jQM navigating to page programmatically

I'm using 1.4 so the changePage() technique is deprecated and I'd rather not use it...

http://api.jquerymobile.com/jQuery.mobile.changePage/

I have this code:

$("select.start").change(function() {
  alert('test');
  $("#home").pagecontainer("change", "#pick");
  //$("#pick").pagecontainer("change");
});

Neither of the above worked -- the 'change' event is firing but when the select option is selected no page #pick is positioned into place as I require.

Can someone show me what I might be doing wrong?

EDIT |

<select class="start">    <option>Item 1 (Last Done: 2.4 weeks ago)</option> 
  <optgroup label="Section B"> 
    <option value="#">Standing</option> 
  </optgroup>  
</select>

The <optgroup> doesn't seem to make a difference