Scottish Mountain Bikers Rab Wardell, Dave Henderson, Kerry MacPhee, Jessie Roberts, Iain Paton and British Mountain Bike Cross Country Champion Lee Craigie headed to Girona, Spain last week for a Scottish Cycling warm weather camp.
The riders were accompanied by Scottish Cycling’s Mountain Bike Cross Country Coach Paul Newnham and experienced sports Physiotherapist Mike Hart.
Based in Spain, the Scottish MTB squad travelled to Girona, north of Barcelona for an intense training camp as the coaches aimed to build up pre-season base fitness. The cyclists spent nine days on the training camp, with only one rest day to recover tired legs. The squad made the most of mountain bike rides and road riding, both on mountain bikes with knobbly tyres! The camp was designed to build the strength, endurance and aerobic fitness which are all vital to attack in the first race of the season.
Rab Wardell kept a blog from the training camp, find out what life is like for our MTB squad as they prepare for the 2014 race season...
"2014 is an important year for a number of athletes. With the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games only months away, as well as a busy season for mountain bikers with World Cup, British Cycling XC Series and other races, base preparation is very important. I’ve been fortunate over the winter of 2013-2014 to take in three warm weather training camps - two in Girona with Scottish Cycling, as well as one in Marbella with Costa Cycling Experience. The final training camp in Girona during February is especially important as it is a trip away with the mountain bike riders on the Scottish Cycling Performance and Development programs. We have been riding our mountain bikes during training to re-familiarise ourselves with the position on the bike, as well as taking in a mixture of on and off road routes. The group consists of six athletes and two staff and over the nine days at Mas Pelgrini near Banyoles on the outskirts of Girona. We undertook eight days of training with one recovery day on the fifth day.
National Mountain Bike Coach Paul Newnham planned and oversaw all of the riders training. The plan was to take in two blocks of four days, with a ‘transition day’ (unstructured, mixed pace ride of two - four hours) as the first day of the first block and the last day of the second block. This was to allow us to ease into the bock after travel, and likewise to ease off before traveling home. The atmosphere was structured yet relaxed and riders were able to tailor their training into the plans. Most riders made use of the gym at the Mas Pelgrini accommodation, either a morning mobility/flexibility session, yoga or a circuit.
The sessions we undertook were aimed at putting the finishing touches to the previous two to three months of base training. Volume (time spent on the bike) was lower than the previous two camps I had done although the intensity was much more. Sessions ranged from hour long zone 3 efforts, 20 minute ‘threshold’ climbing efforts, over geared climbing and 4 minute ‘capacity’ efforts. Each day had a different focus to ensure high quality of the efforts we were aiming to achieve.
Outside training our time was generally spent sleeping, resting or eating. Personally I was spending my time listening to music. I downloaded Bombay Bicycle Clubs latest album and also De La Souls entire back catalogue which was available free for one day only. Evenings were spent receiving treatment from Mike, our team physiotherapist, watching films or catching up with Paul. As most riders have their own programs for racing and busy lives in general it was good to go over plans for the first part of the year. It is also a busy time of year with new bikes, clothing and equipment needing to be organised, so I was speaking with Paul Beales at Orange Monkey Pro Team to figure out details for my competition program and also keeping in touch with sponsors and partners.
On our rest day most of us took a day trip to Girona. It’s a really cool small city with a university and nice coffee shops, bar and restaurants lining the river. We wandered the streets and took in some of the sights, stopping for coffee. I opted for Xurros, or churros, a spanish fried doughnut, dipped into hot chocolate. Empty calories galore but a nice treat!
On the final day of training we took in a group ride and ventured onto some of the fantastic trails in the area. It was also Paul’s birthday so it was cool to stop for some lunch by the lake in Banyoles. That evening during dinner Gareth and Fiona brought out some birthday cake which was an awesome touch and an indication of the amazing, home made food and friendly hospitality you get when staying at Mas Pelgrini."
Rab Wardell - Orange Monkey Pro Team rider and member of the Scottish Cycling Mountain Bike Performance Program
Scottish Cycling has a number of different programmes which aims help the best Scottish Cyclists progress to become world class riders in all disciplines, working towards the Glasgow 2014 Games but also looking towards 2018 and beyond. Scottish Cycling currently supports over 50 riders.
