Team Training Camp 2022

It was good to have team training camp again this year.  Our last one was at the end of February 2020, right before the pandemic started.  Team training camp is always a great way to enjoy hanging out with some of my best cyclopeeps as well as get in some good riding.

Robert did most of the planning for camp.  Typically, we stay in an Airbnb, which offers a friendlier atmosphere than a motel/hotel as well as kitchen facilities.  The biggest parameters are selecting a location where the winter weather is likely to be OK and finding a large enough place that we can afford.  This year we stayed at an Airbnb on Lake Blackshear near Cordele.

Friday

Most of us arrived Friday afternoon of last weekend.  There are a lot of dirt roads in the area, so we opted for dirt road rides on Friday and Sunday.  Therefore, we brought both road and gravel bikes.

It's tough for me to hang with the guys on dirt because I can't draft nearly as much as I can on paved roads.  Also, the roads are sandy in the coastal plain of South Georgia, making dirt road riding trickier than in the clayey piedmont where we live.  I was pleased to stay with the guys on Friday's 36-mile ride.

After we cleaned up, we went to dinner at Cordelia's restaurant at nearby Veterans State Park.  Robert and I rarely go out to eat like we did pre-pandemic, and so this was a treat, especially getting to share it with friends.

Clockwise from left: Robert, Cal, Allen, Jeff K., Cody, Van, Stoney, and me

Saturday

The next morning, Stoney cooked breakfast.  He made some delicious waffles that had whole wheat flour and cinnamon.  He even brought his Belgian waffle maker.  We had a nice fruit salad, too.  Stoney eats more fruit than anyone I know.  Maybe that's why he's such a strong rider.

I was amused that Robert was hungry early in the ride after such a filling breakfast.  I joked with Jeff K. that instead of Belgian waffles, Stoney had actually served Chinese waffles - you're hungry again an hour after eating them.

Jake drove down Saturday morning and joined us for our 70-mile road ride.  I was glad he could spend the day even though he couldn't come for the entire weekend.

Right after we got going, I realized that my front shifter wasn't working!  I had charged my Di2 right before camp, and so I was very concerned that I had a significant Di2 problem.  (I have not had the best experience with Di2 since it has become common in the past decade.)  I figured I would try to manually move the derailleur to the big ring at our first stop.  No luck - I was stuck in the small ring for the day.

If you're going to be stuck in one chainring, flat terrain is the best place for it to happen.  Still, I would have preferred the big ring.  When I'm in my front small ring, I can't shift into my 11 or 12 cog on the back because I have a small bicycle frame, and the rear derailleur can't take up enough chain slack.  (That would be crossed over anyway.)  Therefore, I rode the whole ride single-speed at 36 in the front and 13 on the back, a little less than a 3:1 gear ratio.  Compare that with what I would have had available if my front shifter had been working (and what the guys did have): 51 in the front and 11 in the back, closer to a 5:1 gear ratio.  I was spinning!  Sometimes furiously, especially when our speed was nearly 30 mph.

We averaged 20.4 mph for the ride, and I managed to keep up.  My average cadence for the ride was 85 rpm.  For comparison, I checked my average cadence on our last two Peach Pelotons, which was 71 rpm for both.  I'm a pedal masher like Stoney.  In fact, during Saturday's ride I pretended that I was Stoney antimatter.  And I joked that we did call it team "training" camp.

The southern tip of our route was in Ashburn.  It was well worth it to visit the giant fire ant at the chamber of commerce office.

Ashburn, the Fire Ant Capital of Georgia

I hadn't told the guys what this two-block detour was about.  I cracked up when Jake told me that Van said, "I'm not sticking my face in anything with a hole."  (I'm known for my affinity for photo stand-ins.)

It was a hard ride, but I was still up for more adventure when we got back to the Airbnb.  Allen, Cody, Stoney, and I headed out in the four kayaks available for our use.  Cody and Stoney took off like rockets!  I get dropped whether I'm paddling or pedaling!  Fortunately, Allen and were more evenly matched, and we had a really nice paddle.  I simply wanted to enjoy being on the water.

When we got back to the dock at our Airbnb, my phone slipped out of my life jacket!  It was like slow motion as I watched it tumble into the water.  Immediately, I dove in after it.  Whoa, that was a wakeup call!  The water was so cold!  (I found out later that a passing fisherman noted that it was 56 degrees.)  It was only about three feet deep where I dropped it, but I couldn't see anything in the murky water.  I took off my shoes and started moving methodically in a big square, feeling for my phone with my feet.  I felt like I was so close, but I never could find it.  What a bummer.  I know it's not the end of the world, but losing a phone is such an inconvenience.  (And an expensive one...)

Someone got me a towel, and I immediately went for a hot shower.  My core temperature had dropped, and so I spent the rest of the evening with my fleece jacket over my clothes.  Some of Allen's Scotch helped, too.  He also made a delicious spaghetti dinner for everyone.

Sunday

I had volunteered to cook breakfast Sunday morning.  I made a double batch of tomato grits and served them with bacon, eggs, fruit, and homemade biscuits.  I make biscuits by feel (one of the few things I cook without a recipe), and I was a little nervous about making a much bigger batch than what I usually cook for just Robert and me.  I eyeballed about three times the normal amount, and they actually came out great!

Our Sunday route was about 42 miles, which would take several hours.  Because the checkout time was before we would get back, we packed up before we went for our ride.

I guess the previous two days' rides were catching up to me.  I couldn't keep up on Sunday's dirt road ride.  Also, there were strong headwinds, making it even tougher to ride solo.  Nevertheless, I persisted.  When I got back to the Airbnb, I told Robert how disappointed I was about getting dropped.  He tried to make me feel better, noting that he also got dropped and that Stoney is a national champion mountain biker.  I just have to remember that most of the social aspect of team camp is when we're off the bike.

By the way, when we got home, Robert found that it was just a loose Di2 connection in my handlebar.  I've got my front shifter back!  I've gotten a new phone, too.   Even with these technological problems, I still had a great time at team training camp.