WARNING: Don't take VITAMINS, you DOPER!

"Using any form of dietary supplement may result in a positive test for prohibited substances leading to a suspension and/or other penalties. Vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids and other dietary supplements may contain prohibited or illegal substances that may or may not be listed on the label. Any athlete who takes a vitamin, mineral, herb, amino acid or other dietary supplement does so at his or her own risk of committing a doping violation."

These words are printed right adjacent to my new 2008 racing license, which arrived the other day. Am I the only one who finds this both peculiar and offsides? Are we being warned not to take supplements because their testing procedures suck so badly that they might mistake vitamin E for EPO?? I don't get it.

Narragansett Bay Weenies?

Okay that was unfair of me, especially since I'm acquainted with only ONE MEMBER of the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen. Why the poke? Only because I was expecting a huge turnout today on their Scituate ride at 11:00 am! That's all.. no one have a hissy fit.. no one's a weenie. Just me- I'm the biggest self depracating weenie in the world, so just chill everyone..and save your finger wagging and hate mail for another time.. It was 48 degrees out at one point.. so WHERE WAS EVERYBODY?!?! I distinctly recall a person boasting the other day about how the NBW group was populated with some real die hard lunatics- that they would turn out in huge numbers even in the coldest and crappiest of weather! Oh well. Whatever. There were about ten cars in the parking lot, and a couple of people rode there from home.. I was still pulling my booties on when the "A" group (consisting of FIVE people) departed from the parking lot! About a full minute later, I managed to add my hat, helmet, gloves, phone, pump, spare, multi tool, and wind jacket and then shove off from the parking lot in hot pursuit. I think that the look of my bike was taken to be an indicator of my fitness level- I took the Redline 9-2-5 fixed gear commuter with me.. If I had my LOOK 486- they might have waited another minute.. but I'd rather not speculate and give credit where it isn't due.. SO.. I catch these five guys about 2-4 minutes later.. huffing and puffing.. as we got down route 102 in the vicinity of the reservoir.. On a slight rise in the road I go to the front and take a pull.. kind of like "hey guys.. my bike sucks, but I don't!" kind of pull. (I have FULL fenders and FULL reflectors.. and MOUSTACHE bars!) Five minutes later, we're down to three. I'm with an AFD guy and a Minuteman guy- both looking fit and comfortable.. The other two must have turned off someplace else or just gotten shelled (one had a WAAAAY over geared fixie with TT bars, the other had a Bianchi with a stem that looked just plain wrong..) Next rise in the road at about minute 25, I get shelled by my two road mates- I'm over geared a little bit too.. but I relent. I keep turning it over and after reaching Maple Valley Road and descending to the bottom (10 minutes later), I re-connect with them. Could not tell if they were surprised or happy to see me again.. but whatever. Burned a few matches to do it too. So we rode together for another hour or so, I felt better and better as the ride went on.. Didn't feel too much difficulty except when the road turned up- then I really needed a smaller gear.. but I managed to get out of the saddle and muscle my way over in good time.. until.. towards the very end we were on route 116 north and took a left on route 14. Down into the valley and across the road which cuts the reservoir in two.. the road tips up on a pretty steep grade for my gearing.. Seeing that we're only about 2 miles from our starting point at Scituate HS, I take the hill at my own pace, arriving a minute or two after my friends. From there, I phone dear wife, who's sledding somewhere in Johnston with my son and friends. So I head north on 116 and find them at Deerfield Park.. Cold and soaked thru, I get in the van and strip down, get the wet base layers off of me. Ate a donut, drank some hot coffee, some water.. I even put my boots on and sledded down the hill a couple of times with my son Reis.. Then I realized.. I feel much better.. Having ridden only 2:30 and being required to do at least 3:00.. I turn to my wife and say "I gotta ride home from here.. I need to get at least three hours in today". With that, I disappeared back into the van, suited up, put on my new balaclava, and wisely took my back pack with me to help keep my back warm (works like a charm..) One hour later I arrived at my house (most of the ride home was on 116 into West Warwick, then a turn onto 115 before reaching Hope Furnace Road) I'm very pleased with myself.. Overall 3 hours and 30 minutes on the fixed gear over challenging terrain and with guys riding light weight road bikes for the first half.. Let me tell you.. if you're in a funk and want to feel really good about yourself.. FORCE yourself to do something which you loath, but which you know is a requirement to reach your goals.. It's worth every minute of discomfort to get to the end of such a mission, because I feel like a million bucks right now for completing what I really didn't feel like doing.. (Back down off of soap box now) So.. Other than the 30 minute rest and sledding, it was all contiguous, no stops. Does that count? Let me pose a Seinfeld/Larry David-esque question: What's the cut-off? How long of a break can you take within a ride for it to be considered one whole ride and not two? I love Larry David-Curb Your Enthusiasm.. Bought a coffee mug at the HBO store in Manhattan last month: Half empty/Half empty.. Genius. If I had a chance to meet one famous person from Hollywood, he would be the one I'd choose over all others. I'd love to have a conversation with Larry David. Who wouldn't?

More Sponsors added!

We have added four cash sponsors and one equipment sponsor in this past week! Without naming names:

- one is a solid surface fabricator (Corian countertops)

- one is a custom veneer and panel product company

- another is a lumber and custom wood moulding company

- and one is a large distributor of plastic laminate, plywood and cabinet hardware

It appears that Millwork One is going to be co-sponsored primarily with partners in the woodworking industry. We're all very excited.. The names of these companies will be announced after our final apparel order is released for production next week.

Also: we've made a tentative agreement with a Rhode Island bicycle shop, the final details of which should be firmed up on Monday. Announcement of the shop's name will have to wait until then!

Good things are happening!

Those racers who are interested in being on the Millwork One Racing Team should reach out to us ASAP. Even if you're not yet sure, expressing interest will at least get you penciled-in before there are too many candidates to accept. The team's budget is limited to supporting six racers.. very well. Weite to us at: reiscotools@yahoo.com

   

 

Update on my father's condition

It's not so much that I want the whole world to know and feel pity or anything.. I have to get this stuff out of my system, and this blog is as good a listener as anyone. At least it doesn't judge me.. Here's where I "spill my poison", as the saying goes.. and no one has a gun to your head forcing you to read..

My father has lung cancer, stage 4, inoperable. Tumors have spread to his liver and to his bones.. His clavicle has been fractured by the tumor which grows on and around it, so pain is a big issue right now. When he was here a month or so ago, the doctor told him that chemotherapy would not be very effective, so my father declined the treatment. He decided to return to Turkey. As it turns out, he's started another round of chemo over there, and continues to treat the pain with morphine and other narcotic drugs. Last week he sounded quite cheerful on the phone.. Still on his feet, still trying to build his musical instruments, still smoking cigarettes too.. what's the point of stopping now if it gives you comfort? I wouldn't.

When my brother and I took him to TF Green airport the other month for his connection to JFK, we sat there with him at the gate, not knowing what to say or how to act. When it was time to board, we stood with him in line, said our farewells, hugged, kissed.. He entered the ramp to board and started walking away from us.. and just before turning the corner, he stopped, and he turned around and he looked at us for a moment, waving.. realizing that maybe, it was for the very last time. I almost fell apart right then and there.. and then he continued.. out of sight. As my younger brother and I walked down the concourse and away from the gate, I had to stay a few paces in front of him to hide the anguished and tearful look on my face.. and perhaps it would have been like looking in the mirror, had I turned around to face him, I don't know.. and who the hell knows what my father's face looked like after he turned the corner away from us.. I think I might have an idea, but it hurts to try and imagine it. Thanks for reading. 

Good things are happening

I just did what should be considered perhaps the most anal retentive move ever.. I RENEWED MY LICENSE for 2008, while it's still 2007.. Yes, not only did I have $60 burning a hole in my pocket.. and not only did I want to get my hands on the $30 coaching manual ASAP.. but the new Millwork One Racing was officially added to the Genesee Valley Cycling Club as an affiliate team on this date ..meaning that I could renew my license online, choose my new club and choose my new team. Much cooler than it sounds.. Many thanks to GVCC president Todd Scheske for making this happen for us so effortlessly. Good things are happening. Here's a screen shot of my USA Cycling account page:

Bisikletci Post No 321

Nothing much to report other than the fact that it's still.. colder than a witch's tit outside. 45 minutes on the rollers in zone1 just seemed like an eternity. It's cold enough in the garage that I train in there with long sleeve base layer, long sleeve jersey, hat, gloves and booties. Ugh.. I bore myself to death tonight.. Friggin Mondays just plain suck.

Good day to drive to work

I'm not insane. The decision to skip the bike ride to work was the correct one. My street had big patches of ice and snow that would have taken me down five different times before I even reached Main Street in West Warwick. I have two easy days before Wednesday's Field Test, which will be done on the wind trainer, in the garage. I haven't trained this much in December, EVER!

Eye openers

There's no denying that I can sometimes sound like a bull in a china shop.. but I guess sometimes that's what it takes to get other people to show their true colors. One thing's for sure.. there is no turning back for 'ol Murat. That's been made painfully clear by certain people who I thought were my friends. Shame on me for thinking I had some kind of immunity to being disliked. Meanwhile, the private e-mails from people who express their support for me have made this much more bearable- thank you.

I've Changed My Mind!

I'm not going to stop posting here! This is where I speak my mind about things.. I will post to both the new blog (http://www.m1racing.blogspot.com/) and to this old blog. Difference being, the M1Racing blog will be tailored as a destination suitable for any of the team's sponsors, family, friends or anyone else who we need to avoid offending.
(There was a time when all of my sponsors were listed and linked here. That ended last spring)
I have changed the address of Bisikletci.. to www.bisikletcimurat@blogspot.com just to eliminate my former association with Union Velo.. and because I want to stop embarrassing them with my foot-in-mouth disorder.. Interestingly, many readers seem to Google "union velo blog" in order to find me. No worries.
To those of you who I've reached out to recently for support or participation in the new Millwork One team, AND who have replied to me without leaving me hanging: eternal gratitude. Thank you for being a good sport and communicating, even if it didn't interest you to become involved... To those who blew me off and couldn't be bothered to reply: You suck balls.

A different matter: To the one former team mate who thought enough of me to reply and wish me well with my new team after reading my e-mail notifying everyone that I was moving on: Thanks a million, Campignone! Everyone else, I'm a little hurt, but I wish you the best that life offers, to enjoy in good health and happiness. Please keep in touch.

Time to End This Blog and Move On

Indeed, with only 17 days left as a Union Velo racer, the address of this blog needs to change.. Or.. I can leave this blog as it is, and start a new one with a new address, using this final post as a re-direct to the new address. Changing the address of this blog would be a limiting factor I think.
So.. without further ado.. please mozy on over to the new and hopefully improved blog, which I believe will be located at:
www.M1Racing.blogspot.com

Who rode to work this morning?

I did! I did! Bought a balaclava from Dick's last night- what a difference it makes to have complete coverage of the head and neck. Felt great to ride the new Redline 9-2-5 fixie in the 25 degree chill this morning. I'm beginning to enjoy and welcome the cold! Wet.. I'm not so sure about. Dick's had these extreme cold base layers by Under Armour and by Nike.. $60 each! Gaaaah! I was tempted, but then left it on the rack. Snow tonight? Glad I have my car here at work, in case I decide against riding home. If there's only flurries around 5:00 pm, I'm biking it home.

Those of you who do ride regularly in these frigid conditions.. does it make you feel like a bad ass? ..kind of like George Castanza in that "tough guy" episode of Seinfeld? Wondering if it's just me.. So cool to do what most others are completely unwilling and unable to do, I'm discovering..

Another Co-Sponsor Signs on to the Millwork One team

I won't name the company right now, but I'll say that they are a partner company of Millwork One which fabricates solid surface materials such as Corian and Zodiaq. When they received the offer from me via e-mail, they didn't hesitate, the check's already in the mail to me. Smart move- buying into the racing project of a very big customer (Millwork One). They've just guaranteed their future as a sub contractor for MIllwork One. What goes around comes around.. As a woodwork project manager in constant need of reliable suppliers, vendors and sub contractors, this makes certain buying decisions rather easy.
If only I could say the same for the limited reach of this blog! Unfortunately for me, everyone and their brother rushed over to join the NBX Bikes team this past fall, and it's as though they're giving everyone free kits and free bikes and free herion or something.. Fine and dandy! but where's mine? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Christopher Dale and Jim Peters to death- like brothers to me and I hardly know them- and I do so want to look like a pack of Viceroy cigarettes (tongue in cheek! don't anyone cry!)... but somehow when love comes to town, it always forgets to knock on Murat's door. So here I am with a new title sponsor, new team apparel, cash in hand, and no one to share it with yet. Oh well!
Does anyone know how to reach Tom Officer? He's old, wise and FAST. We remodeled a bunch of Coach Stores together about 7-8 years ago.. we're both former mill rats. I believe he can be persuaded.

Need to do a better job of...

..getting to bed by 10:00 pm! I often get carried away with the many personal projects I am managing, often keeping me awake past midnight!

..laying out my clothing and loading my backpack the night before I plan to ride to work. I lose so much time running around looking for gloves, booties, keys, wallet, socks, whatever.

..getting to work on time! the above two issues have a huge impact.. though generally I get to work earlier on days when I ride the bike in- I tend to jump out of bed more enthusiastically. No surprise there, eh?

..recruiting people to the Millwork One racing team! I'm still an army of one! It's true I will be ordering enough clothing to cover 4-6 people.. no need to be impatient or rush things.. but where the heck is everyone? Does every team out there cover ALL gasoline and ALL entry fees? Man alive, it's like herding cats.. Should I just start winging jerseys around at the next training race to whoever will take them? No, but I hear that this has worked for others. Maybe Millwork One should be a WOMEN"S TEAM! We'll see..

Commuting by Bike: Hazardous to your mental health (?)

Yesterday, I decided to punish myself with a bike commute to and from work. I use the word "punish" because I've been quite a sissy-boy in the "cold weather riding" department. Resolving to ride the fixed gear bike to work 2-3 times a week, all winter long, I decided to pick one of the nastier days as a way to "break myself in". "Future rides to work won't seem as bad" I reasoned.. Well.. aside from a quick fall on black ice, my ride to work was quite enjoyable, all 9 miles of it. The ride home.. a different story.. It wasn't the darkness that ruined it, it wasn't the cold wind or the damp drizzle or the slick roads.. It was the people who I shared the road with. Quittin' time does something to New Englanders I think. Getting home seems to be a bigger urgency than getting to work, that's for damn sure. 

A motorist driving an enormous pick up truck- the kind with four rear wheels and four doors- thoughtfully slowed to my pace, lowered his window, wagged his finger and yelled at me to "GET ON THE SIDEWALK!". On at least three other occasions, motorists blared their horns at me, and then once they could get past me, gunned the throttle while shaking their heads in disapproval. I can't read their moving lips too well, but their "body language" makes it pretty clear that feathering their brakes for a few seconds while basking in the warmth and comfort of their car, in order to avoid pasting the road with my shivering body parts, , is not appreciated.. at all.

Mentally, it really takes the wind out of your sails. You know you're doing something good for the body, for the mind and even for the environment, but those who can't afford to be delayed for 5 seconds by a human life perched precariously on top of a 20 pound machine going 20 miles an hour through the darkness on top of frozen asphalt, really make it hard to be optimistic about anything to do with PEOPLE. Enough said.

If you're a motorist and encounter a person riding a bicycle on the road, try something new: YIELD deliberately- give way- wave them through- let them pass before you make your turn. I PROMISE you that the cyclist will respond to you with a wave and a smile, or otherwise go out of their way to express thanks. If they don't, caulk it up as a rare exception- friendly motorists are so rare these days that sometimes an act of kindness is met with shock or disbelief. Have faith. WE still do.. or else we'd give up on this bike cummuting thing entirely.

The Story of STUFF with Annie Leonard: For Shame, America!

This 20 minute video called "The Story of STUFF", is good stuff indeed. Many thanks to my dear sister Elif, for sending it my way.

Severe weather alert?! Bah!

For whatever reason (demonic possession?) I rode the fixie to work this morning, falling down only once (right onto the same knee I bruised on Saturday at Goddard. Grrr.) Maybe I'm trying to toughen myself up a bit. Being a weenie because of cold or inclement weather is costing me, and I want to ride as much as anyone else does in the winter, for a change. 

Team Millwork One: Decisions, decisions..

These are the preliminary designs created by Turin Design (www.turindesign.com) for the new team. The final assembly of co-sponsors is not included yet. I really like the both of them, it's going to be a tough call. We seem to be on schedule to place our clothing order by 12/17 though!

6th Annual W.E. Stedman GP of Cross

Full results (Murat's DFL!)
Yours truly decided this morning that he wanted to compete in a cross race- that is.. my annual "let me remind myself how bad I suck at cross" event. Truthfully though, I was excited about today's race in the Elite 35+.. I arrived alone, kind of late.. Registered at about 9:30, leaving 30 minutes to ride my bike back to my car, attach my number (which I did with my skinsuit ON- don't ask how) take a wizz, warm up, practice some dismounts in the field (something I haven't done since the '06 Canton Cup) and line up to race for a 10:00 am start. Regrettably, my so-called "useless" rear frog leg brake lever broke before the start, meaning that in order to have any rear braking power at all, I needed to have my left hand in the drops at all times. This was a real buzz kill because my lack of off road and cyclocross experience means that my lower back is extremely sensitive to such abuse.. Man alive did my lower back throb towards the end.. Being the last to register positioned me at the back of the field at the start.. and I didn't do so terrible in the first lap- I actually had 10-20 people behind me until a certain point. But the hesitance and shit braking in the hairpins cost me a lot and it wasn't long before I relegated myself to being the guy who was "just there for the training". Just before being lapped by Jonny Bold, I took a bad fall in the turn which most resembled a corkscrew.. Almost knocked the wind out of me, and it did mess up my brakes even more. I got up immediately and by the time I "finished" about six guys total lapped me.. In the spirit of "finish what you start", I proceeded to do another lap (at a soft pace) just to be able to say that I did as may laps as everyone else. Great to see GeWilli in action.. I had a lot of fun, saw Larry King, Chris Dale, Jim Peters and others in the sideleines shouting words of encouragement at me. Very cool. I don't know if I'll race tomorrow.. I guess if the mood strikes, I'd like to try, but my training program requires me to do four hours on the fixed gear tomorrow. (Three hours were required today, but I raced instead). Nice day, nice venue and course, and good training for the whole body. My right ankle is killing me, still weak and tender from a sprain I had over a year ago. Next up: Preliminary MILLWORK ONE team kit designs! I need help choosing one color theme over the other. Let me know what you think.

Minuteman Road Club CycloCross 35+ VIDEO 12-2-07

Here's the vid I promised. Seems to have been recorded ar 12:20, making this the end of the 1st/beginning of the 2nd lap. I spy Solo and Ge in there.. looking pret-ty good. Nice work on a very cold day.. You're all nuts.

My new fixed gear winter riding toy: REDLINE 9-2-5

No doubt the ugliest bike in my fleet, but that will change after I swap out those awful handlebars. I wanted a comfortable fixed gear bike with brakes and fenders.. This is by far the best value.. so it was a no-brainer. Many thanks to Rick at Union Velo for the great price and service, per usual.. Also bought some neoprene booties, a new wind trainer (to replace the one I gave to my dad) and a front wheel block (something I've never owned before). Tried to do a field test on the rollers last night and discovered that the resistance is too low. In the 5 minute "blowout" portion, I was in the 53x11 and plates in the cupboard were shaking.. Of course it doesn't help that my rearest drum has 1/4" of lateral play.. (I've owned those rollers since 1993) I eeked out 318 watts in the 5 minutes (had the 53x11 going at 102 rpm average) and it was quite apparent that the 1 minute "all out" efforts would be impossible. Field test aborted. Either have to do it on the frozen roads or on the new wind trainer.. but not in THIS thing, that's for sure.
The other night I discovered how to make one hour on the rollers minimally bearable: remove the stopwatch from the display and look at cadence. DUH. Yeah I was actually watching the minutes tick by before I had this forehead slapper of an idea. My mp3 collection takes me to about 50 minutes before I get really bored, then I check the time and switch to my favorite few track to get to the end of 60 minutes. One other thing which helps is basically goofing around occasionally. The other night I killed about 10 minutes practicing the rollers with no hands.. I've gotten quite good at it- I can now do it without holding onto anything- go from the bars to no hands and back no problem. Even recorded some of it with my camera, I was so impressed with myself. Maybe I'll show it later. Maybe not. Funny thing is, my pelvis tilts to the right uncontrollably when I go no hands. It's like my right leg is shorter than my left or something. Either that or the floor's not level. Thanks for reading.
Okay I'm back.. F-it.. Here it is. In this video, I actually speak.. which made me feel like a freak as I spoke to an inanimate object. CTodd, I don't know how you do it. I think it takes elephant sized testicles to put yourself out there like that.