In reality, a racing season is a full year as we race in three seasons and train hard in the fourth—and, ever-so-slowly we are beginning to race through the entire year as there are an increasing number of races in late October and early January. Fifteen years ago, training camps were where teams gathered for their first rides of the new year having spent a good few months skiing, relaxing and cross training. Today, after two weeks to a month off the bike, we train through the winter to show up at camp in good enough shape to reach a point where we only need a little speed and fine-tuning to achieve racing fitness.

When we arrived at our official team training camp in San Luis Obispo last week, our team had already been racing at the Tour Down Under and had dominated the race while also winning the first ProTour jersey of the year. The boys arrived from Australia, tanned, skinny, happy and motivated, having achieved more than what was expected or imagined.

After battling jet lag for a few days, everybody slid into the daily routines in California where we have spent most the days on our bikes, in the gym and eating meals. Thankfully, the day we arrived, the weather turned from rain to sunshine and we have had some ideal weather for training. Last week, we had a true sportsman’s week with 34 hours on the bike along with an added half hour in the gym each evening. The gym sessions are not only for building strength but are also designed to prevent injuries and resolve imbalances or biomechanical issues.

We have taken over the hotel as the team totals about seventy with the men’s and women’s rosters, the staff, and management. The team is unique in that we are the only Pro Tour squad with a women’s team. Most days they have trained separately from us but otherwise we are considered one, as we eat all of our meals together, the photos are taken as one team and all activities within the camp are done together.

The training rides have been structured where we split into four groups—a classics group, a Tour of California group, the two other groups that aren’t racing imminently—and have programmed routes and intervals. Each evening our team coach gives us a sheet outlining the coming days’ activities, the groups and the training.

On a six-hour ride we can cover a lot of ground, and a lot of topics in conversation. To break up the ride we often stop for a coffee in the last couple of hours. The stops also add a social element to the rides and let us see some of the community outside of our hotel. Three days ago we stopped in a small coastal town, watched the surfers ride waves and chatted for a few minutes before getting back on to finish off our last interval on the way home.

I am rooming with George Hincapie—just like the old days at Discovery and U.S. Postal. Cycling is an odd sport and job in that the athletes often spend more time on the road during the season, with a roommate than at home with his family. So, finding a good roommate that lives the same patterns and routines is essential to making the most of the season, and also in many ways, to having a good season as being positive and happy is as important as being physically fit. We have our routines that are still the same as they were two years ago at Discovery. And, as we both have children, we have a lot in common at home as well.

The team is clad in new clothing with a California BMX/surf look to it, which suits the team well as it is now officially based in San Luis Obispo. Right to Play, an organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, peace and life skills in developing nations is featured on our jerseys—they are not a sponsor but an organization we are supporting as a team. As athletes it is a group we can help directly and personally.

While we waited for our photo session to get set up on the beach, we tossed around the old pigskin, kicked around soccer balls on the beach and spun Frisbees. Cyclists are innately competitive so the play became a little aggressive at times and the next day a few of us woke up slightly sore from throwing too hard and tackling each other. On the rest day, in Californian style, many of the guys suited up for some surfing while other played water polo in the pool. It is hot enough here to be summer so surely we’ll be able to start the season in Europe tanned and ready to go.