The sun gods finally blessed the red rocks of Utah's Dixie with sunshine and 60 degree temps this past weekend. My team took advantage of the nice weather and had an awesome 2 day mini training camp in St. George.
The camp began early Friday morning with a pleasant drive to the south. The sunshine and warm temperatures greeted us mid afternoon and we headed out for a 2 hour loop. My camp started on a major downer as I dropped my new to me GoPro camera while riding and I watched it shatter into 10 pieces. It was one of those stupid moments you wish you could have back, like dropping your keys in the lake. I was pulling the camera out of my back pocket and it literally just slipped out of my fingers. The waterproof case held on the initial impact, but it was hit by multiple bikes and the case split open. The battery flew out and the inside case cracked. The lens has a nice ding on it as well. I was sure it was done for. But I managed to put it back together and it kept recording! At least that's what the LED screen said. I kept recording for the weekend and sure enough, these cameras rock! Aside from the scratched lens, the unit functions and records like normal. As soon as I figure out how to edit the vids, I'll post them here. They're nothing spectacular, but its cool footage nonetheless.
Pro-Form 490 Spx Indoor Cycling Bike (Google Affiliate Ad)
With the GoPro crisis over, the rest of the ride went very. Mellow, sunny and the Toquerville loop is gorgeous. The ride ends near Quail Hollow Reservoir and the setting sun made for beautiful scenery.
Friday's traditional feast at Brick Oven Pizza was delicious as always. Brick Oven even has gluten free pizza for the special diet needs of some our cyclists! With stomachs full we headed back to the house and stayed up way too late to watch Tyler Hamilton on Jay Leno. Teammate and sponsor, Tim Speicher of PRTI, busted out his massage table and worked on some of us for the evening.
Saturday's ride turned into a rather large group ride as we met up with some other cyclists on our way out to Utah Hill. We decided to ride the Ironman/Gunlock loop and take in the 7 mile Utah Hill climb as well. My motivation was of course the savory banana cream pie waiting for us at Veyo Pies. The pie is really why I ride in St. George!
The groups split up and I limped home very tired from the 84 miles, 84 tough, rolling and sometimes very steep miles. The pie got me home for sure.
Tim performed some more of his magic for the team post ride and we packed up for the long trip home.
These annual pilgrimages to St. George accomplish so many things. First, its a great chance to get in some major mid winter miles. Second, its a nice break from the trainers and cold weather of the Wasatch front. And finally, its a great chance for teammate to get to know each other or reconnect from the long winter break from racing. (Its also a chance for PIE!!) We hit all of those goals and set the tone for a great season to come.
I also had the chance to ride my first pair of Diadora cycling shoes. I'm on the top of the line Jet Racer and I was very impressed. I'll do a full review on Thursday.
A HUGE thanks goes to all of our sponsors: Harristone, Sun Valley Mortgage, Excelerator Sports, PRTI, The Bike Shoppe, Chick-fil-la, Intermountain Health Care and the Cache Valley Women's Center. Without these awesome sponsors, our team and these trips wouldn't be possible.
Here's to an awesome 2013 racing season!!
Showing posts with label Winter Training Camps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winter Training Camps. Show all posts
Monday, February 4, 2013
Friday, March 9, 2012
A Week Off
I've had a ton a stuff thrown at me this week. I was put on a forced break from riding due to a mechanical issue suffered at our training camp last week in St. George. Its also been a big week for race planning with various meetings with municipalities and sponsors. A new opportunity to rep for a great product has also come up. I'm now the Utah Dealer Rep for Mercury Wheels! So even with the forced break from the bike and no blogging, its been a busy week.
Our first ever Excelerator Sports/Plan 7 Training Camp was a big success. We took a small group of ladies, mostly triathletes, to St. George for an all inclusive cycling weekend. The goal was to have the group show up, ride and worry about nothing else. We wanted campers to gain some training knowledge, get some great miles in and most importantly, have FUN! I think we accomplished all those things and then some. The ladies really were the perfect group to ride and train with.
Day one of the camp saw us traveling in the snow from Salt Lake to Cedar City. The weather usually only improves about 30 minutes outside of St. George, but it was a good drive. Once at the house we immediately went out for a 2 1/2 hour ride just getting warmed up for the weekend. Some drills and intervals made for a fun ride. A pasta dinner and some training tips took us into the evening and a good night's rest.
Friday saw freezing temps and huge winds so we put off our long ride until 11:00 am. Riding the Ironman course backwards, we encountered cold winds that really slowed us down but made for a challenging ride. We huddled in Veyo at the pie shop for warmth and of course, PIE! Its a tradition for me to eat some delicious pie midway through that ride. Once back on the bikes we got a nice tailwind for the ride down Gunlock then hit the Utah Hill with some motivation. I think a few ladies surprised themselves with how well they climbed the 7 mile road and then it was back to town. It was with 20 miles to go that my shift level broke loose and I was stuck in my 11 cog, so all I had gearing wise was hard and harder. No matter, we plugged along eventually taken in 80 miles and hours of saddle time. For one camper it was the longest ride she had ever been on by 30 miles! Her and the rest of the group hammered it.
After a well deserved meal at Texas Roadhouse, we all hit the sack exhausted.
The third and final day left us with stinging legs from the prior day's effort so we took a mellow ride up to Zions National Park. We spent some time with paceline drills and some final hard effort on the last climbs. I was thoroughly impressed with the group we had. They pushed themselves, were open to learning new things and came away from the weekend better riders.
We'll do more camps next fall and winter so be looking for dates at the end of the season.
Speaking of the season, racing has begun in earnest with the Utah Crit Series out at Rocky Mountain Raceway. Here's a cool Friday video showing off the riders and courses that make this series so much fun. Enjoy!
Our first ever Excelerator Sports/Plan 7 Training Camp was a big success. We took a small group of ladies, mostly triathletes, to St. George for an all inclusive cycling weekend. The goal was to have the group show up, ride and worry about nothing else. We wanted campers to gain some training knowledge, get some great miles in and most importantly, have FUN! I think we accomplished all those things and then some. The ladies really were the perfect group to ride and train with.
Day one of the camp saw us traveling in the snow from Salt Lake to Cedar City. The weather usually only improves about 30 minutes outside of St. George, but it was a good drive. Once at the house we immediately went out for a 2 1/2 hour ride just getting warmed up for the weekend. Some drills and intervals made for a fun ride. A pasta dinner and some training tips took us into the evening and a good night's rest.
Friday saw freezing temps and huge winds so we put off our long ride until 11:00 am. Riding the Ironman course backwards, we encountered cold winds that really slowed us down but made for a challenging ride. We huddled in Veyo at the pie shop for warmth and of course, PIE! Its a tradition for me to eat some delicious pie midway through that ride. Once back on the bikes we got a nice tailwind for the ride down Gunlock then hit the Utah Hill with some motivation. I think a few ladies surprised themselves with how well they climbed the 7 mile road and then it was back to town. It was with 20 miles to go that my shift level broke loose and I was stuck in my 11 cog, so all I had gearing wise was hard and harder. No matter, we plugged along eventually taken in 80 miles and hours of saddle time. For one camper it was the longest ride she had ever been on by 30 miles! Her and the rest of the group hammered it.
After a well deserved meal at Texas Roadhouse, we all hit the sack exhausted.
The third and final day left us with stinging legs from the prior day's effort so we took a mellow ride up to Zions National Park. We spent some time with paceline drills and some final hard effort on the last climbs. I was thoroughly impressed with the group we had. They pushed themselves, were open to learning new things and came away from the weekend better riders.
We'll do more camps next fall and winter so be looking for dates at the end of the season.
Speaking of the season, racing has begun in earnest with the Utah Crit Series out at Rocky Mountain Raceway. Here's a cool Friday video showing off the riders and courses that make this series so much fun. Enjoy!
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