While the most successful Winter Games in our nation’s history were underway in Vancouver, a congregation of roadies and mountain bikers from across our great (mostly) frozen land took to the roads of Tucson for an 11 day training camp. 30 Canadian National Team athletes ranging from junior to world-class standouts came together for quality base miles, technical sessions, team building and sport science workshops. This camp marked to first time in at least 10 years that the CDN National Team has hosted a multidiscipline training camp- by all accounts the camp as a tremendous success!
The atmosphere was light. Days were busy- rising by 8am, eating hotel provided breakfasts of waffles, yogourt & fruit and rolling on the road by 10am. We spent 3-5 hours in the saddle per day. Post-ride we implemented recovery strategies learned at the camp which included contrast bathing (alternating sitting in garbage tubs of ice & cold water with dips in the hotel hot-tub), stretching and eating, attending great IST sessions (sports science), eating more, socializing, trips to Trader Joe’s & Chipotle and watching American coverage of the Olympics. We also had a couple photo shoots- with Rob Jones of Canadian Cyclist and for Louis Garneau.
On one of the more epic days we climbed to the top of Mt Lemmon, a 25-mile jaunt to a little over 8000 feet in which we travelled through 8 different microclimates, from the giant cacti dessert up to pine forested alpine ski slopes. We were super fortunate to be in Tucson at a time where it was warm enough that the roads were clear all the way to the top- there was quite a lot of snow on the sides of the roads for the last third of the climb and the temperature dropped to the point where jackets and leg warmers were needed. At the top we were greeted by Denise and Dan who won everyone’s hearts with the biggest chocolate chip cookies I have ever seen. After over 2 hours of climbing cookies were quite possibly the most welcome site any of us could have imagined!
The other epic day in the saddle involved less sun and a lot more water- while the Sun Gods were certainly with us for the majority of the camp, one-day toward the end the skies opened up about an hour from our hotel. When it rains in Tucson its truly incredible- without proper storm drainage the streets are filled with standing water within minutes. The standing water camouflages cracks and potholes in the road making riding absolutely treacherous. The wind picked up and blew the rain into our eyes rendering us near blind- these conditions in combination with unpredictable drivers made for a pretty nerve racking experience. Fortunately all of us made it home without significant event other than several cases of borderline hypothermia. I didn’t have a jacket or vest with me and by the time we got back to the hotel I lacked the manual dexterity to unclasp my helmet much less undress myself before getting into the shower. No contrast bath needed after that ride- hot tub only!
A few of us stayed an extra couple of day after the camp had officially ended- on the final day we had a “tour de coffee shop” in which we planned our route to include stops at our favourite coffee shops discovered during camp. A highly recommended cap to a training camp!
Camp not only provided a great opportunity for many of the riders who will be racing together later in the year to come together and bond, but it was an opportunity for Jenny and myself to train together, united again I under the colours of Specialized Mazda Samson. I was super happy to have received my new Specialized Amira the day before leaving to camp- no better way to break in a bike than during training camp. The Amira is an amazing ride, hands-down the best women’s specific bike I’ve experienced. The geometry is great, much more of a race bike than some of the earlier women’s specific rides.
Thanks for reading!
MoJo
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