Spain Training Camp 2010A Wheelsucker Special Report

The wheelsucker and some of his ABRT team mates returned to the Idle Breaks camp run by Andy Idle again this year. ABRT had only one session, with thirteen riders, two of who were "friends of ABRT" instead of actually members of the team. For those not familiar with Idle Breaks, the website is at: http://www.idlebreaks.com/. Andy runs the cycling training part while Tracy cooks amazing food, in amazing quantities, for very hungry cyclists.

Andy is incredibly good at what he does: As just one small example, when the group spreads out on the ride, Andy’s sixth sense tells him when he needs to be at the next intersection, to tell the lead rider or riders, which way to turn, and he gets there just before the lead rider or riders arrive at that intersection.

Andy normally works with another person when handling large groups. This year he had pro triathlete Anne Fallows: http://www.annefallows.com/. (a.k.a Lara Croft, Wonder Woman or The Energizer Bunny) on the bike, while Andy drove the van. One suspects Andy would like to take some time off driving and ride the bike occasionally, but apparently Anne was determined to ride the bike, not drive the van. It turns out Anne is rather good at riding the bike; most rides started with her on the front going at a good steady pace, and she was still pulling hours later with a bunch of ABRT "strong men" happy to wheelsuck behind her. One was left with the strong impression that Anne could have pulled all day. The ABRT roadies were saving their energy for the climbs though, and as soon as the road became "a bit grippy" the stronger ABRT riders would ramp it up and make it hurt. Andy knows this region very well and has scouted all sorts of routes, and has even found one that is flat for doing intervals on. Every other route is full of climbs and descents, so the wheelsucker and his team mates had plenty of climbing and descending. Anne had to leave before the ABRT camp was over, but Andy brought in a young local rider, Josh, to have a rider in the group.

When asked about last year’s training camp, the wheelsucker would frequently start with "Well, it rained every day but one, but it was still great." This year there was light drizzle once or twice, but never enough to warrant a rain jacket. There were no really warm days; most were cool and one afternoon was cold. It was also normally cooler at 10:30AM when the rides started, than it would be later in the day. This might have been hard to dress for except this was a fully supported training camp and any extra clothing or gear one might need, could be left in the van. Andy and the van would leapfrog the riders, so a simple thumbs down or wave would have him picking up unwanted gear, or passing out desired gear.

Nearly all of the riders flew in on the same British Airways flight from Dulles to London Heathrow. Stu Waring and others had done some research and determined that British Airways would be bike friendly. They were, and did not charge for bike boxes. Unfortunately the flight from Dulles to Heathrow was late arriving due to the absence of the normal jet stream, and the connection from Heathrow to Malaga was missed. The group had to be rerouted through Madrid. While the group did arrive at Idlebreaks on Saturday, it was much later than expected and with most of the luggage and bike boxes missing, so there was no ride Saturday afternoon. The missing bikes and luggage were retrieved about noon on Sunday, and everyone was out Sunday afternoon for an easy ride to loosen up after travel, and to make sure the bikes worked.

Andy had scouted some new routes including a new favorite for several ABRTers, a ride to Malaga which includes a nearly ten mile descent into Malaga with one switchback after another. The group did this ride Monday. The catch was that the route back is up the same climb, the first long hard climb of the camp. Other popular climbs were the "Church of Pain" climb, "lactate hill" done near the end of the day so it would really hurt and of course the timed climb up Puerto del Sol.

While the routes were different each day, the days were similar in that riders woke up, ate a terrific Tracy breakfast, got dressed in cycling kit, rolled out to start the ride around 10:30AM each day, rode hard for 2.5 to 5 hours each day and had a lunch and coffee stop along the way, returned back to Idlebreaks, washed themselves and their bikes, ate another terrific Tracy meal, drank large quantities of terrific Spanish red wine and then went to bed or stayed up to watch really lame horror movies. The wheelsucker was not particularly interested in "The Angel of Darkness"or "Razorteeth" but suggests that you check with Sara if you are interested in more information on these "classics of the genre" Despite approximately 25 hours of riding and climbing nearly 35,000 feet some riders managed to gain significant weight while at the camp! Many riders took advantage of a post ride massage thanks to Anne and Debs.

While the Sunday ride and the Friday ride were meant to be easy recovery rides, each day had some climbing and descending, usually a lot. While climbing builds fitness and perhaps character, descending fast on switchbacks is incredible fun. One can perhaps be excused for thinking one is a grand tour rider as one carves turns through one switchback after another, occasionally checking for oncoming traffic, and finding reasonably safe places to pass another rider.

As above the weather was excellent, but conditions in the Sierra Nevada never allowed us to try that climb. It was windier earlier in the week, adding to the excitement when descending fast through switchbacks.

The thirteen particpants included a number of strong riders: Jeff "Ace" McDermott had trained and lost weight to prepare for the timed climbs, and did go 45 seconds faster on the Puerto del Sol climb on the last day, putting him second to a professional triathlete on the all-time list for that climb (and ahead of Nat Thompson). Other strong riders included Nate Miller from Squadra Coppi, Steve "Stevie Wonder" Wahl our elite team sprint sensation, Stu Waring and Michael Wagner. With riders like that, the wheelsucker was working very hard and wheelsucking desperately, to hang on. The wheelsucker has all-too-vivid memories of holding wheels for all he was worth, sometimes able to do so; other times seeing the gap slowly and inexorably open. The wheelsucker would strain to push even harder, trying not to let on that he was about to pop, but then the gap opens and they are gone, and the wheelsucker is off the back; the stuff of nightmares!

There was no riding one day as Andy and Sean drove the group to Granada and back so we could tour the Alhambra. This was fascinating and also served to help convince friends and significant others at home that we were not just obsessed roadies but rather were obsessed roadies with cultural and historical pretensions.

Wheelsucker Data:
25:03:07 in the saddle, 34,589 of climbing, 401.5 miles, no weight gain. Number of times gapped by Ace, Stevie Wonder, Nate, Stu or Mike was not recorded; neither was the number of glasses of wine consumed.

After riding back Sunday afternoon, the wheelsucker was reluctant to get off his bicycle, knowing that that would mark the end of the camp. Everyone was reluctant to return home and there half-hearted negotiations on Facebook trying to find places to stay locally.

Back at home, the wheelsucker was on his bike Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, only to discover that his legs were mush. Recovery will take a few days, but the wheelsucker is confident that he is considerably fitter and stronger as a result of this training camp. Indeed he was literally feeling stronger each day.