"Do you notice there are SO many dead skunks around here (CA)?"
"Yeah, kind of interesting. Wonder if skunks are as prolific here as the squirrels are back home?"
"Yeah, maybe. But thing is, we don't see that many dead squirrels on the side of the road. But there are SO many of them. Where do they go when they die?"
"Maybe they have big squirrel burials???"
"Dang, I think I would know for sure I had lost my mind if I was walking through the woods one day and came across a squirrel burial!!!!!"
"Yeah, kind of interesting. Wonder if skunks are as prolific here as the squirrels are back home?"
"Yeah, maybe. But thing is, we don't see that many dead squirrels on the side of the road. But there are SO many of them. Where do they go when they die?"
"Maybe they have big squirrel burials???"
"Dang, I think I would know for sure I had lost my mind if I was walking through the woods one day and came across a squirrel burial!!!!!"
That's just one of the many hilarious conversation 4 Team BH USA ladies had during a terrific week of training and team bonding. I believe the conversations became more ridiculous the tougher the training ride was that day! But all in all, it proved the four of us are quite the combination, sure to result in a spectacular season this year!
Team BH just wrapped up a terrifically tough week of training in beautiful Sonoma County, California. While we were plagued by cold rain the first few days we didn't let that stop us from some epic team rides that bonded us like nothing but freezing-cold drizzly rides will do.
(Inches deep in rain, how we started the first couple days of riding.)
(Winding through wine country with out hosts.)
(Post ride. A tad cold, quite a bit wet (including the camera!), but VERY happy to be in CA riding together.)
However, the weather finally turned warm and sunny and the team bonding and wonderful riding continued! Some of the epic rides included Ida Clayton (which is apparently Levi's favorite hill repeat route) and Coleman Valley which overlooks the coast and has been featured as a climg in the Tour of CA.
(Bay Hill)
(Coleman Valley-a beautiful climb that affords views over the ocean and the hills.)
(Devon and the ocean.)It was definitely a week of highs and lows (mainly in the form of elevation changing) and learning new things about each other. For example: who falls asleep the earliest (Devon), who has to eat oatmeal every morning for breakfast (Madeleine), eats ice cream every single day (Devon, though on this trip, most of us!), who is the best listener (Anne), who are the introverts-so designated by our hosts (Devon and Anne) and our extroverts (Kristen and Madeleine), who hates driving (Devon, Anne, and Kristen), who loves to drive but is too young to "legally operate" the rental vehicle, so therefore broke the law the whole trip (Madeleine), who snores (will remain nameless), the best decision-maker and organizer (Kristen), the most experienced (Anne)...just to name a few.
We cooked in, we ate out, we practiced pace-lining and leading each other out, raced up climbs and raced down them. Trader Joe's was our "unoffical" sponsor for the week and Kristen introduced us to all their delicious foods which kept our bellies full and our legs pedaling in perfect circles even as we rode each other into the ground.
All we know is, the week went much too fast. Returning to the frozen tundra of the midwest is a bit disheartening since we could see the advantage of being able to train outside and on mountains everday! We grew comfortable with our new beautiful BH bikes and appreciated even more their terrific handling, light weight, and stellar look (we recieved so many compliments). We adjusted to the Sram Red and it's smooth shifting and ease of use. We fully enjoyed the great host housing we received from Greg and Jane Durbin and Chris and Teresa Coursey who made it possible for us to relax after our long rides. And most importantly we learned to be a team, learned about each other, our strengths and weaknesses, personalities, and it makes the up-coming season even more exciting!!!
We cooked in, we ate out, we practiced pace-lining and leading each other out, raced up climbs and raced down them. Trader Joe's was our "unoffical" sponsor for the week and Kristen introduced us to all their delicious foods which kept our bellies full and our legs pedaling in perfect circles even as we rode each other into the ground.All we know is, the week went much too fast. Returning to the frozen tundra of the midwest is a bit disheartening since we could see the advantage of being able to train outside and on mountains everday! We grew comfortable with our new beautiful BH bikes and appreciated even more their terrific handling, light weight, and stellar look (we recieved so many compliments). We adjusted to the Sram Red and it's smooth shifting and ease of use. We fully enjoyed the great host housing we received from Greg and Jane Durbin and Chris and Teresa Coursey who made it possible for us to relax after our long rides. And most importantly we learned to be a team, learned about each other, our strengths and weaknesses, personalities, and it makes the up-coming season even more exciting!!! 
(Crossing the bridge from San Francisco towards our host housing in Santa Rosa.)
The fields were stacked this weekend with top pro teams, various national champions, and world championship participants. We knew that the races would not be easy -- especially given that our team is still in pre-season training mode. But we were excited to get some top racing experience under our belt and to hopefully come away with some lessons learned as we look forward to training for the season ahead.
(Warming up, trying to stay warm, and figuring out how to ride "bot dots" safely!)
(Kristen got us a meeting with Phil Liggett, cause she's the best team manager ever!)
(Watching the men's tour come through.)
