xXx 2009 Winter Camp Report

2009's winter camp was a success - I feel much stronger and faster every year, though it seems that everyone on the team is stronger and faster. I'm not immediately off the back when we're climbing Men's Colony Hill, which tells me that I'm making progress.

Weighing in at 260 on the Friday before we left was encouraging, but weighing in at 258 yesterday morning was MORE encouraging. Most people GAIN weight at camp because we're riding so much that you just have to eat like a fiend. 38 pounds to go and I'm in Carbon Wheel territory. Lighter Me + Heds + Track = Fast.

Several of my teammates have written day-by-day accounts that I can't hold a candle to - I suggest you see their blogs for all the juicy details:

The Car Whisperer
Race Your Bike
Seth-Meyer.com

What I can offer you, though... is data. Below are links to my GPS tracks from each day, embarrassingly slow climbing speeds and all.

Day 1: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=7750814
Day 2: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=7760829
Day 3: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=7767260
Day 4: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=7776365
Day 5: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=7776372
Day 6: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=7781518
Day 7: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=7784904
Day 8: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=7800994
(my Forerunner started giving out on me on Day 7, mileage on Days 7 & 8 is shorter than actual)

I'm very excited to say that I successfully rode Peachy Canyon AND summited Black Mountain this year. Black Mountain is one hell of a climb (Day 5) and I'd attempted it once before but wasn't able to summit. It cost me a quicklink (FSA Quick Links SUCK!! Buy SRAM) but I did make it to the top:



How sweet it was.

The rest of camp was great, but after Peachy and Black Mountain I was satisfied with the week's successes and just didn't want' to crash or break anything. Saturday's (Day 8) climb up Prefumo Canyon did give me a scare - I crossed a cattle guard and hit a big hole on the other side... and heard a rather loud "pop" from the bike. I stopped to check for cracks/problems and everything seemed solid so I continued. When I reassembled the bike at home in Chicago, I inspected both the fork and seatpost and didn't see any problems... I'm hoping it was just one of the "funky carbon noises" that people tell me happen from time to time.

The Stallion Build Hed. Ardennes performed wonderfully, so much that I've decided to build my powertap into them. If a lightweight wheelset can take the beating that I've put it through (especially through Prefumo Canyon's cattle guarded kermesse-style summit) and still stay true, they're more than alright by me. Trips to SLO in years past have knocked my Ksyriums out of true, so I'm quite happy that the Ardennes are as good as the reviews all say.

Hopefully I didn't break the new bike before I've even had a chance to race it.

Hillsboro-Roubaix, two weeks. Hoo yah.