Kit Recca at USA Cycling Regional Development Camp

This past week, I attended my first USA cycling regional development camp. The goal of this camp was to gain exposure in the eyes of USA cycling and develop my connections with my future teammates and directors of the sport. It was a six day long camp, spent on the CSU campus, living in the dorms and most importantly, riding bikes.

The first two days were comprised of two unique field tests. A short course field test subjected the riders to a 1.10-mile long time trial up the lower part of Rist Canyon. Although it was not terribly suited to my type of riding, with a maximum grade of 7% and an average grade of 4%, I had expected the sprinters and time trial specialists to do much better. However, in a blink of an eye, I managed to ride a great time trial, posting the fastest time of the day at 3:09 and over 6 watts/kilo. I was pleasantly surprised with this result, it showed me I at least had the high end power I needed heading into Nationals in two weeks.

Kathy Zawadzki teaching nutrition

The next day’s field test was a much longer, harder effort, heading deeper into Rist Canyon. It was designed to be a 20 min power test that would give us a good idea of our LT power number. I had been looking forward to this trial for the past two days, as it would really give me a chance to open up my legs and see how well I was doing. The course started at the same point, traveled up the winding canyon, kicked up twice towards the end and topped out at a 10% grade. I hit the course relatively slow, trying not to go into the red two early on the more shallow part of the climb. Having riders start at one minute intervals helped motivate me to catch as many as I can, as well. Coming across the line, my time was just over 21 minutes, good enough for the fastest time once again and about 4.75 watts/kilo. The rest of the day was spent riding to the top of Rist Canyon, and anybody that has ridden it knows, that is not fun after riding hard from the bottom.

Lee Carmen teaching functional movement training

The rest of the camp was centered on learning and gaining experience from the vast resources supplied to us. On Wednesday, three pros from domestic pro teams, Jason Donald, Nick Frey, and Alex Hagman, came to speak about the rigors and spoils of making it to the professional level. It was an eye opening experience, to get inside professional cycling with these great athletes. We attended seminars on functional movement training, proper stretching, leadership, as well as training on the bike. I learned much about the life as a pro team rider, that it’s not all about how you ride your bike; it’s about how well you can develop relationships with your teammates, directors, and staff. This camp was a great experience that I will remember for years to come, and I encourage all of Sonic Boom’s junior riders to attend.