I paid $450 for this bike and put maybe 500 miles on it.
I don’t know the size, but I’m 5’-9” and it fits me nicely.
Yours for $300.
Moustache bars are not included- I sold them on Ebay.
Yeah- someone paid money for them, go figure.
Dear wife has been in occasional (diluted) care of a very good trainer at the YMCA. Last night for the first time, we actually hit the Nautilus machines together, taking turns on each respective piece of equipment. I think the biggest difference for her was that I pushed her to do the extra last few reps, where she would have otherwise stopped (because the trainer is usually minding 6-12 other people). Everyone has a different approach, but it’s my belief that if you are doing 15 reps, it’s the last three which really count, and that they should be hard. The other difference is that in areas where strong improvement is needed, a minimum of three sets is ideal, performed consecutively with not more than 1-2 minutes in between. Weights can be adjusted for fatigue, but the last set should be performed to failure, preferably in the range of 8-10 reps. I plan to engage in weightlifting not less than twice a week for the next two months, and do it on a more consistent schedule. It’s been hit or miss so far this winter- some structure will really improve the results. A lot of “junk-lifting” up until now! I’m pressing 320 pounds on the “Nitro-Leg-Press” machine- close to twice my weight. I usually work my way up from 260 in 20 pound increments, meaning that my fourth [fatigued] set is the 320 (12 reps). Does adding mass concern me? Indeed it does, but being stronger is worth it I think. As long as I am mixing it up with stretching, Pilates, Spinning classes, targeted windtrainer workouts and very long weekend rides, I really don’t see how it’s possible for some extra lean mass to slow me down.
This begs the question: why use carbon handlebars if they’re weaker than aluminum ones? I’m still mentally wrapped around that axle, and don’t really know what to tell you! I guess my point is, if I were a pair of handlebars, I’d rather be made from aluminum than from carbon. Thanks for reading.
I am always looking for ways to get leaner, change fat to muscle, develop structural fitness etc. This includes some weight-lifting at the gym- mostly the machines instead of free-weights. I say “some” relative to the frequency which I find myself at the gym, which is about every 1-2 weeks. My resolve to go 2-3 times a week is never successful, but I am trying, I really am. To make up for the lapses, I tend to go a minimum of two circuits on the Nautilus machines, using weights which are compatible with 15-25 reps, depending on the muscles I’m working. On some machines, I prefer to double back and do a 3rd set- such as the vertical chest press and the abdominal machine. The first set is not done to failure- I make sure that the last repetition of the 1st set leaves something in the tank for the 2nd set, where I really go for the maximum number of repetitions, and do it to failure. This means the last repetition is incomplete- it’s the one which makes me look like a weakling.
So I did my bi-weekly weightlifting Wednesday night, sandwiched in between two intense Spinning Sessions- Tuesday and Thursday.
Ever seen the episode of Three’s Company where Jack Tripper is walking around like a zombie because he over-did it at the gym? That’s kind of how I feel, especially the upper body. The plan is to rest today and do a light spin on the windtrainer Sat evening when I return from NYC. Sunday morning I am leading an indoor training session at Providence Bicycle. Come out and join us at 7:30 am with your bike and your trainer- you will be treated to a 90 minute program to the tempo of my personal playlist and it’s all complimentary- no cost to you to join us. Visit www.providencebicycle.com for more information. Apologies for digressing..
An interesting observation relative to weight-lifting- after any hard work-out I gain 4-6 pounds. Indeed, Wednesday morning (before my workout) I weighed in at 168, but by the time I undressed for bed (post workout), I was a hefty 174 pounds. We can blame some of this on my diet throughout the day, but certainly not 6 pounds of it. I believe the rest is fluid retention, which damaged muscles need in order to repair themselves. Cellular migration is easier when lots of H2O is around. This conclusion is supported by the fact that I’m simply not peeing with any of the frequency that I usually do. As of this AM, I’m down to 172 pounds. Some of this could be the added mass of scar tissue involved in muscle repair, some of it must be the H20 which I’m retaining. It’s assumed that I did not add any fat during this past 36 hours, especially with the spinning classes thrown in there. At any rate, my expectation is that I will be back down to the good side of 170 by the time I mount the trainer on Sunday morning. See you there.
Here is a pic from the 2009 LBL ride
My uninteresting Blogger profile page was viewed 9,999 times before I checked in on it just now.. Very lucky timing on my part, dontcha think?
Is it true that most guys use 44 cm handlebars? It astonished me to discover that the busted carbon bars shown below are 40cm center to center.
A team mate has a spare set of carbon 44s which I am being encouraged to try out. Common sense tells me that this enhancement offers sprinters and climbers more leverage, assuming that the bike is being rocked side to side using the arms. For the low price that I can get these 44s, it’s worth trying them out during the winter before the racing begins. My bigger concern is having enough room to maneuver through tight spaces. I do believe that I’m built to use 42 but I’ll try these out for short money.
Other news: I’m re-engaging my yellow carbon EPX for the road races. Longer wheelbase, longer cranks, Rolf Vector Pro tubulars, Campy Chorus and it’s in pristine condition. The LOOK 486 is feeling it’s age and looks a bit dated. I’ve also laid it down pretty hard on two occasions. So I’m in the hunt for a newer bike to use in the crits, sized 55 or 56 cm. Who’s selling? Any used Litespeed Archon frames out there? Cervelos are nice too.. TTYL.
I weigh 168 pounds, 18% of which is bodyfat, or 30.24 pounds.
Dropping 10 pounds (assuming that all weight lost is bodyfat) means that I will be 158 with 20 pounds of bodyfat or 12.6%. Still too hefty to call myself an “athlete”, I know..
Ten pounds- doesn’t sound like much, does it? Would you consider humping a gallon of milk around in a backpack all day? Because that’s what ten pounds would almost feel like- A gallon of milk is only 8 pounds.
Don’t dismiss the meaning of 10 pounds. It’s a lot of mass which places a lot of demand on the body relative to running, biking, and walking. For older folks, this added heft makes the simple acts of getting up from a chair and walking up a flight of stairs a lot more strenuous. The problem is that while muscles adapt easily to added stress, joints such as knees and hips do not adapt so readily, and the adapted muscles can be strong enough to cause injury to joints. For me, losing 10 pounds is the same as dropping 6% of my bodyweight and I’m cautiously optimistic that this will make me at least 6% faster on my bike. I’m trying.. Staying at race weigh all winter long is more than half of the battle. I did it! The gradually increasing training volume of the next 3 months should get me to where I want to be.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and ask for Rhode Islanders to please honor us with just one purchase of our wool apparel or our kid’s bikes at www.WeeBIKE.com
Over the past 2 years, sales are a disappointing goose egg for the ocean state and I am at a loss to understand why.. We’ve sold goods to
I tend to go out of my way to do business with companies which sponsor bike race teams- for example: Chipotle and Metlife Insurance get thousands of my dollars annually. Are you there Karma? It’s me, Murat..
What can I say? We’re disappointed. Today a man in
Oh well.. One day we’ll sell something in
Humor me. www.WeeBIKE.com
If you want to join me on any of my epic winter weekend rides, reach out to me at: murat at weebike dot com. Come on, it's time! 90 mile rides in January pay huge dividends in May.
I think it's a notable improvement over last year: I completed both NBX 35+ elite races this weekend and avoided crashing, avoided being lapped on day 2 and avoided finishing last both days. On day one I was disappointingly lapped pretty darn close to seeing 1 to go, and only by the top 6 finishers.. Coming from a crit rider who never touches his 5 year old clunker of a cross bike in between cross races, that's something to feel good about. I do this for fun and to stay sharp in the winter, that's it. Okay maybe so does everyone else.. I just tend to do it poorly.
I'm pleased because even though I crashed heavily two times at today's Canton Cup Cyclocross Race, your hero never quit, he avoided being lapped and even caught four people and sprinted past a fifth right at the finish line. My son Reis pulled a similar result in his kid's race for 6 and 7 year olds. He went right off into the weeds on the first slick muddy turn and was dead last.. until he got back on the bike, chased down and passed two kids and finished fourth. Mommy for her part, put up with all the pissing, moaning, whining and bullshit that Reis and I could dish out, all day long, before patiently painting Reis' face like Spider Man so we could all go trick-or-treating. It takes a strong woman to handle a couple of selfish crybabies like Reis and I.. but the knife cuts two ways and we'll leave it at that! Finishing my first cyclo-cross race on the same lap as the leaders feels pretty good. So does catching and passing people and looking back to see the gap on them open steadily. A taste of that could light my fire to try even harder to do well.. Usually I just use cyclocross as a means to keep fitness sharp until January when the road training officially begins. Another home run from today that I'm absolutely beaming about: I found my Powertap bike computer. It was lost in mid September and I've looked everywhere for it, even in the place where it was found: the pocket of my brown camouflage shorts. I've repeatedly fondled these shorts and others over the past weeks, hoping to feel the little device from outside. Well today I said fuck-it and shoved my hand into the pocket for once and [curse your slim profile, Powertap] there it was. I came running down the stairs almost naked to report the search and rescue to Ebru. She thought I found a million dollars, I think she was disappointed. So it goes- I finally finished a race at Canton, on the 3rd try. My doors were blown off [even worse] on the 1st try and again a couple of years ago when I dragged my poor father to the race with me. He froze his balls off watching me pathetically try to ride a bike for 2 laps.. I don't think he was too impressed with me that day.. Maybe today makes up for it. Maybe finding the Powertap was payback for determination. Maybe this should be the last sentence of this story. Thanks for reading.
Originally 10/15/10:
..and I mean it literally and figuratively and physically.. It's been nearly 2 months since my last contribution here, but I've become a bit overwhelmed with the amount of attention the internet requires from me. I'm now counting 8 or 9 blogs, plus 3 retail websites, a few social networking venues and of course horoscopes, news, weather, maps, five e-mail accounts, spam and youporn. Needless to say, your hero is spread pretty thin these days..
So a few hours after today's colonoscopy, my dear wife indicated with much amusement how helpless I looked in the recovery room.. that is.. high on drugs, tubes in my nose and arm, drooling on myself as I slowly regained consciousness.. and I couldn't resist asking her why she didn't right then and there take a picture and "Facebook it". Well apparently the idea did cross her mind but she refrained from exploiting my pain for your entertainment. Good girl.. It got me to thinking.. as we drove to the PTO meeting tonight- there must already be some good images of me injured or suffering that I can share.. and bingo! I remembered the self portrait I took of myself 4 years ago, in the ambulance after being hit by a car in Cranston while riding home from work. So after sending Ebru off to bed (she fell asleep while we watched our Netflix movie- "Guru") I resolved to find that picture and explain to you how, if that accident happened today I would have probably broken some bones.. At my annual physical this past Tuesday, I asked my doctor what my weigh-in was two years prior- 183.. one year ago- 173.. and two days ago.. drumroll..... 162 (fully clothed of course..) so at the time of this accident where I destroyed my helmet (I had blood coming out of my ear and I had stitches in my ear canal) I was about 25 pounds heavier, more cushioned with fat, perhaps even more muscular. I don't know how I would fare today in such a T-bone collision.. This morning I weighed in at 157, but of course this was in my birthday suit, and after an 18 hour period of liquid diet, Dulcolax and other bowel cleansing medications I was required to imbibe. I don't miss those extra 25 pounds. After disrobing for today's procedure and laying on the gurney, two nurses attended to my IV, blood pressure and oxygen.. when they took my pulse it was nice to hear them say "heartrate is 46- you are very fit!". Indeed, a big strong heart doesn't need to pump so often- it moves more blood with less work- an advantage which hopefully pays big dividends when I'm an old man. Ebru was with me in the recovery room today- and I don't remember a thing- but she says the alarm kept going off because my heart rate kept falling below 45. Sweet. If I never win another bike race ever again (I hear that stifled laughter- not cool), I still feel like I've won something priceless: more time on this planet with people who I love.. which assumes of course that a piano does not fall onto me or my plane does not crash or other unmentionable abbreviations of life do not occur to me..
I'm reaching an age where it's probably going to be hard resisting the urge to judge myself, judge my achievements, judge my health, judge my life's quality. So far I'm looking forward to the occasion, and hopefully many of the more difficult albeit correct choices I've made and hard work I've done for the past 10-20 years will continue to bear fruit. With so many blessings to count, age does not matter.
For those of you who wondered, my colonoscopy was a success- only one small polyp was found and removed.. and if/when I get my hands on a picture of it, hell yeah I'm going to Facebook it!
Thanks for reading.
Hoscakal.
Posted By Murat Altinbasak to Amerikan Turk™ at 10/14/2010 11:56:00 PM
I did a SPIN class last night, followed by a little bit of upper body work on the Nautilus machines. Noticed on my chart (still there after all this time) that the last time I lifted weights was on my birthday March 19th. So I haven’t lifted in six months and 10 days. Interesting… The good news is, I kicked the SPIN class’ ass last night. Where a week ago I was dying just to avoid falling off the bike, last night I was strong and had a good time. Tonight I’m doing Pilates again. Every Tuesday 6:30 at the Kent County Y.. I’m usually the only guy in there.. which is a good ratio for me.. some of the moves we do down on the floor would not make it onto prime time television. I credit a lot of the good racing I did in May to the lifting, Pilates and yoga I did all winter. Now I’m prepping for a better cross season using these disciplines. Let’s see if I can escape being lapped for a change!
Burn-out at work causes burn-out on the bike.
I did a spin class last night after work and basically had to fake my way through and use less resistance than I was supposed to. Couldn’t wait for it to end, because walking out would be too embarrassing.
Dear wife was just diagnosed with Lyme disease, which explains a few things. Now I wonder if I have it too somehow, though it’s not known to be contagious.
My back has been killing me for months. I’m in the care of a chiropractor. An x-ray taken a month ago showed my spine curved sideways from my tailbone up. Looks like the kind of trauma that would be caused by being hit by a car from the left. (ie July 2006 when I was hit)
I’m registered for the Mayor’s Cup but I have very little time to tune myself up. The goal is to hopefully hang in there and tail-gun it to the finish. I have to try, no matter what.
Maybe skipping the racing this weekend and a couple of long zone rides followed by good food and quality rest will get me out of this rut. Good 4-5 hour rides always seem to precede my best results this season.
Pilates tonight at the Y. Should I go? I can ride there I guess, then ride home after. Or not. Fatigue and stress has me cross-eyed.
Thanks for reading.
Apparently there’s a new team which is sponsored by the mild-mannered alter ego of our beloved Nega-Coach:
I'm offering a reward. The irony is that I didn't even use it- the PT wheel went into the wheel pit and I used my light rear wheel! I left the dang computer on the bike and probably kicked it off with my knee when I got out of the saddle. Looked all around the course, asked people, made an announcement- no luck. Kind of bummed.. I'm not a wealthy person.
The race is one redeeming thing about the day though. Everyone on our team: Adam S, Ralf G, Alain, Matt and I- each of us populated at least one serious break during the 20 lap masters race and in the end, Matt Kressy smoked everyone in the field sprint, our J Alain Ferry was 4th and your hero was 9th, so I'm very pleased.. The announcer reported that our 35+ masters race had faster lap times than the pro race, so it's little wonder that 25 guys DNF'ed. 62 starters and only 37 finished. Running the course in reverse suited me just fine! Absolutely loved it.
Thanks for reading.
