Rosewood Series Criterium 40+ and 123

Aren't you tired of the same old narration of everyone's cyclocross "adventures"? Ok we get it: you lined up, you went full gas for 45 minutes, almost fell a few times, and finished 5 minutes down on the winner. Yay! Okay we're done with that for about 9 months- good riddance!
I raced a crit down here in FL today- it was 85 degrees out! I rented a road bike to make this happen, and expect to ride it every day until we leave.
Long story short: tight technical 1/2 mile course. Laps were about 1:05 to 1:10. I did the 40+ race and with about 7 laps to go I attacked and tried to bridge to the eventual winner. This was the only difficulty of my entire race- the three lap that I held off the field. After getting caught I had about a lap to pull myself together- they rang the bell for 3 laps to go. Riding among all these total strangers on a rented bike, I took no crazy chances, but did manage to needle myself through traffic and up into 15th place. Not too shabby for a 1st race of the season, in February! I had an hour between races so I kept loose by riding around and lined up for the 123 race with good sensations. Unfortunately the fatigue of the previous race reared it's head right quick and my attacking style of the first 3 laps dissipated into a very conservative tailgunner position. This was a LOT faster with all the fresh legs (only one other 40+ racer successfully doubled up- there were 16 DNFs in this race. At any rate I successfully finished in the field (23rd) even though I was put into difficulty pretty often. My winter program seems to be going in the correct direction! A less technical course would have been preferred as well as my own bike- the rental is an Orbea Onix with shimano 105 and heavy wheels. Everyone is on carbon aero wheels. Everyone. Anyway I'm pleased with my form. All those soul crushing intervals are already paying dividends. Now for 6 straight days of long steady distance.. and suntan of course! Stay warm and thanks for reading.
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Everyone needs to vent

It's no surprise that I have taken a new interest in blogging now that 311 friends are gone from my life. Let's be honest.. 8 out of 10 FB friends have you "turned off" as a more polite way of getting rid of you.. In my case, about 1/2 of them don't get what I'm saying because English is their 2nd language. So maybe there were 30 people altogether who took a genuine interest and who understood any of what I was saying. Fuck 'em- they can all come here occasionally to see how I'm doing. Seriously though I am really considering to limit my new FB account to people who I have had an actual face to face conversation with. Mutual friend? Unless you're a hottie with a nice rack expect your friend request to be ignored.
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More Facebook fun

Well I encourage everyone to really tighten up security on their Facebook accounts. I fell into the habit of accepting friend requests from anyone whose profile showed them doing sports or who had a bunch of mutual friends. What a fucking joke Facebook has turned out to be. They have been notified 15 different ways that I have lost control of my account and that the offender has changed all my contact info, and each time I am given an assurance that facebook will send me an e-mail at least acknowlwdging that I reported a problem. So far, I have received absolutely nothing. Earlier today I sent a message to my old account saying basically "hey you stole my account give it back". I received a reply in Turkish saying "who the hell are you?". It sounds funny but it's not. This parasite has unfettered access to all my photos, pages, and friends.. And no one at Facebook has given me even the slightest indication that they give a squirt of piss about it. It will be the same for you if it ever happens, so use those new security features which they keep reminding you about every time you log in. Don't let yourself be violated like this.
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New license!

Paid my 2011 USAC dues yesterday so I can race a criterium in Ft Lauderdale on 2/6. Are the Latinos going to kick my ass or what? I hear they are fast year round.

Facebook account stolen

Apparently there are people hacking Facebook accounts and then chatting with contacts and asking them for money, pretending to be you, of course. Today I was kicked off of a bicycling forum in Turkey (DO NOT join this forum- they are a bunch of self hating wanna be a cyclist Turks- how can they possibly like YOU or refrain from insane jealousy of everything you worked your whole life to get?) for some kind of TOS violation (I posted a link to one of my Ebay auctions where I was selling a bike- oh my!) Coincidentally, My yahoo, gmail and facebook accounts were all lost to me within an hour. I recovered yahoo and gmail thanks to security questions and such, but Facebook account is still wild. I have no access and no control of it whatsoever. Whoever this parasite is, they deleted all of my yahoo and gmail emails, and I also see that they also deleted my whole contact list on ebay except for a few family members, unless they just changed the public profile settings. What a piece of shit. Expecting to receive a well deserved "I told you so" from my new teammate.. Anyway, it would help me if you went to my old profile and clicked the "REPORT" link at the bottom left and indicate that I am being impersonated. Facebook is slow to respond to my multiple requests for help. Here is the link to my hijacked profile.
And if I come crying to you via fb chat or message saying that I am stuck somewhere and penniless and need you to send me money, please don't send a penny.

WeeBIKE-Hasyun Racing on the new SST 1.0

The team was sized up for the new FUJI team bikes on Saturday at Quad Cycles. We will be racing on the 2011 FUJI SST 1.0 which weighs a whopping 15.1 pounds equipped with carbon wheels and Shimano Dura Ace grouppo.. We're very impressed by the quality of this bike and encourage you to find your nearest dealer and take one for a test ride. All cables are internally routed for a very clean and aero finish. There is an I-Beam rib (RIB-Tech) inside of the high modulus D6 carbon frameset and fork tubes. It's the top shelf bike you have been looking for, available in three different price points: 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0- the most affordable of which is light enough and stiff enough to use in an NRC criterium, all day long. If you're in the Boston area, please make a visit to Rustem at Quad Cycles in Arlington. They have the Fujis and the Hasyun merino wool base layers for you to check out and they will help you make the correct buying decision.
Hasyun merino wool base layers are now also stocked at Providence Bicycle. Please pay them a visit when you're in the Ocean State.

3 hour road ride..

..Or equivalent. Lately I am leaning more toward the benefits of riding indoors for longer durations. For one, it's just plain safer. It also takes a lot less time to get ready and dressed. Typical winter road ride includes frequent stops- to meet up, to pee, to eat, to fix flats.. It is never a contiguous 3 hours of pedaling. Since you're usually in a group, you're also not working very hard, if at all, 80-90 percent of the time. You end up doing a lot of coasting- sometimes because of downhills, sometimes because you're in the paceline and the pace is slow.
Here's a solution: get on the trainer, spin 100+ rpm for 2 hours straight, never stop pedaling. Today I pegged my heartrate in the 165-175, kept the watts in the 175-195 range and felt pretty torched at the end. A 3 hour road ride would have been more enjoyable for sure, but much less efficient. I guess I'll be mixing it up a bit this winter. Doing 3 hours solo on the road is torture, and sometimes it forces you to work too hard because you need to keep warm!
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Road bike stuff for sale

LOOK KG486 carbon frameset and headset.
Dura Ace 7800:
170mm cranks
Rear derailleur
Front derailleur
Shifters
Brake calipers
Bottom bracket (only one year old)
Easton:
EC90 all carbon seatpost
EC90 carbon stem
Tempest 2 clincher wheelset (one rear spoke is pulling through- needs re-build, and front bearings are worn, 1500 gms for the pair)
Size large clip on aero handlebars
Ergomo Pro bottom bracket (one bolt is broken off- good for parts)
Crank Brothers egg beater pedals (this is the better version)
Ultegra cranks 172.5mm (only one year old)
Mavic GP4 front tubular wheel with Campy hub
Louis Garneau Rocket Time Trial helmet (blue, small never used- in box)
Bontrager Powertap RaceXlite clincher wheelset (everything you need- wired version of Powertap)

Inquire at murat@weebike.com if interested. Make a reasonable offer or the stuff is all hitting Ebay very shortly.
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Happy New Year!

Hi there it seems that I took a month off from blogging but in reality it was just a really busy time for me with the Christmastime surge in demand for merino wool apparel. We had a pretty good year in 2010 and we're grateful to everyone who took a chance on our products. Feedback has been nothing but positive! I've been training pretty regularly for the past few weeks, keeping the weight off and actually expecting to be on the good side of 160 in a week or two. Who knows maybe I'm just two shits away from the mark, but I doubt it because my portion control has been pretty good lately and I don't feel bloated. Could this be the year that my fighting weight goes under 150? Very possible if I drop two pounds a month from now through July. A few seasons back when I re-committed myself to train and race, I was a very steady 185-190 and remember how hard it was to throw a leg over the trainer when I didn't feel like a bike racer- I felt more like an obese out-of-shape has-been with little or no hope of achieving the form that's necessary to win or even crack a top ten result. Those days of training were the hardest. Beginning again, creating momentum. I'm glad those early days are behind me and that I'm blessed enough to be able to follow through with what I've started and make my mark. Taking 10 years off the bike (1991-2001) did not put me in a good place relative to health and fitness. I dabbled with racing in 2001.. again in 2003 (I was a regular at the old Lincoln Crit) and finally committed to being as successful as I possibly could, in 2005. Five contiguous seasons of racing and 30+ pounds later, my stubborn determination has started to pay big dividends and 2011 is looking pretty awesome too, from where I'm standing. Thanks for reading.

NBX GP of Cross Day 2

It pleases me immensely to inform my readers that I am the Bronze Medalist in Sunday's Elite Masters 35-39 RI Championships (Rhode Island residents only). Never mind that I finished in last place or that I was lapped by the top 10 guys, or that they didn't even rank me as a finisher until I protested and got added onto the list.. It was a race against myself above all else because leaving the cocoon-like warmth of the carousel (we were selling our Hasyun wool apparel in there) required the resolve of 3 Buddhist monks and the strength of 5 small children. I chose to go bare legged with skinsuit, only a pair of wool base layers underneath, plus some arm warmers. Embrocation? I honestly just recently discovered what that word means and I've never used it. Long story short, your hero lined up at the back of the field and swallowed a mega dose of TTFU. Using the Fuji Cross-Pro which I bought used for $800 back in 2006 is becoming a bigger handicap than it used to be as I observe enough carbon fiber around me to build a 1/20th scale Airbus A380. My bike suuuuuucks! Before the start I was patching a hole in my tube and noticed that a spoke nipple is pulling through the rim of my trusty Easton Tempest 2 wheelset.. All my brake shoes rub. I have to over-shift and tune in order to change gears.. You get the idea. Hopefully it does not dishonor the sport to not take it too seriously, but the one part of it which I take dead seriously is always finishing what I start.. and for my determination I was rewarded with a handsome medal which designates me as an occupant of the Rhode Island Masters 35-39 Championship podium. Hat tip to G-Diddy for his silver medal. There were only three other Rhode Islanders in our race so I think one medal went unclaimed for the 40-44 class. It was a good time and the medal made an already awesome weekend even sweeter.
Many thanks to the organizers, promoter (www.nbxbikes.com), volunteers and officials for managing an excellent event.
On Saturday was impossible for me to race with the complications of being an exhibitor in the carousel, but the learning curve was behind us on Sunday making it possible for me to race. To be honest, the whipping winds of Saturday did not encourage me and it was almost a relief not to jump in.
Oddly enough Sunday's last place result awarded me a more successful point rank at http://www.cross-results.com/ than last year, where it would appear I was more successful 2009.. Cool.
If you haven't already noticed, we are trying very hard to make our 100% merino wool base layers successful. So far they are a hit, and I'd like to thank my few loyal readers with a discount code for 10% off at http://www.weebike.com/. Just enter WEESAVE10 at checkout. With the long sleeve base layers already on sale for $54, you will snag one for under $50. We ship same day and use Priority mail, so your order is never more than 2 days away. Thanks for reading and thanks for supporting a local small business.
So thanks for reading.. Sorry to let this go for so long without an update..

I'm a freaking elite bike racer..

Pack 71 Cowesett Christmas Wreath Drive

Please use this link to order and pay for a wreath ($15.44 each) or mail me a check for $15 payable to "Pack 71 Cowesett"to: 150 Cumberland Road Warwick RI 02886
My boy Reis is a Tiger Cub this year and we are trying to win a prize. Thanks!

Yellow jacket and water damage control

What started out as a simple bee infestation has turned into a full blown rehab project at our house. Where I originally believed that the nest was responsible for the rotting wood, it turns out that there has been an ongoing penetration of water into this corner of the house for probably 20+ years. Indeed the bees chewed and bored right through the joists and studs, using the next-over pocket between joists as a dumping ground for the chewed up lumber- there was 10 pounds of sawdust mysteriously piled up in there, and sort of petrified into a mound with bee saliva.. But the real damage was caused by H20. In these situations, it needs to get worse before it gets better- kind of like cutting away gangrenous limbs. I had to cut a little bit past the decay and rebuild from that point. The pictures are self-explanatory but I like explaining things.. I did a similar rehab on the east end of the house where an outdoor duplex outlet was also penetrated for years and the sheathing rotted to mush. That was a little bit easier to fix.
This little crevice was packed with thousands of honeycombs, filled with squirming larvae, meaning that their numbers were about to double or triple if we did not poison them to death.
Thank God that fist joint was not destroyed- the end is a little rough but it is otherwise solid, and I used it a base to re-build around. The fascia 2x10 had to be cut to the centerline of the next floor joist.
3/8x16 bolts hold the new material in place securely, above.. below, that sheathing is split in two pieces for a reason- if there is going to be moderate penetration and decay at a corner, only the 4" wide piece of sheathing is affected while the rest of the sheathing escapes serious damage. It almost worked in this case (orig built in 1963) and I simply repeated the design- I did not come up with it. Below you can also see that the left hand side of this set-up required a saw-toothed piece of sheathing to be custom fit in place. That was the hardest part.
Below, meet my new best friend- peel and stick flashing! This stuff was not around in 1963, but if it had been this whole mess might have been avoided. Love it. The new trim pieces you see are not real wood, but impervious-to-everything PVC. It doesnt even need painting. I love it so much I could cry..
Only two more pieces of trim, some new cedar clapboard, and one soffit panel to pop in there. Then I'll secure that little crown moulding that's pulled down, apply caulk to all the joints, prime and paint. I figure a contractor would have charge me $500-600 labor to do this work, plus materials. It is going to take me about 20 hours total, and I don't exactly hustle when I want to do a job like this correctly. I take my time.

Hey did I mention that I rode my bike today? Yeah, the 2nd time since Providence Cross Fest. Did about 45 awesome miles down to Narragansett and now I feel like a human being again!
Thanks for reading.

2010 Providence Cyclocross Festival Elite Women's Podium

Today's Elite Women's podium: Sally Annis, Andrea Smith, Amy Dombroski each autographed a Pink YBIKE donated by WeeBIKE.com and it is up for grabs tomorrow at the Providence Cyclocross Festival! Find the US Open Cycling tent and buy your raffle tickets. Proceeds will benefit breast cancer research.

2010 Providence Cyclocross Festival Results 10/9

Wool. It's what's for dinner.

Well.. figuratively speaking, because right now it is our primary source of income and puts food on the table... Sorry to get so commercial on my readers but this is a legitimate venue to promote the new 100% merino wool base layers which are now in production for us. We have done a complete re-design of the apparel, making it form fitting, with longer sleeves and torso, and in 5 colors and 3 sizes. ETA is end of October. I have some prototypes which I'm wearing and I dont want to take them off- so comfortable and they look pretty damn good as outerwear- I'm not hiding mine under layers.
In the mean time, please help yourself to one of our prototype merino wool (blend) skull caps, only $15 while supplies last. Fits perfectly under your helmet, your hard hat or your Jason mask. and.. Now you can look just like The Edge did 15 years ago. When the new ones arrive later this month, they will be 100% merino wool and cost more. Next year, they will be in five colors too. Here's a picture of me modeling one of the prototypes. I know what you're thinking: "He's more handsome than I remember, the devil."

WeeBIKE October Newsletter

2010 Portsmouth Criterium (Results Added)

I will refrain from boring you with the details of how I finished the Pro-1-2 Portsmouth Criterium on my first try, which i am pretty happy about. The only distinguishing moment of the race (other than the awesomeness of the speed we were doing the entire time) came on the last lap, when a rider decided to sit up going into the first corner, effectively splitting the top 25 from the bottom 30. Ugh.- this pissed more than few people off. What impeccable timing, such a coincidence! At any rate, it was a day of fantastic weather, cheering crowds, fast racing and good times with people who I care about. Great to see so many friends in Portsmouth enjoying themselves. I will be back next year!

This space will be populated with a riveting race report in a few days. I'm a little nervous about tomorrow's competition. The past few days have been short easy rides. Wednesday was a 2-1/2 hour ride to Point Judith- a hard one. Tuesday was a pleasure ride with my son on the bike path. Monday no riding at all.. Sunday beaucoup miles.. But back to the last few days.. I'm concerned a bit. After two days of rest, Wednesday's ride felt pretty decent. Thursday's ride was just an easy spin, but legs felt like I was thrusting a knife into my leg with every pedal stroke. Friday I did another easy one hour ride and again, legs felt highly fatigued. Today after we arrived at our hotel in Dover, I set out for an hour's spin to check and see how the legs felt. After warming up I hit some short choppy rollers and sprinted over them- finally the legs didn't feel like beef jerky. I was feeling some of the correct sensations, such as a rapid recovery after a brief Zone 5 effort. Still didn't feel like I could rip anyone's legs off, but the speed was there. Swimming in the hotel pool with my son a few hours ago, it occurred to me that we are ruled by our "sensations". I think our strength, speed and endurance are more stable than we think.. What changes radically depending upon fatigue, diet and rest, are the sensations we feel while on the nose of the saddle turning 6 watts per kg, single file on the back stretch of a Pro criterium during a $100 prime lap. That's where the dreaded "moment" we've been training for occurs. We either triumph over the bad sensations or they conquer us and hand us our hats for the dreaded early exit and ride of shame back to the car. Sometimes the sensations are good though, and sometimes it's when we least expect it. I've completed more Pro-Am criteriums this year than any before, so I've been to this rodeo before. I finished a very fast Fall River and Chris Thater, so tomorrow should pose no big problem. Pittsfield was an aberration- I had trained and raced for a combined 100+ miles the day before. Anyway, wish us luck tomorrow (7 year old Reis is pre-registered in the 10-12 race). It will please me immensely to finish top 20. I know it's within my power, but the sensations need to be good for the mind to believe it. Thanks for reading.
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I sold my soul to be here.. how 'bout you?

Okay that's a bit dramatic, but it's also a pretty damn good song to add to your winter playlist for those indoor workouts coming up in a few months.. For what it's worth, I had a good season of racing. More on that later. What is abundantly clear to me though, is that there was little more I can do, short of going to Arizona in February like a lot of the hot shots around here, to improve my 2010 results. I feel like I gave it everything I had to give.. even with the four week break in late May and June. (I had employment issues, buying a 2nd house issues, moving etc.. plate was too damn full to even think about riding) As a couple of racing associates correctly noted, being forced to take the time off was going to help me to reach a higher peak.
I'm glad because there are still a few key events coming up such as Portsmouth Criterium, Mayor's Cup and Jamestown Classic. I am planning to do whatever it takes to keep myself lean and mean for the above named races. That means riding every day, taking good care of myself, and watching my diet.
Here's some recent data: today's almost-epic 85 miler and a Summary of the past year's mileage, training time and peak watts. My watts have never been impressive to me, but now that I'm down to 155-156 range, they don't seem so bad.. Anyway, here you go. If I've done anything correctly this season, it's the past 10 weeks of volume, esp. July and August. Most of today's ride was with the big boys of ArcEnCiel Racing.

Not a Topsfield Race Report

Here is the proof that 24th place receives 17 USAC rank points in an NRC criterium (such as Chris Thater):
I did not finish the Chris Thater 35+ event again this year, same as when I DNFed it in 2008. The one compelling difference is that this time it was not lack of form or speed or nerves in the corners. No this was a little bit more honorable as it was an all-out do-or-die assault on the race, made during an attempt to bridge across to what I [incorrectly] believed to be the winning move of the day. My balls are apparently bigger than my brain, and like a wounded animal which would rather chew it's own foot off than wait for help, I persisted in my effort to the point of burying myself hopelessly and needing 5 minutes of recovery. Stuck in no-man's land, I thrashed myself to get connected and came so close it broke my heart. I should have known I was beat and I should have let the field do it's magic to shut the break down.. When the legs no longer go, they no longer go, no matter what. I wanted to get across so bad- But here's the thing: It was not smart. This small stacked field of 40 is populated with about 15 guys with the form, the experience and the confidence to win. The rest of us are in the "pick two" category, if you get my drift.. After a generous push from Alain as the field swarmed me, it was abundantly clear that my race was over. I had really screwed myself over trying to bridge across.. to a group that failed within a few laps anyway.. I guess what I'm saying is that it sucks to race to failure during a tactically incorrect move. But these things are never easy to predict. I am not intimately acquainted with the many cat 1s in the field who are using this race as a means to tune up for the main event and have fun picking money from a tree of $50 primes and the 20 deep purse of $2000. For me it's more of a crap shoot to pick the correct break because I hardly know anyone in this field besides my teammate. So it goes.. A lapse in judgment caused me to strike out pretty badly. Not to worry though- I did not drive 5 hours to go home without a completed result, even if it was DFL, I was going to race again and finish it. Fortunately, this year they introduced the Cat 2/3 event, which is a first I believe. There were two hours to kill in between my races. I used part of it to take a nap in the Land Cruiser. I used another part to register and change my numbers, and I used most of the time to warm up on the trainer. The experience at Fall River was fresh in my mind- how my legs felt awesome during the 2nd race and felt dead during the first race. Maybe this is what turns my crank- a really long and intense warm up. This thinking was obviously a deliberate way for me to improve my confidence because truthfully, I have not done anything besides Pro-1-2 races and 35+ races since I was a junior. This was going to be interesting. The youthfulness of the 78 rider 2/3 field was intimidating, but I felt pretty good about my form and my crash avoidance skills and my cornering speed. What I did not expect at any point during the race, was to get within striking distance of the 20 deep $2500 purse. Let me re-phrase that. I knew it was possible.. that is, about as possible as throwing a pair of dice and getting snake eyes 6 times in a row. Right from the start I was back on my heels in this one, which averaged about 1 mph faster than the 35s race (I used my Powertap wheel) Starting from the nose bleed section, it took me about 20 (of 35) laps to get up into the top 20 guys. A tiny bit of bad luck separated me from the wheel I wanted to follow in the final lap (take a guess whose..)- with two laps to go a rider skidded out in turn no 1 and caused the field to break up. About 20 guys were separated because a bunch of us had to grab the brakes and maneuver around the skidding bike and body. It took 1/2 lap of being completely on the rivet to get caught up, which is about when my calf started cramping. I was fatigued and fighting very hard to get my nose to the front of the race.. and now the bell is ringing for final lap. What a horror show it is to populate the 21st to 30th spot in the train at this point. It's a knife fight to get into the top 20 paying spots. When the guys from PA and NYC and NJ get a whiff of the dinero, they get a little bit crazy. I don't know how I didn't crash on that final lap- it was insane. Well.. I survived to the final corner about 25th wheel. It's a terrible corner because the inside line sucks (there's a crazy dip in the road right at the apex) and the outside line gets you easily pushed into the hay bales up on the curb. (Huge crash here on lap TWO!) At any rate, I took the final corner with great speed and remember being in between two riders who thankfully, could handle a bike. From there the course dog-legs slight uphill to slight downhill to the finish. Somehow I hit 40 mph in this race and this must have been the moment when it happened. For what it's worth, I held my position from the corner and ended up 24th. Four places out of the money.
At the end of they day, I'm satisfied to have completed a highly competitive NRC criterium against a very strong field without falling apart as it's definitely not something you ever fall ass-backwards into. Full results are up on USA Cycling.
Thanks for reading.