Team Kenda camping in FL

Last week was the first gathering of Team KENDA for the 2009 season. We gathered in Mt. Dora, Florida for a few days of riding and team bonding. It was soooo much fun and almost all of the Elite team plus a few regional riders made the trip to our castle on the water. We stayed at this amazing house that had some interesting decor

there were literally over 100 of these guys throughout the property. The sunsets were nice too.



The weather was cool by Florida standards but downright beautiful for anyone from the north. Temps were in the upper 50s to nearly 70 during the day and it felt great to ride in bare legs and occasionally bare arms. Our loooong drive down started with 5 hours of tense driving on slippery roads and our poor car was in desperate need of a de-salting.


We made it there safe and sound though and enjoyed several days of long rides and lots of laughing and fun. We have a really amazing group of girls put together for this season and I can't wait for the racing to begin.




Our house was on the route for several rides in the area which was super convenient. Jackie's dad Steve and his teammate Kirk also led us on two awesome rides through the area - thanks so much guys! I was truly impressed with the roads and terrain around the area. It was great to get in 100 miles on Sunday and all in all 17 hours of riding over 5 days - a very welcome break from the subzero temps Wisconsin was having!

And the guys made sure to bring us to the locally famous Yalahala Bakery for some nourishment in the middle of the long rides.


Here are a few more of my favorite shots from camp!

Kat is our cookie queen! She brings these tasty treats with her almost everywhere she goes - thanks Kat!

This is Ally getting up close and personal with one of the gargoyles. You can't help but be laughing when Ally is around. While passing by random people on our ride she liked to wish them a Merry Christmas and she also came up with the perfect idea of playing hide and seek in our castle. I haven't done that since I was like 10 but it was soooo much fun and the house had a lot of great hiding spots.

Mary also introduced many of us to the team bonding activity of levitation. Many of us had played "light as a feather, stiff as a board" as kids but we were amazed at how we could seemingly make people practically float out of their chair.

Here is Becca looking a little skeptical as the lifters focus their energy above her

and up she goes!

So all of the cyclists made it through the rides without a single flat tire - KENDA tires rock! But unfortunately near the end of our century ride Paul (who was driving sag behind us for pictures, etc.) managed to get a butter knife stuck in his tire! Bummer!


A few boyfriends/husbands came down for the camp including Dave. Here we are outside at another bakery stop.


Jackie even branded her car with some team graffiti


A fun team picture on the last day.


All in all an awesome trip and a great way to kick off our season together. Racing is still a ways off but camp definitely helped motivate me to focus on getting in some solid base training in the coming weeks.

Coming back to 20 degrees and Wisconsin is a little rough but I put some new studded tires yesterday on the cross bike and commuted to Planet Bike. It was pretty fun to cut through the snow with ease and I'm looking forward to getting out more even when the conditions are bad. We've still got plenty of snow so the skiis will see lots of use in the next couple of weeks too.

Thanks for reading!