Austin Camp

December 3-10

Austin camp is always a relaxed atmosphere. Usually so relaxed it is a
two mechanic trip. But Julien decided to make the trip along with Chris
to make three mechanics.

Austin is breakfast and lunch at the hotel in some conference room
converted into a dining area just for our team. But dinners are always
out some where. Fun and relaxed outings. One day to Cheuy’s (mex). A day
with pizza brought to our office (which happens to be across from out
hotel) and a low key meet and greet with some of our office people. One
day to BBQ (the world Famous Salt Lick). As every year in this camp we
go to Jeff Garvy’s house for a great catered meal and a small live band.
And this year something new. One day this camp, we had dinner at Lance’s
new (huge) house as he was also hosting the behind the scenes people
from the LAF.

The training rides are not that long. The longest being 4 hours and
typical was 2.5 to 3 hours. I somehow got uber lucky and did not go one
day in the follow car. Man the car is boring sometimes. Especially on
training rides. So I got lucky. Besides some training rides, the gym was
also a place to let the guys get some different workouts and since 24
hour fitness is one of our sponsors it was an easy mix.

There were two fun activities scheduled. One was shifter cart racing.
But for some reason that got canceled. I don’t blame management for
changing their minds. With 14 antsy bike racers and about 12 staff it
could have been ugly with “friendly competition” easily escalating to
massive proportions.

Like last year, paint ball was on the agenda. Last year I was sick and
either in bed or vomiting for two days straight. This year I was healthy
and eager to try my FIRST EVER attempt at paint ball. A few tips from my
buddies and I was off. Again it was 14 riders and 12 staff evenly split
into two teams. Team “A” was Johan’s pick and Team “B” was Dirk’s pick.
I was on the “A” team and we managed to win ALL 4 games. Two games we
played in the “forest” and two games we played in the “buildings”. I
think I did well and was never out before we won the match. Except the
last game where I was hit within about 20 seconds of the word GO. All in
all we all had fun. Except Janez and one other rider (I forget who)
because USADA was there to test them. They had to be there at the hotel
and could not enjoy the fun paint ball games.