| Spain To kick off the project we were headed to Spain for a 10-day training camp in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in southern Spain. Before we could head to Spain we met up in Milton as a team to receive a second Christmas for all the riders which included new bikes, kit and other cycling related things that only people who spend hours each day in spandex can get excited about. After a few hours of interviews and photos we headed to the airport to start our 30 hour travel day. Things went fairly smoothly until a few of us on the team's TT bikes were confiscated by the Spanish Customs (they have just now been released and sent back to Canada). Although it sucked dealing with the customs the whole team is thankful they didn’t take the other 14 new bikes we received the previous day! The riding… After a bitter start to my first trip to mainland Spain I have to admit that as soon as I got on my bike and began training in Sierra Nevada’s mountainous terrain I had to eat the words said the previous day about the country. Spain was spectacular! The roads were perfect and the views were not half bad either, trying to explain the landscape would be a waste of words so I will just show you. |  The Next Gen U23 Team  Dennis Mizerski and myself with the new 2015 Aquila Equip-R from Racer Sportif |
The Camp…
Overall the camp was great, absolutely no complaints about getting to spend 10 days in the warm weather of Southern Spain before heading to Belgium, I have found that being over here in Belgium the last three springs you never know what kind of weather you might be treated to but these first few days have been pretty sweet, no shorts and jersey like in Spain but it could be a lot worse than the 5 degree weather we have had so far!
First Race…
After hopping off of the plane from Spain on Saturday we had a day to settle into the house here in Belgium and racing started Monday. I think one of the best things about Belgium is the racing; I guess it is actually the only reason we come! Over here there is a local race almost every day from the middle of February until into the fall. Our first race was just a local race (or kermis as they call them here) this is usually a race with a distance between 100-120km. It was great to get back into racing after so many months of training! No complaints about the result either, I ended up 20th while my Next Gen teammate Adam almost started the season off with a solo win but was caught in the last 100m! I rolled in behind the front group with nothing left in the legs when the front group of 20 went after Adam in the last km. I am fairly happy with how my legs were after a hard camp just a few days before rolling to the first start line of the season.
Up Next…
My first real race comes this Saturday at the U23 Tour of Flanders Nations Cup that features a ton of the climbs and cobbled sections in the World Tour race that just happened last Sunday. I can’t wait to find out where I stand with the worlds best U23 riders over the 170km race! With recon Thursday and activation Friday I am coming close to my first big test of the 2015 cycling season!
Sean
Overall the camp was great, absolutely no complaints about getting to spend 10 days in the warm weather of Southern Spain before heading to Belgium, I have found that being over here in Belgium the last three springs you never know what kind of weather you might be treated to but these first few days have been pretty sweet, no shorts and jersey like in Spain but it could be a lot worse than the 5 degree weather we have had so far!
First Race…
After hopping off of the plane from Spain on Saturday we had a day to settle into the house here in Belgium and racing started Monday. I think one of the best things about Belgium is the racing; I guess it is actually the only reason we come! Over here there is a local race almost every day from the middle of February until into the fall. Our first race was just a local race (or kermis as they call them here) this is usually a race with a distance between 100-120km. It was great to get back into racing after so many months of training! No complaints about the result either, I ended up 20th while my Next Gen teammate Adam almost started the season off with a solo win but was caught in the last 100m! I rolled in behind the front group with nothing left in the legs when the front group of 20 went after Adam in the last km. I am fairly happy with how my legs were after a hard camp just a few days before rolling to the first start line of the season.
Up Next…
My first real race comes this Saturday at the U23 Tour of Flanders Nations Cup that features a ton of the climbs and cobbled sections in the World Tour race that just happened last Sunday. I can’t wait to find out where I stand with the worlds best U23 riders over the 170km race! With recon Thursday and activation Friday I am coming close to my first big test of the 2015 cycling season!
Sean
