What to take out of this season? We started this year with some fresh blood, kits and bikes. We fought for wheels with some of the best competition in the nation. I love the cycling community you give us so much life. I hope that Jack & Adams Racing Team gave back that love to the masses. 

We appreciate you. Everyone that reads this blog, that cheers for us at races, drinks beers and eats meals with us. We appreciate our sponsors, who made this whole season possible.

Without the wonderful amount of financial, emotional, and labor support from Jack & Adams bike shop I don’t know how far we could of gotten.

Louie Garneau cycling apparel with Jed Rogers Design Studio freshened up our sexy kits with a splash of royalty in light blue.

HED Cycling came through with sets of wheels for our whole team to race and ride.

Swiftwick Socks has revolutionized socks for me, I have a new favorite, and I haven’t bought another brand since.

Alchemy Bicycles has taken us for a trip. Not only did they come on as a sponsor for the second year in a row. They branched out beyond our racing team and made their name renown. It feels like just yesterday I was getting fit for my custom bike and now they’ve won accolades at NAHBS with the best carbon fiber bike, and are moving to Denver Colorado to make frames amongst the best, with the best.

Time flies when your having fun and this whole season went by in just one minute. I’ll leave you with these victory salutes!

We’ve had a great time this year, and Cheers to many more!

A quick compulsory shout out to everyone’s favorite Austin race promoter, Andrew Willis of Holland Racing. He’s brought us the best weekly crit series in the nation, and Labor Day weekend he brought the best 3 day crit weekend in Texas.

Michael Sheehan, resident Honey Badger alongside Colin Strickland started the p/1/2 race with some heavy competition. Andrew Dalheim- Bissel Pro Cycling brought down his Kiwi Teammate Patrick Bevin, who won three of the Redlands Classic stages this year. Elbowz brought down a squad of heavy hitters, and the normal big league-rs were there to cause pain for the weekend. Sheehan and Colin managed to keep themselves from being bested. Both landed top ten in the omnium, Colin with 9th, and Michael with 5th. With two teammates in the top 10 only Elbowz bested us in the team category with 3.

I decided that I’d win the 2/3 races and get my cat 1 upgrade. I did just that this weekend. I didn’t just work for it. I spent the last month convincing myself there was no other option. I owe a lot to my teammates that came and worked for me! Eben Kellogg, Max Bookman, and Michael “Cole” Parker.

Glorious. A word I’ve been using a lot lately. It’s described my first sunrise ride of the year (yes, i’m not a morning person anymore). The state of my bike, and how this Alchemy is the best I’ve ever ridden. And it describes this year up to date for Jack and Adams Racing.

I couldn’t of imagined a better year for us. Michael Sheehan continues to succeed at every race we go to against insane odds. Colin Strickland makes magic happen off the front with his insanely high pain tolerance. New riders like Jason Whitson and Cole Parker, go from cat 5′s to 3, in no time. And our mountain bike team has the cat 1 state champion, Max Bookman. We are not a joke. No one treats us like one either.

I didn’t write up anything following the Georgetown Grand. Not because we didn’t do anything as a team. In fact, Colin Strickland holds the cat 2 state champion jersey. He’s a beast, and whats more, he doesn’t even like crits. How does this happen? A technical crit with 8 turns ends up suiting a guy who’d rather climb all the hills in Austin. On a fixed gear. While he rides you off his wheel attempting to get Strava KOM’s. He rode off the front pulling two with him with as I remember, with 3 to go. Then he attacks his own flyer/break a away in the final kilometer to win. He just enjoys pain.

Tulsa Tough was something else. Our Cat 2 team came with cash symbols instead of eyes like you see in those goofy cartoons. As we saw it, we had a stacked team for this race. I left Texas with some top finishes on my belt. Colin is always strong, Max and Wes wanted nothing but to work hard for us. Michael is definitely our clutch man, who could pull off a top finish even without us there. In fact, he’d done just that a few weeks before. At Bike the Bricks this dude goes off the front with 5 Elbowz racers. So he only beat one of them. BUT THERE WERE 5 OF THEM!

The first day we were hyped! Our race was streaming live via Velonews, and the crowd was large by the time our race started. I came to the front 15 minutes into the race and the peloton gave me the momentum to fly off them. I had a “glorious” 2 laps off the front tailgating the lead moto, and almost winning a 200 dollar prime. With 8 to go Michael and I found ourselves at the front of the race, bullying our position. A knock on my front wheel followed by one unlucky, boxed in stretch of road with 3 to go, and we both fell too far back from a podium. The second day was more of the same, a great race, and an unlucky finish. But what could we expect, 4 out of 5 of us had never been to a race this large, and there were pro teams in our field.

That being said, Michael Sheehan is a kid who always chooses the challenge rather than the easy win. Defeat is always visible on his face. After two unlucky days at Tulsa Tough with a stacked field, he pulls out a podium on Sunday at Cry Baby Hill and he tells me, “i got second” with disdain in his eyes, like it wasn’t good enough. All I could do was chuckle and think, “that’s Michael for you”. I can do nothing but hope the best for this dude, my teammate, at National Road Championships. He’s got it in him, that’s for damn sure.

Maybe there isn’t much competition in mountain biking, or maybe Max Bookman just knows how to ride a mountain bike. I believe the latter. Tugging along an awesome Ibis all year long with way too much suspension in the front and the rear this dude has made a whole year seem simple. All i hear on the barrage of emails telling of mountain bike races is, “1st place, 1st place, 1st place, 1st place.” That’s just Max’s results. Wes and Jason just add more 1st’s on top of that. Wes Jerman and Max Bookman will be attending Mountain Bike Nationals, and I expect the best from them.

The big picture here is where I started and it’s where this season will end I’m sure. We find ways to win, week in and week out. Yes we’re a new team. We have new riders. We make mistakes in big and small races. But we have passion. Every pore in our bodies bleeds it. Salt stained trails of white on our clean black kits. We put it to all the naysayers. The old, strong, and skilled riders we compete against here in Texas will always have to look out for us. Don’t let us roll off the front, we’ll beat you. Don’t let us sit on your wheel, we’ll come around you. Be very afraid if we land in the break away with you. Don’t take this the wrong way. Jack and Adams Racing loves you. We just love competition and everything it stands for. It’s glorious, this thing we do on our bikes. For all of us, this sport is glorious. The competition, the ride, the nature we get to see. We have something special. It’s not just ours, it’s our duty to love and spread it.

It. is. all… glorious.

Fellow teammate and J&A employee Kevin McRee writes a piece for Austin Fit Magazine on the importance of core strength for cyclist.

You can read it on Austin Fit Magazine’s website.

Kevin McRee has been practicing bike fitting for over five years. After suffering severe trauma to both legs in 2006, he developed an interest in biomechanical limitations and how they relate to cycling. He has lived in Austin and worked at Jack & Adam’s Bicycles for the last two years. Kevin is certified for BG Fit and Retül Motion Capture fits. He is an avid cyclist and races across Texas.

Thursday’s May 3, 2012 Pure Austin Driveway was the first of the Miller64 Days of Summer Mini Series. Colin, Michael, Wes and I have been slowly becoming a more rounded, and successful team since the beginning of this racing season, and this driveway definitely proved it.

With the best bike series in the nation, and the fastest tuesday nighter in Texas, (sorry every other city)We get lots of practice. Colin Strickland, Michael Sheehan, and I all raced on CREDO racing (Ghisallo Racing) last year, I believe its made us work together well. That coupled with our selfless teammate Wes Jerman, and results are bound to land in our lap. Week in, and week out we get to race with teams that constantly control the peloton with good Team work. Teams like Super Squadra, Elbowz Racing, Austin Bikes, Wooly Mammoth, even Team Hotel San Jose are corralling a few riders together to compete each week, and we’ve began to learn.

The Championship Loop Counter clockwise was as fast as ever. Wearing the Mohawk, Colin went to defend the title with 4 laps off the front right in the beginning of the race. After ripping past the peloton attempting to take a two place prime with Colin, I fell in behind Gonzo (Andrew Gonzales) and thoughts started flowing through my head. “Why did I just do that, I’m so tired already” as we crossed the start/finish line. Quickly those thoughts went silent when the peloton caught us and I had time to rest. Attacks kept flying and I was soon back at it with my teammates.

About halfway through the race Heath Blackgrove goes flying around my wheel with Michael Sheehan in tow and Colin up the road. There it goes I thought, and with a extremely strung out peloton content with sitting on my wheel I proceeded to take up my new role. For the next twenty minutes all I did was watch my teammates sitting strong in the break.

I had renewed vigor; and the one strong team that wasn’t represented, Wooly Mammoth, was trying to organize a chase. Our former Credo teammate Matti Von Kessing knew what was up, he quickly rode up to the front, and put a big dig in. As he began to pull off I saw him look back at me with disgust when I begrudgingly pulled through. Even though there was definitely enough firepower in the break to stay off the front, I made it my mission to sit on the front of the race and push my pace over everyone else. I threw fake attacks to disrupt the pace, I sat on the front and rode comfortably, I even went for two primes, one of which I won! Today looked like our day, I knew Michael was easily one of the strongest sprinters in that group, and Colin was strong enough to bring anyone to the line. On the final lap, after all my pace setting I was almost ready to give up, but another former Credo teammate, Brandon Smith of Austin Bikes, brought me through the ranks on his wheel right back up to the front of the race(unknowingly). I just had enough to win the pack sprint, a 7th place finish. Once I found my teammates I learned Heath and Gonzo had worked the break just right and took the top two places, but Michael won the next Sprint for 3rd with Colin pulling the for a full lap to the line and securing a 5th.

We only have one more weekend until the Georgetown Grand State Championship. We’re all stoked to compete, and hopefully by then it will be a podium sweep in the works for Jack and Adams racing cat 2 squad. Don’t forget to register, as much as I love winning, I love the competition more. Help us support the races we love.

Thanks to Andrew for the Best Races in Texas!

Dave, our resident photographer of the cycling community, always making us look good.

My visit to Austin Body Worker was unlike the many visits I have taken to clinics around town. I’ve been involved in sports since birth it feels. When you’re that young massage isn’t a critical part of recovery.

As I have progressed to the upper echelons of sport, massage and physical therapy have become more important. Pushing your body to the limits requires the maximum recovery regimen in your routine. Stretching for 30 seconds might help you if your only exercise was getting out of bed and walking to the computer and refrigerator. But when sport evolves from just a small hobby, to a lifestyle your body responds with tight tendons and sore fatigued muscles. Recovery regimens accelerate your recovery and keep you performing at the highest level.

The one thing I miss the most from swimming in college was 24/7 access to a physical therapy office where the professionals are ready to handle every ache and pain associated with your sport. The individuals there made collegiate swimming career bearable. Austin Body Worker  is this type of high professionalism environment where top-caliber athletes go. This chic little downtown Austin studio on 12th and Lamar is nestled quietly behind The Tavern Bar, but you forget all about that as you walk in.

The entrance reveals to you a small rehab gym on the right side and one of the Massage Therapists sits directly across from you. No receptionist, just business. Continue to the waiting room where there are pictures of athletes of all levels who frequent this clinical-massage office. Instantly you understand that these therapists are serious about treating and educating you about your own rehabilitation. No spa services here, or rubbing your muscles around for an hour, they do real rehab work.

A Music Poster in a Massage Office? Must be Austin.

When I get a massage, I’m a masochist. Just like in training, I don’t feel anything is getting done if I don’t feel the burn so to speak. Michelle Hittner, my massage therapist for the visit, was told this, I told her all the little spots that give me trouble regularly and she walked off to let me clamor under the covers. For the next hour I was being manipulated from all angles, she put me into stretches, was always attentive to my input on where I felt the worst. After the hour was over, it wasn’t enough, a feeling I typically become aware of post massage. She didn’t just drop me off at the counter and say have a good day, she was concerned with how I felt post massage.

Walking out of the office I understood the tons of testimonials pasted all over their website! These aren’t just miracle workers, these are real people who understand your issues as an athlete. It’s key to their successes that they all are avid athletes as well. They want to be involved in the athletic community in all facets. That’s why we see Michelle out at the Pure Austin Driveway Series each week. She’s not the only one, George Tabares, and Kate Ripley will be out there offering services to the racers. But the cycling communities aren’t the only people they help. These individuals love all athletes, and they will do what it takes to keep you active. Do yourself a favor and go visit them at the office, or just swing by their tent when the massages are complimentary, you’ll be begging for more.

This title can be interpreted differently by two groups. One group (amateurs and neo pros) will recognize it right away, while the other group (REAL professional cyclists and people with no cycling background) will think I have bad grammar and should say “I am not a pro.”  For the pros and normal folks, an amateur saying something is “not pro” is like listening to your little brother tell you that the latest pop band is going to rule the world.  At some level you know your little brother is full of shit, but said band may have the teenage world on it’s knees so maybe there is a little bit of truth in younger brother’s rhetoric.  When a cyclist says “your stem is not slammed…that’s not pro dude.” It is very safe to assume that the guy (or girl) saying this does not have (or will ever have) a shot at a pro contract.  Saying something is “not pro” to a real pro will probably just bring a confused look his/her face.

April 23, 2012 was the day I realized I was not pro…by a long shot.  After spending a little time off on vacation in Mexico with my pregnant wife I was eager to get back on the road and get ready for two of my favorite races of the year.  I was going to drive to Ft. Davis on Thursday for Hammerfest (held on Saturday and Sunday), then head to Silver City, NM for the Tour of The Gila.  Our baby is due in August so this was going to be the perfect way to hit the apex of my season before settling into more important family duties.  This was all part of the plan before I realized that I am not pro.

My training for the day was an easy tempo ride for 2.5 hours with some small 30 second intervals at the end.  It was such a nice day I opted to ride 30 miles down to San Marcos and 30 back…making it closer to a 3 hour ride.  I had been riding very well the last month and my workouts felt easy if anything.  I noticed myself needing bigger gearing and my HR going down while my watts were going up.  All a sign that my hard work had been paying off.  My mountain biking results had been good as well so I felt like I was poised for big results out West.  I made it down to San Marcos and filled up my bottles then headed home.

I was somewhere around Buda when I looked down at my front skewer and noticed it did not look totally locked.  I was on a road with a wide shoulder, low traffic and I had plenty of daylight left in my ride.  The logical choice would have been to pull over for 30 seconds to adjust it.  Instead, I thought about adjusting it while traveling 20+mph.   As I reached down with my left hand, the next thing I remembered was flipping over the bars and grabbing a badly bloody left hand with a gash that led all the way to the bone.  My pinky finger was basically destroyed.  As I looked back at my bike, I could see that the pinky had broken the fork and the fork had in turn destroyed the pinky.  Mutual destruction of bone and carbon fiber.

Little brother will often tell you that changing your rain jacket while pedaling with no hands is pro, tucking helmet straps inside of sunglasses is pro, and before April 23, 2012 he might have told you that tightening a skewer while riding is pro.  Again, little brother is full of shit.  My stupid mistake of not pulling over and taking 30 to 60 seconds out of my ride cost me an ambulance ride to the hospital, pins and plates to repair a finger smashed in 5 places, a broken fork, a smashed Giro Aeon which saved my life, and countless hours of rehab to come.

This mistake was 100% on my shoulders and it was selfish to everyone who cares for me.  My wife is 5 months pregnant and is now helping me with tasks that take two hands and she continues to help me shower until I can get my hardware out.  All of this at a time when she works 40 hours a week at a job which provides insurance for the wreck I just had.

When I look at this cumbersome cast on my left hand I get mad at myself and think of lost training, lost racing and loss of time.  Then I look at my helmet and none of it matters.  When I look at my helmet I know without a doubt that I would be dead or have severe brain damage if I did not have it on sound and snug.  Giro has a Roc Loc system which securely mounts the helmet to your melon.  I always wear mine sung and was especially grateful for it this past Monday.

I don’t want to sound like Cougar in Top Gun and get all down (the German subtitles are for Stefan Rothe).  I am not going to hold on too tight…I will return to riding and racing when I am 100%.  This was NOT an accident from racing or riding on a dangerous road.  This was all due to my poor judgement and thinking of what might “be pro.”

I do have a new understanding of what it means to not be pro.  Lesson 1, obviously you don’t adjust your skewer on the fly.  Lesson 2, let other things in your life define you other than what you can do on a bike.  I know I will never be a pro, but I can say I have been someone’s son, husband, father, brother, friend, and co-worker.  I have circled the globe a few times, I can speak a few languages, I have written 4 full length screen plays, I was the Big Brother of the Year for Texas one year, I can make people laugh, I can make good migas, and I run a successful small business.

That may be a bit of boasting, and I am okay with that.  I just want to be clear that when it comes to cycling I am not pro.  So if we are on a ride in the rain and I stop to change my slicker while you pedal by with no hands and a snicker…I will be showing you the finger…my pinky finger

There is no one size fit all. Sure you can dial in a general size, and adjust different parts of the bicycle to better fit yourself to a bike. As soon as you have a few pedal strokes on a frame that is built for you, there is no question in the difference you feel. Alchemy claims, “Every cyclist has unique bio-mechanics, therefore there are no generalizations that apply when truly fitting a rider to a bike.” Can you argue with them?

Ride and Handling: Crisp, Sharp Handling   &   Lightning Responsiveness

My inaugural ride on this steed started with a 10lb bag, and a couple pounds of wheels awkwardly tied on. From our residence starts slow sloping downhill for 3 miles, usually with a south tailwind. Keeping up with cars is no problem on this 35mph road, and I felt the bike begging me to rip past them, but for now I held it in. I was headed to the Pure Austin Driveway Series on March 22, 2012.

Thursday’s race was at the Two Brothers Lawn Care Grand Prix Loop, which is described as, “The whole enchilada! This course is a favorite and can be run either clockwise or counter-clockwise. The long straightaways down in the woods provide a bit of rest but you’ll still be on the gas all night long.”

Once i shed the weight a new animal could be fully realized. From the onset, the responsiveness to every crank was obvious, this bike only wanted to go fast, and I threw all I had at it.

The peloton was quickly game to respond. I attacked for the first prime from 100 meters behind a lead group that was caught up in tactics. I hit the steep corkscrew with full speed and the bike just roared over it. I leaned into the next tight chicane with confidence, then out into the sprint at full force. I kept sprinting, not because I didn’t have plenty of space to relax (because I did), but I just wanted to feel it go. I was having a blast.

I could feel every ounce of my power being transferred into the smooth cement below me. I bellowed through turns at full speed and the bike just went. Simple as that.

All day I rode that bike to the max, attempting sprints and long pulls for 4 of the 6 primes given at each driveway.I spent so much time enjoying the bicycle I forgot I needed to a break. I still managed to secure a 7th place that week on pure bike excitement alone.

Frame: I have chosen a new 2012 frame, this frame is constructed of a mix of Enve and Dedacciai tubing. The head tube and top tube are made by Enve. The rear triangle, seat tube and down tube are Dedacciai. This mix of tubing makes the bike both aerodynamic and affordable.

Each frame is constructed by hand and the bonding and wrapping process can take up to 14 labor hours. This means that the builder truly takes the time to ensure that each bond is as light as possible but strong enough for the power and weight of the specific rider it’s being made for.

Despite being slightly heavier, it feels just as stiff as the Scott addict r1 that I was riding previously. It suits a powerful climber, or sprinter. The ENVE front fork combined with the stiff head tube allows you to take high speed corners and descents with confidence. I ride with the HED Jet 5′s, that make this bike a sprinting machine.

All stiffness isn’t at the expense of comfort; a perfect balance of torsional rigidity and superb stiffness when cranking hard with the ability to take the edge off rough surfaces like only carbon can.

Typically the first few rides on the bike you test it out in all it’s riding prowess. I believed it happened all at once on this bike.

Okay so frame sets aren’t cheap, but the appeal is that these frames are not just your everyday, stock frame sitting at a bike shop. “Value will manifest itself in the forms of superior fit, durability and technical superiority.” Indeed it does.

-Spec’d with a Deda Reb7 fork for $3100. Upgrade to an Enve 2.0 for $150 for
better cornering, out of the saddle stiffness and lower weight. Price
includes headset, seat capper and fork

Every frame is available with a seat mast or traditional seat post option. I chose an integrated Dedacciai seat post.

Photo Credit: Our Wonderful Resident Professional Dave McLaughlin of DCM Photography

Wheels: The makers of the fastest wheels there are, HED Wheels

Thanks to Alchemy for the wonderful bike, I will never own a bike like it. until you make me another

Jack and Adams racking up the victories, podiums, and money this weekend on and off the road!

Michael kicked off April 14, at the Midwestern State University with the aid of 25 mph tailwinds gusting to 35 mph. He tore away from the breakaway with about 5k to go after being on and off the front the entire race to secure a win. On Sunday, he took 4th place after being crashed out of contention in a crit, “full of debauchery,” said Michael.

In the Cat 3/4 Race in San Antonio’s University Oaks Criterium Scott Kinsel’s breakaway allowed Chad Springer to sit in the perfect spot and secure a 3rd place!

Later that day in the P/1/2/3 race Adrian Flores went off the front when the rain started pouring and made cornering dangerous. Managing to stay away for the rest of the race he secured 2nd behind Jason Bentley who was also off the front battling the slick course solo.

Off the road Max Bookman, and Jason Whitson battled the Pace Bend Mountain Bike race with two Dominating 1st place finishes in their respective races!

Wes Jerman got 3rd after a rough crash at mile 6. He’s a champ for finishing the next 24 of the mist brutal course with rain the last 25min.

Max Bookman and Jason Whitson

I’d like to dedicate a special thanks to Louis Garneau for our very professionally done kits. The Color came out great, and they fit wonderfully.  Even our strongest kit critic, Colin Strickland, is on board.

Besides just the look and feel, they ride wonderfully. There is no bunching of the material at the shoulders, and between the legs. The Elite Lazer Cut bib forms a very clean, and comfortable line on the leg, which i attribute to the laser cut bands at the leg and sleeve. Reflective layers on the kit are streamlined with the design, sense I ride in my kit at night as well, I took special notice. The Mondo, aero jersey makes me feel like i’m in a skin suit, with the aero sleeves and laser cut arm band, and the 3/4 zip. I thought I wouldn’t like the zipper, but it takes the jersey to the next level, in terms of fit for racing. These aren’t however to be taken on and off like a training jersey. There is no bunching at the gut, and the fit is supreme.

Our Black jerseys aren’t exactly Texas summer friendly, but Louis Garneau makes a great material to perspire in.

Overall, I’m happy to be representing the team and sponsors in these kits. Shout out Louis G.