Paradise to, well, Paradise.
After a solid month on the road, I’m back in Boulder for 6 whole days before heading off to Pro XCT Race #2 in Fontana, CA this coming Thursday. Things will go exponentially better at this race than our first race last weekend in Bonelli where I was visited by a stomach bug the night before the XC. The little guy wrecked some serious havoc on the system and, while I finished the race, it was NOT pretty! Things aren’t so tough though. After all, I did just come from one paradise to another! After 3 full weeks of incredible training and good living, I flew straight to California where I got to see my teammates and wonderful staff, was handed a bunch of fancy & incredible equipment and then, after the weekend of racing (or not racing), alternated between chilling in the Cali sunshine and having my photograph taken by one of the best photographers a cycling team can ask for (Chris Milliman). What a great month: Maui, polished off with team media camp!
Before I show off some pics and new gear, I’d like to offer love and positive energy to those affected by the Tsunami. I just got back from an incredible class at The Yoga Pod in Boulder where we all focused our energy and love toward someone we had seen in the media images in Japan. There are so many of us on the planet that we tend to focus all of our energy on our selves and often feel like our reality is the only reality. I encourage everyone to take a moment and remember we are all one together. We suffer together and heal together – put your love out there, remember you’re not alone, and help others heal. Close your eyes, picture this unknown person suffering in a land far away, be there with them, give them strength.
Parting shot on Maui - this is about 2 hours before the earthquake off the coast of Japan
When we got to Bonelli, it was just like seeing the best friend you haven’t seen for years. Despite being apart for a few months, we all picked up right where we left off. While we are a slightly different group this year and definitely miss our Willow Koerber, we have a new teammate, Emily Batty. She sure is sweet and pretty dang cute too! Welcome to the team Emily and HEEELLLLLOOOO Sam, Russel, JHK and our wonderful staff: Jon, Matt O, Shep, and Troy. We also get to have Ray along for many races this year – he is straight from TREK and works in the race shop meaning he is the man who helps us get all the right equipment to be really fast. Also, it was so great to see all the other athletes and teams again. We are all a big family and I can’t wait for 2011!
Matt O and Shep getting our sweet new rigs ready to race.
Jon Rourke - back at it! Being the best manager on the circuit.
Troy keeps our bodies healthy and supple throughout the season
Ray - the nicest, smartest engineer and guy on the planet. Race team liaison for TREK
Yeah – we’re a pretty big deal here on the Subaru/Trek team…I have a locker WITH my name on it. I know. I know.
The Band is back together….
Working on some hand stands during photo shoot down time – inversions are healthy for the nervous system – and fun!
Sam Schultz is about to do a handstand. I will tell you that the last time he tried to do a hand stand was in Belgium two years ago. He got his hands down, then proceeded to have his arms buckle beneath him so that he crumbled into a sad little mess on the floor. Looks like he’s getting stronger with his old age!
The wind up. Yes, Sam is actually going to take a run at the wall to enter his handstand.
Almost....there...
VIOLA!!
The young guns…these two have a lot of attitude and I love them. Ladies…they are single.
Our future. Russell and Sam
Our new teammate Emily Batty warming up for some photos
The best looking guy on the team…
Date shot! Not a bad place to hang out…
And how sweet are these new shoes! Thanks Bontrager!!
Yeah - that's my name on there. Custom!
My new SuperFly Elite hard tail…it’s Super…Fly.
Complete with SRAM 2x10, GOLD Crank Brothers pedals, Special Ops bar from Bontrager, and a sweet new saddle - the Bontrager Affinity Road saddle. EVERYTHING on my bike this year is rad.
After team camp we made a short little jaunt over to Oakley headquarters where Blick hooked us up with the latest in shades. Oakley is in such a strange and incredible building. If you can ever set up a tour/visit you should!
Ummmm, yeah, Oakley has a real tank. We took a little spin which was just a wee bit fun.
And, may I present to you the 2011 Subaru/Trek Team! We will be all over the country and world this year….looking forward to racing and hearing you cheer us on!
We certainly don't have any fun. None at all.
Thx for sharing these moments. Most people may see you and your fellow riders on tv and at races, but wont realize that there is a team behind you, that keep you and your bike in good shape on the XC courses. Will see you and your team in Pietermaritzburg (South Africa) one of these days! Its going to be a tough course with over 300m of climbing per lap and serious downhills. Do lots of very steep and slippery climbs of a few 100m each, before coming to this race.
Well played, Heather – super fun post. Sweet ride and custom kicks… oh la la!
Tell Sam I said hello and good luck to both of you this year. We’ll be waiting for you to drop the greatness on the world!
[...] gave a good recap of our first team gathering and photo shoot in California – you can check it out here. It was a short break until our next team outing, the second stop of the ProXCT series in Fontana, [...]