so i'm in chicago for the weekend for a wedding.  flew out on southwest this morning.  checking in for the flight:

 

can i see your id?

sure [hand id over]

mucha?

yep.

wow, so you're a "whole lotta jeremy" ?

 

sweet.  wanted to reply back, "YOU  BETTER BELIEVE IT!" at full volume, but that would have really sounded like "you bebber beliebe it." in a muffled voice.  so i was just like:

 

heh-heh, yeah.

 

so lame.  it's hard to even smile with all the wires in the mouth.  oh, well.  just another 2 or 3 weeks.

A classic photo back from a racing trip in March. It was dinner time and tomorrow was a 100 mile road race. i was double hungry and needed the double calories. so what else? order double dinners. that was awesome. looking forward to the return of those days...

 

Here's what it looked like before the bench and grill moved in. Moved the plant to an empty dirt spot in a neighbor's section. Cool.

 

The Garden Project... Used to be just knee-high weeds under my front windows. Well, mom wanted to clean that up, so instead of just planting flowers, we got some pots and mulch.
But then I had the bright idea, "huh, that looks pretty cool - maybe we can put a bench out here to look at it all? and what if I get hungry? you know, i've always wanted a grill for steaks..." Yeah, had to hack down an overgrown hedge jungle for that one.
But then I had to put it all on lockdown - wouldn't want the grill to go the route of the scooter...

Caribbean Burrito - Slightly Modified...

 

well, superweek ended today - and so did my garden project.  when mom and i got back to san diego after my accident, she was kind of bored cause i was still sleeping a lot.  so, she decided to tackle the weeds outside my front windows.  as i regained my strength i helped her out.  anyway, what began as a simple "weeding and plant a couple flowers" operation evolved into a complete tearout of everything in front of my place (including some really nasty "shrubs") and replacement with big flower pots, a bench, solar lights, and a firepit/grill.  kind of silly, but what can i say - there's no way to do it, but to do it hardqore.  that's how we're livin.  i'll put some pics of it up tomorrow.  it was a nice project to take my mind off racing, for sure.  tomorrow i return to work...

well, i just dropped mom off at the airport, so that's that.  man, it sure was nice to have her around, though.  it would have been really difficult to make it out of wisconsin on my own - i certainly would have had to stay in the hospital a couple more days just to start feeling better.  i was so heavily medicated back then...  anyway, that's over and i went off the meds a couple days ago on wednesday.  so basically 1 week of heavy sedation and 1/2 a week of sedation when needed (mostly just on going to sleep and waking up).  but that's not counting the morphine that i was IV'ed to in the hospital for the first 2 days.  yikes!  but like i said - mom was there the entire time and really helped out - drove the van in WI - coordinated picking up my bike - helped me with meals until i was awake enough to make my own - etc.  anyway, that's my mom.  she's the best.

 

quick props to my buddy cap'n late AKA j. snizow AKA snowman AKA jonathan snow - he did his very first bike race today as a cat 5 racer (beginner category) and finished with the peloton.  no crashing for him and he finished his first race a-ok.  very sweet.

 

dining update!

 

i ordered my very favorite burrito in the world from ortega's - the caribbean burrito.  it's got mex rice, black beans, guac, cheese, and chicken.  it's simply delicious.  and then i put it in the blender - sans tortilla.  added 1 cup of water.

 

and it turned out perfectly!  sure, it wasn't the consistency of eating a burrito or anything, but the taste was still there with all the spices, the chicken - i could taste the guac - it was great.  small victories folks, small victories.  and then i whipped up a butterscotch surprise for desert.  totally killer.  mucha's not losing weight, folks.

fyi

 

the breakfast of champions = 1,420 calories.

 

how ya like me now?

(and that's just to keep me from *losing* weight)

 

early evening snack was tortilla soup a la blender.  nice and spicy - oh, so good.

 

that enboldened me, so i tried something special for dinner tonight.  got a lemongrass bbq chicken bowl from a street vendor - threw it in the blender.  added some milk - added some water - just trying to thin it out.  i eventually got it drinkable.  and it tasted completely rancid.  nuts.

 

take 2.  had a microwavable bowl of thai teriyaki noodles.  cooked it up real nice.  sprinkled on the sesame seeds for that chef au natural flair.  had my mom taste it - oh, that's nice!  then threw it in the blender.  added some water.  added some milk.  finally got it drinkable.  and finally made it horrible to taste as well.  had mom taste it again - oh, that's not so good anymore...  yeah, welcome to my world.

 

so that really set me back.

but like any good up pumper (or P. Diddy) - ain't nothing gonna hold me down - oh, no.

 

went back to the old standard of vanilla ice cream + vanilla boost plus + apple/mango juice.  that's a nice one.  skipped dinner and went straight to desert.

cuisinart is the bomb.

 

i had pop tarts for breakfast this morning.  straight out of the blender.  all from a suggestion by my mom.  we were shopping for groceries the other day:

 

mom:  pop tarts?

me:  uh...

mom:  why not try it in the blender...?

me:  uh...

mom:  ?

me:  ... ok!  i mean seriously, who puts pop tarts in the blender?  this guy!

 

the breakfast of champions:

 

2 chocolate chip pop tarts

2 chocolate boost plus bottles

2 cups 2% milk

2 tablespoons powdered fiber

 

cut it real smooth - blend it up nice, baby.

mmm, de-lish.

 

 

dinner?

 

i took a can of chicken noodle soup and blended it down.  yum.  tastes like chicken!  then a can of ham / roasted potatoes soup (plus a little milk to thin it out) ground round down.  dining extravagance.  bon apetit!

 

 

yes, i can hear you asking...  when will i try out a steak?  any day now...

Got a new blender last night - mom bought it for me - and it totally opened up an entirely new world of liquid dining pleasure.

well, finally safe and sound back in san diego.  got in last night, had some liquid dinner, cleaned up the garden and pretty much hit the sack.  saw an oral surgeon this morning and received the, "yep, looks like it's healing" prognosis.  that's cool, i guess.  i think i was wishing he'd take a look at the x-rays, and simply exclaim, "you must have some kind of mutant healing factor - you'll only need 1 more week of your jaw wired shut!"  yeah, no such luck.  instead, he said, "wow, you really cracked this thing good - 1, 2, 3 fractures in your chin."  what can i say - guess i had to break it pretty hardqore.  anyway, he took a couple stitches out, but that was it.  next appointment next friday morning to see how the healing process is progressing again.  ho-hum.  feels like naptime again.

well, checking out of the hotel in racine, wi today to head back down to san diego.  3 pm flight out of ord to san at 5 pm.  it'll be nice to get home and relax a bit more.  mom is coming with me to make sure all goes well - very nice - i simply wouldn't be able to handle all the bike stuff on my own.  we're hoping it won't be 'snakes on a plane'...  :-)

Complements of my buddy, Dishrag. Just call me Jawqore.

Superweek - Stage 2 - Menasha Crit

 

Well, folks, I crashed big during this crit.  Really big.  So big that I broke my jaw (took it hard on the chin).  A short ambulance ride to the Neena, WI hospital and I underwent surgery later in the evening.  The nurses were really nice and took good care of me over the next couple of days until my mom showed up to help me take care of stuff and get ready to return to San Diego to recover.  Now we're basically trying to get my bike back from the race organizers, get everything packed up, then fly out on Thursday.

 

So the crazy part about all of this - the rest of my body is basically fine - no problem.  Just the lower half of my face is messed up.  No knocked out teeth, per se, but it's gonna require a bit of oral surgery to be sure.  Need to fix all of that - no big deal - it could have been a lot worse.  At least it wasn't the upper half...  No head injury, thank goodness.

 

So my jaw is completely wired shut to help the bones heal (3 screws and a plate in my chin).  And what does that mean?  Liquid diet only.  Wow, no steaks for at least 5 weeks or so...  What a drag - but it'll taste really good when I get there.  For now it's just chocolate milk and Ensure - yum!

 

So, a special thanks to my family and my friends that called me in the hospital - even though I can't talk very well, it really did lift my spirits.  You guys are the best.

 

Cap'n Hardqore  AKA  Cap'n Jawqore

superweek - stage 1 - beverly crit

 

i crashed.  i haven't crashed during racing all season, but apparently that luck just ran out.  i race on tubular wheels - those are the kind with glue on tires.  well, i rolled my back tire off the rim on like lap 5 of the crit last night.  pretty ridiculous.  the pace was just starting to ease up and i was moving up through the field when blammo, i hit the deck in the corner at the top of the hill.  no one crashed with me - i guess that was lucky.  ripped up my shorts so that my bloody right cheek was hanging out, though.  no damage to the bike or even the back wheel - except that it needs a new tire, of course.  got up off the ground - the crowd cheered - and i ran down to the neutral pit to get a new back wheel.  got that switched out and got back into the race.  felt fine in the race, but then the wheel wasn't shifting right, so i went back to the pit where they adjusted the rear derailleur.  got back in the race again and things were fine, but then i clipped a pedal pretty hard at the turn at the bottom of the hill, and i just called it quits.  that just freaked me out, cause i was so not interested in crashing again.  i prolly could have finished just fine, but it was prolly better to just pull out and go ahead and get the wounds cleaned up.  i mean, seriously, there's 16 more days of this.  so now i've got to tend to wounds for the entire race series.  awesome.  i mean - seeriously - who crashes on day 1?  this guy.

 

the weird part about rolling that tire?  i've raced on that wheel/tire for most of the season now.  it's always been rock solid.  and *now* it decides to roll off?  whatever.

arrived in chi-town yesterday folks - the adventure has begun.  pretty uneventful - just flew in to ORD, got the rental, then put the bike together and went for a fairly easy 2-hour ride to stretch the legs out and get them ready for friday's race.  drove in to the city thursday night and stayed at a downtown hostel.  not the most convenient choice for a bike racer with a rental car, etc, but it all worked out fine and i got a decent night's sleep.  up bright and early at 8 am and went for a super easy 45-min ride around the lake michigan waterfront - that was nice.  and now it's just straight-up chill out time.  opening race at 5:45 pm in Beverly Hills/Morgan Park neighborhood of chicago.  awesome.

Tour de France starts today.  The past couple years of that really haven't been so exciting to me - mostly just watch Lance put the smack down, you know what I mean?  Anyway, with all the doping suspensions a couple days ago, I think I might actually watch more this year.  It's bound to be a tight race.  should be cool.

 

anyway, while that grand tour is going on, i'll be participating in a different kind of grand tour.  superweek - milwaukee, wi - july 7 - 23.  17 consecutive days of racing - that's 13 crits and 4 road races.  and the crits are 100 km, so even those are fairly long (about 2 hr, 20 min or so), as far as race length goes.  i'm booked for the whole event, and i'm really stoked about that.  it's gonna be one sweet trip, and i've been racing pretty well lately, so this could be a really good one...

 

that and i get to ditch work for 2 and a half weeks.  oh, word!

 

www.internationalcycling.com

Rollin' in San Diego...

okay, so tonight was the usual tuesday night track racing at san diego velodrome.  i wasn't sure if i'd be recovered enough from the cyclovets omnium yet, but whatever - we'll give it a shot.

 

motorpaced warmup race - 2nd.  now, this is really more like a really long keirin - the motor gradually picks up speed for 40 laps, though.  At lap 38, the motor pulls off, and whoever is left gets 2 to go.  i was there, but had to bridge a gap going into the bell lap and got passed on the line.  all good, though.  the legs seemed to be going just fine.  sweet.

 

miss-n-out - 5th.  i was kind of bummed about this one, as i can usually make the final 3.  the competition was hard, though, so that wasn't too bad, really.  but i started feeling tired and was wondering if i should just call it an early night.

 

15-lap tempo - nothing.  the pace was quick, and i mostly just sat in the field.  for me to collect points in this race, i need to roll off the front, but i never did, and i still felt pretty tired.  ouch.

 

60-lap points race.

 

at this point, i asked the race director if we could simply do a 60-lap madison instead (that way I'd only have to ride half the distance - remember, i'm tired, folks).  no dice - points race it was.

 

for the first half of the race, i didn't do too much.  i partipated in some early sprints when i had the position, but tried not to bury myself too much.  about halfway through, though, a small group of us rolled off the front and proceeded to lap the field.  wow.  the 2nd half of the race was my awakening, and i scored 1st or 2nd in pretty much most of those sprints.  awesome.

 

just goes to show that even though you may be tired in the shorter races, the longer ones can still work to your advantage.  and that road and track can actually complement each other very nicely, too.  word.

"Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years..." - LL Cool J

 

Sorry for the lack of updates, folks.  Times have been hard for sure.  I've been training a lot, that's for sure too.  And work has been fairly demanding, just wanting me to work more and more hours - not quite fully understanding the beauty of the part time schedule.  But whatever.  I'm walking a fine line at work, and things are going okay, but i'm just trying to keep all parties happy, you know what i mean?  word.  especially since i'm taking just about the entire month of july off for racing - booyah!  but i'm getting ahead of myself.

 

anyway, mostly just heavy training from the end of may to the middle of june.

 

june 18 was the state road race championships - a 109 mile race with a bunch of climbing, but nothing mountainously hard.  i wasn't too excited about this race, but decided to go and help out my teammate chris dagz.  the race was actually going just fine - dagz flatted on lap 1 - we all dropped back - changed his wheel - towed him back up to the field - good work.  a bunch of climbing later and i got dropped around mile 60 or so on a pretty serious climb.  that sucked, but there were a couple other dropped guys, and we chased all the way to the feed zone climb.  we were just catching the peloton at the bottom of the climb, but then the peloton accelerated (and the climb started) and that was pretty much all she wrote.  i rolled around for the rest of the lap, but then pulled out.  i'm not so much one for quitting races, but i didn't have the food and drink necessary to do another lap, so it was better to just stop.  that was around mile 70 or so.  anyway, that kind of sucked, but frankly, i did better than i thought i was going to do going into the race.

 

you see, it was back in the fall of 2004 / winter of 2005 that a sports doctor told me, "you have the potential to be national champion in the pursuit [on the track], but you will never be a good road racer."  and i bought it.  shouldn't have, but i did.  believed it for over a year, but not any more.  why?

 

cyclovets omnium 2006 - that was just this past weekend - june 23-25.  i finshed 9th place overall - how ya like me now, doc?  (now, for what it's worth, that sports doctor might have meant i wouldn't be successful on a european road racer level, but i interpreted it as even on the local/regional level...)

 

friday - individual time trial - 10 miles.  5 miles out, turnaround, 5 miles back.  there's a minor hill (~200 feet) in the middle of the course, so you hit that twice.  I scored 5th place with a time of 22:18.  That was so chill, I can't even say.  Now, time trials are not my favorite - i prefer head-to-head racing - but to beat a lot of accomplished road racers was pretty awesome - it's a true test of fitness.

 

saturday - road race - 67 miles.  not a super long race, but the climbing was pretty ridiculous and this was out in the desert during the summer, so the environmental conditions were miserable.  i got 14th - beating lots of guys who can climb much better than me.  pretty surreal, to say the least.  I must have gotten dropped 4 or 5 times during this race, but with a lot of help from my teammates, i was able to finish well and collect omnium points for the overall result.  and really, i can't stress enough how important my team was during the RR.  From support in the feed zone to a draft on the road, it all made the result possible.

 

sunday - crit - 75 minutes - 1 km course with a bit of a hill in it - but not super hard or anything.  finished in 13th.  there was a 3 man break up the road for the finish, so the field sprint was for 4th.  i didn't have a "bad" sprint, so to speak, but it wasn't too super either.  i held my own - didn't get passed - but didn't pass anyone either.  it really boiled down to being in a slightly bad position for the finale.  i was on the outside coming into the final turn when i should have been on the inside.  oops.

 

so with all that said, i'm in complete shock that i finished in top 10 overall at this stage race.  sorry for the lack of blogging folks, but that's where all the energy went - into that top 10 result.  flippin' sweet.