I (Jimmy Stemper) decided it would be cool to keep track of my superweek by blogging about it on the team site, so for the next 17 days (July 11 - July 27) I will keep you updated on whats happening in the Pro-1-2 field.

Superweek starts tomorrow in Chicago and will stay there for 6 days before returning to Milwaukee for all but one of the remaining races.  Since I decided to break my front brake lever on the team ride with my bare hands (feats of strength, i know) on tuesday, i had to scramble with my low budget (basicly student loans, when is tuition due?) and essentially borrow yet another part/wheel/helmate/entire freaking bike from Casey. Luckily hes nice about it and keeps most the hurtful comments behind my back with the other guys where my fragile ears are safe from damage.  I dont believe in "a bad omen", i am more a believer in "if you ride something for 3 years it will probably break, it has nothing to do with the next 17 days."  With that peace of mind i still have plenty of things to psyche me out for superweek, mainly my memories from last year, all having something to do with the patented "jimmy pain face."  Come see it, it will be on display in full force for 2 hours and 15 minutes every day for the next 17 days, take pictures, hide the kids.

As this is a blog about biking, i will make sure to actually talk about the race itself.  Anyone who knows me and my blogging can account for my lack of focus from time to time, see above.

My strategy for superweek, seeing as i will be primairly teamless (i am just about the only person on this team without a new kid or one on the way, or 4 kids in sports, or a real job to speak of) has to be much different than how i have raced so far this year.  I am not the most conservative person (ehhhh, *pulls collar*) in the pack so i have to concentrate on saving my energy for serious moves and essentially for the last 10 laps (as i dont see much chance of riding away from anyone in the pack).  Since i am a weak sprinter my best bet is good positioning and doing my best to hang on for dear life as some of the better sprinters in the country show me how its done.  Of course i will try for the breakaway, as that is my strength, but instead of attacking to create break oppertunities i will have to depend more on my ability to bridge to threatening moves with good team representation.  But, lets all be honest, the chances of all that happening and the break finishing ahead of the pack are not good, so lets all hope the legs are ready to sprint.

Thats about it for the day before the start of superweek.  I have trained hard this year and i am ready to ride hard and go for my goal of placing in the top 10 overall when all is said and done.  So come out and see the races, they are a great time and all the promotors do a great job of making sure the crowd knows whats happening and is well hydrated while some of the best racing in the country comes to our home town. 

Have a good one, talk to you tomorrow after the Beverly Hills Cycling Classic in Illinois