training camp

I have spent the past 11 days of my life living luxuriously in Spain. Dictionary.com defines Luxury as a  4 star hotel, in a location where the temperature varies between 19 and 25 degrees celsius, and where the surrounding roads will in some cases ascend for 20km. In our hotel (Oasis Tropical(I guess Tropical Oasis must have been taken(A constant reminder burns outside my window(not to be confused with the soft drink)))) the food is delicious and comes in a buffet style, which is highly conducive to over eating.

note the massive illuminated sign

alternate "Oasis Tropical"

A large viewing room which gave us a cinema experience to watch a day full of cross worlds that doubles as a bike room is another excellent feature of the hotel. Due to the average age of the hotel being roughly 70 (incl. our team of 20 somethings bringing it down a year or two) most cool free time activities such as billiards, ping ping, and foosball are wide open 24/7. Halfway decent coffee machines can be found often and the cafe con leche and the spanish cappuccino have become mainstays of my training camp diet. As a bike rider, this might be heaven.

As you read this paragraph swap your mental reading voice for that of David Attenborough's.

Outside of the hotel on the lonely mountain roads is where the Lotto-Belisol U23 pride begins a long journey for form. The fast approaching rainy months filled with semi classics and kermis courses will prove to be an arduous task, insurmountable if proper preparation is not upheld. Like all those before them they aspire to complete their task better than any other and reach the distant World Tour. The 14 day journey is one of which all members of the pride will hope to establish a good base for the months ahead.  Daily travels averaging 4 hours or 120km per day for the 2 week stint is a good way for Lotto-Belisol to cap off their pre-season adventure.          

Nothing special as far as training is concerned. Some 8km hill TT's, Lead out Practise, and hill repeats is the gist of our intensity. Hill repeats are definitely a different creature when the climb is 7km at 8%, my old teammates complain about Sydenham being a killer.

Some of our local bergs: http://app.strava.com/segments/explore#location/Mojacar/type/cycling/min/3/max/5/center/37.070239,-1.620616/zoom/10/map_type/terrain

Sydenham

Oasis Tropical Driveway

Things are winding down a little as we prepare to fly home early Saturday. Just 3 rides and 400km to go in the team stage.      

I will do an in-depth post next week with photos of the new kit and new bike etc.