Last Saturday's Route: 9 minutes faster

If you scroll down a couple of days, you'll see Saturday's chart. On that day I pretty much took it easy and dilly-dallied. Today I did the same 24+ miles, only nine minutes faster. Wasn't really going for broke, just keeping a high cadence in the big ring and adding a little bit of suffering on the gradual climbs. So many people are out there walking their dogs on the bike path.. Too many. I saw only two people riding their bikes today. That's it. From here on, this route will be called my "Seven Mile Hill" ride. It goes thusly:
From Fairview Ave in Phenix, turn left onto Main Street towards Cranston. Continue to the bottom of Seven Mile Road, continue Straight. Top of hill at Route 12 (Scituate Ave) turn right. Descend into Cranston and turn left onto Phenix Ave (still Route 12) This later becomes Park Ave. Turn right onto Cranston bike path, follow to end where it connects with Route 117, turn left towards Coventry. Turn right onto route 116. Turn right onto Route 115, keep turning right until back on Main Street. Now you're back-tracking on the beginning part of the ride and almost home.
This ride isn't too challenging, isn't too easy either. Good all around terrain and a little bit of everything.

Wells Ave Re-cap for March 11 2007

Today's first edition of Wells Ave Criterium for 2007 went down perfectly for me, almost.. Firstly, we arrived on time and they were not combining the fields. Secondly, the weather was beautiful. High 40s when we parked, Low fifties by the time we were racing (Murat was one of very few who raced bare-legged, and he shed his gloves with 10 laps to go) Third, no crashes! (A few close calls though, like when one guys clobbered a small pylon and squeezed his brakes way too hard, and then there was the incident where I endangered everyone..) So the only bad thing about today's race (besides that I didn't win) is that around lap 10 (of 40), I took a quick drink and put my bottle in it's cage without looking down. Next thing you know it's on the pavement, skittering between the tires and wheels of everyone behind me. Color me embarrassed... Needless to say, I had no water for the rest of the crit, making me pretty parched towards the end (except for the one swig I took from Keiran Lynch's bottle) I blame it on the water that I didn't win or get a top three finish.. I think I had it in me. Just need more courage, more risk-taking at the end when things get dicey, and more water.

Murat's result: 9th (out of? 80-100?)

Today's ride, knee pain, Best Buddies

I went for an 80 minute spin late this afternoon. Not bad out.. though I wore more clothing than I probably should have- no booties or toe warmers, just wool socks. A paper thin wind breaker over two base layers, ss jersey, and arm warmers. I've had that Pearlizumi wind breaker since about 1990 I think.. My right knee flared up while in San Diego.. in two ways. First the IT band became sore or inflamed. This I can deal with. But then the patella or knee cap started to ache, just underneath.. This had happened once before, in May of '05, sometime during the 100 mile Best Buddies ride. It's an overuse thing, and today I tried to keep the heart rate under 150 with a high cadence. Had a good ride regardless.. But if I am going to push it tomorrow at Wells, I'll need to take a couple of Advils beforehand, as I did before the Long Beach Shoreline Crit. It works.. but then you can't monitor the pain and don't realize how much more damage you're doing.. I'll never learn.
Speaking of Best Buddies.. A good friend in the peloton, Jonathon Lowenstein, is riding this event later in the spring. I've been meaning to add to his sponsorship nest egg, and will.. Please make a pledge to support Jon's ride and the Best Buddies Organization. Per Mark McCormack:

"The mission of Best Buddies is to enhance the lives of people with intellectual disabilities through one-to-one friendships and integrated employment. Currently, Best Buddies impacts the lives of more than 300,000 individuals on an annual basis."

San Diego Training Camp: Day Two Borrego Springs

This day had the potential of being a complete disaster.. We mapped out a 60 mile route- one which rides down into and then out of, Borrego Springs California. Little did we know that there was about 4000 feet of elevation change, and that the climb out of Borrego Springs was 10 miles long.. And that the temperature would vary by 40 degrees, and that the winds would gust up to 50 mph.. At any rate, here is the chart of our aborted ride.. it ended up being a 10 mile death march into the wind and uphill, followed by a 30+ mph return, seen below.

Here's a short clip of our ride in Borrego Springs. Picture above shows you our rest stop at the turn-around. We were tired, shivering and demoralized after covering this first 10 miles in exactly one hour. Had we continued on our route, we would have continued to climb for another 5 miles, and then descend in to Borrego Springs on some suicidal switchback roads.. Mission failed..

After returning to the car, we ended up driving DOWWWWWN into town, (no wonder we were freezing- we were still up at 2000 feet) parking the car and spinning in the little ring for two hours, until dark. The drive home was humbling. Our ears popped along the way.. Rumor has it, some die hard roadies in San Diego get together for an annual ride to Borrego Springs, where they stay the night.. and then return the following morning. That's about 80 miles each way, 1/2 of which is climbing up into sub-30 degree mountain tops. There's snow beside the road and all over the cars up in Julian, which is the high point.. Picture below taken from Borrego Springs.

Next: My leg-breaking 50 mile "A" ride with the infamous San Diego Bicycle Club...

San Diego Training Camp: Day One Wildcat Canyon

As promised, here is the first of the charts I said I would share from San Diego. We flew in the night before, Derek from Atlanta and myself from JFK. We landed within 5 minutes of eachother, got our baggage together, but only one of us got their bike! Mine was left behind.. must have been the karma of not being charged for my bike on the way out. Thought I got lucky... So they promised me it would be on the next flight.. and it was. I picked it up the following morning at 8:00 am.
We set out on this ride, not without doing some homework. The course was going to be hilly, we knew (everywhere in SD is rolling or quite hilly, the farther east you go) We weren't prepared for this though.. You can see that in the 28th minute we started to climb.. and continued to climb for the next 48 minutes, gaining 1308 vertical feet in 10 miles. Sounds like a pretty easy grade.. it was.. but for a first major road ride of the season, it was a bit much.. There are two charts because I pressed STOP by accident when we stopped for coffee in Ramona. I was quite chilly out by this time, and we thought of doubling back, but I insisted that we complete this infamous "Wildcat Canyon" ride as planned (see below for a link to a map) The return leg of our ride was as tough as the first, as you can see.. First a little 500 foot "roller" before another small rise and a FAST descent down into the valley. After a little bit of flat, we encountered another tough 4 mile climb which rose 1000 feet (little bit steeper than before- ouch!), before ending up near the top of the first climb of the day.
By the end of this ride, I was cramping up pretty bad, and did more harm than good to my right knee- my IT band was inflamed a tiny bit. I had to soft pedal it up the last little climb towards the end. We were pretty happy with our effort though. No messing around- we were serious about lifting boosting our LTs as fast as possible. Mission accomplished. 63 miles is a long ride for me, any time of year.
I must say.. after an hour's spin on the rollers tonight, I do feel stronger and more confidant than before this trip. Thanks for reading.
Next: Our foolish plans to ride to Borrego Springs..

San Diego Training Camp: I'm Back!

I plan to show all of my Polar charts eventually, but first I thought some of the facts and overall figures might interest you first. Maybe not... but that's okay too..

Days in San Diego: 5 (not counting arrival day and departure day)

Hours on the bike: 18

Miles ridden: 275

Overall Vertical Ascent: 11,600

Most climbed in one day: 4722 (this was day one, 63 mile ride on the Wildcat Canyon Route in purple)

Longest day: 78 miles (rode with San Diego Bike Club A group for 55 miles, then a light 23 mile spin later on)

Shortest day: 18 miles (Long Beach Circuit Race- see race report here)

Best average speed: 27.3 mph (Long Beach Circuit Race, see above)

Worst Average speed: 10.5 mph (riding into San Filipe up a ten mile climb into 40 mph gusts- see video of the return trip here)

Overall Calories: 16,510

Top Speed: 51.2 mph

Flat tires: None

Cost of plane ticket: $243

Cost of bike transport: $80 (they only charged me on the return trip)

Cost of rental car: $128 ($256 total including two fill-ups, divided by two)

Cost of hotel: $210 ($420 total, divided by two- stayed at Miramar Marine Air Force Base)

Cost of Food: irrelevant, you have to eat no matter where you are (breakfast was included @ hotel)

Total cost without food: $661

Average cost per day: $132

Average cost per hour of riding: $36.72

Average cost per mile ridden: $2.40

These statistics are sure to bore you to tears, but I wanted to lay it all out for those of you who are considering a self-directed training camp in the future.. There is no need to pay $1000 (plus airfare etc) to an "organized" camp if you buy your plane tickets early enough and research your destination. San Diego is a bike racer's mecca- challenging roads, beautiful scenery, great weather in February (mid sixties every day) I highly recommend it. Maybe next year we can go as a larger group. This trip included myself and an old friend from my junior years- Derek Larson.. one who could not help but win every junior race he ever competed in, back in the late eighties. It was a good time.

Ride No 14: Happy Valentine's Eve

Looking back upon my last off-season, I'm very optimistic about 2007. For starters, my last road ride in 2005 was September 24th. I started playing indoor soccer, and this continued until February '07.

For the rest of '05, I rode the rollers once, on December 18th for 33 pathetic minutes..

January: ONE ride on the rollers for an hour..

February: TWO road rides of an hour a piece..

March: FOUR rides on the bike path- one hour each..

April 1st: two hour road ride.

April 2nd: Wells Ave! Finished in the field without getting myself into too much difficulty (below). That's with what? Nine lame bike rides in the six months between Sept 24th and April 2nd??? I can't wait to see how I feel in the first Wells Ave of 2007. (If it isn't cancelled completely due to a new tenant in the office park) Personally, I was depressed about the end of the Lincoln Crit.. if Wells is cancelled, I'm buying a house near Ninigret Park or Wompatuck. Excuse me for pumping myself up, but I'm excited and gaining momentum. After training camp in San Diego, I intend to become a real contender in this area, for a change.

Stupid Human Tricks: Riding a bike on rollers with no hands

I thought I was pretty cool until I found this freak, who has probably been doing this for a lot more than the 30 seconds that I practiced. I feel as foolish as I look.. but intend to practise this and become a maven on such matters (riding rollers with no hands, that is)

Ride No 11: Spin Class again

Another boring chart.. until you enlarge it and realize that holding an average heart rate of 167 for 80 minutes non-stop isn't so easy. I flirted with 185 and 186 bpm a few times there. Getting primed for the Long Beach Circuit Race! I'm registered in the masters race for 10:00 AM Feb 25th. SAME COURSE as the 2007 Tour of California's final stage, later in the day. Here's the course profile, map and stuff of Long Beach.. This race course should make the Jamestown route look like a pile of puke..

Riide No 9 & 10: Stronger

Ride No 8: Spin Class led by Cheryl Payne

Charts are boring. Rollers are boring. Wind trainers are boring. Writing about charts and rollers and wind trainers is boring. So the highlight of my week, my month, my 2007 thus far, was doing tonight's spin class at the Attleboro YMCA. (In the T.I. campus) Tonight there were only six of us, including Cheryl our drill sargeant. Music didn't suck either- the selections were very compatible with my tastes. There were 15 or so empty bikes to spare. Next Wednesday.. I'm there at 1900 hours, sharp.. for an ass-kicking like I haven't felt since the Jamestown Classic. Anyone else up for it? Bring your shoes, pedals, a wrench, and 5 bucks for Cheryl's superbly essential coaching. Helmets and shirts optional. All are welcome. Write me for more details. (reiscotools at y a h o o dot c o m) As you can see from this chart, my last few rides on the rollers have been real sleep-walks in comparison. Three consecutive days of indoor training means tomorrow is a rest day.

Ride No 6 & 7: Rolling on a River...

I can't feel my junk after 20 minutes.. My hands are numb after 40.. at which point, even if I touched myself neither my hand or my junk would know it.. That's what sucks about rollers. You are seated constantly. No standing, no stopping, no relief from the pressure on your crotch.. "This can't be good for me".. crosses my mind a lot.. as I watch television, listen to the mp3 player, fumble with the remote control and almost hit the deck a few times.. Towards the end when you're a bit tired, taking a swig of water can get dicey. How is it that I can see THROUGH my stem and the top of the front wheel, all the way down to the bottom portion of my front rim? Must have something to do with not being a cyclops.. Here're the charts. Hour a piece.

Ride No 5: "You weakest of all the Sloan brothers..."

What flick is that from? Whatever, it's what my rollers were telling me for the incredibly boring hour I spent spinning on them today.. My team did a ride early this AM at Arcadia.. I skipped it because my bike needed some serious attention, plus we have a houseful of guests.. I must say the rollers felt really tight.. Storing them in the freezing cold garage seems to have gummed up the bearings.. that, and they're 17 or so years old.. McClains. Sometimes on of the cylinders shimmies. Today's "Hour of Un-Power" was made slightly more pleasant with the addition of my mp3 player. Best track? Jesus of Suburbia- Green Day. The wireless Polar was a disappointment though. Loss of signal because of the cold? Shit that's one of the reasons I like to use the rollers- I get to track distance.. The other reason being that you can't slack off on rollers, can't coast- or else you fall.. So riding the rollers is kind of like riding the fixed gear I suppose.. The realization that the light in the garage is controlled by a motion sensor scared me at one point. What if the light went out? I'd hit the deck for sure.. then the light would come back on.. Weight is holding steady at 176-1/2 pounds. If I'm under 170 by the time I go to San Diego on 2/21, I'll be very happy. Note that my weight at peak form in 2006 was 172.. and a year ago today I was over 180.. Heck at the first Wells of '06 I was over 180.

Ride No 4: Happiness is...

..forcing yourself to do the right thing, even when far more attractive alternatives tempt you. After watching "Air Force One" with my dad, it was ever so tempting to just veg in front of the tv or surf the blogs... but I was disappointed in today's weather and wimped out on a road ride.. so the only solution was to kick the pedals for an hour on the rollers.. It felt like a friggin eternity.. my shoes were on too tight, so I stopped for a sec to loosen em.. then my testicles went numb so I stopped a few more timed to adjust the equipment.. They still haven't descended, 1/2 hour later.. In the end I have myself a cheerful dispostion, less about a pound in water weight.. Which reminds me, I forgot to wipe up the puddle of sweat I left in the living room. Yes, intend to post every single Polar chart of every race and ride here, all season long. Well... let's see how long that lasts..

Ride No 3: Feeling bloated and heavy

It's been a shit week for me, physically and emotionally. Worrying about things is bad for form. Today I spent some time at work, trying to make up for my absence from the office on Monday and Wednesday.. Around 2:30 I headed over to Casters to buy some new inner tubes to go with my new Conti 4 Seasons tires.. Met some very nice people in the store. I hit the road at about 3:30 after changing my rear tire and tube. Heading up Seven Mile Hill Road (it's only two miles of gradual 200 feet rise) I felt like my brakes were rubbing (and they were) but even so, something wasn't clicking and I made it to the checkpoint at the top (at route 12) with a very crappy time. My Polar HRM is pissing me off too, with frequent loss of signal.. making the record of my riding speed and distance deficient.. Grrrr. The important thing is that I got my ass out there I guess. Admittedly, I had to force myself.. because I'm a weenie when it comes to riding in the cold.. which for me, is anything under 50 degrees..

I'm registered: Long Beach Shoreline Circuit Race

I will be racing on Sunday February 25th in the Long Beach Shoreline Circuit Race, which takes place right before the Amgen Tour of California's 7th and final stage, on the same course. Should I do the Pro-1-2? or the Masters 1-2-3? Maybe I shouldn't bother with either? No way, I'd regret not trying for the rest of my life.. Better just get my ass in shape and perform.. Show those Left Coast weenies what New England racers are all about. I hope I don't eat these words..

Travel plans are finalized

I will be in San Diego February 21 thru 27, staying at the Naval Air Base in Coronado. This was arranged by an old friend who I raced with, back when I first started in the sport of cycling. We were quite the dynamic duo when we raced together, attacking the GVCC club races on a weekly basis. Whenever we took off on an attack, you always heard the words "there they go" from the rest of the field.. So it's been 17 or so years since we've ridden together, and I'm stoked about having good company during my training camp.

It came as no surprise..

..when I found my road bike in the garage with another flat... WTF!

Velonews Photo Contest: Tour de Trump Prologue

I submitted this picture and they posted it in this week's Photo contest Gallery! On that day in 1989, I skipped school and drove to Albany with a friend to watch the prologue. 'Twas a miserable and rainy day. I have a few other pics I took that day.. Gert VanTeunisse (sp?), Ron Keiffel, Eric Vanderaerden, Davis Phinney and Andy Hampsten I think.. Here's the link to this week's Velonews Photo Contest Gallery.

Murat's 2007 fitness: ahead of schedule

Hopefully everyone in New England was able to ride these past two days. I did, though limiting the rides to an hour each left me wanting more.. Today I took a very typical route- one which I use to test fitness. It includes Hope Furnace Road in Coventry, and the first time check is at the point where Maple Valley Road meets Route 117. There's a nice challenging 300 feet of vertical rise for the first four miles.. My best time ever to this intersection is 27:22, and today I did it in 29:41.. What I'm excited about is that last season, the best I could do as of April 25th was 29:55.. I believe the weekend off-roading is paying off, I'm watching my diet very closely this winter, and I'm only about 4 pounds over my in-form weight of 2006. Last year's first edition of Wells Ave [for me] was on April 2nd, and I finished with the field without getting dropped. If I'm about as strong today as I was at the end of April 2006, then I have a feeling that good things will happen in '07. Now I'm motivated.