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It’s about to get interesting!
Since Perry I have really been focusing on hill work, especially hills shorter than one mile in length. I just want to make sure I can be as strong as I can be on those hills in Gainesville. I absolutely cannot wait for that RR. Today also marks the first official day of the Tuesday night rides here in town. These rides are sick! The course is a 36 mile loop and at about mile 20 or so there is a three mile climb that really breaks up the field. And best of all, the ride starts about 2 miles from the apartment. And the descent off this climb is a fast one. I have clocked 50 mph off it one time, so I know some of you guys can easily hit 60 or more. But the climb is not the only hard part about this ride. On average, there are normally 50 or more people that show up for this ride. And the course leading up to the climb is pretty hilly. And if there is a group in the end, the sprint is really cool and safe with a wide lane on a four lane highway to sprint from. All in all, it is one of the sweetest group rides out there! Anyway, not much else going on otherwise. I also can’t wait to watch the Tour of Flanders on VS this Sunday! That should be interesting! Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : April 1, 2008 - 1:10pm
The ice cream truck
I was out on a ride yesterday and passed an ice cream truck with its music blaring and all I could think about was Jason and his van. “I have candy in my van.” I laughed out loud on the bike. It was so funny. Anyway, this week I have been able to ride quite a bit considering the weather we have been having (the rain and such). I have really been pushing myself on the hills and have been trying to keep my heartrate as high as I can sustain it while on the climbs and then nearing the top just giving it more gas and basically drooling on myself. So I finally got to look at the map for the road race for the Gainesville GC. WOW! Whether we do it clockwise or counterclockwise, it’s going to be a hard race! I think I already like it better than the previous two Gainesville GCs because it stays off HWY 60 and that spelled bad news. I can’t wait for these races! Bring it on. Well, that’s it for now. “And I’m spent!” Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : March 21, 2008 - 2:36pm
The Epic Perry-Roubaix!
This past weekend could not have gone better for the team! I will just start with that…. The drive down to Perry started a bit rocky. I finally got down to Addictive Cycles to meet up with Hollifield because he was working on his time machine. We got out of there around 2:00 pm after Jason kept calling us to nag us about coming to pick him up and when we were going to finally leave the shop, and so on and so forth! HA! I think after packing up the Cannondalemobile at the Hollifields Eric and I were finally on our way to Cafe:ine to pick up Jason. And after much deliberation about directions with his brother, Eric, and Tall Paul we finally just up and left and headed due south on I-75. Screw the traffic! And traffic there was! We sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic around the Eagle’s Landing area for what seem an eternity! Man, I hate that area! I think we finally got to the RV park around 8:00 or 9:00 Friday night. Had a beer and some snacks and hit the sack (i.e. the cubby hole) around midnight thinking that our start times for the TT the next morning were going to be later than what they really were (a little misunderstanding, but all was well). We got to the TT start just fine and everyone made their starts on time. Out on the course my plan was to just keep telling myself “Can you go faster? Can you go faster? Go harder! It’ll be over soon enough!” And the miles ticked by. I just focused on making the pain more and more because the more I hurt the faster I go. I also just focused on getting as stretched out as possible. Getting those arms further out. I think the hill leading up to the turn around hurt everyone. I had to get out of the big ring and looked down and could barely hold 16 mph! It hurt! And then leading up to the finish I just tried to go as hard as I could up that hill and carry the speed through. All in all, I nearly threw up after the TT, so I knew I did good for myself. I ended up in 13th place. I EVEN BEAT HORHAY!!! In a TT!! (Sorry, mate, I had to.) I can’t wait to see how I would have done on a real TT machine instead of a couple of clip-ons. Overall, the team did real well in the TT. Andrew and Alan went 1st and 2nd respectively in the TT and Eric took 6th on a brand new TT position he had never even ridden. What a monster! After the TT Brian Lord and his wife, Kindle (sp?), went to Chic-fil-a and bought us all chicken biscuits! Man, what a recovery meal!! You guys kick butt for that! Thanks. Then for the circuit race the plan was to just help out the team as much as possible and stay out of the wind! On one of the laps there was a MAR point prime up for grabs and so I found myself at the front of the pack on the back stretch with Jay Lowe on my wheel. He just coached me through it all. He told me just to keep it steady and then up the pace super fast around the turn and then peel off to the left after the turn. After I peeled off he came around me and handily took the prime. It felt good to do that for a teammate in such a smooth manner. I keep telling everyone I perform better when I am working for someone else. Makes me ride stronger and harder. The circuit didn’t turn out incredibly great for us. I don’t know how we all placed but we were all in the main field. After the circuit we all went to Johnny Carrino’s for dinner. Let me just say that if anyone has a chance to sit down for dinner with this group, do so! That was hilarious! And it was all Jason, Horhay, and Brian Lord! Those guys are NUTS! All I can remember after dinner Saturday was that I did not stop eating. Food, food, and more food. I love racing season! The Perry-Roubaix road race is probably the most famous road race among racers here in the South. It is such an epic race. And probably one of my favorite races out there. Behind all the mountainous races, of course! The Perry course immediately starts out with two pretty stiff hills followed by a fairly flat road leading up to the infamous Firetower Road. It is at this point that all strategy and planning goes out the window! The team’s plan from the start was to put me up front and have me put a hurting on the field on the very first hill. So I set what I thoutht was a pretty hard pace up the hill and looking back I saw Hollifield on my wheel. So I ramped up the pace just a little bit more and then when I felt I could no longer hold that pace I sat up and he took over to win the first KOM of the day. Job well done! Now back to work. Well, after the hills Andrew took over and attempted a breakaway with some other dude and stayed away for a little while. The dirt road sector was not as big of a problem as I expected it to be. All went well over the dirt. And then it was attack after attack after that. Nearing the end of the first lap it was still gruppo compacto. And once again I found myself at the front of the peloton leading up to the hills. Fine by me! I set a hard pace up that first hill to set up Nick for the KOM which I think he took second and I took third on. And as the second hill loomed I kept it in the big ring and really took off. Looked back and I had a gap on the field so I put my head down and just tried to distance myself from them. And let me tell you, the next 5-10 minutes felt like an eternity. I just tried to focus on the TT the day before and how I told myself to just keep ticking the pedals over. I made it alone almost all the way throught the dirt road sector before being pulled back into the field. On the third lap I again found myself on the front leading up to the hills. I don’t really remember much about the third lap. Made the hills hard though. And then the fourth lap is when it got real interesting because Andrew and a couple of other guys were up the road on a breakaway. And on the fourth time up the hills Nick and I again kept the pace hard and the Alan took over and took first on that KOM and broke away with a couple of other guys and were also gone! Never saw them again! The fouth time over the dirt I just couldn’t hang any more. The day before caught up to me and I was feeling the hills! So I just hung out with Kindle in the feed zone the next lap. Thought she could use a break feeding the team because after all, her and Andrew’s wife were the only spouses that made the trip to Perry this year. And I congratulate (sp?) them! They did awesome despite the feed zone being in a bad spot! They made the day easier for all of us. Much thanks!! After the elites passed the feed zone for the last time Kindle and I made our way to the start/finish time to watch the guys finish. Saw the breakaway coming down the road and then watched as Alan handily outsprinted all of his eight breakaway companions to take first in the Perry-Roubaix road race!!! How awesome is that?!?!?! Overall, the performance this team put in this weekend makes me very proud and afraid for the other teams out there! I had more fun this weekend than I have in a long while at other races (since Albany, maybe? HA!) I must thank Eric so very much for driving there and back. I also have to thank Billy for letting us use his RV again. Man, you guys are true lifesavers!! Also I have to thank Kindle for being in the feedzone and for Russ for being there to volunteer on Sunday (I don’t know the whole story behind that but it was cool seeing him again). It again was good to see Horhay, Brian, Jason, Jay Lowe, Andrew and his family, Nick, Alan, Marcus, and Bobby. All of you kick butt!! I look forward to Gainesville and seeing all of you again because we will only be stronger and more thirsty for those podiums! See you all later! Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : March 19, 2008 - 1:45pm
Skipped the River Falls
Yeah right! There was no way I was going to go race River Falls with the temps at maybe 40 and the wind at a constant 25 mph from what I hear! No thank you! I won’t ride in that crap unless I get paid to ride a bike. Instead, I went over to Gallant, AL on Sunday and rode the Alabama winter training series RR in the A division (which is a coupling of the Pro, 1, 2, 3, and Masters). The course was five rolling laps of ten miles each and after the fifth lap you keep going past the start/finish and continue a couple of more miles and finish with a one mile NASTY climb!! Think Rome’s climb only it doesn’t let up and it’s shorter. WOW! It hurt. The race started at 2:45 pm with temps well into the 50s. The first 1 1/2 - 2 laps were FAST AND FURIOUS!! Wow. When those guys want to get up and go, they do. I stayed in the first 15 for those first two laps and even followed attacks and found myself attacking at one point. Well, after the second lap I drifted to the back to just recover and eat and wait for what was to come. Well, finally a smallish group of about 5 got up the road on the last lap and stayed away. Once we hit the climb I was sitting in the top 10-15 and I just stayed my own pace knowing from experience that on the very nasty climbs that it is mnuch better to pace yourself than try to follow wheels. Right from the beginnning of the climb I was passing people. And I felt great considering. At the 1K to go I had caught the main chase group of maybe three. Hung on to them and shelled a couple of more people, all the while passing one or two more guys. Cam down to the finish and I was drooling on myself! It was very painful. Near the end it was just all one could do turn the pedals over. Maybe my 23-11 was not easy enough of a gear for this climb. Whatever, oh well! Anyway, I finished strong and left EVERYTHING on that climb. I could barely pedal past the finish line. It felt good to have performed that well on a climb after not adhering to my training schedule all that well over the winter. I can’t wait for th ehilly climbing stages this season! All in all, I think I came in the top-10 on Sunday, which surprised the hell out of me. Especially against a bunch of 1s and 2s and strong Masters racers. And there were a bunch of teams there, too. I felt really outnumbered. I’ll see you all in Perry!! Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : March 10, 2008 - 1:12pm
HILARIOUS!!!!!!!
This made me cry so BAD! It’s sooooooo true! Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : February 12, 2008 - 10:50pm
The “W”
Listening to Three Doors Down right now and the song that is playing is called “The Road I’m On” and I thought it appropriate because yesterday I finally got to ride. So what did I do? I went and rode up the “W”. The “W” is famous around here. It is only about three and a half miles long but right at the very end the road makes a series of switchbacks which form a “W”, hence the name of the road. It is extremely steep, and feels even more so after climbing for about 3.5 hard miles. Well, I did it because I had not been on the bike in a long while (a week, maybe) and I needed to just get it out of me. I worked 50 hours at the restaurant last week! Ridiculous! And it’s the slow season. Whatever! Anyway, my personal record for this climb is, like, 16:00 minutes, I think. I did not time myself yesterday but I felt good on the climb (for not really climbing at all in the past few months and being pretty much out of shape). Once you reach the top you can either go right and ride on one side of the brow of the mountain or turn left and ride on the other side of the “W”. (Editor’s note: the way the mountains work here is such that when one tops out on a climb the road just rides the ridge and then after a few miles descends again, which is unlike the mountains around Dahlonega where one descends immediately after topping out on the mountain. I prefer the Dahlonega mountains.) Well, after climbing the “W” I turned right and rode the brow for a little ways and then turned around and went to the other side of the brow to scout around for some possible houses to buy once Miranda graduates. The homes on the top of Signal Mountain, which is the mountain the “W” tops out on, are amazing! They are so unique. And oftentimes pricey. There is even a mini castle down one of the roads up there. There is an ex-Kansas City Chiefs linebacker who has a house up there and he is famous for collecting exotic animals. He owns a few buffalo and keeps them on top of the mountain. Needless to say, a different place to live. But so far out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the city yet close enough to make it bearable. And the views! Don’t get me started! You just have to come up here and see for yourself. The plan is to buy a big enough home to where we can have a good many teammates come up and stay and do some training rides. The Cherohala Skyway is only an hour and a half away, also!! But the predicament we are in is that we can’t decide whether to rent for another year and pay off some of her loans and then buy a house after that year or just go ahead and buy a house now. I am all for buying a house now just because the way the market is now. It won’t always be this low and easy to buy a house. I just want to quit moving and settle down and focus. Focus on job, racing, and uh….more racing! For not really riding the hours I wanted to this winter I felt really good yesterday. I got my heartrate up quite a few times and kept it in the big ring more than I normally would have. By Albany I should be able to put a hurting on some people, hopefully. All I want to do is go on a flier and make everyone else chase me. Or string out the field so badly that all that are left are a few guys begging for mercy! That is, if it’s not too windy and cold. In which case, I’ll just chill out mid-pack and try to survive. Wow. My first official exclusive Cat 3 RR. It’s going to be interesting! Stay warm everyone! Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : January 29, 2008 - 10:46pm
IT’S TOO COLD!!!!!!!!
I can’t wait for this weather to clear on out of here! It is far too cold to get out on the bike and riding the trainer is SSSSSSOOOOO monotonous! Seriously, one can only spend so many hours on the trainer before one goes crazy! And I haven’t spent all that much time riding indoors! It has just been so hard finding the time to ride the hours I need to be putting in! Work has been crazy busy, and it’s the offseason for restaurants! Nuts, man! I cant’ complain. I have been making some pretty good money the past couple of weeks, even during lunch shifts! Also, I am in the process of obtaining my life insurance license so that is taking up a good deal of my time. But what I keep telling myself is that I am now a cat 3. I have finally obtained my biggest goal so far of my racing career. I am there. Finally. Whatever I do, I can race with my cat 3 teammates. I will just be waving at them as I am being spit out the back. HA! Not really. Look at Augusta this past year: Eric told me to get to the front and drill it over the next few hills and I did and did so over the next couple of laps and finally I turned to him and said “I’m dead, I can’t do this any more. I’ll see you at the finish.” And I thought I would subsequently be spit out the back but I hung in there in the middle of the pack and still finished 14, in the elite field. So my biggest motivator this year will be to put as big of a hurting on the field so that I can better my teammate’s chances of winning races. I perform better when I am working for someone. So I am looking forward to this coming season. The Tundra is only a few weeks away and I MAY do that race. It all depends on what the forecast is calling for. Last year’s Tundra was brutal! I will not do it if it’s that cold again. But I like it because it is a good judge of my fitness. I’m out. Got to go study. Jack-Jack Attack Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : January 25, 2008 - 10:03am
Slow restaurant season…..what else to do?
Okay, so until Valentine’s Day and even a little while after that it is kind of the REAL slow season for restaurants. What do we do to pass the time? We look up idiotic videos on YouTube and other worthless crap! Check this out! Absolutely hilarious!!! And do feel free to share some of your own weird and dumb findings on the ‘Tube!! Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : January 15, 2008 - 4:17pm
Check it out!!
You guys absolutely MUST check this link out. It is unique, I will say that. I won’t give anything away. Just click on it. It’s safe, don’t worry. But it made me laugh so hard my stomach HURT! Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : January 15, 2008 - 12:44am
Ramblin’…………
The weather up here in Chattanooga of late has been far from forgiving. With a high of only 40 or so degrees today, I was forced to stay inside and ride the trainer for an hour and a half or so. Which is good in the sense that I was able to actually get in the intervals I needed to accomplish. Miranda started her third-to-last internship today at the Parkridge Medical Center in the cardiology unit. Sounds fun, I know. “All that glitters is not gold.” HA! Anyway, she was up and at ‘em at 6:00 am. What an ungodly hour! I only wake up at that time to race my bike. And even then no amount of coffee or espresso can really perk me up enough. I can tell I am getting older because my body will not let me stay asleep past a certain hour in the morning. If the sun is up I might as well be on the bike or at work. That’s the way I look at it. Which sucks because I work in a restaurant and am in the groove of staying up late but then to wake up early the next morning has its downfalls. That’s okay because as long as I have some Jittery Joe’s tins in the cupboard all is well. Prior to jumping on the bike today I downloaded the new Godsmack remake of Led Zepplin’s “Good Times, Bad Times”, which is such an awesome song in its originality. But then Godsmack gets a hold of it and makes it that much harder, which is what I am into. I also downloaded some Korn songs. I have never really been into Korn all that much, but there are a few of their songs that just do it for me. And so then off to the trainer with the new tunes and ESPN on the TV (on mute, of course). I found that while pedaling the trainer and reading the captioning on the TV that I started to get nauseous. I don’t know why. It was weird. I also noticed this when I was on the trainer a month or so ago while I was playing XBOX at the same time. All the swerving and thoughtfulness that went into playing the XBOX, I guess, distracted my ability to pedal and made me really dizzy. I also noticed that when I slowed down to turn in the racing game I was playing my cadence slowed down onthe bike. WEIRD! So I just watch the TV with sound from now on. Actually, I really just hate riding the trainer at all cost. Yeah, I was re-reading this post just a minute ago and really thought that none of my paragraphs flowed well together and it all felt choppy. It is late and I have been up since early this morning and have to put in a double tomorrow. So I will leave you with a few movie titles to rent and check out if you have not seen them yet. Fight Club Memento American History X Vanilla Sky These movies will make you think. Posted in Uncategorized by Jack-Jack Attack : January 15, 2008 - 12:39am |
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