in Cranston) pulls in front of me from a driveway, hoping to be given an opening by other accommodating motorists. It didn't work out that way, and your hero was forced to squeeze the brakes, hard.
3. I rode the butt-ugly REDLINE 9-2-5 to combat the soaking wet roads. (Yes I own one of these) My mission, to get to work with dry feet and dry ass. Done and done. It's not a fixed gear at the moment though. I used it over the summer to occasionally tow our pride and joy in his trailer a la gewilli, which is unsafe to do in the fixie mode, I think.
Enjoy your day. Thanks for reading.

Flashback: 2007 Attleboro Criterium @ Sun Chronicle

Skip Foley (waving) wins the 14th Annual Attleboro Bicycling Criterium Pro 1-2-3 Race. (Staff photo by MIKE GEORGE)
I stumbled upon this and laughed when I came to the part about Shireman beating Norton in the Cat 3 race by "a few moments". Cute. It was actually a photo finish, with Michael nipping Michael by less than a wheel. It was an exciting finish for sure. Anyways, I mainly wanted to show off the fact that I was a finisher in three events on that day, which translates to something like 120 laps around the 1 km course.
thesunchronicle article

2008 Portsmouth Criterium Finish

Ward Solar, second from right, pumps his fist in the air as he wins the Portsmouth Criterium men's pro competition in Market Square on Sunday.

Cheryl Senter photo

Above is the conclusion of the 2008 Portsmouth Criterium. I want to draw your attention to the respective ages of the top 10 finishers: 33, 27, 21, 43, 19, 17, 27, 27, 26 and 23. The combined age of 3rd and 5th place is still less than that of 4th place finisher, Matt Kressy.

Here's a nice article about the race at Seacoast Online.

Seven Days to Re-center

I rode the bike home from work today, after a full seven days of much overdue rest. More accurately, I really needed to focus on matters at work without distraction. I hate to say it, but driving instead of riding, helped. It's a hassle to juggle cars (I keep a car at work at all times), juggle apparel for work and for riding, making sure not to forget car keys, phone, wallet etc. Today I grabbed the bike and all my stuff, drove to work, and at 6 O'clock, I rode home. Powered up both blinkies- I have a white one and a red one, but I must get myself a high beam headlight ASAP. I recall last winter that riding home in the dark was kind of fun, for whatever reason. Maybe because it reminds me of the times I used to roam the streets of Queens NY as a young teenager on my PK Ripper. Or because it reminds me of the times later on when my friend Derek Larson and I would go night riding on our road bikes- meet up at Pittsford Plaza when all the stores were closed, to practise sprints and leadouts under the lights of the parking lot. Couple of crazy juniors I suppose. Soon enough, it will be pitch black when I suit up to ride home from work, and it will be cold, and I need to have a good headlight. So riding home today, I'm startled by something. My Powertap is frozen- the elapsed time stopped ticking at 3:51. I stopped and fidgeted with the receiver, jiggled wires, snapped the cpu off and replaced it back on- nothing. Seems I just replaced the hub batteries not that long ago, so I'm worried that something might have shit the bed. Hopefully not.
Needless to say, with no Powertap reading telling me my watts as I ride, there was only one way to make sure and avoid doing inadvertent junk miles- and that was to ride home all-out in time trial mode of course. Serious.
I jest, but I must admit that riding home tonight without staring at the data was kind of nice. I think I'll put the Powertap wheel on the cross bike, and ride the Easton Tempest 2 rear wheel on my road bike for a while. The thing is practically brand new, and it looks pretty slick when the high contrast decals of both wheels are spinning. My Powertap wheel on the other hand, has about as much charm as a donut spare tire on a Crown Victoria.

GT: Catch and release ad steals my heart

Arguably one of the most humorous bike ad campaigns ever. Tell me this doesn't make you snicker: And yess.. it's mainly funny because it's a tri-dude who's caught. See the whole series of photos in the campaign here. That's a pretty hot road bike too. My LOOK 486 is looking a little bit dated to me lately.

Requirement of the Boy Scout Merit Badge for Cycling: Average 5 mph for 10 hours

This blog post has been incubating all day, beginning with the moment I lazily flipped open a tattered Boy Scout 'Handbook for Boys' from the 1930s and started to paw through it.. It was something I picked up a few years back, probably part of an auction lot that I won at an Antique Tool Auction. At the time, I didn't think much of it and threw it on the bookshelf. Today I discover that there is a Merit Badge for Cycling, and that the requirements for earning one were set forth 80 years ago, thusly:
How times have changed- check out the current requirements for the 2008 Cycling merit badge:
1. Show that you know first aid for injuries or illnesses that could occur while cycling, including hypothermia, heat reactions, frostbite, dehydration, insect stings, tick bites, snakebite, blisters, and hyperventilation.
2. Clean and adjust a bicycle. Prepare it for inspection using a bicycle safety checklist. Be sure the bicycle meets local laws.
3. Show your bicycle to your counselor for inspection. Point out the adjustments or repairs you have made. Do the following:
a. Show all points that need oiling regularly.
b. Show the points that should be checked regularly to make sure the bicycle is safe to ride.
c. Show how to adjust brakes, seat level and height, and steering tube.
4. Describe how to brake safely with foot brakes and with hand brakes.
5. Show how to repair a flat. Use an old bicycle tire.
6. Take a road test with your counselor and demonstrate the following:
-Proper mount, pedal, and brake including emergency stops.
-On an urban street with light traffic, properly execute a left turn from the center of the street; also demonstrate an alternate left turn technique used during periods of heavy traffic.
-Properly execute a right turn.
-Demonstrate appropriate actions at a right-turn-only lane when you are continuing straight.
-Show proper curbside and road-edge riding. Show how to ride safely along a row of parked cars.
-Cross railroad tracks properly.
7. Describe your state's traffic laws for bicycles. Compare them with motor-vehicle laws. Know the bicycle-safety guidelines.
8. Avoiding main highways, take two rides of 10 miles each, two rides of 15 miles each, and two rides of 25 miles each. You must make a report of the rides taken. List dates, routes traveled, and interesting things seen. The bicycle must have all required safety features. It must be registered as required by your local traffic laws.
9. After fulfilling requirement 8, lay out on a road map a 50-mile trip. Stay away from main highways. Using your map, make this ride in eight hours.

Source: boyscouttrail.com

I've never been a boy scout or cub scout or eagle scout, but this book informs me of an institution which I feel completely deprived from. Do people still send their kids to be scouts? Is it safe? and I mean that in the "are the adults in charge trustworthy?" kind of 'safe'? I guess I'll think about it for our 5 year old son Reis.. While you think about the duration of a 50 mile bike ride being cut from ten to eight hours, please enjoy this assortment of high resolution advertisements which I scanned from the back of the 'Boy Scout Handbook for Boys'. I love old advertisements- they're the main reason why I own a 60 year collection of National Geographic magazines which I can't bear to part with. Click to enlarge:

Damn. Now I feel my age a little bit

Zabel says it's time to hang it up. Photo: AFP (file photo)

NE Velo Cross Challenge, Portsmouth Crit, YMCA Crit, Three Village RR

I'd like to salute my team's Mike Samartano, Lynn Samartano, Matt Kressy and Adam Sternfield for their respective 2, 2, 4, 4, and 10th place finished this past weekend. Check it out!:
2008 New England Velo Cross Challenge Full Results
Full results from the 2008 Three Village Tour RR
Full Results from the 2008 YMCA Rose Pedal Crit
Full Results from the 2008 Portsmouth Pro-Am Criterium
Check the M1 Racing BLOG for race reports. Thanks.

Glory Days

Solobreak is not the only one with 80's nostalgia to share with you.. Back when I had what would be called 'natural ability', eight hours of training a week were enough to get up onto the podiums of some very stacked junior fields. The majority of my results are missing- I was not in the habit of asking for signatures on my license, not until I discovered how hard the 19+ guys were killing themselves to get upgrades.. Besides Ralph McCreadie knew my results and thought I deserved it. It should be pointed out that 'life requirements' prevented me from riding and racing in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2004. The incontiguousness of my racing made it very hard to reach my current level of form. In the late 90s I was approaching 200 pounds..

Ninigret Finale

For those of you not in New England, this is Ninigret Park, where we race every Wednesday, all summer long. It's right off the water on the south coast of Rhode Island. Usually very windy, pancake flat, and very fast. I've crashed hard in turn No 2 (sharp left hander at the top).
Last night I almost didn't go, on account of many reasons.. but at the end of the day, I knew that the only thing that was going to recharge me mentally was to be among people who I respect and like being around while going 25-35 mph, so I went to Ninigret! I also needed some high intensity speed work, and doing that kind of work out on my own, has gotten quite difficult this time of year. There was little to no wind, and the the weather was just perfect, though I found myself to be the only one with a long sleeve jersey. There were non-stop attacks last night, most notably by Gary Aspnes- always off the front- he almost rode away solo for a win with one lap to go. Backing up, with two to go, four guys quickly opened a big gap. Right after the final left hand turn at the bottom, I hit it HARD and did my best to connect us to the four leaders. By the time we reached the right hand bend on the back stretch 1/2 lap later, I was spent and waved the field through for the final few meters separating us. Mission accomplished. At this point I just tacked myself onto the back of field and watched the sprint unfold from about 100 meters back. Don't know who took it, but it was a dark and dangerous sprint. Dusk was really upon us by this time. Looking at the data, I see that we shot up to 33 mph when I went after the leaders. I must have been pretty fresh if I could uncork something like that so near the end. Someone had a blow out with just 1/2 lap to go, I think it was Wild Bill Y. Sounded like a bottle rocket. Good times. Glad I was there. I'm already feeling the withdrawel symptoms of season's end.

The Week That Sucked

I apologize for being such a tool, but I just do not have the happy-go-lucky attitude lately. There is stuff going on that is making me feel lousy. Nothing major- just lots of little things. Mostly inter-personal-family-related bullshit. I expect it to pass, but until then, I'm highly melancholy and prone to having a negative outlook. I hate the end of summer.

The Weekend that Sucked

Not only was there no racing this weekend, no training either! My bike remains dismantled in the back seat of my Hyundai, just as I left it after Friday morning's commute to work. I feel some pangs of guilt, but I'll get over it. Just a few more races left before I either buy a mountain bike, or repair my cross bike, probably both. One thing is certain, I need to keep commuting by bike through the winter and I need to order some thermal apparel for our team and I must change out those ridiculous moustache handlebars on the Redline. You might notice that I have started a poll. It's for amusement purposes and you only get one vote. Please don't mistake my humility for a lack of self-respect- and please refrain from using this as an opportunity to deliver a kick to the crotch.. but hey I guess that's what makes it funny, for some. My son Reis and I watched this movie today for the nth time and the character "Tank" never fails to make me laugh:

Road Rage 101:

GREAT ARTICLE at Velonews. Thank you Bob Mionske. Here's the meat and potatoes excerpt:

...However, that desire to vent doesn’t necessarily lead to epic road rage. In fact, Dr. James identifies three different types of anti-social behavior that he classifies as road rage:

• Passive-Aggressive road rage: “A passive form of resistance that is expressed by ignoring others or refusing to respond appropriately. The intent of passive-aggressive road rage is to be obstructionist and oppositional.” An example of passive-aggressive road rage would be the driver who steadfastly observes the speed limit in the “fast lane,” despite the speeding drivers immediately behind who are signaling their desire to go faster by tailgating and flashing their lights. In the road rage incidents we witnessed this summer, the Critical Mass riders who refused to let the Seattle driver named “Mark” reverse direction and leave were exhibiting the passive-aggressive form of road rage behavior
• Verbal road rage: “The habit of constantly complaining about the traffic, keeping up a stream of mental or spoken attacks against all drivers, passengers, law enforcement officials, road workers, pedestrians, speed limits, and road signs. Undoubtedly the most common form of road rage, the purpose of verbal road rage is to denounce, ridicule, condemn, or castigate a rule, an engineer, or another driver.”
• Epic road rage: “The habit of fantasizing comic-book roles and extreme punitive measures against another driver, such as chasing, beating up, ramming, dragging, shooting, and killing, sometimes to the point of acting on it.” What most of us think of when we hear the words “road rage,” and thus, what was publicized as road rage in the incidents this summer.

Related to these three types of road rage, Dr. James identifies several types of road rage personality-types:

• Automotive vigilante: “This automotive bully aggresses against other motorists, chosen at random or for some specific reason, with a constant stream of verbal abuse, offensive gestures, and threatening maneuvers with the vehicle, sometimes going to [the] extreme of physical violence. When engaged in a dispute or when confronted by the law, the vigilante motorist will typically deny responsibility and counterattack, feigning victimhood to evade accountability, often with success.” This is the type of road rage many, perhaps most, cyclists have experienced, well before Newsweek discovered “a new type of road rage.” And as we saw this summer, the epic road rage incidents in Brentwood and Kamas both began with the motorist berating the cyclists for being on the road.
• Rushing maniac: “This dysfunctional driving style has two complementary elements. One is an extraordinary need to avoid slowing down. The other is the consequent anger against anyone who causes a slowdown.”
• Aggressive competitor: “Some drivers are so competitive that they need to be in the lead at all times, and feel a sense of loss and rising anxiety if another car passes them.” Now imagine that the “other car” is a bicycle…
• Scofflaw: “A notable feature of the culture of cynicism on the highways is the tendency we have to automatically disregard certain traffic laws, regulations, and signs. We act as if we’re entitled to break regulations whenever we feel like it. Some drivers are compulsively rebellious—for them a stop sign means reduce speed slightly, yield means grab the opportunity when you can, slow means reduce speed only if cops are around, yellow means hurry up and try to make it through, do not pass s for the really weak-hearted, and of course, 35 MPH means 55. We assume we are above the law.” As we can see on any road, this type of road-rager comes in both two-wheel and four-wheel models, and each is the first to point out that the other is a scofflaw.

Post 501: Skidding to preserve life

Almost killed this morning! East on Route 12 (Park Ave) towards Route 2.. A silver VW Jetta turns in front of me very abruptly, into my lane same direction, from the left. Murat squeezes brakes, shifts right and gets pushed into the gutter. Then I suddenly find myself in between the curb, and the Jetta who now frantically needs to make a right turn. This is when I left a lot of Conti rubber on the road, probably about two meters worth. "Nice mooooove!" is what I manage to scold her with, but her windows are rolled up and I can't hear her mouthing off to me too well, but try to read her chicken lips. Something about having to get to work or something. A teenager in the passenger seat seemed embarrassed. Not to offend anyone (oh who am I kidding?) but why does the typical bike-hating near-miss, almost-killed-me driver turn out to be an unattractive middle aged woman of extra-ordinary heft and girth, who usually has a cigarette in her left hand and a cell phone or a DD Mega Big Great One in the other?
I often smirk to myself when I wave to drivers who are kind enough to yield (this is a good habit- waving and smiling are the two of the most important things we can do as cyclists on the roads, right after obeying the law) But why am I waving, really? Is it:
1. So that they know how much we appreciate that they thought enough of us to touch their brakes and wait an extra 3 seconds? They are more likely to repeat the courtesy for others, right?
-or-
2. Is it really a "Thank you for not killing me, thank you for letting me live" wave?
I just realized when I went to edit this post- it's No 501.

Trash day amnesia and other useless trivia

Every Thursday morning, just like every other day, I head out for my bike commute to work, and every Thursday morning, I find myself doubling back after about 1/4 mile because I forgot to take out the trash and recycling..again. Today was exceptional- not only did I forget to take out the trash and not only did I double back to take care of it (which requires me to take the short cut to work to avoid being late), I also forgot my car keys! Why do I need keys when I commute by bike? Well duh- I need to travel once I get to the office, to all of my many construction projects across New England, so my little red Hyundai is forever parked at work, waiting for me. Lately, I've been keeping my shoes in the trunk, so I had to walk around the office all morning wearing my old Birkenstocks, which as luck would have it, were under my desk.. No worries.. I took the opportunity to ride my bike home during lunch time, just to retrieve my keys.. though I didn't really need them and had no travel plans- just an excuse to ride (to get my keys and hence my shoes out of the car, that is). It feels weird to be riding at 12:30 on a weekday, really weird.. but I liked it. Once home, I horked down a couple of sandwiches and dear wife drove me to work, and I kept my uniform on, of course.. and put the bike in the trunk, of course.. because today I get to ride three times thanks to forgetting my keys.

Penultimate Ninigrit of 2008

I draw your attention to my cadence during tonight's Ninigret training crit: 100.
The field was quite full tonight. Should I drop names? Ah hell, why not. In no particular order, but ladies first: Lynn Samartano, Silke Wunderwald, Billy Mark, Bill Doonan, Mike Maloney, Mike Cavros, Mark McCormack, Rick Kotch, Bill Yabroudy, Jim Peters, Ted Shanstrom, Todd Buckley, Chris Dale, Larry King, Rick Desmarais, Adam Sullivan, at least 3 Keoughs, Jonathan Lowenstein, and about 40 others who I hope to name here in the future. It was a typical Ninigret field, but the wind was quite calm, which is rare. Lots of guys had arm warmers on, and towards the end when it was getting dark, I was glad for no wind, because it would have felt a lot cooler than 57 degrees. We averaged 26.5 mph and no one got away for long. In the field sprint, I was positioned rather poorly and got shut down as I tried to wind it up going into the final bend before the finish. I don't know where my head "was at" in the last 5 laps, but my mad dash to get to the front with one lap to go didn't quite happen. That, and I was feeling less than stellar- kind of like racing was a chore.. I burned a few matches as part of a few different breaks, and I didn't like the way it felt to be in a 28 mph rotation (per usual, I'm like a bloodhound when comes to detecting un-necessary work, and I sit up when I'm in a mix of guys who I know aren't well matched, or when the group is too small, or when I just plain know that the high octane field is going to catch us with just one acceleration), so I often felt tired and cranky and so I retreated to the back for a few laps, thinking I'll save it for the sprint. Pffffft. Apparently I didn't want it bad enough to deliver myself to the front in time, so it's no surprise that 15 or more guys smoked me at the finish. Serves me right. It's been a melancholy couple of days as it is, and the cancellation of the Bob Beal Stage Race was a buzz-kill too. (Lots of people were watching the weather reports, remembering how the 2007 road race stage was in the pouring rain- and MANY people had plans to register today at the last minute..) On the bright side, the data from tonight's crit is encouraging, and it seems to prove that I'm in much better form now than I was last September just before Bob Beal. So now what? The weekend is wide open and I'll probably go for some early morning LSD (long steady distance). I should also finish painting my house's 40 windows and shutters. I can finish it this weekend if I really put my mind to it. Only about 10 left..

Never fails..

The rain outside our offices is Biblical in nature.. and there's always the comedian/co-worker who can't resist asking me, "So, you gonna ride home tonight!?"

CP1=638

I tried one of those out-of-the-saddle-one-full-minute-of-sprinting-intervals again today. This time, it was not preceded by a three mile time trial. Instead a good 30 minute warm-up at tempo pace. This is something I've been experimenting with lately and I plan to do it at least once a week. Being one who sticks primarily to crits (my last road race was Sturbridge) I think that the strength to get out of the saddle and sprint for a full minute (without sitting down) is going to pay dividends. Too many times I've been a contender in a crit with 1/2 lap left and I've been forced to sit and spin to the line with 50 meters to go. I want to be able to punch it early and keep accelerating the whole way, or at the least outlast all the others. I'm also prone to being the "when in doubt, lead it out" guy in a crit, so this kind of anaerobic endurance is going to make a difference I think. People tell me I have a good sprint. It's time to work on sharpening one of my few strengths.

Okay now I feel old..

The kid who lapped me at the 1989 Cyclocross National Championships in Milwaukee, has retired.

What!!! what!!! what!!!

Kyle's mom, upon hearing this news:

Lance Armstrong will come out of retirement next year to compete in five road races with the Astana team, according to sources familiar with the developing situation.
Armstrong, who turns 37 this month, will compete in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, the Dauphine-Libere and the Tour de France — and will race for no salary or bonuses, the sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told VeloNews

Just what the sport needs? A Cinderella Man? I'm not surprised. You don't go from 1000 miles an hour to zero without some regrets or unfinished business. I hope to race into my sixties, personally. Who doesn't? Our sport is a fountain of youth. Our hearts are enlarged and they're super-strong. Big strong heart = long life.

Weekend Without Wells

For the early birds. Saturday was a rest day- no riding at all. Today I overslept and ended up blowing off Wells Ave. I could have made it if I snuck out of the house solo, but we had a birthday party right on Needham St at 3:00, meaning I would be making two round trips to Newton, not a good idea. As much as I love racing at Wells, the extra sleep was worth missing it. There's always Ninigret on Wednesday. At about 6:00 pm I went out and did a punishing hilly 80 minute ride. Wore my Polar HRM and the average HR of my CP60 (the first hour) was 164. Sounds kind of low to me? I'm wondering how much my form has evolved since my illness in Rochester- where the stomach bug kept me off the bike for 4 days. CTL is down to a very weak 75.. it was 105-110 back when I was averaging 200 miles a week for five months in a row.. These past 7 days- 134 miles and no racing. My numbers at Ninigret Wednesday should be a good indication of where I stand. I can also look back at the data for the two weeks before 2007's Bob Beal and compare it to my latest CP values. Holy crap Bob Beal is next weekend! The easier road course is going to be cool. Now to find a TT bike so I can improve on last year's time, which was a mediocre 6:56.

Nice kit Paolo

Very cool. I like white uniforms, except when it rains.. Velonews reports that Paolo Bettini yelled some expletives in Italian as he fisted the air here. What could he have said? I saw Bettini in person and in the circuit race at the 2007 Tour of California in Long Beach, where I did the Masters crit on the same course earlier in the day. The masters field averaged 27.5 mph, in February! A nasty crash split the field about 2/3 through the race and the ignorant officials pulled all the chasers without any consideration. The course was big enough that it would have been impossible to get lapped- but they pulled us just the same. Idiots.. made me use some Turkish expletives too..

Narragansett Town Beach or Bust

It was de-ja-vu last night. Regulars here will remember I rode down to the beach after work last week, with a tailwind, really fast, met up with wife and brother and son and mother in law and ate clam cakes and went swimming blah blah blah. I did it again last night! This time: typical headwind! This time: 4 minutes slower! This time: a new CP60 of 254 watts! (last week was 248) This time: Waves were BIG and the water felt cooler going into it.
I know some of you snicker and roll your eyes at the data. I'm okay with that. Forgive me for sounding like Michael Ball, but at the end of the day.. the power data makes training and racing more fun.
When you train alone as much as I do, you need someone or something to half-wheel. For most it seems, it's other riders. For me, it's just the data I'm riding against.

Wells Ave Crit versus a hard solo ride

Last week I did a 25 mile ride from work down to Narragansett Town Beach. A few posts ago I reported an average wattage of 248, with a normalized wattage of 273, for said ride.
Isn't it interesting that at Wells Ave on Sunday, the average wattage for the 45 lap race was a measley 200, and normalized watts were 260? It's not that surprising, really. We look for ways to conserve during a race, and really pour it on when we go fast. Notice the normalized power values are not that different- 273 vs 260. Normalized power, in case you wondered, is the Peaks software's feature where it magically calculates what your average power would have been if you didnt't coast/draft/slow down and then accelerate so often- it's the measure of what you would have done for average watts if the effort was metered out at a constant value for the whole duration.

531

Oh no! More data! Not really.. I just wanted to share the number of watts I can do for 60 seconds, out of the saddle. Yes- a one minute sprint interval. The effort totally wastes you for the next 10 minutes. I'm thinking it does some good for my ability to start a sprint from 4-500 meters out and hold speed all the way to the line. My goal is to do the 60 seconds at 200% of FT, or 570 watts. Keep in mind, I'm 77-78 kg, so it's all relative. I've only done these a few times, when the mood strikes, which isn't often. Last night I had to ride straight home, so I made the best of it- intensity wise- I also did a three mile interval a little before the one minute sprint. A Bob Beal simulation of sorts. My time was pathetic, but compatible with the conditions. What's this about there being NO POINTS for the TT portion of the Bob Beal Stage Race?? Did I read that right on the MCRA site?

10,000

I'd say that the Powertap 'flipped', but it does indeed show all 5ive digits. It was put into service on May 12, 2007.. the 10,000 miles does not include the days when I rode my cross bike, fixed gear, or the days when the batteries were dead in the 'puter and the hub. Now that I think about it, the Look 486 bike I've been using riding and racing since July 2006 has probably 15,000+ miles on it. I'd have to check the old fashioned 'Polar' files of yesteryear.. My saddle is beginning to show the kind of wear that only Solobreak is too cheap care about. Wells Ave Sunday was a success. We got our man in the break (Adam finished fourth on the heels of Bill Yabroudy, Skip Foley and Thom Norton), I took the first prime in a three lap solo move and Matt Kressy took the halfway prime, Mike Samartano lead out the field sprint and helped Matt win it commandingly.. Good times were had by all! I arrived there just as the combined field was lining up to start. Good thing I changed into my skinsuit, pre-wrote my check and pre-filled my release form, on the way there in the car.. Intuitive, eh? The adrenaline of a last minute start is sometimes more effective than a 1/2 hour warm-up, I think. Is it Friday yet?

Winds of change..

No cryptic meaning there, other than the fact that the prevailing Southerly winds I usually battle heading down Route 1 yesterday, were reversed for the most part. They shifted around a bit, going from a general cross-tailwind to a cross-headwind occasionally. So my 25.5 mile ride to Narragansett Town Beach was fast and furious for a change, in an elapsed time of 1 hr 7 min. I used it as a TT/FT workout. My brother left the house in W. Warwick about 30 minutes ahead of me and I used that as a carrot to go faster. I didn't catch him, but I did imagine him being just around the next bend and got to the beach parking lot only a few minutes after him. Average speed was a cool 22.7 mph, in spite of about 8-10 stops at red lights where I had to squeeze hard to go from 33 mph to zero. Go ahead and roll your eyes: my average power was 248 and normalized power was 273, which isn't bad, all things considered. (Yesterday's avg power was 143 watts btw, Solobreak) so definitely an active recovery zone 1 ride.) Anyway, that's 3.22 watts/kg- not impressive, but relative to me personally, it's pretty good. (No HRM this time, but it would have been interesting, eh?) Last time I did more watts in the span of an hour was at the Blue Hills Classic in May, believe it or not. But at that event, I was in an early break for a lap, and then the hills really juice the output, especially when you're forced to hold onto the wheel in front of you for dear life. Going solo on a relatively flat road is completely different than a road race on rolling hills. Anywho.. enough about that. The fun part was meeting the family down at the beach and eating fresh hot clam cakes that they got for us down near Point Judith. Then brother and I went for a very invigorating swim in the big waves just as the sun was disappearing. We froze our balls off when we got out of the water though. Man alive.. The same wind which carried us there really gave us the 'pencil tips'. Oh- and who do I bump into just as we're going onto the beach- Kip "need to ride more" Bradford. Good man.
In other news: We're looking for renters to occupy our third floor apartment. Please share this link with anyone you know who is looking for a squeaky clean place to live, almost everything included, and partially furnished too!: http://providence.craigslist.org/apa/817880995.html It's been vacant since March and I've been too busy/lazy to find new occupants.

Two hours - 106 bpm avg

To think that the tot whose diapers I changed 25 years ago would grow to be a 240 pound 6 foot 4 hercules, trying to draft me for two hours on the back roads of Coventry.. If you told me back then I would have laughed. We did a leisurely 2 hours on rolling terrain. The ride was zone 1 for me and more like zone 4 for him.. but I don't think he minds. We pushed our luck a touch and got home just when it was getting kind of dark. Tonight we'll probably ride down to Narragansett Town Beach to meet my wife and son after work.. That's always a fun ride from Cranston- 25 miles into a stiff headwind down Route 1 and later Route 1A. I need to do some intervals though.. My TSS is way down from June/July levels, when it was over 100 for both CTL and ATL. Now I'm in the 70s and not training all that hard, but I plan to ramp it up next week.

Change of seasons.. change of bikes

Oh man here it comes.. I actually wore my wind jacket yesterday on the morning commute. I drove in this morning (will be riding home) but man it was definitely cool enough for a long sleeve jersey. I'm very sensitive to temperature, and if I'm cold I'm unhappy. What's with the weather though, seriously.. It feels like October and it's still August. Hopefully we get some nice warm beach days this weekend. Not looking forward to heating my house this winter-and it seems like winter's going to make an early appearance.. Grrrrr. In other news, I gave our son Reis his b-day gift early- a FELT Sector Mini bike (available at Providence Bicycle), designed for 4-6 year olds. He didn't take to it right away, and kept asking "where are the training wheels?". We did a few tours in a local park and he doesn't even realize that I wasn't holding him half the time. He has the balance thing down pat with two years riding the Likeabike Jumper. Now he just needs to get used to the higher center of gravity, and to creating momentum by pedaling. He looooves having the hand break though! We got some of it on video. Maybe I'll post it.

From this:

..to this:

That saddle is a brick- we're going to retro fit the nicely padded Jumper seat onto it.

Explanation?

Okay maybe my last post was insufficient. Who drives five hours to a crit, drills it with some of the best in the country, then suddenly sits up after 20 minutes, and then drives home five hours? It's been a depressing day, and I've been craving a beer since the afternoon, and failed to get my hands on one. No doubt I've been beating myself up, but that's typical- no one is harder on Murat, than Murat. I have yet to look at the Powertap chart, but I know that there came a point in this race where I was into the red zone pretty deep while trying very hard to be in the top 1/2 of the field. My breathing was labored, lungs felt tight, and legs felt like they were sprinting non-stop.. Even so, this wasn't even as hard as I worked at the Fall River Crit, where the hill is at least twice as long as at Chris Thater. So even though I had traveled so far, something kept me from burying myself to stay in the race. Somehow I forgot, or didn't care about how far I'd traveled and somehow I got it into my head that I was outgunned by every rider in the field and that it was hopeless to continue and that it wasn't any fun anymore and that I hated racing and wanted to stop and go home as soon as possible. Sound familiar? I hope not, because if you have ever gone through such a melt-down, then it means you're a crazy fool just like me. It happens to me sometimes, maybe even to the best of them.. I could point at a lot of things and say "that's why".. but this time I was wondering if maybe what happened during Chris Thater could be something like an anxiety attack. A very sudden mood shift that takes me someplace where I suddenly feel powerless and just surrender to the stresses I'm under. In other words, I quit. To be fair to myself, I did drive five hours and wear myself out stressing about how much driving I was doing and about getting there in time. Then I arrived with 35 minutes to start, I registered and got back to my car with only 20 minutes to get ready to race. All of it sucked. I mis-judged the distance and the time it would take to get there. Things might have been different if I drove in the night before, slept in until 10:00, and took my sweet time getting ready and warming up.. Woulda been nice.. It's time to move on, I know. There are quite a few more road events coming up, from Topsfield to Jamestown.. and I'll be back in the hunt pretty soon.. with an ax to grind.

Chris Thater 30+

When you see Amos Brumble squeeze his hand and congratulate him for solo bridging up to Mark Warno, then being joined by Ray Benitez, then being attacked by both in the final laps, then the three of them almost lapping the field and then easily beating them both in the final sprint by more than a bike length. Not even close.. That's two wins for A.B. in this race. Mark and Ray are ranked 4th and 6th crit masters in the country.. I was very happy to see him take it. I believe Ernest Tautkus won the field sprint for 8th. Nice work! I arrived exactly 35 minutes before the start.. Which pretty much killed whatever good mojo I had in me. The race stopped being fun around lap 11 and my willingness to suffer disappeared very suddenly and that was that. No regrets.
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Ninigret: Tied for 7th

It was almost 1 mph faster than last week, and it's no surprise because in spite of the added HP of Fuji and Gearworks, nothing got away. We averaged 26.8 mph last night and only 26 mph the week before. I wasn't super aggressive, but I did put myself out there a few times and on one occasion, I was almost swallowed up and spit out the back, I was hurting so much. I took a few laps to regain composure and with four to go I started picking my way towards the front. In the end, I jumped a split second late, got myself pushed right without losing much momentum, but still made it across the line with only six guys head of me. Of course Gary A. of the Horst Benidorm team might have a different opinion- I was far right and he was far left in the sprint and he might have narrowly beat me with a bike throw.. but heck I sat up with 10m to go, so what's the difference, we both missed being in the money! I respect Gary a lot- always agressive, always involved in the action up front, fighting and suffering like a dog. Gary's a good man and usually finishes either a place in front or a place behind me. Benidorm had two guys in the race last night, which is a first I think. There is NO Ninigret Crit for the next two weeks. When they resume on September 10th the start times will be moved up 1/2 hour, so 5:30 for the Bs and 6:00 for the As. Check the www.NBXbikes.com site for details under the "Rides and Events" heading. I'm off to work by car, then an easy ride home tonight. Chris Thater's 35+ Crit is my plan for Saturday. 'Ta!

Vest weather

It's going to be a cool one down at Ninigret tonight! I'm thinking long sleeve jersey even. The vest this morning was barely enough to keep the shivers away, especially in the shade of the Cranston Bike Path, which was deserted except for a lot of walkers trying to burn off the calories of the mega sized iced coffees in their fists. No bikers. There was a guy last night walking his [dead] electric scooter down the bike path. I averted my eyes because it was so lame to watch a person push a vehicle which was purchased in order to avoid doing actual physical work- as though soft pedaling yourself around on a bike is so g-d damned hard.

Worth Repeating: Millwork One Racing has 3 podiums this weekend

Three Podiums This Weekend!
Frontier-Criterium in Loudon, NH
Adam Sternfield is 1st place in the 45+ and 3rd in the 35+ which follows.

Blount-Seafoods-Fall-River-Criterium
Adam Sternfield is 5th in 45+ race.
Matt Kressy (above) is 2nd in the 35+ race
Adam Sternfield is 27th in the 35+ race

170

My metabolism seems to have been turbo-charged ever since I recovered from the stomach bug. Before I got sick I was about 175. Five pounds gone in ten days.. and now that there's momentum I'll be extra careful with my portion sizes. Maybe 165 in time for Topsfield or Bob Beal? It's about time, almost too late.. So it's no surprise that I felt pretty good on that power hill at the Fall River Crit on Sunday. I positioned myself 3rd to 10th wheel every time up the climb and had little trouble spinning to the top in the 53x19. Two previous editions of this crit had me over my limit and gasping for air. 2006 it was 110 degrees out, and in 2007 I had a bad chest cold.

2008 Fall River Criterium Results