The first BMC training camp is officially underway here in Spain and I finished up with my first morning workout with the team a few hours ago. This is my third year with the team and I’m still super nervous before the start of the first session but as always, after the first 5 minutes I settled into my rhythm and got it done. I won’t lie, it’s a bit overwhelming when I’m looking around a room filled with some of the best riders in the world and telling then to use their hips more and to not forget to breathe. The evening session is at 6 pm and I will be meeting with riders throughout the camp and administering a functional movement screen and learning more specifically about their individual situations and what we can do to help improve their mobility and stability. Seems pretty straight forward…….. I admit it, I really like this job.
I left Seattle on Saturday afternoon and arrived in Paris at 10 am on Sunday and then caught my connection to Valencia, where I met up with John (BMC director sportif) and got a ride to the hotel . I slept 0 hours on the flight over but did watch 3 terrible movies- “Friends with Benefits” being the worst. I laughed out loud watching “Bridesmaids”, but then again they were serving a lot of wine on the flight to Paris. I was amazed that all 3 checked bags arrived with me. 1 bag had 75 lbs of physio balls in it, 1 was a ski bag filled with my movement screen tools and tennis balls (for some exercises) and 1 bag was just clothes and shoes- I basically wear t shirts and sweats everyday but I also packed some cycling kits because I have time to get some rides in. My med balls, all 27 are still stuck in customs, but the 40 TP grid rollers and 40 Powerbreathe units arrived to the hotel just before I did. I’m hopeful the I can get the med balls today but I won’t hold my breath, they’ve been stuck in customs for 2 weeks now. I can certainly manage without them but I can do a lot with them should they arrive. I kept the first session with the team pretty low key, just some fundamentals to see how they all move and as the camp progresses, I’ll spice things up a little bit. I’ve worked with a lot of the riders before so they know what to expect to some degree, but it’s really important to ease the news guys in as many of them won’t have done the kinds of movements that I teach and I don’t want them to feel overwhelmed, aka, want to leave the session.
So far my phone has not worked 1 day. Verizon did a good job of leaving me in the lurch so I am going to venture into Denia today and TRY to get a sim card for the bb and hopefully be able to call home and end text messages. BMC set me up with a team machine to ride for both camps so I’ll be able to ride everyday- I may go out with the team tomorrow but I may just go In the car and get some video footage, either way I win. I ran with Sayers my second morning. He complained that I was running too fast and I laughed at him. And then that afternoon I had a hard time walking, so I guess he ended up with the last laugh. I might run again….. that might have been the last run of 2011. The sun has been out every day and the temps have been in the 60s so no excuse not to ride. The pool looks pretty good too but I don’t want to appear lazy and have the management catch me poolside drinking a beer in the middle of the day. I’d be reading about conditioning of course but never the less- not pro.
So the update is that things are going smoothly- with the exception of the phone not working, but it seems reasonable that I will overcome that. I’ll continue to update every few days on the happenings. And yes, I did meet all of the new guys and it was great to reconnect with the riders as well as the staff from last season and the season before that. This is truly tight knit group and you can tell after being in a room with all of them for a few minutes that is a very special program and it’s an honor to be part of it. The last 12 years of work have led me to this place and I don’t take a minute of it for granted.
Best,
TH
