Training Camp . . . or NOT

So this past weekend the plan was to go to my grandparents' farm (The Farm) and host some of my old teammates for a training camp. Well, as you can see from the picture, the weather didn't want to cooperate. Instead of 250 hilly miles on and around the Blue Ridge Parkway around Charlottesville, we got a 10 mile hike in and about 550miles of driving . . . After waking up to an inch of snow on the ground Friday morning, we decided to go with 'plan B' - a 10 mile hike to The Priest on the Appalachian Trail. Regarded as the 'hardest part of the AT' I earned the nickname of 'Riis' by the time we hit the top. A dozen middle aged cyclists were feeling the hurt, although the younger guys (and the guy without his shirt) didn't seem to mind! We had a great workout, and I cooked up a full tenderloin rubbed with coffee, cocoa, cayenne, and cumin that went nicely with a grilled veggie salad, baked potatoes, and homeade deserts from Mimi (my grandmother).

The next morning was even worse in my opinion. 35 degrees and rain greeted our second day of the camp. I decided that was my que to get in my warm, leather-coated, heated seat SUV and drive home. The others, being more brave (or less intelligent) went for a 4 hour ride. After the 5 hour drive I hit the rollers for 2 x 20 LT workout for the second day of 'Training Camp'.

The third day of camp greeted those remaining at The Farm with warmer weather - 40 degrees and rain so they headed to Front Royal to get in a few quality miles. I suited up for another workout on the trainer after taking about 3 hours to catch up on all the e-mails, bills, etc. that had piled up during my 48 hour hiatus from Asheville. Lucky for me, the weather cleared for a bit and I met my teammate, Jacob, for a sweet 3 hour ride up Elk Mountain Scenic Highway and then up to Mt. Mitchell. A solid hour and a half of climbing took the edge off of missing the training camp.

The weather doesn't always cooperate, but as I sit here sweating (from a hot bowl of my wife's homemade chili) and drinking a cold beer I think the weekend turned out just fine.

I hope everyone has a great week and enjoyed the weather! ;)

ABRT's version: http://abrtcycling.blogspot.com/2009/03/elite-team-training-camp.html