Yup, Aaron’s training camp has come and gone. I am now sitting here in cold Colorado reflecting back on our days in Santa Cruz, CA, asking myself why is CA so green in the winter? Because it rains…a lot. But, put a good group of people together, in a beach house of all places, and having a good time is really easy to do. It’s practically impossible to not have a good time when it’s like Christmas all over again - new faces, new kits from Hincapie, new bikes from Specialized, new bags from Akona - NEW GEAR ROCKS! Like kids in a candy store. And, damn, do the kits and bikes look hot! Unfortunately, the trainers were running hot on the first day as the rain poured down outside, but with 2 photographers set-up in the living room we were kept busy for hours doing individual and group shots. And these guys, Kurt Jambretz and Ben Ross from Action Images weren’t messing around. They brought a ton of equipment - light boxes, lenses, backdrops - they had it ALL and used it too. With the music blaring (specifically to Groove Armada’s “Shakin’ That Ass”) to loosen everyone up, we hit poses like runway models (ok, not quite but there are some women on the team who are much more comfortable at striking a pose than others….Powers) and smiled until our faces hurt. From what we have seen so far, the playful expressions, fun and bonding that Kurt and Ben captured from the team was well worth the chamois time (it is training time, right?). On Friday we were given the grand tour of Specialized where we met many awesome people who are an integral part to the smooth operation of the Aaron’s team, saw first hand the technology behind the innovative products that Specialized develops, and witnessed the destruction of a helmet in the testing lab (now we know why our helmets break but our heads don’t!). After meeting with 2 creative women who help drive the Designs for Women line and explained to us the benefits of using the D4W line, we headed out on the infamous lunch ride, with Specialized’s own Mike Sinyard in tow. The wet weather conditions weren’t the most optimal for such a ride, one with the sole purpose of dropping people as fast as the ride starts, but nonetheless we enjoyed the opportunity to ride alongside the Specialized crew. Later that day, 2 guys from SRAM talked to us about the new Red group that will be outfitted on our race bikes. All I can say is that Red is the new black, IT’S HOT! The one piece cassettes are wicked and unbelievably light, as is the entire group - weighing in at 1950g it is the lightest group on the market. Ooh lah lah. Believe it or not, the skies cleared on Saturday, allowing us one day of riding on dry roads. And then, lo and behold, Sunday came, and camp sadly and abruptly came to an end. Although short and sweet, camp was a success. And now with the start of the season just around the corner, we are all eager to get back together as a team to build on camp’s success.

In the meantime, check out some of the team’s photos here. Keep an eye on the Aaron’s team profile as it builds over the season with fun facts, photos and results.
Let’s get ready to rumble……

Check it out - the relative difference in size of a “mini me” bike for a 6 footer compared to a 5 footer (ok, Lara might argue that she’s really 5′2″ or something but what’s 2 inches when you’re that short to begin with?!). But the best part is that I FINALLY got Lara up to the Fort for a ride. It’s been a battle for months now, but she actually bit the bullet and got the heck out of Boulder for a little change of pace!

30 degrees, no wind, and sunny for the ride today. As you can see, we were quite bundled up, piling the layers on, but I have to admit it was relatively comfortable out there…that is, as comfortable as 30 degrees can be!  A few pictures from today’s ride can be found on Jeff Kerkove’s site.

Having just been introduced to Xavier Rudd in the recent past, I can’t say I know all that much about him, but I can say that after last night’s show I’ll keep my eyes open for more live shows. Xavier is an Aussie guy brought up on the famous shores of Bell’s Beach, and in his music you hear his heart-felt passion in the fight to preserve those same shores and waters he grew up on, as well as his respect and praise for the people who are actually fighting the fight against global warming, poverty and destruction of our Earth. Listening to his music, you would never guess that this guy is a one-man-band who plays all the instruments you hear in the music like the slide guitar, harmonica, stomp boxes, percussion and drums, and my personal favorite - the didgeridoo - and plays them so well you’d think there were 5 guys in the studio. On stage he is literally surrounded by his myriad of instruments and sings from behind a tree of 3 didgeridoos. Last night he did a have a guest percussionist accompanying him on several songs, but mostly he played solo, keeping the crowd dancing all night.

Check out some of his videos on his website to hear his Paul Simon-like voice and powerful musical sound.

Any chance baseball’s drug issue will overshadow that of cycling’s? I doubt it - MLB will just sweep it under the rug like they have done for so many years now, letting the players to return to the field with a small slap on the hand and a little spanking. Drug testing and consequences, now that’s a novel idea - with so much freaking money in the sport why can’t they even bother to spend a 10th of the money MLB brings in to keep it a clean sport? Wait, first they might actually have to acknowledge there IS a problem. Hmm. Not that I really care what MLB does, it could vanish from existence for all I care, but at least give cycling some respect in the fight to keep the sport clean and credible! Jeesh.

One week from today and I will be in CA for the Aaron’s team camp! Looking forward to meeting everyone, getting our new gear, and hitting the roads in Santa Cruz.

I now understand the scary and real possibility of contracting snow blindness. Yep, snow blindness. Yesterday Ben and I went XC skiing in total and complete and wicked whiteness. With no trees in sight, no landmarks, and scarce visibility due to the falling snow and grey sky, we had only the barely discernible diagonal tracks left from the early morning grooming to keep us from accidently wandering off the beaten path. Fortunately, I was wearing sunglasses, which helped keep the glare and burn to a minimum but they did nothing to improve my vision. It was a surreal feeling to be surrounded by absolute whiteness, and add to that the difficulty of skiing in deep, fresh snow, it was an exhausting, tough day on skis. Mostly we were skiing 5-6 inches below the top of the snow so it was anything but fast but it was an incredible workout - one of the hardest days I’ve had on XC skis yet. At least I had one good laugh when Ben missed the track and went skiing through snow up to his knees before going “poof” into the deep, soft snow.

Previous to skiing at Catamount Lake, we went to Howelsen Hill (home to many Olympians), which we were told had great XC tracks to offer and a sweet ski jump to boot. What no one told us was that the XC tracks went either up or down - NO FLAT whatsoever. No joke. No exaggeration. Up or down. Plus, we went UP from the word go - no warm-up, no time to get used to the skis again, no time to think about technique. Go up or go home. So, we went up and up and up and finally after I couldn’t take anymore up, we got to go down, down, down. Down straight to the car, then straight to the hot tub, and then straight to the couch for a nap.

I’ll be going back to Steamboat again for sure, but hopefully next time I’ll be a little more adept on XC skis so that I can get up the hills without hacking my way up and down the hills without screaming like a girl.

Here’s to hills and whiteouts…
Meredith