When you’re There
You made it! You’re finally somewhere warm and even on the drive to your rental house, your mood has improved significantly. Although, you’re feeling a little guilty about leaving your family behind in the cold. But now, it’s time to turn your focus to your fitness. You don’t have a lot of time, but you have a lot of riding to do. When you get to the house (pro tip: find an excuse to be the first one in so you can claim the best room), remind your crew of the reason you’re here. This is going to be fun, but it’s not a party; it’s a training camp. Cleanliness is next to…well, you know Wash your hands. Cycling Canada is huge on this point. In fact, it’s one of the major bullet points in the tech guide. Yes, even adults are susceptible to getting sloppy when on vacation. Keep yourself and your space clean, especially kitchens and bathrooms. The more you ride, the harder it is for you and your immune system to recover. Keeping things germ-free is ultra important. PS: You’re sharing a space, and no one wants to clean up your pee from the toilet seat. This isn’t college.
Pick your pace, then dial it back five per cent Climbing a hill? You’re probably going too hard. If your goal is an endurance base camp, be honest about that pace. “I’m so proud of myself for staying in my zones!” Emilly Johnston crowed at the top of a 600-m climb that we had spent an hour winding up. “Last year, I was always riding too hot,” she admitted. It might be tempting to stay with your crew at all costs on Day 1, but try to stick to your personal game plan and ignore the show-off in the group who, for some unknown reason, thinks every hill needs to be attacked. (It doesn’t.)
Jérémie La Grenade agreed: “Try to stick to your endurance pace as much as possible and trust the process of the camp and the training load that you will give to your body. Try not to go fast in the first day because you’re feeling good. Then you’ll need a break the next day because you went too hard.” A training camp is about getting in several days of solid training, not one day of hard work.
Factor in sun protection “Wear sunscreen. Though tan lines are super duper cool, being sunburned drains a lot of energy that you could’ve used riding and is really uncomfortable,” said Johnston, who knows from experience. (Pro tip: white arm warmers keep you cool and covered, and there’s nothing to re-apply mid-ride.)
Eat more than you think you need to…and then eat some more On and off the bike, riders quickly realized that eating enough was going to be a challenge. “Bring an extra bar or more food on the ride than you would expect. You never know when a ride will go a little long,” said Quinton Disera, whose group suffered more than 10 flats in one ride, bringing their time out on the road from an anticipated five to a very long eight hours. He highly recommends making your own ride food – a simple oatmeal cookie, for example – rather than buying bars. It should be noted that he waited until after everyone else was done in the kitchen before taking over the oven. “Eat and drink at consistent intervals during the ride, every hour or so,” added Johnston. “Even if at the beginning of the ride you feel fresh, it’s important to stay well fuelled throughout the entire day or else, when you hit the four-hour mark, your energy levels will start to go downhill fast. I’ve learned the hard way.” Bring games for after the rides This year’s hottest new thing among the under-23 set? The Rubik’s Cube. Sure, it’s an ’80s throwback, but when Raphaël Auclair ordered eight of them to the house, it resulted in hours of offline entertainment for the whole crew, with competitions, written-out strategies and sharing of best practices. (And maybe a couple of small fights, if we’re being honest.) This advice may not technically be a riding tip, but compared with huddling over individual computers and wasting time on the Internet, the Cubes were a much better way to relax at night, sans blue light. If you’re suffering, so is everyone else “Bring a good mood to the camp every day. Miles with smiles is much better than miles with frowns,” said Disera, which yes, makes him the rider you want to punch when you’re feeling exhausted and crampy on Day 4. But he’s not wrong about the positive attitude. Remember, your vibe can affect everyone around you, especially when you’re all tired and spending every minute together. Don’t worry. If you’re hurting, you’re almost definitely not alone. “Use the excitement of a new place to help you adapt to ‘your new normal,’ a.k.a. ‘a ridiculously heavy training load,’” said Mackenzie Myatt. “It’s not that every day has to be epic, just that day in, day out is more than you’re used to. Take special care to eat and sleep properly.” Speaking of sleep Get a lot of it: more than you normally do, more than you think you need. In a house of 21 year olds, even on New Year’s Eve, silence reigned by 10 p.m. because getting nine hours of sleep each night was much more important than any Netflix marathon. Establish a set lights-out time for your crew and you’ll avoid a house of cranky bike racers vying for the coffee maker in the morning.
“IT MAKES HIM THE RIDER YOU WANT TO PUNCH WHEN YOU’RE FEELING EXHAUSTED AND CRAMPY ON DAY 4. BUT HE’S NOT WRONG.”