Ugh. So sorry to see that, Jules. 

Virgin America is usually my go-to airline, but after recent adventures in randomly priced oversized fees (if I prepay $25 for a checked bag but then find out that bag is actually $50 because it's a bike... why don't I get a $25 credit towards the bike fee?) and my "standby" redeye last night (on a ticket purchased 2 months ago, and seat selected through online check-in 24 hours in advance) I'm going to start shopping around. Owens knows what's up. Although Virgin did eventually seat me in a row full of NYC bike racers... people who's bodies generally don't spill over their arm rests, who don't cough on each other, and who value 6 hours of sleep.

Anyway. HUGE round of applause to Ryan for organizing such an amazing(ly brutal) training camp! All rides were expertly planned, routed, and marshaled. Just enough diversity of terrain and recovery to make it back up those hills the next day... albeit a bit slower. And there's nothing quite like the thrill of going 40+ mph down a descent with a gorgeous ocean on one hand and the knowledge that you're probably going UP this thing in less than 24 hours on the other. Seriously. When I told the Team Sixcycle guy sitting next to me that we went up Las Flores, he triple checked that I had, indeed, said "up." The past few days have set a new threshold for fun. Thank you, Ryan!

Here's my camp rundown (I'm sure it will be similar for all of us):

Time moving: 17h:39m

Distance: 273.8 mi

Elevation gain: 19694 ft

Such good times.

So glad to see all of my KCC homies.

I'm sitting at work now, but my mind is still on vacation.

Oh . . . and Ryan and I were talking about DESCENDING on Saturday.

I told him that watching Fabian in this video made a big difference in my technique: keep your torso upright, tilt the bike, drop the inside leg if it's really sharp.

The head of Speedplay told me this was Cancellara playing around: Fab can go much faster.  Watch him put the screws to Gerrans and Nibali at San Remo.

Torso upright is only when you want to slow down.  Cancellara is on the drops the whole way and his torso is pretty flat much of the time.

And "drop the inside leg if it's really sharp"?  Don't know what this means.  

I'd also look at how Fab keeps his head perpendicular to the ground on the tougher curves.  

but yes, JP, what i meant was - imagine keeping your torso perpendicular to the ground.

I thought it was just eyeliner, but it turns out, Ryan actually has a REAL six-pack

#impressed

Forgive me if this has already been noted. But you should check out Erika's impressive strava rankings on these climbs. It looks like were have a ringer.

good lord . . . these summer weight jerseys . . . you can almost see my eyeliner sixpack through the material.

i've said it before and i'll say it again: white bellies make us look fat!*  let's switch to KCC blue in the next design!

* if you don't believe me, just look at Anthony in the black/orange Princeton U kit . . . he's a chuggard IRL but looks like Kate Moss in this picture!

just to be clear, though - you guys are very handsome and that was a hell of a climb/photo op

miss you already!

Day 2 descent...

Jules: I love these.  Awesome.  SABOTAGE!!!

May I borrow the GoPro for a downhill next year?