On the road

..heading out on the beautiful roads of CT today. Should be nominally enjoyable trip with the new tires on the car.. Last night. Head nearly exploded on the third interval. I know that there are some with a hair across their ass for power stats. If this describes you, too bad. It went like this:

30 minutes TT/warm-up to Holy Apostles Church at about 238 watts (268 normalized)

30 minutes ride with the group, mostly for social purposes- I split off to do my own thing

Three intervals of 3 minutes each (using Rocky Hill Road), with exactly 3 minutes rest in between. 120% of FT.. which for me is 330 watts. I did 333 on the first one, dropped to 320 on the 2nd one, and I nearly popped blood vessels in my head doing 309 on the third one. That is waaay harder than it sounds. Then I just did zone 2 for 45 minutes home. Can feel it this morning riding in.. Ninigret Criterium tonight. Go... VandeVelde! It's really shitty how all Versus talks about or gives cred to is Leipheimer. Meanwhile, Hincapie, Horner, VandeVelde, and others are all way up in the standings too. Lame. Where's Julich this year?

My car doesn't suck (again)!

New tires have made it so whisper quiet.. Been running snow tires all summer. Decided to sacrifice them instead of premature replacementation in the spring. They were cooked anyway. Who's going to Ninigret tomorrow? I want to show you my new tires...

Funny.. on Saturday, team mate Michael Andelman sees my wrist band before we race and says:

"You going to wear that thing in the race?"

"Damn straight I am."

"I was going to wear mine too, dammit"

"It's the coolest thing.. get in on the ground floor, be one of the pioneers"

"Duly noted, wish I brought mine too"

"Don't be a weenie, I have a spare in the car you can use"

"Is it clean?"

"It's cleaner than it's gonna be when you return it"

"Umm.. okay. What color is it?"

"Forget it. Get your own."

"Bitch."

Okay I made some of that up.. the last part.. most of it actually... all but the first three lines.

Catch and release..

I knew he was after me. The way he cut into traffic to avoid losing me up the road. There was still hope until about a mile later. Separated by a Cadillac as we're turning left, the lights and siren powered up as soon as we cleared the intersection. I'm sure Cadillac driver got a scare. I pulled over. Inspection sticker expired in December. Plus I have no front license plate. Having a clean driving record has it's advantages, as it was just a "catch and release", with a warning.. Time to quit pressing my luck? My car needs four new tires to pass inspection. That's $600 which I don't have lying around... Tempting to just trade it in and get a new VW Rabbit. So cute how VW went from Rabbit to Golf and back to Rabbit. Only $14,990 for the stripped-down two-door base-model. Cute commercials too Too bad that I'd probably be offered only about $1200 for my 2001 Hyundai Elantra depreciation nightmare.

The rabbit tramp stamp (above) is by far the most suggestive one can imagine, isn't it?

Year to date miles: 4,694

I don't believe it either.. but it's definitely time for me to get some great results. Looking at the power numbers.. I've trained much harder solo, than I raced on Saturday in Attleboro, and it's unacceptable. No more pissing and moaning and excuses. My form is better than it's ever been, yet I'm blowing it with bad habits such as self-doubt, hesitance and fear. I'm also over-estimating the strength of the competition. No more. It's time to make all of this training worth something. The gloves are off.

Attleboro Criterium Results

Complete results are here

I raced the 35+, the Pro and the 30+

35+.. bad luck galore.. A tire change gone bad blew like a shotgun blast.. Had to change the tube just 15 minutes before the start (Did yoiu know that $50 Schwalbe Stelvio tires are made in Indonesia?) Next.. I have a front flat at the start line.. Go to the pit for a wheel while the field rolls off. I'm forced to take a free lap.. Getting a bit psyched out here.. I jump in on lap 2, get myself in a break right off the bat, and then reach for a drink.. NO BOTTLE! So I'm mooching drinks off of team mates, and even a Benidorm rider (Matt? thank you!) trying to stay calm.. Then a bad crash. Tom Mannion appears to be out cold in the gutter by the curb. He isn't removed from this spot until about 10 laps later, 6 or 7 of which were neutralized.. We restart the race with ten to go, giving the break a 14 second head start.. By now my head is so NOT into it that I've resolved not to take any crazy risks.. Even so, I get so badly wronged just before the final dog leg that I have to squeeze both brakes and lose about 10 mph with 200 meters left to go. So I put my head down for 24th of 49 finishers. Glad that horror show was over.

On to the Pro race.. 60 laps.. this one's easy.. race was quicker than the 35+, a lot more smooth.. about 10 guys were up the road in the closing laps.. I sprinted safely to 20th out of 40 finishers. (nothing to cry about, getting 10th in a Pro field sprint I guess- gotta look at the positive) Felt pretty good overall, but simply finishing this event was an achievement for me, so my expecations weren't high enough to make me a contender. In three previous attempts I DNF'ed hoping to save myself for the 30+.. and that was getting old..

Jumped right into the 30+ after the Pro.. (many thanks to Ted Shanstrom for getting my number pinned for me, and to the SRAM neutral support that let me use that awesome ZIPP front wheel in all three events) Well, 40 more laps seemed easy enough, but with 20 to go I was cramping very badly in both hamstrings.. The field was quite lethargic, and filled with guys who either didn't race at all previously, or who skipped the Pro race.. Five guys rode off the front (originally six- Gary Aspnes got in there but lost contact due to some cramping) There was no chase to speak of, the speed was pitifully slow, and with cramping of my own limiting me severely, I could only eek out a 19th place sprint out of only 31 finishers. (not so bad when you consider that five had lapped us and my legs were more or less seized up..)

Trivia: Winners of all three events had fresh legs (no previous races) 8 of the top 20 in the 30+ field had fresh legs, 8 skipped the Pro race, and 3 were into their third consecutive race of the day.. Of the 47 finishers in the 45+ event, fully 20 of them jumped into the 35+ event.. In contrast, only 7 of the 49 finishers of the 35+ event jumped into the Pro event.. Including myself, only 3 guys did the 35+, Pro and 30+ in succession. Out of 120 total individuals in the 45+, 35+, Pro and 30+, total of 80 did only one event, 35 did two events, and 5 did 3 events.. Of the 40 finishers in the Pro race, 31 had fresh legs (no previous racing).. I could go on.. If anyone wants to see a matrix showing you all of these sortable results, I spent a few minutes preparing it in Excel, out of curiosity. E-mail me and I'll forward it to you: reiscotools at yahoo dot com. It's very telling when you examine it closely.. You learn a lot about a person by seeing which events they skipped and which ones they favored..

Murat's minimally satisfied, but wishes the 35+ race was less problematic. I had good legs for it and it was a waste not to take advantage of the freshness in my first event.. Da 'sit for now.

Except for this: I must salute Michael Shireman of our Union Velo team for taking the win in the Cat 3 event.. Nice photo finish on Bikereg shows you just how close the sprint was against Mike Norton... Well done!

So much to say..

..so little time. Attleboro Criterium was great fun.. Three races back to back to back. More later.

Slow Your Roll: Making Triathlete-itis contagious

Excerpt:

"While a strong majority of the general public inaccurately thinks bike lanes are for double parking, so too, they think the triathlete is somehow "cool". However, I am here to tell you that they most certainly are not. In fact, they are very uncool. For instance, take their fruity choices like riding with no socks. Or, the way they used to put Powerbars on their top tubes for future consumption. Does that sound cool to you? No. I didn't think so."

Funny- read it all

Shaking out the cobwebs

So it started raining right around 5:00 today.. Damn and blast it.. had to drive home. No 3 minute hill repeats for me.. not on the road anyway.. had to do them on the wind trainer. Holy shucking fit.. that was hard.. After 20 min warm up I did the first one.. figuring that 300 watts is deep enough into my VOmax, that's what I tried to hold for the first 2-1/2 minutes.. after which I go full gas for the last 30 seconds.
Interval No 1: 313 watts average at 88 RPM
Next comes 8 minutes of recovery, and I needed every second of it.. but not a second more..
Interval No 2: 305 watts average at 108 rpm average
Ouch. After this one, I felt like my head would explode. Spun it out for 8 minutes afterwards, resolving only to do one more of these..
Interval No 3: 296 watts at 96 rpm
I really felt myself fading during this one.. and for a change, instead of charging out of the gate at 350 watts, I tried to start out slow and build up.. Didn't work too well. I felt so cooked afterwards.. but little voice in my head said "finish what you start".. Coach said four of these are required.. so I did a fourth..
Interval No 4: 308 watts at 94 rpm
That was better than interval no 2! Proof that being warmed up can add watts to otherwise tired legs.. IMHO.. I must say.. I've done these same intervals on actual hills and they never felt this difficult.. As Coach Scheske put it on the phone today.. taking a rest week isn't about coming out of it faster or stronger.. it's about being prepared and fresh and responsive to the next period of adaptation (or "build" as some call it) There's a big difference between tapering and taking a rest week. My expectations were not realistic. I don't think I'll be 100% at Attleboro, but that takes a little pressure off, which is a good thing right now. I am gunning for a top ten,.. no, a single digit finish in at least one event on Saturday.. which will be no easy feat with the caliber of the fields I see developing on Bikereg.. I wonder if the old man and the clydesdale raced at Working Mans in this rain?

Over-trained?

That's what a reader suggested that my symptoms indicate. It's possibly true on some level, but my main issue is that I feel tired mentally. The body then feels tired in sympathy. Lack of sleep, stress and worrying about work issues, my father's illness (he has lung cancer), my son going to pre school (the impending high cost of it I mean), a tough month financially (both prop taxes AND homeowner's insurance are due this month), planning a cost prohibitive vacation to Turkey, my red car needing $1000 in brakes/tires etc, planning a small retail business on the side, hating my great-paying current job, but feeling stuck.. all of these things weigh heavy on the mind lately. For a while there I was blocking out all of that shit and focused on training more than anything else.. It's all caught up with me it seems. and it affects how hard one can pedal a bike. Does this come as any surprise? I have two nights of decent sleep behind me. Hopefully I can repeat that tonight and Friday night. A hard training session tonight and then the Attleboro Criterium on Saturday will be the ultimate litmus test. If I feel anything like I did at Wells Ave last Sunday, then I know I need to stop riding for a few days, need to miss the bike a little bit. Thanks for reading.

Wells Ave melt down

I don't know if it was the fact that I didn't eat except for some cereal, five hours before the race (what was I thinking?), or if it was the effort given to the first four laps in a four man break (we had a great gap- I have pictures), or if it was the heat and humidity, or if it was because I spent Saturday felling tree limbs and very large trees on our lot.. but after 20 minutes in the Wells Ave crit, all systems failed, the well ran dry, the power was cut off, the tank was empty.. I took a one lap breather and thought I'd get back into it, but after 1/2 of a 1/2 hearted lap trying to stay in there, I understood that I just plain "didn't have it" yesterday and so I packed it in early. It's disappointing that a so-called "rest week" can end this way, but my sleep durations and quality were also very poor all last week too. Man, am I full of excuses or what? I received the next four weeks training program last night.. sends chills up my spine. After the Attleboro Criterium this Saturday, I don't race again until the 11th of August, when I will commence racing at five venues in nine days. This will include the Witches Cup on the 15th, which is right down the street from my Salem High School project. 

Doesn't FEEL like a "rest week"

I've been doing nothing but easy commuting all week, at a recovery/endurance pace.. yet for whatever reason my legs feel quite tired and achy. Might be due to a lack of sleep over the past few nights.. I don't know. My weight (post ride) is down in the 162s.. (164-ish in the AM) Woohoo! When I returned from San Diego at the end of February I was a bloated 180 pounds.. This morning I was half asleep while I rode in to work.. Completely out of clean clothing too.. (Wife trying to tell me something?.. Like STOP RIDING SO MUCH??.. Maybe I can drop hints too.. I'll stop putting my paycheck in the bank.. meaning STOP SPENDING SO MUCH!! Just kidding!!!) Mind you, I have seven UNION VELO kits which I wear in rotation. Now I'm resorting to wearing old team kits.. Yesterday I wore the GVCC jersey which I bought back in 1988 (still fits, still in good shape- ASSOS is the shit) and today Colavita shorts with an anonymous jersey and no base layer.. Gotta wear an Under Armour base layer at all times.. For two reasons. First, the nipples get irritated from abrasion without the skin tight base layer..(too much information?) Second, the base layer does a good job of containing my [diminishing] "flabalanche". Last fall I was at Marshalls and they had Under Armours on clearance.. for $10. I bought five of them at the time. And my New Balance three-pairs-for-five-bucks cycling socks which I bought in 2005.. got my first hole in one of them yesterday.. That was money well spent. Should have bought more because I can't find any of the same socks these days.

In other news, coach and friend Todd Scheske got 20th in the Masters 35-39 Nationals Road Race. At 2004 Nationals he was 4th on the five man podium. If I can hold on to this good form over the winter and build some more onto it in the spring, I would like to go to Nationals in 2008. Either that or forever regret not trying.. Life is short.

There I go doing the title before anything else, and the post's relevance to it is minimal.

Lunch with Gewilli

Had a great meal at the sushi place on Wickenden with our esteemed Gewilli (already forgot it's name.. Sakura?... I'm way overdue for a vacation, it seems..) I also got to see the infamous Paramount bike complete with quill stem, crappy fork, Powertap wheel with tattered disk covers, improvised fenders, sawed off cowhorns, inactive front derailleur, missing front chainring, 8 speed "freewheel", trailer hitch, brakes that don't work, and a chain that belongs in the scrap yard.. No, in fact, if the scrap yard had a rubbish container.. this chain  belongs in THERE. Anyways.. we had a great lunch. Seems Gewilli has broken down and gotten the dreaded 'bike racer haircut'. Me, I'm still going for the "lion's mane which can't be tamed" look. Hehe. As I explained to Ge between bites of sushi, I got my first bee sting in 30 years yesterday while riding home. On my thumb of all places.. (The previous incident at the age of six was something like that scene in the Chris Farley movie "Tommy Boy", except for real..)  Hurt like a mofo for 1/2 hour. I'm over it though. Working Man's Stage Race? Not for me. It's too far north in no-mans' land for me to travel to, after work. But I sure look forward to reading the race reports of both Ge and Solo..

2007 Criterium Nationals Results

While we were getting ourselves dizzy in New Britain on Sunday, many of our local racers were competing for some serious bragging rights in PA..
Skip Foley has won the jersey in the 40-44 Masters Crit Championship race. Congratulations!
My personal coach and friend Todd Scheske earned a 10th place in the 35-39 National Crit. Very happy for him! That's nothing to cry about IMHO.
I'm sure there are more familiar names to drop here, but my time is limited. Besides.. The full crit results are here Check it out.

Succulent brain drippings

I'm in the habit of naming posts before I write a single word. Should probably do it last... Oh well...

Gary Aspnes is on fire.. The lone Horst Benidorm rider who resides in RI.. he leaps up to 3rd from about 9th in the RI Masters Crit Rankings with his recent good results.. Nice work at New Britain, Cox, Fitchburg Crit and Hartford.. The extremely low penalty points at Fitchburg helped him immensely, but you have to be in it or else not complain. He deserves it and I always enjoy seeing him in the races. Question: Do the Horst Benidorm team realize that no one can comment at their blog except for they themselves? Probably.. Frustrating though because I sometimes want to go in there and say 'hi' or 'good job'.. and I can't. Their team deserves a salute for performing at New Britain with guns blazing. They all raced with passion and tenacity..

So few ArcenCiel riders at New Britain Sunday! Jon Lowenstein crashed hard at Ninigret two weeks ago and has a broken collarbone. Sympathy.. I could always count on Jon's silky smoothness in the crits to help me to avoid panicking. But not on Sunday. I was on my own, it seemed. Get well Jon. Another Arc, Ted Shanstrom was in action Sunday, finishing three events and looking ready for some rest.. Recent fine results have him sitting in a solid 4th in the RI Crit rankings for Masters. Ted let me borrow $5 one day.. an amusing story which involves me borrowing my wife's car with a habitually empty tank, and me forgetting my wallet..

I think I know who Christopher Dale is now.. Exceedingly friendly NBX rider who I've never been introduced to. Seems a great guy.. positive, upbeat, strong. Hope to see you racing on Wednesday Chris.

Saw my friend and former team mate Keiran Paul Lynch on Sunday, which is always a pleasure. He asked me how I did.. and per usual, showed a genuine interest in my blabbering about how I messed up the finishes blah blah blah. Self-centered dipshit that I am, I didn't ask him how he did.. Mid pack in the 4s and the 30s, which is a lot better than the REST of his team did! Bloody hell, where are they? See you Sunday at Wells.. (?)

Lastly, our infamous Nega Coach and gifted race reporter, Dave Foley aka Solobreak.. eeks out a podium finish at the Hartford Criterium on Saturday.. by one second he beats the chasing field to the line.. Gotta respect that.. Besides being the only other blogger in New England who I get to race with, he holds the added distinction of driving the same exact shitty car as my 25 year old kid brother drives. Great job in Hartford.. and a good story, well told. This event begs the question: Will FnF give a shit about his Masters Crit Standings in MA? I doubt it. (I may be the only weenie who follows it.. it motivates me! what can I say?)

Changed the Powertap hub batteries tonight. Fretted a little about not having a proper spanner to remove the dust cover. I tried some dastardly methods which might make your toes curl.. but in the end just increasing my hand's friction with a little spit did the trick.. I'm taking a rest week- no intervals, no hill repeats, just easy commuting and maybe Ninigret and Wells Ave thrown in for fun and learning.. Letting the spring unwind a little bit.. I may be in rare form for Wells Ave Sunday.. even Ninigret.

For those of you who are too cheap to pay for Versus.. or who are shunning the '07 Tour.. today's crash with 1k2go was pretty spectacular.. Bob Roll called it: Someone pulled out of their pedal, shifed hard right and took everyone out, without hitting the deck themselves. Hope they weren't Speedplays.. but I doubt it. Remember these AWFUL pedals?:

In 1988 I was perhaps the only idiot in the world using them. Back then, light meant crappy I guess. Ironically, the person who now coaches me, Todd Scheske, beat me in a field sprint for 3rd at the 1988 UB Classic [juniors] Criterium. I pulled out of my Keywins with about 20 m to go. No one crashed. The following year, Ryan Muncy beat me in the field sprint for 2nd.. I had reverted to clips and straps for that one.. (Still have them) I miss those days.

2007 New Britain Criterium

No video camera footage. No fancy photographs. No detailed race report.
Just this: When you are paranoid enough (as I am) about being swarmed before the final corner and left in the dust (as I am) before you even have a chance to accelerate (as I am).. then do as I do and LEAD OUT both the 35+ field sprint, and later, also the 30+ field sprint.. like a dumb-ass.. (as I am). What did I think would be different? Being FIRST to come out of the final corner after going full gas up the S-curve and over the "hill", is NOT a FRIGGING ADVANTAGE! What was I thinking! (Oh yeah.. paranoia about being DFL through the last corner) The smart ones were lined up behind me, winding it up while I burned my last matches. So... Murat holds on for 12th in the 35+ race and 14th in the 30+ race. Nothing to cry about, all things considered, but I wish I had played my cards smarter than that. Being first through the final corner was a rush, no doubt.. but reality sets in about 50 meters later when rider after rider ticks past you..
The Pro field had 39 pre-regs.. I decided I'd register for it in between events. Another dumb move. Would you believe all 61 openings were filled and I had to get on a waiting list? No Pro race for me... or for about 25 others who drove out there just to do that one event. Begging the officials was futile. Insurance issues. We ended up going to Scarborough Beach.. I swam, rode the waves, and built a sandcastle of shame, which our little Reis gleefully destroyed..
Anyways.. when the self-hate (of my tactical retarded-ness) subsides a bit, maybe I'll tell ya more.

Almost the Last Word

Last night at TJ Maxx I found a pack of sweat/wrist bands by Nike. Limp-wristed colors, but they had a gasket where you insert a little digital time piece, included for $15.. If not for the colors being pink, purple and orange, I was going to buy all of them.. Maybe I still will. Can always dye them I s'pose.. Tuesday night at Ninigret, I forgot my wrist band, kept wiping my drippy/sweaty nose on my bare wrist. Funny how we adapt to things..

The Powertap, now in service since May 12th, has 2005 miles on it. How long before that hub battery putters out? By the way, who wants to sell me a nice used light weight tubular Powertap wheel, cheap? My checkbook is out.

Still on the fence about Hartford tomorrow. Trying to convince myself that I can race 20 miles and still be 100% for New Britain the following day. The cost is a factor too. Entry fees are off the chart expensive these days. So is gas. Maybe a beach day would be better for me. Could always ride out and back, while family drives. Nice easy pace to eliminate the soreness, recover, be fresh.. I really want to uncork my very best at New Britain.    

 

Haruki: go experience lunchtime bliss

Superb. I ordered the "Chef Box" for $12.00 from Haruki's Lunch Menu.. and now I can die a happy man. You get California roll sushi, you get vegetable tempura (carrot, squash, pepper), shrimp tempura, shrimp dumplings, Miso soup, side salad with sesame dressing, and a serving of fruit! Chopsticks, wasabi and soy sauce all thoughtfully included. I am so satisfied. Highly recommended for those days when you want to blow more than a fin on lunch. Worth every penny. Treat yourself now and then. I always feel more energetic leaving Haruki, than when I arrived. The food seems to fit just right, every time. In Cranston, Rhode Island.

Yesterday: 90 minutes, 223 watts/75 kg = 3

Feeling a little down at work yesterday, I left the office at 5:00 with an ax to grind. Poured that energy into the bike and put out a respectable 90 minute average watts of 223. Thusly:

15 minutes warm-up at endurance/tempo, around 200 watts

25 minutes of FT intervals, 4 minutes at 275 watts, followed by 1 minute recovery

20 minutes strong tempo averaging 245 watts

30 minutes light tempo averaging 210 watts

Overall, 223 watts average, which is solid tempo zone 3 pace.

Since this ride did not have a proper warm-up and cool down, the overall watts/kg (223/75) turned out to be exactly 3, which is good for me on a 1-1/2 hour ride. Otherwise, this value averages down with the wu/cd. I want to race in Hartford tomorrow, but It will blow my recovery for New Britain on Sunday. I guess I need to decide whether I'm in it to have fun or in it to win.. Then the choice becomes obvious.

Pettachi out, Boonen IN

Quickstep team rider Tom Boonen of Belgium is photographed as he attends a medical test ahead of the 94th Tour de France cycling race in London, July 5, 2007. (BRITAIN) REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Is the weekend here yet?

Just told the boss here at work that I'm going away for two weeks at the end of August. Call it a pre-vacation request. They don't like it when anyone takes two consecutive weeks.. so it's best to tell them as early as possible. Where am I going? To the Republic of Turkey of course! Where else? I should be back in time, fresh and strong, for Bob Beal and Topsfield RR.. Who's gonna let me borrow their bike case? Just think, you'll get some very nice exotic security stickers on it when it's returned to you..  

Some levity:

 

Borat: [while driving] Look, there is a woman in a car! Can we follow her and maybe make a sexy time with her?
Driving Instructor: No, no, no, no, no, no!
Borat: A-why not?
Driving Instructor: Because a woman has the right to choose who she has sex with.
Borat: [stunned] WHAT...? You joke?
Driving Instructor: It must be consentual. How 'bout that?
Borat: [turns to Instructor, pauses] Ahahahahaha!
Driving Instructor: That's good, huh?
Borat: [pause] Is not good for me.

 

More great Borat quotes

While it may be true that "Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium, all other countries have inferior potassium.".. Turkey has almost 63% of the world's boron potential and boron reserves... How boring.