Team Nanoblur-Gears Welcomes Greg Gannon to the Team

Latest news! Team Nanoblur-Gears welcomes Greg Gannon on board as the new team physiologist. We look forward to working with Greg for the remainder of the season. See link below.

http://canadiancyclist.com/dailynews.php?id=19085

CHECK OUT THE NEW TEAM WEBSITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello all readers! Please check out our new team website created by team member Veronique!

www.teamnanoblurgears.com

We will have results posted and pictures on the site as the season progresses. June and July are BIG months for the team as we are racing the next 6 weekends in a row all across North America and Canada. Starting next weekend at Killington Stage Race in Vermont, followed by the Ottawa UCI race right here in Canada! Then world famous PHILLY!, followed by NVGP (Nature Valley Grand Prix) in Minnesota, then off to the National Championships in Edmonton, followed by Fitchburg in Boston and THEN...stay tuned for more races and for results and pictures!

Thank you for your support! And thank you to all of our sponsors!

Team nanoblur-Gears 2010

Nanoblur-Gears en Europe, par Joanie Caron

Bonjour,
Un petit mot de la Belgique, où je représente l'équipe via l'Équipe nationale canadienne. Nous y sommes pour un bloc de 10 courses U.C.I., toutes de catégories 1 et quelques Coupe du Monde. Toutes ces courses sont de niveau très élevé et le rythme est également très élevé, du début à la fin. Les routes y sont très techniques, avec des rond-point, routes de campagne, pavés, etc. Tout pour ajouter du piment à la course... J'adore!!!!
Nous sommes à mi-chemin du voyage, c'est-à-dire que nous avons 5 courses d'effectuées en Hollande et en Belgique. Jusqu'à maintenant, je suis très satisfaite des résultats, ayant fait les groupe de tête pour la plupart des courses. Quelques ennuis mineurs en cours de route (chute, crevaison), mais ces quelques pépins ont, je le crois, contribué à me rendre plus forte et ainsi samedi j'ai obtenu mon meilleur résultat à venir jusqu'à maintenant, soit une 16e position à Gelderland en Hollande, sur 156 filles au départ. C'est un résultat satisfaisant, mais inutile de vous dire que j'aspire à mieux encore d'ici à la fin du voyage.
En attendant, je prépare la Flèche Wallonne qui aura lieu mercredi.
Bon printemps au Canada,

Joanie Caron

Updates!

Anne in the pack with Jen S.

Krystal in the pack on a windy paved section


VERO pushing the pace today.

Chasing.....



Lots has been happening locally for the team.
This past weekend Leigh Hobson took first place at the Tour of Bronte race in the women's field and 7th in the men's field. Congrats Leigh! That cross season is looking good already!
In NY at the Tour of Battenkill Vero, Krystal, Anne and KK took to the dirt and pavement for a challanging 100km course that was a race of attrition. With colder temps and good winds the pack was mellow on the pavement and hammered the dirt all day which made for a good hard race. Vero finished as our top rider in 7th place. Krystal had good legs today and was looking great but unfortunately at a critical time when the pack was climbing AGAIN on dirt section 7 she had a mechanical issue. NEXT TIME! You rock the dirt roads Krystal. Anne and Krystal came in around 4min back and KK finished with her group. Good job ladies. Next year I think we know what to expect so I think it will be a different ball game!
Anne is up in Boulder racing on the dirt roads in The Boulder Roubaix with Mara Abbot and Meredith Miller in the pack. This made for some hard racing. Anne has been hitting the dirt roads a few weekends in a row with the Koppenburg race last weekend as well. She is on a mission for Gila and Joe Martin...watch out!

Here are a few picks from Battenkill up above. More to come as we get them!

Cheers
Team Nanoblur-Gears

California Round Up!

Well we are back from our first set of stage races in California. Most of the team was racing into better shape while some of the team seems to be in pretty good shape already and it's only going to improve for them too!
San Dimas proved to be fun racing, with day 2 being 90 degrees putting a bit of new stress on the body!
Anne was able to get in a break that finished her in 4th place in the RR. A good start to the season for just racing into shape. The crit was active and Jo, Anne and Vero stuck it out til the end. Vero being quite aggressive and maintaining her normal stellar position! There are some pictures above of the crit.
Overall I felt like SD was getting back in the pack and the feel of racing again. For me it had been a long time since I had been in a big pack so I think it was good for getting some early season nerves out.
Next came Redlands. A few more racers and a few more good racers. I love Redlands. Maybe because I KNOW it is a hard race. And I like hard races.
The prologue was lung burning as usual. I won the bet on who won...Amber Neben :). She is a special talent that woman. I think I got a cup of tea as a prize...sad..yes.I think so too!
The team were ok with our performances. Vero topping off the quickest time placing her in 22nd overall.
Next came the Beaumont RR. My memory of this is hell as last year there were 45km winds for sure...and even Amber said it was one of the hardest races she has done....it was awful. So having said that this year felt way easier. Don't get me wrong, the pace was fast and the hills were hard...but there was no whaling cross wind to deal with all day..big difference, especially for us little folk.
Krystal attacked early in the race and stayed away for 25km...go Krystal! It was great to have our jersey up the road for that long. And for Krystal to GO FOR IT. Much more satisfying to have tried. Once the peleton caught her Anne and Vero tried a few more attacks but no one was letting anything go. The plan for the day was surely to get the finish time bonus. And so it went just like that. Joanie followed some good wheels and practiced her sprint coming in a fine 8th. Not bad at all for the first big sprint of the season. I think we will be bumping that up to podium levels soon enough! Joanie is off to Belgium for a month and you can bet she will return ON FIRE with some wicked legs for Joe Martin.
The next day was the crit. I can admit that we missed the boat that day as we were the only team not in the break. But as I said, we are racing into shape and things will change by the next race. It was a hard crit, especially the middle part when the real time bonus was on the line and Ina scooped it, which led to counters and more counters and a break getting up the road. They put in enough time to put Ina into the lead for Sunset.
Last was Sunset loop. Now if you have raced Sunset..you will know that EVERY year..when the neutral car pulls off..it is GAME ON..NO wasting time..AT ALL. We were going hard into that hill....and it was cross eyed all the way up. It was pain..but in a way I always like Sunset..it's a great hill. a few of us were with the main pack til the third lap...at which point I think after that we were off and with our subsequent groups or alone. But everyone rode on and finished the race. Vero tried one attack and was brought back..but kudos for trying. Anne had some back spasms...that has to hurt...and well I just was dangling that third lap and ended up with a group that unfortunately was not that motivated to race!!! And we rode/raced...i would say more rode..the last 4 of 9 laps. And people joined our group from behind. Looking back I think a few of us should have just kept hammering...but it's funny when the group isn't doing that its hard to do it alone.
I was glad to see that my legs felt the best on the last day of racing and I think they were starting to come back. I just wish we were still down there with more racing to do!
Thank you to our wonderful hosts! You were truly amazing and so nice to open your homes to the team! We hope you will have us back in 2011!!!!
I posted some pictures of the racing. We will keep you posted on team events. Tomorrow is the local GOOD FRIDAY RR and next weekend is BATTENKILL!!!!
That's all for now!
Team nanoblur-Gears.

Véro 2e à la Greenville Spring Training Series

L'entrainement en Caroline du Sud est terminé !
Nous avons profité de 2 courses local à Greenville pour complèter notre entraînement et réveiller nos instincts de coureuses. La 1er avec un peloton de 22 filles, où j'ai réussi à m'échapper avec 4 coureuses et où j'ai terminé 2e au sprint... Si KK et Joanie avait été là, ça aurait été dans la poche...! Nous avons pris le départ de la 2e course avec le peloton maîtres où moi et Joanie avons fait un échappé de 11km. Nous avons été en mesure d'être active et agressive tout au long de la course.

Moi et Joanie sommes maintenant en Californie et attendons avec impatience le reste de l'équipe pour notre 1er stage race à San Dimas !

Where is the Team?

Well the season is underway this week as Team Nanoblur-Gears meets in California for the first OFFICIAL team race San Dimas! Some of us got our feet a bit wet the last few weeks racing in South Carolina or Tucson. Veronique was on the second step of the podium after an aggressive race in Georgia, Joanie battled the men's race and made the final winning break to take 4th! And Guzman tested her legs in Tucson taking fourth in the last road race stage. Anne S Krystal and KK are feeling fit and Krystal is down in Tucson getting those last intervals and miles in on the mountain before San Dimas. Everyone is excited to race! And excited to get teh team race dynamics under way for 2010.
Stay tuned for updates and pictures in the weeks to come!
Team nanoblur-gears :)

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." T.Roosevelt

Another Great Day in The Saddle

Ahhh another great day in the saddle....
I felt a bit of hesitation today about heading out as the forecast called for rain and snow....but we just bit the bullet and stuck with the plan....TT up Caesar's head....let's do it!
With a TON of stuff shoved in our pockets..OK I MAY have had the most...JUST IN CASE of bad weather!! We headed off from Aunt Sue's as a starting point.
The weather ended up being pretty mild! And I had to jimmy a way to carry all that warm clothes up the hill without wearing it!!! Let's just say I had a big hump in my back!!
Vero made sure I was on my toes, and me her..we were good partners up the climb...it always helps....everyone had their own plan up the hill so that worked out great.
After a chilly descent we warmed back up quickly as the terrain here is rarely flat for long!
We rounded up with a solid 3.5hour ride finishing up 178 and back to Aunt Sue's for a fresh cookie..some opted for a fresh Coke :) and then home for that famous KK RICE PUDDING! It was the bomb...you go KK......
Oh...side note..so we were about 15min from the end of the ride and Vero OUT OF THE BLUE SAYS..."OH MY GOD!!!...I FORGOT TO EAT MY 2 EGGS" and you really had to be there because here we all thought...what? As she paused after the OH MY GOD..we were thinking did her pedal fall off??? She flatted??? A dog coming???? AHHHHH NO....she simply had this random...serious moment as she recalled that she forgot to eat her eggs before the ride...too funny....and with her great French accent it was 100 times funnier...I love the accents, everything sounds better!
Now we are eagerly looking to watch CLARA HUGHES SKATE FOR CANADA!! But we can't find it on TV! How irritating!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
We actually all woke up at 11:30 to watch the Canadian Joanie figure skate..it was very emotional.it was awesome, she was awesome. Truly amazing performance.
Well, time for me to get to work on dinner. Our group is fixing up a salmon dinner with stir fry...YUM!!! Can't wait!
Only 3 more days here..so sad! It's been the BEST training and I kind of wish I could stay until San Dimas..but Tucson will bring some racing :).
The team is all getting stronger, it's great stuff! And we are good at pushing one another. Every day is a bit better. It's great to watch.

Until next time....
Nanoblur-Gears

Official Camp Ends!

Well the official camp is over! It was fantastic, and we ended up with GREAT weather to boot! The team is coming together well.

Yesterday we dropped Frank and Anne off at the airport...(Krystal and I) where we progressed over to Chilli's for Fajitas and Chicken wraps. It was nice to eat out actually! Our last camp ride was a nice 3 hour ride on a new AWESOME route which brought us to some KICKERS of hills near the end that we had not found to this point. But that's all good since we finished at AUNT SUE'S where sorbet...ice cream, fresh cookies and fudge awaited as well as a bunch of picnic tables in the sun! Truly a great ending.

We are so glad that Anne made it to camp after all the storms, and that we had a few days with all 7 of us together.
Frank was just great with his route mapping and short sweet meetings! We had so many amazing rides and the nice roads seemed just endless. The good thing is Frank learned a lot of the roads here for next time! I think it's time for that Garmin......???? Would be fun!
Thanks Frank for following us and supporting us all week, I know you were itching to hammer up Ceasars Head.... :). But glad you hit the roads a few times!

So now week 2 begins! KK, Krystal, Joanie, Vero and I are sticking around for more riding until Sunday. We have mapped out a plan that should work to mold all of our training ideas together....Joanie may be busting out some sprints here and there, but that's good, we can chase her :)....ROCKET.....
We are on our easy day and are heading to Clemson for SUSHI!!! Let's hope that it's good sushi for our sakes! We have some riding to do! We are all a little to excited to go to Starbucks..oh the little things you miss :). So that's the first pit stop.....
Krystal and KK went to town on our MOTIVATIONAL board today...thanks ladies...I feel inspired every time I am about to go to the bathroom... :) by the sign on the door. See the picture above and ZOOM IN FOR MOTIVATION!
KK is hard at work on an engineering project, building a self charging converter/flash light with some other funky applications...go KK....
I got to catch up on some Personal Training plans for a few clients and the ladies are all chillin today catching up on work...emails or NAPS! :) Always important to have naps :).

We are looking forward to another week of hills and sprints and miles before we head our separate ways to Tucson, (2 of the team are staying here til San Dimas) or back to Toronto to hit the Trainer..it's ok KK..it will be short lived! Cali is calling!

I was able to set up my Quarq power meter today with the Garmin. Pretty sweet. They have sponsored the team and it looks like it's a great tool! I think a few other of the women will be hooking it up soon! Thanks Quarq!
The girls all did different things today with some hiking, some riding some doing yoga and core....mish mash......good times...

Besides that...all is good. The sun is back out after a short rainfall last night, and we are back in the saddle tomorrow.

Until next time....
Keep the rubber side down...

Le train Nanoblur-Gears !!!

Voici un post de la part des petites Québécoises de l'équipe !
L'échange français-anglais est vraiment génial au sein de l'équipe. Chaque personne s'intérresse à apprendre et améliorer son anglais ou son français. Merci les filles !

Après une journée de repos, le train Nanoblur-Gears s'est mis en marche.
Au programme, des efforts de 20 min, pour travailler la cohésion, la technique et la vitesse de notre train. Après ces bons blocs, nous sommes parti faire une superbe montée menée par Samplonius et Labonté qui n'en avait pas assez, se permettant même une attaque à la fin de l'entrainement... Avait-elle assez pris de relais ??? ou bien elle se prépare à l'entrainement de sprint de demain...?

Aussi n'oublions pas notre Frank, qui nous suit, supporte et feed à chaque jour ! Son entrainement pour se préparer au caravane de course...!

À très bientôt !

Go Team and in the spirit of the Olympics. Go Canada!

Also... Today team Nanoblur/ Gears had an easy day so the set pace of the ride allowed for some good photo opportunities and allowed Frank to join us. Also out for the ride today…the sun! It’s beginning to get warmer but we still had to bundle up to block the fierce winds. The many warm pieces of kit we have makes it easy to welcome these colder temperatures but I think we all concur that we cannot wait for the warm weather riding this summer.

As well as it being an easy ride day on the bike the team took different approaches to the day and included some ‘secret’ training. Anne S. continued on the bike because she had just arrived and did not need the rest day. Upon returning Jo and KK went downstairs to do some sprinter plyometric exercises and Anne G, Krystal and Vero did some YOGA. After showering and some lunch, which consisted of a highly developed discussion on the benefits versus personal satisfaction of COKE ZERO between Anne G. and Jo, another grocery shopping trip was in order.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of some napping, some homework, some real work and just relaxing until dinner time. Dinner consisting of leftovers, new chicken and Jo’s secret salad dressing went in accordance to Anne G’s smooth tunes.

Meeting has adjourned and the team is anticipating another day in the saddle and Anne G’s chocolate chip cookies.

Canada's medal count: 5!

This Morning At Camp...easy day!!!

Well camp is going great. I TRULY don't think I could have asked for a better team. Everyone is great and we all get along, it's actually really sweet. We are lucky. And we look good too :)!! PINK!

Yesterday was a long day in the saddle with a LOT of climbing..SC makes Tucson look flat...I think the roads here TRUMP!!! Hands down..now the cold..maybe not..but the sun is out and makes it all ok!

Today is our easy day :) ahhhhhh spin, Clemson, bike shop..STARBUCKS ANYONE O).

I woke up at 8am to a great view of the lake with steam on it. I headed down to the dock for some pictures and wanted to post them. We are located on Lake Keokee.. (I think I got that right?) and it's beautiful. Truly. It was nice to sit down on the dock in the quiet. Really peaceful.

Anyhow here are some pics, hope you enjoy. More to come when we are back on the road!
Thanks to everyone who is behind our team on our quest for success. All of your support means a LOT.

Brrr.....South Carolina

It was a long, cold day in the saddle. Team Nanoblur/Gears started out on their first long ride together with 6 members, unfortuntely Leigh had to leave us on monday but Anne S came to take over the leadership role. Our first battle we thought would be the Whitewater Falls climb but the attack of the dog came first and Anne threw herself out there and took one for the team.....until the owner came out and yelled at the dog, whose name we found out is 'jeff', and he left us alone to start our 40km climb.

The climb went up, up, up some more and up even more until we were in a few feet of snow and -6C. It was a day that at home we would be on the trainer, luckily there was a gas station at the top to hold the riders as we all regrouped and changed clothes so we could descend in dry items. As we all changed Frank talked, and contemplated whether we should even ride down but Team Nanoblur showed their strength and determination and rode....slowly and safely. Once we reached the bottom it was much warmer and the ride continued at normal Nanoblur/Gears speed on our amazing Specialized Bikes.

Our next climb took us through Rocky Bottom, consistent home to the Ontario Provincial camp every March break. As we were climbing we noticed a lone rider ahead and as we kept getting closer we just assumed, by the time we were putting on the rider, it must be George again! :)

After a nice long day in the saddle the team sat down to a delicious pasta dinner made by our own Frank. Amazing!!! Tomorrow will be a little recovery with a trip to the Clemson bike shop to check out the possibility of racing this saturday! We will keep you posted!!!

Don't forget to join our facebook page!

TEAM CAMP...many adventures already

Team nanoblur-Gears headed out on the road at 5am for camp in South Carolina. The drive was going well until about Pensylvania....at which point we realized we had no windshield washer fluid. When we stopped to fill it, we noticed it was FULL...and FROZEN...this was the first obstacle for the team! An hour at a local Garage where they had to THAW the tank which was full of WATER..made for an interesting start to camp.
When we got on the road the snow started to fall hard..and our pace came to a crawl of 50km an hour. At one point we were doing hardcore Rocky Training when we were stuck on a hill and the van wouldn't go. Vero realized if everyone but me (driving) got out we would be 600 lbs lighter..smart cookie...we made it up as the team ran up the hill behind me....with their backpacks....yeah, we are hardcore. Watch out..secret training.
Um, what else....well we managed to convince a group of people at Wendy's that we were travelling with the Cirque Du Soleil....Leigh was our Trapeze Artist, Joanie and Vero were the people who launched me into the air for my tumbling routine...and Frank managed us on the road. What was amazing was how quickly everyone was able to jump right in and make up the story on the fly...with a few hiccups like when they asked us the name of our show and Leigh looked at me "what is the name of the show again"....we are working on it.....
We arrived to snow on the streets and trees not sure how the week was going to pan out, but as of today we hit the road for 4 hours .....smoothe rolling....
The roads were quiet and we didn't see anyone except for 2 cyclists.....one of them....GEORGE HINCAPIE....we decided to turn around and follow him since Joanie said "I know George!"....we attacked one at a time until he cracked...sorry George, we hope you recover......ok but really we did see him..and well...ok we kept on riding..but it was cool.
One of the things that has made our first days out so great is the feeling of the new Specialized Amira Expert. It's amazing how we all feel like we have had it for months. Stiff on the climb...smooth on the descents...MONEY. The bike fit from Scott was amazing and we can't thank Gears and Specialized enough for these great bikes! They flew uphill! :)
The Kallisto kit is fantastic, it fits very well and looks sharp. You will see that above.
After 3.5 hours we were starting to get hungry, craving Extreme Pita. Too bad we can't find one around here!
Unfortunately due to the snow storm that hit 49 states Anne has yet to make it here. Flights have been cancelled but she is finally going to make it tonight so that tomorrow she can rip our legs off :).
Thank you to all of our sponsors for making this possible. Nanoblur, Gears, Specialized, Magna Intarnational, Juvederm, Extreme Pita, L2RCP, Honey Stingers, Quarq, Racemerchandise.ca.

XOOD Health!

Hello readers! We are happy to announce that XOOD Health will be sponsoring Team nanoblur-Gears for 2010!
Check out the website!

www.XOODHEALTH.COM

It's a great product produced by 2 cardiologists who are also elite athletes. It's natural, aspartame and filler free and tastes great! We are excited to use it this year! Not to mention the great flavours! Mangosteen, Pomegranate and Green Tea! Nice!

Thank you XOOD!!!! We look forward to working with you!

Team nanoblur-Gears

COME OUT AND SUPPORT TEAM NANOBLUR-GEARS @ GEARS BIKE SHOP FEB 10TH!

Hello fellow cycling enthusiasts! We hope to see you out supporting Team Nanoblur-Gears on Feb. 10th @ Gears Bike Shop; at the corner of Lakeshore Road and Mississauga Road!!!

Olympian Leigh Hobson will be presenting about training, goal setting and talking to us about her experiences at the Olympic Games Road Race! You can have a chance to pick her brain! How great is that!

Meet the rest of the team and ask any questions you may be interested in knowing about racing and training!There is a lot of experience in the group!

See our sponsors products and go home with some great samples!

Check out our new Team Bike the "Specialized Amira!"

BUY A TEAM DRI-FIT T SHIRT AND HELP SUPPORT A GOOD CAUSE! PROCEEDS WILL GO TO "friendsofwecare.org" to help support disabled children and help them get to summer camp!

Lots of great stuff! Snacks and drinks as well.

Bring your friends and family and support the Team and a great cause!

We hope to see you there!

The Team

Announcing Team Nanoblur-Gears for 2010!

And finally we are ON! Team Nanoblur-Gears is official! We are so thankful to all of our sponsors for their support of our team. It is a great opportunity for us to race across North America and represent Canada! Thank you to all of our sponsors:
Nanoblur (Indeed Labratories)
Gears Bike Shop
MI Developments
Juvederm
Extreme Pita
Race Merchandise
Honey Stinger
L2RCP
Quarq Power Units
XOOD
Specialized

Check out our team press release link on the right!

We will keep you posted as the team unravels and the season gets under way!
Stay tuned for our NEW KIT!