I was feeling pretty nervous about getting out to California and meeting all the guys, even more so when I arrived at the hotel last week and walked into a room full of legends. It didn’t take me long to realise what a great group of guys we have here. They made me feel super welcome and I already feel like part of the team.
So, the first few days we were up in Morgan Hill at the Specialized base where we were fitted for our new Tarmac bikes, fitted for clothing and shoes, given a work shop on how to use our SRM systems properly, had some photos taken and did core tests, medical tests and a million and one other cool things. So the logistics and bikes were almost all sorted in just three days. I didn’t quite realise how much work actually goes into running a team like this.
We didn’t actually get much bike riding done there but I managed to find an hour or so each day where I was free to go for a light pedal.
Next stop was Thousand Oaks, just north of L.A., where our base will be for the next week or so. This is where the serious bike riding will be done. We checked into our hotel last night and popped out for a little pedal around town. Everybody was feeling pretty jaded after our six hour coach journey so not much hard pedaling was done.
It felt pretty good to get out today and do my first real training ride in about a week. After a light breakfast and a morning core session we went out for a steady four hour ride. Bernie Eisel and Cav have been here since November so they know the roads pretty well. We headed to the coast along Malibu beach and then across some hills back towards the hotel. It’s a pretty awesome place here for training, good roads, not much traffic, flat roads, short and long hills and of course the weather is perfect!
So after just a few days with the team I already know it’s going to be a perfect year and I can’t wait to get racing!
Matt
