Majorca, Spain and New Beginnings
These past few weeks have been an opportunity to remind
myself why I do what I do. To start 2018 off, I joined the all women’s road
team High Gate Racing where, I will be their honorary mountain bike racer! While
that has been an exciting step for me, I have also started my second semester
at McMaster University while making preparations for the 2018 season with my
new coach, Kyle Douglas! I am extremely excited to move forward with my new
team and coach this year and am hoping the change up will provide me with some
new stimuli and motivation to make it a break through year!
As I write this blog,
I’m sitting on a plane on my way back from an incredible two weeks of training
in Majorca, Spain with Team Ontario. This particular adventure began mid
February after I finished up my first round of midterms then set off to Zurich,
then Palma Mallorca, Spain which if you’re not familiar with, is a cyclists’
dream island.
One of our first
rides was one I’ll never forget. Our coaches Sean Kelly and Mike Garrigan took
us along the most beautiful coastline where we weaved through mountains and
even caves!Our route took us to a lighthouse where we found a goat waiting for us (more like our ride food).
Another legendary ride for me was one of our longer days
where we road to Sa Colabra, a famous cycling route that gave us about 2000
metres of climbing in about 125 km. What made this route stand out for me was
hands down the scenery. The main climb (Sa Colabra) was a picture taken out of
recent Star Wars movies, so for the non-Star Wars fans out there, it was a
cascade of rock mountains with hints of grass everywhere, leading down a
mountain range to a bay looking out to the ocean. The climb back up was a bit
of a haul but worth every minute and lots of fun thanks to the people I rode
back up with. 
These camps really do
a great job of not only testing your fitness, but also your mental strength.
I would be lying if I said that every ride was perfect; we definitely were tested
during some of the colder, rainier days as it was Majorca’s off season. During
one ride when it was raining, I decided I wasn’t going to let the cold/wet
weather get to me and try to find a way to make myself appreciate my
circumstances. I road out to a pier and tried taking some pictures of my bike
against the ocean waves. I had it strategically (so I thought) rested on some
rocks against the ocean. Pretty soon after I started taking pictures my bike
got absolutely SMACKED by a wave and luckily, I (first screamed) jumped and
caught it before any real damage was done. As I caught it I fell to the ground,
soaked, and laughing so hard the locals probably heard me. It was a long day of
training, I could feel it in my legs but I sat there beside the ocean in
Majorca after a crazy two weeks of training, I enjoyed laughing at myself and
really appreciating the moment. Man, I really am a tourist.
This trip wouldn’t have been possible without the help of
High Gate for sending me out there with all the best gear and tools I needed
for a world class camp. I used my VeloToze for majority of the rides! Thank you
to Sean Kelly and Mike Garrigan for taking the time to bring the group of us to
this incredible cycling destination and for providing us with superior coaching
and training environment, and also to my coach Kyle Douglas for getting me
prepared! And a special thanks to Garneau for providing my beautiful Steeple and
Cinch Power Meter that got me through the camp even with a 1x11 set up!
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