Excel In Cycling 4-DAY CYCLING CAMP-08'.
FOCUS - 4-days of intense focus on the mental and physical aspects of hill climbing and time trialing. All venues take place on well maintained lightly traveled country roads.
LEADERSHIP - Each participant will get one on one input and meetings daily to review performances.
PARTICIPANT GROUP SIZE - will be limited to 12 people.
FORMAT:
Day one - endurance ride, moderate paced 50 mile ride thru Goshen Pass concentrating on pedal stroke, cadence and consistency.
Day two - AM: Ride on the famous Blue Ridge Parkway for 50+ miles with full support. This will be a very challenging climbing and descending day with spectacular scenery around every bend. PM: Optional ride on a beautiful 26 mile loop over stunning county roads in the shadows of the blue ridge mountains.
Day three morning - 11-mile hill climb time trial, start with a breakfast meeting discussing seated mountain and hill climbing technique and strategies. Leaving late morning with a 6-mile warm-up ride to venue. The venue takes place on a stunning 11-mile no turn country road.
Day three afternoon - circuit/euro seated climb, start with a lunch meeting discussing seated climbing methods. Caravan out to 10-mile loop venue with integrated 3 mile climb - 1 to 3 loops based discussions with me.
Day four - off the charts category climb,- hint a 12/23 will not cut it. a 4-mile out of the saddle switchback laden climb to the blue ridge parkway. then, follow the blue ridge parkway for 21 miles and then descend back to Lexington for a total of 40 miles.
WHERE - Lexington virginia. 6-1/2 hour travel time from Akron Ohio- all on interstate highway.
WHEN - Leaving the Akron Ohio area at 6:00 AM on Thursday, April 10. I have room for 6 passengers in the van, or you can drive your own vehicle. I will have an enclosed trailer to carry all bikes and supplies. We will spend all day Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12 in Lexington. We will ride for half the day on Sunday, April 13, and leave for Akron around 1:00-2:00 PM.
RAIN ALTERNATIVES - hiking along the world famous appalachian trail - or RIDING IN THE RAIN (YOUR CHOICE).
AREA ATTRACTIONS - VMI (virginia military institute) Rockbridge county. Blue Ridge Parkway. Appalachian Trail.
COST - $405.00 per person based on four people per room. (add $75.00 per person for double occupancy). All inclusive, all food included. Participants will provide their own transportation to Lexington. Accommodations TBA, as we're focusing on finding a nice rental home or a comfortable hotel in or near historic downtown Lexington.
DEPOSIT - to secure a slot for the camp, a security deposit of $200.00 is required. security deposit is non refundable after 3-22-08.
INTENDED RIDER PROFILE:
INTENDED RIDER PROFILE for the 2007 Excel Camp: As I do at our indoor and outdoor Excel sessions, I will be going to great lengths to work with a wide array of ability levels within the realms of cycling. First and foremost we want to encourage the "greenhorns" to cycling, and the purely "social riders," that they are as welcomed to our cycling weekend as the high end road cyclist or multi-sport triathletes and duathletes. Really, each one of us shares a common emotion: we all posses a passion and love for cycling. With that said, please note that everyone at the camp will working out at different levels for different reasons, but nonetheless, all working out together and all sharing in their desire to be better on the bike - and sharing their passions for cycling.
COMPETITIVE ROAD CYCLIST: The 07 Virginia cycling camp will help you to refine your climbing and time trialing skills. 1) We will pay strict attention to cadence, form and technique in the individual time trial, and having you riding at 100% max effort for our flat, out-and-back time trial. You will have the option of being filmed with a camcorder so that we can analyze your strengths and weaknesses in this event. 2) Again, for climbing, we will focus on cadence, form and technique with respect to 2 distinctly different climbs - an 11-mile seated time trial, and a out-of-the-saddle mt climb. We will use the camcorder to review your strengths and weaknesses. 3) Finally, we will turn to your cycling efficiency with respect to your cadence, form and technique for our longer endurance rides over the hilly and rolling terrain - focus here is to ride stronger with less effort and more efficiency.
MULTI-SPORT CYCLISTS: 1) This will be more of time trialing 101 course in how to approach the event, and how to use time trialing techniques to enhance the cycling portion of your multi-sport events. As with the road cyclists, you will have the option of being filmed on the camcorder so that we can and discuss your riding style on the TT bike. 2) We will approach the climbing for multi-sport cyclists exactly the same as with the road cyclists, in that our approach to climbing will be in improving form, technique and cadence on various angled hill climbs. Again, you will have the option of being filmed on camcorder for post-ride analysis. 3) For our longer endurance rides we will be looking to improve the multi-sport rider’s efficiency while on the aero bars over challenging rolling and hilly terrain. Much of this involves subtle changes in form and technique.
GREENHORN / SOCIAL / RECREATIONAL RIDER: 1) Our time trial portion of the camp will be used to teach these riders the importance of the proper form, technique, and cadence on long stretches of flats without the use of aero bars or costly aero equipment. We'll look more at trying to maximize the rider's efficiency on a road or touring bike while cycling on the flats, and how to find your "comfort zone" while riding in a more aero advantageous position. The timed TT is optional as is the filming. 2) The hill climbing sessions and/or hill time trials will function exactly the same for the recreational rider as with the road and mult-sport cyclists, in that we're really taking an in depth look at form, technique and cadence on several different types of hill climbs. This is usually an area where many recreational cyclists can improve a great deal once they learn the various "tactics" of hill climbing. Again, the timed hill TT and filming are optional. 3) In the longer endurance rides, our goal is to teach the recreational rider how to improve his/her efficiency - this could involve anything from shiftining techniques on hills and rollers (double and single shifts), to the proper cadence on different types of terrain, to bike handling skills while riding with a group.
