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!

2010 Team Ramirez Race Schedule

Team Management sat down with me, and this is what we came up for the season:

Oceanside 70.3----------------------March 27
Subaru Shawnigan Half Ironman--May 31
Ironman Coeur d'Alene-------------June 27
ChelanMan Half Ironman-----------July 17
Vashon Island Olympic--------------July 25
Troika Half Ironman----------------August 1
Lake Stevens 70.3------------------August 15
Ironman Canada---------------------August 29
Cancun 70.3--------------------------September 19
Ironman AZ or FL--------------------November

The directeur sportif wanted the team to race a full schedule this year. There will also be a few run races sprinkled in for good measure. A couple of the half IMs and smaller events are tentative at this point, but that is the jist of it.

Here. We. Go.....

Más Pastel

This morning, of course, Donovan and I each had another cake slice b4 breakfast. He was having a hard time b/c he couldn't find a particular toy. Ah, but then a slice of pastel de tres leches restored balance to his universe. Wish everything was that simple....

I give it 4/5 days until it's all gone. :o)

36

oh man, I'm feeling old. Today was my bday.

Theresa and Donovan made an awesome dinner and dessert. For dessert, we had Pastel de Tres Leches, one of my favorites and a classic Mona used to make. In fact, Mona's was so damn good, she even sold them to the oldest ice cream shop in the city for a few years. Needless to say, eating pastel de tres leches with my wife and son brought back lots of memories of my childhood.
This past weekend I got the chance to watch one of my buddies race at an indoor track event at the U of W. Walking around the track facility, realizing some of the pimply college kids tearing around the purple Mondo surface were half my age, made me feel way old. Still, it was a blast, and it made me feel good to be in decent shape at my old age.

That's about it for right now. Just happy my bones are still holding up. Now where is that AARP application?

New, new, new....

Good ole' blog, it's been a while, just a busy time of the year. The new year came and went, and we didn't do a whole lot to 'bring it in', we found ourselves already in bed before the fireworks started going off. Anyhow- new, new, new!

New Year- This year marks me moving into the last year of my mid-thirties. Oh boy... time is just ticking away... I'll be turning 36 in just a few more days. 2010 will also mark my 5th year racing long course triathlons, and I'm hoping 5 is the charm.
New Work Schedule- I have to take 10 scheduled furlough days this year, so from time to time, I'll have 3-day weekends. Not too bad, I do enjoy the extra rest day at home. The first furlough day, combined with MLK day, netted me a 4-day weekend. Sweet.
New Strokes-Been trying to swim a good amount lately. I've been working on my technique, thanks to some good, simple tips from a local guru. Amazing, really, what someone who knows what they're doing can point out, and suggest ways to improve. I'm happy to report I'm zippin along quite nicely in the water, practicing to permanently incorporate the changes to my stroke.
New Sponsors- Not trying to jinx it, but let's wait and see.
New Race Schedule- Up soon.

In the meantime, an image that made me laugh lots....

talk soon