Jake Hollenbach

More evidence

2011-01-05T15:34:00.002-05:00

More evidence to the support the claim of Devon Kershaw being the worlds fittest Harry Dunne look-a-like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntYnDgBgDg0

Its Official

2011-01-05T10:56:00.004-05:00

Its official, Devon Kershaw is the fittest Harry Dunne impersonator in the world.

And in competitive bike-dancing news from Sub-Saharan Africa, we have this:

2010-11-04T12:18:00.002-04:00

http://www.bikerumor.com/2010/11/04/bmx-and-fixed-gear-freestyle-eat-your-heart-out-incredible-tricks-video-from-senegal/

Cross season

2010-11-02T20:09:00.004-04:00

Its cross season, and I have nothing to do with it other than loosely following it on the internets. Speaking of the internets and cyclocross...here are some fun old pictures to look though. Classic New England stuff:

http://cyclocross.tripod.com/images/umass/umass.html

enjoy

A rainy Wednesday

2010-05-19T12:26:00.002-04:00

I was just cleaning up in the kitchen, thinking about food - and that phrase "you are what you eat" came to mind. Then, in one of those inexplicable mental leaps I came to wonder if in cannibal societies they possibly use the phrase "you eat what you are".

Honestly, I'll probably never know the answer to that question. Maybe though, if I ever meet Eddy Merckx I'll pose that question to him.

Except that one time...

2010-02-18T22:14:00.002-05:00

There was that one French dude back at the Nagano games, who actually made figure skating cool. Remeber this guy? He was actually fun to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_CE2mONanE

Olympics

2010-02-15T22:05:00.001-05:00

Less Figure Skating, more Olympics....please.

Sleepy Hollow Wednesdays

2010-01-21T22:59:00.001-05:00

There is a good write-up on the Nensa website about the Wednesday night race series at Sleepy Hollow. I've been a regular for a couple of years now and its great to see such good turn out this season so far.

http://www.nensa.net/news/index.php?id=3813

And the Winter Season begins

2009-12-20T21:53:00.003-05:00

Another Bolton Season opener is in the books. I managed a solid 6th place finish. My hope was for a top 5 to start the year - and I was close. The course was mucho hard. Start heading straight up World Cup loop - down onto Broadway and down around Teardrop - then back up Broadway, around the Pond - right into a second lap of the same (pain).

I definitely felt fit, but definitely felt sloppy. Eli took a solid win and looked good. I've got to get training with him more over the next couple weeks. Get the pain train moving in the right direction.

In International news, Tim Burke - from over in Saranac Lake - is the #1 ranked biathlete in the world currently...No big deal? Wrong! HUGE friggin' deal.

On the home front - I skied the new Salomon Equipe 10 skate skis for the first time. They glide very, very well. I definitely had more speed than most on the downhills. I hadn't really spent any time training on them yet though and forgot how different skis can handle differently. Climbing on them didn't feel quite natural until about 15 minute into my cool down. Lesson learned.

My sister (hostess), Helen (timing guru), and Damian Bolduc (club organizer) did an awesome job putting on the Bolton opener with all the other volunteers. An interesting sighting for me was seeing Matt White - of cyclocross fame - at the race. Matt and I have had many enjoyable battles on the road bikes, when I was with CCB and he was with FiordiFrutta. He was giving the nordic ski racing thing a go - had some equipment problems - but I hope I keep seeing him out there.

It was cool to see Stratton skier Skyler Davis win the opening Eastern Cup of the year up in Maine this weekend. It looks like he crushed the field in the skate sprint. We helped him get some boot issues worked out this fall at the Skirack for an ankle that was giving him trouble. Its good to see the boots are working - the lad is strong.

On the trainer, I've been mostly been rocking out to Grace Potter. That song Mastermind is awesome.

Get out and ski.

Fall Training - Smooth is the word

2009-12-10T13:32:00.013-05:00

Hey gang - so the word I would use to best describe this past falls training is smooth. Things have actually gone very well - good weather, no injuries, and I have a good feeling going into the winter's x-c ski race season. The only bump was when I found out Alpina wasn't going to be supporting a ski team this season - but I was able to connect with Salomon and am really excited about racing with their new equipment. So, things stayed smooth. Salomon has actually created some ridiculous new boots in the S-lab Pro. Check 'em out.

The last race of the bike season was the Boston Criterium - where my teammate Clayton "Big-Show" Barrows went on a $100 bill vision-quest and won all sorts of money - which definitely made paying the bills in the fall a bit easier. So, once again, thanks Clayton! I'm riding again next year with Empire Cycling - and promised Clayton I'd finally make him some money.

After that race, I listened to Helen's sage advice and took a week completely devoid of exercise - as much as it pained me. It was a good choice though, and something I mistakenly didn't do last year. As a result I've had good energy and motivation this fall for training.

I've been basically doing the standard stuff - rollerskiing, running, strength exercises, and riding the bike. I've actually been able to ride more this fall because its been reasonably warm. I even made a pass over App Gap in November with Steve Francisco. With rollerskiing I've been mostly getting out a couple days a week with Eli Enman. I really enjoy training with Eli and hopefully I can race more with Eli this season (at the front of the pack, drilling it).

I was able to get together one weekend with my Alpina teammate from last year, David Cahill, for some great training. We did a time trial up Honey Hollow, which UVM uses, and that went very, very well. Helen and I are going to head out to Wisconsin this winter to race the Birkie and David (a Birkie vet) is helping us figure our travel and lodging arrangements, which I really appreciate.

The highlight of the fall training was easily Helen & Jake's Gourmet Training Camp at the Equinox Resort in Manchester, VT. Over the summer I had a good day at the Equinox Hill Climb and ended up winning. The winning prize was a full weekends stay and accommodation at the resort. Helen and I used the stay over Halloween weekend and we made the most of it - taking in some seriously plush rest and relaxation, but also some great long run/hike training in the mountains around Manchester. You'll be seeing me at more of the hillclimb races in 2010 that have bed and breakfast or resort/spa prizes. I'm a fan.

On the home front Helen and I were really able to get settled into our house in Winooski once the fall came around. The house is in a great location and is very comfortable now that everything is settled. We even hosted the famous "elastic waist band" dinner just last weekend - which strangely has become a who's-who of 20 and 30 something x-c ski people. So, needless to say lots of food was eaten and sizeable amount of beer and wine was enjoyed. Yay elastic waist bands.

Here's a smorgasbord of fall pictures..

Helen relaxing in the back room

The view from the top of Bromley
Oh, yeah - I did the Westford Turkey trot. Cruising with Binney Mitchell.
The view up the Lye Brook waterfall.

We were running all over the mountains.

Helen's Fitting

2009-11-08T22:43:00.003-05:00

Just about 2 weeks ago Helen came down to the Skirack with her trusty Cannondale Caad5 road bike (named Brendon) and did some fitting with with Sean. Helen has had some feet and saddle issues that were similar but different from my troubles. She had saddle pressure - but it affected her by not allowing her hips to rotate forward. This would force her to point the nose of her saddle down and cause her to try and strain to sit upright to keep the pressure off of sensitive areas. Because the nose of her saddle was pointed down though, she had a lot of pressure on her hands and arms.

Helen has a pretty stable foot, unlike mine, so she doesn't need a lot of arch support. She has occasionally gotten numb toes though from riding. It hasn't been a major issue for her, but a regular minor annoyance.

The first thing Sean and Helen looked at was the saddle choice and positioning. Helen had her eye of a Specialized women's saddle called the Jett. Sean agreed it would be a good choice and helped her pick out the right width (saddle comes in 130mm, 143mm, 155mm widths). Helen went with the 143mm. She had been using a Selle Italia Flite Gel, with the nose angled way down. When they put the Jett saddle on, they put it flat and Helen's hips nicely rotated with no pressure or discomfort. Sean helped set the height and fore/aft positioning just right. Helen also got immediate improvement in her hands and arms because they were no longer having to support so much of her weight. She was actually able to rotate her handlebars down and have better positioning in all three handlebar positions (tops, flats, drops). Successes!

Sean then looked at Helen's knee tracking and asked her about the foot comfort. Upon looking at her feet and arches - he had her try the Specialized BG footbeds. Not the highly supportive green ones like I've been using, but the slightly lower arched blue ones. They still have metatarsal support though, which helped even out the pressure in Helen's shoes. Helen's knees naturally track pretty well, but the footbeds did actually help make them just perfect. Successes again.

Given that it is November, Helen is mostly running and strength training, but don't be surprised if you see a cute little girl on a green Cannondale saying hi and waving at you as she flies past you up a climb next summer.

Hot Tracks on the Trainer

2009-11-08T21:03:00.003-05:00

So, its getting cold out and the time-change has happened - meaning its cold and dark - meaning its the time of the year where I start getting on the trainer. Unlike many, I don't mind the trainer that much. I've even been known to enjoy it. That's right, I used the "e" word in reference to the trainer - Enjoy.

This is all assuming one hugely important factor - some good tunes bumping. I am without Ipod myself - being a 90's guy and all - so, I'm at the mercy of Helen's Ipod. Thankfully, as I've explored it I've found mercy, some hot tracks, and some steady beats. Here are some I've been pedaling to lately:

Sam Sparro - Black and Gold

Beyonce - Crazy in Love

Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Coming

The Natural - The Natural

Shakira - Whenever, Wherever

Moby - In This World

What are you jamming out to?

Snow's ah comin'!

2 Unsolicited Endorsements

2009-10-28T09:41:00.003-04:00

So, this past season I struggled with my position/comfort on the bike. I was sitting twisted and never pedaling quite with 100% efficiency or muscle use. Granted, I've been racing for a couple years now, and ought to be able to not have those sort of stupid problems. I had switched a lot of equipment though in moving to the Empire Cycling team - new pedals, new shoes, new frame, etc.

Well, now that the season is over I went into full tinkering mode. Late in the summer I saw two products that caught my attention that I wanted to try. Both of them would not have been products I would have sought out unless I randomly happened upon them. The first was the Specialized BG footbeds. These are the aftermarket footbeds that Specialized makes specific for cycling. I'd seen them before but had disregarded them because honestly at first sight they didn't look much different than a cheap stock insole. Compared to a Superfeet or Aline insole, which have a plastic body, the foam construction of the Specialized BG and its minimal heel looked cheap to me. Boy was I wrong.

Well, I started working at the Skirack again part time in mid-August and got a chance to put my foot on one of the Specialized Green insoles (most support) and was really surprised. The low heel and substantial metatarsal support has really helped my foot. Believe it or not, I'm pedaling without any cant shims for the first time in 4 years - I've found a footbed that supports my foot on its own. Also, my Northwave shoes - which I've liked all year (stiff soles/nice materials), but have battled with fit a little bit - they fit perfectly now. Couldn't be happier.

A couple weeks after seeing the footbeds I happened upon the WTB saddle. There was a Giant mt. bike that was in the service shopped getting worked on. The saddle on the bike caught my eye as an interesting shape. Later in the day, after the bike had gotten serviced, I went over and hopped on the bike to check out the seat. I was wearing jeans, and even so the saddle felt amazingly good. Certainly worlds better than my Arione even with my nice Northwave shorts. I didn't feel pressure anywhere undesirable and I didn't have to twist my hips to get myself stable on the seat.

I went home that night and hit the internet to get more info on this mystery seat. Its the WTB Silverado - a new model just a couple years ago. WTB is obviously focused as a mt. bike company, but it amazed me that I'd never seen this seat on any road bikes. Obviously some people have used it on their road bikes, but I'd never seen or heard of it myself, and I consider myself to be somewhat in the loop. So, WTB - MARKET THIS SADDLE BETTER!

I made a before and after trip to the ever enjoyable Eric and Andy up at Green Mt. Rehab to see what the Computrainer had to say about the equipment changes. For the same heart rate, 135bpm, I was up about 45-50 watts immediately. I love technology...but not as much as you, you see.

On a side note, I've gotten out roller skiing 3 days so far with Eli, and I've been using the BG footbeds in my nordic boots as well, and very happy using them there as well.

Quote of the Week

2009-10-20T00:27:00.003-04:00

"I know its an unreasonable request - but Dad, my passion for skiing is unreasonable!"

-Overheard at the Skirack

Getting up to Speed

2009-04-20T13:08:00.004-04:00

So the cycling season was starting off pretty good...I was riding well, for myself, in the early season. I'm usually slow compared to my contemporaries for a month or two - the skiing fitness translates, but not immediately. I was racing well though; got 2nd to Adam Myserson at a training series race, and then 11th at the Marblehead Circuit race the next day.

The next weekend I was down in Northampton, MA for some family Easter festivities and I decided to head down on Saturday morning to a crit at Ninigret Park in RI. Long story short, it was raining and in the low-40's and just over halfway in someone crashed hard right in front of me - so I fell off my bike as well. I really try to avoid falling off my bike, because I don't like it. I'm not sure if its possible for me to like it any less than anyone else...but I really really don't like it. I got some good scrapes and some bruising on my right knee.

The reason I was racing was because the Tour of the Battenkill was the weekend following (this past weekend) and I wanted to get one more race in before hand. Well, that turned out to be a bad idea. I ended up limping around all week and riding just a little bit. I hoped for the best and headed down to the race on Sunday morning. 124 miles on a pretty hard course with a pretty competitive field.

Empire had a crack-squad of aces for this race. Margarita, Geronimo, Big-Show, DZ, Mathis, E-Rock, MJ, Minturn, and myself. DZ ended up being the best rider for the team on the day, and in retrospect we should have been doing more to help him. For me the race went into survival mode pretty quick - as guys were getting flats, crashing, and getting dropped right from the gun. With my right knee being a little funny, I could tell I wasn't pedaling quite right, but it was ok enough to get through some tough spots and even engage in some race aggression as we entered the race's 2nd of 2 laps.

In the end, the team road well, loosing just 2 riders (to flats, not getting dropped or pulling out) so we finished 7 out of 9 riders, in a field of about 160, that only saw 61 finish. That said, our top rider was only 25th of so. It is a start, and we will continue to do better, until we're winning these things. Personally, I came apart at about 100 miles and started to cramp - and I think the Advil I'd taken before the race started to wear off, because I could feel the "funniness" in my right knee. I road it in, and finished about 26 minutes down on the winner. I must say, Scott Nydam, who won the race, was off the front the entire day...with one other rider, and then by himself. That's some riding.

Also, a wild jackalope stole all of my race food out of my jersey pockets, my brakes were rubbing the whole time, I'd only gotten 45 minutes of sleep the night before, I was accidentally riding Will Dugan's cyclocross bike, and I was carrying a big photographers camera around my neck because I was shooting a photo special for Men's Journal.

Here's a picture from the race. The picture's full descipition should read "Tom Zirbel (Team Bissell) had a flat at the worse possible time - while in the middle of an Empire sandwich." I know what you're thinking; technically it'd be a Zirbel sandwich on Empire bread...but just go with it.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2009/apr09/battenkill09/battenkill092/17

For those who missed it.

2009-04-20T12:56:00.002-04:00

Here is the ad run in the Seven Days "sex issue" by the Skirack a little while back. Will, the Skirack marketing guy, sent the ad in as a black and white...the folks at Seven Days saw it, and decided it was worthy of a free upgrade to color. I will merely take credit for having the mustache and tan lines...Will was the creative genious behind the ad.

This weeks Seven-days

2009-02-24T20:15:00.003-05:00

Hey, pick up a copy of this weeks Seven-Days when it comes out tomorrow. Its the annual "sex" issue...and I heard there might be an interested ad running in there. Just check it out...and let me know if you see anything...

A Trip to Canada and the Stowe Derby

2009-02-22T22:04:00.005-05:00

First, I will say that there will be a round of pictures coming soon pertaining to the previous posts raving discussion of my new footbeds. I had said that I hoped my results could start backing up some of the things I was saying...and I think they have.

Last weekend Helen and I made the drive up to Ottowa - just about 4 hours from Burlington - for the Keskinada. The "Keski" is Canada's biggest distance race. They make a weekend of it, having 3 different classic distances Saturday and 3 different skate distances Sunday, including the main event 53km skate race that I was there for. All combined there are thousands of skiers and lots of countries represented - its a pretty cool scene.

To top it all off, the best winter festival going - "Winterlude" - is going on with canal skating, food, ice slides, music, snow sculptures, etc etc etc. Helen and I went up on Saturday - which was Valentines Day - which is, more importantly, Helen's Birthday. We went over to race registration and met up with an Alpina teammate David Cahill. David lives over by Alpina and had smuggled a pair of Alpina TCS 45 regular width boots into Canada for me to try out. With all that footbed shenanigans my size 44 narrow width boots were far to tight. The size 45 boots fit well, and I would go as far as to say my gloves now fit like my boots. Helen and I then went out to dinner at a great Thai restaurant and walked around the Winterlude celebrations before crashing to bed.

The race itself went as well as I could have hoped. The course is very wide and it was really well groomed. The start was fast, but I felt relaxed having done so many short-fast races this year. I maintained my position up front and once a couple extended climbs came I made the first couple splits. A group of about 8 skied for about 20 km before I came undone from the group. I got gapped and fought hard for about 5-6 km to get back to the group, but I just couldn't. The group had been skiing fast together though, so I was a ways up the trail from the next group. I eventually settled into my own rythme and made sure to slurp some Gu and drink water. I skied steady to the finish and moved by one other guy who came off the group - so I finished 7th. It turned out to be a screaming fast day - I was 5 minutes behind the winner, a very strong looking skier from Germany - and still skied 2:13, which when I did the math, came out to about 12:35 per 5k.

I rested up the days following that race and then did a hard race on Wednesday at the Sleepy Hollow Wednesday night series. Sam Morse, who is a biathlete with the Army National Guard, has come to a couple Wednesday nights this year (and he was at the Keski as well...getting 4th!). We skied together and had a great dual this past Wednesday night.

Then this weekend was a big couple goals for the winter. The Silver Fox Trot 10k skate race in Hanover on Saturday and the Stowe Derby on Sunday. The race in Hanover was solid. The course was skiing much faster than last year and I placed pretty similarly. It always amazes and encourages me to see how many darn fast skiers there are at the Eastern Cups. Although I was a couple places further behind where I was last year, I feel like I'm increasing in fitness right now unlike last year where I put everything I had into the eastern cup and petered out after that.

Today was the Derby and it was by far my most eventful Derby yet. It involved a restless night's sleep the night before, my first (and it was high speed) crash in the Derby, my second (high speed again) crash in the Derby, and then finally my first ever win in the Derby. I must say this, I am really starting to love the Peltonen Supra racing skate skis I have. They are always fast and today they were at times, too fast for me. The decent was powdery and 2 times I approached corners with way to much speed and caught a edge of my tip and wiped out. The first time I went off the trail and got my skis tied up in the trees and then the second time the quick release from my pole strap and handle released when I crashed and I had to scoot back up the trail to retrieve it and put it back together.

After the second crash I had to clean snow out of my sunglasses, take a deep breath, and get going again. When I did get going again I had two straight downhill stretches without super sharp turns to point the Peltonens straight and let them claw me back into the race. They did, and by the time we reached the Stowe touring center I could see in front of me the two racers from the heat after me who had caught and passed me and Marc Gilberston in the distance who was catching up to the leaders of our heat.

In the Derby its hard to know exactly how you're going to react once the climbing starts and today my body reacted well. Before I knew it I'd caught back up with Marc, and he, Jon Arne, and I skied away from the others. The three of us skied the rest of the way together until with about 1k to go I was able to accelerate and create some space between myself and them. We finished and I started praying that no skier in a later wave would ski faster. I miraculously lucked out, and no skier did, although Reid Greenburg, another Alpina skier, skied really well. Middlebury and Dartmouth also each had a skier who skied fast as well.

The best part of the Derby, by far, is talking with everybody else after its over about what this corner was like for them, or when they passed that guy or gal, or what wax they used, or how they did compared to their buddy. For such a relatively short race (19km) its got a heck of a lot of character...its like the Danny Devito of ski races....and you can quote me on that.

Forefoot Mania

2009-02-10T00:43:00.012-05:00

As you may or may not know I've battled with all sorts of injuries...for a long time. And some "new shit" has come to light and it looks like I may, at long last, have my solution. The answer it turns out was, literally, under my nose the entire time. To fully explain...lets go back in time a little.....(insert Wayne's World "didley-oo" noises)

I came into high school and started doing "repetitive motion" sports...things like running and skiing and biking and found that I was pretty good at "repeating motions" compared to the other kids. I rose up through the VT high school ranks quickly and by the end of my sophomore year was 2nd in the state for the mile - and my first year skiing, my junior year, I advanced from falling over just looking at a pair of skis to finishing 8th overall in the state. I trained for a couple weeks that summer on a bike and got 2nd in a junior mt. bike race.

Then, something happened. At the end of the summer between my junior and senior year in high school all of a sudden I was injured. I was at a running camp in Rhode Island and one minute I was in the best shape of my life, up to that point, and doing plyo's and the next minute my calves were...for lack of a better word, ripped. That senior year in high school everything went wrong, I basically had a walking limp...I called it "leg-idous". I went from injury to injury and found that I couldn't run or ski the same way I had before.

I got into college and had to baby myself through a year and a half of running before I realized how little I could train without hurting myself...about 20-25 miles a week...with LOTS of stretching and strength training. I was running faster, finally, but only because I was keeping myself away from serious injuries by hardly running any distance at all. Why was this all I could handle...

I bombed out of school, the track team got cut, and I left to live and travel in Asia for a year.

I came back and decided to make my fame and fortune in cycling...which I had always thought would be my calling. My first couple seasons I had some pretty serious ups and downs. But, over the last couple years I've been able to become a more consistent rider. What changed was that I started using "LeWedges". Also known as cleat shims they cant the shoe at an angle in relation to the cleat. I started using them and things got better...not great, but better.

I've always sat pretty heavily to one side of the bike (basically, not squarely in the center of the seat). When I first visited Green Mountain Rehab, only a couple weeks after getting 3rd in the Burlington Crit, the computrainer revealed my power output was coming out 60% from my left leg and 40% from my right leg. And as I've done more and more miles I've realized my muscle development is not equal between my two legs...again...why? To make pedaling comfortable for me to climb I had to use 6 Lewedges on my left leg and 7 on the right.

I've gotten back into cross country ski racing over the last few winters, and this season have decided to put more into it and started the season with hopeful ambitions for both classic and skate racing. It soon became quite apparent that my classic racing was going nowhere. I simply couldn't use my legs climbing. Doing intervals in the fall with Eli, classic striding was the only thing I could keep up with him doing. Why couldn't I climb on classic skis on snow?...why?

I did a classic time trial, almost a month ago now, with some skiers from UVM and Middlebury. I raced really hard, but I got stomped. Infact, I raced so hard that I couldn't move my right leg the next day. The area around my hip flexor on my right leg had hardly any muscle there and the little muscle that was there was so strained I couldn't walk straight up stairs for a couple days. That really pissed me of. I'd been putting a lot into skiing and things were just getting worse.

Then, later that same week, like dream come true, the answer came and dropped into my hands. A guy I used to ski with in high school came into the Skirack with some new bike shoes that he'd gotten. He was having some trouble with some pressure on his foot, near where the buckle was located on the side of the shoe. I took out the insole of the shoe, to have a look inside the shoe, and a little plastic piece came bouncing out. He told me someone who helped fit him to his bicycle had put it inside of his shoes, and that it was called a "forefoot" wedge.

Over the course of that afternoon the image of that forefoot wedge stayed in my head...until, at about 4 o'clock, like a ray of light, everything clicked...and it all made sense. My forefoot needed support...basically, if my ankle is aligned with my knee then the inside of my forefoot (the ball of the foot) is raised in relation to the outside of my foot. So, when I pressure the ball of my foot - like pedaling, skiing, and running...my ankle comes in and all hell brakes loose for the muscles and joints above. Also, my forefeet needed different amounts of support. This would explain why I sat to one side of the bike, and why my muscle development was unequal. The problem (my forefoot) had been under my nose the entire time (unless I was laying down).

So, I had my problem figured out....and only 10 and a half years later! Now, it was onto the solution...It was time to fight back!

I immediately went up to get Andy from Green Mountain Rehab to get my feet molded for some custom sports orthodics, and we talked at length about what I was looking to achieve through the orthodic. Custom orthodics take time though...2 weeks to be exact...and I wanted get moving in the right direction. After 10.5 years...it was go time. I found out Specialized made forefoot wedges and ordered enough for a small army. It was time to start experimenting.

I, against Helen's best suggestion, loaded a ton of them into my cycling shoes. I pulled a mirror in front of my indoor trainer and watched how I was pedaling. My knees groaned, my tendons hissed, and my muscles lurched into motion. Everything felt so right...and so wrong. The challenge of "repetitive motion" sports is just that...you repeat motions over and over again, right or wrong, and however you do it - your body remembers. Proper motion patterns, if not done, will feel foreign. I knew it was right, but played it cool....20 minutes on the trainer here...a couple minutes there.

Things are progressing steadily now. The custom footbeds had arrived and I've just started using them. I am seeing immediate improvements in skiing and cycling, and I think I will continue to see improvements for some time as my muscles balance back out. The footbeds initially made my ski boots and cycling shoes fit snugger (vertically) and as I’ve continued to use them my feet have “relaxed” and have both lengthened and widened. My hammertoes are gradually lengthening back out…and it looks like I’m going to have to get some bigger shoes to fill. ;-)

Both Andy and Eric at Green Mt. Rehab are fantastic partners in helping me figure this stuff out. I think far to often we are tempted to either try to do something entirely by ourselves or to completely rely on others. Much more can be accomplished in collaboration though. I really enjoy working with them to improve myself and appreciate their help.

I'll keep you posted on how things are going...and hopefully the results will start doing the talking...and not the long blog posts.

The photo catch-up

2009-02-09T22:31:00.004-05:00

This first one is of me and my new Empire Cycling teammate Clayton Barrows up at Bolton Valley, sometime around....like January 3rd or 4th or something. We are each holding hot chocolate which was courtesy of the Vermont Cross Country Ski Areas Association. Ahh...those were happy times... Anyway, Clayton and I are going to be making magic happen together in the sprints and breakaways and all over the place this year on our bikes.This is way back around Thanksgiving. Cross country skiers playing cards at a table somewhere in Canada...its been done before and it'll be done again. I was lucky enough to get to tag along with that Burke gang.
And yes, the long awaited Mt. Mansfield picture. This way I can prove we really did it. Paul, Eli and I ventured up the mountain on a half-inch mixture of ice and rocks on the first day of November. We got all the way to the top. Coming down was scary...but fun.

Internet...back in business

2009-02-04T22:38:00.004-05:00

Upon hearing that his good friend, Lance Armstrong, lost his testicles to cancer, Chuck Norris donated one of his to Lance. With just one of Chuck's nuts, Lance was able to win the Tour de France seven times. By the way, Chuck still has two testicles; either he was able to produce a new one simply by flexing, or he had three to begin with. No one knows for sure.

Road Trip to Alpina

2008-12-19T20:13:00.006-05:00

Here are a couple pictures from a little road trip last week I took with my sister down to Lebanon, NH - the home of Alpina Sports. We were meeting up with Dorcas Wonsavage, the Alpina race director to say hi, pick up the Peltonen race skis, and try on some boots.

I wore the boots and raced the skis over last weekend at Bolton and Craftsbury. The races went ok for me - a starting point. Northwest Vermont Nordic had good attendance - and Eric Tremble raced really well. It was nice to get the first measure of the season. It lets you know how far back you are and it helps get me motivated to do the training to catch-up to the front of the pack.

Dorcas, myself, Peltonen Supra-X, and a ski tie. The skis are real light.
The Alpina Sports race serive truck...with plow and all. Legit.
This was my lunch...a "Rio" bagel sandwich from Burlington bagel. Sausage, cheese, egg, salsa, on a sesame bagel. Pure Magic.

Hot Cereal - its cold out

2008-12-08T10:03:00.004-05:00

That first morning you wake up and its still bellow 10 degrees, all of a sudden regular cereal and cold milk does not sound so good anymore. Its time for some hot cereal - some oatmeal or cream of wheat - anything as long as its hot. Looks like I'm a morning to late, time to go grocery shopping.
Brrrr.

Some boots

2008-12-07T19:43:00.003-05:00

Hey There - a couple pair of boots for sale. E-mail if your interested - jakehollenbach@gmail.com

Rossignol X-ium Skate boot Women's (white/orange) - size 38 EU - $225 - new condition

Rossignol X-ium Classic boot (silver) - size 44 EU - $125 - lightly used

Into Ski Season

2008-12-07T19:11:00.005-05:00

To get myself jump started on the up coming nordic ski race season I packed my bags and hopped a ride up to the land of Canada for 10 days around Thanksgiving.

Paul Smith and I headed up north of Quebec City and stayed with the team from Burke Mt. Academy. We trained, ate, slept, watched hockey, and goofed off. It was lots of fun. The kids from Burke are a great group...and very solid skiers too. Pete Phillips and Matt Johnson are great coaches. I definitely picked up some very useful technique tid-bits doing workouts with them.

I got to try out a bunch of new equipment from Alpina. Some pretty trick stuff. Everything was new to me so it was nice for the equipment and I to "get to know eachother". I really like the Peltonen skis a lot. I was just using their second level skis, called the Zenith, for training - and I was surprised how many people asked me about them. I've never had a pair of Peltonens before, but apparently many other people had a pair at some point in their ski past - and have good memories. All I know is I like the new ones. I also really liked the Exel WC poles - very stiff. Although, while I was in Canada I was trying out a slightly longer length (162.5) than I've used before. I've cut them back down to 160cm - and it feels much better...amazing the difference a little 2.5cm can make.

Then, the day before Thanksgiving Helen showed up with the cavalry - her mother, father, other brother Evan, and their Swedish exchange student. We skied a couple days together and had Thanksgiving dinner. We even did a day of Alpine skiing at Mont Saint-Anne. We did a day of x-c skiing at Saint-Anne as well - and their nordic center is outrageously good (which everybody always says, but you don't really know until you go there). And they only had a couple of their trails open at the time. I can't imagine what its like there when they have all 214km of trails open.

Racing starts this coming weekend in Vermont - with the Bolton and Craftsbury season openers. I was a little tired after getting back from Canada, but I'm back into a good training groove now. It'll be fun to hit the gas. We got some good snow today - with more coming in the next few days. It's going to be a great winter! Get some wax on those skis...

Skiing in Vermont

2008-10-30T22:39:00.008-04:00

So, there was cross-country skiing to be had in Vermont today. Its not even Halloween yet (its tomorrow) and we were skiing.

7:45AM - I swung by the UVM dorms and picked up one Paul Smith and we hopped on I-89 south to meet up with Eli Enman down at the Richmond park-and-ride. We parked and rode in Eli's sweet bio-diesel further down 89 to the Waterbury/Stowe exit and headed north on 100 and then did the shake and bake, left-right-left, through Moscow-by Stowe HS-and onto the Mountain Rd. **Take that! Stowe Village Traffic**

8:45AM - We decided to pass on skiing the Stowe toll-road and go right for the Notch Rd. The Notch Rd. is Rt-108 and is closed between Stowe Resort and Smuggler's Notch Resort once the snow flies. The old Stowe Road Race, something I've just heard legend and lore of, used to go up and over the notch. We drove right up to the end of the plowed road and parked. The UVM ski team van was there and Fritz and Jurgen were sitting inside the van, doing who knows what. We talked to them for a moment, then geared up, slapped down the skis, and got going.

9:00AM - We chose to just use waxless classic skis...light touring skis. I'm not going to lie and tell you it was midwinter perfect skiing, but it was real skiing. The road was completely covered, and we weren't stepping over water or rocks every 10 feet. We kicked and glided our way up the notch and passed UVM skiers heading the other direction - including Ryan Kerrigan, who racked up an impressive win at the recent Brandon Gap time trial. I'm picking Ryan to do something real good on skis this winter. He's been working real hard at it for a while now - and I think its time he shines through.

9:30AM - As we started to climb further up the notch we saw UVM assistant coach Pat Weaver coming towards us. Pat was skiing clean-up - the caboose at the back of the of the UVM train. We stopped and talked to him for a few minutes. I think Pat was happy to see that Paul was out skiing with Eli and I. Paul didn't quite nab one of the UVM ski team spots this year (there were 17 guys for only 8 spots) and I think Pat really likes Paul - so he was happy to see that he was staying on top of his skiing and training.

10:30AM - We continued on, back and forth on the notch road for a total of about 1.5 hrs. On the way back to the car we passed the unstoppable force...the immoveable object...Trina Hosmer. She's in her early 60's...an Olympian back in the mid 1970's...and she's still pretty dang fast! And she's right there with the college kids chasing snow up high in the mountains.

11:00AM - When we got back to the car I asked Eli if he wanted to ski just a little more...and he said no, that he liked to keep the first few days of snow skiing in the real cold a bit short. It was really cold up there, and I thought to myself..."well, Eli's a lot more experienced than me, so why don't I go ahead and use his experience...and just do what he does." So, we called it a day, hopped into some dry clothes, and headed back to Burlington. I'd amazingly had some forethought earlier in the morning, and had picked up 3 cinnamon and sugar bagels from Bruegger's. We munched them down and listened to the entertaining radio political commentary on our way back north on I-89.

NextUp - A loosely planned, potentially bad idea, and a heck of a lot of fun - skate ski to the top of Mt. Mansfield and ski down on Saturday morning. Pictures for sure!

Do you YouTube?

2008-10-20T22:07:00.002-04:00

I do. YouTubing...or Tubin', as its known around these parts, is a favorite pastime of mine. Many an evening can be passed by bouncing from video to video and seeing where it takes you. Par for course, its often the journey that is more important than the final destination though.

Here are two gems my Tubin' journeys have brought me across lately:

Crazy Norwegian Strength
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoBZDpwfn50

and

Crazy 80's Cheese
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ7L6MUUrTc&feature=related

For more technical inquiries into YouTubing techniques, skills, and related subjects I will direct questions to Colin Jaskiewicz at cjaskiewicz@gmail.com

A New Deal

2008-10-17T18:49:00.005-04:00

My legs are feeling better and better - but what's happening is now that my legs can actually go for a while on roller skis is I get to find out how weak my upper body is. I briefly attempted to double pole with Eli and Adam Terko today while they did an interval workout and it was not happening. Alas, good progress is being made and the training is happening and enjoyable.

Its fun getting out rollerskiing with other people - it definitely helped having someone to go with yesterday! It was raining, but Paul and I had made a plan...so we had to stick to it. We did about an hour and a half skate rollerski in the pouring rain. I wouldn't have done it without him, and he without me. (ps, thanks to my sister and Helen for letting me use their rollerskis)

Progress was made this week on making my 2 sport thing really happen. On my sisters suggestion I contacted Dorcas Wonsavage at Alpina Sports to see what they were doing in terms of a racing team. A couple e-mails shot back and forth and a good phone conversation and I sent in a contract to ski for their team. They used to have a pretty bang-up factory team back some years ago - my sister actually skied for them for a little bit...as did Eli's sister, Molly. Dorcas is getting the band back together, meaning getting an Alpina team back in the game, but its still more of a start-up team right now. That is good though, because I'm more of a start-up ski racer right now. It should be a good fit, and I'm really motivated to train hard and race fast for them!

Its amazing too, I've let Mike Sherry know about what I'm doing with skiing and he's ok with it, and I let Dorcas know what I'm doing with cycling and she's ok with it. I definitely appreciate that a ton! So, in the tradition of Jim Thorpe, Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, and Carl Swenson - we have a 2 sport athlete on our hands. Which isn't really special anymore now there there is that whole "triathlon" thing going around.

Autumn soreness be gone!

2008-10-14T12:14:00.008-04:00

I am currently going through the mildly annoying and slightly painful process of turning my very limited cycling legs into legs capable of doing things like mountain running, roller skiing, and weight lifting.

Cycling does very good things for general endurance and the specific strength of the pedaling motion. All the balancing muscles though go unused and the muscles loose their ability to do eccentric contractions. So, running down mountains and balancing on rollerskis put my legs in the hurt-box in a big way.

The last 2 days I've been hobbling down the stairs of the Skirack. People keep asking me if I'm injured. I'm not sure exactly how to answer them. At the moment I am basically incapacitated - however in a few days once the muscles have healed up - I'll be ready to go.

It is amazing how little it takes to put me in this condition directly after the cycling season. I went for a 40-45 minute classic rollerski Friday mid-day with Paul, Helen's brother. Very easy and controlled. Then, Friday late afternoon I did a hour to hour and a half mountain run/hike around Bolton Valley with my sister, Tremble, and some other cool kids. I got up Saturday morning and met Eli for a skate rollerski. We cruised at a medium pace for me - easy for him - and boom...It was all she wrote.

The air is starting to get getting colder, the leaves on the trees are falling, and it will be just another week or two before my legs have completed their annual migration.

Ins and Outs

2008-10-06T20:37:00.005-04:00

There are a lot of Ins and Outs going on right now (think Big Lebowski)...the elite amateur cycling scene in New England/Mid-Atlantic is going through all sorts of crazy changes right now. There is some seriously interesting stuff going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah...its small potatoes, nothing like Lance and Vino and all that crap...but its the scene I'm in and its pretty all over the place right now.

There are a bunch of teams that I've heard may not be around next year...Fiordifrutta, Kenda-Raleigh, Targetraining, Sakonnet, Rite-Aid. Pretty whacky stuff. I think a few guys will stop racing and many more are shuffling around trying to find new homes. The face of racing regionally is going to look a lot different. It will be cool seeing all the new rider combinations out on the road next year. I think several teams will get major reinforcements, there will be a couple new teams, and there will be a couple strong riders racing as solo acts.

I'm going to be wearing a new uniform myself next year. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it 100%...but I'm very excited at the same time, taking the next step for my cycling. It is pretty scary though, because the CCB club has come to mean so much to me. Its come to be a large part of my identity as a rider and a person. I love the other guys on the elite team (and all our wild adventures, funny misfortunes, and many successes), the multitude of masters riders (and all their encouragement and advice and racing tips), and especially Steve Pucci. There is a certain "je ne sais quoi" about Steve and the touch he has with his team and his riders. Steve very much stays out of the limelight and behind the scenes - but he's had a huge impact on me and many others. He is a director of few words, but when you do get an e-mail from Steve every word has a message and every message is significant. He (and Amos!) has instilled confidence and purpose in me and my racing. The most satisfying thing for me was having such a successful end of this season with CCB. We really came together as Blue Team and got ourselves on quite a hot streak.

I'm going to be racing next year with the Empire Cycling team out of New York City. After I won the GMSR crit this past year I decided I was going to race 2009 as a full-time bike racer. Interestingly, the seeds of me riding for Empire were actually sowed in the fall of 2004 at the Gloucester cyclocross race. It was my very first race as a CCB'er (I met Steve and stayed with him that weekend and he gave me a CCB skinsuit to race in). Steve was taking a chance on me and I deeply appreciate that and would like to think that it is a chance that's paid off for him. Well, I finished 2nd in the B race at Gloucester. After the finish they took the top 3 and put us inside a big tent to have drinks, get cleaned up, and ready for the podium. Gloucester that day was really windy and there are thousands of cyclocross fans screaming and announcers going crazy but inside that tent it somehow seemed quiet. I chatted with the other 2 guys and especially enjoyed talking to a guy from NYC named Mike Sherry. I could tell right away that Mike and I both enjoyed each other. Over the next couple years I would occasionally bump into Mike at the races and we always enjoyed a good chit-chat.

Mike started the Empire Cycling team in 2007 and has been working hard to make the team into a big-time program. He had a rider win the national TT championship this year and really gets the team to all the big races with tip-top support. I ended up only racing 6 days of the NRC calendar this year (Virginia and Toona getting cancelled had a big impact on us east coasters) - so I'm really looking forward to getting on the road more next year to throw down at the big-show races. I'll be turning 28 next year, which in the world of an amateur cyclist trying to become a professional is a majorly bad thing. Pro teams must have 1/2 their roster under the age of 28. So, if you're over 28, and you want to ride for a big-time pro team, you really need to be a proven racer that can win big-time races. There are a whole handful of riders on the bigger pro teams who are the same age as me that don't have contracts for next year. Because of all this, I really appreciate the opportunity Mike is giving me and am I'm going to make the most of it!

I'd also like to say that I love my girlfriend Helen because she can make awesome pizza and really good peanut butter cookies.

On a last side note, check out this interview with Mike Creed. He's got some pretty funny stuff to say about riders who blog. All true of course! It has made me think...so, you may start seeing some writing that actually has some thoughtful insight. Baby steps.

Snow is coming...get ready! I'm going to be doing some fall training this year with Eli Enman. Eli runs Sleepy Hollow and is one of Rossignol's big-gun national ski racers. He was the guy who came before me in high school...so, I was always chasing his ghost around the cross-country courses. I'm hoping that by training with him that some of his go-fast ski mojo will come my way. Either way, it should be fun, as he's great to get out and run and ski with.

Ski season!

2008-09-28T23:34:00.004-04:00

Well, no, its not really quite ski season yet...but cycling season is over. Same as last year, I finished the season with a bang by going out to Las Vegas for a week. I attended the Interbike tradeshow and competed in the USA Crit Series Finals. The trade show was overwhelming as always and the Crit race was really scary as always. I survived both and did a good job considering. I even rode a mt. bike at the outdoor dirt demo - a Specialized S-Works Enduro...a bike that if I hung around with it too much, would probably get me to quit road biking! Not really, but it was so fun to ride.

In the crit race I had my first crash in 2 1/2 years. I had it coming though - at the trade show I was bragging to Mike Sherry (who runs the Empire team) how I don't even need to knock on wood about not crashing. The next night at the race I got a slow leak in my front tire and slid out at 35mph. A couple guys piled to me - and doled out plenty of verbal abuse my way. Jimmy (my bike) and I somehow managed to get up from the crash pretty unscathed though.

I got back in the race, but was a little tentative. I was riding towards the back and kept getting caught behind gaps as the quick pace dropped riders. I'm still on some descent form though and was able to force myself up into the top 10 with 5-6 laps remaining. The field had been whittled down from 100-120 guys to 39 that would finish.

Little did I know though that my samurai sword had fallen out of my pocket when I had crashed earlier. So, when the real US Crit, big money, Las Vegas, nighttime, knife fight started with 3 laps to go...all I had was a damn butter knife. I nearly locked handlebars with both Mark Hekman and Steve Tilford in the last couple laps and let myself get badly cut-off two or three times. I came into the last lap around 25th and could only move up a couple spots to 21st. I'd really wanted to win this one (just like everyone else!) and I didn't - so it was nice having my good buddy Scott Oliver there to sit down with and talk and drink some water with after the smoke had settled. The guy who won, Hilton Clarke, is a pretty damn smart criterium rider. You can really see why they pay him the big bucks, the way he's able to handle himself in these big races.

Fall plans are pretty straight forward...keep up some riding, but really get ready to do a good winter of x-c skiing and ski racing. I'll be working at the Skirack and getting down and dirty with the nordic floor. I'm also planning to do 3 running races this fall in addition to the 12-13 x-c ski races this winter. The Northwest Vermont ski club is just a blast to be with in the wintertime. Then, come springtime - I'm finally going to be a full-time bike racer. I'll let ya'll know about that asap.

My first running race is this coming Sunday! I better get out and start jogging!

Getting amped up as things wind down

2008-09-17T23:11:00.003-04:00

So, there are only 2 bike races left...meaning the season is winding down to an end. However after taking a mental break following the back-to-back stage races I am getting myself amped back up to get in the action and make something happen in these last 2 opportunities. I've been making sure my equipment is 100% (Jimmy, the bike, gets tired at the end of the year) and put on fresh cleats, a new bottom bracket, and new shift cables and housing.

This Sunday, over in Portsmouth, there is a great crit. Its a true downtown crit...right in the shopping area, with restaurants and cafes and whatnot. I have a hard time getting pumped for crits if there aren't a lot of people there watching...but when there is a good crowd...ohhh! I get jazzed. It'll be the last race of the season for the Blue Team - and we want to go out in style. I've got a plan in mind and I think it will work out just wonderfully. We've had a great season this year. We've raced really well together as a team and that has been SO satisfying.

The morning after Portsmouth I fly out to Las Vegas - where the Interbike trade show will be going on - but more importantly I'll be lining up again to do the USA Crit Series Finals. The race is Thursday night and is going to be crazy. I managed a top 10 last year...so I'll roll the dice again and see what lady luck has got for me this year. Thanks in advance to Spike and Rodger for letting me stay with them...and MAJOR thanks to my sister for helping me get the plane ticket. She's far to nice to me.

The following are some reminisces of those back to back stage races.

First, a Very cool time lapse video piece from the Burlington Criterium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvCrevlhQ3M

Second, a picture of the sprint finish in the rain from Tour of Quebec.**One side note...Michelin Pro3 Race tires are fantastic! In the race pictured above almost everybody in the race except the 4 CCB riders (all on the Michelins) had a crash...some of the guys crashed 2,3,4 times in the course of the race. Granted, it was tretcherous - a 2.7km loop with 12 turns, a cobbled roundabout, and it hadn't rained in 2 weeks. We all had Pro3's pumped up to about 90-95 psi and we were rockin' everybody - at least cornering wise. I couldn't help but start laughing as everybody kept crashing. Guys would be going SO slow through turns and then their rubber would just slip out. It was hard to tell why the difference, and all I can think of is the tires. So, thanks Michelin!**

The King of Cool

2008-09-13T11:42:00.004-04:00

Marvin Gaye doing what he does best. I saw this for the first time the other day. I wish I'd been there for that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A

Rose Long

2008-09-10T21:36:00.004-04:00

I went and visited my good friend Rose Long this evening in the hospital. She was the unfortunate victim of a hit-and-run while riding her bike down Pearl St. in Burlington, VT. A car coming in the other lane of traffic took a left turn through her lane...and through her.

She's a 100% rock-star though and is already trucking down the road to recovery. She got pretty banged up and has been in the hospital for a couple days and has been, and is going through, some different surgeries. Its amazing though - she has had so many visitors, and the nurses and doctors think she's a hoot...which she is. When I was there visiting today after work, there were so many people coming and going, you would have thought there was some sort of cool party going on. She's hooked up to lots of Morphine....but she can still wrap a crowd around her finger.

I've been helping mentor/coach Rose this year as she's gotten into road bike racing. The one, set in stone, rule I set forth to her as we were getting started with training last January was that she was not aloud to crash. She is a very forward, energetic person and her bike handling and cornering skills reflect that (which led to me making that 1 rule). She can corner and descend a bike on par with the great Liz Harrison - but is still pretty green when it comes to doing it in a pack of other women (who maybe can't corner quite as fast). I was really impressed last Monday when she finished the Green Mountain Stage Race Crit - which concluded her first road season - and realized she'd made it through the whole season without crashing. Rose had an awesome season, winning the ECCC season overall, winning the UVM race, many regional top-5's, a 12th place in ther first NRC race, and some top-10 stages at GMSR.

(*authors note: I did crash when I first started racing - crashing and destroying myself and my brand new racing bike in only my 3rd Category 5 race*)

One week later - boom - the universe strikes - she doesn't crash...worse...she's hit by a Jeep. Oooohhhfff. Rose is going to be aok in the long run - but has some serious resting and healing-up to do for now. I will tell you this though...when Rose comes across the Finish Line at next years Burlington Criterium with a 5-bike length gap - you're going to be seeing a very emotional win. I wouldn't want to miss it! I had a pretty emotional release after finally winning in Burlington this year...with so many friends and family there - but I can only imagine what Rose is going to be feeling like.

Rose has got quite a team caring for her and thinking about her - her family, friends, UVM Cycling, the Burlington cycling community, everyone at the Skirack, and basically anyone who's ever met her for more than 5 seconds.

On a side note, Lance Armstrong - the attention hore that he is - is trying to steal Rose's "comeback" thunder and is apparently making a little comeback of his own. Whatever.

Even MORE Pictures

2008-09-03T21:40:00.011-04:00

This batch is from my sister

Helen watching the women's race go by. The honorable Catherine Curi-Mattis was in control. Catherine let me crash on her couch for god-knows how many monthes at her apartment in Winooski when I returned from my year traveling in Asia...way back in....2002.
There is so much to be learned from Amos. Relaxation is one thing I've learned. This is Amos and myself, 3 minutes before they call the racers to the line...down the street on the steps of the Skirack in the shade.
And we're off...what perfect weather we had.
**SO HAPPY**
Colin is rediculous...thank you Colin. If you ain't first you're last...and if you ain't rediculous you're boring.
Interview time. Only minor fidgetting and no "umms"....pretty good.
People who've really believed in me. Helen, Sarah, and Scott O (and my sister taking the picture!). It would have been awesome to have my parents there but they work overseas at International Schools. They are here in the summer but have to head back before Labor Day (so I put way too many pictures up on my blog, so that they feel like they were here). They did see the Hilltowns race though - which was really cool.

More GMSR Pictures

2008-09-02T21:19:00.012-04:00

Amos arrives for dinner and I have a surprise for him - its Jake & Amos brand pickles. Courtesy of Helen's sharp grocery shopping eye.Joe Bazzano going nuts with the chalk on App Gap. Joe's an ace feeder and awesome guy to have on our side at the races.
That's Pucci to the right of the picture. Me and boys rolling up to him after 2-3 victory laps. We like ham...and We like hamming it up!
Dinner at Shalimar (awesome Indian food) with the teammates and friends the evening after the road race. Colin is epoxying his broken shoes at the table...Dan is amazed and disgusted.
Matt Colby getting to the top of App Gap the easy way. Matt, Merlin, Butch and everybody at SRAM did a fantastic job this weekend. Quick wheel changes, awesome wrenching, and fast wheels.
Pumped - who wins the big money, crowd prime and the race?! John Murphy...and me.
Dan and Will. Front row at the Crit - 5th and 6th overall. These boys can ball. Both are Super-Cat1's. Its a new category that the USCF doesn't know about.
Will, Scott and Sarah and the Girls, George Deane, Slim Jim and the Downhillers (USA Flag folks), and myself all in a bit of shock about what just transpired.
Jabberwalkie (will be taking the win at Portsmouth), WD-40, Yahor - so European in those shades, and Karl. Its only 1 day a year that grown men in spandex get to block traffic, ride bikes and put out the vibe on Main St. in Burlington, VT - so they are soaking it up.

GMSR - pictures first.

2008-09-02T20:52:00.009-04:00

Sitting atop App Gap with my sweetie after the road race - 2k to go and my legs went kah-put.Eric Tremble (all around good guy), Dan Cassidy (2nd place on the day = big smile), and myself.
Lovely ladies of Winooski, Shelburne, Essex, and Colchester at the top of App Gap
Burlington Criterium = Greatest Criterium in the World.
What you looking at Jamey? Its Game Time!
Podoim with Francois and Karl (Karl = Shark from "Finding Nemo")
Interview time (Steve Pucci just happened to be in town and just happened to have a CCB podium hat with him...that guy is some sort of Oracle)

And of course the pre-race picture!

2008-08-12T22:42:00.002-04:00

M-Q pictures

2008-08-12T22:33:00.006-04:00

Chris was off the front for a whole lot of K's - winning sprints and big checks, and getting some face time with the cameras.
A good shot of me with the mustache. the pink on our uniforms looks pretty tame when in quebec. they love the pink up there.
An interesting side note - my biker clone, Matt Toulouse (in the orange), also showed up with a very handsome mustache. It was even more like looking in a mirror when I saw him.
Like I said Chris was off the front for a long time...look, he's still out there!

Quebexican Adventure

2008-08-12T21:30:00.002-04:00

La Classique Montreal-Quebec has come and gone (for the 60th year). I raced with 3 other teammates - Chris "Breakaway" Worden, Colin "Jabberwalkie" Jaskiewicz, and William "WD-40" Dugan (all 21) - and we did pretty darn well. Its a long race - 240km this year.

Last years race was 252km and it took about 5:12. This years course was slightly shorter at 240km and the race took about 5:50. Last year had a cross-tail wind and this year had a slight head wind. Tactics were pretty simple last year. Ride in a big 20 man break all day long and then go like crazy when the attacks start 40km from Quebec. I finished 8th. Amos road great in the break all day last year - but came apart a little at the end.

This year, Chris hit it hard at 10km and pulled 3 other riders off the front with him. They got pretty well up the road and Chris rode awesome. At 106km there is a pretty prestigious midway sprint competition ($250). We heard over the race radio that Chris had won the sprint. That put Colin, Will, and I in a pretty good mood for the 2nd half of the race. Chris' move had 8 more guys bridge up to it - and then eventually the race came back together at about 160km. That's when things got tricky. The race was much more complicated this year - attacks coming and going - teams pulling this back - new moves going - people bridging up. The challenging thing is trying to figure out how different teams are racing and how much people have left once we get over 200km.

I eventually went for it full gas with about 50km to go and was in the action from that point on. Will Dugan had already done the same and was up the road - but had an ill-timed flat and was caught out on the late race excitement he certainly would have been a part of. I bridged up to each group that was ahead of me on the road. Its hard to exactly describe the final 5km of the race as there was a lot stuff coming and going - lots of ins and outs. I had strong legs, but not a lot of quickness left. I finished 4th - just missing the podium, continuing the trend of being very good but not truly great. I hope to turn that around before the year is over. I think I raced a little under confident in the last 10km of the race. Its hard to figure out how tired other people are.

Colin came through in 9th place - he was following my wake up the road behind me catching all the groups on the road. Very impressive for a young guy who can sprint so well to ride that way in the last 15km of a 240km race. Will Dugan rode hard all the way to the line - but had understandably gotten a bit frustrated by the bad-luck out on the road. He will dominate this race one day! Chris Worden continued to impress everybody by riding in only a few minutes back on the win - super impressive after such aggressive early riding.

We had tremendous support out on the roads from Joe (WD-40's mentor) and Chris Worden's very nice parents (who are great feeders).

On an interesting side note - I used two things I'd never used before in this race that both helped a fair amount. We used race radios and it definitely helped me from "spacing out" while riding. I have a pretty bad tendency to just zone out during races and I found having Joe giving us race updates from the team car helped me keep my head in the game. The second thing I'd never used before was chamois cream. Its basically a cream that you rub into the pad that in is the bike shorts that reduces friction (a good thing for long days in the saddle). My ass still hurt at the end of the day, but definitely a ton less than last year!

Anyways, its an interesting race that is very well run and it was fun to do.

Donkey Kong

2008-08-04T23:47:00.003-04:00

Like my old friend John McKone used to say, "it was on like Donkey Kong". Blue team (CCB) was kicking ass and taking names in NH this past weekend and it felt good. A couple weeks back I'd hatched this plan in my head that Dan and Will and I were going to lead out Colin at the Concord Crit. In my plan I was going to come through the last turn at 42 mph and Colin was going to light it up like a Christmas tree (L'arbe de noel - for my french speaking readers). Well, it wasn't quite like I'd imagined....I only came through the last turn at 41.7mph. Oh well! Haha. It was awesome - Shake and Bake! Who-WAH. Oh, and we were shaking and baking all day long too. 7 out of the 8 primes. You could say Will, Patrick (the German) and I had a good shopping experience while we were in Concord.

Here's the report: http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080803/SPORTS/808030361/1054/TOWNS13

If you zoom the finish line picture you can see a little bit of my mustache as I watch Colin. Will is also sporting a mustache now - and it looks like Dan has one on the way as well. Will Amos Brumble be forced to show up to GMSR with a mustache? Will Lassie save Timmy from drowning in the well? We'll find out next time folks...

Well, we rested up and then came back for more....

The Bow road race course is a tricky one - always up and down, not really any flat. If a strong racer misses a breakaway they can get very frustrated with the other riders. We used this to our advantage as we have a multitude of riders good in this type of course - so we used our strength wisely. WD-40 finally got up the road with Cassitron and 3 other guys and it was pretty much game over. Bow is a ballers course...and Will is ballin' good right now. He took the W with some good help from Dan and then Colin and I went 1-2 in the bunch sprint behind for 8th and 9th place (2 riders in between). This was all after just 3 laps of racing though - there was thunder and lightning so they told us we were going to finish at the halfway point. I guess it counts though - so its another one for blue team.

Next up...learning some "your mother" jokes in French to bring with us up to Montreal-Quebec this weekend. Quebec'ers race hard...and they race especially hard at this race...so it should be good stuff.

Races that have come and gone.

2008-08-01T22:11:00.004-04:00

Balloon Festival: Race went well- ended up getting 1-2'ed by Jamie and Josh from Fior di Frutta in the end though. Came in 3rd. Willie Dugan (aka WD-40) returned to racing - kicking ass and taking names.

Housatonic Hills: Really good legs - but ended up 3rd again. Rookies Chris and Colin road really well early in the race. Willie D and I made the final selection but I wasn't aggressive enough. Still, we managed to beat Todd Wells a week before he got 15th in Mt. Bike Worlds.

Giro d'Jersey: Mainly did this race because it had a ridiculous name. Went pretty well. Raced hard. Top 10 on all the stages - and the team attempted to Blitzkrieg the last stage. Good times.

Cox Charities Crit: NRC + $15,000 = me getting scared in the last lap. Didn't take nearly enough risks in the end - and used my brakes a handful of times in the last lap alone. I was trying to lead out Amos, but didn't do a good enough job.

Fitchburg: Oops. Not sure what I did, but the good legs were gone. I suppose crashing hard on my TT bike the day before the race in the parking lot at the Skirack doesn't help. I was excited for the road race and I had no gas. One of these days I'm going to nail this race!

Mt Holly: Hot Hot Hot. 100 degrees - 100 percent humidity - a light breeze. Before I knew what was happening I was getting the chills of dehydration. I finished, and most of the field didn't, but it wasn't pretty. Colin road well and was top NJ amateur.

Hilltowns: Back in business. Nearly took the first W of the season...only to get second. Jump early? Jump late? I went with early and Ted King came around me with 100m to go. Dan Cassidy was back in action and stomping the pedals.

Freedom Tour: Apparently this is a $3500 crit in NJ. Who knew? Dugan 3rd in a six man break. I lead out Colin and he showed all the NYC sprinters and PA track guys a clean set of wheels. Team is starting to race well together. Yee-Hah

Mustache

2008-08-01T21:53:00.006-04:00

So, at long last I have a mustache again. If you have been living in a cave (or other subterranean dwelling) and are unaware of what a mustache is...then read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moustache

There are three main inspirational sources for my mustache. The first, of course, is my father. He has been without one for quite some time - but for a period of my childhood he was the proud owner of a very fine mustache. The second two are Marcus Sommers and Magnum PI.

MarcusMagnum

Top Guns names...

2008-05-30T21:43:00.003-04:00

...I just got mine today - I'm Slider. You remember slider, right? He was good at Volleyball:
http://www.mobygames.com/developer/shots/developerId,47964/developerShotId,1342/

Thanks a lot to Colin's family for letting me stay with them in New Jersey.

Jake vs. New Jersey

2008-05-29T21:10:00.002-04:00

The score:

Jake 1 - New Jersey 2

message from Jake to New Jersey - I'll be back to kick your ass in 3 weeks. Giro d'Jersey.

Comings and Goings

2008-05-28T12:06:00.002-04:00

So, as you may have noticed I've stopped updating my blog with my weekly training - that's because its the time of the year were I start doing double blind, super top secret training to get ready for the big races. Actually, that's not true - I just started getting lazy.

Before anything else - I'd like to congratulate my wonderful girlfriend Helen on graduating from UVM and for being part of something pretty special - she was part of the first graduating class of UVM's Honors College. I was there and it was pretty awesome.

Also, my sister is off in Egypt now - she's taking a 4 week trip over there to visit our parents and to travel. She should have some good adventures.

Right now I'm at the end of my first "racing trip" of the year. I came down to New Jersey for 3 races in 5 days. One road race and two big money crits. The road race was put on by the US Cycling Hall of Fame and it was a pretty cool course. One loop - 80 or 85 miles - flat first hall with a few punchy climbs and lots of rolling hills in the second hall. I ended up 3rd and rode a pretty aggressive race. Amos ended 6th and all 4 of our guys finished.

Monday (Memorial Day) was, as it is every year, the Tour of Somerville. A pan flat 4-corner $15,000 crit down here in Somerville, NJ. Its got long long straight aways and it gets pretty dodgy towards the last 5 laps. There were more crashes than I remember from previous years and I think there were a lot of guys left at the end who thought they could win (myself included). It turns out I couldn't win though because 200m before the second to last turn I slammed into a pot hole and PSSSSS! my rear wheel went flat. I was sitting about 10th wheel and had vision of podiums and big cardboard checking in my eyes. It was not to be. I watched the race zip away through those last turns as I rolled up the home straight at 5mph.

On a side note, wintertime x-c ski teammate and Kenda Raleight rider, Eric Tremble won the Cat 2 race at Somerville. He used a beautiful move - although trademarked by me - and attacked with 2 turns to go and suprised the field. He held his gap down the home straight and just held everyone off. I've caught him off guard with that exact move at both the local Tuesday practice crits up in Burlington - so it was cool to see him give it a try himself and have it work.

I'm off to get a podium haircut and then its another $10,000 crit tonight. Hopefully a more challenging course so that there aren't so many guys in the last couple laps.

Go ride your bike!
-Jake

The bike finally has a name!!!

2008-05-03T23:29:00.003-04:00

So, my new steed finally has a name. My hog, my mount, my stallion, my ride, my scoot, my whip, my rizzi, my french rocket, my chopper, my sled, my wheels, my weapon, my sword, my boy - he's got a name. Jimmy. His brother, who I rode for the last 2 years, was Timmy.

As a general rule of thumb I think it is good for your bike to have a name if you plan on racing well on it. For example, I've never had a time trial bike with a name yet and I've never really time trialed very well. However, Timmy was the first road bike I ever raced that I named and I became a much better racer on him. Naming a bike is not something that you can really force - but something that just happens. You can think and think and think about what to name it, but the name won't come to you until it's ready.

I feel much relieved that my new bike is finally named. Jimmy is quite a bike. We're still getting to know eachother 100% - but we're getting there.

April 14-20

2008-04-20T22:56:00.002-04:00

Monday: -30 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Tuesday: -30 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-150 minutes biking w/ stretching and situps & pushups
(GMBC tuesday ride)

Wednesday: -30 minutes biking
-90 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Thursday: -210 minutes riding w/ stretching and situps & pushups
(2 x Bolton Climb + fast ride back to Burlington)

Friday: -75 minutes biking w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Saturday: -210 minutes biking
(Battenkill-Roubaix - 16th place)

Sunday: -45 minute walk w/ Helen :-)
-60 minutes biking on bikepath

April 7-14

2008-04-18T22:12:00.002-04:00

Monday: -off

Tuesday: -off

Wednesday: -140 minutes biking
(hill workout in Richmond)

Thursday: -80 minutes biking
-25 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Friday: -80 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Saturday: -120 minutes biking w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Sunday: -90 minutes biking w/ stretching and situps & pushups

March 31-April 6

2008-04-09T22:07:00.003-04:00

Monday: -20 minute run w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-40 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Tuesday: -60 minutes on indoor trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Wednesday: -140 minutes biking
(climbing workout in Richmond)

Thursday: -120 minutes biking w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-20 minutes running w/ situps and pushups

Friday: -off

Saturday: -270 minutes biking w/ stretching
(hard ride w/ Will)

Sunday: -45 minute riding
(cruising ride with Helen :-)

Time on the bike and Marblehead

2008-04-02T21:05:00.004-04:00

The first race of the bike racing season was this past weekend. It was the classic New England season opener hosted by the CCB Club down in Marblehead, MA. I was silly enough to follow an attack right off the bat - then, all of a sudden I found myself in a 2 man move with my own teammate Dan Cassidy. The freakazoid and I kept the pedal on the metal for the next 10-12 miles together before we got caught. There was attacking and counter-attacking, but the race ended in a nice bunch sprint. I hooked-up with Colin J. with about 4-5 laps to go and piloted him through the final turn as smoothly as possible. He made good with a nice sprint getting 2nd - just getting pipped by less than 1/2 a wheel.

On a bit of a bummer note both the Tour of Virginia and the Tour de Toona have been canceled. This means that there are no stage races longer than 4 days in the eastern US (apart of Tour of Georgia). This is making for a challenging racing season to plan out. It seems like it will be a season with fewer big-time racing opportunities and it will be really important to make the most of those opportunities.

I do need to start training more again and getting my training volume up a bit. I'd like to try and race well at the Battenkill race in a couple weeks.

Monday: -20 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Tuesday: -150 minutes biking
(Climbing Bolton)

Wednesday: -120 minutes biking w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Thursday: -80 minutes on computrainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-35 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Friday: -60 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Saturday: -45 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Sunday: -120 minutes biking
(Marblehead Circuit Race)

Cold biking time

2008-03-23T21:38:00.004-04:00

Winter is really sticking around this year. I stayed inside for most of the week, but by the weekend I finally had my new Time bike all built up and the roads finally were clear. The guys at Green Mt. Rehab (Andy and Eric) let me use the computrainer and I dialed in the fit and the cleat and shim setup on my new Time shoes. Everything feels pretty darn good.

I don't just keep the exact same setup every year and never try to change it. In the off season I always play around with things and try to improve things. I figure if you can make an equipment change that makes you more efficient then you'll stay less injured and it'll give you free speed. However tinkering and changes are for the off-season/early season. I generally try to have everything pretty much as is by early May. Then I leave it there until next off-season.

Monday: -Off

Tuesday: -40 minutes on computrainer

Wednesday: -80 minutes on computrainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Thursday: -60 minutes on trainer w/ streching and situps & pushups

Friday: -60 minutes on computrainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-20 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Saturday: -150 minutes bicycle ride
(rode from Shelburne to the Bolton Valley baselodge)

Sunday: -150 minutes bicycle ride w/ stretching and situps & pushups
(rode with Dan, Will, Colin, and Chris - aka CCB North)

Here are the boys before the ride. The Brooks pharmacy that was downtown is now a Rite-Aid pharmacy. Rite-Aid sponsors a Pro bike team. Some of our good riding buddies ride for that team - Richard Geng, Robbie King, Bobby Lea, etc. So we kid. But, that downtown pharmacy was open 24h when it was a Brooks and its not anymore.
Snow covered fields, farms, thermal jackets, and good friends.

an off week and a trip to seattle

2008-03-19T22:48:00.002-04:00

A pretty lame week training wise - but it was planned. It served as the break between ski season and bike race season. I am pretty excited about the bike season to come.

I took a trip out to Seattle to goto represent the Skirack at a symposium hosted by Brooks running shoes. Emily Steers, the fantastic shoe buyer at the store, and I flew out a day early as we both had friends in Seattle we wanted to visit. I'd been in touch with my friend Charlie Lozner, who I used to ride bikes with when her lived in Burlington, about getting together and hanging out. Charlie worked for Karhu when they were based in Burlington and when they got bought by the K2 copy he moved out to Seattle to work for them out there. Charlie's very good at what he does and so he is now helping guide the Karhu, Atlas (snowshoes), and Madshus brands for K2. I took a bus from the airport right to K2 and Charlie and I got some lunch before he gave me the tour of K2. K2 just moved into a new facility last September and it is impressive. They're one of the biggest sports companies in the world and you feel it when you tour their operation. They have a testing room next to their normal engineering department that is about the size of a trailer home and its a refrigerated testing laboratory. It was a really cool place and it was fantastic to visit with Charlie - he's good people. I then went downtown for a little while in the late afternoon and evening to tour around before taking a bus back out to West Seattle where Charlie lives to crash with him that night. He had some other friends in town already visiting but he and his wife Elizabeth made me a really comfortable spot to stay. Again - good people. Then the next morning I did a really enjoyable long run and took the bus into town to start getting my symposium on.

Brooks invited about 25 specialty running shoe retailers out to a 3 day event in Seattle to do everything from meetings with their footwear design team to group discussions about best practices in their stores. Brooks made sure we had fun too and took us to an NBA basketball game (Seattle vs. Minnesota) as well as including us in their Friday afternoon run (which everyone from secretaries, to CEOs, to sales people in their office does). I think the best part of the whole experience was just getting to talk to people from other shops from around the country. Almost all of the other stores were only running stores. A few did some business in casual shoes or team sports. There were no other stores there like the Skirack (running as well as bike, x-c ski, alpine ski, snowboard, casual, swim, rollerblade, etc) which really made me realize that there aren't many other stores like the Skirack. I found it a little hard to describe the store to other people without sound like I was bragging - a weird feeling. The other stores at the symposium had a real range of people working at them (3:56 milers to fitness walkers) and a range of what they focused on at the store. It was clear though that all the stores were very well run, put the customer's interests #1, and were innovative in some way. All the while during the whole symposium Brooks had us staying at a very cool downtown hotel called Hotel 1000. It was a place for hipsters and people with pointy Italian shoes. And for a couple of day - runners.

Monday: -off

Tuesday: -off

Wednesday: -off

Thursday: -80 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Friday: -35 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Saturday: -35 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Sunday: -off

Last Ski Race

2008-03-13T16:51:00.002-04:00

Monday: -20 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

-40 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Tuesday: -60 minutes skate skiing

-20 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

-1 Cycle of strength exercises

Wednesday: -75 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Thursday: -75 minutes skate skiing

-1 Cycle of strength exercises

Friday: -45 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Saturday: -120 minutes skate skiing

(Craftsbury Spring Fling 30k skate - 9th)

Sunday: -90 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Here comes bike season

2008-03-05T17:26:00.003-05:00

Monday: -60 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-2 Cycles of Strength Exercises

Tuesday: -90 minutes skate skiing
-2 Cycles of Strength Exercises

Wednesday: -60 minutes skate skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-30 minutes on trainer w/ streching and situps & pushups

Thursday: -90 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-35 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-1 Cycle of Strength Exercises

Friday: -30 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Saturday: -180 minutes stakte skiing
(Rangeley Lakes 50k skate - 14th)

Sunday: -20 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-40 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

It was a 3 Ski Race Week

2008-02-25T23:17:00.005-05:00

I had been doing about 10-11 hours a week training, but this past week (Feb 18-24) was only 8-9 hours. Not much in the grand scheme of things. However, I did mix in 3 good races. I posted my fasted time ever at the Sleepy Hollow 6k (15:35) and then raced a solid 12th at the Eastern Cup Finals in a tight race (20 seconds out of 3rd) and then I capped the week off with a 4th place at the Stowe Derby. Eric Tremble was 3rd at the Derby - so it was a good race for the Northwest Vermont Nordic Club. He and I are teaming up in this coming weekends Rangeley Lakes 50k skate race to try and kick-ass and take names.

So, they start the Derby half-way up the Mountain at Stowe and you finish right in the center of town at the start of the bike path. The race starts at 10:00am and I had to be at work by 11:45am. I raced as fast as I could into town, caught my breath, ate a bag of Madhouse Munchies they were giving away, and then hopped into the car with Helen and jetted back to Burlington.On an exciting, cool note - I'm going to Seattle in a couple weeks for a Brooks running shoe symposium. Their headquarters are out there and they invited 2 people from the Skirack. So, Emily (the shoe buyer at the Skirack) is of course going and me too! I'm packing my bags and heading out to Seattle for a couple days. Yahoo. Coffee COFFEE.

Monday: -40 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-2 Cycles of Strength Exercises

Tuesday: -90 minutes skate skiing
-20 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Wednesday: -70 minutes skate skiing w/ streching and situps & pushups
(Sleepy Hollow Practice Race - 1st place)
-30 minutes on trainer w/ streching and situps & pushups
-2 Cycles of Strength Exercises

Thursday: -60 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-35 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Friday: -30 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-1 Cycle of Strength Exercises

Saturday: -90 minutes skate skiing
(Eastern Cup Finals - 12th place)

Sunday: -50 minutes skate skiing
(Stowe Derby - 4th place)

In a groove

2008-02-17T23:40:00.002-05:00

So, I'm really happy with the way my winter training is going right now. This past week felt good. I'm having pretty good sensations while skiing and indoor biking is still chugging along with a little bit of jogging. I do need to start biking a little bit more soon. I'm not too worried about it though - it is going to be hard to keep myself off the new Time VXR I have (waiting to get built up) all spring and summer long. This is going to be one amazing bike.

Monday: -25 minute run w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Tuesday: -95 minutes skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Wednesday: -60 minutes skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups
(Sleepy Hollow Night Race - 1st place)
-30 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Thursday: -120 minutes skate skiing w/ streching
-30 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Friday: -2 Cycles of Strength Exercises

Saturday: -120 minutes skate skiing
-60 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Sunday: -60 minutes on classic skis (teaching touring lesson)
-30 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-2 Cycles on Strength Exercises

Lake Placid Loppet

2008-02-10T22:59:00.000-05:00

So, I managed to put together a pretty decent race and get 4th at the Lake Placid Loppet. For those not in the know - the Lake Placid Loppet is a 50k ski marathon on a very hilly course. Last year I did the half-loppet (25k) and the course definitely caught me off gaurd and ill-prepared. This year I've been doing some focused long hard skis (thanks for the company Dan!) since I got back from Egypt and it definitely paid off.

The course is 25k long and is a figure-8 shape. So, last year I did 1 lap in 1:30. This year I did 2 laps in 2:41. That's progress. Helen raced as well and she improved her time as well by 6 minutes for the 25k - even though she said she felt like she skied the race easier than the year before!

The start of the race gave me good confidence as the early pack in the first couple kilometers included Eli Enman and Eric Tremble - 2 guys who I sometimes train with on the skis. Eli went on to take his first victory in Lake Placid (hip-hip-hooray) and Eric ended up in 3rd spot. Eric and I both ski for the Northwest Vermont Nordic Ski Club.

Probably the best part about the Lake Placid race apart from the challenging course, is the banquet afterwards. The food is plentiful and actually really good (I think - its hard to tell though because a piece of wood could taste good after a 50k ski race). Its a fun atmosphere to just sit around with everybody and talk about the race that just happened.

In other news here are a few other things I've done lately:
-Went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival (at UVM put on by the Skirack)
-Taught a free Sunday morning skate ski lesson at Bolton Valley (10:00am every Sunday)
-Won a Wednesday night practice ski race at Sleepy Hollow (Its fun under the lights)
-Traveled to Boston for the CCB team mid-winter pow-wow dinner at Steve Pucci (my equipment is way too good for me!)
-Went to an on snow demo down at Stratton to try out next years x-c ski equipment (somethings I loved and somethings I just liked)
-Scheduled my late winter VO2Max Test up at UVM for biking (oh wait, I need to do that)

go Go GO - Jake

A Good Skiing Week

2008-02-10T22:49:00.001-05:00

Monday: -25 minute run w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-2 Cycles of Strength Exercises

Tuesday: -120 minutes skate skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Wednesday: -60 minutes skate skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups
(Sleepy Hollow night race - 1st place)

Thursday: -150 minutes mixed skate and classic skiing
(Stratton on snow demo)

Friday: -35 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-1 Cycle of Strength Exercises

Saturday: -180 minutes skate skiing
(Lake Placid Ski Marathon 50k skate - 4th place)

Sunday: -45 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

The Winter Rolls On

2008-02-10T22:43:00.000-05:00

Monday: -25 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-60 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Tuesday: -150 minuts skate skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-2 Cycles of Strength Exercises

Wednesday: -90 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Thursday: -35 minutes running w/ 2 x stretching and situps & pushups

Friday: -105 minutes skate skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-45 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-2 Cycles of Strength Exercises

Saturday: -Off

Sunday: -60 minutes skate skiing
-60 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Another Week - a little bit more.

2008-01-29T19:42:00.000-05:00

This is for the week of January 21-27.

Monday: -75 minutes skate skiing
-45 minutes classic skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Tuesday: -45 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-1 Cycle of Strength Exercises

Wednesday: -40 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-75 minutes skate skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups
(Stowe Nordic Club 5k race - 2nd place)

Thursday: -60 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-45 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Friday: -1 Cycle of Strength Exercises

Saturday: - 135 minutes skate skiing

Sunday: -60 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

2008 Training Begins

2008-01-23T12:08:00.000-05:00

So, in an effort to make myself open to public scrutiny if I am irresponsible with my training and I going to start to publish a weekly breakdown of what I've done. Here is the week of January 14th-20th.

Monday: -45 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Tuesday: -45 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-15 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Wednesday: -35 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-30 minutes on computrainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Thursday: -60 minutes skate skiing
-35 minutes running w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Friday: -45 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Saturday: -120 minutes skate skiing w/ stretching and situps & pushups
-30 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps & pushups

Sunday: -30 minutes on trainer w/ stretching and situps and pushups

Pyramids and Such Happenings

2008-01-05T08:34:00.000-05:00

So, we made it over to the pyramids at Giza on New Years day. Some interesting things of note. The city comes up extremely close to the area. I guess I had this image that they are way way out in the dessert way away from civilization, and that is not the case. Also, there is a whole range of different structures and pyramids of many different sizes in Giza. Its not just the three pyramids you see in the pictures.

My mom and dad went over with Helen and I in a taxi piloted by one Mr. Abul Mena (aka Captain Nemo). It was probably about a 45 minute drive from the apartment. Captain Nemo told us how the drive used to be a 3 hours drive before they built the large connecting road. When we got to Giza I was interested to see that just outside the gate to the whole complex was a Kentucky Fried Chicken. So, the Sphinx's eternal gaze is now looking at a KFC sitting 500m away.

We first drove up to a high point that looks across to the pyramids where we took some pictures of the pyramids in the back round. Then, we drove down to the base of the pyramids and walked around the grounds for a while. The pyramids are truly monstrous. The largest of the pyramids (which is the biggest in the world) is made up of around 2.5 million stones which weigh 30 tons each (referenced from Capt. Nemo). So, its really heavy. I walked down into one tomb of a smaller pyramid - which was awesome. Its something else just descending into the earth bellow a structure like that. There was also something called the Solar Boat museum there as well which is something pretty amazing. It was getting towards the end of the day so we zipped down to the Sphinx said hello and then ducked out the gate to meet Capt. Nemo behind "Kentucky" as he called it for short.

The last part of our Giza New Years day was spent getting coffee and tea over at the Mena House - a very deceptive name for one of the most famous Grand Hotels in the world. The hotel shares no relation to Capt. Nemo, but he did tell us proudly that it is the greatest hotel in the Arab world. Kings, Queens, Presidents, Movie Stars, and I have all been there. Out the window of the tea room we ate in was the Great Pyramid looking down at me (with no "Kentucky" in the view). I had a Cappachino and Feta and Tomato sandwich with Tempinade (olive spread). It is amazing how international Cairo is. It is the meeting point of the World - where Asia, Africa, and Europe collide.

Happy New Year Everybody.

Islamic Cairo

2008-01-01T04:53:00.000-05:00

So, the last couple of days have been spent exploring the mosques and historic buildings is Islamic Cairo. The buildings are pretty insane and make the cathedrals and castles I've been to in Europe look:
A: new
and
B: small.

We've also gotten to see what some of the street life and scene is like here. Compared to Bangladesh there are many more tourists here (which is expected) but the street life has the same wild feel to it.

Here is a pictorial of the last 2 days:

These places are really big. How big you ask?...

I mean really big!!! That is Helen standing in the Sultan Hassan Mosque. These are buildings for Giants.

This kid was on a one speed cruiser bike with about 100 loaves of loosely stacked bread on his head doing one handed track stands in the middle of Islamic Cairo (bumpy, buisy streets). Damn.

Helen and I strutting our stuff. You have to take your shoes off or get these little shoe covers put on your feet when you go into a mosque.

Booyah!

This is something called the Nileometer. It was used for measuring the water level of the Nile - which was in turn used for adjusting the taxes. M.C. Escher anyone?

Big walls. This is Ibn Tulun Mosque. The oldest in Cairo.

Minarets and satellite dishes. Old meets new.

Mr. Horse taking a break. In Islamic Cairo there is still a fair amount of horse and cart traffic.

We're in Cairo

2007-12-29T11:22:00.000-05:00

Helen and I pushed off from the Burlington airport at 11:30 on December 28th. We arrived in Cairo around noon on December 29th. Helen's roommate Molly gave us a much apprciated ride to the airport - and my parents were at the airport in Egypt to pick us up. They had a nice large van there as well and we drove right to their apartment to drop off our bags and take showers and eat some food. Once we were clean and fed - we hopped in a taxi and took a B-line to the Nile. We hopped on a felucca - a cool Egyptian sail boat that has been around for thousands of years. We cruised around on the Nile for a couple of hours and ate snacks and had drinks. Quite relaxing. Now, its time for bed because we hardly slept on the plane last night.

Helen and I with jackets on departing from chilly Vermont.Helen and I with jackets off arriving in Cairo.On the boat - cruising the Nile. Drinking juice and eating pita with baba ghanoush. Life is good!Very Happy, but Very Tired. And my mom wearing a turban

Keeping Some Tradition Alive

2007-12-23T23:50:00.000-05:00

So, my sister and I just had our annual Christmas Eve dinner with some of our best family friends down in Charlotte. This year we ended up doing it a day early - so really it was Christmas Eve Eve. None the less, we kept some tradition going and some normality to the holiday season. This coming Christmas day will be the first spent without my parents company. My sister and I will be hanging out together and will probably do some epic ski and visit some friends.

The dinner tonight was good. It was lasagna and I ate a lot of it (and red wine goes well with lasagna). I did a lot of training during my two day off this week and I think I actually over did it a little bit. So, my appetite was kicking and and my body working on repairing itself. I was riding the trainer and x-c skiing and doing some circuit workouts. Lots of good stuff, but I didn't eat enough. Eating's important you know. But, its hard to do when you have too many dirty dishes in your sink...oops.

Well, here's the crazy-awesome nordic skiing euro-techno, makes you want to train and race like an animal, video link of the week - thank's to Helen's brother, one Paul Smith - the freshman phenomenon that is sweeping UVM. Turn the volume to 11 and Enjoy!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=73XmR0pptTo

Pictures from Richard's visit

2007-12-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

I finally have a couple pictures from Richard's visit. This was the last day in Burlington without snow. It was already very cold though.

Snow, Egypt, Racing, and Pole talk.

2007-12-20T20:18:00.000-05:00

We are having the best snow year in Vermont in a long while. It is only December 20th and many of the downhill ski mountains have already had 100 inches of snow so far! I distinctly remember going out for a classic roller-ski the second weekend of December last year. This year I was doing a double ski race weekend - 10k skate race in Lake Placid and Craftsbury. Lake Placid wasn't so good - it was a mass start and as usual I got pretty tangled up with people on the first hill. I felt "off" the whole race and skied almost 5 minutes back from the winner. Crafstbury was an individual start and a course that I'm much more familiar with and I really enjoy the race. I placed about the same (low 20's) but I think it was a deeper field so I was happier with that for now.

Then, last weekend I raced the 5k skate race that my sister put on at Bolton Valley. I thought I'd be feeling tip-top and ready to go from the two 10k's the weekend before. It was 3 laps on a short course that had some sweeping turns. Well I had a nice quick first lap (maybe a little two quick) and then in the second lap as I came off the sharpest turn on the course I lost my balance. Well, before I knew it I was down on my keister. I can't remember when I last dumped in a skate ski race (I did take 2 spectacular falls in last years Icebods Revenge race, a 10k classis at Sleepy Hollow). Ooops. That put a fork in my race. I got up and tried my best to get my rythm going again and ski it in. I ended up 6th.

I've gotten some new ski poles this week from Madshus. Thanks Charlie! They are the Carbon Race 100HM. I skied with them today for the first time and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. The shaft is pretty standard for a rediculously high-end pole - really light and really stiff - but the handle and strap seem to be well thought out. They fit great and they seemed to help my skiing immediately. I've been using Swix poles for the last couple years and still have them (and like them) but if I had to choose I'd take this strap over the Swix strap (something I never thought I'd say) . All that being said - I am still pretty intregued by the Force 10 pole from Swix. We've been selling them at the Skirack and it definitely seems to me like that's where high-end pole shaft technology will be heading. I know a lot of the WC skiers are choosing to use the Swix Star instead (old-school preferences) but I you'll see other companies doing things like that Force 10 shaft for Vancoover (the next Olympics).

My sister gave me an early christmas present - some rechargeable AA batteries for my digital camera. So, its official - but blog is going green - so hot right now. Renewable resource - ecofriendly - climate change - carbon neutral. Wait, no - I love carbon fiber!

And now its time for the lightning round!!!!!
(the round for dropping knowledge, info, and names)

-Former CCB rider Tim Johnson dominates in Kansas and wins the National Cyclocross champs
-For my birthday this year (January 7th) I'll be embarking from Cairo on a 7am flight to Sharm el Sheikh and will be walking through a remote desert on 3-day Camel trek in the Sinai Peninsula by 11am.
-My dark horse pick for the U23 national cyclocross championships, teammate Will Dugan, was not able to race as hill elbow is still messed up, but Burlingtonian Jamie Driscoll got 2nd (in a tight sprint) and won the college title for the second year running.
-I think I've been drinking too much coffee lately. Oh well.
-Those two CVU boys who I had a picture of a couple entries ago have been dominating the high school ski races thus far this season. John Dixon and Adam Terko - taking care of business.
-I think I've been eating too much chocolate lately. Oh well.
-A US skier won a cross-country ski World Cup race this past weekend for the first time since 1983. Kikkan Randall lit it up in the women's sprint final and showed everybody who's boss. Killer stuff.
-I got a voice-mail from CCB-West SuperMaster's racer and all around good guy John McKone today. He was looking for Mike Cody's phone number. Classic.
-Kim Loeffler was in the Skirack the other day checking out dimensions on the Cervelo bikes. I guess we may be helping her get a P3 to zip around on next season.
-The Great Pyramid of Giza covers 13 acres - stew on that.

You're A Peeing? No...European!

2007-12-06T23:48:00.000-05:00

So, we had one Mr. Richard Geng (the German sensation of Fitchburg '06) visiting Burlington last weekend. He and his girlfriend came to Burlington after visiting another friend down in Southern Vermont. They were just here for a day and a night, but it was fun. Helen and I and the two Germans went to see American Gangster on Saturday night. It was a great movie. Its long (2 hours 40 minutes) but the story is really interesting and I'd definitely recomend it. They stayed over at my sisters apartment and then we took them over to Bruger's Bagels the next morning. Dan and Erin met up with us and we all talked about biking and bike racing way to much. It was fun. Richard's girlfriend is actually a physical theropist for the T-Mobile mens bike racing team. As in Tour de France and all that jazz. They ended up heading back to Boston early though because of the huge snow storm that was coming (and has since made the skiing amazing!)

Then, the next day I got a call from Sasha. He is in search of a road bike to send back to Belarus to his dad. His dad was a bad-ass racer back in the day, and is getting back into riding. I heard he was on the USSR "A" squad back in the 1970/80's. For those of you who don't know, that essentially means he was a Tour de France level rider. The USSR had the best amateur team in the word back then. Sasha and I also talked about Sasha's winter visit to Vermont. We're going to do some x-c skiing like last year, but some downhill skiing as well this year. Should be good.

Speaking of skiing, the first races of the year are this weekend. The NYSEF Opener on Saturday in Lake Placid, NY - and the Craftsbury Opener on Sunday in Craftsbury, VT. It is going to be a great weekend. I was out skate skiing this morning over at the Catamount Family center with my friend Anja and I had an "ah-hah!" moment while skiing. I sit a little bit too much in the "back-seat" while skate skiing and all of a sudden really shifted my weight forward by bending more at the ankle and pushing my hips forward. That change really made things a lot better. Its really interesting how long you can do a sport and keep tweaking things and trying to improve.

Here's a seasonal picture from Richard training last year in South Africa (a popular place for German Pro's to go train). He was sporting the CCB colors on this day of training.

Look Closely

2007-11-30T12:24:00.000-05:00

So, I found a great side shot of Dan riding his time trial bike. I posted pictures of his TT bike a week or two ago to show how much drop he has. This is a great picture of a very strong time trial rider mid-flight.....oh, but look closely.

Reading glasses and brown argyle socks? Dan was punished by the cycling fashion gods half-way through this time trial in the form of a flat tire.

On a technical note - Dan's been using the ISM Adamo saddle for the better part of this past year on his TT bike and it really seems like a good product. There is a rule as to how far forward your saddle can be (5cm behind your bottom bracket) and many riders have their hip angle closed off by sitting to far back on their TT bike (which reduces power). This saddle seems like a really good option because you can sit really far forward on it and won't need to worry about the 5cm rule. Dan even got CCB masters rider Dimitri Buben to switch over to the saddle. Dimitri is a former Masters World TT podium finisher.

A Good Bowl of Soup

2007-11-30T11:46:00.000-05:00

This is the time of the year when I really enjoy a good bowl of soup. What I will do often for lunch is go over to one of the restaurants that does a good soup and get a bowl of soup and a small dark roast coffee.

Now here's where it gets tricky.

Generally, you get a nice big piece of bread with your soup, and sometimes some butter for that bread. Butter that piece of bread up and break it in half.

Here's why.

Because when you can go over to where they have the milk and sugar for your coffee, there is usually some honey there as well. Put honey all over one of your chunks of bread. Now you've got desert too! And the honey will be all soaked in by the time you're ready to eat it. All for under $5. And you have your other piece of bread and butter to mop up some of whatever delicious soup you have selected.

Now, here is a little guide to some of the soup genres:
Bisque - The king of the soups.
Chowders - A close, and jealous 2nd to the bisque.
Stew - Arguably something different altogether - but really just an rowdy soup.
Miso - Salt! Salt! Need the Salt! Where's the Salt? Its salty good.
Cream - A lazy cousin of the Bisque. Only to be eaten in dire circumstance.
Minestrone - Jack of all trades, master of none.
Noodle - For when chewing your noodles is just too much.

Good skiing today

2007-11-25T22:58:00.000-05:00

And here's who was heading out when I was heading out. (I was skate skiing at Bolton)

A couple of the CVU boys had already gotten some skate skiing in and were switching boots and heading out for some classic. I think these guys are going to have a great season. They've got focus.Dan and Erin. Classic. Erin was using some Karhu Novas I had sold her the day before.Eric and Sarah. They were rocking out today on Karhu Escapes. I need to get a pair of those.Lee Mallory. Legend in his own right. All Smiles.

Thanksgiving Food and Phone

2007-11-25T22:26:00.000-05:00

My sister and I made the trans-New England voyage from Burlington, VT over to North Hampton, NH to spend Thanksgiving with our mother's side of our family. Our aunt and uncle Cathy and Pat live there and their son Ryan was there as well. Our grandparents came as well along with another aunt and uncle, Trice and Denis, and their kids Callie and Meg. It was a great to spend Thanksgiving with everybody. Liz and I went for a 50 minute run down to the ocean and back in the morning which was good to get the appetite warmed up. Over the years I have thrown down pretty hard on Thanksgiving, so I have a bit of a reputation to live up to. A couple years ago I ate with the intent of finding out exactly how much I was capable of eating. Boy, did that hurt! This year I did two plates of food and two plates of pie. Pretty modest, considering. And one beer and the Lions/Packers game too.

Another nice thing was when my parents called. My dad called my sisters cell phone and my mom called the land line at my aunt and uncle's house. The phones were passed around and everybody got to talk to them. It was really nice hearing them. My father and I talked a bit about my upcoming trip to visit them in Egypt with Helen. Ciaro here we come.

Food - I must say the gravy was especially great.Pie - one big slice of apple and one tasty slice of pecan. and then another of each.Here's the whole table. Good stories, lots of food, and big candles.Liz and I talking to our parents.Our parents, in Cairo, talking to us.Showing my grandmother and my cousin Ryan my blog. She liked the Catamount Cyclocross pictures. She watched my sister and I run cross-country races there in high school.

And One More Thing

2007-11-21T23:52:00.000-05:00

A note about Amos (Brumble - teammate and captain), he really showed me an important lesson in my first year with CCB that you really can race with anybody and kick some major ass without doing drugs. That's an important lesson to learn as a cyclist just starting to do the "big-time" races for the first time and wondering how you're ever going to be able to compete. He's really showed me how much you can improve yourself with these things:

-Bike handling skills
-Attentive/aggressive racing
-Proper nutrition
-Good recovery
-A thought out, well balanced training plan
-Proper bike fit and equipment selection
-Just straight up guts.

In this picture he is chasing down a doper (Heredia) with another doper (Tardaguila) right behind him - all while riding right away from guys like Dominique Perras, Karl Menzies, Frank Pipp, and Anthony Colby. This was the Univest GP in 2005...still to date the most exciting sporting event I have ever watched.

A couple Shout-Outs

2007-11-21T22:58:00.000-05:00

-Happy Birthday Pat Walsh.
-Congrats Dan Vaillancourt on figuring out 2008
and
-Thanks for dying turkey so that I could eat you tomorrow

I really meant to win a bike race this past year. I didn't. I had this whole "Academy Award type speech" planned out where I thanked everybody who's helped me out. I've gotten some big time help from people and wanted to acknowledge it publicly...

....oh but wait...

...I have a blog now!

So here goes:
Thanks Mom and Dad (creators and omnipotent beings)
Thanks Liz (sister)
Thanks Helen (girlfriend)
Thanks Scott Oliver (friend, mentor)
Thanks Steve Pucci (team manager, mentor)
Thanks Skirack (flexible, friendly employer)
Thanks Dan, Will, Amos, Matt, Jeff, Sasha, Shawn, Ciaran, and Yahor (incredible teammates)
And Everybody else.

You all (Ya'll?) are so nice and give me so much help and god knows I need it. I always deeply appreciate it!

Jared Bunde Doping - Weird.

2007-11-21T20:29:00.000-05:00

So, a racer I raced against a fair amount this year - Jared Bunde, of the GS Mengoni team - has just accepted a 2 year ban for doping. He got busted from a test while out at Superweek, a race series that happens out in the Midwest in July. These are the same races that Alvaro Tardaguila got busted at. Tardagulia was a Uraguain rider racing for the team Mike Fraysee runs that was sponsored by the University of Pittsburg Medical Center. He got busted for EPO and Steroid use. Of the times I interacted with him, he seemed friendly.

Jared is also a nice guy and got busted for using Clomiphene. Not sure what that is exactly, but it gets you two years. If you dope and you're reading this Blog - STOP! And remember, not all the bad people are dopers and not all the nice people aren't. Its weird that way. There are some people who are real jerks who are really intense about not doping. There are some people who are really friendly and genuine who stick needles in their butt and pop pills.

Its pretty annoying that people do this. I'm interested in racing as a professional and there are people out there who are using drugs to ride better than they can actually ride. Its absolutely not ok.

I do want to give a shout-out to Eugene Boronow, of the GS Mengoni team, who is a great guy. I've ridden with him a lot in races - both off the front and off the back. He's told me a little bit about how the NYC cycling scene has a weird doping culture. All I can say to any and everyone is - Just Stop - NOW!

Le Doper de Jour

The Finer Things in Life...and Crazy drop

2007-11-19T19:49:00.000-05:00

Here's a few of the finer things in life. This stuff is just straight up pretty to look at.

Time VXR Proteam ModuleMadshus Carbon Race 100HM PoleSram Red GroupsetRCS Carbonlite Skate PlusMavic R-Sys WheelsetCervelo P2C FramesetAnd, as promissed, some pictures of Dan Cassidy's TT bike - and one of his road bike. Copious amounts of saddle to handlebar drop. These bikes will be coming soon to a long time trial, breakaway, and hillclimb near you.

First Day on SNOW

2007-11-17T23:28:00.000-05:00

I went skiing today at Bolton Valley. Helen and I drove up to Bolton after a lazy morning of lounging around. Her mouth is still not completely healed from having her wisdom teeth out so she didn't want to ski quite yet - but she took a nice long walk in the snow up there. I brought my classic equipment but barrowed a pair of waxless touring skis from the rental skis. It was really excellent conditions and they are getting out tonight to do some grooming. There were no rocks and lots of snow. Not quite all the water has frozen so there's still some water under the snow at certain parts of the trail. Here are the pictures you've all been waiting for...SNOW.

Dork.My sister just happy to be pointing out all the snow. She's got a good gig up at Bolton.As you can see, the trails are well covered. It felt good to be going uphill on a pair of cross country skis again. Nothing gets your heart pumping quite the same way.Eric Tremble, who races for the Kenda/Raleigh team in the summertime, was also out and about on a pair of classic skis - with a big grin on his face just like me.Enough talking...back to the skiing.Me pointing out how much snow there is on the trees.I got back to the Sports Center to find my sister hard at work...ensuring that the snow was of the highest quality - so that everybody could come play in it.

Bike Work @ Green Mt. Rehab

2007-11-17T10:40:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday I had off from work and spent most of the day training and work on some bike stuff. I just changed the saddle on my bike to a Fizik Arione and changed them orientation of the cant wedges I use between my shoe and cleat.

After a morning run - the first good run since the crippling half-marathon - I drove into Burlington with my bike and went to Green Mt Rehab. Andy and Eric run GMR and it is located in the same building as the Skirack. I started going there after last season, just over a year ago. I primarily use their services in the off-season for figuring out improvements to my bike position (they also help me with stuff like VO2Max testing). They have the knowledge and equipment to figure out if bike and equipment changes are resulting in more effeciency and power or not. That is the great thing about the bike being a machine, you can actually calculate fuctional differences when you change something like the footbed in a shoe - something that's much harder to do with running or x-c skiing.

But, honestly I think the reason I and most everyone else likes these guys so much is that they are just really nice and fun to work with. If they were any more laid back they'd be laying down.

Yesterday I was working with Andy. This is me on the computrainer. Just getting started and warming up. It looks like my most recent changes have resulted in improvement.
My co-worker Dan came up and we talked about what I was doing. I explained to him how when I first got on the computrainer just over a year ago that I pedaled 60-40 (left leg to right leg) and how today I was finally at 50-50!Like I said, Andy is a very smart guy - but he's not a bore. Here he takes a goof-ball picture of himself with my camera while I'm not looking.Success is ours. 50-50 power output between the legs. Spin scan numbers in the high 70's to low 80's (vs. low 60's). Sitting squarely on the saddle with no rocking. And pedaling 300 watts at about 155 HR. (makes me wonder why I couldn't pedal worth a damn at Putney last week). I'll keep working with Green Mt. Rehab over the next couple months and keep dialing it in. Its important to work on making any changes to bike position and equipment during the winter and not during the season. Thanks Andy!

I'm Using My Camera Finally...

2007-11-15T22:46:00.000-05:00

The following is photo documentation of my friend and co-worker Peter and I going to Mirabelles for lunch on 11/14/07. These are the first pictures I have taken with the digital camera I have owned for over 2 years.

This is Peter clockin' out on the computer system - it looks like he's really into it...keyboard in hand.
This is the obligitory "holding the camera looking back at you" picture. Peter and I decided this was going to be a serious lunch break.
The menu. We were having a late lunch and thus missed the window to get breakfast for lunch. That is a Croque Monsieur I see on the right side though! HMMM.
I've spotted the Monsieur...but alas, I make the hard decision to go with the avacado and black bean panini. Au Revoir Monsieur!
Damn straight I'm part of the clean plate club. My good friend Nate Koeppel is one who showed me that there nothing to be ashamed of about polishing your plate clean when eating. Thanks Nate!
Peter and I were stuffed, but we just new we had to get a couple big cookies to finish off this wonderful lunch break.
Here is a picture of Peter with his boy P'ditty. That's the Cervelo P3 he got from his summer boss. Expect him to kick-ass and take names on it next season. For now, its the fastest and coolest commuter bike in Burlington. Fix-gears for commuters? Lame. P3 for commuters? Edgy.

Putney? more like Put-don't

2007-11-15T00:35:00.000-05:00

So, my bread and butter excuse for why I haven't done well in my limited cyclocross racing over the last year has been that I just crash too much. Well, I went down to Putney on Sunday for the West Hill race - I didn't crash once - and I still sucked. So, this means I just rode slow. Even so it was still fun :-).

Ben Coleman, who also works at the Skirack, won the Cat 3 race & Matt Monbouquette, who also works at the Skirack, got second in the Cat 4 race. It was great fun watching them race so well.

There will probably be some pictures from Putney up in the next day or two...

4 Weeks until my first x-c ski race of the year! Stew on that.

Oh, and Will Dugan is my darkhorse pick for the U23 Cyclocross National Championship. I gave him a superlative pep-talk this evening...I'd elaborate, but I think you kinda had to be there.

Oh well...and other happenings

2007-11-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

So, it looks like I counted my ducks before they hatched. No Richard Geng for next season...he's off to the glorious mid-atlantic to ride with the Rite-Aid Pro team. Its still exciting that he'll be racing here next season.

Speaking of Glorious people from Europe...I talked to my Belarusian teammate Sasha just the other day on the phone. It had been a couple months. Well, he's gotten himself a long-term visa, a girlfriend, a new apartment, a new job, and he's taking a college class. He's been staying busy! And I'm sure he's really happy to have the visa situation worked out.

The 2008 NRC (National Race Calendar) schedule for bike racing came out. Nothing to crazy or new going on, but its good to see that Fitchburg is back on the map, and Cox Charities is in too. That race has been getting better and better fields each year.

Incase you didn't know "Sport Stacking" is getting huge. I think it may become my new passion. Well, maybe just to watch. Its weird.

Shelburne Half-Marathon Pictures

2007-11-06T22:31:00.001-05:00

Fooling the System

2007-11-04T23:07:00.000-05:00

I have once again dooped the Nebra system...and potentially tricked people into thinking I am better at riding bicycles than I am. Hah Hah!

The 2007 Nebra Road Rankings for Pro/1/2 are completed and it was a good year for people named Jake. Jake Keough was first and I was second.

However, don't be confused - Chris Jones, Mark McCormick, Amos Brumble, Josh Dillon, Adam Myerson and lots of those guys are better than me....but not at DOOPING THE SYSTEM.

*takes a bow*

Oh, and I had hinted before about a German rider...its confirmed, Richard Geng, the famous "Geng Green" of the 2006 Fitchburg Stage race, will be racing with CCB for the 2008 season (and hopefully be living here in Burlington).

Parental Picture Spectacular

2007-11-04T22:25:00.000-05:00

-First picture is my parents and some friends of theirs on a hike up Mt. Sanai (as in the burning bush & the 10 Commandments).

-The second picture is my dad in what is called a tuk-tuk - essentially a tiny little 3 wheel taxi. He was in Bangkok for a conference.

A Hurting Unit! (long post)

2007-11-04T21:19:00.000-05:00

So, Dan Cassidy and I did the Shelburne Half-Marathon this morning. We decided a couple weeks ago we'd do this just to try out a longer distance running race. In fact this was Dan's first ever running race. Hip-Hip-(you say Hooray!).

Fellow bikers/ex-bikers Jason Baer (Kenda-Raleigh team), Kevin Bouchard-Hall (Young rider Jersey 2004 Tour of Georgia), and Liz Harrison (ECCC Crit Champion 2004) were all in attendance as well...which was awesome. There was probably about a crowd of 200 or so on the start line at the Shelburne Country Store at 8:00am.

Dan and I had the goal of running under 1:30. That would be 6:52 miles. I've just been running about 4-5 weeks, doing 4-5 miles every other, or every 3rd day - and it was Dan's first running race...so this seemed like a good goal. We went out nice and slowly, sitting 30-40 people back for the first mile. Then Dan started moving up a little. Things felt in the legs and the pace felt easy, so we positioned ourselves closer to the front, maybe 10 guys back.

Things continued to feel good so we moved up into a little group, maybe 50 yards back off the front group of 4. I knew there was a steep hill a couple miles into the course and told Dan we'd move up there. We followed the plan and joined the leaders at that point. Having bikers legs we had to run the downhills a little slower than the others, but having bikers lungs we could charge up the hills pretty well.

There was a long gradual downhill approaching the half-way point and Dan started to feel some real tightness in his hips and upper quads. He did the smart thing and backed it off a bit. Unfortunately the tightness continued the rest of the race - and Dan couldn't use the nice long stride he has. Still, it was great to get him into a running race and it seems like he enjoys the challenge of something new.

Meanwhile, a runner from behind surged strongly as the half-way point (as we passed my house) and he broke up the front group. One other runner from that group and myself clawed back up to the leader. We ran for several miles together, including a portion through Shelburne Farms. As we got into the closing miles the runner who had surged mid-race dropped off, and it was just two of us. I ran in second and stayed there as I felt my muscles get tighter and tighter and starting to strain a bit. I did my best to keep my stride relaxed as we approached the finish line at the Shelburne Athletic Club. I made a dash for the finish as we entered the final 400m. It worked and I crossed the finish line with seizing muscles. Literally 30 seconds after the finish I could barely walk. Talk about needing that finish line!

The best part of it all - Helen was the lead biker for the race (as in the person on a bike who rides just ahead of the runners). So, that's cool. And she did a great job too. Then, after the race there was amazing food from the Starry Night Cafe, that swank restaurant down in Ferrisburg. I could barely move my legs, but I was happy as could be as my sister, Dan, Helen, and I sat and chit-chatted on my porch. It was a short lived moment though - because I had to hop in the shower and it was off to work at the Skirack.

So, if you see me hobbling around Burlington in the next week, or hear story of such a thing, you will know why. The time was 1:21. Not amazing, but not bad considering. And wait until Dan Cassidy gets going. He putting it together, one stride at a time. Pictures to come...

Happy Halloween and P'ditty

2007-11-01T09:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween you guys. I went over to a big Halloween party with Helen. The party was over at my friend Kyle's house - Kyle works at the Skirack as well and it was a lot of folks from work there, so it was a fun crowd. This morning before I was leaving to work I opened my closet and just looked for whatever looked like it could pass for a costume. I grabbed a white thing with embroidery that my parents got for me from Bangladesh. Its sort of this robe/man-dress sort of thing. And I grabbed this crazy multi-colored vest to go with it. Sort of a Balki from Perfect Strangers type thing.

I road a Cervelo P3 (P'ditty) today for a couple hours. My friend Pete's summer boss just randomly gave Pete his P3 at the end of the summer. Pete told me to try it out, and it did, and that bike is way fast. I made it from the Mt. Philo Rd. and Spear St. Extension junction to where Spear St. and Swift St. cross in 30 minutes (riding on Spear St.).

I always find it hard to just ride easy on a TT bike. I don't know how triathletes just go out for a ride at base mile speed on a TT bike.

Running, resting, and riding with the German

2007-10-29T18:37:00.001-04:00

Hey Friends - I hope you are doing well and sipping some coffee while you read this. The late fall cold has finally arrived in Burlington, VT and it feels good. The warmth inside the Muddy Waters coffee shop felt pretty good today when I popped in for a bowl of chili and a small French roast today at lunch. And it was packed in there - so that means its starting to get cold out because the colder it gets outside the more attractive it gets to be in there.

I've been doing a trail run on Friday afternoons up at Bolton Valley that my sister has been organizing. Its really more of a mountain run because its basically up and down. There was a large group this past week and we sort of broke into naturally selected groups. We ran on some wild trails and got quite muddy. The run was a lot of fun though and there were some pretty heavenly views when we got to the top of the Heavenly Highway trail. Looking down and then across to Mt. Mansfield it felt like the whole world was a forest. Attached are two pictures I highjacked from my sister's website. The first one is of the whole group before we headed out for the run (that's me in the tree!) and the second one is of Angus, who got especially muddy while running in the same group as me (he nearly got stuck in a mini-bog).
This trail run has left me quite sore for the following 2-3 days afterward each week, but once I'm healed up from being torn apart by the mountain my legs are stronger than they were before. So, with this building of strength in mind I'm going to be running a half-marathon this coming weekend. All the local 5k races that were supposed to happen this past weekend got cancelled- so all that's coming up in this half-marathon right here in Shelburne this coming Sunday. Dan Cassidy is going to run it with me, and our plan is just to run under 1:30. That puts us at about 6:52 per mile average. I will say, the first month or two after the bike racing season ends is quite nice - to just stay at home, do trail runs and drink coffee...it is restful.

I'm going to create some suspense on the last topic of this post - it is in regards to new possible teammates for next season. These are unconfirmed reports, but there is a chance we may have a German wonder-kid and a former Priority Health rider on CCB next season. Just stew on that and let me know how it tastes. By the way, I can confirm that Chris Worden and Colin Jaskiewicz will be riding with CCB next season. So, the Burlington contingent continues to grow.

That is all for now - I've got some numbers to crunch. Be merry.

Catamount Cross

2007-10-24T22:06:00.000-04:00

The Catamount Cyclocross Weekend has come and gone once again. There was some good racing and some good weather - very unlike last year when there was way to much snow, mud, and cold and horrible, painful crashing by me.This year I just raced on Saturday, as I had to work on Sunday. It looked like it was going to be a pretty low-key event until just about 15 minutes before the start when Josh Dillon, Dan Vaillencourt, and teammate Will Dugan all showed up. Some solid riders. I look the lead right off the bat and got to take clean lines through the first half of the first lap. Then the crashing started and I went down hard 3 times in the first lap, and lost some distance on the leaders. I even had to straighten my handlebars after the last crash and banged my leg pretty hard. I eventually got going again and found a pretty good rythme, not crashing once. I raced hard and moved up from second to last to finish 6th. Up front Will Dugan attacked in the second lap and rode to win by a big margin. Josh was 2nd and Dan 3rd. Following are a few bulleted highlights and some more pictures from the race...

-Will Dugan is so good at cross that he won again on Sunday even though half of the sole ripped off his left shoe during the race.
-Dan Cassidy, Ilke, Chris, Erin, and my sister and Helen did some awesome cheering and picture taking.
-Erik at Catamount knows how to put together great cyclocross courses.
-Crashing is bad...

Papa's got a new pair of shoes

2007-10-18T21:52:00.000-04:00

Got some new shoes today. They are orange. So that's good.

I've been getting the cross-training going. Still spending some time on the bike, but throwing in some running, stretching, exercises, and even some roller skiing in as well. Its been enjoyable. I'm doing a cyclocross race this weekend at the Catamount Family Center and the following weekend I'm doing a 5k running race over in Essex.

So I've been getting a big ol' No-Go for turning pro next year. I'd talked to some professional teams in the end of August and beginning of September and then again while I was out in Las Vegas. I've gotten no response from anyone. Like Mike Cody said, "Its like a night club with a big long line out front and it looks like its really cool, but it really isn't actually that cool once you get inside." Still, to put two years in with that singular goal and not reach it is a little frustrating. Thankfully CCB is a most excellent team to ride for - and Steve Pucci makes sure we have all the support we need.

So, the plan is to do less bike racing around New England next year and take on some more responsibility at work. However, I'm bad at letting dreams go. So, the racing I will be doing will be more focused at the major events where a good result really means something. Also, I'm really interested in getting back to doing local biking, running, and skiing stuff around Burlington.

Oh, and on a very very very exciting note, my girlfriend Helen and I now are the proud owners off two tickets to Egypt. We booked our flights to Cairo for December 28th to January 12th. Pyramids...

Vegas Decompression Complete

2007-10-04T23:40:00.001-04:00

So, a week after the USA Crit Series Finals in Las Vegas I feel like I'm finally decompressed from that pressure cooker of a race. Before I say anything else about the trip or the race I need to say a big, big thank you to Spike and Rodger who are my bosses at the Skirack for letting me stay with them out there and their encouragement and excitement for what I was doing. It meant a lot!

A little breakdown:
-The race was insanely scary.
-The tradeshow was highly entertaining.
-The city was majorly repulsive.
-The experience was definitely worth it.

I'm going to be writing a whole story about the race and the trip for the Cycling Revealed website (http://www.cyclingrevealed.com/) and should be finishing that up this weekend. Thanks Graham and Barry!

Here's a picture of me riding mid-race right behind Ivan Dominguez (eventual race winner). He seems to win a lot of these things, so I decided to see how he did it and just rode behind him for 10-15 laps mid-race. He's smooth. And it definitely helped imitating.

New E-mail Address

2007-10-01T11:38:00.000-04:00

Hey Friends,

I have a new e-mail address. It is jakehollenbach@gmail.com. The days of the UVM e-mail are over. End of an era.

Some Vegas stories coming tonight!

Back from Vegas

2007-09-30T00:15:00.000-04:00

So, I'm back from Vegas and I'm in one piece. It is a weird city and I had an interesting trip. Much, much more coming soon...

A Hamburger Ride and Nordic

2007-09-22T21:39:00.000-04:00

I went for a ride yesterday with this guy Travis who is a senior at Champlain College. He was actually a pretty darn strong rider and he said he's never done any racing apart from some time trials. I was running late getting to the meeting place though and hadn't had any lunch. It is 2:40 at this point. I had just had a small bowl of cereal in the morning. About an hour into the ride I ask Travis if he wouldn't mind if we stop in Richmond and I get something quick to eat. I pulled up to where the Richmond Bakery used to be and its not there (it moved just down the road, which I didn't know). So, we goto the restaurant the next place over and I go inside and look at the menu. They have a bacon cheeseburger with sweat potato fries and I'm starving so I have to have it. Travis and I wait while its made and I wolf it down mach-10 once its ready. Point of all this is I'm pretty impressed on Travis' part that he was ok with all this. I mean we chit-chatted and stuff all the while, but it was a weird first ride with someone - I mean, who stops and gets a hamburger 1 hour into a 4 hour ride? It was good though. :-) The ride and the burger.

Starting to think about nordic skiing. Its 80 degrees out today though. I've got some new poles from Madshus on the way and a race suit. I've been wearing an old SMS suit my sister passed onto me. Thanks Liz! My girlfriend Helen and I went for a bike ride today together - we're going to shoot for doing the 50k this year at Lake Placid.

Oh, Sammy Sanchez is killing it in the Vuelta. I really like the way that guy rides a bike. Ever seen him go down a hill? Up a hill too of course!

A Nice Song

2007-09-20T23:15:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you've heard this song and singer before, but I just heard it today for the first time. It reminds me of sitting on a beach in Thailand. Pretty relaxing stuff. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

On a bike note, Dan Cassidy's new TT bike looks pretty hot. I'll get a picture of it pronto. I saw it as he wheeled it up the street today in the bright Burlington sun.

Hill Repeats and a Turkey Bacon Sandwich

2007-09-19T21:45:00.000-04:00

I road out to Bolton today to ride up and down the access road a couple times. I just had a 23 on in the back, as that's all I've had all year. It was a grind. 25 minutes for the first try, 23.5 for the second. After the second time up though I went over to the nordic/fitness center, where my sister Liz is now working. We hung out there for a few minutes and then went up to this nice sandwich shop right at the base lodge. I had a glorious Turkey Bacon sandwich - and got it toasted, on my sisters recommendation. The sandwich hit the spot and I rode hard all the way back to Burlington.

Here's a picture of Bolton and a picture of a Turkey Bacon sandwich (unfortunately not a picture of mine. Mine didn't have avocado in it. That would have been good.)

What's on my mind

2007-09-18T12:50:00.000-04:00

I couldn't sleep much last night because I was thinking about this: http://finals.usacrits.com/ the whole night.

maybe I can do some of this while I'm there:

Its been a while...

First Posting

2007-09-18T12:14:00.000-04:00

Hi Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. I've just created this and will start posting pictures and stories. Hopefully having a blog will do two things:
1. Keep my family, friends, and throngs of fans up to date on comings and goings.
2. Finally make me learn how to use my digital camera.

Cheers,
Jake