The 2nd DH Camp of the year was another success with riders feeling, and showing, definite improvement in the on-bike testing. Miranda Miller tweeted that she had put in her best ever test and, when asked at dinner, all the riders reported marked improvement. The riders were pleased to either return to, or try out for the first time, the recovery baths. Nutritionist Ashley Charlbois was, once again, a great success and the kitchen facilities at the beautiful Whistler PISE facility were put to good use as the riders sliced, diced and ate – a delicious way to learn about maintaining good nutrition on the road.
Out of town riders were billeted with the locals which provided a great opportunity to get to know each other better. Dinner in Squamish was held in a private home where the athletes took over the kitchen and, in remarkably short order, made a delicious and nutritious dinner topped off with a ‘mystery ingredient’ desert – which turned out to be a flour free, quinoa brownie.
Coach Mark Bunyan took the more junior riders through a gym programme and provided them with a booklet to take home that include ‘how to’ photographs while the athletes who already have their work outs dialed, performed them in the gym and could get tips on technique from the coaches. For the mental strength portion, the athletes were again divided as the younger riders worked with Coach Dave Hord on their visualization process and the Elites worked with Greg McDonnell of Whistler on getting, as one rider put it, “mentally TUFF”. Yoga rounded out the busy weekend.
“Just wanted to say that the last camp up in Whistler was awesome. It was a lot of fun being with the team the whole weekend. I really liked how Mark and Dave ran a few of the sessions, I definitely know they have a lot to offer us. Dave’s visualization techniques were very easy to understand and provided us with practical ways of incorporating some mental training into our routine. Thanks, and I’m looking forward to the next camp with Cycling BC.”
“Just wanted to say thank you for the great camp and dinner was really good! My favourite part of the camp was the dietitian it was really interesting!“