Camp Velogirls 2009

Ann in the lead
Originally uploaded by queenjill

Team Velogirls kicked off 2009, the year of the Ox, and a new year of riding with a fabulous weekend retreat at lovely Costanoa.

The team's endurance riders, racers, and dirty girls met on Saturday morning for a round of team photos, followed by a discussion of nutrition. Heather D'Eliso Gordon of Kaiser Permanente and Wenzel Coaching talked with us about mindful eating and the choices we make about food. While some of us disagreed with Heather's opinion that a pint of Ben & Jerry's contains at least four servings, overall it was a really informative discussion that gave us lots to think about in terms of eating for optimum performance both on and off the bike.

Following Heather's lecture, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Costanoa restaurant, each of us at least theoretically making mindful, healthy choices from the menu. We then changed into our kits and split up into groups: the endurance team headed out with Lorri; Jenny and Thea grabbed their mountain bikes and headed down to Wilder Ranch; and the rest of us raced (almost literally) down Highway 1, trying to keep up with Linda Jackson of Team TIBCO. Linda led us on a fast-paced ride that ultimately led to the top of Bonny Doon Road. I know I had my doubts about whether I could make it to the top, but we all made it, and enjoyed the fruits of our labor -- a killer descent back down Bonny Doon to Highway 1. Our exhilarated smiles soon turned to gritted teeth, however, as we battled a killer headwind back to Costanoa -- a welcome sight after our 47.5 mile ride.

From what I hear, the endurance team had a nice ride focused on skills and strategies for leading group rides, while the dirty girls had an awesome time jumping pipes and swooping along singletrack... followed, of course, by beer.

After dinner at the Costanoa restaurant, we retreated back upstairs (with protesting quads) for a ride debrief with Linda. She had some very helpful suggestions for the racers on how to improve our riding so that maybe someday we can all have our own Wikipedia pages too. She also had some great tips that gave the racers lots to think about as we plan for our upcoming races. Being (mostly) good girls, we all then went our separate ways, forgoing the original campfire/wine/s'mores plan in order to get a good night's sleep. (I say "mostly" good because I went home and rather unmindfully stuffed myself with cookies.)

Late Sunday morning we all met back at Costanoa for a group ride. Race, endurance, and dirt team members alike hit the road together. We rode about 45 miles, heading up north for a loop through Pescadero and San Gregorio, up 84 to Haskins Hill, and back to Costanoa through Pescadero and along Cloverdale/Gazos Creek Roads. According to my Garmin data, our overall pace for our Sunday ride was respectable but -- although significantly flatter -- only slightly faster than the racers' Saturday ride with Linda Jackson. D'zam.

Alas, our camp weekend came to an end. But the memories will live on, along with a bazillion photos on Facebook and Flickr....