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March 31, 2011
What a trip we had! A lot of fast driving, bad jokes and beating up on each other on the rides. It flew by this time around. We did the biggest races, hit the best bakeries (at least I did) and shopped at the biggest supermarket in Paris. I think it’s safe to say we went BIG!
I’ve been trying to get to the point in cyclocross where I can leave the United States after a hard season with a lot of mileage in the airplane and races in the legs, then get to Europe and throw down for Worlds. In 2009 my big goal was to have a good world championships and I didn’t, so it was back to the drawing board.
Looking back on it, my body was always smoked. Sometimes, I’d get lucky during Christmas week, but then die a slow death leading into worlds. The December trip where I typically go over and race 5 races in a 10-day stretch got eliminated this year, which helped a lot. I also focused more after nationals, which included going south to train in warmer weather in Greenville, SC. The formula is finally taking shape after a lot of years of trying different things. In interviews, I say I’m proud of the season I had. It’s not because I got 16th at worlds or whatever else I did or to be cocky about it. It’s because the system that was in place did what I wanted and now, moving forward, I can refine that and make it better and maybe next year I’m in the top ten and then in Louisville… who knows.
So it’s Monday. I’m still waking up at 5am everyday. I can’t really kick the jet lag, but that’s okay, because tomorrow I head to Jelly Belly camp in San Diego where I gotta get up at 4 in the morning to catch my flight.
This year, I have sooooooo much cool stuff planned. Honest! I hope everyone that’s reading will be involved in the new stuff that I’m talking about.
One of those things is the J.A.M fund/Foundation team that’s taking shape right now. This year, my friends Alec, Mukunda and I have set out to raise the level of cycling in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, build on the program they’ve had in place in years past, and help some truly talented young cyclists move up in the sport.
The team is outfitted with new bikes from Focus Bikes and two of the riders from the program (Jeremy Durrin and Anthony Clark – shown above) are going to be the first to benefit from the money we raised at the Grand Fundo last July! The two of them are flying out on February 11th to train with me and the Jelly Belly P/B Kenda team for 5 days in San Diego. They’re gonna live and train with the pros and maybe next year they’ll be at the camp, not as guests, but as teammates! This is the kind of opportunities I love being part of.
Thanks for reading and see you guys on the road. OOo…
Also, check out some new tunes I’ve been rockin’ lately, courtesy of Clinton Sparks!
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at March 31st, 2011 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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February 7, 2011
What a trip we had! A lot of fast driving, bad jokes and beating up on each other on the rides. It flew by this time around. We did the biggest races, hit the best bakeries (at least I did) and shopped at the biggest supermarket in Paris. I think it’s safe to say we went BIG!
I’ve been trying to get to the point in cyclocross where I can leave the United States after a hard season with a lot of mileage in the airplane and races in the legs, then get to Europe and throw down for Worlds. In 2009 my big goal was to have a good world championships and I didn’t, so it was back to the drawing board.
Looking back on it, my body was always smoked. Sometimes, I’d get lucky during Christmas week, but then die a slow death leading into worlds. The December trip where I typically go over and race 5 races in a 10-day stretch got eliminated this year, which helped a lot. I also focused more after nationals, which included going south to train in warmer weather in Greenville, SC. The formula is finally taking shape after a lot of years of trying different things. In interviews, I say I’m proud of the season I had. It’s not because I got 16th at worlds or whatever else I did or to be cocky about it. It’s because the system that was in place did what I wanted and now, moving forward, I can refine that and make it better and maybe next year I’m in the top ten and then in Louisville… who knows.
So it’s Monday. I’m still waking up at 5am everyday. I can’t really kick the jet lag, but that’s okay, because tomorrow I head to Jelly Belly camp in San Diego where I gotta get up at 4 in the morning to catch my flight.
This year, I have sooooooo much cool stuff planned. Honest! I hope everyone that’s reading will be involved in the new stuff that I’m talking about.
One of those things is the J.A.M fund/Foundation team that’s taking shape right now. This year, my friends Alec, Mukunda and I have set out to raise the level of cycling in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, build on the program they’ve had in place in years past, and help some truly talented young cyclists move up in the sport.
The team is outfitted with new bikes from Focus Bikes and two of the riders from the program (Jeremy Durrin and Anthony Clark) are going to be the first to benefit from the money we raised at the Grand Fundo last July! The two of them are flying out on February 11th to train with me and the Jelly Belly P/B Kenda team for 5 days in San Diego. They’re gonna live and train with the pros and maybe next year they’ll be at the camp, not as guests, but as teammates! This is the kind of opportunities I love being part of.
Thanks for reading and see you guys on the road. OOo…
Also, check out some new tunes I’ve been rockin’ lately, courtesy of Clinton Sparks!
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at February 7th, 2011 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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January 21, 2011
Ahhhhhhhhh. Belgium, France, Netherlands, Germany… I’m running loose in Europe, eating pastries, antagonizing/imitating the live stock on long rides and listening to tunes as I get ready for this weekends world cup in Hoogerhiede, NL.
Speaking of animals. James and I ran into this dog in France. Who does that to their dog??
Bob Marley in dog form
Bob Marley re-incarnated. Sorry, I gotta blog about the crazy stuff I see on the road. This is for you guys, but it’s also for me, think of my blog as my running diary of crazy memories that I share with the public.
So far the trip has been great, we’re really getting this euro stuff down to a science. Over the years I’ve accumulated the essentials from years past that help make this trip easier: coffee grinders, rain coats, spare helmets, gloves, fenders, a couple pair of shoes (riding and casual), some clothing and jeans in case bags don’t make it … the list goes on. This past weekend I raced HARD for the first time in about a month. Opening up the legs up from “training” felt pretty good and I think I’m still on the up and up. I’m hoping for a little better this weekend in Hoogerhiede and then in Sankt Wendal for the world champs.
If you guys read this, I’m sure you all saw the final Behind THE Barriers episode. Unfortunately, there isn’t going to be any encore as many are predicting. That was the last one… Sam’s not here, there’s no content being generated, the budget was kicked long ago and I think we have a lot of great content to go back and laugh at. Looking forward to next year, I can’t wait to make Behind THE Barriers, better and more positive then it was this year. BTB for me was about bringing the people who couldn’t be at the races… TO THE RACES. It made sense on a lot of levels, but most importantly, let the newbies of cyclocross see how much fun a cyclocross race can be and hopefully grow this awesome discipline of cycling.
In the final EP of Behind THE Barriers, my friend Clinton Sparks made a cameo. I have to tell you guys, Sparks is an awesome guy, someone I look up too and enjoy following, probably the same way you all like reading this blog, I like doing that with his adventures. So to hang out, listen to new music and get the guy behind the magic 1 on 1 is awesome. Also. the HOWL, that happens…ALL THE TIME. The AWoOoOoO! (that’s Sparks) Of course we put a spin on it, but hey…the copyright goes in his favor. Thanks to everyone who watched this year. Sam and I promise to bring you an even better season next year!
I’ll leave you guys with this shot of my teammates and I with the undisputed KING of ‘cross Sven Nys. It was nice to finally get a shot with him after all these years in Belgium:
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at January 21st, 2011 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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January 16, 2011
I may be about to race over in France, but that’s no reason not to share Behind the Barriers: The Finale! It’s been a long, great ride, so I hope you enjoy!
“Behind The Barriers” Episode 14 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at January 16th, 2011 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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January 8, 2011
Happy new year everyone! It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve really gotten in a good update. Last time I was trying to get down to Greenville, SC for a two week training block. Two days after my originally scheduled flight I finally made it here and had a great trip, I’m happy I made the trek. Gotta say thank you to allllll the guys here, George, Chris, Craig, Ted, Neil, the whole crew. It was nice to have such a good group to show me the local rides and it was also nice to have such a pro group of riders going out everyday, taking the job/training seriously and just working hard on the bike. It’s nice to see, be part of and it definitely pushed me to train harder, so I’m hoping it pays off in the coming weeks in Euro land!
Today was my first race of 2011, I finished that block of training here in Greenville and for the finale, I hit one of the North Carolina cross’ races about 2hrs away. It was a great course, lots of people came out and overall it was a great day. This was my first race since nationals and I was happy to be racing again, waking up the legs, starting the year off with a win, even a small one, is the best. Cross’ in the south is real and I can’t wait til our regular season actually migrates down here in January! The weather is perfect for this part of the season.
Lastly, I cannot wait for you guys to watch episode 14!! Butttt, it’s not 100% ready to rock yet, so we threw together a little bonus video for you guys to enjoy before the final episode of Behind the Barriers comes out on Wednesday. Enjoy,
“Behind The Barriers” Season Finale Teaser from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at January 8th, 2011 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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December 27, 2010
Check out what I’ve been training to lately! M.A.D.O.N.N.A. mixed by DJ Enferno!
M.A.D.O.N.N.A. – Mixed by DJ Enferno by djenferno
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at December 27th, 2010 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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December 23, 2010
Check out the latest episode of Behind the Barriers at the first day of the USGP Portland Cup! A big win but it was just setting things up for Sunday!
“Behind The Barriers” Episode 12 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at December 23rd, 2010 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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December 18, 2010
As a special weekend treat, enjoy a short EP 11 from my weekend in sterling, MA winning the overall NACT title before I made my trek to Portland for the USGP finals and nationals! OooOOoW!
“Behind The Barriers” Episode 11 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at December 18th, 2010 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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December 15, 2010
Photo by Mark Colton
What a crazy last two weeks it’s been. Ups and downs, stress, happiness, an entire spectrum of emotions came about and I didn’t know which way they’d go, but I knew I had done my homework. It started in Portland with the USGP finals where I wanted to take the overall USGP title. I had wanted it and targeted winning the USGP all season. After a hard weekend in Fort Collins, to do it I would have to win one of the days in Portland and beat my teammate and pal, Timmy J the other day.
Not impossible, but not easy. The first day went perfect and I had awesome legs – the kind that when you wake up in the morning, you just know. “Yes!!!” But, winning on Saturday only tied me with Tim for the overall as he placed 3rd on that day. The pressure was on full throttle. The next day I wasn’t tip-top. I maybe went a little too deep on that Saturday and Tim put me in the red a couple times. We were smashing each other to death out there, pushing the speed limit on every corner, clipping our pedals on rocks, taking it to the max. A lot of people reached out and said they loved watching the race live on cyclingdirt.org and in person. It was a great race to be part of too, it was an awesome feeling to win the second day in front of such a motivated, loud crowd and take that overall title. I’m grateful Colt is out there making the live coverage happen for everyone to be able to see it, even when they can’t physically be there.
That weekend went in the books as one of the best weekends of my season and maybe career. To go into the weekend down on points and then fight ‘til the death with Tim for the overall all the way to the sprint for the finish of the last race of the series…couldn’t have asked for a better, more dramatic way to end the series then that! And to put my name with the list of guys who’ve won the USGP overall since the series started was something I really wanted to do. There isn’t a better feeling in the world then wanting something and then getting it after a lot of hard work!
Voodoo Donuts as a reward!
After the Portland races, we got a bunch of sleep, a spinzee-doo, some voodoo doughnuts and then whipped our poor rental car (and I do mean, whipped) up to Bend that Monday afternoon Then the waiting game started. Six days to stew over the race that loomed. That week seemed like it would last for-everrr! Once Sunday came it was a relief. During the race I felt awesome, things were in place for a good ride, but I crashed and couldn’t get my bike figured out. As I’m sure many of you saw, Wellzy crashed into me when I went down and did the Macarena on top of my bike while he was trying to get himself untangled. Haha. In the aftermath my rear wheel was locked up, not spinning, clock ticking. I checked the skewer three times trying to figure out why my wheel wouldn’t move and for some reason didn’t see the brake caliper stuck under the wheel. The brakes were working fine. I pulled them to make sure of it as I ran with the bike, but I didn’t see that only one side was pulling. I ran my bike to the top of the flyover, looked at the bike, fixed the brake, pitted shortly after and continued on in the hunt for what I went to Bend for, but I didn’t get it. Todd rode a great race, didn’t crash even under pressure from Ryan and I and got the win. I want to thank everyone who took time out of his or her week to write me! It’s such a nice feeling to know that so many of you care about how I’m doing and take the time to write. I appreciate it so much!
So now it’s time to relax and re-charge the batteries before I go take on the last two world cups and the world championships, which I’m excited about. Have a great holiday, thanks for reading (& watching). Enjoy this episode that Sam and I worked on last night for awhile. It’s not the best one we’ve done, but we had some pretty good laughs and think you will too.
ALSO if you can take TWO minutes and vote for the Dryside Velodrome project in Durango, CO, it could make a great project become a reality! Pepsi is offering grants to projects like Dryside and this is one I’d love to see happen. Vote here.
“Behind The Barriers” Episode 10 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at December 15th, 2010 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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I’m busy finishing up a post to go with this, but take an advanced look at Behind the Barriers Episode 10!
“Behind The Barriers” Episode 10 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at December 15th, 2010 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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December 6, 2010
This weekend was amazing, thank you all for taking the time to write me and say congrats.
Enjoy episode 9 from the first day of the USGP in Fort Collins, Colorado
“Behind The Barriers” Episode 9 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.
Go to the Source – http://jeremypowers.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Jeremy Powers at December 6th, 2010 under Featured, Jeremy Powers, Road Blog
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