Here is how the final three days of our Bright camp unfolded……

Wednesday – Day 3

Today could only be described as an epic day.  The senior boys along with Steve Payne headed off over Mt Hotham and dropped down the other side to Omeo.  Their ride comprised 4500m of climbing, 8hrs in the saddle, 220km in the legs along with several team time trial efforts.  They departed at 8am and arrived back at the Bright Chalet at 5.30pm.  Asked how the ride went, Nick Bien said “well, it was quite the adventure”.

The women and U17 riders started the day with a bike skills session on the Chalet tennis court.  Bunny hoping, track standing, weaving in and out of cones, knocking cones, picking up cones and riding slowly were explained and practiced.

Then it was out on the bikes to warm up for an 8km time trial according to google maps (but it ended up only being a 6km’s – maybe the coaches were just being nice!).  All riders started 30sec apart and coach Helen drove ahead to record their times.  The effort put into their time trial was impressive.  Carol and Hannah are tuning up for their Para Nationals next week so it was important that both of them did a hard threshold effort as part of their preparation. Bob and Helen will be heading to Calloundra with them next week as they strive to win a national road and time trial title.

Next it was an easy spin out to Harietteville and then the climbing began.  Hamish, Ed, Steve Carroll, Alex, Drew, Jayden and Ben climbed to Little Baldy (just below the summit), whilst the rest of the gang climbed to the toll gates. There were many tired but happy riders who were pleased with the climb they had conquered.

The U17’s and para cyclists then said goodbye as it was time for them to head home and get some much needed recovery.  Coach Bec also departed and we thank her for the knowledge she imparted and the help she gave all the cyclists.

Dinner was another scrumptious affair with all the cyclists happily delighted with the 10 different main courses to choose from.  Dessert was popular with apple crumble and ice cream being inhaled by everyone.

Thursday – Day 4

We warmed up our legs with a lap of the Wandilligong road and then headed out to climb Mt Buffalo.  The U19 and older boys had two reps of the climb, which they thoroughly enjoyed!!!  The girls and masters riders did one rep of the climb and spent an hour at the top enjoying the view.  The weather was 28C and it was just lovely up on top of the mountain.  In fact, all week we have had temperatures in the high 20’s, without a drop of rain.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather.

Most athletes were keen for a less structured afternoon after yesterdays epic day.  The pool was well used and all the riders used the foam rollers, spikey balls, golf balls, etc to eleviate sore glutes and ITB’s.

You just can’t beat practical core strength training and what better way to apply core work then to ask the boys to wash cars!  They soaped and scrubbed the support vehicles used during each days training and many of them said they couldn’t wait to get home to apply this practical core skill with their parents vehicles each week!!!

The track worlds were on SBS so after dinner we gathered around the TV and yelled encouragement to our fellow aussies.  One of our masters athletes, Steve Payne is a Brit so we had to be polite and courteous when the Brits beat us in several events.  Grrrrrr……

By 10pm most cyclists were exhausted and headed to bed.

Friday – Day 5

The final day for the U19 and senior riders.  As a reward for a hard week of training, all athletes were given an extra hour of sleep and we had our last buffet breakfast at 8am instead of 7.

We did a leisurely recovery ride for 2 hours out to Myrtleford and back.  After several days of hard riding, an easy day was much appreciated by all the cyclists and coaches!

A quick final dip in the pool upon our return and then it was time to say goodbye.  The Kelly coaches announced that the communication lock down was over and returned the riders phones.  We also handed out Easter eggs (only mini eggs but after 700km of riding there isn’t a chance of these athletes getting fat).

So at 1pm we said goodbye and all athletes went on their way. Several athletes commented that the camp exceeded their expectations which is what we plan to do.  It was a great week of training and well done to the way the athletes applied themselves each day.  Your hard work will reap rewards.

Happy Easter and see many of you soon