Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Training Camp 2009 Part 3
Day 3! Whew! The first two days were pretty solid so everyone was a bit tired on the last day. Overall, everyone was riding strong-really good. Our final ride was a relatively flat cruise up the coast at tempo pace. We clicked off the first half of the ride quickly and arrived in Isla Vista for a cafe stop. The weather was awesome so we hung out and enjoyed some coffee and smoothies in the sun. Then we headed over to the UCSB campus for team photos. After that, back to business and we headed back down the coast. Unfortunately, Rob took a nasty tumble and scraped himself up. He'll recover, but it was ugly! And without a follow vehicle, he had to ride then final 50miles-ow! We ended up with 106 miles. Everyone was psyched about camp and their form. We made it home jsut in time to watch the Chargers lose to Pittsburgh-oh well! Not a great year for the Bolts! Everyone packed up and we headed back to San Diego looking forward to the 2009 season.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Training Camp 2009 Part 2
Wow! I thought surviving camp was going to be a matter of surviving the intense training rides, but today we discovered that wasn't the case! Plenty of other obstacles presented themselves. After a good night's sleep, we rolled out at 8:30am for a long hilly ride to the Malibu canyons. The Santa Ana winds had arrived overnight and it was extremely windy as we headed out. We had Rob's dad, Bob, following us again which was awesome (it helps so much to be able to drop off extra clothes, grab drinks, and change wheels- it makes our rides so much faster).
As we headed south the headwind was incredible; we were barely doing 15mph into the wind! Finally we got some shelter and we did some echelon/paceline practice. This went well until a wind gust caught Corey at an inopportune time; he crossed wheels and crashed. It wasn't a hard crash, but still shook him up. After a bit he got back on the bike and we headed to the canyons. The wind was raging when we hit the climbs; the first climb was awful and we ground up the canyon at 7mph into a block headwind. When we arrived at the top we decided to alter our route to save time. The new route worked out much better. We covered some beautiful roads and finally had the wind at our backs for the return trip. The ride ended up being 85 miles with 7000ft of climbing (while fighting 20-40mph winds!).
When we got back to Oxnard the follow vehicle (my Volvo) died at an intersection. While I stayed with the Volvo awaiting AAA, the guys headed home to deal with another crisis! Apparently, someone attempted to break into Jason's car while we were on our ride and the car alarm was activated. The alarm had been going off since the morning and the neighbors were demanding the car be towed and a cop had arrived to cite Jason! After explaining the situation to the officer the situation with Jason's car was resolved. AAA arrived and I got the Volvo running again (after spending 90mins and $150 for a new battery). What a day!
We ended Day 2 by heading over Corey's house for dinner with his family. The Farrell's had tons of great food for us; a nice way to cap our stressful day. This evening's team meeting covered team tactics and our approach to races in 2009. We headed back to Oxnard and soon after it was lights out. On tap for our final day: 106 mile flat coast ride to Santa Barbara and back.
As we headed south the headwind was incredible; we were barely doing 15mph into the wind! Finally we got some shelter and we did some echelon/paceline practice. This went well until a wind gust caught Corey at an inopportune time; he crossed wheels and crashed. It wasn't a hard crash, but still shook him up. After a bit he got back on the bike and we headed to the canyons. The wind was raging when we hit the climbs; the first climb was awful and we ground up the canyon at 7mph into a block headwind. When we arrived at the top we decided to alter our route to save time. The new route worked out much better. We covered some beautiful roads and finally had the wind at our backs for the return trip. The ride ended up being 85 miles with 7000ft of climbing (while fighting 20-40mph winds!).
When we got back to Oxnard the follow vehicle (my Volvo) died at an intersection. While I stayed with the Volvo awaiting AAA, the guys headed home to deal with another crisis! Apparently, someone attempted to break into Jason's car while we were on our ride and the car alarm was activated. The alarm had been going off since the morning and the neighbors were demanding the car be towed and a cop had arrived to cite Jason! After explaining the situation to the officer the situation with Jason's car was resolved. AAA arrived and I got the Volvo running again (after spending 90mins and $150 for a new battery). What a day!
We ended Day 2 by heading over Corey's house for dinner with his family. The Farrell's had tons of great food for us; a nice way to cap our stressful day. This evening's team meeting covered team tactics and our approach to races in 2009. We headed back to Oxnard and soon after it was lights out. On tap for our final day: 106 mile flat coast ride to Santa Barbara and back.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Training Camp 2009 Part 1
We kicked off the 2009 season with our training camp in Oxnard. Most of the team arrived Thursday night. Our first official ride was Friday morning. We set off at 8:30am for a 103 mile ride around Lake Casitas before stopping in Ojai and then up Rose Valley. Rose Valley is a 30 mile climb (!) but we were only going up to the 15 mile mark. The ride had 5900ft of climbing! Eric Bennett of NOW Racing and Dan Ramsey from the Time Pro team joined us, both live in the area. Rob Carr's dad followed us all day providing drinks, extra clothes, and spare wheels. Having the car was great! We averaged 19mph for the ride; there lots of tired legs at the end.
After a long day in the saddle we arrived home for snacks and naps. Jose arrived this evening via Amtrak and we collected him at the train station. On the menu for dinner was lots of pasta; it was pretty amazing how much pasta we ate! Our Friday team meeting covered the 2009 race schedule and what races the different team riders would be attending. On tap for Saturday is a long hilly ride in the canyons of Malibu.
After a long day in the saddle we arrived home for snacks and naps. Jose arrived this evening via Amtrak and we collected him at the train station. On the menu for dinner was lots of pasta; it was pretty amazing how much pasta we ate! Our Friday team meeting covered the 2009 race schedule and what races the different team riders would be attending. On tap for Saturday is a long hilly ride in the canyons of Malibu.
Friday, January 9, 2009
The New Guys!
The new guys are cool:Corey Farrell (19; Cat 2): Corey was a pro triathlete at age 16 and ran for UC-San Macros as a freshman. He turned his talent towards bike racing and rose through the ranks fast! He's motivated for any race, but he's gonna be a huge talent for stage racing and hilly road races.
Jason King (23; Cat 2): Jason was a student @ SDSU and is focusing on racing in 2009. In 2008 after a successful spring he headed to Belgium for the summer with the US collegiate all star team. He placed in most of the races he did (nice) and is looking forward to the spring stage races. JAson loves climbing and will be a welcome addition to the squad.
James Stout (21; Cat 2): James is a PhD student @ UCSD and hails from Oxford, England. James raced all over the world and came to San Diego for the warm weather. He's got passion for our sport and it shines through in his racing. He's the British National U23 12 HOUR TT Champ. That's a long time!
Alex Jarman (21; Cat 2): Alex is a homegrown member of the DET. Alex joined Swami's last spring and quickly went from Cat 4 to placing in Pro/1/2 races by July. Alex placed top 20 at the Collegiate National Crit Champs and is looking to upgrade that placing this year. Alex will be one of the main sprinters on the DET and looking for a few wins in the spring Cat 2 races.
Rob Carr (21; Cat 2): Rob is another homegrown DET member. Rob started the season not sure if he could upgrade and immediately began earning podiums and handily upgraded. He immediately took to Pro/1/2 racing. Rob will be a factor in any road race and is looking to get his upgrade to Cat 1 by spring's end.That's the cast for 2009! Season's almost here. The next entry will be from our training camp in Oxnard.
Chris
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