March 16, 2011 (Rocky Bottom, SC) – After a long drive to Rocky Bottom, SC, all of the athletes and coaches participating in the Team Ontario SPF Spring Endurance Camp had a great sleep and were ready to get on their bikes. Read reports from the first three days of the camp below.

Day 1 Report
The athletes woke up to 22 degrees and sunshine, something that many athletes haven’t seen since September! The weather forecast is looking great for the next 10 days with a chance of some rain on Tuesday.

Today’s spin for all 50 athletes and coaches was a great chance for some to ride a new bike, warm up and the legs and take in some sweet sunshine… vitamin D does great things for the soul.

After a group photo the team headed out for some food and this afternoon the team will gather for some fun and games and a good night sleep before some solid riding tomorrow.

Day 2 promises some good climbing and some nice twisty descents. Some pictures from Day 1 below.

Quote of the day – Oil and water don’t mix?

Day 2 Report
Day 2 here in South Carolina. Athletes and coaches woke again today to sunshine and warm temperatures. The day started with 5 groups of 8 riders. 2 groups had 100km, 1 group had 85k and the final 2 groups completed 75km with a tough finishing climb.

Today’s ride was really about technique and spatial sense on the bike, many of the athletes enjoyed the challenge. As the afternoon progressed the temperature heated to 23 degrees on the flats and knee warmers and arm warmers became a non-essential item for the last 2 hours.

First time camper, Will Elliot was so excited about today he said” This is so great, awesome weather, awesome riding, I am just so excited!”

After today’s ride was complete, Leigh Hobson and Jen Amaral conducted a Yoga class (optional), nearly all the athletes attended and it was great to see some of the group getting flexible and enjoying some downward dogs!!

After tonight’s meeting there was a night-time movie in the camp cinema – honestly there really is a cinema….well it has chairs from 1970 and a screen so it is almost there!

Quote of the day – Make sure if a turkey vulture is flying above you with things in it’s mouth that you keep an eye out for falling debris!

Day 3 Report
We all woke up, expecting rain, what we found was another warm yet slightly overcast day. This meant rad (courtesy of Brendan Arnold) riding for all of us white as snow canadians to whom a cloudy day with a high of 16 was a god send. My group enjoyed a stellar breakfast made by Peter Disera and Marc-Antoine “Timmins” Nadon, which included 24 eggs a ton of bell pepper and some onion between our eating group of 7.

Thanks Ben for that intro now I will tell everyone about one of the day’s 85 km rides.

Today’s ride left a few minutes late due to Team Spider-Tech and there lack of warm gear for a cold day. After we got going on our ride that started with a lot of climbing out of our home in Rocky Bottom. The not-too-cold of weather made for a very enjoyable pace leading up to a church at the top of the hill. Of course that involved a great descent down to camp again with a few friendly sprints for the Eastern Continental Divide sign, as well as the state lines. Although the ride I was on was relatively uneventful, everyone in the group said it was a fun ride, and was all smiles at the end of it.

The day’s 100 km + was also totally rad, with excessive shredage of gnar. We took the same route as the 85 km ride only we did a few extra loops which saw us do a river crossing on our road bikes. We also climbed the back of Sassafrass, our local monster climb and descended it into camp.

After all the riding was done we made a trip to the local grocery store where my group managed to spend $54 on salmon! Everyone enjoyed some Starbucks and free internet and we headed home to a delicious group meal where Chef Jeff kept up his 5 star rating ways of last year’s camp.

The Camp voted on which movie to watch, and they decided on Jackass 3D. Since Elliot and I had already seen it we went back to prepare for the next day, Caesar’s Head. Tomorrow will be a tough day with tones of riding, or will it? Stay tune for a surprising twist! Karl Hoppner and Jarrod Stafford will be writing the Day 4 report. – Elliot Galbraith & Benjamin Perry

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