Bob Beal RR and TT Result

Kurt Loell in RR: 38th
Steve Senne in RR: 27th
Murat in RR: 17th (woo-hoo 4 points!)
Mike Shireman: I looked for your name on the results and didn't see it there! Did you race boss?

More RR details later, after the crit is over. Time Trial results were not posted when I sped away to get home, so I'll see how I did tomorrow morning before the crit at 12:00 noon. For now I'll just leave you with my pathetic TT result of 7:15 (using nothing aero whatsoever). I'm wringing my hands wondering if I beat ANYBODY with that time. Average heart rate was 182, and the sight of those two pylons at the finish was such a relief that there were tears in my eyes... But on the bright side- I almost caught my 30 second man, and no one caught me! Not even the full aero/disc/helmet dude who started a minute behind me.

The one-two Astana punch: Kazakhstan Rules!

Very happy to see two guys from an unlikely country, dominate a European event in Spain. Also happy to find a crumpled up $10 bill on the Cranston bike path this morning on the way to work... (I too, fisted the air) Rain forced me to drive home, which is why I keep a car at work and one at home... Nothing but rest for me until Saturday morning... May the sun god Apollo prevail. This rain is a real buzz-kill.

A group of riders evade a media motorcycle during the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain cycling race between Adra and Granada September 13, 2006.
(SPAIN)13 Sep 2006 REUTERS/Victor Fraile

Bob Beal Masters Weekend, Tom and Vino

Union Velo will have a total of four riders in competing in this weekend's Bob Beal Masters Weekend event: Michael Shireman(40-44), Steven Senne (45-49), Kurt Loell (45-49), and myself (35-39). Looks like I'll be all alone in the 30-39 field... kind of like at Wayne Elliot. Where is everybody? Rick? Rick? Jay? Michael?

Online registration was supposed to close at 10:00 pm tonight, but has been extended to 9:00 am Thursday. I signed up at exactly 10:00, thinking I missed the cut. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

Hey how about that Tom Danielson and Vinokourov today?!?! Does Tom seem to have a beer gut? No surprise that Vino took time on Valverde.. It was inevitable. Right now easyodds sports betting give Vino 1/4 odds and Velverde 37/20 odds of winning the final GC. Whatever that means. If I were a betting man, I'd be "all-in" on Vino.

Maxim Magazine's 20 Most annoying Things in Sports

Yes I have a subscription, but the October issue I just received ranks "Cycling Apparel" as the 7th most annoying thing in sports, and I'm offended. To wit:

"Spandex was meant for two kinds of people: drug fiends trying to win the Tour de France and American Gladiators. If you're neither, just put on some regular shorts."

David Schachte: Planet Dirt Report

This weekend the gang was out at the “Daytona” of MTB racing. Hingham, MA was the site of the Landmine event with a short track on Saturday and the cross country on Sunday. This course always brings out more racers to mix things up.

The star for Union was none other then Ben Corbalis who took 1st in Saturday’s short track and 1st again in Sunday’s cross county!!!!!! Way to go. At this rate he should be going into Cross Season ready to do it to it. Schachte tried to mix it up Saturday in the pro/expert field but as usual the Gear Works guy came out and he settles for a 6th.

Beside Ben getting the double, Scott S got more points for a 5th place finish while J.C. took home 2nd in his expert class. Nice going J.C. Our new man in the expert single speed, Roger Wharton, got a nice 3rd place finish while our old man Ray Martin took another 1st. Ray will be donating all of that swag he has been getting.

Schachte was able to at least get the final spot as for as points are concern with a 10th. Two races left to go.

P.S. Speaking of Cross, you better get signed up for Gloucester Grand Prix! It is filling up fast.

-schachte

Michael Andelman: Topsfield without any top gears

Topsfield was grand. I felt grand. My three plus (retail) grand bike broke which was not quite grand. Yes, my derailleur cable, misspelled and tattered gave way to forceful shifting. In turn, as mentioned before, the cable snapped, leaving me to contend with fast speeds in a 39-14 (39-12 was not an option due to metal against metal grinding). Pedalling at 155-169 rpm kept me in the frayed cabled frays of the pack along with my non-responsible decending.. with five laps to go, I dropped back from thepack and drafted the wheel support vehicle until I was "yelled at" by offficials. Yet, another official; her name is Sandy said, "Honey, finish." And I spun spun spun along to the finish
In Dead Last but not Abandoned,
Michael D. Andelman
avec broken frame and all..

Wayne Elliot Result

To avoid turning this into my own personal racing diary, or rather, to avoid perpetuating the trend, I posted the story of my Wayne Elliot adventure over at Amerikan Turk. I'd ask for a race report from the rest of the team, but I was the only one there! (at least at the 30+ event) Whatever the rest of the team did today, I hope it was a blast. Full results

Topsfield 411

Such a full day it's been! Suffice to say that after racing at Topsfield, we found enough to do in the Boston area that we didn't get home until 9:00!
Topsfield was a blast. For me a test, because it's the first road race I've tried since 1995, in which my out-of-form sorry ass was summarily dropped by an elite field in Izmir Turkey... The road race prior to that: 1988 or 1989 Endless Mountain Road Race in Binghampton NY, where 2nd place was taken by none other than 16 year old George Hincapie. I've stuck to crits because of an aversion to long hills, and because I'm built for short fast bursts of speed. At any rate, I pre-registered for Topsfield not knowing what to expect, other than the "rolling hills" which were touted on the race flyer. To me, it's not a real hill unless you're in the little ring, and today's race featured no such climbing. Man was I relieved after lap number one. The rollers were really easy to get over, especially from the nose bleed section where I took shelter. I have to admit, I felt completely out of my element the first few laps. It felt like an over-sized Wompatuck, where the next bend is out of sight and you're cornering only because the dude in front of you is beginning to lean left or right.. The unpredictability of those first few laps kept me close to the back of the field. Once I became more comfortable with the twists and turns and descents, I moved up a bit, but never once did I contribute to the overall speed- I never took a turn at the front. For this I'm not proud, but hey I did what I had to do to survive the assault on my nerves. The last thing I wanted to do is waste energy and blow my wad and end up riding solo off the back... Whatever... in the end I achieved my goal of finishing the race, and I did it using more brains and less balls. Eleven laps and then an uphill finish up a side road.. With one lap to go, I gained some position going into the final corner. Was able to hold good speed taking the inside line, somewhere in the top 30... Then just as I'm getting out of the saddle to wind it up, someone decides to swing wide left without any regard for those about to blow past him (me). Completely took away my speed.. When he peeked and saw me (after the swerve) he yielded a bit to let me by and I gave it everything those last 50 or so meters, passing about 10 guys in the process. I thought I broke into the top 20, until I realized that four riders had already finished ahead of us, putting me in 23rd place, out of 67 finishers. I could have done better, there was lots of gas still left in the tank. Sitting in and sucking wheel all day, it comes as no surprise. I think that getting hooked like that in the sprint cost me at least ten places. I guess I'm happy with the way I fought and gained position in the end. What I regret is being so damn skittish and nervous for the first half of the race.
As for our speedsters Matthew Kressy and Michael Andelman:
Matt finished in the money with a 10th place (6th in the sprint)
Michael had a mechanical problem- a busted cable- and was forced to quit with about 5 or 6 laps to go.
Me- 23rd
Full results

Calvin & Hobbes: Biker Dad Cartoons

Cross-posted from Amerikan Turk. Click the title. These are pretty funny.

Have you seen this bike?

Click title.. especially if you're a big fan of Calvin & Hobbes.

Sanchez Barely Wins Breath-taking 13th Stage

I'd be grinning too. Reading the Velonews live update window had me on the edge of my seat, especially at today's finish.

Wayne Elliot Criterium

So far, it looks like we'll be represented by our mates Kurt Loell and Michael Shireman.

Union Team headcount for Topsfield Road Race

We have Matt Kressy, Michael Andelman, and myself and that's as far as I know. If you're in and I don't know it, add a comment below please. We may have a few guys doing the Wayne Elliot Crit or Wells Ave on Sunday, but the forecast calls for rain...

Do patch kits have a certain shelf life? I got my third flat today, in as many weeks, and I just can't seem to get my patches to hold air... The patches I tried to use were bought two Mays ago... Very glad and lucky I was also carrying a new tube with me tonight.

ASTANA again!

Here we go again! No I'm not referring to Astana's 3rd consecutive stage victory at the Vuelta... I'm talking about the Union Velo Blog having yet another entry by Yours Truly, while the majority of our club/team shows apathy. Hey, maybe it's me, I don't know. This site wasn't created so that I can just talk about myself... but until some other members start contributing, complaints about the content will be dismissed completely. Enough said? This little site could be a lot more engaging if there were about 5 or more people willing to post a weekly article or race report.. I will persist no matter what because I firmly believe that in a year or two this 'blog is going to be very popular with the New England racing community... Mark my words.

"Things are going well for the team," said Paulinho, hailed as Portugal's best prospect since José Azevedo. "We've won two stages with Alexandre (Vinokourov) and now we're going to try to win this Vuelta." Read the complete Velonews report by Andrew Hood

"Labor Day" ride, Vino, and Kazakh trivia

When I left the house this morning at 6:30 am, it never occurred to me that I would crack 100 miles of riding... 25 miles to get to the shop, 46 miles with DaveS , Dave S, Raymond, Jose, Alex, Billy.. and the in-line skater guy whose name don't know (yes I should be slapped for that, but $10 says he doesn't know my name either), then another 30+ mile ride to get home. Remarkably, I didn't cramp at all until mile 103, just a few minutes away from my house. I'll admit: I lengthened my ride a little bit at the end to make sure I broke 100 (99 miles would have been upsetting to my OCD). That I did, racking up 103.9 miles in 5:21:25 (100 miles were covered in 5:08:30) Needless to say, the leg muscles are over-cooked and tender, and I wonder if this much riding in one day is a benefit or a detriment to form and speed. I hit the split timer on my Polar when I arrived at the the shop, and again when I left it to go home. Here are the average speeds for the three phases of my ride:
25 miles to shop: average 19.7 mph (avg HR 143)
46 miles with Union team: 20.2 mph (avg HR 150)
32 miles from shop to home: 18.9 mph (avg HR 153)
Clearly I had a tailwind on the way to Attleboro, and a headwind riding home to West Warwick.
It was a good day to be out on a bike, especially with other riders for a change. Doing all of my training solo is getting to be a draggggg. You know you're bored when you stop and scold little kids on the bike path for going helmet-less.
In other news, 'Vino' won his 2nd stage in a row yesterday... I wonder if he's offended by Borat. (I hope not- the Kazakh government is suing Ali G for these parodies) According to the latest Velonews headline, Vuelta is now Valverde vs the Kazakhs. I'm not so sure... but Vino's stage 9 victory was quite convincing. He tends to get stronger as the race progresses, especially after winning. As for Kazakhstan, did you know it occupies an area the size of western Europe (1.05 million square miles- 9th largest country in the world) and has a population of only 15 million? ASTANA is also the name of the Capital of Kazakhstan. Thanks for reading.
PS: The original and correct "Labor Day" is actually May 1st according to The Anarchist Library.

Rain Will Persist Through Sunday

Wells Ave is no doubt cancelled for tomorrow, but Monday's report looks pretty favorable. I'm glad I logged 60 miles today in anticipation of Sunday being a rest day. Missed the team ride from the shop today by a couple of minutes, but it's all good. Had a superb ride of my own with no regrets. Today I salute Vinokourov for a crafty win in the Tour of Spain. It appears there is no OLN coverage of the Vuelta this year, and I sure wish I could see some of the action. Full Velonews report of stage 8 can be found here.

Polar Statistics for 2006

As the sun begins to set on the 2006 road racing season, I checked my Polar HRM charts and reports for some year to date totals. Being such a solitary rider (down here in RI) makes me wonder how my training program differs from others in the club or on the team... Check this out:

Hours in the saddle
Total= 166:16 (First ride was on March 26th) Average/Week= 7:13
In 2005, I rode for 169:41 hours thru 9/1, and covered 200 fewer miles than this season, same period.

Distance covered
Total= 3056 Average/Week= 133
(Average would be higher if I wasn't hit by a car! Took 2 weeks off in July)

Time in HR zones
121-140= 33:31
141-150= 33:05
151-160= 42:17
161-170= 31:18
171+= 18:42

That about sums it up. If anyone besides me uses a HRM and uploads the data daily as I do, it would be great to hear some feedback, compare notes, etc.

The next couple of days look like we're in for a thorough soaking. Hopefully we can get a nice long ride in tomorrow before the rain starts. I'll be up at six and plan to ride to Attleboro, into 25 mph wind gusts from the NE. Hopefully I can resist the urge to catch up on sleep. It's been a rough week.

Who's up for a nice long Labor Day ride from the shop? -Murat

NORBA ROOT 66 Series: 5 podium spots for Union

Round 12 of the NORBA ROOT 66 series saw the gang from UNION putting on one of the best showings of the year! Podium spots for 5 of the gang.

After several races with perfect conditions it was only a matter of time before the rain came back, and did it ever. Mud on top of lots of roots and rocks was the order of the day. That did not matter to the technical savvy riders. Scott S took home a long awaited 1st place along with Ray Martin on the single speed. Ray has the title wrapped up. His only goal now is to complete the entire series (15 races) to get the “IRON RIDER” t-shirt. Cheryl took home 1st place after taking some time off of the racing scene. Obviously the time off did nothing to slow her down. Ben was up there once again with a 3rd place finish.

Our newest member to the squad saw Roger Wharton from Cape Cod place 2nd in the expert single speed. He is the latest David Schwartz recruit.
Schachte once again saw that 7th place spot. He is just holding off until he gets into that 50+ category next year. Overall a great day.

With 3 races left, the category standings are: SPORT 40-49 Scott 1st / SPORT 19-29 Ben in 2nd / SPORT WOMEN 35+ Cheryl 2nd place /
SPORT OPEN SINGLE SPEED Ray has 1st locked up and EXPERT 40-49 Schachte holding on to 4th.

Until next time,
schachte

La Vuelta

It's been a long, rainy and bike-free day so I made the best of it by adding some improvements to our blog. Notice the additions to the sidebar, which include many team and personal rider blogs, as well as the Union Velo Team sponsors... This picture I found on Velonews is pretty amazing too. Could someone please try out the comments feature? Many thanks.

Wells Avenue: August 27th Race Report

After much disagreement with the Mrs and with the help of my bull-headed resolve, I made it to Wells Avenue today, by myself, eager to test the legs and perhaps make my mark. Fields were not combined, which is fine with me except that it makes me regret leaving the house so darn early.. Mark Stockwell won the B race by at least a bike length. He's a former team mate and friend who always takes the time and effort to shoot great quality pictures of his team mates (and even his former team mates- like me!) Good job Mark- you truly made it look easy at the end there.

Union Velo had myself and two others in the event today: Jay Busse and Matt Kressy. I saw Jay very active in some early moves, and I spied Matt at the front a few times blocking for him. Otherwise, we seemed to criss cross eachother front to back as each of us put in some time at the front and drifted back to recover. We didn't have this warm and fuzzy sense of unity for whatever reason. Maybe it's just me... Hopefully my decision to wear an old Genesee Valley Cycling Club jersey didn't send the wrong message to Jay. Actually, Matt asked if I was changing teams and I assured him in no uncertain terms that I was just being nostalgic. The GVCC jersey has been with me since 1987, and it's the one in which I have won the most races. In fact, I served as President of the club during 1989 (at the very young age of 18!) At any rate, it was a pretty full "A" field with three of us present.

Half-way prime: I found myself with the strength and the speed to be a contender in this one, for a change! Matt and another- I don't know who- accelerated beautifully coming out of the sweeping right hand bend, and I found myself in 3rd wheel with about 75 meters to go, until some one in a red shirt swerved left and stole most of my momentum. I ended up crossing 4th for no money, but with a definite mental boost. Matt took 1st or 2nd, and I was happy to witness it up close.

Today I was as calm as a Buddhist cow and avoided as much un-necessary work as possible- I did no chasing of stupid hopeless breaks, decided against dragging the field down the road on my nickel. Frankly, I sat in as much as possible. With about 10 to go I went for another prime drawing from my re-discovered confidence taken from the half-way prime. Without enough gas to take it, I drifted across in third, but with a breath-taking gap on the field. It's nice to look back and count yourself among a handful of people who just dusted everyone else.

With just a couple of laps to go I felt strong enough to gain position and found all kinds of holes to get through. The final sprint starting winding up pretty early so I tried to be as attentive and as resourceful as possible. So much of the final result depends upon whose wheel you follow, and most often we find ourselves on the wrong wheel, while the right wheel goes whizzing by.. Today I was fortunate and found myself very close to Matt coming out of the final bend. I got out of the saddle early and could see myself getting a very good result... very smooth and powerful acceleration... tasting a good result... then Matt's shoe broke free of his pedal and for a split second I thought today would mark my 4th trip to the hospital this season. Luckily he managed to swing left and I made it through, less some speed, but I held it for 6th place.