About Jeremy: Despite spending most of the 2006 season sidelined with Valley Fever, Jeremy went on to enjoy his finest cyclocross season ever which included twelve podium appearances. He’s looking to 2007 to be the year he proves himself an equally talented road racer. His fans can follow his exploits on his website www.jpows.com.
Names you’re going to need to know to follow this story... Jones – Mike Jones (teammate) The Bird - Bryce Mead, (teammate) Beast - Danny Van Haute (Manager/ Director of Jelly Belly)
Today is February 14 and I’m reporting from the sunny skies of San Marcos, CA. Like many days in the life of Jeremy Powers it was pretty laid back. We decided to extend training camp and camp out at the Beast’s house until Amgen Tour of California. The day began with a practical joke on our new teammate, and first year pro, The Bird. The Beast stormed in his room bright and early and yelled at him for going out late at night (11pm) with Jones and I for a beer! We were all in on it; Jones and I made The Bird really think he was in trouble for going out the night before with us. His punishment was having to leave early and go pick our mechanic Drew up at the airport, which meant he had to leave painfully early to get in his training ride! During all that I spent a lot of time scrubbing my pearly whites. Being sponsored by the best candy company in the world could lead to some cavities. Along with all the sports drinks and everything else it’s just good to keep up with it, especially when you’re on the road. I made some breakfast: a bagel with eggs and a cup of coffee. Afterward I called to make sure the flowers I sent made it okay for Valentine’s Day, and I also got a great Valentine gift from my girlfriend which was really nice.
After that I strolled the internet, checked out the news sites to see who was mad at who, what racers are in trouble, who broke bones and all the gossip that transpired in the last 12hrs.
Somewhere around 9am, I was excited to fit up my custom cycling shoes from Lake which required me to heat up the oven to about 400 degrees and throw the shoes in for 4 minutes. Then I slid my foot into them and molded those babies up, they are sweet, I’ve never been in a more comfy shoe, huge toe box for my fat foot and I could even fit my orthodics in them. Amazing. I quickly set up my cleats and off Jones and I went. After that it gets to the best part of my day: work! Jones and I did about 5 hours. The ride was awesome, starting from San Marcos and going through the back roads of Temecula, CA. Of course we ran out of water and I looked like a saltlick, so I ended up "borrowing" a grapefruit off a tree and eating it, before some women on the desolate mountain road yelled at Jones and me to ride single file. Just as we were making our way DOWN into Temecula Jones flatted, then left his pack of tools open after he changed the tube. They fell all over the road so we had to go back up and get them! Some guy who used to work with Chris Horner at a shop in the area jumped on and rode with us for a while and told us some of the local gossip from the area, which was pretty hilarious. We finally made it back to San Marcos, and just as we were finishing our ride a truck came up really fast laying on the horn. Jones and I freaked out, only to realize it was the BEAST! We actually zoomed a couple of bottles at him, and we all laughed it off at dinner with The Bird, Jones, Drew (our mechanic) and Danny’s family. After dinner I got back and we cleaned up Jones’s fifth wheel, dumped the tanks, did some laundry and packed everything up for tomorrow’s trip up to San Francisco for the Amgen Tour of California! See everyone there!
About Jeremy: Despite spending most of the 2006 season sidelined with Valley Fever, Jeremy went on to enjoy his finest cyclocross season ever which included twelve podium appearances. He’s looking to 2007 to be the year he proves himself an equally talented road racer. His fans can follow his exploits on his website www.jpows.com.