JPows.com

Check out some footage of the Koksijde World Championships course, plus a little extra bonus footage to show what riding along on that course is really like!
(more…)

Check out some quick bar cam footage from Sunday’s Hoogerheide World Cup pre-ride. Stay tuned for some higher resolution footage!

Hello friends! I’m writing this from SUNNY Belgium! I can’t believe it! A welcome change from the rain and cold that typically greets us off the plane in Brussels! The sun has been out every single day since I’ve been here this trip and this is the best weather I’ve ever seen in Belgium in the winter. I’ll take it.

I’ve finally been able to catch up on my sleep and kick this head cold I picked up after nationals. Thank God.

I need to say thank you to everyone for so many awesome, inspiring messages after nationals. I read every single one of them. Shortly after nationals my phone stopped working and couldn’t accept any more messages, the amount of people who took the time to say congratulations was so incredible!

My trip coming over to Belgium after nationals was a bluuurrrr. Sunday night we celebrated as a team. Considering the circumstances, it felt appropriate. Monday morning I flew back home for about 12 hours where my entire family, extended family and friends all came over and packed my house with basically our entire cycling community from Western Mass. It was so great to share the victory with everyone! We have a great group of people and riders in Western Mass. and many of them have helped me get to this point so it felt great to share the night with them and thank them all before I left for Europe.

During that gathering I had my laundry going and the next morning I re-packed my bags, added a couple things (3 jars of peanut butter and lots of coffffeeee!) I went for a spin and headed back to the airport.

The flight over was all kinds of awesome. I got to share the front of the plane with my mechanic Tom Hopper and TImmy J! That was great, but I was a little restless on the flight. You know how sometimes you’re SO tired that you can’t actually sleep… well that happened.

The travel over to Europe is hard no matter what way you cut the pie. It’s never easy, but this time I couldn’t get my sleeping rhythm on track, waking up at all hours of the night the entire week leading into last weekends world cup in France.

The head cold I picked up wasn’t getting better, what with the lack of sleep. So, I laid super low all week and then on Saturday put together a ride that I felt was enough to blow the cobwebs out of my legs. I opted to stay at our house versus driving to France to recon the course and pick-up our numbers.

Doing that bought me a few extra hours of sleep on Saturday and I got in a nap and put my legs up. When we got to the race on Sunday I started riding at noon and didn’t stop until after the race.

After we arrived, I immediately got my course recon going before the race, pinned my numbers then got right on the trainer to keep it movin’.

After really buckling down and putting in some good effort on Saturday and Sunday I was really happy with 14th and being in the sprint for 12th. And then, for everyone’s entertainment, after the race our camper got stuck! And this big piece of yellow French machinery came and pulled us out!

With everything that happened getting over here and all the craziness that comes with winning nationals, I’m happy with how I rode in France and I’m looking forward to improving on that 14th this weekend in Hoogerheide!

Yesterday Tom, Zach, Trebon, Chris Milliman and I headed down south a bit to ride with our pals from the Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com team. We got in a nice two hour recovery ride with some good rolling climbs and than had lunch at the Sint-Sixtus abbey, which is home to the most famous beer in the entire world. If you’re ever in the West Flanders you have to roll through. Tomorrow I’ve got a massage planned, a good training session and the rest of our Rapha-Focus team comes into town so it’s going to be ALL hands on deck for these next two weekends.

If you guys get a chance, GO CHECK OUT THESE BEHIND THE BARRIERS IMITATION CONTEST VIDEOS. Ohhhh man. Some of them are classic and funny as hell. One of the videos has ME in 20 years – season 20, episode 11 of behind the barriers in 2029 – after a failed marriage with Katy Perry.

Then “like” the video on Facebook so each of these participants gains a vote for A LOT OF FREE STUFF! Wheelsets, Helmets, Oakley shades, the whole shabangabang… So check some out, “like” them and thank you for coming by and reading!

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. At least we hope so…

Behind THE Barriers is excited to announce our first ever contest! We’ve gotten a lot of great suggestions on how to improve Behind THE Barriers this season, but rather than collect a list of things to add, change and remove – believe us, we’d have an encyclopedia – we figured we’d hand the reigns over to you, the viewer!

We want you to try your hand at making an episode of Behind THE Barriers. We want you to put together your best imitation of the antics of one Jeremy Powers and the directorial stylings of one Sam Smith. Most of all, we want it to be your interpretation of Behind THE Barriers – Behind THE Barriers from behind your lens.

Make your video. Make it as long or as short as you like. Make it as crazy or as subdued as you would want your episode to be. Set it at a race, set it in the hotel, set it in a Whole Foods or even set it in Jeremy’s favorite location – the kitchen. We ask that you keep things civil and rated PG. Inappropriate videos will be promptly removed. If you’re worried no one will be watching, don’t be, you’ll at least get a view from our administrator (bless his soul).

When you’re done with your video, post it to our Facebook page – www.facebook.com/BehindTHEBarriers (don’t be shy, give us a like while you’re there). And so you don’t think we’re biased, we’re letting you, the fans of Behind THE Barriers, pick the winners. The video with the most Likes at the end of the competition will win our grand prize! Try to keep it honest folks – don’t stuff the ballot box, please. And if you come in second, don’t worry, to the runners-up goes the spoils as well. The deadline for video submission is Friday, December 31st at midnight and the deadline for voting is Monday, January 9th, also at midnight. We’ll announce the winners on Tuesday, January 10th!

The all important question – what are you playing for? The grand prize winner will get an exclusive gift pack courtesy of the Rapha-Focus professional cyclocross team, including a team kit, a pair of Easton EA90 SL wheels, a pair of Giro Gauge mountain bike shoes, a Giro Aeon helmet, a Contour+ camera, a pair of Oakley sunglasses and some other goodies. The Runner up will a box of exclusive shwag from Rapha, team Rapha-Focus and SRAM!

So go on! We want to see your best imitation of Behind THE Barriers. Get to work, and most of all, have some fun!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog, but that’s really only because just about everything I’d tell you guys about my of my life this time of the year is on Behind The Barriers.

First, do check out the new tunes I posted from Afrojack! I love this mix he did at Electric Zoo! It’s awesome, and if you’re into his style, you’ll like it too. I’m also posting another mix from the Super Mash Bros. (my young gun friend Zach McDeez… AKA DJ Raisin Bran, hooked me up with the mix). The title Isn’t for the young’ns (as a heads up) but its similar to Girltalk, if you like them, and, in my opinion this is better! Check that out in the music section!

I’ve also got a new t-shirt my friends from Stomach of Anger designed and made up. I love it, the money from the sales go towards our amateur program, the J.A.M, Fund!

A lot of great things happened this weekend. I won both days of the USGP in Louisville, took over the lead of the USGP and I added another category 1 victory to my UCI points tally, which is important as I get to these World Cups and World Championships in January.

One thing that happened that I’m not especially proud of was that I celebrated a victory 100 meters too early on Sunday. I’m gonna say this: That happens once and never happens again. I apologize to anyone who thought it was cocky or this or that. I’m a pro bike racer but one thing I’m not is cocky or arrogant. I actually try my absolute hardest to set a good example for the younger generation of cyclist and fans of the sport. I’ll let other riders fill the “bad boy of bike racing” shoes – it’s not my style and it’s not who I am. My recollection of what happened on Sunday’s early celebration was: I looked back after I hit the pavement and had a decent gap. I thought I saw Todd sit up so I posted up. As any professional does, I looked back to make sure and that’s when I said, ‘ohhhhhh snappppp!’ So I got back on the gas and thought I’d have enough momentum after a couple pedal strokes to get to the finish. Turns out I didn’t and I really had to get back on the gas! I made a miscalculation and I was the first person to tell myself, “don’t ever do that again, dude! happens once, never happens again.”

Moving along – got a buddy that you think would enjoy the behind the barriers episodes but his anggllisshh ain’t that good? Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Thanks to my pal Jake who’s been making the transcripts and for our translators we now have subtitles for the series in 5 languages! Dutch, Spanish, German, English, Japanesse… and French (soon)!

Check ‘em out and pass ‘em around!

And lastly I mentioned on twitter last week that the crew from Behind The Barriers and I are going to be announcing a contest that we think is going to keep everyone laughing this winter. We’ll be giving away some slick prizes too…be on the lookout for the details on that later this week or early next week.

Thank you to everyone for all the awesome messages and support this year! Next up for me is the world cup in Koksidje, Belgium.

…make EM go!!! (fist pump) ayyy ayyyy ayyyyy!

Seeeeeyaaa

MANNNNNNNNNN. I’m going to ADD out here and see how fast I can rip this blog out and then get my pal Jake to post it up for me. It’s 7:14 right now…

Welp. Right this second I’m listening to DJ Vice’s podcast (yes the one right on my homepage) at about the 26 minute mark when the MEAANNN Katy Perry track comes on and it inspired me.

Speaking of DJ’s and things that inspire me. Clinton Sparks did an awesome commercial with New Balance: WATCH THIS. TWEET THIS, REPOST IT, whatever!

Since the US Pro Challenge, I’ve pretty much been training and recovering. I’m trying to hang on to and hone that form I got from a month of riding and racing at altitude.

Which seems to be working out so far, I won last weekend down at the 1st UCI race of the season in PA!

After that, I flew to Vegas. I was in the hunt for the WIN!!! It was close. I closed about 10 bike lengths on Rob Peeters from Fidea and then he kicked one last time and I was about half way past him…then Lars Van Der Haar rippppped by going so fast.

All everyone could talk about was how fast he went, and I have to agree. It was impressive and he took Christian Huele with him and then Rob held his half a bike length and I ended up 4th. CRAPPPP!! I was pissed but what can I do. I went from YES! YES! YES! to DAMN! so fast.

Now the Rapha-Focus crew and I are going to St. Louiieeee, Missouri, home of my favorite, Brad Huff. Then to Madison for the USGP in Madison.

These next three races are important to me and I’m going to be trying for a win in one of them. We’ll see what happens. The field of riders here is stronger then ever, which I LOVE. It’s going to be awesome. IF you live close, come out and get a JPOWS Vinyl Decal for your car, mailbox, refrigerator… I’ve got ‘em! Come get ‘em!

I’ll keep going, it’s only 7:35!

Another friend of mine PHIL GAIMON sent me a set of his amazing “Podium Legs.” I’ve been using the crap out of mine and he wanted me to tell everyone I knew about them, so… Hey guys, I use podium legs and I like them! If you want a set, use the discount code JPOWS and get 10% off!

Rapha sent me some of their new Jeans…they’re baller as hell and if you like things that are baller, you should get a set. And if you like to get a deal on things, you should find me at a race and get a special card I only have that will get you smokin’ deal on Rapha.cc.

Thats what I got…hope to see you all out there soon. OOOOOOOOWWWWW!

MAKE ‘EM GOOOOOO! (katy perry song)

7:40…

I’ve got lots to talk about, but first we’ve got ONE last episode from the summer series of Behind the barriers that we’re gonna drop.

Then we’re going FULL gas into the ‘cross season and it’s gonna be awesome. Enjoy this Episode!!

Before we start, if you were at the Grand FUNdo, or wished you were, check out photos here by my good buddy Mike Shugrue / www.sandsperspective.com!

Cross season is getting close and as cyclocross grows and grows all I can do is smile and let it take on a life of it’s own.  I remember I wouldn’t hear much about cross until the middle of August a couple years ago.  Now, schedules are set, camps are booked and plans for everything else going on are done months before the season begins!  It’s awesome!

As I start to get ready for the CX season, I still have a demanding end to my road season to focus on.  I just finished up three days of racing in Elk Grove, Chicago. Now I’m on a plane to Boulder for a cross camp I’m doing with Frank Overton and the FasCat coaching crew which overlaps with a Jelly Belly team training camp and a RAPHA photoshoot.  Then on the 19th I’m jet setting to criterium nationals in Minneapolis to help Brad Huff and Kenny Hanson take a stab at getting the stars and stripes jersey! After crit nats on the 20th, I fly back (that night) to Colorado Cprings for the start of Tour of Colorado AKA: The US PRO Challenge on the 22nd.

People might think that’s exhausting schedule for a pro athlete. It is, but riding and flying hasn’t ever felt like a job. Plus, it doesn’t bring me down to be busy. I love being busy!!!

I’ve gotta write about the Elk Grove races for a minute.  Those races, at least the one on Saturday, were a real kick in the face.  The TT / prologue I rode was fine – 36th. That’s the second time I’ve ridden my TT bike this season so I never get really down on myself for any result I have while racing TT’s.  The Saturday race though was harder than in years past. Coming off a break in July didn’t help a lot in terms of the “oh sh*T! factor.” The first couple of laps of Saturday’s road race were hard! Guys were ripping each others legs off for 2 hours straight.

30 minutes into the race guys were dropping out.  I realized some of the teams there had just come back from hard stage racing in Asia and then there was the Geox team and the Columbian national  team to add depth to an already strong lineup of regulars. Anyways, I was happy to survive that day and get that training in my legs.

Sunday was great! I preferred the new course from years past.  I was melting out there though like a popsicle and the then the black clouds and cold wind rolled in. It was crazy, heavy downpour. Rain, deep puddles, 22c tires, a bunch of corners, crashes,  and…roadies!  No one could see anything! If you had glasses on, you couldn’t see out of them and if you took them off, the rain was coming down so hard that it was pelting your eye balls…

Ouch. With 1.5 laps to go on Sunday we were the only team besides UHC that had 5 riders. Then it happened, Someone touched wheels, Huff and Mazich hit the deck. Now we’ve got 3. Nic Hamilton, Ken Hanson and I.  Then about 3K to go Nic flats. Uggghhhh.  That was rough luck. we had the whole team together at the critical moment, ready to go and it all fell apart. I helped Ken get on the UHC train and he ended up 4th which is pretty awesome considering UHC had about 4 guys peeling off in the last corner.

It was crazy though. At one point my front wheel was under water and I was very happy for the new health insurance I just signed up for.

Also want to tell everyone how happy I am for our J.A.M Fund / NCC rider Jeremy Durrin who was at Elk Grove riding w/ a composite team.  I believe he finished 13th and was the first amateur on Sunday. Great job buddy!

Be safe guys, thanks for reading and see you soon!

OHHH! And check out the new, old, 80′s / mash up mix I’m posting up from DJ VICE: 80′s babaaay!

WHAT A DAY!  Easily one of the best moments of my career was last weekend when we had over 300 people come out to support our charity event – The Grand FUNdo!  Putting on an event like this is a different feeling of accomplishment than winning or placing well in an event. It’s something that takes a lot of hard work. Everything about the ride is for the right reasons. That’s not to say that racing isn’t, but it’s different when your thinking about racing and giving a 110% of yourself to gain results for yourself, your goals and your sponsors.

This event is a complete 180 from that. It’s not a race, but similar to racing, I gave absolutely every bit of energy I could to it  I went to sleep at night laying in bed shattered from working so hard. But the reward from all of that work was worth it when I was able to see so many people enjoying themselves. It was great to have people out riding bikes on one of my favorite routes and then coming back to have lunch / dinner with my friends and seeing everyone laughing and having FUN on a cherished Saturday of the quickly disappearing summer.

One of my favorite moments of the event is when a rider, Kirby from Albany, crashed and had to go to the hospital but CAME BACK after getting the okay that nothing was broken and told me he had a blast and wished he could have finished.

Kirby – be on the lookout for a new helmet we’re going to replace for you in the mail in the next week or two.

The amount of thank you I need to give to everyone who helped Alec, Mukunda and I make this event happen is so long, but I’m going to try and do it.

Every rider on the J.A.M / NCC team that came out to help/volunteer: Jeremy, Sean, Shaun, Shawn, Francis, Brad, Mike, Danny V (and his lady), Anthony, Nicky Q (and his mom), Busa, Julie and Jake… thank you

Mukunda’s Family, Al’s Family, My family, my uncle Shawn.

A HUGEEE thank you to my aunt Kristen and my mom who worked tirelessly at both rest stops 1 & 3!!! Thank you for kicking butt and making it happen ALL day!!

The women of the Ice Cream truck: Kathryn, Emily and Kylie – THANK YOU!

Ed and Mary Hamel who gave us their amazing property for the last two years, Thank you!

All the pro’s that came out to help and to ride.  Phil Gaimon, Brad Huff, Emerson Orante, Timmy J & Justin Lindine, THANK YOU guys.

Molly from El Jardin Bakery Thank you!

My good friend Mike and his girlfriend Louri who came and took pictures for everyone, Thank you!

Brian D and Brook for making the long trek!

The Southampton, Massachusetts police department for keeping us safe getting out of town!

And definitely not last, and certainly not least, thank you to my pal Kelly for driving up the ice cream truck!

Thank you to all the sponsors too who donated time, energy and products for our event and for our raffle.

Kenda, SRAM, FOCUS Bikes, Rapha, Crank Brothers, Jelly Belly, Gatorade, Cyclocrossworld.com, Mad Alchemy, Bikereg.com, Phit PIlls and Stomach of Anger for getting our SICKWHAT! t-shirts done for the event.

I cannot thank you guys enough.  There were SO MANY PEOPLE that made this event happen.  Volunteers, Sponsors, Friends, Family… now that I’ve had a some time to catch up on sleep and think about what happened on Saturday, I’m extremely proud of everyone involved. Thank you again and see you all again next year!

Wowwzaahh! What a week of racing at the Nature Valley Gran Prix. I think this is the first time in a while I can remember doing NVGP and having fairly mild temperatures and no rain. That was certainly was a nice change from last years hot temperatures, tornadoes and rain!

It's all about the TEAM!

The Jelly Belly / Kenda crew did a great job last week. Ken Hanson, one of our sprinters, delivered a couple of times for some podium appearances and the rest of us really nailed down the teamwork angle of the racing. Everyone was able to make it to the front at the end of the race and get organized, which has proven to be difficult this season at the bigger races like the Tour of California. It was a really great feeling once it all came together last week! It was also awesome to see my pal Bernie Van Ulden take the road race on Saturday. I’m very happy for him and his 2nd place overall finish. Congrats again to Bernard!

This whole time, I’ve been recovering from that crash that I took at the National Championships at the end of May. Racing at Nature Valley was tough, but it was important that I went and raced.

I just got back from a ride with one of our amateur riders on the J.A.M / NCC Cycling Team, Jeremy Durrin. He was asking why I went to NVGP so messed up and beat-down.

I was explaining to him how when you’re a pro and racing is your job, when the boss says you’re racing, you’re racing. You need to make sure you’re always ready to go to work.

Sometimes I’ll use a race for training, sometimes I’ll go to help teammates so they can win and sometimes I leave for a race knowing that I’m going to try for the win. I also explained that you shouldn’t go if you couldn’t finish or be helpful to the rest of the guys. That’s when you have to pull the plug and tell the boss it’s a no-go.

Even with my leg bruised, busted up ribs and a head cold creeping in I knew I could be helpful in some aspect of the racing. Whether that was shagging bottles, being a good domestique to the guys or organizing the team for the day’s plans, I felt like I needed to be there.

I’ll go to a race for the betterment of the team even when I can’t win. I know, as a rider, that I like to win but that doesn’t always apply on a “TEAM.” You have to know that as a racer, sometimes you’ll be good, sometimes you won’t and you have to roll with it when the times are good and when the times are bad.

We had a great week of racing and I’m looking forward to the second part of the road season with the guys.

Switching gears now and I’m starting to focus on the events I have coming up. Since July is a month that my road racing take a bit of a back seat, I get a “break.”

Coming up is The Grand FUNdo on July 30th here in Southampton, MA. This event means so much to me. It’s the catalyst for the J.A.M Fund. It’s the way we pay for everything from entry fees to races, grants, equipment, gas money, trips to California to train with the Jelly Belly Team… and the list goes on.

Dirt? Hills? Sounds like the FUNdo!

This year is going to be even better! The food will be top notch, the courses will be heavily marked and the rest stops can’t get any better, but we’re gonna have more! We’ve got tons of pros coming out to ride with you, and they’ll even have specially made racks to carry ice cold water around for you! NICEEE.

Going into august, mixed in with some road racing, I have two cyclocross camps: one in Fort Collins, Colorado with FasCat Coaching on August 12, 13, 14, and another one on September 2, 3, 4 with JBV Coaching and Fulcrum Coaching.

Lastly, if you’re reading here, then you should definitely read my CX Magazine interview in this months issue with yours truly on the cover. It’s a great piece on my life and how I got into racing and a bit about the way I think and how I approach racing and the lifestyle that comes with cyclocross.

That is available at awesome bike shops, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores across the country.

Thanks for reading, see you guys out there!