In yellow in the Green Mountain State

Hey guys! It’s been a while. I know. The last month’s been pretty crazy. Lots of road racing, coupled with long hours on the bike, figuring out my racing schedule for the fall, dialing my new Cannondale Super X bikes and all the things that life brings with it and getting in eight at night hasn’t come easy. I’m not complaining though. Everything’s great. But I did title this’ with the glory comes the pain’ for a reason.

It goes back to three weeks ago at the Green Mountain stage race in Vermont — It was my first time ever doing the race. Over the years I had heard amazing things about the race but never was able to make it fit, with Tour of Missouri canceled, It opened the door to partake.

Notable pros, Ted King, my Jelly Belly-Kenda teammate (and Canadian national champion) Will Routley, Will Dugan, Tim Johnson, Jake Keough, David Veilleux, Reed Mumford, Jamey Driscoll, Eric Schidlge and others were also out for 10th annual GMSR.

The race started out with a 15 minute prologue which Teddy easily won and I placed fourth. Stage 2 was won by Reed Mumford from a break of twenty or so. Then on stage three, the race’s queen stage with some big Vermont mountains, dirt roads and nasty head winds came. After a slew of early attacks the lull came and I followed a wheel and poof, we were gone. About eight of us were off the front and I was on my way to what would become my first ever yellow jersey in a road race! David Veilleux won stage 3 and I came in second on the day and I had a nice three-minute lead over Tim Johnson come Sundays criterium in downtown Burlington.

I have to say I haven’t been nervous in a road race/criterium in a long time. I definitely was feeling some jitters from having the yellow jersey on my back. About 10 laps into the 40-lap race I made room for another rider and came out of what we call the “washing machine” (when the peloton is constanly moving forward and riders keep rotating, like a washing machine). Well, I popped out of the washing machine on the right side of the pack. I started to push back up on the right when I noticed a fiberglass cow sculpture hanging his snout into the course. “oh hey bud” WHACK!! I had broken my index finger. The second it happened I knew I had broken it. A couple guys commented on the ‘good save’ for not hitting the deck after smashing into the cow sculpture. I hung onto the bars in pain over the next 30 laps, but there was no way I was going to give up for a broken finger or anything for that matter.

The giant plastic plaid cow of my nightmares.

After the race and podium ceremony with my hand looking like a sausage I headed off to the hospital. The X-Ray guy tricked me and told me that despite the swelling, it wasn’t broken, I sighed relief. Ten minutes later the doc came in and said I had snapped that sucker like a twig. Not clean off, but pretty close. Awesome.

A lot of things start racing through my mind. Will I be able to train? Will I be able to race? Is a measly finger going to end my road season and stop my ‘cross season from even starting? Am I gonna have to pull a Kobe Bryant while the cyclocross season kicked off without me?

Stress filled my brain. Reality set in and I figured whatever happened, I’d make the best of it. At first the finger was REAL tender. After a couple days’ rest I rode outside and made it work. It wasn’t pretty: a combination of foam padding, a pair of defeet wool socks and some medical tape made the bars thick and soft enough to dampen the road vibration so I could keep my hand on the bars.

A week like that and then it was off to Greenville, South Carolina, for the road and time trial national champs. The hand held up well; I torched by front brake from over-use on the quick decent off Paris Mountain. My Jelly Belly-Kenda teammates, Bernard van Ulden and Kiel Reijnen, smashed it. Bernie was third in the TT and Kiel was third in the road race!

Truth was, I was still worried about my injured wing. Earlier in the week, I tried to ride my ‘cross bike in a training race back in Massachusetts but I was in pain. I wondered,’ will my finger hold up on a bumpy ‘cross course like Vegas? I didn’t even know.

After Greenville, I darted back to Massachusetts, unpacked from road nationals, repacked for ‘cross, and headed to Vegas. Forty-eight hours later I was on the start line of CrossVegas. The start list dripped with talent, a lot of big-name European cyclocross racers and anyone who is anyone in U.S. cyclocross was there, not to mention all our sponsors.

J-Pow's Journal. One of these things is not like the other.

My finger-worries were quickly tossed out the window after the gun fired and adrenaline took over. The attacks started flying and my Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com teammate Jamey Driscoll darted off the front for a solo lead which he held for the entire race until the last three inches, when he was caught by the French national champion Francis Mourey. It was really close and that only fueled the fire for our next match with Mourey in Madison, Wisconisn, at the USGP. For me, Vegas was a good first race of the season. I was there sprinting for the win with the rest of them, just came up a little short.

The next morning, on few hours of sleep, I was meeting and mingling at Interbike. It was a great show this year, and I was excited to talk to potential sponsors about the J.A.M. Foundation, which is going to have an elite-amateur team in 2011. My friends Alec and Mukunda (the A and the M in J.A.M) who put on the “Grand Fundo” with me last July, pulled together some meetings and Mukunda and I were able to sit down with a lot of awesome people from the cycling world and tell them all about what we’re up too.

Just a few hours later, I was up in the air again, headed to Wisconsin for the first USGP of the season. In the course of 12 hours I traveled from Sin City to the cheese capitol of our country. What a difference a couple hours in a plane can make. Overall, I can say it went great. I won on Saturday, Timmy J won on Sunday, and we’re tied for the USGP overall. This weekend the results stayed the same: I won on Saturday and Tim won Sunday in beautiful Gloucester, Massachusetts. Here’s a quick run-down of what’s to come: This weekend I’ll be in Ohio for three days of racing from October 7th-10th, where I’ll try for the triple triple and just after that will be our trip to Switzerland for the first World Cup of the year, which I’m really excited about!

And if that’s not enough cyclo crossin’ for you, take a look at a web series my friend Sam Smith and I created called: “Behind the Barriers.” The videos are a behind the “barriers” look at everything that goes on with my team Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com this season! Hope you like em’

Talk to you soon, thanks for reading!
–
Jeremy Powers is a pro road racer with the Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda team. He races cyclocross for the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team, you can follow more of his adventures at JPows.com or you can follow his every move at twitter.com/jeremypowers

J.A.M. Grand Fundo: Starting the Kings Highway climb.

The time has come, writer’s block has left me and now I’m going to tell you all about J.A.M and the Grand Fundo!

I know you’re all thinking, “Oh, oh, oh,  I’ve done a Gran Fondo, I don’t want to read about that.”  But wait! This wasn’t a Fondo.  What I’m talking about is a FUNdo!!  For the people that missed my crazed social media blitz about the Fundo, it was a fundraiser for a newly formed fund my friends and I created called “J.A.M”  (Jeremy, Alec, & Mukunda).

The story goes back to 2002, when I moved to Western Massachusetts from Connecticut to go to college and because of all the amazing cycling resources in the Pioneer Valley.  Some of the first guys I met up here would soon become my good friends: Alec Donahue and Mukunda Feldman.  They basically became my “brothers from another mother.”  They took me under their wings and helped me get my start in competitive road racing and life outside of my parents’ house.

At the time I met them I was 19, a first year pro mountain biker and I didn’t like ‘roadies’ … I was a mountain biker!  Although I did have a road bike (for training) and dabbled in a couple road races (for training!).  Before I met them, I didn’t have much passion for road racing.  One year later, I was racing for Jelly Belly as a pro roadie, go figure.  You could say Al and Mukunda helped me get that done because they made the racing and travel to the races fun and low pressure and taught me countless lessons every weekend from the front seat of Al’s Ford Taurus, to and from the New England races.

Recently, I turned 27 and this is my seventh season with Jelly Belly P/B Kenda as a pro ROAD racer.  The guys don’t have to help me as much as they used to, but that help and attention they gave me didn’t stop, it continued on in various forms.  In one way or another, we’ve all been helping to develop cycling talent in the Pioneer Valley and creating J.A.M was about putting a name to what we’ve been doing for the last few years. For example, you’ve read about my exploits with Anthony Clark, the young rider I found while I was doing intervals last winter. Mukunda owns, races for and manages a New England development team, Wheelhouse/NCC racing P/B Kenda. Alec also races for and co-manages Wheelhouse racing, coaches several collegiate cycling teams in the Pioneer Valley and is a board member of the NCC (Northampton Cycling Club).

So through those and a lot of other avenues, we all end up bringing riders to the group rides like dogs to a pound and every year we see the same trend.  Lots of new riders trying to make it, their equipment and riding gear is constantly broken, their bike fit is atrocious and after a little help, we start seeing the shine in them, like a diamond in the rough.  It takes a lot to be a great cyclist, but those little things I just mentioned can derail these riders from ever even making it to the races on the weekends or just seeing the fun in it at all.

So one of the core missions of J.A.M is to eliminate bunk, beat equipment and gear by offering a place where everyone can come “JAM” out, work on their bikes and make them run correctly through a community workstation/office.  We’re going to have some partners help us provide equipment, clothing and gear as the program grows and we’re also looking forward to having the riders in for monthly meetings to talk about training, racing, nutrition and general know-how to help them to keep climbing up the totem pole.

Now that the idea and mission was in place, we figured out how we were going to fund J.A.M.  Enter, The Grand Fundo.

The Grand Fundo route started out as a project for me this spring when I was riding base miles.  Over the years I’ve gotten into this Indiana Jones exploration phase where I try to constantly change it up and explore different roads and routes.  This route in particular, the first time I rode it, I knew it was one of the best rides I’d done in Western Massachusetts.  Fewer than ten cars passed me on a four-hour ride, it had hard climbs, dirt roads and amazing views!  I took my friends on it, we got to talking about how we could fund J.A.M and the Grand Fundo ride was born.

J.A.M. Grand Fundo, the post-ride pig roast

We thought people would be excited to come out and pay for an awesome ride, support the ideas behind J.A.M and in turn we knew we could give them a great day of riding, food and fun! ! So I invited some of my racing pals for a little fan-fare and they came out! Tim Johnson and his wife Lyne Besette, my Jelly Belly/Kenda teammate Brad Huff, my ‘cross teammate Jamey Driscoll and Eric Shildge from Mountain Khakis all rode the Fundo!

The whole ride start-to-finish turned out to be bigger then we expected: tons of riders, family and friends came out to ride in the first Grand Fundo in Southampton, Massachusetts, on July 17th.  Over 140 riders registered and at 10 am off we went. The route had 20 miles of maintained dirt roads, which was combated by a SRAM car to help fix flats; we had two rest stops, one of which was an “ice cream truck” rest stop (yes it was awesome). Afterwards we had a huge tent set up overlooking Mount Tom, a pig roast dinner, delicious beer from a local brewery, High and Mighty, and a raffle afterwards to support Pedro’s and IMBA to save mountain biking trails across the country.

Everything ran smooth as silk; nobody that was involved in the Fundo really slept much in the days leading up to it.  Overall it was an amazing experience and I’m blown away that so many people took the time out of their weekend to come spend it with us.  Brad Huff, Tim Johnson, Lyne Bessette, Jamey Driscoll, Lyne from PodiumInsight, the Wheelhouse racing team, countless friends, family members and riding buddies who helped make it happen, thank you to you all.  And to everyone that came out to ride and donated to us, thank you for making it a day that will be hard to forget, see you all next year at the Grand Fundo!

The characters (my Jelly Belly P/B Kenda teammates): Kiel Reijnen, Mike Friedman, Jon Chodroff, Will Dickeson, Sean Mazich, Will Routley, Bernard Van Ulden and myself.

The author in the stage 4 break

Before the pedaling even began, the Tour began as most do, with the team presentation. For Jelly Belly, this night presented  an early opportunity to make a positive impact at the 2010 Amgen Tour of California. We each picked out shirts that represented our favorite Jelly Belly flavor, got ties from the Jelly Belly factory, and rocked out black slacks and shoes. We arrived at the presentation as though it was our best friend’s wedding. We really took it up a notch from the traditional track pants and t-shirt worn by racers. The guests really appreciated our efforts and, according to Velo’s Neal Rogers, “if tonight were a stage, you guys won that one.” NICE.

The race was on, and we came out strong, getting into the break in stages 2 through 5, winning Most Courageous Jersey, and securing hours of TV time. Stage 2 belonged to Mike Friedman, followed by Will Routley in stage 3.

For me, stage 4 felt right from the beginning. I got to breakfast and told the guys “I’ve got good legs.” It’s one of those things … you wake up, shake ‘em around and say, “yup, ready to rock” or “nope, not today.”

At kilometer zero I followed my buddy / cyclocross pal Lars Boom in the first attack of the day. A couple more riders trickled across and once we had the gap I went to the front and did a monster pull that solidified the break (also put me in the hurt box).

Soon after, we hit the Sierra Road climb and it was painful and awesome. I couldn’t describe how the experience canceled out the suffering that day. The road twisted, turned, swept along and it suited my riding style well. It was really windy, though, for four riders over 115 miles.

I could hear so many people screaming “c’mon’ J-Pow!!” I knew my parents and friends would be watching on TV and I was hangin’ with Lars, smashing away on the pedals. All of it drove my motivation through the roof. The day was excellent. That’s the kind of racing that makes you feel good. It reminds you why you train so hard week in and week out.

Michael Friedman

As we made it to 10 miles to go, the attacks started flyin’. Lars thanked me for a “nice day” (deep Dutch voice) in the saddle and promptly smashed the break to pieces. I clawed back and forth before finally being gobbled up by the chasing field. It was a day of racing that makes all the sacrifices worth it. Stage 5  belonged to our Australian ‘mate’ Will Dickeson, who came the closest to winning a stage, only to be brought back in the final circuit just before the finish in Bakersfield.

One of the most memorable and notable elements of the Amgen Tour were the fans. From day one in Nevada City, we were overwhelmed by the number of people, the amount of noise they could make, and the crazy costumes they conjured up. We saw everything from the Pope, squirrels with nuts, Mr. Potato Head, Cheerleaders, a Sumo-wrestler dad and son, and the list goes on. On Bonny Doon, I literally saw a wine and cheese table a fan had set up for the riders and we were cordially invited to join her!

These are the people that really make the race awesome, and keep us smilin’ through those long days on the bike.

One thing’s for sure, you can’t throw eight bike racers into this scenario and not have crazy and hilarious things happen. I have a couple of great ones to reminisce over, beginning with my teammate Sean. For everyone who doesn’t know, there’s a woman who drives the “broom wagon” at the back of the race, sweeping up riders that have fallen off the pace or behind the ‘gruppeto.’ At a certain point, officials tell riders they are out of contention and they need to get off the bike and into the wagon, which is actually just a big old bus that you and your bike get into. That is, unless you are Sean, and I quote:

Dickeson

Race Official: “You’re two minutes down, you need to get in the broom wagon”

Sean: “I’m not getting in. You guys can just go ahead because I’m not getting in.”

Sean to the woman driving the broom wagon: “There’s no way I’m getting in there, you do what you have to do … but no matter what, I’m not getting in.”

Sean rode 40 miles solo to the finish line, only to get time cut for being two minutes over the cutoff. Bummer.

Routley's break

My next anecdote involves myself and Reid Mumford of Kelly Benefit Strategies. For those who aren’t familiar with the roads in California, they are all lined with these reflective dots. Here we are, just ridin’ along, when a Belgian Quick Step rider very sternly scolds Reid and I in his deep Belgian voice, “Watch the dots … don’t hit the dots.” Reid and I promptly looked at each other both repeated, “Don’t hit the dots” and I laughed so hard that I cramped. Of course, throughout the entire Tour, every time I saw Reid, we reminded each other, “don’t hit the dots.”

Let’s talk about stage 5. Beautiful morning, the neutral start has ended and there we are just rolling along. Without any notice, I found myself quickly tapping into my cyclocross skill set, jamming on my brakes, throwing my bike into a ditch, and running over flying bikes and mangled bodies into an orange grove. Oddly enough, I nearly took out Tim De Waele (TDWsport.com), a photographer who captured the whole thing. I felt lucky to walk away from that with a tiny, 2mm scratch on my arm, presumably from someone’s chainring.

So now that the big show’s over, I’ll tell you this: My butt is callused and it hurts (still), I used an entire jar of chamois cream in eight days, and my eyelids are sun-burnt, but weathering the Tour of California storm has brought me great form and memories, which I hope you enjoyed as well.

Jeremy Powers is a pro road racer with the Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda team. He races cyclocross for the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team, you can follow more of his adventures at JPows.com or you can follow his every move at twitter.com/jeremypowers.

J-Pow in the 2010 kit

I’m always trying my hardest to go in the opposite direction of whatever other guys are talking or writing about. Those things always seem to include: drinking coffee, twittering about getting drug-tested, how hard the race was, eating the best Mexican, sushi or exotic food, drinking the dankest beer, or the most amazing 10,000-year-old ancient bottle of wine from the deepest darkest cobweb-filled dungeon a trillon miles below the earth from a place no man has ever gone before. Those are all common things you hear in the twitterverse and webosphere.

Now since I’m on a tangent of sorts … If I have to tell another person on a plane that I race bikes for a living then have them turn around and ask me what my “day job “ is, to which they reply, “OHH, like Lance Armstrong!?” I’m gonna start telling people I’m a horse whisperer or something else absurd for my own sanity.

Let me bring it back to Jelly Belly camp a couple weeks ago. This year’s camp was quite a bit different than previous years, in a good way. In the past, camp was loaded with lots of riding and media stuff all jammed into a week with a couple of indoor go-karting trips and some paintball games thrown in. This year, Danny (our director) invested in entertainment that will really translate into results on the bike. It was fun and more focused on team-building than getting 30 semi-automatic paintballs into my chest from having snuck around a corner at the wrong moment.

Our first day was dedicated to our awesome sponsors teaching us all the best points of their products. This included fitting our new Focus ‘Izalco’ bikes, learning how to use our new Compex muscle stimulator, and of course how we can get tons of energy and endurance from Jelly Belly Sport Beans!

The next day we had our photo shoot with Embry Rucker and his awesome crew. I also did a mountain bike photo shoot with Embry for Jelly Belly, so look for me shreddin’ up the pages of mountain bike magazines this summer!

Alright, if you’re a regular here at VeloNews, then you know I’m into music. One guy I followed and respected in the industry was DJ AM (RIP). One of the biggest things he harped on was the idea of less ego. That was something that came naturally this year at Jelly Belly camp. It was down to earth and cool to be part of. We had such a good time as a group and really got on well.

Bernie with the Compex

One of the team-building exercises that you may have read about was a Navy SEAL training session in Coronado, California. You might be thinking, “isn’t that dangerous right before the start of the season?” Yeah! Actually it was. I can guarantee none of us will forget that horrible morning Danny created for us although the memories are blurred because we were shivering 99 percent of the time we spent with the SEALS.

Let me try to give you a written reenactment: 9:30AM, light rain, and soaking wet from having ran into the Pacific Ocean with alllllllll of your clothing on. Then imagine laying in the wet sand with your gluteus maximus in your teammate’s crotch, your chest to another teammate’s back, arms locked just trying to stay warm. That alone imeans you’ve taken being a team player to another level.

I definitely didn’t love running into the Pacific Ocean at 9 am in February, but I’ll tell you one of the things this wacky experience helped me realize: At one point, a couple of us were holding water bottles out in front of us over a period of time which seemed like forever. It was probably only 10 minutes but between the tight muscles from shivering and the 50 push-ups we had already done it was torture. I was just hoping that Huff, Friedman or Kiel dropped their bottles before my arms locked and I couldn’t go another second.I was actually prayin’ one of them would. I looked over at Mike and he looked fatigued and I thought to myself, “Yes! He’s going down!!”

The Jelly Belly team heads out.

We’re all stubborn cyclists with reputations to uphold and I knew I wouldn’t drop mine until someone else dropped theirs. That made me realize if you set the bar high, don’t give up, and set a good example your teammates will follow suit. It didn’t have to be ONE guy, everyone was leading by example. If any of those guys had dropped their bottles, I would have dropped mine with a sigh of relief.

Now put that into a race scenario: You’re halfway through your race, the pace is finally getting hard and everyone is suffering. It’s hot or cold, it’s just miserable, you’d do anything to stop. Then your teammate calls it a day and drops out, it’s easier for you in your own mind to justify doing the same. It’s easier to say, “ohhh Joe didn’t finish either.”

We’ve all done that. It happens, BUT think about if no one drops out. Well, the race was miserable but the end result felt so good. You finished and possibly won or placed and you didn’t get the negativity associated with a DNF.

So yea, I’ve got a little nagging pain here thanks to the SEALS and I was sore for a week after our “team building” but, I have to say it was worth it. Afterwards we all raised our hands and said we’d do it again if asked to.

To finish off our team-building exercises we all met up and discussed our frigid Pacific Ocean experiences with our team psychologist Dr. Jason Galea. We made a list of what’s going to happen at races during certain situations that typically arise and also some general ideas of how to perform as a “more cohesive unit” and employ some of the key things we learned throughout the week.

I hope you enjoyed reading and that you’re all out ripping up the roads. Be safe and have fun!

–

Jeremy Powers is a pro road racer with the Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda team. He races cyclocross for the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team, you can follow more of his adventures at JPows.com or you can follow his every move at twitter.com/jeremypowers

I’m off the back on my diary like Tom Boonen climbin’ Mont Ventoux. That’s okay, though, because it’s a new year and a new beginning and all that jazz. I’m gonna rewind the tapes a little bit and write a journal that showcases all the hilarious craziness that came up while travelin’ to and from races, both road and ’cross, in 2009. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

All kinds of stuff happens throughout the year, like the time Jelly Belly director Danny Van Haute backed over a sprinkler head and created a mini-Niagara falls in the front yard of our hosts’ house. Or the time my teammates switched my phone to Chinese and it took us a day to get it back to English because, come to find out, none of us could read Chinese.

And then there was the time I drove to the Brussels airport with Ryan Trebon, grabbed the parking ticket for the garage and hopped my train to Germany. When he tried to drive out and realized I had the ticket, he called: “Powers, where’s the ticket?” Hah! I cleverly took a picture of the ticket and sent it to him. The French-speaking attendant took Ryan’s phone and put it in the copy machine to make a “copy” for the records.

Here are a couple more stories I found too funny to not let rip in detail.

To set the scene: After 20-plus hours of travel, my Jelly Belly teammates and I are en route to East-bum China. Actually, let’s be more accurate, we were headed to the Tibetan highlands.

Yak meets chef. Yak loses.

The second you set foot on the Air China flight in LAX you’re in China. The food that comes out for lunch is Chinese by look, smell and taste. It’s sticky rice, meat, and some vegetables. Twenty-something hours later and voila, we’re at the Tour of Qinghai Lakes. Not too long after that, we’re racing our brains out, sleeping at altitudes above 10,000 feet and racing over passes of some of the biggest mountains in the world.

Racers are dropping like flies, getting sick and vomiting all over the place. Some are suffering from altitude and/or dehydration, others from food that didn’t agree with them. Guys frequently pull off the road during the race to empty themselves. It’s always bad and it comes on quick. One minute you’re riding well, enjoyin’ yourself and bam! You got a case of bubble guts. So throughout the trip, we’re all really careful about what we choose to put on our plates, knowing the wrong choice could have you laid up in the hospital like Amy Winehouse or, as it happened this year the morning of stage 7, my teammate and roommate for the race, Kiel Reijnen.

Kiel and I had made good so far, no sickness and barely any interruptions. It’s the night of Stage 6, 1 a.m., and I’m up watchin’ Keil dry heave and finally head off to the emergency room. At that point everyone’s bummed — Kiel was 10^th in the GC and we were hoping to help him move up through the last three stages. I drank some coffee, had a little breakfast and got ready to rock but I was groggy because it had been a long night.

As I walk outside I’m hearing there’s something I have to see. I walk out the side door and around a corner to see a chef, in his cooking apron, getting back to slayin’ this yak with a knife, which looks a lot like a knife one would use in the kitchen. I’m verbally rippin into these guys in English now, but to my knowledge, they don’t speak English so it all goes as a miscommunication and as you can see I had them laughing. But poor Kiel wasn’t laughin’ as he lay in the stiff hospital bed, holdin’ his gut for the next two days. I’ll never forget those pictures I snapped off — easily one of my most memorable moments of 2009.

My pops once said that in life you climb to the top of a mountain and fall back down the other side just to get up and climb back to the top again. This was case for my cyclocross teammate Jamey Driscoll the night after he won arguably the biggest ’cross race on American dirt. Now, I won’t say my other teammate Timmy J. and I didn’t provoke James to throw down a couple after his CrossVegas win. As a team we were pretty freakin’ ecstatic. Not only was it James’ biggest victory in ’cross, but as a team we won against some of the best ’cross racers in the world! It was worth a celebration!

Now, sometimes after a hard one-hour ’cross race you can fall victim to what we call “’cross gut.” ’Cross gut has had me laid up and cryin’ in bathroom stalls across the nation on more than one occasion. It can start off slow and dwindle but is easily provoked by not drinking gallons of water after the race. Now if you win and get straight to drinkin’ beer after a protein shake — you could end up like this:

The story goes: I was asked to DJ (yes, rock a party) at the Embrocation/Fizik party on the outskirts of Vegas after our race. I had my laptop and gear in my backpack and a beer in my hand as we assembled in the Hard Rock hotel lobby and got ready to head off. We get to the party, I’m DJin’, everyone’s enjoyin’ themselves, drinks in hand as I look out below. Then the owner of the building shuts ‘er down at 1 a.m. We were just getting started!

Fine, we’re moving now to the swanky nightclub Lavo at The Palazzo. I was running a bit behind as I had to pack up my equipment and when I arrived I saw that James, our young winner and Vermont native, had traded in his fleece-lined Carhartts and maple syrup for Rock and Republic jeans and another beer. He had one waitin’ for me as I walked in the door. At this point it’s 2 a.m. so let’s forget about those autograph signings tomorrow at Interbike, and that meeting with a potential sponsor. Oh, and that flight we have at 2 p.m., because it’s gonna be a long night.

Well — remember how I was talking about that ’cross gut, brought on by a protein shake and a couple of beers? That all turned into James in a wheelchair shortly after 3 a.m. Well, first it was James on the marble floor of the Palazzo, then in a wheelchair, then into the back of a limo and finally wheelchaired to his room where he was laid to sleep for many, many painful hours, holding his stomach. James didn’t make it to those autograph signings and barely made his flight. It was a long night that easily made my 2009 list.

New gear, new bike, new man.

My last and final treasure of 2009 was finding my friend Anthony “Tweak” Clark. We worked hard over the summer to find Tweak the right support, and I’m proud to announce that his sponsor for 2010 is a local fitting studio in our hometown of Easthampton, Massachusetts.

New England Bicycle Consulting owner Carl Ditcoff went out riding with Anthony’s pseudo-coach, Alec Donahue of Cycle-Smart, and myself one day this summer. When we started attacking on Shutesbury climb and couldn’t shake Tweak Carl wanted to be part of the program.

After a couple hours in the fitting studio, with a new Spooky road bike that weighs 10 pounds less then his old Motobecane, new Speedplay pedals and shoes, he’s finally got the equipment to match his talent. His pedal stroke and efficiency are 10 times better than before ,and we know this because of the Retül system Carl uses with his clients.

This week we’re working on his training schedule, nailing down the road races for this spring, and we hope to have him upgrade quickly over the course of the year so he can show his stuff on a bigger stage.

I wish everyone an amazing 2010 —everything you want and more. Cheers.

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How does a guy with a bike get through here unscathed … and with wallet intact? Ask the Airport Ninja.

Photo:

Editor’s Note: Jeremy Powers is a pro road racer with the Jelly Belly team, and races cyclocross for the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team. Powers provided VeloNews.com readers with an inside look at the cyclocross scene last fall and winter, and now, after a summer on the road, he’s back back in the mud … and long lines at the airport.

We could start this year’s first cross’ diary by talking about racing, personalities and new cross’ bikes (which we eventually will), but for the moment we’re gonna talk about flyin’.

There are millions of people who rack up the miles on airlines all year long. Dubbed frequent flyers, I probably fall into this category. Come December I’ll be just shy of 100k on United and over the years I’ve learned the art of being an “Airport Ninja.”

What’s an Airport Ninja, you might be wondering. Well, it’s a secret society of creative story tellers really.

I’ll tell you that your typical businessman probably lacks the skills to pay the bills in this arena. I’m talking about people like ourselves who have to fly with huge bags of luggage, tons of shoes, rain gear, coffee paraphernalia, and probably food since it seems like we all have some kind of -elated issue. Let’s not beat around the bush folks, most of us are like a traveling Whole Foods.

Invariably, we’ll roll up to the check-in like lookin’ like Beyoncé and JLo at the airport with a humungous bag full of clothes, habits and of course a big ol’ carry-on of some kind in tote. So, how do you ball on budget? Obviously, we might look like a celeb’ with all our crap, but we’re all cyclists at the end of the day and we’re tryin’ to keep as much lettuce in our pockets as we can. So here we go:

The biggest tip I can throw your way is to read the counter agent.

I’d say it would behoove you to stalk around in line for a little bit and see which teller you want to roll the dice with. Sometimes I’ll pick the one that’s the most agitated just to roll up with a big ol’ smile and tell them I am compassionate, empathize with their situation and that I’m sorry some people can be such dill-weeds. (That part is true! People can be rude for reasons outside of the agent’s control and most of the time I feel embarrassed for the person havin’ a freaker). So that’s one way to rip it. Plus it’ll feel good to make someone else feel good, try that too!

This brings us into our next phase of “what’s in that big bag?” Alright, this is important. Get sarcastic and funny on them right now! Flash the teeth; pull out all the stops for this one.

With a grin, wink of the eye and a raise of the brow, say something like “It’s an easel for this big presentation I’m doing” (Smile now!) Okay, if you’re young, what we do is blame it on school or college. This excuse is the ‘smash it out of the park, bases-loaded, home run line.

“Ohhh that’s just my Fill in Blank for college….”

Make something up, hockey equipment, life size skeleton for science class, pretty much anythingthat doesn’t have to do with cycling and they don’t charge for is how can get you outta there scot-free!

Do understand that just about everyone has a boss. So you tell the agent it’s a bike, then they let you off the hook out of the kindness of their heart and then their boss gives them the business for letting you go. That will be the last time that happens and you’ll ruin it for all your friends after you. So if you politely joke about what might be in the bag, it can be taken as a miscommunication and might keep a car payment in your wallet!

My final piece of advice on being a ninja is related to getting in and out fast. If you’re like me then you never leave yourself enough time to get checked in properly anyways. If you wait patiently your plane is gonna take off to Turkey without you.

A true Airport Ninja would never go down without a fight. Obviously, if you’re a frequent flyer or a premier card-carrier of any kind, this will help cut lines. But, if you don’t have any status at all, ask for a Gold sleeve from the teller agent with your tickets and of course that same smile and wink of the eye will find you one of those.

If you’re flying international at any point in the foreseeable future, drop that “man this is gonna be a longgggg trip I’m headin to Fill in Blank.” The second you get to the “premier” line if they happen to question that, quickly tell them your re-checking your baggage and changing airlines once you get to “Fill in Blank.”

“Ohhh this trip never ends!” If you pull the sympathy card to dash a line, make sure you got a little story to go along with it, you don’t want to be up the creek without a paddle if you know what I mean.

A true Airport Ninja would never go down without a fight.

Photo: Michael Cody

So now I send you out into the crazy life of being a frequent or even worse, non-frequent flyer and wish you the best of luck and smoothness at the teller counter. I also want to say, I never lie, I may bend the reality of what’s going on, but I have guidelines. I’m not gonna pull the funeral card if you know what I’m sayin’.

Good luck fellow Ninjas!

If you’ve read this, well you’re now part of our new super gang, we’ve made up EXCLUSIVE Airport Ninja T-Shirts! It’s goin’ down, if you want one of these, we’ve got a limited batch and anyone that has one of these shirts will possess the super powers to dodge any charges, challenges or wrenches thrown at them in airport settings! Go get one: www.tinyurl.com/AirportNinja

For racin sake, you can find my Cannondale/CyclCrossWorld.Com teammates and me in Gloucester, Massachusetts, this weekend at round 3&4 of the NACT trophy. If you’re within 500 miles of this race and you’re not planning on coming, you’re messin’ up. It’s going to be an amazing race with a beer garden, north shore views and foliage like only New England can provide.

For anyone that comes out, we’ll have plenty of autographs, Jelly Belly sport beans and probably cider doughnuts!

Let’s go, have fun, drive safe and see you there!

J-Pow: A screen shot from the wind tunnel session.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

Yes! I’m back in writing mode! This road season has been amazingly busy but still so much fun. It’s like getting the boys back together. When you have a good group of doods and you’re traveling around racing your bike it’s pretty hard to buckle down to write it all out in a journal. Now I’m gonna attempt to re-tell the awesomeness in one article.

I headed to Durango, Colorado, in June for a bunch of reasons, but a hard altitude training camp was on tap for me. “D-town” is an amazing place: the scenery is top notch and there are so many other cyclists to ride with there. It’s almost too easy to get in the hours on the bike.

Why was I in Durango training like a madman at altitude? My coach, Rick Crawford, who happens to live in Durango, convinced me that I needed to be at altitude the weeks before I raced the world’s highest bike race: The Tour of Qinghai lakes in China.

You’ve probably heard of the race, it climbs all throughout the Tibetan highlands and Qinghai lakes region. When I was in Durango I was consistently sleeping at 8,000 feet and training/camping out at over 11,000 feet to try and get ready for this year’s race.

Last year I got pretty smoked trying to tackle the big mountains coming from sea level in Massachusetts, so I decided it was better to be pre-emptive and get my buns high beforehand. While I didn’t win the race, I did have a much easier time making it over those 14,000-foot high climbs and I was able to take some form away from the race rather than laying in bed for three weeks after the race (true story). The race went decent. A lot of my teammates had stomach issues, which happens when you are overseas typically. But overall, everyone left with something. Whether that was an experience or a result, we made it worth our time and looking back it was a great experience.

Back onto D-town … If you know anything about the small mountain town, then you know it’s home to some of the KINGS of mountain bikin’! A couple of them happen to be my good friends “The Wells Bros.,” Todd and Troy Wells, who are two of my good friends.

One day they asked me to rip the “Aztec loop” and I was into that! 100 miles and mostly flat, it shoots from Durango down into New Mexico and then back up. I was good for most of the ride but towards the end I started feeling a little bonky. I soon noticed I looked like Casper the Ghost and had salt all over me. It was definitely hot but I didn’t want to keep bothering everyone to stop for water again so I kept on … That hurt. I barely made it back into town before the vomiting and dizzyness started! I eventually had to have my girlfriend Emily come pick me up in town. I drank Pedialyte and laid on the couch for the remainder of the day. How about that for a welcome back ride?!?!

The good part of the ride was that I asked if I could borrow a mountain bike for my stay in Durango and Todd was quick to let me use one of his Specialized MTB’s he had around. I hadn’t done much mountain biking but I was psyched to be able shred the trails with everyone out there and make it happen on the dirt!

J-Pow: The new Spooky.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

I did the Durango Devo short track races at Fort Lewis College on Wednesday nights to get the intensity in and it was so much fun! Those races got me all excited about mountain biking again, so much so that I decided to put in a call to my friends at Spooky Bikes while I was in D-town. Since Spooky is literally a stone’s throw from my door in Massachusetts, it was an easy call. Having good friends is the best thing in the world! They helped me put together an awesome mountain bike with help from SRAM and RockShox.

At that point I had no choice: I had to race at Mount Snow. It’s just over an hour from my door and I love racin’ mountain bikes. But I’ll say I’ve had a lot of time off since I raced mountain bikes as a junior and it hasn’t gotten any easier since then!

The best part was seeing all the familiar faces from cyclocross out there. When you’re racin’ a lot at this point in the road season it’s all about staying excited about racing, so doing something different was a good way to get in some racing without using too much brain power.

Once I got all settled from my China trip I ripped into a box that had been pushed against the wall for many months; a gigantic box of clothing from Justin England at the Pro’s Closet. You are probably wondering why would I get a box of clothing from those people? It wasn’t for me! It was for my friend and protégé Anthony who I told you about.

J-Pow: Anthony with some new threads.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

Anthony’s been training his brains out while I’ve been off racing around but we’ve been staying in contact. Anthony has been diligent in putting in hours after work, doing timed intervals and even bringing a light if he has to work late. That’s Merckx style: training at 11 p.m. He recently moved up to the expert level mountain bike class and has been constantly getting better.

The last three events he’s entered he’s placed sixth in all of them. But the times have been getting closer to the winner. Category 5 road races next year in New England will never be the same after this winter with Anthony …

Before I wrap this up I wanted to tell everyone about this really cool wind tunnel testing that I was able to use in Connecticut a couple weeks back. I don’t know if you’ll be able to believe this, but a person that I grew up with racing as junior created a cycling-specific wind tunnel. Aiden Charles and his brother spent about year and half perfecting the tunnel. A couple weeks back Aiden and I made time to hook me up. I’ve tried to get into the other wind tunnels in California and Massachusetts but the timing never worked out. I was always trying to find someone that could align with my schedule and finally Aiden was my guy.

The process was awesome. Beforehand, Aiden had asked me what section of my position I wanted to work on. I really wanted to close up my frontal area because in the last couple years I felt like I was able to get a very low with my back flat but the gap I had between my elbows and nose was gigantic and I would get into a race and have power in my legs but really wasn’t beating the wind.

Once we got my bike all set up in the tunnel, Aiden and I tried various positions with the front of my bike. First we got some baseline numbers so we had something to make a comparison to. We tried all kinds of stuff, including ‘the praying Landis,” which was slow for me, then we had me hunched over the front of the bike ridin’ the tip of the saddle – that also wasn’t too hot for drag.

Ultimately, moving my arms closer together made the biggest difference. We brought my arms inwards by 11 mm, which also happened to be the maximum amount that I was able to bring them in, given the components I’m running. We were able to get my elbows out of the wind and when we hit the tunnel, that position came up with the lowest drag numbers. We continued to try and find time with other modifications but eventually brought the position back to the exactly how it was before and reproduced the exact same results and even a bit faster than the initial test.

So now I’ve been training in this position tryin’ to ready myself for the Tour of Missouri and hoping for some good legs!

That’s all I’ve got for this time. Check out Aiden’s site charlescoaching.net if you want more info on the tunnel. If you’re on the East Coast and close to Connecticut, it’s an awesome resource!

Next time I’ll tell you about my ’cross camp in the mid-Atlantic and my journey to raising $2,000 dollars for the LiveStrong ride in Philadelphia.

Photo Gallery

J-Pow’s Journal: Anthony in the lab.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

Editor’s note: Jeremy Powers is a pro road racer with the Jelly Belly team, and races cyclocross for the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team. Powers provided VeloNews.com readers with an inside look at the cyclocross scene last fall and winter, and now, after a few months’ vacation, he’s back to provide a look at his season on the road.

Last time you heard from me I was finishing up my cyclocross season in Belgium, trying to conquer the world championships.

I went incognito after the world champs and took a break from the bikin’ scene. No blog posts on JPows.com, no Twitter updates, nothing. I came home from Belgium this year and made sure it was all different from past seasons. Anytime friends or family ask me about my time at home, I always say “every single day I’m home I’m on vacation because I’m never here and I always wish I was.” So this year, I didn’t want to go on vacation to another foreign place and continue stressin’ out with flights and travel, just to wish I was home laying around, sleeping and doing the things that I really wanted to be doing anyways!

Mannnn, let me say, it turned out to be the best break I ever had! I just hung out at home with friends and caught up on every small thing I had back-burnered for months. It was awesome.

Fast forward to May and things are back in effect 110 percent! It would be hard to tell you everything that’s gone down.

But one of the coolest things I’m most excited about is an idea I followed up on during my break. The story goes, I was doing an opening-up work out for an upcoming ‘cross weekend last November: five minute efforts at 400 watts and I noticed this young dude with a cut off t-shirt, Vans sneakers, Camelbak and a 1980’s Motobecane with down tube shifters. I rode by and said ‘yoooo’, focusing on the task I had in front of me. After five minutes I glanced back and I hadn’t lost my man with the Motobecane. “WOAAAH. REALLY? Could that have just happened?” I thought to myself,”I need to get this guy’s info because he’s talented — he just kept up with me on a 30-pound Motobecane and Vans sneakers.

So months after our first interaction (I never lost interest in the project, but I was already over my head with commitments) … So when I finally got home I looked around for his number and somewhere in the process I lost his number and I thought, “crap how am I gonna find this guy??” I called local shops asking if they knew this freak on a Motobecane that raced mountain bikes. No one did. A couple days went by and I had an idea. I decided to look up previous results he told me about and Bingo! Anthony Clark. I nailed it, last name and city was right there for me. I looked up his parent’s info in the white pages and made the call. Obviously his parents were a little skeptical of who I was and why I was calling, but at the end of the day, they did relay my info to him and we re-connected.

J-Pow’s Journal: Anthony puts down some impressive numbers.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

That weekend Anthony, who is 22, came over to the house, I hooked him up with a couple sets of legit riding clothes. He showed up for a ride in shorts and a t-shirt, when it was barely 40 degrees. From there it was group rides, a training program, power testing, etc. Just as I had thought, he smashed the group ride. Then in testing, we found out Anthony is a freak, literally. He’s got more energy then I do on my best days and untrained he puts out well over 5 watts per kilo and he’s won every race he’s entered this year. Bam! So imagine this tiny guy who can puts out 350 watts at about 130 pounds. Untrained. On a 30-pound Motobecane and Vans sneakers.

So what next? The goal now is to continue to get Anthony to be the best he can be and take this thing to the top! We all know cycling is not an overnight sport, but with so much raw talent and the creation of opportunities, my hope is we’ll be seeing a lot more of Anthony in the coming months and years.

Until next time, keep your eyes open for raw talent on Motobecanes …

J-Pow in Cali: Supporters of Mr. Wellens at worlds.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

‘Cross worlds were crazy this year: the fans didn’t disappoint, the track was similar to the Leguna Seca raceway and the weather was pretty reasonable too. Thank you to all the people who came out and cheered on their fellow countrymen and women and especially the ones who cheered for me.

It’s an amazing experience to be racing thousands of miles away and to hear so many people screaming your name. I was diggin’ the vibe in the morning watching Katie Compton give the ladies field a real leg whippin’. She rode strong and left it all out there on the course.

In my race I was a little disappointed with the result, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. If nothing else, it’s something to build on in the coming years. Even though I feel like I know racing pretty well, I always like to learn something new. The lesson of the year for me involved discovering how to spread myself evenly over a very long season. This last weekend of racing left me with a need to focus more on planning what races to miss so that the last weekend of January is one of the biggest priorities.

J-Pow in Cali: The new mount.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

I’ve been writing about a vacation for awhile now. However, I’ve been putting in the miles/hours heavy these last couple days, but not just on the bike this time around. For me it has been on the Boeings and Airbuses of United Airlines from Belgium to my place in Massachusetts, then back on the plane two days later to Chicago, Los Angeles and finally I’m here south of San Diego with the same weather I left behind in Belgium: wind and rain. The good news is I’m with the Jelly Belly troops and it’s already been a blast. This season is going to be ridiculously fun and successful with the group of guys we have here, no doubt about it.

After the director picked me up at the airport I was pretty much on auto-pilot, walking around like a zombie, tired from all the flying and moving around recently.

When I got to the top secret training grounds of San Marcos everyone was celebrating Brad Huff’s birthday with a bottle of cheap champagne.

J-Pow in Cali: The ‘Belly Rig.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

This camp is the second of two training camps the team is having before the Tour of California. Even though I’m not here to train, I’m meeting all the new riders and staff and getting my bikes and clothing all fitted up correctly.

Our new mechanic, John Sessa, has been building up the fresh bikes, mounting up tires and just workin’ like a dog before camp ends next week and the first race of the year, Tour of California.

One of these nights coming up, the team is planning on going rock climbing, go-carting and some other character-building stuff to get the morale right and everyone excited about the season. I found Brad Huff and Bernie Van Ulden on the trainers and got a couple questions to keep the lightening rounds alive. Enjoy!

Jeremy Powers: You guys want to do an interview?

Huff: Ohhh Mr. Junk in the trunk is back!

Bernie: Nice shoes, Powers

J-Pow in Cali: Pre-season mental adjustments are performed by the team’s mechanic.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

JP: They are Safety Joggers, the title sponsor of the cyclocross world cup.
What kinda watts you guys throwin’ down right now?

Huff: 116 Watts, I’m killin’ it

Bernie: 124 BPM, also killin’ it.

JP: What you guys do during the off season?

Bernie: Snowboarding in Tahoe was my favorite time.

JP: Did you crash? I always do and I kill my wrists. Wait, do you wear a helmet, Bernie?

Bernie: Yeah I do.

Huff: Powers you should wear the Rudy Project TT helmet while snowboarding …

JP: I love the off season, but I also get sick the whole time I’m off, did you guys?

Bernie: I got ba-aad food poisoning one night …

Huff: I’m a man, I don’t get sick.

JP: Alright what about shopping, Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods? I’m personally a big Whole Foods fan.

Huff and Bernie: Trader Joe’s.

JP: How often you guys brush your teeth? My friend just got an abscessed tooth and watching him has changed my thoughts on dental hygiene. I’ve been really crazy with it lately.

Brad: I had an abscessed tooth, worst pain I’ve ever been in. My buddy’s wife came over and gave me eight shots of Novocain and it didn’t help at all. I had to get a root canal.

Bernie: You been flossing, you need to! I also had an abscessed tooth but I didn’t feel anything or even know I had it!

JP: You guys like Facebook?

BH: I hate Facebook, even though you wanna get on there and check out hot chicks, I had to get rid of it.

Bernie: I’m not on facebook, I’m off the market.

JP: Alright, let’s talk some talk here. Any particular day where you guys think it’s it going down at Tour of Cali?

Huff: Everyday. Any day it’s going uphill it’s on — which ends up being every day.

Bernie: Stage 2 is gonna’ be a form-blaster for sure, everyone in town has been saying Ben Jaques-Maynes is gonna win it.

Huff: I want Taylor Tollenson to win.

JP: Besides me, who’s your favorite rider in the domestic peloton?

Huff: Karl Menzies.

Bernie: My favorite is Brad Huff, but I’m gonna miss Mike Sayers this year.

JP: Alright, now have either of you guys seriously considered racing a little cyclocross?

Brad: I could win the whole shot … You think the promoters can they put a ramp up for me? I want the “Huff ramp” on the left side so I don’t have to get off and run.

Bernie: I want to race CrossVegas like Justin England did. Did you know I’m the 2005 California “B” champion?

JP: No, I didn’t.

Brad: Wow, good job Bernie, “Hey guys, I just finished winning the Pro 1,2 at Redlands and I’m gonna do the B national championships.”

JP: Ha ha. Good job Bernie.

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J-Pow at worlds: Not too hard to pick a line here. The course will be super fast IF it stays dry.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

The weekend is here and it’s the biggest race in cyclocross: The world championships. If ‘cross were included in the Olympics, we’d all have a bigger race to look forward to every four years. While talk of the Olympics is happening, so far it’s only talk. For now, we’ve got the rainbow stripes and it’s the highest honor any ‘cross racer can achieve.

A lot goes into a world championship. This year’s race is no different. It’s going off in Hoogerheide , Netherlands, and it’s going to be big. In the past this venue has been an amazing world cup made famous, named after, and designed by Adrie van der Poel. Adrie was an amazing Dutch cyclist, winning multiple tour stages, classics, world and national championships.

J-Pow at worlds: Inside the team truck.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

After a cup of coffee and some breakfast with Ryan Trebon and our mechanics Stu and Dusty, we packed up the bikes in the Cannondale truck and we hopped in the car for an hour and half journey to Hoogerheide, which is just north of Antwerp, Belgium. Once we made it there, we met up with the other U.S. team members for a ride from the hotel over to the course for the official training for the riders: juniors, women, U-23 and elite.

At the world championships the UCI ropes off a parallel course that runs alongside of the actual course so that the “race” grass isn’t ridden on, keeping it fresh for the races in an effort to preserve it from damage. No other race throughout the entire year does this.

J-Pow at worlds: The real course is fenced off.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

Running through the course

There are a couple new features to this edition of the race course but for the most part it’s got everything you’d want from a ‘cross course. While it’s a pretty straightforward course, I’ll run you through it: The start/finish takes place on a really long brick road. This is followed by a really steep, fast decent, multiple sharp corners that require really fast accelerations back up to speed, and then a couple fast double-track sections through the forest.

You can do a ‘virtual ride’ through the course on the race’s Web site.

And finally, what ‘cross race would be complete without a flyover? Well this one’s got a huge flyover that actually hurts the legs, it’s so steep. I’d say the craziest thing about this course would be if it were to rain before Sunday. If the rains do decide to come, this course turns into a slop fest with mud up to your chest. But, if it’s dry or frozen it’s one of the fastest races over here, with riders only getting off the bike one time throughout the lap.

J-Pow at worlds: Stybar’s derny

Photo: Jeremy Powers

I rode to the course with the U.S. team for the training session and I got to catch up with a couple different riders during some chill laps. One of the guys I always run into warming up lately is Zdenek Stybar. Welp. “Styby” had his tunes pumpin’ in his ears and I decided to hop on his wheel. After riding with him for a bit I have a few insights. Let me just say that if it stays dry he has a good shot at winning on Sunday and I’m pretty sure he’s taking it seriously.

I picked the speed up a little to try and catch a look at a couple of his lines and rhythm throughout the course. Everything was going to plan. Then I saw this guy on a derny bike pedaling next to Stybar with the motor running. I was thinking “this is classic,” some fan got his derny bike out to ride/motor next to his favorite rider.

Yeahhh … I might have been wrong about that. Turns out, Stybar employed this guy to give him a little motor pacing practice on the road sections of the course. Now. I’ve seen a lot of things but never, ever have I seen this at a ‘cross practice. He brought the fire and I have to say that not only do I credit Stybar for a great idea, but I wish I had thought of it! I hung on for a couple laps, but I don’t think it was cool to mess with someone’s routine/workout so I backed off after a couple times through.

J-Pow at worlds:The chute.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

After the ride we packed up the equipment and headed back to Belgium for a couple more nights in my own bed and my final easy ride and opening up workout. I’ll be back in the Netherlands on Saturday to check the course out one more time, see if any lines have changed, and pick up all my USA clothing, numbers and final credentials.

Sunday’s go time! I’ll be sure to write about it on my Web site,www.jpows.com and next week here on VeloNews.com with the inside scoop. C-ya!

Photo Gallery

Riding in this stuff is tough enough.

Photo:

As we headed to the January 18 World Cup in Roubaix, France, I was excited to race again after 10 days of good weather and training rides in Spain. The race has a great atmosphere at one of the most special cycling venues in Europe.

Warming up, I was excited. The course featured two really steep descents, which 95 percent of the racers ran down after seeing many riders smash their faces into the wet ground. One guy even snapped his fork off! These sections were taken out altogether for the women’s race.

I decided against riding the descents after watching Bart Wellens and Co. joke about going down on their asses and ghost riding their bikes down. I didn’t need a season-ender with only two weeks left to race.

My start wasn’t amazing. I got boxed up into the first set of chicanes, which gave the front-runners a little head start. This can’t happen if you expect to have a good ride at a World Cup. Somewhere around lap three I was getting ready to run down the first of the two steep descents and the suction of the mud, combined with something I hit while dismounting, unlocked my right shoe’s buckle and off it came. Yeah. Gone. I was standing there, stunned. I’ve broken shoes from putting spikes in the front and having them bend too much. I’ve ripped off parts in crashes and lost cleats. But having a shoe disappear in the French mud was a once-in-a-career mishap.

Running in it is hard on the footwear.

Photo:

Once I snapped out of it, I heard someone shouting, “Chausser! Chausser!” (Put on your shoe!) When the adrenaline is rushing and the heart is thumping it’s hard to make decisions, and I found myself wondering what to do. I couldn’t see the black shoe in the black mud, and it was looking like a rough day. I hate getting my ass kicked, but I hate dropping out too. Finally, with the help of some spectators, I found the shoe, ratcheted it back on, and took off.

When I told the story to a friend he asked why I didn’t walk off the course right then and there. After I got pulled with a couple laps to go I was thinking the same thing. But the words of my mom, beat into me as a junior, resonated through my head as they always do. So I put my head down and kept it movin’ regardless if an early departure was inevitable or not.

So that was done, in the books. Now I move on. I’ll be skipping Sunday’s World Cup to avoid the travel legs, logistical nightmares and stress associated with getting to Milan, Italy. Instead, I’ll shift my focus to the KasteelCross in Zonnebeke, Belgium, using it as a warm-up for worlds in two weeks.

Yesterday I went to the train station in Teilt to pick up the man who makes everything happen — Stu Thorne, director for Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale and also the owner of Cyclocrossworld.com, which is slammed with its gigantic “world championship sale.” I’m lucky to have Stu here considering everything he has going on. He’s giving my bikes the MTV makeover for one last time before worlds. Fresh Gore-Tex cables and sleeves, fi’zi:k bar tape, Swiss Stop pads and some ultra-exclusive, even-further-improved prototype SRAM chains.

That’s how the last week went down. Next week I hope to report back with some better results and news from the KasteelCross.

I also put together another iTunes mix for all the music fans out there. Some new, some old Euro pop tunes.

Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

Photo Gallery

Powers finds the end of the rainbow. It’s in Spain.

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It’s that time of the year. Riders in both the U.S. and in Europe are enjoying their respective training camps. Most professional road teams have had a couple already. Some teams divide it up by arranging one for media, one for the guys racing in the spring classics and one for the guys racing the tours.

Well for me, it’s ten days in Alicante, Spain. After the really cold weather that was ripping through Europe the last couple weeks, I just had to get out of Dodge.

When looking for the best location, Ryan Trebon (with whom I’m sharing a house in Belgium) mentioned Spain. A while back Barry Wicks, Ryan and I had a great training camp along the French Riviera during this low point of the season and did some awesome rides on all the famous climbs and training routes in the south of France.

While in France, we were able to catch a ride with Bobby Julich who showed us all around Southern France and even introduced us to his favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Trebon enjoying the weather and planning for February 1.

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For Americans, these two weeks (January 5 – 17) in ‘cross are pretty dead. Europe doesn’t have any races going on because each country is holding its national championships. Since we Americans already have our champions crowned, it’s a nice rest/training period late in the ever-growing ‘cross season. So we’re here and it’s going down, mentally and physically.

On the work side, I’ve done a couple long rides and some good interval efforts, hoping to get in those last couple significant workouts leading up to the final races of the season. On the leisure side, while the rides are really amazing with the Mediterranean hanging as a backdrop, I’ve checked out the coast, both while riding and on foot, from Santa Pola to Calpe.

Castle of Santa Bárbara

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Alicante, like most of Europe has tons of history so I checked out the Santa Barbara Castle, the beaches, a couple key points of interest and, of course, I had a crêpe from Spain. It’s always good to be well rounded when speaking of a good crêpe.

The easy part of leaving your second home-away-from-home for another training territory is the weather, which, in the South of Europe is always better. The tough part is packing the bikes, renting another place, getting a rental car and taking on yet another foreign language.

Of course, there is also the plane ride to consider. No good vacation comes without a little drama and this one has had plenty. The first night we were here, I came close to ripping my thumb off with a corkscrew. The next incident came when Ryan wanted to check out a road down on the waterfront and I obliged. When we got there the road was covered in a little water from the waves crashing onto it.

A little blood, a little salt … at least it’s not snowing.

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I was lucky enough to take a light dip in January in the Mediterranean and almost ruined my iPhone in the process. I got a little road rash and a couple sore buns, but I made it out lucky considering the dual wheel slide I did. I was covered in blood and salt for the rest of the day.

At the end of the day it’s all worth it. I wouldn’t have gotten on my bike for five hours the other day if it was snowing and zero degrees (as it was in Belgium). So when weighing the options, for me the trip makes sense. I’m at a point in my season where I can use some long hours, the road season is starting to show its face.

As I type this, my Jelly Belly teammates are arriving in Sunny San Marcos, California, for a media and training camp. Jelly Belly is a great company and the team is equally as awesome. The team is really lenient with me and I’m very fortunate to able to keep my dual schedule. My sponsors are pretty cool and thanks to the people in charge.

If this were Belgium, we’d be ice skating here.

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In the past I’ve been able to jet-set my way to training camp before taking a break from the bike. This year is a little different as our director decided on two training camps.

So while my road friends are in California training this week and next, I’m in Spain at my training camp. I’ll be able to join my teammates in early February after the cyclocross world championships.

So from ‘cross worlds, I’ll be heading to California for a few weeks with a focus on the Tour of California if my Jelly Belly teammates and I are asked to participate. I hope to take what I have left over from ‘cross and put that to good use at the Tour of California. After that it’s going to be a break from the bike and some serious rest and recovery from a long season.

Now you all know what the next six weeks have in store for me. Check back next time to see how it all went down.

Thanks for reading.

Photo Gallery

J-Pow’s Journal: Me at Middelkerke

Photo: www.cycling-pics.be / Mario Varrewaere

I’ve been in Europe since nationals, a little over two weeks actually and usually by this point in my trip I’m tired and ready to a break and relax for a couple days. A year wiser and happier makes such a difference. This year I made a tough decision to skip the Nommay World Cup in France when I got to Europe, let myself recover, get settled in my new home away from home and then give it the stick in the hardest races of the year.

It’s paid off with a seventh in the Noordzecross’ in Middlekerke and a 13th Tuesday in Loenhout. I thought this week it’d be cool to go through some key differences in European events versus events that take place state-side and if those differences are valued enough to replicate or not … Obviously there is going to be a difference of opinion on this, but I say let’s not try and re-invent the wheel. Instead, I think we should perfect it!

(Bear with me for a little bit … it’s long)

One of the first things you do at any race in Europe is find the center of the town that’s hosting the race and follow the race organization signs. When you get there, depending on the size of the race, you see car lots full of campers with each racer’s name on the side and their respective team making everything perfect for that rider, cleaning bikes, pumping tires etc.

J-Pow’s Journal: Not my truck.

Photo: www.cycling-pics.be / Mario Varrewaere

As the rider, I go and find the registration place; even as a racer in Europe you can’t get on the course without a wristband. So you grab your numbers and a couple wristbands for your mechanics and off you go.

At this point, I’m kitted up, ready to pre-ride the course, I usually head right out with my band prominently showing and check out a couple laps, play with the pressure, tread selection etc.

So far we’re on track: this is pretty similar to back home, but here is where I divert. I’ve pre-rode the course, I come back and pull out my skinsuit, pin it up, hang out for about an hour or so, have a snack, the mechanic sets my race bike up on the trainer and I do a warm up before the race.

J-Pow’s Journal: Stationary warm-ups are customary in Europe.

Photo: www.cycling-pics.be / Mario Varrewaere

In the States, I probably rode a trainer once, when it was too cold or raining to hard. Here, you can’t warm up on the roads, there are way too many people out there to try and navigate around, it just doesn’t work like back home. And the same goes for after the race — cool down on the trainer.

The mechanics take off early with the bikes to the pits, because it usually takes a long time to get there from the riders’ parking. So meanwhile I finish the warm up, switch the rear wheel out and off I go to the start/finish.

J-Pow’s Journal: Looks like frites from here.

Photo: www.cycling-pics.be / Mario Varrewaere

As you ride and look around, a lot people are enjoying themselves, with a couple drinks in usually before noon time, some fried foods, waffles, candy, cigars, etc., are in the hands of most people. It’s a party for the day!

We haven’t really made this happen yet in the States, but we’re close, on the cusp even. But, typically in the States we eat healthier foods at the races, because the people we have at the races are racers! We don’t yet have many people who aren’t racers watching the races. Most of us are athletes. which is good that everyone supports everyone else.

The flip side of that is this is where U.S. ‘cross hurts. Cycling in general isn’t as mainstream in the U.S. and if you think about the carnival style events they promote in Europe, it’s appealing to replicate. But do we need to be exactly like the European races? I don’t think we do and I hope we aren’t exactly like them, but every great thing started with an idea and took off after motivated souls made it their own. Europe does do good ‘cross races and makes them spectacles; I would never take that away from them.

J-Pow’s Journal: Belgium’s finest hour

Photo: www.cycling-pics.be / Mario Varrewaere

I think if we in North America bring more to the table than just a bike race, we’d be sitting in the same driver’s seat. We’ve got the athletes, organization, the races are on the calendar, all we need to bring is the party, to show regular Joes we’ve got this cool event, it’s got music, drinks, a bike race, a loopty loo, whatever. Everyone is having a great time, come out, bring your boots because it’s gonna be dirty and fun and we’re flying.

Sure we need TV, big cities and neon lights, but it’s just food for thought at this point and in the next couple years I’m going to try and make this happen.

All in all, Euro ‘cross is awesome, it’s the big show, people come out in the tens of thousands to watch, pack the courses six people deep and scream like banshees. It’s awesome, I love it, but I’ll never turn my back on my roots.

J-Pow’s Journal: Lining up for ‘cross food

Photo: www.cycling-pics.be / Mario Varrewaere

Again, because I think I bored everyone and I’m not really that boring of a guy, I’ve got a lightening round with the world champ, Lars Boom.

I’m lucky I got this before the race. Today is Boom Boom’s birthday; the big Two-Three, and the spirit was high in his mobile home. Unfortunately Boom ended up crashing pretty hard and even though he didn’t break any bones it was a hard fall. Get better quick buddy!

JP: First off, I want to know if you’re getting a lot of ladies rockin’ the rainbows on your back?
Boom Boom: Noooooo, not exactly.

JP: Alright whatever, I don’t believe you. Why do you think the Dutch are better then the Belgians?
Boom Boom: Because we are normal (Long pause)

JP: Alright, Coke or Pepsi
Boom Boom: Coke

JP: Do you remember the first time we locked eyes here at this race (Loenhout) in 2004 I was trying to jump that big ditch? I called you Boom Boom for the first time…
Boom Boom: Yes I thought, he is a cool jumper!

JP: Iphone or Blackberry?
Boom Boom: Iphone

JP: Favorite place to vacation?
Boom Boom: It doesn’t matter where, as long as its relaxing, I want to go to Miami soon!

JP: Bart Wellons or Sven Nys (generally speaking)
Boom Boom: Nys

JP: Let’s get back to the lady’s, Blonde, Brunette, short, tall…? (Lars mom left his trailer for a minute…)
Boom Boom: Around 170cm, just a little shorter then me and brunette (smiling)

JP: Alright, Now the ladies know!

JP: You know I drive a 1990 Caprice Classic. What are you rollin?
Boom Boom: I just got a Range Rover Sport two weeks ago.

JP: Nice.

Photo Gallery

A very short couch, looks like.

Photo: Jeremy Powers

Bad days come and go. Everyone has one, no one’s immune to a real day “rocker.” It just happens.

Well folks, I had mine last weekend and it sucked. Another year is gone and the opportunity at the national title will have to wait 362 days before I get another crack at that jersey.

The race was over and done with and I barely even showed up to the race. I never put my face in the wind, I didn’t contribute to my teammates and it was the day I was dreamin’ and screaming about all season long!

So, do you think I was disappointed? Hell yah, I was. Is it the end of my world though? Not really.

You might be wondering how I botched that race. Looking back (believe me, there wasn’t much to reflect on) I was sick during the week prior and even feelin’ like crap that last Sunday in Portland. It was one of those head colds that I define as a “lingerer.” It came and went, hot and cold sweats, I’d ride hard and it’d come back worse the next day.

So, I gave my body a pamper treatment all week; slept like it was going out of style, stopped drinkin’ coffee and instead drank all kinds of fruit and vegetable concoctions, took more vitamin C, Echinacea and Goldenseal than any human should ever consume. It didn’t help, I was weak when I got to KC and I didn’t have the legs and got my butt kicked allllllll over Tiffany Springs Park last Sunday.

As a racer you become numb to the races you lose because, a lot of the time, you lose. It’s hard to win all the time and most of the time, you don’t! Plus U.S. cyclocross stepped up this year and had so many hungry elite men, it was as Dave Towle says, “on like Donkey Kong” all season, every weekend and the W’s were hard to come by.

As I leave the United States and go forward with the next six weeks of racing in Euro-land it’s important to keep the six inches between my ears strong. I have to focus on the goals that are still on tap for the remainder of the season through the world championships in February and not let one result in KC get me all worked up.

Everyone knows the racing in Europe is hard. It’s so different than a race like Gloucester or Kansas City. At every race in Europe, the starts are flat out, you’re bangin’ bars in the corners and some guy from a country you’ve never been to or heard of will chop you.

I’ll do my part and keep you updated on how the Euro campaign unfolds in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I decided to do a “lightning round” of questions for my new Belgian house-mate to keep this interesting; Ladies and Gentlemen, Ryan Trebon:

JP: Okay, Ryan. Who’s your favorite celebrity?
Ry-Ry: Dave Chappelle

JP: OK, two part question: Do you like Britney Spears? What about her music?
Ry-Ry: No, I like her body though. Yes, I mean; no …?

JP: What magazines do you have subscriptions to?
Ry-Ry: Car and Driver, Road and Track, Newsweek, Automobile

JP: Latest impulse buy?
Ry-Ry: Toyota Truck, A 2002 Tacoma

JP: Facebook? Cool or Whack?
Ry-Ry: Whack

JP: Todd or Troy Wells? (Generally speaking)
Ry-Ry:: Todd

JP: London or Paris?
Ry-Ry: Never been to London

JP: Where do you shop for groceries?
Ry-Ry: The grocery store?

JP:Do you like Ry-Ry as a nick name?
Ry-Ry: No

That’s all I’ve got this week, after a hectic travel day, I’m off to relax and get some much needed sleep here in Belgium, Thanks for reading.

J-Pow’s Travel Bag

Photo: Jeremy Powers

The final two weekends of ‘cross racing in the United States are upon us and when I think back to Star Crossed in September, just one week after finishing the Tour of Missouri and a long road season, it’s hard to remember all the racing up to this point.

This ‘cross season has been packed with travel and races every weekend. So, as we barrel down to the final and most important weeks of the season, it’s really awesome to think back on some of the great battles we’ve all had against one another.

So many guys have been up in the mix this year, which has made the racing great and it wasn’t because someone was injured or their bike broke: everyone had great days and the others had okay days and the races played themselves out, which in turn made the events exciting to watch and be part of.

I’m definitely looking forward to these last two weeks of the U.S season as they come up. This weekend we’re hitting the USGP finals in Portland, Oregon, which are typically pretty epic. And then we’re off to Kansas city where the weather can really do just about anything.

With that said, my season isn’t even close to being over. You’ll be able to read about my exploits in Europe until the world championships, which begin on January 31st.

I thought I would dedicate this entry to my young gun teammate Jamey Driscoll, who is an accomplished ‘cross racer and has had an awesome season. Jamey tends to leave a few things here and there on occasion, so I decided to dissect my travel bag and show him and everyone else what I’m packin’ when I hit the races every weekend, in an effort to hopefully help Jamey a little in the process!

J-Pow’s Travel Bag

Photo: Jeremy Powers

First off, I have a huge duffel bag courtesy of Patagonia, which I’m easily able to stuff with 50 pounds of gear into every weekend. The bag is great, mainly because it hasn’t broken after 100,000 miles and when I’m really late I can huck everything in it and run out the door with out having to meticulously think about how I’m going to position everything to make it all fit.

J-Pow’s Travel Bag

Photo: Jeremy Powers

Let’s start small though. I never leave home without a fresh bag of coffee. I credit my good friend and old teammate Andy Bajadali for this. So every weekend, I pack my favorite coffee, a small krups grinder, an electric kettle and a small aluminum french press. These could easily be the most important items I pack every weekend. It’s always good to have a little piece of home with you when you’re on the road in a foreign place. Who wants to start the day thinking about where the closest Starbucks or local coffee place is? Plus you get that at home taste you acquire over the years of being a bike racer coffee snob — right in your room, every time.

J-Pow’s Travel Bag

Photo: Jeremy Powers

Equally important as the coffee you bring is your rain bag. If the only thing you want to do is sit inside and drink coffee, you probably didn’t pack a good rain bag. So to make sure that doesn’t happen to me, I pack a lot of neoprene: two different sets of neoprene gloves that come in handy in the really wet races. One set is really heavy for the coldest, nastiest days and then a little lighter pair for the in-between days.

J-Pow’s Travel Bag

Photo: Jeremy Powers

I also pack my thick neoprene shoe covers to keep the feet warm, at least four sets of defeet wool socks, some thin, some thick. Moving upwards, I like those clear cycling jackets, some with sleeves, others without, sometimes it’s nice to start a really cold wet race in one of the clear coats without sleeves and ditch it as the race goes on and you get warm.

I also have the Patagonia rain suit, which is nice for pre-riding the coarse or just hanging out before the start to stay dry. I keep a beenie on my head to trap the heat in. And lastly I don’t mess around without embrocating the legs before wet races. I like the Sportsbalm kit, I bring it every weekend to keep my legs warm and limber.

I should note here, always put the embrocation on last, AFTER you have your skinsuit on. If you put it on first its going get drug up north as you pull your suit up and you’re going feel like you slathered it all over down there, so take that advice and write it on the bottle in permanent marker! I’m serious!

J-Pow’s Travel Bag

Photo: Jeremy Powers

I hate wearing gloves but when I have to wear them, I like them to be thin on the palms but also keep my hands warm. The best glove I’ve found is the DeFeet Duraglove. It’s pretty simple but really effective. When it’s sprinkling or misting rain I’ll run the wool version. If it’s pouring, I hit the rain pack and break out the neoprene. I also keep around one pair of Marmot skiing gloves for the craziest days.

Under shirts, leg/knee warmers etc.: I have a slew of different undershirts that I bring with me for all those small temperature changes, short, long and no-sleeve undershirts of all different materials and thickness. I always find the right one once I’m at the race and I always go for more than I need, rather then less. I’d rather be too hot then too cold.

It’s also important to put on a fresh undershirt before your race so you’re not starting with a cold, sweat-filled undershirt. I also pack the DeFeet ‘bib.’ If I need a piece to protect my chest on those nasty days, I’ll break out the bib.

Typically with leg and knee warmers I’ll only wear them when it’s really cold out. If it’s raining, I usually don’t wear them because they get really heavy. But every race is different and I don’t say yes or no until just before the start.

J-Pow’s Travel Bag

Photo: Jeremy Powers

Skinsuits are pretty straight forward, once you’ve picked the undershirt it’s pretty easy. Champion Systems makes three versions: short sleeve, long sleeve and long sleeve winter ‘cross suits. If you wear a ‘cross specific skinsuit, it better be cold out. The fleece-lined Champion Systems suit is a real oven, I’ve only used it once so far this season (which is a good thing!).

I usually pick the suit on the current temperature at the venue and the time of the race start. If we race at 3pm and I know the sun’s going to be going down around 4pm and it’s already 25 degrees out, you can bet that I’m wearing the winter suit and leg warmers! Excluding that, I always go for the long sleeves unless I know I’m going to burn up. You always have the zipper to help regulate your core temp.

I tend to bring too much training clothing: bib shorts, bib tights, leg warmers, long sleeve jerseys and winter jackets are must-have items for a weekend of ‘cross racing. Even if you overpack, it’s better to have too much clothing than be missing that one piece you really want and then not have it or it’s dirty from three days of riding before hand.

I bring at least two pairs of shoes, especially when it’s going to be muddy. If you warm up in one set, you can race in the dry pair and if you break a pair, you have a back up set, so you kill two birds with one stone by bringing two sets. I also like to warm up with shoe covers on during those muddy days to keep the shoes from getting super nasty. It’s way easier to clean if you just pull off a set of shoe covers. I grab lots of socks, some that go really high and protect my achilles tendon and others that are really thin, it just depends on the conditions on race day.

J-Pow’s Travel Bag

Photo: Jeremy Powers

Lastly, I bring some tools to help keep my body happy. A foam roller for my I.T bands, a stretching rope for my hamstrings and ‘the stick’ to do a little light massage. These are all must haves for anyone on the road a lot. I use these pretty regularly in between the races to help keep me limber and loosened up after long travel days.

Of course I bring my toiletries bag, sunglasses, laptop and ipod in my carry-on every weekend and I love rockin’ new tunes on my travel days so I published an iTunes playlist that you can check out if you’re feeling like you need something new!

If you’re racing this weekend, stay warm and have fun!
— Jeremy

Photo Gallery

Jeremy jumps (click to make it bigger)

Photo: Courtesy Jeremy Powers

We’re back and the racing has been abundant. I picked up a win in Toronto two weeks ago and a podium last weekend at the USGP in New Jersey. Now the biggest races of the year loom on the horizon and I’m looking forward to them all: the USGP Finals in Portland and the national championship weekend in Kansas City. But, as a change of pace, this diary isn’t going to be about racing.

People have been asking me about hopping barriers, or as some in Europe say; “rabbit hopping the planks.” Either way, we’re all talking about the same thing, getting a ‘cross bike over the barriers in one piece without killing yourself. First off, I must say this to protect myself from litigation: Barrier hopping is a calculated risk and you will crash.

There are a lot of things to consider before hand, you don’t want to crash in front of your kids, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, competitors etc. So practice. Start slow and low like the Beastie Boys song. If you can remember that, you’ll be rockin’. Even when you do practice, you’re still going to eat it, so check your pedal tension, wear your helmet and don’t kill yourself!

Jumpin’ barriers goes way back for me. I knew barrier hopping was great and a big advantage when I was 16 years old racing in Wetzikon, Switzerland, at my first ever event overseas. It was the week before the world champs in Tabor, Czech Republic, and I jumped a single plank at the bottom of this huge muddy hill during the warm up and rode past a lot of my unknown foreign competitors who were running with their bikes on their shoulders or by their sides. I went back to get ready for the race, excited about my advantage over the others. Shortly after starting the race I realized the barrier was gone, it had disappeared. Everyone was riding the hill, no barrier to be found. From that point on, however, I knew I had to try and perfect the bunny hop. It was going to be an advantage to me if I could!

Over the years I’ve had my fair share of lessons and crashes in barrier hopping. I crashed hard as a junior during the national championships in Maryland and ended up breaking my bike and getting fourth outside the lead group. I had a fellow competitor intentionally hit his rear wheel off the barrier in front of me and mess me up during a race, which resulted in a big crash. Then, just last year, I crashed so hard at the Boulder Reservoir I popped out a rib that hasn’t made its way back in yet and I’m reminded of it every time I twist to put a seat belt on.

Matt White jumps. (Click to make it bigger!)

Photo: Courtesy Jeremy Powers

Going through my techniques, I’ll try to touch on a couple big points. I called up my friend and neighbor Matt White, who is a pretty talented hopper himself, and we got some good media together. I’ll post some videos on my Web site, jpows.com, later this week of Matt and I hopping along, so you can compare our techniques.

Going with the slow and low theme, I think it’s best to start out with ONE barrier at 10 cm and give it a go. You’ll know immediately if you can do it. Don’t over think it, just set it up and go. There is no correct way to hold the bars. Hoods, tops, it’s all the same, whatever you’re more comfortable with is what you should go with. So after you conquer the little guy, gradually move up in small increments to 40cm (which is UCI legal height).

Once you’re killin’ this, I mean, jumpin’ it with style, crossin’ it up as you go over … put the second one out there for yourself but instead of having to go “all in” I suggest keeping the barriers spaced far apart — don’t use the 4-meter UCI rule for this part of the learning process. This way you can do the “bail out” if you have to, which you will! Plus you have to remember how cracked you’re going to be after eight laps, so if you can’t do this eight times in a row, keeping them spaced apart would be the next gradual step.

The bailout.

Photo: Courtesy

Once you’re comfy hitting two in a row spaced far apart you’re pretty close to ready for the big time.

Some of the things that influence if I jump over the barriers are tire pressure, pre- and post-barrier terrain, speed, and racing traffic.

Starting with tires: if they are too soft you’ll probably roll them, either when you pump your arms to get your front wheel off the ground or when you slam that wheel back down on the ground after you make it over. If the tire feels like the bead will pop off the rim or the tubular is kinda funky, it’s going to be lights out. So practice with that in mind and start out over 35PSI and go down from there as you master the skills.

Terrain is also important to scout out. You don’t want to be hopping into some hole on the back side of the second barrier. Nor do you want to hit a big piece of lumpy grass and go over the bars, You might want to make note that the right side of the barriers is nicer grass to hit, or even think about going diagonally through them. Either way, definitely scout the lay of the land in your warm up.

I wouldn’t jump the barriers that were faster to run nor would I jump them in a race with 20 people around unless you are really comfortable. Competitors can mess you up, even if it’s not intentional. They can trip themselves, tangle you in their web and that’s not fun. (It may be funny to watch later on youtube, but it’s gonna hurt, most likely.)

Matt White, with both wheels on the ground.

Photo: Courtesy

Lastly, speed during the hopping is important to gauge as well. With all this practice you’ll get a hang of it, but don’t overcook it! There is a fine line. If you go too fast you won’t have enough room to set up for the second barrier and you’ll hit the barrier straight up.

Matt and I have pretty different techniques, Matt’s style has him rarely hitting his wheels on the plank, using his tops instead of the hoods and he seems to go faster than I do (which also means cutting it closer).

I almost always touch my wheels to the barrier, I hang onto my hoods and I tend to go a little slower to stay in control.

On occasion we both tap wheels. Personally, as long as you’re over the barrier and you don’t dent the rim or flat the tire, you’re golden. Practice makes perfect, go get ‘em and check my site for some videos this week! Good luck.

Photo Gallery

Uncle J-Pow gets to meet Christian.

Photo:

Since my last diary, I’ve driven to Connecticut, jumped a plane south to Louisville and then west to Boulder to race the hotbeds of cyclocross!

My trip to Connecticut didn’t involve racing, I had my cross’ bikes, they weren’t built, just were in my bike bag. The purpose of this trip on Friday was to see my sister who’s been uncomfortable lately, but in a good way. She’s been carrying some very nice luggage for the last nine months. I met my family at the hospital and got to meet my new nephew Christian for the first time. It was special because everything worked out. I was able to shift around flights, get in to see Sherri and Christian before everyone else, and make my flight to KY all in the same couple hour time span, no hiccups, which is big with traveling these days.

Kentucky was the first stop in the USGP of cross’. I didn’t know what to expect, I was battling a head cold from the previous week and was feeling pretty low on energy. In the back of my mind, I knew I could still go for the overall if I just kept it together and weathered the storm. It ended up being okay and got third both days and helped my teammate Tim win on Sunday! I left Louisville really satisfied and shot off to Boulder where my friend Phil Zijceck put me up for the week.

I planned a camp in Longmont, Colorado, with a local club: Blue Sky Velo. The guys were awesome about pushing the camp back a little and letting me recover throughout the week. This head cold had me in the box. I lost my voice and couldn’t express myself or change pitches in my voice, which was killing me. Meeting new people for the first time and sounding like some mobster from New York was ridiculous. I hit the infamous Boulder cross’ practice Wednesday morning and there had to be 50 people out, which stunned me. Some riders were even going to do the ride before work, just rippin’ legs at eight in the morning! It was awesome to see and be part of!

The Blue Sky Velo gang.

Photo:

We ended up having the clinic on Thursday. Somewhere around 20 people came out. We went over all the little things cross’ racing brings with it. It was fun and exactly the kind of thing I’ve wanted to do for the last couple years. If you’ve ever met me you know I like talking to people, telling tales from the races, and getting people the info to make their racing easier, that’s my jam. Bike racing is such a hard sport to conquer, no matter if I tell all the tips, equipment choices, and strategy in the world, its still going to be hard. So just being able to pass that knowledge off is what it’s all about. At the end of the day, we’re all out there going as hard as we can regardless of category and ability.

At the camp we went over everything: race starts, barriers, dismounting, running, sand sections, the list goes on. After the ride, we hit dinner and talked for a couple hours, gave away some gifts thanks to Crank Brothers and Jelly Belly, and headed out. I was really happy and grateful for the opportunity.

I did a nice spin on Friday morning and met up with the cyclocrossworld-cannondale crew and we got the hotel all set up, hit the sack, and got to the racing on Saturday!

The racing was awesome in Boulder, and it went well for us as a team on both sides of the country. My teammate Jamey stayed east and won both days in Massachusetts and Tim hit the podium both days and got the big win on Sunday!

Tim Johnson’s skills clinic.

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So the lesson to take from this entry is this, no matter how sick you are, how bad you crash or crappy you feel before your race, you can still pull off the podiums and the big win! As you see here, Timmy J was showing me some of the skills on this hotel bench before his win at Sunday’s race and I happened to have my camera.

So, no excuses!

Thanks for reading!

Jeremy Powers is a member of the Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale team.

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J-Pow Journal: Our hero at Granogue

Photo: David Chiu

A lot of similar questions come along when you’re out at the races. One question I hear frequently is some variation of the famous “How do you know when you’ve made it big?” I usually give a good P.C. answer and move along, because who really knows the answer to that question!? It’s something I’m too humble to try answering.

But two weeks ago, it stunned me, even jolted me. It was right there in front of me. I came up over the horizon to the parking lot on a nice Sunday in Ohio and I had my own big orange parking cone with my last name on it!

J-Pow Journal: The cone of Powers

Photo: Courtesy

Mitch Graham, the promoter of the three back-to-back Ohio UCI ‘cross races last weekend, made me an ‘exclusive’ cone to prevent a parking fiasco for yours truly. After the shock subsided, I just wanted to fill the shoes the infamous cone left me with. This meant trying to pull off the Ohio Tri-Fectah! I did win all three days in Ohio and I felt like I did a mini-’cross stage race when it was all said and done. Three ‘cross races in three days, it was hard to not call it the triple crown of ‘cross. I’m hoping my cone finds me again next year in Ohio and brings me the same luck and good legs it did two weeks ago!

I had the week relax at home in Massachusetts in between Ohio and the Mid-Atlantic races that concluded a couple days ago. Which brings me to my next famous question:

“Why do you live in Western Massachusetts?” Well first off. I’m a native of Connecticut and my acceptance into becoming a true Mass-hole has been difficult, to say the least, even after I got my license, registration, address etc. changed I haven’t truly been accepted by my peers.

I’ve taken a lot of crap from my fellow Massachusetts friends Jesse Anthony and Tim Johnson. hopefully I’ll be worthy some day. But, I’ll say it, Massachusetts is an amazing state. It’s got some of the most amazing roads I’ve ever ridden, some great short ten- to twenty-minute long climbs, the drivers are friendly and conscience of cyclists (usually!)

J-Pow Journal: The Whole story.

Photo: Courtesy

Plus, the cycling community is huge, group rides are abundant, there is a Wednesday evening ‘cross practice held in a huge, rolling field with barriers, run-ups the whole sha-banga-bang. I can’t forget Joe’s Garage, which is a great local shop I frequent and swipe Sport Beans and Gatorade that I periodically drop off by car for those days when I’m starving on the long rides!

It really has everything you could ever want as a professional bike racer: Desolate roads, good resources and that little bit of city that we all want every once in a while. I better mention where you could find me any given day of the week; Whole Foods and/or Trader Joe’s. It’s a love hate relationship I have with the super markets here, it’s just one of the things in life, like coffee, ya gotta have it.

J-Pow Journal: The ’08 apple crop was bounteous.

Photo: Courtesy

Right now the foliage is amazing and it’s pumpkin and apple pickin’ season. I went with my mom last week to pick apples and I don’t want to eat another golden delicious anything until next year. After the assault of the apple trees I showed her one of the highest points in the area with an amazing lookout! You can see wayyy south, past the capital of Connecticut and wayyy north to Sugar Loaf Mountain in Maine all from Skinner Mountain right here in my backyard. Now that you’re all booking your tickets out here, I’ll finish this up.

As you read, my rest week came and went and I headed off to the mid-Atlantic for the UCI races in Delaware and Philadelphia. These races are staples in the American cross’ calendar and I ended up with a second place on Saturday and the win on Sunday. Now I’m getting ready for this weekend’s USGP races in Kentucky and hoping for good luck, good legs and maybe, if I’m lucky, another orange parking cone will be waiting for me …

Jeremy Powers is a member of the Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale team.

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Top Pot Doughnuts: The fuel of choice for Team Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale.

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Welcome to my new diary on VeloNews.com, a diary that will offer an exciting, behind-the scenes look into my cycling ventures as I tour around the United States and Europe racing cyclo-cross this fall and winter.

I’m certain there will be great moments inevitably accompanied by some less exciting ones: Crashes, gossip, name-dropping, interviews; lousy drivers, flight attendants and race promoters. Just make sure you read every other Wednesday during this ‘cross season, and I’ll do my part to keep it exciting.

About two weeks ago I finished the Tour of Missouri, which was arguably twice as fast as last year. Going into the last stage I was pissed. I had tried hard to get into the breakaways day after day and came up short. With some luck I finally got into a 40-something-mile break with Kirk O’Bee of Health Net. It all came together on a rainy day into a strong headwind on an off ramp in St. Louis, Missouri. I was soaked and stoked to finally make a break in a big race in the United States just before the ’cross season kicked off.

After Missouri I came home, hopped in my 1990 Chevrolet Caprice and headed out to the Boston area where I met up with my cyclo-cross team director, Stu Thorne, and teammate Tim Johnson. Stu had the new bikes from Cannondale ready to rip and Tim and I went out to work out the kinks for about an hour. Then I went back to Stu’s shop, packed ’em up for a trip to the West Coast and met Tim the next day in Seattle.

The first races of the year in Washington state were the FSA Star Crossed in Redmond and the Rad Racing GP in Tacoma. Star Crossed was awesome — the race had a live DJ, Dave Towle announcing, a beer garden and rain to top it all off, typical of all my travels to the Northwest.

By winning Star Crossed, I finally broke my years-long losing streak in the Northwest — and I didn’t even know it because of a mix-up with the lap cards. Still, I eventually celebrated my first win of the 2008 cyclocross season. The good luck and good legs continued on Sunday in Tacoma, where Tim won and I came in third. It was a big weekend for the Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale crew and we didn’t expect it!

Mmmm . . . doughnuts.

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I would like to personally thank Top Pot Doughnuts (they are delicious!) for the good morale during the weekend. All in all, we went into the weekend facing some major setbacks: The weather was crap, our competitors were fresh and the bikes were brand new. Nevertheless, it ended up being an amazing weekend in the ’cross-crazy.

I blew out of Seattle and hit Vegas on Monday afternoon for Interbike and CrossVegas. For the last couple years I’ve been a big fan of one particular radio show, SmashTime Radio with DJ Clinton Sparks. Clinton does a three-hour show that is syndicated in 30 countries. Once the show is finished, it’s uploaded as a podcast that anyone can download and, if you’re like me, train to it every week. It’s got all the new music, funny interviews, popular culture, etc.

Over time I’ve developed a relationship with Clinton and we finally met up in Vegas. It was awesome; we played some blackjack, ate some food and then did an interview with Grammy Award winner Lil Jon. After the interview we headed down to Planet Hollywood’s Club Prîve, where Lil Jon was Djing, and I soaked it up. Lil Jon and I talked a bit about me racing in his home city of Atlanta, Georgia, at the Atlanta 100K, which my teammate Bernard Van Ulden won. We discussed his old 10-speed and the fact that he probably couldn’t keep up with the pro peloton. He did admit that he used to ride bikes and is now (I like to think because of me) interested in a new one.

Our diarist, DJ Clinton Sparks and Lil Jon.

Photo: Ash Hopkins

I should make a couple points clear. Lil Jon doesn’t always scream in real life like in his rap songs, he does have gold teeth, and he’s a really nice guy. Check out the interview on Clinton’s upcoming podcast and hear my goofy laugh in the backround, it’s a classic!

CrossVegas was a lot like everything in Vegas, crazy. Let me count the ways: 15,000 spectators showed up, Lance Armstrong flew in from New York and raced, Dale’s Pale Ale was abundant and I personally got a taste when a spectator launched one into the front group about 30 minutes into the race.

It was an amazing race, easily the biggest ever assembled on U.S. soil. My ninth-place finish was a matter of a little bad positioning; still, with some luck I was able to finish last in the front group. I was happy to be finished and on my way home for some rest. I’ve spent only about two nights there since I moved in last month.

So now it’s just training and getting ready for three ’cross races in Ohio and Kentucky.

Thanks for reading.
Jeremy Powers is a member of the Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale team.

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