Alien autopsy provides startling results

Dateline: Haworth, NJ. The Finkfraft Press has dug up exciting news about the sole survivor of what was thought to be an UFO that landed in this area in 1992. This Unidentified Finnish Object's pilot had apparently integrated himself with our population and began to take up our sports with what was thought to be his plot of evil world domination.




Well, breaking news from Harriman NY came this weekend when it was discovered that the UFO was actually human! Oh, my gosh is right. Despite his winning the NY Biathlon #2 with very fast runs and a bike split that would have gotten a car driver several tickets (true); this reporter was on hand to see Roger Aspholm tired and sore. It turns out that even he can regret not doing any run training prior to the 3-16-3 event. Yes, it's true, his legs hurt going down stairs on the next day just like the rest of us. Very exciting news indeed.



Also in the biathlon were the UFO's mind-melted wife Kim, who score in her age group bested only by friend Lan Huynh. Finkrafter Eric Carlson was there too with solid times and efforts.

The event also had a triathlon at the same time with a 1/2 mile swim proceeding the bike and run held on the classic Bear Mtn/Harriman course. Competing in the triathlon were Finkrafter Lyn McCabe, taking her age group with ease and 6th overall. Finkraft coach Kyle Wolfe woke up to take 9th overall and the silver in his age group. Not too shabby.



It should be noted that the UFO did not compete in the previously day's triathlon at the same location (with reverse bike loop, cool) further proving his now obvious humaness. However, Finkrafter Lyn McCabe was there, winning her age group again and 5th overall, as well as Matt Scott with a solid time and David Marcus taking the age group bronze. Not too shabby for an old guy!!



Special mention goes to friend Stephen Katz for competing in both days and doing darn good in both of them. Awesome!



This reporter is relieved that the UFO was not from another planet, but now is even more suspect of what is obviously a government conspiracy regarding human mutant gene experiments that produced the athlete rumored to be called "The Flying Fin". We can only imagine the destruction that might be rained down on our peaceful earth with this news. One thing is for certain: We Are Not Alone.

I felt like running By Fore....Roger

A couple of weeks has gone by, time flies when your are having fun. Well , it seems like it all came to a screeching halt on Sunday , I decided to do my annual duathlon without any running in my legs since last Dec and now I can not barely walk. I have run some marathons in the past, 12-15 years ago and the next 3 days was just like this after the race. Every single inch of my legs hurts like hell. To add some insult to the injury, I got a cold as well !

The duathlon went OK , it was an friendly event with my wife, Eric, Burny and Trish. Joe and Monica were our fanclub , taking pictures and cheering us on . I knew what the consequences would be , so I really tried to hold back on the run . It was 3 miles then 16 miles on the bike and another painful 3 miles run to finish of my legs! We got to sport the new FinKraft/Westwood Cycle multisport suits , the cyling farmers tan goes really well with these sleeveless things.

I love the bike part of any duathlon. Particularly this one , since I have probably ridden this Harriman race course about 300 times . Duathletes and triathltes are a different breed and my only goal is to kill them all on the bike . No different this time . There was one pro triathlte though that tried to hunt me down on the second run , but fell short and I crossed the finish line first and my legs were instantly destroyed.

The day before we did the Capitol Region Road Race , which is also the NY State Champion ships.
Three of my friends and people I ride with quite often took home the Gold. Great job Maria, Shane and Allan.
I had good legs , but bad tactics. I and the 3-4 other favorites just watched each other and next thing you know there was a bunch of guys up the road and we were 4 mins back chasing the rest of the day . There are guys that have nobody in the break and thinks it is cool to just sit on on soft pedal their way thru , so a frustrating situation . I won last weeks Tokeneke, Peter Hurst 2nd and Jamie Discroll 3rd . Well, we are all in this group with in addition of Matt Mainer who has two guys up the road, so he was allowed to sit on, no problem there . I am 41 and has no ambitions to turn pro or anything so I race hard until I blow up , if not I win a few. I like to test myself against these younger guys and it is fun for me if the race is hard. I am happy the way I felt and I made some good efforts in the race, even we were racing for 5th , not a bad day!

The week before that was a great week. I got some really quality hours of training , actually the second part of a pretty big block . It is very rare that you can do a perfect 10 mile point to point TT , almost flat and no wind. Well the Kingwood or "the Kingpin "( like I call this race) TT is just like that and an perfect opportunity to test yourself on the road. The power were up there and watts per kg what I wanted to see, 5.5 watts /kg. Besides missing my start time by a min 20 or so, this was a perfect run!
The next day was an other cool road race , yes with hills! Tokeneke road race , little short for a pro 1 2 race only 63 miles , but the field was nice and stacked with some top notch North East riders. The race was really fast the first lap and I was not feeling so sparky, but nothing went away and the next lap was slow as hell. Sure enough a few guys start rolling of the front and once again nobody seems to care . The climbs are a little longer in this race , so the break never really gained too much time and on the 3rd lap I contributed a little to the chase with two Indyfab guys , Peter Hurst and this tall Spanish guy ( pretty strong). About 30 guys were just sitting on , including 4-5 Bikereg/Cannondale guys since they had Eric S in the break. We got it close enough so they pulled the Scram car out in between the group and the break. That was my plan anyway , to get them close and maybe do a bridge attempt on the climb after the dam. Well , I just had to sit on Jamie Discroll's wheel for a mile or two at 500+ watts and the job was done, only 4-5 guys were able to hang on and we caught the break in no time , so now we are about 10 guys at the front ! I liked this situation much better, because I knew 4-5 of those guys were tired . We all came together at the bottom of the finishing climb , my plan was just to follow wheels and be at striking distance once it mattered . For some reason I felt really good now . Jamie, Peter and Alistar kept surging and that pretty much narrowed things down to 4 of us . I was the most patience I ever been in a race and once their tanks started to show signs of E (empty) , right about 200 meters to go , it was time to go ! I actually never timed a finishing sprint this well and it seem like I had several bike lenghts at the line . I personally think this was one of my better wins in a while , it is not so easy to win a pro 12 race to begin with . Last year I won Unionvale and Tour of Catskills which was big too, but this one felt good ! I got to wear a nice Foam hat on the podium and $ 250.00 , after paying my babysitter that day ,I was still ahead of the game !

The week before that we had out Westwood Velo Long Meadow TT champion ships , it was the CRCA club TT champion ships as well, but I consider this to be the Westwood Velo Worlds as well! A beautiful morning on the most beautiful TT course there is . In addition the organisation of this event is flawless with Steve Goldman behind the wheel. I had ridden the course about 3-4 times that week with various clients , besides a ton of other hours of riding , so not exactly tapered and fresh . I felt good on my warm up and down the course before the start. I do not like warming up on the trainer so I almost always choose the road ! This course is well suited to me , long gradual false flats and hills , could you ask for anything else ? A hard TT course for sure. My goal is always to win , but if you can finish on a different min than anyone else that is a bonus!

Then right after we were stupid enough to ride the TTT , same course with my buddies; Andreas, Glen and Joe. TTT is a lot of fun and I whish they had more of those , well maybe not the same day as the individiual one though , it is not that much fun! We took a respectable 3rd , beaten by the CRCA boys! Loosing sucks!!

Now this is a long time a go , I am really surprised I remembered what happened. Usually I do not remember what I had for breakfast , I am not someone who lives in the past , it is all about what can I accomplish today. Maybe win The Finally Of the Rockleigh Series , that is where I am going now.

Thanks for reading again.

Ready for a cruise....?

Another weekend went by and Tokeneke had not the expected outcome for me.
The same was true for Tour of Hillstown and Unionvale for that matter.
I questioned the reasons for the poor results and came to following conclusions. Besides the fact that my legs did not feel super in either of the two last races (Unionvale was a mechanical) compare to like mid-season, I noticed that my head was not 100% in them. The will to fight and suffer was somewhat not there.
Now, I love the bike, love riding it, thinking about it, even at work, etc. but something had changed - faded over the past couple of weeks - THE DESIRE TO RACE.
Now, most would call it a burn-out situation, but frankly I am already thinking of Capital Region so that alone is likely not the case. I truly believe that I just need to re-set, re-fresh my mind and things will once more fall in place, because the fitness is there and the coach seems to believe that also.
The other day I was on a short luncheon ride and rode up the Westside and noticed a herd of people coming off a cruise.
Weird thing about it is, that I almost never took interest in them on any level since I had a cliche picture of them - feasting on huge overgrown buffets and then just lay in some chair by a pool with a mixed drink, etc.
As that picture popped into my mind I realized that I for once would not mind being one of those "cruisers". This conclusion bundled with a stressful morning really did not make the ride itself more enjoyable.
What is the morale of this write-up? Actually, no idea - but if there is one it would be that we all may have a little slump throughout the season and unless we subcome to the "temptation of a week's cruise" we will overcome it and be stronger, or another morale could be "go on the cruise" and transform your body in one week to a dimension that will surely make you more "powerful".
Either way, I will continue to train hard and look forward to Green Mountain - a race that I really LOVE.

Practicing what I preach

I could never lie to you, my faithful readers, everything hurts. Let me tell you why. The Fin has asked me to race in the upcoming NYC Triathlon at Bear Mountain on August 16th. It's a short sprint course: 0.5m swim, 16m bike and 3m run. Piece of cake I tell him. Heck, I won it twice back in the early 90's I tell him. I did that course first when I was in High School, I tell him. What I neglect to tell him is that it has been some time since I have ran or swim. Ugh.

Let me continue to be honest here...I am feeling a little pressure. I am one of the multisport coaches at Finkraft. And we know his Finship is going to go fast, that is just what he does. And Mrs. Fin won the duathlon event last year. Yikes. I better get cracking.

I have been running a bit. That first day was ugly. My legs have been very comfortable on that saddle, not having to support any actual weight. After my first run, I was sore for a week. Then lets talk about swimming. I am primarily a bike racer. That means I have skinny arms; not ideal for upper body sports. They too are tired.

So, I hit the pool. It has been a long time since my multisport glory days. Long gone are the 90 second interval sessions. Long gone is the knowledge of being alpha male at the YMCA. Long gone is the lack of fear of drowning. I might need assistance. Well, this doesn't get any better. My girlfriend is also doing the event, plus several others. She is a former NCAA Div I swimmer. She is very fast. She is not riding her bike when in the pool, which means she can rub my face in the fact that she is finally faster than me in sports. It has been a few long drives home from the pool. I better get cracking.

It is coming back fast. I remember my strokes, I remember my drills. I ride the time trial bike a lot anyhow, so that part is easy. And running is just natural, anyone can run! I look to find my other equipment. The tri-suits have changed styles a bit; might need to get something a little less revealing. And there will definitely be more shaving involved in the coming weeks.

I am excited about it. I am looking forward to showing the Finkraft clients that they are invested in a qualified company with qualified coaches. I am looking forward to just surviving! Yikes! Really though, check out all of our resources for tips and ideals for race day for triathlons and duathlons. Thanks for reading and if you don't race, wish me luck!!!!