Team Training Camp

We had our first team weekend of 2009 this past weekend. In true Vantaggio/Specialized fashion, we braved miserable weather conditions and had a great time. Everyone made it except Tanya (we missed you!!!); she was off interviewing for PA schools and taking a much needed family vacation.

Saturday morning we converged in Chattanooga at Shannon's for a weekend of "girl time" and riding. Of course we arrived at the same time as the rain did. After a short discussion we decided that we are tough and were going to get wet. The other option was the trainers in the garage and it wasn't THAT cold so we decided to head outside. Our friend Dave was our team support for the day; he had a car full of food and dry clothing so how bad could it be?? Mark had other commitments so we were lucky that Dave was a good sport and helped out. HE WAS AWESOME!!! Thanks a ton.


One of the big advantages of doing the camp in Chattanooga at Shannon's was the hot tub. We made great use of it. I think Helen was either on the bike, in front of the fire or in the hot tub all weekend long. Helen, we are all glad that you didn't freeze to death...

Dave also grilled chicken for us for dinner and we had a birthday cake for Shannon. Saturday night was a fun night. Lots of "girl bonding" and talk of new bikes and warmer days to race in....


Sunday we woke up to dry COLD cloudy conditions. It was supposed to warm up so we dressed accordingly and headed towards the mountain for some climbing. The weather men here SUCK!!!! It never got any warmer (in fact, I think it dropped a couple of degrees) and we NEVER saw the sun. After the descent down the mountain we were so cold we stopped at the Soddy Daisy municipal park to all huddle in the HEATED bathrooms. Yes, Mark came inside and took pictures of the entire team huddled around the mini heater in the bathroom. From that point on it was an "every woman for herself" type time trial back to the house for that hot tub. It was just too cold and we were DONE. It was time to shorten the ride a bit (we'd planned 4 hours) and keep from getting hypothermic. Fortunately, everyone survived. WHEW!!! That was COLD.

I will say that Helen impressed all of us with her ability to tough it out in the wet and cold (those south Florida girls are sometimes soft, not her!!!) and with her determination to climb and finish Sunday's ride. Helen is our developmental rider with a mountain bike background; this weekend was her introduction to the road bike. Not only did she ride in some of the worst conditions possible for road riding, she did a killer mountain climb on Sunday and FINISHED the 2.5 hour ride with the group instead of in the support car. Her only comment (once she thawed out) was "this road bike thing is way more fun than I expected..." Spoken like a true mountain biker!! Watch out for that girl this season, she's going to be one tough little mountain bike racer.

It was a great weekend and I think this year we have an even better team than last year.... I wasn't sure that was possible but somehow we keep outdoing ourselves. Our next team weekend is in NC in February with Scott, one of our sponsors. It should be a great time and we can't wait.

I will get pictures posted ASAP from the weekend.

Thanks for reading...