Real quick..

..then I'm off to CT for the day. Yesterday sucked. I drove five hours overall to CT and back, returned to the office late, didn't get on the bike until 6:15, didn't have enough time to do my whole training program.. so I omitted about 1/2 of the tempo ride at the very end. Hill repeats are hard when it's 90+ degrees out. Man.. I weighed 162 when I got home.. I'm still 163 this morning, so still dehydrated a little bit.. Killed another squirrel on the way to work too. Came from out of no where. It's weird how the tear of flesh transmits up through the tires, wheels, handlebars.. to your hands. Sorry little guy. Bad timing. My personal coach and long time friend Todd Scheske took a win up in Canada the other weekend:

In what was a text book team race, Todd sealed the deal in Kitchner. Wayne rode good tempo on the front early on and Mike and Todd attacked relentlessly the second half of the race. Finally Todd broke free with two other riders and smoked them in the sprint. Mike attacked the chase group to finish 4th and Jason took the field sprint for 12th.

Preferred Care Elite Cycling Team site

2007 NBX Criterium Masters 35+ Race Footage Video is LIVE!

NBX Criterium Masters 35+ Race Footage VIDEO is LIVE!

Recorded June 23, 2007. This is different. No fancy music. Just lots of Murat's brain droppings. AND!: video from the finish too.. Hope you'll like it. I will embed this when I get home, unless gewilli or solobreak offer to do it for me before then. Surely I can trust them with my log-in information..

NBX Criterium Video is complete..

Stay tuned. It will be ready to view by 9:00 am.

Murat advances

Looky-look! Murat populates 6th place in the Rhode Island Masters Criterium Rankings. Kind of unexpected, considering I've not won anything or even cracked top ten.. I guess consistency is the key... Finishing around 20th over and over and over again gives you nice low point scores (lower is better) Please allow this anonymous mid-pack finisher to indulge in something remotely satisfying. <Haaaaa>.. On that note, some shout-outs and salutations.. I must say I'm impressed with Ted Shanstrom this season. Seems to be firing on all cylinders lately and ranked highly as a result- shooting from 10th to 4th recently. Nice results in two Cox Criteriums yesterday too.. Christopher Dale! You dropped to 7th but with your 8th place at the NBX Criterium you might average back down (up) to 6th again. Regrettably, your 2006 Cox and Casters Crit results are off the 12 month radar (which helped me) and your 2007 Cox result wasn't as good as '06. Gary Aspnes! Here's a shout out to the guy who almost caught me from a minute back at the Bob Beal TT.. I dropped out of the NBX Crit (not long after my four lap suicide break at the start) and watched you grind it out solo for those last few laps.. Believe me I was rooting for you, even if it meant that you would overtake me in RI standings.. You deserved 6th place and almost had it. Damn that would have been beautiful. But you beat me at Cox yesterday by 8 places, so you'll average down to about 270-275 I figure.. Remember Cox has a race value of 100, and it's 125-500 for Masters (not the typical 175-500) As for me, I may average down to something in the high 260s.. I'll take it. When winning isn't exactly within reach yet, you have to take what you can get and use it like jet fuel. Why the hell not?

Coffee-free today? I am

Just realized that I didn't run out for my daily medium hot coffee with cream and 2 sugars from the DD. Also not missing my daily warm croisant drenched with butter. (Okay missing it a little bit as my stomach growls) What is wrong with me? I get up at 4:00 am, go back to bed at 5:00 (always a big mistake for me, I was wide awake, but felt the need for more rest) I wake up again, too late to make it to work on time, leave the house at the time I'm supposed to arrive at work, (by bike of course) and get to work around 9:00 (not bothering to take any shortcuts), unshaven, but glad to already be an hour into my work day. This place is good like that. No worries about your hours as long as you get the job done.. well within reason. Today is a rest day with easy spins to/from work and tomorrow's ride features VOmax hill repeats:

20 min warm up

45 min zone 2 (endurance pace)

3 min hill repeats at VOmax (2.5 min zone 5a, final 30 sec zone 5b)

8 min Recovery 
repeat until you cannot match within 10% avg watts of 3rd interval

60:00 zone 3 (tempo)

(Coach believes I can do this for how many more than three times I wonder??)

Now where can I find a nice loop that iincludes a 3 minute hill and 8 minutes of recovery? If I don't find something, I see myself on route 12 near the reservoir, going up to the top and then doubling back down to recover, which is lame and boring. Maybe a diversion down into the Hope Furnace area will get me onto a decent loop, but I doubt it will be less than 20 minutes around. No good. Curse you, New England roads.. 

2007 Cox Charities Criterium: A few pictures

I have more pictures from the Cox Charities Pro Criterium Bike Race, but these are the only ones featuring Rick Kotch and Mark McCormack. I also took loads of video, but no idea what I'll do with it yet!

NBX Ninigret Criterium

I have some video which I'll share later.. Congrats to Rick Kotch (3rd) who joined the winning break and outsprinted two of his companions. Also to Arik Jon Holm (6th) who took the field sprint. As for me, I went on a four lap flyer from the start and never fully recovered.. so the first 8 minutes of video might be the most boring footage of all time. Maybe not.. More later.

The Last Word

It's official, I'm not going to Rochester for the Twilight Crit tomorrow. Instead I will be at the NBX Bikes Ninigret Criterium and at the Cox Classic Criterium for the 35+ (and maybe the Pro-1-2 if I feel like pointlessly thrashing myself for two extra hours, and paying $45 for the priviliege) I'm actually scheduled to have a light endurance day tomorrow, but with Coach Scheske up to his ears in Twilight Crit preparations and management, I may have to just take exception to The Plan and do the Ninigret race. If I can get a top ten in Wednesday's training crit, can I repeat it on Saturday? That's the thing about confidence.. You can't "train" it into a person. You can only build it with results..success breeds success.. and it's a lot like the "experience" catch 22 faced by young people trying to enter the work force. "How can I gain experience if no one will hire me?" "Who will hire me if I don't have any experience?"

'Tis my biggest challenge right now.. Body: stronger. Belief in myself: weak. (but improving)

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend. 

Fasting

I'm required to fast today until noon time, when I will be meeting a nurse at the house who will take my blood and urine samples, take my measurements, pulse, blood pressure, weight and money.. all for the legalized gambling racket we call life insurance. Yes soon I will be worth more money when dead, than while living. Hopefully I can make it until noon without eating. At 2:00 AM I was up and had a bowl of Raisin Bran (topped off with some Lucky Charms). Usually by this time (8:30) I've had a big bowl of Raisin Bran at 6:00 am, and a warm buttered croisant and a med hot coffee from the Dunk. Usually by 10:30 I also scarf down a "Nut Naturals" Powerbar.. I've ridden to work today (as I do every day- no need to make a big deal out of it) and thank goodness it's a rest day: HR was 106 avg, watts 122 avg, duration 47:24, distance 13.14 miles, speed 15.9 mph avg. A real sleeper.
Yesterday morning I weighed in exactly 165. THIS morning, I was astonished to find myself back up to 169! And this was after a skipped breakfast (fasting) and after my daily morning elimination, which was "continental" in proportions.. Surprising.. We had Mexican for dinner last night and the portions were huge.. but like I said, in the AM it was all gone.. so how does one gain four pounds in one 24 hour period? Was the Mexican food too salty? It didn't seem to be! I did gulp down two large Diet Cokes and I did help dear wife finish her dessert.. Serves me right.. Maybe I'm just retaining water. Some coffee would fix that.. but I can't.. Fasting.. Crap on a stick. This sucks. I mean, I can fast, but the concentration and focus is gone.. That's what sucks. We should all go hungry occasionally and feel what it's like for the other 80% of the world's population. Most Americans have never felt hunger.. We tend to eat before we're hungry (whenever it's time to eat!) and we tend to eat until we're absolutely full, like we're preparing for some natural disaster induced famine or something..
"America runs on Dunkin". How do you like that one? Rachel Ray telling you how it's so "quick and delish"? "Quilicious"? and how everyone should have an iced coffee as a "pick-me-up"? Does this guerilla campaign to fatten America with sugary donuts, bagels, cookies, iced coffee and hot coffee, not disgut you? Aren't you completely sickened with the brazen effort by Dunkin Donuts to create a chemical dependence on their products? I am. No shame whatsoever... Even the radio announcer's voice is such that he sounds like he's over weight. It's like a subconscious affirmation and acceptance of a weight problem. If that's not deliberate, I don't know what is.. Rachel Ray.. you're a shameless sell-out..

Ninigret Criterium: 8th

Nice sized "A" field last night, with about 60 racers at the start. I arrived super early and did an hour of zone 1 beforehand. Used my Rolf Vector Pro tubular front wheel- the one with the eighty dollar Schwalbe tire.. Love those wheels, too bad the rear's a Campy. It had been raining on and off all day but by the time our race took start it was bright and sunny out, really beautiful. I almost attached the handlebar cam, but decided against it at the last minute. Ninigret is usually a challenge for me.. but last night I felt pretty good, did lots of work at the front, and finished the race in 8th place. Team mate Rick Kotch was pipped at the line by Tobi Schultz and took 2nd. I haven't done any training to improve my sprint, so in the rare instance where I have a shot at a top three, I can feel the deficiency. In the final wind-up, the best I could do is hold my position out of the final corner, seated. Need to work on that. I believe my training plan is bearing some fruit, as I was only put into real difficulty only once, where someone who was tired let a pretty large gap open up during an acceleration. That hurt so much I needed a few laps of recovery before I moved to the front again. I overheard a few people saying how it was the hardest Ninigret crit so far this year, and it was encouraging to hear. Now I need to decide whether to stay in town and race at Cox, or drive to Rochester again to do the Rochester Twilight Crit. Maybe the weather report will decide for me?

Brazilian Roberto Carlos signs two year deal with Fenerbahce in Istanbul

Brazilian soccer player Roberto Carlos reacts during a contract-signing ceremony in Istanbul June 19, 2007. Carlos has signed a two-year deal with Turkish soccer club Fenerbahce. (TURKEY)  REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Housatonic Hills Road Race Masters 45+

Am I the only one dying to know the story behind this photo finish from the Housatonic Hills Road Race? Why is the winner gesturing towards the finish line camera/officials? A new friend I've made recently, Haluk Sarci, took 2nd place and I'm wondering what happened during the 3up sprint for the win.

Back from Rochester

Spent the weekend in western New York visiting family, attending an enormous Turkish Festival, and of course riding the bike. Rode for three hours Sunday, two of those hours with my friend and coach Todd Scheske, who is assistant race director for the upcoming Rochester Twilight Criterium on Saturday June 23rd. This event draws crowds of spectators numbering in the 30,000+ range. From what I'm told, this year will be even bigger and better. I'm on the fence about driving out there again next weekend for a 20 mile masters crit, but as I understand it, witnessing the Pros trade punches for two hours on this formula 1 style course is something to behold, and worth the trip in it's own right. I'd much rather stay in town and race at Cox (would be much easier on the wallet) but maybe it's time I raced somewhere other than New England for a change. Remember the tropical storm last year at? .. In case you didn't notice, the Cox PRO event has been changed to 6:00 pm this year. That's no accident. It was coordinated between Todd and the Cox folks so that those who race in Rochester Saturday can make the trip east to Providence in time for the Pro event here on Sunday. This should help make the Cox Crit a very well attended event.

Plymouth-Reebok

Does anyone remember the old Plymouth-Reebok junior team of the late eighties? I remember that their reputation was such that most junior racers would dread their attendance- they were very fast. Who was on that team? Who went pro? Who among them still races? The names John Loehner, Aaron Newland, Jonas Carney and Paul Pisani stand out in my mind, but not sure what team they were on back in the old days.. I do remember a young (15 year old) George Hincapie taking all the honors of every junior crit and then taking a top three or a win in the cat 2-3 races of the same event.. Nowadays I see Gavin Mannion of CCB winning in the same manner and it's like deja-vu. Mark that name down. You'll be hearing it again in the coming years. 

Squirrel goes on rampage, injures 3

A squirrel is seen in St. James Park in London in this May 2, 2007 file photo. An aggressive squirrel attacked and injured three people in a German town before a 72-year-old pensioner dispatched the rampaging animal with his crutch. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico

This caught my eye only because these vermin in disguise populate the bike path I use to commute, in large numbers. They seem to have a short circuit with determining which side of the path is better, and at what time it's safest to cross. I kill at least one every year with a fatal bike tire across the neck... um.. regrettably.

Bike racer haircut? Pffffffftt!

I resolve to let my hair grow all through the summer, and forbid dear wife to cut our little one's hair as well. Long hair on bike racers is the shit.. and wrist bands. They rock.

Nutmeg Crit: "Not a rankable event" (?)

For a couple of days, I was given (everyone was given) ranking points for the Nutmeg Crit. I actually did well enough to average myself down to 272 points, enough to be ranked 7th in RI.. Then yesterday I discover that it's suddenly "not a rankable event" and that all points are erased. So now my 12 month average of my three best crit results is 295.. Grrrr. Still enough for 7th in Rhode Island, but what gives? These numbers do a great job of motivating me to chew through the handlebars in the last few laps of a crit.. so I'm naturally disappointed.

Functional Threshold: 268

268... that's the number of mean maximal normalized watts I can crank for an hour without blowing my wad. This is established from the [Peaks] Mean Maximal Normalized Power Chart for yesterday's field test ride. We move the cursor over the 60 min point of this chart and the value pops up: 268. Previously, my FT was established using the same chart generated by field test one, except we used the CP20 and deducted 5%, hence the 250. Now that there's a month's history in the MMNP chart, it's best to use the CP60 value.

I believe I could have performed better with more thorough rest, a less demanding work day, and warmer weather. To wit, the first field test was on a nice warm Saturday where I slept in until 10:00. Yesterday was much different.

It still confuses me that there are all of these different wattage numbers.. average, normalized, mean maximal, mean maximal normalized.. They all represent different things.. and you can't just look at your average watts or your peaks for any given ride and expect to see the whole picture.. It's all very confusing to this simple mind. 

Hartford Criterium pictures are UP..

at MJSTUART's site.. 230 photos from the Hartford Criterium, and I find only one which includes me. Serves me right for racing in the'nosebleed section' of the field. Apparently he was also at the Nutmeg Criterium and will be posting those pictures within a couple of days.

Field Test No 2 Results..

1 minute=574 watts
5 minute=315
20 minute=256 (264 norm power)
Previous Field Test Values on May 12th:
1 minute=564
5 minute=303
20 minute=234 (262 norm power)
I'm beginning to wonder if I'm the only one using a PT who has it set to record zeroes (while coasting).. Judging from the power levels of others which I read about here and there, it's hard to believe I am so low on the food chain. Makes it seem like a friggin miracle that I can finish a Pro crit or crack top 20 in a master's crit.. I feel like I would have done better if it was warm out.. I had no arm warmers with me and never felt comfortable in the cool 55 degree weather, which felt much colder with the wind.. I also understand that on warmer days, the PT reading can be elevated. Today I had no such advantage.. Oh well, the training program seems to be working. I see decent improvement for just a four week 'build'. Let's see what I can do in time for the New Britain Crit or the Attleboro Crit.. or BOB BEAL! I wonder what my watts were during last year's 3 mile TT.. I also wonder if I could beat that time today, and by how much? I also wonder if it's wise to share this information so freely. Now it's no secret how much I suck! (tongue implanted in cheek) One important distinction: the 20 min watts above represent FT, not the watts I could average for 20 minutes with fresh legs.. The first two one minute efforts take a lot out of you, as does the five minute effort which follows.. Weight is down to 165! Oh my! I was 175 when I did the first field test on 5/12.. What effect does this have on watts? I'm 10 pounds lighter, so it should be easier to do more watts? Or not? ... Whatever.. I miss my Polar HRM, which now resides dormant, at the bottom of my backpack.. Thanks for reading.