It officially starts the day after tomorrow and Jeb Stewart and I are here in Marin County getting ready for what is shaping up to be the best-ever Marin Training Camp.  On Friday, we stayed with friends in the East Bay and took in some sublime California riding in temperatures nearing 80F degrees:

Yesterday, we took in the Alpine Dam loop and went over some peculiarities of navigation in Marin.  This year should be a bit easier as Quarq have sent us a load of Garmins which we will pre-load with each day's route.  Today, we'll do another spin to dial things in as well as assemble the bikes which have arrived.

The campers arrive tomorrow afternoon and, hopefully, we will be able to get out for a late-afternoon 'bonus spin'— to shake out the legs and get to know each other a bit.  The camp is comprised of many returnees from years past, several of my athletes, a couple of old friends and even a relative!  It's nicely mixed between men and women, pro and amateur, with specialties ranging from endurance mountain biking to cyclocross to track.

I will be doing my best to post daily updates and photos right here!

Jenn Reither's awesome season just got better.  Partnered with her Vanderkitten teammate Anna Lang, Jenn brought home the gold in the first-ever women's madison competition at the USA Cycling Elite Track Championships.  Here are the details:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/usa-cycling-elite-track-championships-cn/stages/stage-5/results

and photos:

http://www.velonews.com/article/98927/track-nats-a-mitch-clinton-gallery

Nice work, champ!

Stuart Lynne earns a silver medal at Canadian Track Nationals.  Read his account here.

It's been a long 2009 season and a lot of you are taking your well-deserved unstructured time or complete rest.  Some are preparing for cyclocross while others are just rebuilding your endurance base and having fun.

I think it is a good time to take a moment and list some athlete accomplishments so far this season. You all have done some excellent hard work and it has really paid off. Check it out:

Brad Schrock: Brad has been working with a travel-heavy work schedule and despite this has racked up some solid placings in his local crit series.  In the Tour of KC, he came in 11th on day 1 and 13th on day 2 despite being held up by a crash in the finale!  Brad's dedication and persistence despite his busy schedule always impress me.

Chris Peariso: Chris set his main goal this season as the Men's Pro Solo division of the BC Bike Race.  Despite having no experience with the terrain or that style of racing, Chris managed a solid 7th place overall.  Excellent!

Ellen Kirtley: Ellen came into her final countdown to the Senior Games burnt out and stale.  She asked me to coach her starting only 2 months before the big event and I wasn't sure we could really salvage her form.  After a lot of rest and some very specific training, Ellen managed 11th on day 1 road race.  In the Day 2 road race, she played the wind to her advantage and placed 4th!  After the road races, she set her sights on the 2 TTs - her specialty.  She didn't disappoint - one 4th place and one bronze medal later she headed home with a successful Senior Games in the bag.

Heather Gundersen: This cyclocross superstar's road season got off to a solid start with a 3rd place at Banana Belt, 11th overall at Cherry Blossom SR, and 4th at King's Valley RR before scoring a win at the Table Rock RR.  Since the spring, she has remained consistent with a coupe of top-10 rides at Mt Tabor and a bronze medal at the OBRA TTT Champs.

Jane Adams: Jane has continued her winning ways this season with a whole slew of top places and wins in a variety of races all along the East Coast.  Her highlights include a 3rd at the Kenda Cup East and 2nd places at the Williams Lake Classic and a well-deserved win at Michaux.  Jane is gunning for a result in next year's Dalby Forest World Cup race in her native UK.

Jennifer Reither: JennX has had an awesome season, beginning with an 11th place in the pro race at the Tour of California Women's Criterium in the pouring rain.  Since then, she has been steady on with solid rides in South Carolina and Tulsa Tough.  In June,  a 10th at the Manhattan Beach GP preceded a 3rd at the San Pedro GP.  She recently went to Master's Track National Championships where she earned a silver medal in the points race and a bronze in team pursuit.

Mark Miller: Mark has been racing both on the road and off, with great results.  He got his season off to a good start with 11th at Cherry Pie RR, followed by a slew of top 10 MTB results: 3rd at Horning's Hustle, 5th at Bear Springs Trap XC, 7th at Spring Thaw XC, and 4th at both Pickett's Charge and Return of the Jedi.  Nice work!

Mike Benno: Mike has had a solid road season, with top-15 placings in a variety of events.  Highlights include 12th at King’s Valley, 6th at the OBRA RR, 3rd at Mt Tabor, 2nd in the Vancouver Courthouse Crit, and two wins in the Mid-Summer Crit Series.  Mike has been resting well and is now 100% focused on cyclocross!

Shawn Tevendale: Shawn is a versatile MTB racer focused on endurance challenges.  Shawn has been dealing with on-bike nutrition issues this year, but his focus has paid off with 8th at the Cowbell Challenge Marathon and a 2nd place at the 18 Hours-Scouts Honor.

Steven Hunter: Steven’s season focus is cyclocross, but his road results are nothing to snicker at.  He has managed 15th, 14th, and 13th, respectively, at the Eugene Roubaix, Silverton RR, and Rehearsal RR.  He’s also managed some solid PIR results of his own while working for his teammates!

Stuart Lynne: Stuart is a stellar BC Master’s rider.  He’s a regular top-contender in his class and has reached another level this season.  His results include PBs on a variety of TT courses, both flat and uphill, including one at the Mt Seymour HC in the pouring rain.  He also earned a gold medal at the BC Master’s TT Champs and won at the Mt Washington and Cypress Hillclimbs along with the BCMCA Team TT, at which he arrived rock star-style via helicopter.

Susan Peithman: Susan’s season has been trying at times, but despite this she has managed some great results.  A 4th place at the Sublime Sublimity CR was followed by top-10 rides at Banana Belt, Piece of Cake RR, and the Cherry Blossom SR.  More recently, 6th and 7th places at the Swan Island and Vancouver Courthouse Criteriums have put her in good position for her build-up to cyclocross.

 

You’ve all worked hard for these results and they speak volumes about your dedication and persistence.  Here’s to more great success to come!

Anthony King put all his hard work at Marin Camp and some late summer form to good use on the track, earning a silver medal the Canadian Track Nationals in the Master's 30+ Points Race.  Nice work, Anthony!  Check out the video of the race if you like:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6975321232658471423&hl=en

It has been a long season so far, and we still have plenty of great racing to go.  My athletes are spread around the North American continent and all work very hard to achieve their goals.

I would like to take a moment and list some athlete accomplishment highlights from this season. You all have done some excellent hard work and it has really paid off. Check it out:

Aaron Elwell: After taking the NMBS Expert XC overall title last year, Aaron made the jump to Semi-Pro with great success, recently topped off with a 14th place at the East Coast NMBS National.

Andrew Tilin: Andrew had targeted the Mt Hamilton RR as his main goal of the season, but an inopportune mechanical put paid to any chance of a result there.  He rallied and took revenge on us Oregonians with a 9th place overall at the Cascade Classic!

Chris Peariso: Chris turned pro this year and stepped it up a notch, despite a long Wisconsin winter and some bad luck with nasty bacteria!  He is currently running in 34th overall in the NMBS Series.

Gant Enderle: Having started the season with a win as an Expert MTB rider, Gant nailed a bunch of top-5 finishes and came dangerously close to being upgraded to Semi-Pro.  His main goal, though, was BC Bike Race, where he and his teammate Grant Folske finished 23rd overall in the Open Men class.  Awesome!

Jane Adams: Jane has been once again tearing up the womens pro fields in the NorthEast.  Her latest conquest was last weekend in Delaware at the Iron Hill Challenge where she won yet again.  I have lost count of how many races Jane has won this year!

Jason Wilsey: Jason came back to bike racing with a vengeance this year, having come from multi-day adventure racing.  He soloed to two Cat-3 wins and earned a nice upgrade to Cat 2!

Mark Miller: One of Oregon's old guard, Mark returned to racing after a few decades off and hasn't wasted any time becoming successful.  After exceeding the horsepower rating of his old frame and breaking it at the Test of Endurance, he bounced back on a new 29er to place 3rd in his class at the OBRA Mountain Bike XC Championships!

Robert Miller: After fighting off sickness while trekking in the Himalayas, Robert trained hard to finish 2nd in the Callahan's Hillclimb TT.

Bruce Ostermann: Bruce has been on a rampage since this spring, increasing his LT wattage by about 80W!  He placed 2nd overall at the Montana State Games and set course records in both TT distances at the Senior State Games while also winning the road race!

Scott Bradway: Scott capped a series of podium XC places with an upgrade to Semi-Pro and a solid 5th Place at the Test of Endurance.  His target discipline is Cyclocross, so look out!

Shawn Tevendale: Shawn overcame a bout of Lyme disease to successfully defend his title in The 18 Hour - "Scouts Honor."  He is also currently leading the Virginia Off Road Series!

Steven Hunter: Steven started a solid road season with a 4th place at Eugene Roubaix.  He followed this with three more top-10 places in OBRA road events.  Now he is building up for his specialty event - cyclocross!

Stuart Lynne: After a solid 2007, Stuart started 2008 recovering from a broken clavicle.  He’s not easily stopped, though, and has managed a whole slew of top results.  I can’t list them all, so I will send you to his website: http://tt-training.blogspot.com/

 

That's a nice sample of the payoff that hard work in training brings. Let's keep up the great work and add even more results to the records!

My athlete Shana...Shana...(what is her last name, anyway?) thinks my blog could use a bit of female representation.  I totally agree, so I decided to stick a photo of her on it in her snappy autumn attire on the Oregon coast...

One of my regular consulting athletes whose accomplishments this year I so rudely forgot to mention in my earlier post is Semi-Pro mountain bike racer John Davis.  John had what is perhaps best described as a very educational season!  He worked hard, building his FTP by more than 40W and garnering several top-4 placings and a top 15 place at the brutal NC National.  John is young, motivated, ambitious and hard-working and you can expect to hear more about him in the coming years as his experience and maturity build.

In addition to all of this, he is a hilarious blogger, recording his exploits (and occasional follies) with great humour and self-effacing style.  Check it out:

 http://rollitjohndavis.blogspot.com/

It's that time of year now - the time of year when every endurance athlete starts thinking about...next year!  Well, I have been thinking about that, too, not so much as setting racing goals, but rather to set up my training camp:

 http://www.peakscoachinggroup.com/camps/cycling_camps_marin_2008.html

It takes place in the Bay Area on some of the West Coast's most beautiful roads and in some of the best weather.  If last year is any indication, it will be fantastic!

One of the highlights of last year's camp was the food and lodging.  So, once again we are staying at the Ralston White Retreat which is an incredibly peaceful location in beautiful Marin, just at the foot of Mt Tam.  Their chefs customize our menu to suit the athletes and accommodate any special requests and the house is amazing in its beauty and amenities.

This camp is excellent for getting in some early season mileage, learning about how to use your power meter,  improving your descending skills and just relaxing in an amazing place.  As a PCG athlete you save 10% when you sign up.  If you bring a friend, you can save another 5%!

If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to send me an email...