Starting the Season off in South Carolina

High point of the week: the top of Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

Now that I've gotten several nights of solid sleep under my belt, I've fully recovered from McGill Cycling's recent training camp in South Carolina and decided to start this blog by sharing a bit about the week.  Over the past few years this camp has provided me with some of my best cycling experiences, and this recent trip was no different. It was my third year participating in the training camp, and my second year organising it.  In total we were nineteen riders, fourteen being McGill Cyclists, the others special guests.  I was really happy that two of my Nova Scotian teammates from last season, Tyler D’Arcy and Mitchell MacDonald, were able to make the trip with us.  

In an effort to keep these posts on the shorter side so they’re quick and easy to read, I’ll share some of the trip's highlights.  Firstly, our accommodations were spectacular.  We had a giant lake house with picturesque views, a large kitchen and living spaces, and comfortable beds which were much appreciated during a hard week of riding.  On a whole the weather was a bit on the colder side compared to previous years, but on our first few days we were greeted with temperatures in the 20°C range and plenty of riders took the chance to start developing some early season tan lines.  This was by far the fittest and fastest group McGill Cycling has taken down to South Carolina over the past few years, and it lead to some lively rides featuring plenty of racing to the tops of hills and the occasional town sign sprint (lead outs powered by Mitchell MacDonald).  My favourite rides include both days we tackled the famous Caesar’s Head climb and descended the backside into North Carolina for some riding on small scenic roads.  And of course there was the absolutely epic ride we did through the Smokey Mountains. It totalled 170km and just over 4000m of climbing, a new record for me!  Check out the ride details here: http://app.strava.com/activities/119066222

However, the best part of the trip might not even be the riding.  Being able to spend a large chunk of time with my friends and teammates is something I really appreciate, and it strengthens us as a group as we get ready for the racing and riding season.  Sometime I'll write more about the McGill Cycling team, everything it's done for me, and the amazing people that compose it, but for now I'll just say that I'm really happy that I was able to give back by planning a successful camp for everyone to enjoy during their spring breaks.

All in all it was a great vacation away from school, and a perfect week of training to give my fitness a boost before we kick off the 2014 racing season.  As mentioned in the blog description, this should be a big season for me (more info to come!) and I'll be sharing race reports, training tales and various other content so those who are interested can follow along.

For now I'm going to continue to keep trying to juggle training for elite level cycling with weekend race trips and the workload that comes with the final semester of a McGill Mechanical Engineering degree.   Speaking of which, I think I've got some homework to get back to.  Thanks for reading!

Group ride ending just before sunset in South Carolina