The new team has a name! (Quantum Mesa Cycles) I am so excited and we are already busy working on designs and putting everything in order.
A few of the guys on next year's team were able to come out and do some great rides this weekend. One was out in St Charles, MO, and the other was down in Columbia, IL. The ride starting out in St Charles was a very hilly ride and took place on a beautiful day. The ride was meant to be an easy one that would allow all the new riders to get to know each other. In order for that to happen we had to keep it slow. And really to all's surprise it did! The only point of the ride where guys really stretched their legs was on the big climbs. I on the other hand did not. Climbing is not my natural state of being and like being a ring specialist in gymnastics was for me, as soon as I stop working on it I lose it. I also was really trying to keep my watts low and wanted no part of the Cat 2s on the ride duking it out up the hill to see how was stronger. At one point this did get me lost in the middle of no where with no phone and no idea what direction I needed to go. Coming over the top of a long hard climb where I had lost contact with the others there was a fork in the road. I decided to to go right and see if I could see anyone. Shortly after taking the right and going around a bend there was another fork in the road and still no friends. Crap! I went back to the original fork and waited. Turns out I had chosen wrong anyways and one of my teammates came back from the other direction to get me. They seem to have gotten pretty far before they remembered I had no idea where I was. It was pretty funny to me, and I felt bad my friend had to come back up another hill to get me. We finished the ride it seems just in time as all of us were getting pretty tired. I had done five and a half hours the day before hitting a lot of St Louis' big climbs so I was really ready to get some serious food in me. We all went and got lunch together and the rest of my day was spent resting and working on team stuff.
A few of the guys on next year's team were able to come out and do some great rides this weekend. One was out in St Charles, MO, and the other was down in Columbia, IL. The ride starting out in St Charles was a very hilly ride and took place on a beautiful day. The ride was meant to be an easy one that would allow all the new riders to get to know each other. In order for that to happen we had to keep it slow. And really to all's surprise it did! The only point of the ride where guys really stretched their legs was on the big climbs. I on the other hand did not. Climbing is not my natural state of being and like being a ring specialist in gymnastics was for me, as soon as I stop working on it I lose it. I also was really trying to keep my watts low and wanted no part of the Cat 2s on the ride duking it out up the hill to see how was stronger. At one point this did get me lost in the middle of no where with no phone and no idea what direction I needed to go. Coming over the top of a long hard climb where I had lost contact with the others there was a fork in the road. I decided to to go right and see if I could see anyone. Shortly after taking the right and going around a bend there was another fork in the road and still no friends. Crap! I went back to the original fork and waited. Turns out I had chosen wrong anyways and one of my teammates came back from the other direction to get me. They seem to have gotten pretty far before they remembered I had no idea where I was. It was pretty funny to me, and I felt bad my friend had to come back up another hill to get me. We finished the ride it seems just in time as all of us were getting pretty tired. I had done five and a half hours the day before hitting a lot of St Louis' big climbs so I was really ready to get some serious food in me. We all went and got lunch together and the rest of my day was spent resting and working on team stuff.
Today we went down to Columbia and some of the riders changed from yesterday. We headed out on the flats riding next to the bluff for most of the day. It was easy rolling with no wind. I don't know that I remember another time when the wind was so calm on the flats of souther IL. We rolled on south of Maeystown for a while before we headed up into the bluff to hit some hills. The amount of hills we did were much fewer but they were very comparable to what we road on Saturday. The guys took it a little easier today as well on the starts of the climbs but pulled away easily at the tops. Luckily I was the only one who knew where we were today so I wouldn't get left behind :-) The only bummer part was that the wind picked up when we were coming back and it was a head wind. Not a bad one just was one.
It was great to get to ride with these guys this weekend. Everyone is really excited about next year. I just hope we can all live up to our own hype. To do that is going to take a LOT of really hard work, long workouts, sacrifice, families that are behind us, and great sponsors like Mesa Cycles to help us. I hope the next five months go quick!
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