01 December 2011 No better way to finish the season
Team bizhub finished their season on a successful note winning the overall ladies elite category in the Omnicane Southern Tropical MTB Challenge ...
Clarence Training Camp Jade RobertsSunday 24th January:
Wet… wet and even more… wet is how I remember the ride back to the start line. With
the 100km race having a different start and finish area, we decided to add the ride
back as part of training. We rode a total of 180km that Sunday… pretty impressive
if you ask me : ) John Robertson, our team manager, is no softy when it comes to running
a girls team. He says and I quote “It’’s like racing in Europe.” So girls… we gotta
toughen up a bit.! : ) hahaha
My ‘new’ best friend… Jennifer, was so funny.! With about an hour to go, she was
moaning about being hungry, so I offered my energy bar. Just as I did that, we noticed
John and Nicolene in the distance… low and behold… their they were, with a warm
cuppa coffee in one hand and a sandwich in the other.! You two really saved the
day.! : ) As soon as we arrived back to the start area, we got dressed, cleaned and
jumped into the team vehicles for our 3hour drive to Clarence.
The whole team arrived at our accommodation… split into rooms of 4 girls in each.
And off course our room turned out to be the more ‘rowdy’ one :D Myself, Jen, Lise
and Arien shared a chalet. While Yolandi, Cath, Michelle and Landi (the youngest
on the camp- Junior rider) in the other. We all then quickly showered, unpacked
and it was then time for dinner. You think girls don’t eat…? Phfff… we chowed down
the delicious pre-made meal of chicken and vegetable pie. It was sooo good.! Thank
you Nicolene for looking after us so well.! A full cyclist is a happy cyclist : )
Monday 25th January:
Another day… Boy did I sleep well…with such a long day on the bike yesterday I would
imagine that everyone slept like babies hahaha.! Breakfast was at 8am, and on our
bikes at 9am. With a wide selection of muesli, oats, bread and fruit…. We were headed
for a 120km ride. That would be about 4hrs30min on the bicycle. Mark from Specialized
SA arrived early this morning, he was there to give bike set-ups and help out in
the following vehicle with our manager John.
The weather was great, so being on the bike was really awesome. The route was out
towards Bethlehem way… and with Clarence NOT being flat, we all felt our legs a
bit. And you know how girls are, we just have to take photo’s : ) So there were many
pic’s taken on the training camp that will be posted on our website.!
Learning
how to ride together is one of the key importance’s of a team. We were told to form
a pace line… which may sound easier than done. Getting it right took some time as
the person that paces through must learn to go across and soft pedal as the other
rider comes to the front. 3rd time lucky and we aced the ‘pace line technique’ : )
Yipee.!
After training we usually take a recovery shake, have ‘chill time’ where we sit
on our beds talking, reading or on out laptops. Jen aka: muffin, taught us some
decent Italiano : ) Being able to learn a little Italian is a real treat. I think
her best words that’s she taught us are Mi piatcie and piano. Which means “I like”
and “Easy”.! Put those two words together and you get I like to go slowly hahaha
:D Dinner again was amazing, some left over’s from lunch and extra lasagna… It went
down well.!
Tuesday 26th January:
When everyone heard Golden Gate for today’s training… we all gave a big fat groan
Arghhhh…! With two days of hard training we were not looking forward to another
day of suffering.
We all said to go ‘piano piano’ for today’s training, and funny enough it was easy
easy, until John decided to spice things up a bit. All I heard was GO GO GO.! Jen
looks at me and says “what He say.?” I say to her “Go fast.!” She puts the hammer
down, picks the pace up and then the fun started. Jen, Myself, Arien, Lise and Landi
manage to form a group and start racing… it was a good effort to see how our legs
would respond. It was einaa, not gonna lie… we were all glad that was over. In the
mean time during all of this, one of the girls manages to get lost.! Cath took a
wrong turn in the Reserve, so not knowing where she was, we wondered where she had
gone to. After a good hour we found her.! Shoe… we were worried.! :O
Now you would imagine after a day like that we would take the rest of the way easy…?
Well not at all. Passing the road back to our accommodation was really a mental
block. Passing ‘home’ and caring on when your tired is something else I tell ya.
A few extra sprints and lead outs were done before turning back. Oh… and to put
a spanner in the works, John and Mark put a R100 rand deal to the first one back
at the accommodation. Lise won that one by a far way… you go girl.! We were all
finished after those intense efforts.! 3hrs and 70km done for the day, Pheew.!
A nice massage, lunch as rest was the order of the day. A team meeting was also
held to organize our racing calendar for the rest of the year. Took a while, but
we soon all agreed : ) Looks to be a busy one, lotsa traveling and racing ahead.!
Wednesday 27th January
Training was agreed for 5:30am, I stuck my head out the door to see a storm… cold,
wet and rain! Duet due to the weather, we decided to skip the training and head
back to Johannesburg earlier than expected. In a way we were all happy hahaha :D
Funny enough we left at the right time, the roads became flooded and the rain made
the drive back very dangerous.
As soon as we got back at around 15:30pm… myself, Jen, Lise and Arien managed to
put in a god 1hr rollers/ trainer session to make up for missing today’ training.
Other than me climbing for the whole duration of the session, as my trainer broke
mid-way through, its was good to get the legs moving a bit after traveling and having
your legs all cramped up. We then hit Col’ Cachio (an Italian restaurant) in Park
View Mall for dinner together. Was super delicious.! : )
The meaning of a training camp is to encourage, team bonding, learn, team work,
strengths/weaknesses, knowledge, skill, memories, laughter, fun, goals, positive
energy, motivation, I can go on… Professionalism I have left for last because that’s
the one thing I walk away with from the training camp knowing fully, that I am a
professional athlete.! A big thank you to John, Nicolene and Mark for your time
and effort.!
I am looking forward to our next race which is the Berg ‘n Dale on the 30th, will
keep you ‘in the loop’ as to how that one goes.! : )
Thanx for reading,
Monday 25th January:
Tuesday 26th January:
As soon as we got back at around 15:30pm… myself, Jen, Lise and Arien managed to
put in a god 1hr rollers/ trainer session to make up for missing today’ training.
Other than me climbing for the whole duration of the session, as my trainer broke
mid-way through, its was good to get the legs moving a bit after traveling and having
your legs all cramped up. We then hit Col’ Cachio (an Italian restaurant) in Park
View Mall for dinner together. Was super delicious.! : )
The meaning of a training camp is to encourage, team bonding, learn, team work,
strengths/weaknesses, knowledge, skill, memories, laughter, fun, goals, positive
energy, motivation, I can go on… Professionalism I have left for last because that’s
the one thing I walk away with from the training camp knowing fully, that I am a
professional athlete.! A big thank you to John, Nicolene and Mark for your time
and effort.!
I am looking forward to our next race which is the Berg ‘n Dale on the 30th, will
keep you ‘in the loop’ as to how that one goes.! : )
Thanx for reading,