7th place at Ninigret: Murat gets close..

It was a very fast night at Ninigret Park in Charlestown, with lots of the local favorites racing in the Wednesday night criterium. To wit, 6 of the the top 10 Rhode Island masters were there, and so were 4 of the top 50 ranked masters in the country. Speed was up by one mile an hour (27 mph average) over last week, and the field was strung out single file on most every lap. No one could get away though, and the final field sprint was a knife fight among the few who had the reserves to accelerate and the nerves to find openings to pass through!

Week 25: Frontier Criterium and Fall River Criterium

Three Podiums This Weekend!
Frontier Criterium in Loudon, NH:
Adam Sternfield (below, left) is 1st place in the 45+ and 3rd in the 35+ which follows.

Blount Seafoods Fall River Criterium:

Adam Sternfield is 5th in 45+ race.

Matt Kressy (below) is 2nd in the 35+ race

Adam Sternfield is 27th in the 35+ raceMurat Altinbasak is 11th in the Fall River 35+ race

Yesterday our Adam Sternfield put 'Millwork One' on everyone's lips when he won the 45+ criterium race up in Loudon NH. To add to his victory, he also scored 3rd place in the 35+ event which followed. All this was done on his own, with no team mates around to help him get the two podiums.Today featured the annual Blount Seafoods Fall River Criterium. Again, Adam Sternfield delivered- he got into the winning breakaway of the 45+ event and took another solid result- 5th place. The 35+ race followed right afterwards and Adam lined up alongside Matt Kressy and myself to do his part for the team. After about 10 of 20 laps on the challenging one mile course, Tobi Schultz escaped solo and not long after, Millwork One's Matt Kressy was able to attack and bridge up to him. A few laps later, Mark McCormack attacked and bridged across to join the duo. Now all that Adam and I had to do was slow down the field as much as possible using blocking tactics, and hope that Matt can outsprint both Tobi and Mark in the finish. We discovered afterward that these two guys worked Matt over- attacked him, forced him to waste energy (all the things we'd have done if we were in their shoes) In the end, Matt sprinted to an honorable 2nd place, beating Mark but not Tobi. Back in the main field, the race exploded on the final lap up the climb and I chewed through my handlebars to get 8th in the field sprint, 11th overall. A great weekend of racing for Millwork One. The race announcer called us out dozens of times, making Millwork One a familiar name for all of the spectators. Podium pictures coming up soon. Thanks for reading.

New Millwork One Team Member: Murat Akyazi

Millwork One Racing is now 'International' in the true sense of the word. Meet Murat Akyazi- 33 year old Master, training and racing in Bursa, Turkey. While I was there this spring, I rode with many people. But in terms of being impressed with riding ability, character, kindness and class, Murat outshined everyone else. The M1 Racing kit he's using replaces the tattered one he'd been using for years. My sister will be flying over in a couple of weeks, and she's taking a special care package over there for me. Some good tires, tubes, arm warmers, rain jacket, etc etc.. If we're going to support a rider we may as well do it properly, or not at all! Take note of the absolutely pristine-condition Peugeot frameset. Welcome aboard, Murat!

Weeks 13-14-15-16-17??

Updates are long overdue, but with a little luck, they will be brought up to date by next week. Thanks for being patient. It's a big race weekend for Millwork One Racing! We will have not less than 7 competitors crossing swords with New England's finest in the Cox Classic Criterium Category 2/3 event at 3:15 on Saturday. Please come out and show your support for the race, for the team, for Providence and for Waterfire after the racing has ended!

Week 12 Results: Lake Sunapee Bike Race and Wells

Millwork One strikes again! With only Adam Sternfield at his side and all other Millworkers on holiday, Matt Kressy easily demoralized the field at Lake Sunapee and earned a solid fifth place only 30 seconds behind the four breakaways. In Adam's own words, the report goes like this:

Sunapee recap: Two things stand out- Mike Spangenberg's performance and Matt Kressy's acceleration. First off, Mike Spangenberg probably rode the single most dominating master's race I never saw . By that I mean he and Leo Devellian attacked literally from the gun, and while we caught Leo halfway through the first lap, Mike didn't resurface on the pack's radar until just a couple of miles from the line. He damn near soloed the entire race! And this on a quad-rending course and a day where the wind was kicking up surf-able waves on the Lake. Even when he was finally reeled in by a strong Ciaran Mangan and 2 others, he still came within a bike length of taking the sprint. Phenomenal.Which brings me to Matt. With Ciaran and Mike's group of four 30 seconds up the road vying for the win, the remainder of the field came to the final climb strung out behind Tom Francis' wheel. For those of you who don't know the finish, it starts with a shallow pitch, followed by a couple hundred meters of flat, then a 300 meter grinder (or hoagie, if you prefer) to the line. When we hit the flat, Matt bolted like his proctologist had just whispered "time for your rectal exam, Mr. Kressy" in his ear. I mean he opened up a hundred yard gap before anyone could blink. He had time to look back, twice, complete his 2008 1040A with schedule C, and cruised in. He didn't just outsprint the field, he demoralized it. Me, I had a strange race. For roughly 35 of the 46 miles, I felt like 1990's version of myself. The version that could climb without a triple chainring and didn't consume a significant portion of his calories in the form of a distilled malt beverage. A much less gravity-affected version. I found myself going over climbs with the likes of Bill Yabroudy and Ray Johnson and was even on one occasion off the front with those two. Then, suddenly, on one of the rollers approaching the finish, the lights went out and I was dropped. Can't explain it, don't want to, prefer instead to hang onto the ego-inflating memories of the first 35 miles. In any case, I ended with a small group and we managed to latch on just in time to be blown back in the wake of Matt's supersonic turbulence :-)
Lake Sunapee Bike Race
Masters 35+
5 Matt Kressy
17 Adam Sternfield

Sunday's Wells Ave was both well attended and held under bright and sunny skies. We even had an under 25 Slipstream-Chipotle racer in field. Everyone was doing a double take. In what seems to have been a case of dejavu.. Adam once again chooses the right wheels after the halfway sprint and rolls away from the field as part of the 8 man break which sticks it out to the end. Meanwhile back in the main field, Brendan and Murat did their level best to get as much training benefit from this race as possible. Brendan could be seen pulling the entire field along on some laps, while Murat was drilling it on others to close gaps to the bridging attempts. Adam places 6th in a "sprint" that looks more like an uphill finish, while Brendan and Murat safely cross the line in the top 20 of finishers. A good day of racing indeed.


Murat streaks across the gaps at top speed. Nosebleeds were had by all who tried to follow his wheel. We can't help but think that everyone else's team kit looks a little bit inferior..

Week 11 Results: Sterling and Wells Avenue

A light week for Millwork One Racing! Only Lynn and Adam are strong enough to brave the tough racing up at the Sterling Classic.
Sterling Classic Road Race
Pro-1-2 (57 starters, 41 finishers)
33 Adam Sternfield
Women's Cat 4
16 Lynn Samartano
The day which followed saw Adam in the thick of the action at the Wells Avenue Criterium. Adam makes the decisive break of 10 and sails home to a hard earned 5th place.

Week 10 Results: Jiminy Peak and Blue Hills

Our Lone Ranger Adam Sternfield scouted Jiminy Peak and completed his mission in 62nd place.. The following Sunday saw the M1 colors flying high at Blue Hills in spite of the precipitation. Matt Kressy scored a solid 4th place for the team.
Jiminy Peak Road Race
Masters 35+:
62 Adam Sternfield
Blue Hills Classic
Masters 35+:
4 Matt Kressy
18 Murat Altinbasak
20 Ralf Geiben Lynn
22 Kyle Gates
Cat 4 finishers: Joe Barroso, Sheldon Charles