February 10th and 11th:

Setting:
Buellton, California. The sun is out. Life is good. Cyclists flock like geese south to the warm weather. Smiles are a common sight on the roads.

On the tenth of February 2014 Team Ontario was sent on an epic ride. This ride would be a deal breaker for some, a record setter for others but a test of endurance and mental strain for all. The day was warm. Moderate mist was met in some of the rolling hills but no rain droplets were formed. The sun came out and the shorts were rolled up. The wind was howling – this posed as a source of pain to some.

The day was the day to climb Fig Mountain. We were briefed that it would be a 15km climb with some solid grade. We were to take our time and stay in our zones. The ride to the base was relatively uneventful and windy. Some solid head winds posed a challenge getting to the base. Gradually climbing we did not know where the climb would start. All of a sudden – boom – it was up; 15km of climbing to come.

I got in with a solid group of Adam Jamieson, Luke Vanlauwe and Conner Byway. We may or may not have pushed the pace, but this is completely irrelevant because by the second half of the climb we were looking for the top. After a long time (first real mountain climb in roughly a year) climbing hurts. Who knew 15km of climbing could take so long?

As Sean Kelly, who was in the support vehicle, came past us we asked eagerly how far the top was. “Just up ahead”, Sean piped. This was completely incorrect as we learned 30 minutes later.

Once reaching the top it was determined that this was in fact the biggest climb any of us had done to date. It had some good vertical too – just shy of 1000m. The plan was to hit the top and come back down to the last rider and climb in together. The coaches were dreaming…we were dead. It was almost impossible to eat on some sections of the climb so we demolished large quantities of food waiting for the riders to trickle in.
Skipping ahead a few hours: The Bonk! Well this part of the ride was exciting. After the descent of Fig we spent more then an hour in the wind. This popped everyone. A stop for lunch, more like dinner, in a local town and people were starting to look like themselves. Personally, I ate 5 sandwiches, 3 pancake size peanut butter cookies and a bar. Yeah…we bonked; hard.

Peter at the top of Fig

After making it back home, still well fueled from our stop, it was time to sleep. Going to bed sore but the mind ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow came early for most of us. I was nice and tired, but still very much ready to ride. Today we were going to the coast. With a good breakfast into our bellies and speed bikes underneath us we were ready to roll.

A bumpy road made me numb in the opening kilometers but I did not care whatsoever as the sun was shining and today was to hit a high of 74F (22C) (and for the scientists 295K). The coast was beautiful – the wind to get to the coast was treacherous. After some beauty pictures were taken of some ocean views we headed for home. The wind now to our backs we rocked 45+km/h for 20+ minutes easily. It was smooth sailing on the way home.
There was a gym session after the ride for 2 hours. Top-secret gym strength stuff happened. The only information being released at this time is Team Ontario cyclists are going to be more explosive and stronger then anyone else in Canada this year.

Tuesday was rounded off in Cabin 1 with fajitas and rice pudding, all homemade and delicious of course. With a slight change to the schedule there will be a rest day on Wednesday. This means that Peter Disera is going to be hitting the hot tub, playing overly competitive table tennis, doing homework, cleaning bikes and most likely realistically sleeping all day.

This report brought to you by:
Peter Disera