January 14-16 - WCCC Winter Training Camp, Buellton
WCCC website

Training camp report by Alden Tanaka

The second annual Western Collegiate Cycling Conference Winter Training Camp took place on January 14-16 in Buellton, California. Smack dab in the middle of Pro team training grounds, 55 college and junior riders showed up to log some miles and hear from some of cycling's stars.

Dede and Michael Barry

Returning this year was Dede Barry, retired pro and 2004 Athen Olympic Games Silver Medalist. Also returning was Discovery Channel pro Tom Danielson. As a bonus, the camp also got their spouses, Michael Barry (Discovery Channel) and Kristin Danielson (Velo Bella - Kona).

Camp started on Saturday with a ride in some iffy weather. The forecast promised showers, and that's what we got halfway through the four hour ride. Buellton and Solvang have wonderful, quiet roads that wind their way through endless vineyards (of course, this is where "Sideways" was filmed) over varied terrain. As the ride hit its halfway point, the rain came down and for a short period made way for some hail. All of the riders slogged it out and made it back for the race to the showers in order to make it to the 4pm talk by Dede Barry.

Dede gave a talk on training, touching on lots of topics that she had learned over her long, decorated career. She shared with the kids her views and approach to periodization, diet, rest, goal setting, balancing studies, and more. A quick Q & A related to the talk followed.

Tom and Kristin Danielson

Day two found much better weather. Starting in the low 50's, the ride quickly warmed up into the low 60's. After an hour rollout, the ride hit the base of the famous Figuroa Mountain which all of the Pro teams use for their training camps. It's a beast of a climb - the Pros described it as a climb much like something you'd find in the Pyrenees. All I can say is that it was crazy long (something like 16-18 km long, and over 5000 feet high).

Several riders opted for the shorter ride and headed back to the hotel with Dede Barry. The rest continued on. Tom and Michael led the ride out and up the climb. One of the collegiate riders stayed with them for most of the way up the climb. The two Discovery Channel Pros continued over the summit and down the backside, turned around, and climbed back up and over the frontside of Figuroa, where they caught back up with the group - yeah, they're THAT fast. By the way, at the top of the climb the road was covered in ice. So the riders were stopped about a half kilometer short of the summit. But the view from up there was pretty damned spectacular.

On the descent, one of our out-of-area riders from Northwestern University crashed and landed in some barbed wire. She was okay - a lot of cuts and bruises, and a couple of stitches. Now here's the cool part - Tom and Michael heard that she had wanted to get them to sign her helmet. Without even blinking, they decided that they were going to give her a signed Discovery Channel team jersey. Michael mentioned to me that they would try to get some other signatures as well. All I told the Northwestern gal was to expect a surprise in the mail from Tom and Michael.

Tom presenting tactics

That afternoon, Tom gave his presentation to the kids about tactics. He shared his thoughts on the subject, and discussed several of the notable wins in his career: Tour of Qinghai Lake, Tour de 'Toona, Tour de Georgia, and his Vuelta experience. He explained to the kids about how he learned tactics from people like Chris Horner who helped him early in his career at Saturn. He also gave credit to Michael Barry for showing him the ropes during a three week Grand Tour.

A question was posed to him about the importance of training in a group versus riding alone. Danielson mentioned that occasionally there will be a group of maybe 4-6 Americans to ride with, but that everyone has different schedules, so training in large groups is tough. He mentioned how important it was for him to have someone who is on the same wavelength as him; the kind of person where words don't have to be exchanged - if someone wants to up the pace, the other just knows and can go along with it with no problems. For Danielson, that person is Michael Barry. From my vantage point in the follow vehicle, watching the two of them riding earlier in the day on the Figuroa climb, that synergy was evident. The descent of Figuroa had lots of ups and downs - watching them dance up the grades and fly down the descents like they were riding on glass was a treat.

The camp concluded on Monday with one final ride. The Barrys and Danielsons were present as the group rolled west out of Buellton for a two hour spin. Many of the riders had a chance to chat with Tom, Dede, Michael, and Kristin as the group made their way over the rollers amongst yet more vineyards.

WCCC winter camp attendees

Of the camp's 55 attendees, half were from the NCNCA region. Through the financial help of the NCNCA and SCNCA, we were able to help defray much of the cost of holding the camp.

Special thanks also goes out to the following companies and individuals:

• Clif Bar, who generously provided the camp's riders with Clif Bars and Clif Shot Drinks.
• Eastside Cycles, who loaned us their shop van (thanks Ponch!) and the help of team riders Jason Cardillo and Sean Co
• Velo Europa Imports/Cyfac Bicycles, our USCF team that promoted the event
• Fast Freddie Coffee and Hincapie Sportswear: for their continued support of the WCCC

Next year's event will be bigger and better. Plans are already underway. If anyone wants to sponsor or help out with next year's event, please contact the WCCC Director Alden Tanaka at atanaka@mindspring.com. Tax-deductible cash donations to the conference can also be made through the USA Cycling Development Foundation - please contact Alden Tanaka about that as well.

Thank you to everyone who helped out. We couldn't have done it without you.

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