Paralympic awesomeness...

I was watching some coverage of ice sledge hockey, part of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic games. Long time ago, I agreed with a good friend that hockey players were indeed the most physically talented athletes out there. Seriously. Going full speed on ice, on skates, using a stick to control a tiny puck, all while getting clobbered. Nevermind trying to get the puck into the tiny goal which is, for all practical purposes, fully shielded by the dude in huge pads and with lighting-quick reflexes. Maybe it's cuz I didn't grow up on ice, but that is crazy stuff. HOWEVER, the paralympic athletes I saw last nite, for me, took all that to a whole new level. I was in awe, I could not stop watching. That's what I call bad-ass hockey players.

In other news, Oceanside 70.3 is T minus 10days. The Triad is ready to roll. Pictures up soon. Hopefully it warms up a little so we can have a good vacation (and a good race!).

Very unexpected...

Saturday was a really nice day here in Seattle: Beautiful sunshine, starting to warm up a little. And in as much as it would been a perfect day for training, it was even more so for spending it with Theresa and Donovan. I can't really remember the last time I took a day completely off from training.

We woke up late-ish, Theresa made us some awesome hot cakes (!!) and then we all went to the Museum of Flight, where we've had a familiy membership now for a few years (Donovan loves it). It is a very cool place we visit way often, with some really fantastic airplanes, including a Blackbird and a Concorde, among many others. Afterwards, we needed lunch and decided to try out a place called Randy's, just one block south of the Museum. We knew nothing about it, but we were hungry enough to check it out. We are so glad we did.

Photo by Daniel Spils

The place has the decor of an era gone by, and is full of flying aricraft memorabilia. Our waitress called us "Hon" and "Dear", and tickled Donovan. The food is diner-style down-to-earth, and was really tasty and very affordable. We'll most definitely be going back there.

Donovan and I went to pay Lucia Roadenizer, the very nice lady who greeted & sat us. He handed her the 'ticket', and as I paid, she said to hold on, she had something for him. I thought, oh, a little sticker or a stamp. Out she comes with a model airplane in a box, for us to put together. Completely blew me away. This day in age, who is THAT nice? Donovan was SOOOOO excited, he was jumping up and down. We got home, all of us sat down in the sun-drenched living room and put the little plane together. Donovan wants to bring it the next time we go back.

It was just one of those REALLY feel-good days.

Back in shape.

I had a short conversation late last week with an older gentleman who frequents the pool. He is a regular at the water aerobics in the shallow pool. Always says a friendly hello. We never really talked before, though. Our conversation went from how crowded the pool was that day, to how nice the weekend days looked ahead. He said he was happy to be able to walk again and enjoy the sun. Walk again? He went on to describe how a stroke had just about immobilized the left side of his body, and how hard work (water aerobics included) and lots of patience over 5yrs, had gotten him mobile again. He said he was happier now, and just wanted to get back in shape. Our conversation finished with him saying 'Someday, I'll come over to the big pool for a swim' and I assured him he would.

I don't know if there's a point to this little story, but I wanted to write it up anyways.

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.....