Saturday, February 14, 2009

Training Camp, Stage 1

Ahhh, a day in the life of a professional women's cycling team -- at training camp.

Morning photo shoot.


Time for silly-ness, as team director Lisa Hunt poses with a piece of artwork to replicate a retro Coppertone ad.
Time for the sponsor-inspired artsy shot.
An afternoon ride in the rain. And the sun. And the wind. And the rain. And some more rain.
I drove the "follow-car" and carried extra clothes because of that rain.
Evening team meeting to discuss team strategy for the next day's race. I'd share it here, but have been sworn to secrecy.
After dinner, a tire clinic from team sponsor Michelin reps, Ralph and Monica. You have no idea how fascinating the Michelin man is...as Monica shared with us, he's over 100 years old, started as a smoker, drinker, womanizer, and was overweight, and has now gotten off cigarettes with the patch, stopped drinking, taken diversity training, and slimmed down substantially in the 90's "health boom."
Ralph taught the women of VAC some great tips for mounting new tires on wheels.

Day over, everyone's off to sleep to rest up for the Amgen Tour of California Women's Criterium in Santa Rosa tomorrow. Life is good.

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