BLUE is in da house!

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I'm very happy to report I will be counting on support from BLUE for the 2010 season. I am excited to get to better know Chance Regina as well as the rest of the BLUE Competition Cycles family, and race hard on a Triad. More details to come soon, but I wanted to share the cool news with my fan club... er.... family & friends!

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Thanks a lot to the guys at Blue. I'm gonna pedal the hell out of the Triad. Here's to faster bike splits!

Cheers!!

jc

dude, really?

The 2010 winter olympics are ON! It's pretty exciting to watch the events, though I can admit I am a seasonal fan (although I did watch a lot of the skiing, luge and sled events on TV during the 1-2 months leading up the olympiad). I got to say the short track races are wicked cool-totally high energy, super fast, with some strategy, and, I think what REALLY gets me into it, is the competition. No judges scoring, no time (per se), no outside factors. Pure racing. Kinda like tri, except they are done in minutes.


Anyway, the point to my blog post has to do with the one guy my homeland sends over to compete. I was in such disbelief; we looked up on the eenternet to see what we could find. You're 51 (the next 3 oldest alpine skiers are 40, 38 and 36). Wiki sez you're a trendy euro socialite. A pop-singer. A successful business guy. And a european prince. With all these things you do, you really gonna tell me you are going to bring it like the world-class 20 to 30-year olds who sleep, eat and breathe training? All I'm saying is the up-and-coming mexican athletes in other sport disciplines will likely be (shall we say?) kinda upset at the resource allocation by the mexican olympic committee to send you over if your game is not up to par, man. Not to mention the tens of millions of aztecas who will think the whole thing is a ridiculously bad joke. So bring it. I REALLY honestly hope you do.

rant off..

Hot Couture

When you go riding in character-building weather, me thinks you gotta do what you gotta do to stay in comfort. I have zero problems admitting I'm a both a cold AND wet weather wuss. So, my riding fashion statement need not be 'haute', but hot, well, technically speaking, more 'warm/comfortable' than hot...

Sure, when out riding, nothing says 'I know what I'm doing' like a nice pro-peloton-inspired matching cycling kit. You know, the kind plastered with sponsors that hints "My team car is right behind me with biddons and spare wheels". Right. I don't got no team car, nor domestiques bringing me cheeseburgers. Heck, most days I don't have riding buddies. What I got are a mismatched bunch of gear items, totally 'un-haute', BUT, I don't give rat's buttocks how I look. I'm warm and dry. And training. That's what matters.

Which brings me to the point of this entry- I want to share the hardware I've found works for me when the weather goes bad. Santa got me these booties and this jacket, and, so far, they are impenetrable. I wear these tights, and while they do get wet, me legs remain warm and comfy. The gloves are a contibution of my boy Brian 'Pedal 2 da Metal' Burton. And I dare you- find me a glove that is warmer, more comfy, less bulky, more tactile, and less slippery when fully drenched. Hope this helps some of you adverse to cold/wet and looking for hardware to keep the pedals ticking, even though you may look like a fashion train wreck.

Pie in the face

Donovan picked up this expression from an episode of one of his favorite tv shows. I've since adopted the phrase to describe how the wind feels during most weekend rides here in Seattle. I don't use it to complain, per se, I just think about the expression in the back of my head, in a very matter-of-fact way when I encounter the wind. There is one particular route, where if you make your ride long enough, the wind shifts 180degrees through the day, so you get pie in the face going out, and pie in the face coming back. Combine rain, temperatures in the 40F range, with pie in the face all-day long, and you got yourself a good character-building workout.

On Saturday, Donovan and I went for a swim, and then headed over to the U of W to catch some indoor track action. Though we missed the one event we wanted to see, Donovan was super excited to see a bunch of the different disciplines (short distances, pole vault, long jump, etc.). It was hard keeping him off the Mondo surface- He so wanted to participate. And of course, we made hot cakes and waffles, so the weekend was a blast, pie in the face and all.

Have a great week!