Determination

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.

IRONY

For the past many months and months, Facebook has pretty much hijacked my attention span, taking it away from this blog and leaving readers twisting in the wind.. unless they themselves migrated over to the land of imitation friendships. Let's face it, accepting a friend request is the equivalent of canine crotch sniffing. We proceed to ogle all of the friends, photos and other bullshit which our new "friends" have just exposed. It's a peep show of flashers and consenting victims.

Today something different happened. Something less typical than what I describe. A couple of things happened actually. First I stumbled upon the Facebook link to mywww.americanturk.blogspot.com blog, where I was astonished to discover that I have followers. I can't think of another word which makes my insides tingle more warmly. Okay there were only six of them in there, but I am not acquainted with three- total strangers. This gives me a hard-on, figuratively speaking, and it explains the first irony which my title suggests: that Facebook played a part in getting me interested in blogging again.

The next surprise came in the form of a friend request acceptance and a message posted to my Facebook Wall by my new friend. I sent a friend request to Franz Wright earlier in the afternoon. By the time I got home from a friend's child's birthday party, he had replied with an acceptance and the following message.

Franz Wright Hi, and thanks for befriending me. I remember coming across your blog a long time ago and being greatly encouraged by some good words of yours. FW

4 hours ago · Comment · Unlike · See Wall-to-Wall
I usually have a pretty low opinion of my work, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Franz Wright won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2004. That he stumbled upon my blog and found words fit to encourage him is the biggest compliment I have ever received. Irony No 2 happens to be that for twice in one day, Facebook sent me back to the drawing board (that is, my blog), and wondering why I have let is slip so.
The third thing I want to share with you is partly coincidence and part irony. I resigned from my job last week, and yesterday was my last day after five years of service. While my pre-resignation memo and my resignation memo which followed by one month were both ignored completely by upper management, my memo to all fellow co-workers sent yesterday was much more warmly received. I received dozens of replies from well-wishers and numerous compliments relative to my writing. Even a recent e-mail from my new employer also indicated that my choice of words was impressive. Yesterday a [former] co-worker expressed to me that I could probably make a living using this skill if I put my mind to it. Having said all of this, isn't it ironic that theweakness bird-dogged the most by my former employer was "poor communication"?
Here is my Resignation memo, followed by my Goodbye memo. I think Franz would like these.Resignation Memo:

Gentlemen:

I recognize that the problems at [company] are intense enough to eclipse all other matters but it's impossible to perform at a high level when my concerns are ignored. I can't continue to pretend that it doesn’t hurt me that my previous message entered a vacuum. This lack of communication has made things difficult.

No one stays employed anywhere for 5 years for being a low performer, yet the past few weeks and months make it seem as though I am being encouraged to leave. This does not feel good and I hope that I will be proven wrong somehow. From where I stand, it’s a dishonor to stay in this position and it invites others to disrespect me if I go along with the derision as if it’s acceptable. I need to stop trying to catch a falling knife.
If there are any positive ideas or future changes which I am unaware of, now would be the time to share them with me. Otherwise this will serve as my notice to leave [company] and we should discuss an exit plan.

Best,

Goodbye Memo:

Dear Fellow Co-Workers:

"It's what we do." Remind yourself of this the next time an assignment is getting the best of you.

It has been an honor to count myself among you for the past five years. Working with the caliber of people who populate [company] is a privilege- take pride in being immersed in such a deep pool of talent. As the melancholy of leaving you eclipses the excitement of a new career, it's abundantly clear to me that five years have not been wasted. I leave you carrying a giant payload of personal growth, valuable experience, and great memories.

I humbly encourage everyone to test their limits- it's not possible to become better/faster/stronger if we do not. We all want to be strong. Fortunately, the limits we decide to test are in our control. Let's choose them wisely so that our adaptations are compatible with our goals. You’re the captain.

It is my hope to be considered as one who cares deeply about [company], as one who salutes those who try to be excellent, and that your actions say the same about you.

Best,

Thanks for reading.

There's less of me to go around..

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

WeeBike - USA Cycling promotion

You have all seen my boy go from a two wheel LikeaBike to a two wheel FELT and SKIP THE TRAINING WHEELS. Here he is coasting to victory up at the Boston Mayor's Cup.

Anyway, we need to move some bikes and pay some bills, so I am offering the following to anyone who buys a LikeaBike and holds a USA Cycling racing license:

One free race entry fee on us when you purchase any model of Likeabike from WeeBike.

Only one caveat: you must complete your transaction at http://www.weebike.com/ (not Ebay) and take delivery at a local race event. Payment by Paypal is fine. Just indicate your racing license number with your payment and we will issue a refund of $25 after we verify that you're you and that you hold a valid racing license.

This promotion is offered for a limited time.. at least until Christmas.. We've been in business for nearly two years and every penny we've made selling the bikes has been spent on funding the M1 Racing - WeeBike Team. Please, if you're in the market for one of these high end bikes, buy from WeeBike and help us keep this team going. Spread the word!

Three free Livestrong bracelets with each purchase too (two adult and one youth size)

Whyemseeay

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 19^th. 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!

Note to self:

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.

 

Solo Break Racing

Apparently there’s a new team which is sponsored by the mild-mannered alter ego of our beloved Nega-Coach:

www.solobreakracing.com

 

 

 

 

Cheers and Jeers

Cheers to the new Powertap head unit that arrived today! I lost my computer at Concord on 8/1 and found a nearly new head unit on Ebay- snagged it for $46. Yay! Data restored!
Jeers to my job and for occupying me for 60-70 hour weeks for the past many weeks. Training volume is sub-100 miles and form is sneaking away from me. Must find a way to evade the long hours!
Cheers to my latest vehicle purchase- a brand new 2009 Honda FIT Sport- bought for under invoice and an awesome 33 mpg. This car is extremely loaded, versatile, and has pretty nice lines for an economy car. Got it in whit so it look like freshly wrapped Pro bar tape.
Jeers to me for not blogging at all for the past week! Too busy too tired..
Cheers for my son Reis- his 6th birthday is on Saturday!
Jeers to me for missing this year's edition of the Chris Thater Criterium. No form, birthday on Saturday- made it impossible.
Cheers to getting my Powertap today! So psyched to see where I stand.. and this new unit has only 60 miles on it. It's the latest generation of the wired units. Liking it lots.

Found this in Facebook!

..thanks to Alain Ferry. Genius indeed! This is good.

Harder than it looks

I did this entire ride in the big ring- forgot to hit the start button for the first 3 miles.. Also kind of upset that a driver who was behind me at a dark intersection rolled down his window and yelled "You are an asssss-hooooole". I was on the left anticipating my left turn long before he ever reached me, so what's the problem? I reached the intersection first and did not delay him. What is it about a bicyclist who's just making his way home, minding his own business on the side of the road in the pitch black darkness, with reflective back pack, blinky and headlight, that brings out the worst in people? This was a new route for me. Kind of challenging. Basically it followed Park Ave (Route 12) out towards the reservoir, all the way to the end. That's about 1/2 of the ride. Then where 94/14/102 split, bear left and follow 102/14. Another few miles up, bear right on 14, then a few miles later, follow signs for 117 East. Take to Sandy Bottom Rd in Coventry- turn right and go to Division Road a few miles up. Left on Division Road takes me straight across route 2 and to Main Street in East Greenwich, which I now call home. Got home about 9. It was dark! If not for the 'Auto-on' being disabled on my Polar, I would surely have cracked 20 mph, which of course, is a requirement for any ride.
Still no sign of my Powertap- lost it at the Concord Crit.. Damn. I could use a little do-re-me for a replacemtn head unit, so if you are looking for a new bike for your 2-5 year old or looking for a few wool base layers for the fall/winter, please go buy some of my stuff: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/WeeBike__W0QQ_armrsZ1 If you find something you like, such as a LikeaBike Jumper, let me know via e-mail and I can knock 10% off the price for cash sales that are delivered to you in person at a race.
Thanks for reading.

2009 Concord Criterium Results

I was on the rivet for the whole entire time, and it took some coaxing and encouragement from a good team mate, but in the end, I found myself in the top ten going into the correct inside line of the corkscrew with 1/2 lap to go. There was a crash in the final corner- on the outside. This was both a curse and a blessing- it required me to shift my weight to the right at high speed and reach for the brakes, losing a touch of speed. On the other hand, it delayed a few guys enough for me to hold onto 9th place with lots of room to spare, or so it seemed. Hopefully the results this year will show a high speed shot of the top 15 as they showed in last year's results. Needless to say, it pleases me immensely that Matt Kressy won, that three of our team populate the top ten finishers, and that all five of our team raced honorably and finished.

Lost my Powertap at 2009 Concord Criterium

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.

2009 Norwell Pro-Am

I trained more in January than I did in June, and the same can be said for July, unless I crack about 100 miles this week- who knows.. My form is systematically being stolen from me week after week by a completely unpredictable, highly demanding and stress-intense career. It wasn't always like this, as you can see from the nice graphic chart I've shared with you showing how my CTL and ATL evolved since January. Look at the blue line during the time between May 20 and May 31, where I can tell you that I was the strongest all year. It comes as no surprise- I did almost 54 hours and over 1000 miles of riding in May. But in June- after returning from Turkey- I was saddled with a new project at work which needs constant nurturing- and it's so large that I'm co-managing it with another PM. Management changes at work make it even more sensitive of an issue because all new eyeballs are looking at this thing extremely closely. There's enough dick-wagging and pissing matches going on that anyone can be violently thrown under the bus at any given moment, even though this train wreck of a project was inherited from a person who drove it into the ground and then got fired. My job is to turn it around, and it has basically consumed me. I've averaged about 100 junk miles a week since returning from Turkey in early June. This is going to change beginning this week, because it's now time to engage in a bail-out plan of my own. I'm going to look very closely at the training I did in April/May and with a few adaptations relative to intensity and volume, I'm going to shoot for a CTL of at least 100 for the week leading up to Chris Thater. That's only 5 weeks from now. At Norwell there were no surprises and I performed about as lousy as I expected to, maybe a little more. The good news is that my 60 minute normalized power has not fallen dramatically- it's still pretty strong even though it's dropped under 300. I was torn between using my light rear wheel and my Powertap, but the need for some quality data made the decision easy- at a race where my participation was purely for enjoyment- who cares about an extra 300 grams at the hub? What's that, half a water bottle's weight? Yes so this is not really a race report- sorry if Google led you here in anticipation of reading something exciting. I finished Norwell even though I was dropped on lap 4. I finished it even though I was lapped.
A bad day of racing is always better than a good day at work!
Thanks for reading.

Above, my son and I at Goddard Park. The bike is a FELT. I bought it a year ago, but never pressured him to ride it- he always preferred scooting around on his pedal-less LikeaBike Jumper. The nice thing is that he went straight to a big boy bike, without falling down once, without ever using training wheels, and without any of the "can only ride in a straight line" syndrome which infects all training wheel users. He corners like he's on rails. After getting on the podium at Attleboro and winning a "nickel", he says he wants to race a thousand times and win a thousand more "nickels". That's what he calls the medal they gave him.

Curses

Curses to this weather. Its become such that I get headaches when its sunny out- not used to it.
I raced Ninigret last night, it was nice and warm and fun. Jumped onto a late flyer with two to go and got smoked. The field swarmed us with one to go and I coasted home, watching a winnable field sprint unfold before me. Bad judgment like that makes my skin crawl, but I should remind myself that I wasn't there to win, I wanted to test limits and see where I stand. I already know that I have a decent sprint. What I really need to learn how to do is hold 27 mph for an extended period of time, as in a breakaway- seeing as the typical masters crit averages about 26 mph..
So lately, I'm less interested in watts and more interested in speed. I want to practise going 30+mph for 2-4 minute durations, such as during the last 2-3 laps of a crit. I didn't even use my power meter at the Attleboro Crit- instead I used my much lighter Easton wheel.
I'm pre-registered for Norwell, now if only I could train a little bit for it.. I'm averaging 2-3 rides a week lately.
Thanks for reading.

Scene from a 2008 Crit

This is one of my favorite pictures. I am populating a smart little rotation with a couple of cool guys. Its pretty pathetic when your best result for an entire season is 6th place in a crit. Or 7th. but you take what you can get and you must avoid second guessing yourself because no matter the result, remember that our class of athlete usually isn't satisfied until we've pushed ourselves to the point of cramps, nausea, tendonitis, dehydration, road rash, broken ribs and collarbones. No one can push you harder, than You. There's always a few times in a race where you either crack, or don't crack, ("the moment") but you never discover that breaking point unless you're on the rivet and going for broke. Hopefully my rambling does not pollute an otherwise serene scene. We were in between the 4 guys up the road and the 40 behind us, and that's how it finished. Sure I cracked and had no choice but to excuse myself from the winning break, but persistence paid off and after about 5 solo laps, two others reached me, as you can see. It was a good day no matter how you look at it. Thanks for reading.

Post 701 = Millwork One Racing slideshow

Hope you like it.

My new favorite park:

Goddard Park
There is a one mile loop in the middle of the park  that's ideal for intervals of one minute or less. Also ideal for an early Sat morning crit a la Prospect Park. Goddard is also just a mile or two from my house.

3667 miles thru 6/30

2009 Attleboro Criterium Results

I have a few pics that I will add later.

A day in the life

Alarm goes off at 5:30
Out the door at 6:25
Bike ride to work is 29 minutes
Change into street clothes in time for 7:00 am meeting
Meeting ends at 8:30
Head out for Boston at 9:00, after a pit stop at DD for toasted sesame bagel and coffee
Arrive on Beacon Street 10:30
Go to work at project- keep busy til 12:30- time to feed the meter, change parking space and get lunch
Walk to Viga and use Davio's bathroom
Line at Viga is out the door all the way to the corner- I grab two slices of pizza and a Coke.
Walk over to the Park and grab a park bench, eat pizza, drink Coke, feed pigeons and squirrels (you can't spell "Pigeon" without P-I-G! These things were huge!) Squirrels get right up on park bench and beg for piza crusts. Awesome.
Head back to project for more project managwr stuff. Leave Beacon St at 4:30- lots of traffic.
Get back to the office at 6:30
Suit up and hit the road- head down to Narragansett Town Beach on Route 1/1A. Takes 1:15 to get there- a city bus almost kills me- - catch the mofo at a red light and have words (he could not hear, with elderly driver, who keeps pointing to the sidewalk.. Get to beach at 8:00 to meet wife and son. They're packing up, but there's time to stick my feet in the water and have a beer.
Wife drives us home- we quickly change and we're walking up Main Street to get ice cream for dinner. We stroll around for a bit and get home at 10:00. Time for bed.
Tomorrow I'm up at 4:30 so I can be in Bridgeport by 8:00.