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Team Training Camp – Sunday 2/17
After Saturday’s hypothermic team bonding experience, we were all delighted to see that it was not raining when we woke up on Sunday. Jeremy supplied us with waffles and (more importantly) real Italian espresso and Scooter the kitten entertained her adoring fans over breakfast. The weather was, uh, a bit nippy so we dressed in every layer of cycling clothing we could get our hands on and headed out the door. For some reason, our plucky young New England teammate refused to wear a hat, a decision she would regret …
The first stop was Outback Cycles for some team photos in front of the shop. Then we hopped back on our bikes and rode to a park where Jason took some action shots of us riding up and down the same hill 50 times in the 38 degree weather while Jeremy and Chad cheered us on from the warm car. By the time this photo shoot was over, we couldn’t feel our hands and feet so someone wisely suggested we go for coffee to warm up.
Coffee turned into breakfast, as we couldn’t resist the warm grits, hot cocoa and huevos rancheros … and we really didn’t want to go back outside. Two hours later, the wait staff started giving us dirty looks so we had to move on. Jeremy and I decided to brave the cold for a 2-hour ride (I had to work off those huevos) and everyone else headed home. Jeremy proposed that we do the regular Sunday group ride route and turn around at the “pee stop”. Since I’d downed about 7 cups of coffee at the diner, I was very excited when Jeremy announced we were nearing this “pee stop” but was disappointed to discover that he was actually referring to a few strategically placed bushes …
When we arrived home, we were greeted by Shannon with bowls of steaming hot chili. Mmmmm! Then it was crunch time. We had to get ready for the afternoon’s high fashion photo shoot. Girls were whipping out the makeup, the blow dryers and Mackenzie’s super duper hot iron hair straightening device with a strange name (the Hot Chi?). It was crazy.
When everyone was primped and ready, Jeremy drove the Hank Aaron’s Land Rover full of gorgeous babes over to the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings store. Don and Elizabeth were waiting for us there to show us around and help with artistic direction. Since the theme of the weekend was COLD it was no surprise when we were asked to strip down to shorts and jerseys for a team photo in front of the big Aaron’s sign in the parking lot. Then we raced back inside to pose in the showroom for the “Aaron’s Team Board Meeting” shot, the “Look! There’s something exciting on the computer!” shot and the “Have you read the Aaron’s catalogue lately?” shot. Candice was happy to comply with lots of toothy smiles for the camera. Finally, we all posed for individual photos with various office accoutrements. We got a chance to take a look at some of the pictures from the morning and we all thought Jason did an excellent job.
We finished off the day with a team dinner at a Thai restaurant. We discussed race tactics and team dynamics and made big plans for the season.
Thanks for reading...Catherine
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