Team Launch Party April 3rd!

Come out to support the team and join us for a fun night at the Shark Club!

Camping Close to Home

Last weekend Sandra and myself headed over to Victoria for a little training with our teammates on the Local Ride Racing Road Team. The camp was well timed, as the forecast in Vancouver was for snow, and Victoria promised slightly warmer temperatures and a lot more sun. We were not disappointed!

Sandra, Mike, Ryan, Steve and myself headed over on Thursday evening to meet up with Islander teammates Laura "Downtown" Brown, and Chelsea Bilsbarrow (aka "Pickle") who had offered to be our hosts. Roy MacBeth, Jenelle Cassidy and Jeanine Ball also joined us there.

On Friday we headed out for a hilly 4 hour ride, in which the boys (mainly Mike) wasted no time in attempting to rip our legs off. We all arrived home sufficiently tired, and after a little R&R enjoyed a fun dinner out at the Noodlebox downtown.

Laura loves noodles!

On Saturday we started the ride with some EXCELLENT coffee, at Cornerstone. Another great part of coffee there was that they loved all of our bikes parked out front and insisted on us sending them photos so that they could lobby for bike parking from the city.

Mmmmm, coffee....

It was a windy windy ride. We tried some team chase drills in the crosswinds. Lots of learning going on there. We sent Sandra up the road, to try to reel her back, but she was so fast! With Laura and Jenelle's help we did get a better feel for working as a group, and got to know each other a little better as riders.

After the necessary nap time, we all got together to enjoy a big pasta dinner at Pickle's place, and talk about the upcoming season.

By Sunday the boys were starting to look a little tired (this is pre-ride)

Sunday was our last day in the Victoria sunshine. We enjoyed a mellow start to the day, experiencing a little sun, rain, wind and even snow, lots of bathroom stops (to much coffee). After the group had diminished, the remaining group of Sandra, Mike, Steve, Ryan and I headed over towards Highland for some hills. Mike once again fell back to his leg ripping habits, but it was all in good fun, and after some final sprints for city limit signs (which Sandra and Steve took the majority of), we packed up and headed home.

All in all, it was a lot of fun. Everyone went back home feeling good and tired and happy.

It is now time for a necessary week of rest.

-Jean Ann

Bianca's Palm Springs Training Camp Report

Heading to the camp in Palm Springs I was pretty nervous. I knew that the majority of the riders there specialized in road racing,
where as I had very little road riding/racing experience. Once there, I soon realized that riding in a group wasn't so bad. All the riders there were more than willing to help me out and make me feel more comfortable in the pack. Soon enough I became familiar with all the hand signals and formations that are an essential part of riding in a pack and was able to take in and enjoy Palm Springs. The one ride that stands out was the last one, where we rode through the canyon. It was amazing, it looked like it was right out of the old Road Runner cartoons! Soon,it was time to pack everything up and head home. Sitting on the plane I was truly exhausted, but in a great way. I don't think I have ever ridden so much in such a short period of time! Thanks to this camp I have some new found motivation to get me through to race season!

:) Bianca