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