Youth and the young

I received a telephone call this morning from the director of a fairly famous cycling team about one of the riders we help out here at Finkraft. I can't name any names, but the team is sponsored by that thing on most of your handlebars, and the guy wears funny glasses.

We are trying to get the young lad a job on his team. It was a good conversation and some good steps were taken. It was amazing how the director knew specific results from specific races and events. These were races where this young lad kicked some serious butt, and he was noticed. Success all around. I was very impressed as to how the director was such a gentleman and professional on the phone. No beating around the bush: this is the deal and this is how it works.

I was also pretty darn excited that he already knew who I was before the call; that was almost as cool as him knowing the rider. With rare exception, my racing days are over, nowadays it is all about the athletes and the racers.

It reminded me of the importance of setting goals when working with your coaches. These goals could be an USAC upgrade, finishing a triathlon within a certain time, or scoring well in an important race so that a Protour team winds up calling your coach a few weeks later.

Remember that these goals can be lofty or lowly; they are your dreams and you need to try to live them the best you can! Talk to your coach about 2010 during the next few weeks and follow his or her directions so that you can work towards completing the goals.

Imagine how it feels: reaching what you want after months of hard work. Good stuff all around.

We look forward to hearing from some of you soon. Tell your friends, we can help them too.

Racin' and rubbin'

It has been a while; I think GMSR was the last time I wrote anything on my blog. I raced the Bear Mountain RR and Tour of Catskills and 10 crosses since then. Not to mention I driven about 5000 miles and stayed 15-20 nights in hotels and eaten good and bad food in a dozen different restaurants.



I am the 5th week into cross right now, I am finally starting to get things together and get the hang of things. A lot of new stuff this year. Thanks to Mark at Westwood Cycle, the Zipp 303 wheels + Griffo Challenge tires even though I have not gotten to use these things due to extream mud conditions every weekend and the Dugast Rhinos are getting the full use. A pair of 2010 Ridley X-Nights courtesy of John at QBP, the best ride you can only imagine in cross. Mark is the main source behind a lot of things like building the bikes and servicing the equipment in my racing both on the road and in cross with Allan’s help of course. I do not know how many tires Allan has glued or bikes he has built this year. Bike racing is a very demanding sport of all levels and I would not achieve these results without Mark and Allan, I like to remind others and myself this fact every time I get on the bike.



Kurt at Verge came thru with the amazing looking stars and stripes skin suit, that are pretty much destroyed by now, it is like throwing your stuff into a pig pen and let the “hawgs” go wild ( great movie by the way) . You all know how I feel about the whole National thing, but it has all the sponsors on it and it looks cool as hell. Wore it for the first time at the Verge Series CX in RI, the skin suit even matches the bikes, I guess looks goes a long way after all! Last but not least, if you are looking to get a new pair of cross shoe, Shimano M310S moldable to your foot, light, firm and stiff like a road shoe – there is no power loss with this babies. Oh I forgot – Sports Balm , I am going threw the hot balm like almond butter ( my favorite food , as you know if you been around me long enough) .



First back to road racing. In one month 3 stage wins and overall at the GMSR, but also 3 second place , that is also fine with me , but there is one that still bugs me every day; Chris Thater Memorial crit! Probably the worst 2nd place I ever got in my bike-racing career. I lost $ 100.00 and a pair of Mavic wheels in a sprint that I should have won with my eyes closed. Totally my mistake and nobody else to blame, just waited to long and F…up big time! Then there is those 2nd places that I do not mind at all; Bear and a stage at the Tour of Catskills.



At the end of Sept, it felt like I just a 4 week training camp and could not been any more ready for CX, but the week before Green Mtn CX I got a stomach bug and even while up there my stomach was killing me, except on the bike, won both races and took the leaders Jersey for the first time ever in the New England World Cup.
Since then it has been ups and downs in that series, lost it in Gloucester and regained it in Rhode Island, lost it again to day in Maine and guess what regained it again the 2nd day in Maine and I still have it. The first day in Maine I almost got hypothermia from the pouring rain and upper 30’s temps. I love CX, but sometimes there is a fine line “is it really a cross course or is it mountain biking? “ I think that was the case on day one in New Gloucester, ME. The course was the same on Day 2 , but in reverse. This suited me better because the down hill became an up hill. The mud was even worse than the day before , but 60 degrees under blue skies was ideal and I managed to power away from the competition and take the win . This meant that the leaders jersey was mine again, so a good weekend after all.


The best part of CX , when it is over!

The Mac series is not my priority this year, but I love those races as well and they are a little closer to home. The competition is not as deep either as Verge, but there is no guarantee that I will win the races there either. I love when you win a race that goes down to the wire all the way to the finish and that was the case last week in Wissahikon with Matt Krause. Better yet it was filmed by http://www.cyclingdirt.com plus an interview after, how pro is that?
I have been training pretty hard lately (maybe too hard?) something I like to do . The more I ride the better I usually race. When the engine is running hot during the week, the level of performance is much higher as well on the weekend. The problem is; do I get the proper recovery from the intense CX races and all the driving? My goal is to be good again in Dec and maybe in Jan, I know I can still lift my game from where I am riding right now and that is a good feeling. Winning as much as possible and of course the New England series would be great, but winning a big one at the end it was counts the most..

Bridging From One Season to Another

As I stare out of my window into the New England woods, I become all too familiar with the impending autumn. The days are growing shorter and the evening air much crisper. Despite all the beauty of the changing leaves, I can only think of one thing: cyclocross season is almost here!

When the road racing season draws to a close many riders simply hang up their bikes for a few months, resigning themselves to indoor gym classes and the occasional weekend group ride, if the weather is nice. But for a growing group of racers, the fall season brings out the cyclocross bikes: machines akin to standard road bikes but with no water bottles, nobby tires and cantilever brakes.

The sport started about a century ago in Europe when road racers looking to continue their racing and training during the winter were forced across fields and over fences to avoid the snow covered roads. This new cycling discipline steadily grew into the very popular sport we now have today. When people ask me for a description, I tell them to imagine Steeplechase events, but on bicycles. The sport is a mass start bike race on a course loop that takes about seven or eight minutes to complete, with less than half on pavement and low hurdles and other obstacles like sand pits or dirt hills that often force a rider off of his bike to carry it and run. The races are held over a time length of 45 or 60 minutes, rather than a number of laps or a preset distance. The sport is a fantastic spectator event, as they are often held in parks or fields where one can watch most of the race lap from one location.

What makes this sport both fun and demanding is how it requires the athlete to not only be a strong cyclist, but also to be good at bike handing skills, a solid runner and have upper body strength to lift or carry the bicycle when needed. As such, the training for this sport is very different from normal cycling and sometimes can even favors triathletes.

The training for this sport often starts well before the season begins (usually in mid September), which can be tricky. Although the running distances can be short in cyclocross, their intensity and ability to change a race require that the racers be good at it. However, your average cyclist does not run much during the season. Often in August they will try to get out once a week for a short run, and then step it up much more once Labor Day arrives. The type of running required in a race usually means some track workouts for short intense speed, a few trail runs to help with the balance and high step exercises like stadium stairs and grass drills.

The intense pace and power required to go as fast as possible for under an hour also requires very strong core muscle strength. Cycling specific workouts including abdominal and lower back building exercises like crunches and planks are good and should be worked into the weekly routine as soon as possible, and then throughout the cyclocross season to prevent injury and muscle exhaustion.

Upper body workouts are also needed to help condition the arms, hands and shoulders for the lifting and carrying of the bike. Monkey lifts, wrist curls and box or ball pushups are a great way to help with this part.

And on the bike itself, most workouts are shorter and more explosive; taking advantage of the yearlong fitness level that most cyclists and multisport athletes have built. The need to be able to push the bike at high levels through the grass and mud requires that the racers can handle high intensity levels almost all the time.

Of course, the most important thing is to practice the sport itself when you train. Although you might look a little silly running around your local town park carrying your bicycle, getting use to doing all the different things associated with cyclocross is absolutely crucial.

Cyclocross is great for all levels of athletes as the bicycles are comparatively inexpensive and an entry level ride will get you through a whole season of beginner races. It is also a great way to continue your season a bit longer and stay fit in the process. The next year is always a lot easier to start when you come off of a three month racing season of fitness and power. Cyclocross racing also helps prevent burnout as you are doing a whole new sport that continues to benefit your summertime goals.

Waking Up Is Hard to Do

At a recent regional Olympic distance triathlon, open water currents and course issues made the swim portion of the race take much longer than is normally expected. When one of our clients came out of the water, she looked at her watch and we could instantly see that she was dejected. Her time was over six minutes longer than she had hoped even though she was one of the first women out of the water. In a very well attended and “important” event such as this, being at the pointy end of the race was very impressive, no matter what the time.

When what she thought was becoming a bad race was combined with the cold temperatures and driving rain, the fire in her eyes quickly faded. This could have been a difficult day for all involved but she was able to regain her wits and save her podium position.

One of the most difficult things to coach is self motivation. Defined as “the initiative to continue a task or activity without another’s prodding or supervision” it would be easy to think that athletes can only be born with such inner drive. Taking anyone off of the streets and helping them to reach those high standards or complete such a difficult accomplishment as a triathlon would itself be difficult otherwise.

Every day we ask our clients or ourselves to get out of bed before dawn for those long runs or swim classes, to join the local group bike ride in the afternoons and make it to the gym during lunch. When preparing for a long season or long distance endurance event, these personal sacrifices are almost mandatory. Something has to help athletes gain that motivation.

Narcissistic words such as self-confidence and self-awareness are important parts of becoming motivated. If the athlete has the knowledge that they can achieve a certain effort or distance, it instantly gives them that confidence and awareness and that helps get them through the rough spots and bad weather. No longer are they whispering “I think I can;” they are screaming “I know I will!”

Without sounding too preferential, TrainingPeaks is a fantastic tool to help with this process. The structure of a schedule or plan given by the coach is a great way to build a client’s fitness level and preparation towards an event or goal. Then, the ability that the client has to provide feedback about those workouts and track and gauge their fitness and abilities also helps. When the athlete downloads their workouts, fills in such information as sleep habits, body composition and time worked out, they can see tangible proof that they are finishing their workouts and that they are truly getting fitter.

Now that the seasons of most traditional endurance sports are drawing to a close, using a structure training plan is even more important to help fight the doldrums of winter and the potential monotony of indoor training exercises.

Almost everyone responds well to structure, no matter what their core beliefs about the subject. Utilizing the experience and knowledge of a coach to help reach a goal combined with the organizational help of TrainingPeaks makes those goals and races all the more attainable.

Sign up for a TrainingPeaks account today: get motivated to stay on track with your fitness!

The Last of the MohiFins

This past weekend, in that part of New York State where once the Delaware, Mohawk and Mohicans all raced their bicycles, an elder from a far away land came to claim "coup" on them all. Young men like Uncas and Magua were to compete against this man who had come to be called "The Flying Fin".

Soaring through the air is an important medicine to posess, but alas, it was the local standout, Chingackgook who would eventually rule the weekend. The man from a far away place surely tried to shoot straight like an arrow towards the sun - and to that sun he asked for speed as he was Roger, the Last of the MohiFins.

Not even the great James Fenimore Cooper could have scripted a better tribute to the great people who gave their souls to this beautiful part of New York State. The Tour of Catskills was a three stage event with an opening uphill-ish time trial, and two days of road races that would break the mind and spirit of even the strongest warrior.

There were Finkfrafters galore: Roger, Reggie, James, David, Todd, Death Row John, Jerry and lots of others. The elite race was a small field but with some very strong riders. Bruyneel Academy rider Peter Horn, cat2 strongman Cameron, Colavita pro and local boy Andy Gumpthill (straight off of Missouri), and the Bikereg duo of Alister Ratclif and local boy Justin Lindine. Now it is no secret and Justin and Alister used to race for me for several years, and I hold a special place in my blackened shriveled up heart for them, but when the road tips uphill: look out fo the Flying Fin.

Well, the time trial was pretty fast and everyone was within a few seconds of each other going into the first 80 mile road race. Incredibly, the finish came down to a sprint amongst the predicted strong men (the rest dropped like 4th period French class) and the Colavita pro beat the Fin by a hair. The resulting chaos put the Euro based Horn into the leaders jersey.

The next day was a 71 mile road race which included an almost 5 mile climb just 6 miles from the finish. It was no big secret that Roger would put the hurt into everyone on this climb and go for the win. However, a wrench was thrown in when Alister attacked early in the stage hunting the KOM and that forced the leader and others to chase. When Roger did finally go on the climb, he bought back the remants of the break, and although the attack was described as brutal, the tactics of the day allowed others to not work as hard and the group was still six going into town.

As Justin's teammate was out all day, he was able to conserve and bounce back after Roger at the finale and win the stage. While we all sat around afterwards, a quick math count also saw that Justin's bonus time netted him the overall win as well. Great. Roger took third for the day and 4th overall. Not too shabby considering the others in front of him were half his age and pretty darn quick.

All of the Finkrafters finished in style with James scoring a top ten. This race was very hard and difficult to complete after such a long season. It should be noted that I did not even kid myself into racing this year: no thank you!!!! Congrats to all of them for pressing on, now it is time to prepare for next year!

The Green Monster Stage race by Roger

After tossing a coin to decide if I should do the Pro 1 or the master beater race , well after all considered I signed up for the 40+ race . It is an expensive race , long trip and many days away from home , so we made it an family trip or a vacation race like my daughter called it.

Prior to this race we had a very tragic event happen in our Westwood Cycling Community . The son of our friend and teammate Gregg Cossgrove was lost in a swimming accedent and taken by the sea. About 15 of us at the GMSR all wore black "Livestrong bands" in memory of Chance.

Since I told Andreas to see if we could get the black bands I thought about winning the road race stage and dedicating the win on the highest point of the race to Chance. It seemed like that was the only thing ,besides wearing the bands and giving our prayers to Gregg and his family, that had any meaning still racing our bikes after something like this happened.

We were staying with Andreas, Monica, Joe, Trish , Eric and Bernadette in a ski condo on top of Sugarbush. Cool to just hang out and cook up a storm every night and not have to go out to some restaurant that you do not know what you will get. The weather was incredible this time , this was the 8th time I did the GMSR and probably the warmest it has ever been. I missed it one year when my daughter was born and that year it rained and was really cold. Lucky me!!

The TT is the first stage and the Master race does not go off until about 5.00 pm , so I had all day to chill and even go for an easy spin.It was easy until I had to ride back up the Sugarbush Access Rd , the gearing was a little off , a 46 is good on the TT , but not on this hill! Legs felt good , much better than the night before on our pre ride , I could barely keep up with Allan and Andreas . I knew a longer warm up was key on this TT , so I rode a good 45 -50 min on the road ( RT 100 ) and things started to fall in place . I knew I went too hard on the first part up the hill last year , so I held back a little and it worked out well . By the time I got over the top I felt nice and was able to really get on top of the 55 chain ring. The last K is brutal with the infamous "ditch" and a slight uphill the last 500 meters. I posted a 14.43 which was good enough for the win ! My good buddy Jon B took second this time ,21 sec back . In a TT you just go as hard as you can , try to gage your effort over the course to the max. No tactics , it is what it is , no matter what category you ride! Got the Yellow Jersey and dinner cooked by the girls. Yummy!!

Day 2 , the Circuit race is on the old course with the King of the Mountain and Sprint points at stake. We ride to the course and meet the girls there, quick wheel change , it is time for the Mavic Ultimates. Bling!! Troy wants the sprinters Jersey and Joe the KOM . I figure I probaly just help these guys and stay in Yellow. We do the lead out for the first sprint , no other team helps , but when we see the line everybody wants the points and go crazy. We missed that one ! KOM is next and we just keep it together and I let Joe take a stab at it , but I noticed he was getting swarmed by a bunch of guys , so I attacked them pretty hard 300 meters to go and got a hugh gap , so that was it , 5 points in the bag. Next sprint Troy got a few and I decided that KOM and a set of Edge wheels would become mine . 5 more points , exact same attack . It is all togther and Rob Lattenzi rolls up next to me , I told him to attack late in the race so we would not have to lead out or chase right away . Off he goes and two guys jumps on his wheel , shortly there after Max L takes himself out by overlapping Rob's wheel at the same time George Opria attacks and since he is in 3rd place in the GC I cover him . A couple more joins us Fred Thomas is one of them . There is a gap instantly and we have a break of 6. It is a head wind and we open the gap up quickly. I can see these guys are on the rivet , but it looks good . I have a teammate (Rob) so 1 K I attack them , but they are still clawing them self back , so I sit up and position myself behind the OA guys . I knew the headwind would be a factor and I waited . Mersee jumps and I get up to his wheel and now I knew I could win or at least lead out Rob . Win # 2 , 10 sprint points , 10 KOM points which means all 3 Jerseys, that is a good day! Ice bath and dinner, can not wait!!

Day 3 , I have only race about 5 masters races this year for a lot of reasons. I knew when we rolled down the neural hill onto RT 100 that this would be a painful ride either way how you looked at it. I rode on the front pretty much the entire race , if I would have not, someone would just rolled off and nobody would have cared , because they were to busy following the Yellow Jersey. I decided if someone was going to ride away they would have to earn it. I chased everything , kept it together on the Brandon Gap and got 10 more KOM points , so that was it for the KOM , since there was only 15 more left. Got in a few small breaks , but everything got chased down as quickly as it got away. Fast thru the dirt section , I do not know why ?? Right after we crawled up the Baby Gap, perfect place to attack , but nothing ! We get to the bottom of the App Gap. They should have just started our race there and skipped the first 73 miles , it was "who can beat Roger up the hill" . This where you get the time in this race and if nobody goes on the front and drills it , how is this possible?? You can race ( or hold hands) for 3 days and then loose it all in the Crit the next day with 45 sec time bonuses on the line. I also knew if we climb this 3k steady a lot more guys will hang on . Since 95% of the guys had sat in , somebody had to be fresh you would think. I surged on and off and by 2 K I was alone, now I just had to seal the deal ! I was too lazy to change my cassette out the night before , so 23 was the gear of choice! It was fine until the final 300 meter, 18% you know what I mean. Win # 3 ; This one was for Chance !

Day 4, The Burlington Crit.

We had to move out of our lovely bunk beds and once again pack up everything . It is a 45 min drive North to Burlington from Sugarbush. A really cool course in a really cool town overlooking Lake Champlaine. This is what most guys here just wait for all weekend , a 15 mile crit! I figured everybody was thinking if I would win the 4th stage and go after the Spinters Jersey as well. I acctually it crossed my mind , but Rob needed a few sec to get on the podium and Troy really wanted to win the stage, so just sat back a little to see what would happen. Man, if these guys would have raced like this all weekend it could have been interesting, it was fast! Rob got the seconds and one to go Mark Gunsales attacks and all the New Englanders was probably letting him go, I would have liked to as well ( Mark is a cool guy and a good friend of mine ) , but I have to ride for the team and help Troy try win the stage , so I got on the front at the first turn and let Troy loose at the last turn ( #6) , we would have needed Rob to take Troy a little closer, so Max L was on Troy's wheel (where Troy needed to be) and stole the show both from Mark and Troy. Oh well, it was close and good racing . There is always a bike race next week again, Bear Moutain!!!

Finley in the "Feed Zone " , no wonder I did not get a bottle!!!

The over all podium was actually really cool. The OA guys had brought a bottle of Champange ( I do not know if they had plans to win the thing or they just had a bottle on hand ??) Anyway I got to spary it around like the real deal and it was a nice touch !! Thanks Team OA!!

Now we just had to get that burger and fries at our favorite sidewalk cafe and watch the 2's got at it! This last day is such a nice race and town to hang out in , caps the great weekend off and you just do not want to get in the car and drive home for 6 hours! Oh well we will be back here again in 3 weeks for some CROSS, can not wait!!

Thanks for reading, more racing to come!!

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.