Latest Kodak Gallery...
...is here, it covers some of the races we've been doing and a lot of the van time we've been doing.
Monday
Back at Zwiza's
back in the basement, we're just chilling at Scott's house. went on a nice ride in the PA countryside, very different from the VA countryside. there's not a lick of flat ground. if i lived here, i'd be a lot stronger then i am now.
Lancaster's tomorrow, then an appearance at Cadence in Manyunk on wednesday for Adidas. Thursday is Trenton. that's as much as they tell me, i guess they think i have a short attention span, which i do.
Lancaster's tomorrow, then an appearance at Cadence in Manyunk on wednesday for Adidas. Thursday is Trenton. that's as much as they tell me, i guess they think i have a short attention span, which i do.
Upgrade confirmed
My upgrade got processed and I'm riding is style to Philly, I get leather
seating and legroom in the Audi. Plush. And now I'm realizing how carsick
I'm getting in the van, the thing bounces around like crazy with the trailer
mounted on the back.
CSC Invitational
It seems this race always goes the same: everyone is so amped up for this
one event that they throw caution to the wind, take big risks and above all,
ride super hard to keep it lined out. Then with about 30 laps to go someone
goes really hard, and the already single file "pack" splits and about 40
guys go out the back. Imagine riding 50 kph and just feeling god enough to
hold the wheel in front of you, and then someone dials it up another notch.
Crazy.
With one to go, Russ and I were getting into position when a huge crash
through the start/finish took out the front of the field. I threaded the
needle, but russ stopped completely and the race was out the window. It
sucks to suffer through 2+ hours of basically motorpacing to have any result
messed up by sprinters jockeying too hard.
Saturday
Cap Tech Classic
Damn, what a hard race. it seemed more like a circuit race, just all up and then bomb back down, repeat. and we started at 8 pm, so it was pitch black by the end. and all my teammates went out early except Jackson. and so i had to cover everything, you can only whack it up this hill in the 14 so many times 'til you have to let one go.
i made a good counter though, drawing out a second four and that was the race for the top ten. Saunders was in with it and givin' 'er and givin' 'er til he couldn't give 'er anymore then Sayers whacked it one more time up the hill and blew us apart. I think he was impatient though, as the guys up front were seriously chilling and playing games and if we'd kept it together he'd have been able to give it to Davidenko, not me. as it was we persuited for the penultimate lap, came within ten feet of the front group, and then we all died on the hill and the race for the win was over for us. i chased them back on the downhill and then came around Sayers and almost did Eric too.
we're doing the Bike Jam in Baltimore tonight, i'll have another report in a few hours.
i made a good counter though, drawing out a second four and that was the race for the top ten. Saunders was in with it and givin' 'er and givin' 'er til he couldn't give 'er anymore then Sayers whacked it one more time up the hill and blew us apart. I think he was impatient though, as the guys up front were seriously chilling and playing games and if we'd kept it together he'd have been able to give it to Davidenko, not me. as it was we persuited for the penultimate lap, came within ten feet of the front group, and then we all died on the hill and the race for the win was over for us. i chased them back on the downhill and then came around Sayers and almost did Eric too.
we're doing the Bike Jam in Baltimore tonight, i'll have another report in a few hours.
Tuesday
Here's a pic of me finishing
I found this on cyclingnews.com, I'm right underneath the TIAA-CREF banner.
Hey! What a Jip!
I've been flicked from the results and hence the overall from the Tour of Connecticut, I was right behind the guy in 7th place, so i was for sure in the top ten and should have remained in the top ten overall, after seeing who was in the finale. I think i work way too hard to not get the result. there were a dozen times when i could have DNF'ed myself and been much happier about the day, but i stuck it out.
I have my people working on it, the Director usually gets things done quickly.
I have my people working on it, the Director usually gets things done quickly.
Sunday
My pictures from the Tour of Connecticut are on Kodak Easy Share Gallery!
Click here to view sellected pics frpom the tour. no race photos, obviously, but maybe a few glimpses behind the curtain to see the life of pro bike racers. You'll need a login and password, which are free. While you are there, check out the site, they have great gift ideas and they make sharing photos (just like what i'm doing) very easy.
Tour of Connecticut Stage 3
tough tough day in the saddle. 137 miles of constantly undulating terrain with three steep KOM's, about a thousand intersections between twisting little roads, then 30k of finishing circuits where it really went ape. oh, it rained all day and was under 40 degrees.
i got so cold after the first two hours that i thought i was going to have to pull out. i was seriously riding at the back, shivering uncontrolably, and not knowing how i was going to get to the brakes if i needed to. i could not feel the handlebar.
a small break went just before the first KOM, and so was 2 minutes or so up when we got to the bottom. my legs felt like they were made of wood, but i got my heartrate up enough to stop shaking and so helped chase the break back for Dom. i came good as soon as i really hit the gas, and wasn't anywhere near as cold for the rest of the race.
Glen had a good move entering the circuits and gained a quick 35 seconds, but couldn't get on when McCormick came by with Wells. they stayed away for the stage and the GC, i think i was top ten again on the stage but fell out of the top ten on GC for some reason. the Tour was a success in that it made me work very hard with my legs and also with my head and heart, as it took a bit of mental fortitude to keep at it today. i suffered, but i think it's going to help me in the coming weeks.
i got so cold after the first two hours that i thought i was going to have to pull out. i was seriously riding at the back, shivering uncontrolably, and not knowing how i was going to get to the brakes if i needed to. i could not feel the handlebar.
a small break went just before the first KOM, and so was 2 minutes or so up when we got to the bottom. my legs felt like they were made of wood, but i got my heartrate up enough to stop shaking and so helped chase the break back for Dom. i came good as soon as i really hit the gas, and wasn't anywhere near as cold for the rest of the race.
Glen had a good move entering the circuits and gained a quick 35 seconds, but couldn't get on when McCormick came by with Wells. they stayed away for the stage and the GC, i think i was top ten again on the stage but fell out of the top ten on GC for some reason. the Tour was a success in that it made me work very hard with my legs and also with my head and heart, as it took a bit of mental fortitude to keep at it today. i suffered, but i think it's going to help me in the coming weeks.
Introducing...
I forgot to mention, we've taken on a new soigneur for this trip. Meet
Joanne, she's got good experience from working major events such as Georgia,
her work ethic is almost too good (we've seen her almost run with the cooler
in one hand, a big bag of stuff in the other, plus a backpack), and I know
she's hard to crack cuz she worked for an entire team of Canadians, and we
only have one. Anyway, welcome to the fold Joanne!
Saturday
Tour of Connecticut stage 2
the waterbury circuit is a 4.1 mile loop that gains 500 feet per lap, straight up and then aero tuck back down to the bottom at 90 KPH. 15 times makes it a hard 100k.
Navs went ape with 6 to go, really broke things apart and i suffered for a bit, then it seemed they lost steam and rode just hard enough to discourage attacks. 2 to go Dom went up the road with a Colavita and two Navs, and that was the race. Dom got fourth, i was 9th maybe a minute back. I'm feeling average, and so i'm working maybe a little bit extra to pick up the form.
time to rest up for tomorrow.
Navs went ape with 6 to go, really broke things apart and i suffered for a bit, then it seemed they lost steam and rode just hard enough to discourage attacks. 2 to go Dom went up the road with a Colavita and two Navs, and that was the race. Dom got fourth, i was 9th maybe a minute back. I'm feeling average, and so i'm working maybe a little bit extra to pick up the form.
time to rest up for tomorrow.
Friday
Tour of Connecticut Stage 1
The crit went okay. we went a bit short on communication in the lead out and we needed to jump to the front earlier. More later.
so i saw the results and i was 11th. ho hum, more tomorrow.
so i saw the results and i was 11th. ho hum, more tomorrow.
Now we're in Connecticut
We're now in Connecticut about to start the tour, we have super nice host
housing with Jackson, Tim (Wretch) and me in one house and Scott and Glen
just down the road. It's super green here, not too hot as I know it can be,
and actually very quiet, a pleasant pause before the racing to come. The
Host family's son, Connor, is a big time race fan and budding roadie, he
drilled us on our recovery ride and then showed us the "North Shore" Style
stunts off in the woods. Pretty cool, I'll try and get a pic Sunday or so.
We race in New Haven tonight, then to a hotel, race the circuit Saturday,
back here sat. night and the big RR Sunday. We're jumping around a fair
bit, I'm used to camping out in one spot for days on end so I'm not quite
settled yet. Should be sleeping well soon, the racing really puts you in
the mode out of necessity.
Cheers, BJM
Wednesday
Casa de Zwizanski
We've just arrived at Swiza's house in Spring City, PA, it's late for the east
coast but still early for us flying from the west. We get the basement off and on for
almost three weeks, between forays into racing. Should be nice, it is
evidently much improved since last year when the Ofoto team stayed here.
The schedule will be:
-Tour of Conn. This weekend
-Cap tech Classic in VA
-CSC invitational
-some race in Baltimore?
-lancaster, trenton, philly
I'll be trying to keep current on the racing plus add a little flavor that
can only come with traveling with this bunch of hooligans/teammates. I'm
looking forward to the races, I feel prepared (for once) and we're bringing
on extra firepower which could make all the difference.
Cheers, BJM
Monday
Another Slug National Champion!
I wanted to give a big shout out to Brooke Miller for winning the US
Collegiate National Road Race Championship this weekend. I raced with
Brooke back at UCSC, and she was always good, always showed big improvements
every year, and has shown Jacques-Maynes-esque domination of the western
conference this year. She hasn't had good luck at Natz before though, but
now she's broken through and showed us all how it's done, myself included
(that's the one I always wanted and never got, Brooke). A huge
congratulations to Brooke and the rest of the Slugs who raced in Kansas, I'm
super-psyched for you all!
Pics of the new bedroom wall
Here's an example of the terrific job Erin did on our bedroom wall; the
photo doesn't do the entire job justice, it's just so dynamic and sublime.
It's been terrific getting up every morning, looking at the light coming in
through the blinds and picking out some new detail I hadn't noticed before.
Thanks so much Erin!
All moved in
we've finished moving, what a process. i think everything's in order, just a few random boxes left to go through, but we can do that anytime. the major stuff's done. whew.
the new place is nice, a lot bigger then our last place, though no garage, so i have two bikes in the living room. they're Serottas though, so it's like hanging art, right?
my friend Erin came by and painted a sky for us. she has a business up in Nevada City where she goes into a house and remodels in a cool craftman's style and does these awesome paint schemes, so we bribed her into doing something similar for us. it looks awesome, i'll get a photo as soon as it dries. it's going to really brighten our day as we get up, calm us after a hard day, and make living in this high density type place a bit more manageable. thanks a ton Erin!
it's seemed like the racing has been coming as a side note lately, but now the move is done and i can get down to business again. raced Cat's hill and Berkeley hills on the weekend, we won both days with JS and Glen, who was especially good. i felt under raced, missing a little bit of high end, but the signs were there and i think i've recovered fully from my crash in Georgia.
Cheers, BJM
the new place is nice, a lot bigger then our last place, though no garage, so i have two bikes in the living room. they're Serottas though, so it's like hanging art, right?
my friend Erin came by and painted a sky for us. she has a business up in Nevada City where she goes into a house and remodels in a cool craftman's style and does these awesome paint schemes, so we bribed her into doing something similar for us. it looks awesome, i'll get a photo as soon as it dries. it's going to really brighten our day as we get up, calm us after a hard day, and make living in this high density type place a bit more manageable. thanks a ton Erin!
it's seemed like the racing has been coming as a side note lately, but now the move is done and i can get down to business again. raced Cat's hill and Berkeley hills on the weekend, we won both days with JS and Glen, who was especially good. i felt under raced, missing a little bit of high end, but the signs were there and i think i've recovered fully from my crash in Georgia.
Cheers, BJM
The other JacquesMayniacs:
- Andy
- Goldi
- Chase
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Current Kodak Galleries
- adventures in OZ
- family and other pics
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Upcoming Races
- Fresno
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Links
- Abbiorca photography
- Wee Pete
- Zirbel
- OV
- WhatWhat
- Anti-Bummer
- World Bicycle Relief
- Dan says "your bike sucks!"
- there's the Right Way and then there's...
- Bellas
- JoJo
- I support Doperssuck.com
Press and Misc.
- cyclingnews.com give the bike a once over
- the SF Chronicle rode the team car stage 2
- ToC interview on Velonews.com
- Jacquesmayniacs on cyclingnews.com
- Interview with ASJ
- 2001 SFGP Race Report
- Santa Cruz Cyclocross Article
Previous Posts
- Motor
- Chase Lounge
- Stage 7: Done
- someone's been busy...
- Stage 6: Crazy!
- Stage 5: TT
- evidence of fans...
- Stage 4: Soggy Motorpace
- Stage 3: suffering
- And one more thing...
Archives
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