Team Camp Part I

    People often marvel at all the places cycling has taken me, from Japan, to South Korea, the Tibetan Plateau, scores of U.S. states and several European countries just to name a few. I've ridden my bike along the coast of Cinque Terre, through the vineyards of Hokkaido and many places in between. The list is long, the list of memories longer.  Despite all this though, I often joke that, to me, the entire world looks like a strip of rubber; it's either my front wheel or the rear wheel of the person I'm following. No matter where I go or what's around me, this is the most unifying quality of nearly every place I've been to on the planet. 

    This week our team is doing a training camp down in Castello de la Plana, Spain, a seemingly typical Spanish beach town full of vacation homes and shops catered to tourists. As one can imagine, February isn't really high season for beach goers so the town is pretty dead. Add in Covid travel restrictions and the town is extra dead.

    Speaking of extra dead, we are only half way through camp and I already feel like I've been hit by a bus. A few days ago we cranked out 189km (118miles) in 5h13min. You can calculate that average on your own but also keep in mind the route included 7,700' of climbing. The next day things mellowed out as we did only 150km in 4h59min with 8,300' of climbing. I guess "mellow" is a relative term. 

                     Scenery here is actually very nice. Not sure if these are almonds or cherries but they're everywhere.

    At one point that relativity was tested when I attempted to follow one of my teammates, Gavin Mannion, on a climb. Gavin is fit. I am less so. As is so often the case I became well acquainted with his rear wheel; that is until it took off up the road and disappeared from sight. Easy come, easy go, I guess. 

                                                                      Photo Credit: Tristan Cardew

    Today is a prescribed rest day which I think everyone appreciates. Some guys will ride to a coffee shop, others won't ride at all. Still undecided as to what I'll do, maybe just stare at some spare tires in preparation for the coming days. As they say, success is all about preparation.

What's keeping me entertained:

This podcast was over three hours long and about nothing but squirrels. Yes, squirrels. Those things you hate for getting into your bird feeder. Much to my surprise it was absolutely fascinating. 

For photos and more official updates from our camp you can check out Rally cycling's website or their Instagram account. We are here until February 28th. 

The photos I used on this post came from Tristan Cardew.