Endurance Nation | Triathlon Coaching, Ironman Training, Half Ironman, Beginner Triathlon

Every year since 2007, we’ve conducted a training camp for our members on the Tour of California course. There are camps where you can swim, bike and run a lot…but no other camp puts you ON the course of a pro tour race, riding a couple hours ahead of the peleton — sprint towns and KOM’s with rabid cycling fans cheering you on, mountaintop finishes, numerous opportunities to see the pros up close, and the camaraderie of campers working together to not get rolled up the peleton!

From 2007 to 2009, the race was held in February. Our athletes used the camp as an end-of-the-OutSeason reward for all of their hard work and to get a huge head start on building their endurance for the long course racing season. Now that the race is in May, campers use the camp as their first or final volume push before their A-races in the summer.

Campers ride Stages 1 thru 7, logging 300-400 miles and 25-30 hours of time on the bike…and did we mention that this is ON the course of a pro tour, WHILE the Tour is happening around them. So very, very cool. We think it’s a testament to the uniqueness of the camp that this year all but 4 of the campers were joining us for their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th ENToC!

Stage 1: South to North Lake Tahoe
We woke up to about 4 inches of…snow!  The Tour hadn’t sorted out it’s plan yet so we drove to North Lake Tahoe to check out the conditions along the route and maybe get in a ride from the top of the bike course loop. But we experienced whiteout conditions and very icy roads for much of the drive. Riding was a no-go and the race ended up cancelling the Stage. Too bad, as everyone was really looking forward to riding around Lake Tahoe but we made the best of it by scoping out the expo. We loaded everyone up and drove to our hotel in Truckee.

The Campers, ready to ride Stage 1!

Stage 2: Squaw Valley to Sacramento

The route for Stage 2 was a new one this year, featuring a ride over Donner Pass. However, the pass was snowed in so the race moved the start and route to Nevada City, shortening the stage to about 65 miles to Sacramento. We drove to Nevada City and started our ride from there, stopping in the town of Wheatland to watch the peleton go by before taking our own route to our next hotel in Auburn. While in town waiting for the race we asked some locals for routing recommendations…which ended up being quite hilly! We ended the day with 71 miles, 4:30 ride time, and 7500 ft of gain.

The Pro Peleton!

Stage 3: Auburn to Modesto
This was another new route for 2011. The day was mostly flat to rolling into the wind…and then the rain…and then more wind! We grouped the camper into an A-Group of 8 riders and B-Group of 6 riders, each group working very well together to shelter each other from the winds.

Stage 4: Livermore to San Jose
Good weather, finally!! This stage strung together some of the best sections of previous Tours: Mines Rd, Mount Hamilton, the descent from Mt Hamilton to San Jose and, new for the Tour of California, a finish atop Sierra Road. Sierra Road is about 5k at 9-18% grade and has been featured every year of the Tour, but having a stage finish at the top was new for 2011. Highlights:

• Mines Road: featured a KOM at the end of 4-5 mile climb at 4-7% grade. The road then continues for about another 18 miles at a 1-3% grade. We continued across the plateau to the start of the…
• Mount Hamilton climb: this is a long and surprising steep climb that brought us up into the clouds, mist and cold before descending down the backside to San Jose. We were cheered by a few spectators who braved the cold conditions to cheer the pros, and us, from the switchbacks.
• Mt Hamilton descent: a long, winding descent on a rather rough road, with streams of cyclists riding up to the KOM at the top of Mt Hamilton.
• San Jose: when we dropped into San Jose, we were greeted with streets packed with rabid cycling fans cheering us in the corners and urging us on to Sierra Road!
• Sierra Road: what’s the road like? Imagine about 5000 people on a 5k hill, sitting on sides of the road awaiting the tour. Now put another 1000-2000 cyclists, on all manner of two wheeled machine, climbing the hill to test their fitness before picking a spot to cheer on the race. Just…awesome! We were able to get within about a 100m of the finishline before being directed to dismount — good enough! We then descended to a good view point and awaited the Tour.
• The Tour: first come the CHP motorcycles and cars clearing the road. Next, camera motorcycles and race director vehicles. Then…Chris Horner in his Tour winning solo-breakaway, smile on his face, climbing Sierra at literally TWICE our speed! Nothing puts the separation between pro cyclist, and triathlon schmuck more into perspective than watching these guys go up a hill…just crazy! Next came the chase groups with Levi, Andy and other GC contenders followed by small groups of stragglers. We decided to begin our descent back to the camp vans and got a few corners before diving for the ditch to make way for the “autobus,” 100+ riders working together to make the time cutoff, taking up every inch of the road. Very cool to be within inches of these guys!

JENS!!!

The Fans

Antler Guy, on Sierra Road

The Autobus, on Sierra Road

Stage 5: Seaside to Paso Robles
The original route for Stage 5 was to ride down the California coast before cutting inland to finish at Paso Robles. However, the heavy rains we had this season washed out a section of the road which, while having been “mostly” repaired, wasn’t up to the task of accommodating the huge vehicle footprint of the Tour, the race changed the route to head inland through Carmel Valley, King City, ride about 20 miles of the Wildflower course (backwards) before finishing in Paso Robles. Rich has ridden all of those roads and while scenic…it isn’t the coast!

So we made an audible and decided to take the campers on about the best ride you can do in California — ride down Pacific Coast Highway from Monterrey and through Big Sur, carrying on south to Naciemento-Furgesson Road. NFR is a little known road that climbs over the Coastal Range — ~2500ft in 7 miles — before descending into the rolling “old California” scenery of Fort Hunter Liggett.

The ride did not disappoint! You may not know it, but the reason why you ride a bike is so you can use your fitness to enjoy the sweeping, scenic views on the PCH from the seat of your bicycle. Every climb, every corner, every descent presents you with new breathtaking scenery. Just as importantly, because we were not being chased by 200 pro cyclists, we could take our time and enjoy ourselves. Campers were able to watch the start in Seaside before rolling out of town at their own pace, enjoy some ice cream in Big Sur, stop for photos along the route, and just enjoy themselves without the pressure of the Tour.

Campers finished the day with ~94 miles and over 8k of gain. A few hardy souls did a quick 6 miles near the vans to make it an even century

Rolling through Fort Hunter-Liggett

Stage 6: Solvang Time Trial
The Time Trial returned to Solvang this year, where it’s been every year with the exception of 2010. The time trial offers us a much deserved rest day and the opportunity get our pro-tour FanBoy/Gal on, big time! We rolled out of our hotel in Buelton for a leisurely ride of the first half of time trial course (15 miles long, total) before taking an out and back detour into Foxen Canyon. Once back in town we tested our fitness on the course — racing each other through the “Corkscrew” and other technical sections of the time trial course. After quickly changing into their casual clothes the campers were then free to spend the rest of the day eating pastry one of the dozen faux-Danish pastry shops in town, ogle all of the tour bikes, TT set ups, vans, trailers, the expo and the general cycling festival vibe of the event. We ended the day over lamb kebabs, microbrews and a fire on Rich’s deck.

Tyler Phinney's ride

Dave Zabriske, completely shelled after his course record setting time trial

Around the firepit at EN West Coast HQ

Stage 7: Claremont to Mount Baldy
The Queen Stage of the Tour, in Rich’s backyard! Rich rode the course in mid-April, racking up 10,200ft of climbing in 72 miles and 5:15 ride time. This course is legit! We decided to amend the route a bit, so we could see the Tour multiple times and experience the fans along the course, dropping the campers into Mt Baldy Village with enough time climb to the “Mount Baldy Ski Lifts,” a legendary climb in the San Gabriel mountains that features 5 miles at 8-15%, with several 20%+ switchbacks! This is how the day played out:

• We rolled from Monrovia in two groups to the base of Glendora Mtn Road — 9 miles at 5-6% with a KOM at the top. We picked up sandwiches and our last SAG of the day before continuing on across Glendora Ridge Road (12 miles at 4-6%) to Mt Baldy Village.
• We were stopped along GRR by the CHP…the Tour is coming! No worries, find some shade, eat your sandwich and wait for the Tour. George Hincappie was in a break with 7-8 other riders, followed by the rest of the Tour about 8-9 minutes back.
• Once the road was cleared we carried on across the ridge to Mt Baldy Village, cheered by cycling fans the whole way.
• Baldy Village…was NUTS! Every foot of the five mile, 8-20% climb was lined with cycling fans cheering us on as we struggled to make it to the ski lifts, to finish a solid week of incredible cycling. The Pope blessed us with holy water from a cycling bottle and we were chased by Dick Nixon in a speedo!

KOM at the top of Glendora Mountain Road

At the top of Mt Baldy -- camp is DONE!!

View all of our camp photos here

So much great riding and so many good times sharing the experience with our athletes! We can’t wait for next year!

Interested in joining us for the Tour of California 2012?
Space is strictly limited to ensure a quality experience for all campers. Slots are made available first to former campers. Slots not taken (generally only about 6-8 of the 16-18 total) are then offered up to TeamEN members. The ENToC is a members-only camp. You must be a member of Endurance Nation, or receive a personal referral from an EN member, preferably a former camp attendee.

Go here to create a FREE 5-day trial membership.

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This is what it's all about

The Endurance Nation Tour of California is four years old. Endurance Nation itself will mark it’s three year anniversary at Ironman Couer d’Alene, born over coffee, beers, and brainstorming between Patrick and me in 2007. The two have grown together to become two very, very cool halves of the same coin.

The Tour of California Training Camp is probably the coolest training camp you can do. Some camps offer more volume and cater to an “elite” crowd. Other camps charge you a ton of dough to train on your Ironman course or to teach you skills. This camp, by contrast:

• Is an all abilities experience, with campers ranging from 15hr+ to sub 10hr Ironmans.
• Let’s you experience the incredible variety of terrain and riding that California has to often. The pictures speak for themselves.
• Puts you on a pro tour course, 2-3 hours ahead of the race, complete with sprint towns, KOM’s, and cheering fans.

There is just no other camp like it and we are proud to offer this as a natural step in the evolutionary progression of our athletes.

As a three year old long course triathlon team, we have seen many of members progress from wide-eyed first timer to veteran Kona qualifier or “I want to do something cool with my fitness.” The Tour of California is the ultimate definition of cool stuff.

The net is that our Tour of California has assumed it’s place on the top step of many members’ goals, right up there with qualifying for/racing Kona. For our 3+ Ironman finisher athletes looking for the next challenge to experience with their Team, ToC is it.

And it really is about the Team. As the primary organizer and leader of the camp it was very powerful to be able to say “I’ve coached, trained, and formed friendships with every single one of the campers getting in the vans with us in Sacramento. These are great, great folks and the people in the camp are truly going to make the camp for the campers. The riding and training will be bonus.”

For many of the campers themselves, ToC was a reunion with old friends. For others it was a chance to add a physical dimension to the internet friendships they had shared for years. And that’s exactly how it all worked out — the people made the camp. Overhearing the conversations and watching friendships made and strengthened on the bike, over dinner, and in the vans, was the highlight of the camp for me. I’m already looking forward to next year’s tour and we are scheming to bring our stoopid-logistically-challenging-training-camp expertise to bear to create similar camp opportunities for our members and the public.

The lesson is this:

Your fitness is a vehicle for doing cool stuff. Build that vehicle, put cool stuff on the calendar, find cool friends to do it with you and call it training.

In a couple days on I’m on a plane to Lake Placid to offer a free training camp on the course to our athletes and the public. Just another example of how we do things differently in here.

–Rich Strauss

The Endurance Nation Tour of California is a members-only event. Please join our waiting list to receive an invitation to join TeamEN as space becomes available.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Jens, the patron saint of Work WORKS!!

Theme of the Day: We can rest…FINALLY!!!

Summary: We sleep in, pack the bikes, watch the TT downtown and take WAY too many pictures of pro’s and sweet bikes!

The Full Run Down
6 days, over 25hrs, and nearly 400 miles of riding and we are DONE!! Time to rest and watch the pro’s take on the mean streets of Los Angeles for the time trial stage!

Though he has the day off, Riley assumes his post as Camp Mascot

Sonny tries to stowaway in a camper bike box

A Schleck, in need of a sammich

Spartacus!

George warms up

Mo' Jens is always Mo' Betta'

Chrissie sighting, after her TT on the course before the race

Camper Chris (HED hat) scores a spot IN the start house!

Trent scores a spot ON the TT announcer's platform!

Chris Horner

The Laydeez compare pro tour boyfriend pics over beers at the Yardhouse

The Endurance Nation Tour of California is a members-only event. Please join our waiting list to receive an invitation to join TeamEN as space becomes available.

Popularity: 8% [?]

The riding does not suck in California

Theme of the Day: Yeah, no, this stage is boring….let’s do something epically cool!

Summary: Coach Rich leverages his knowledge of California’s best roads to create a custom stage — a climb through Sequoia National Forest, max elevation of 7300 feet, then a descent down the Kern River to a sprint finish just outside Kernville!

The Full Run Down: It seems that most years the Tour includes a stage that is less than exciting, meant to put in the miles between points A and B. Last year it was a mostly flat and windy stage across the Central Valley…which we skipped, opting instead to ride through Fort Hunter Liggett to the coast and back, one of the most scenic rides in California. This year it was Stage 5 from Visalia to Bakersfield. A little weary of the time pressure of being chased by the Tour and so close to the Sierras and epic riding, we pulled ourselves off the course and rode through Sequoia National Forest to Kernville instead!

The plan was simple: drive out of Visalia and into the mountains until the GPS said we were at about 3500ft elevation. Jump out of the vans and climb south on Hwy 190 and the Western Divide Hwy through Sequoia National Forest, over 7300ft elevation and through the Trail of 100 Giants. Descend down to the Kern River and finish up in Kernville before our drive to Monrovia, Rich’s home outside LA.

The ride, the scenery, and the relaxed timeline of the day was just what we needed to recharge our heads, if not our legs. The campers still got in X and Y, but the views were worth the work. The A-Group had fun attacking each other into the wind on the run into Kernville before an impromptu final sprint before the vans, which were conveniently staged at a general store offering tri-tip sammiches, milkshakes, and the Tour live on TV!

Coach Rich, after having cycled and moto’ed much of central and southern California, from SanFran to San Diego, declared this to be the BEST ride he has ever done. Period. Enjoy the pictures below!

Stage 5, DIY, Map and Profile on MapMyRide.com

Stage 5 Pictures and Video

Nemo, INSIDE a tree on the Trail of 100 Giants

More fun with ludicrous big trees...

Dan Socie, Coach Rich, and Trent "Drillbit" Prough at a roadside waterfall, elevation ~7k feet.

Sequoia National Forest, 7k feet elevation, and the road to ourselves!

Quick regroup on Western Divide Hwy before the descent to the Kern river

Waterfall, upper Kern River

Campers watch the final minutes of Stage 5, live, while enjoying tri-tip and shakes

The Endurance Nation Tour of California is a members-only event. Please join our waiting list to receive an invitation to join TeamEN as space becomes available.

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EN ToC is met by members of the EN NorCal Sleeper Cell

Theme of the Day: The Team that is Endurance Nation comes together to make some pretty cool stuff happen for the camp.

Summary: We climb legendary Sierra Road right out of the gate, the EN NorCal Sleeper Cell meets the camp and leads us around some road closures, many are introduced to their first 20-25 mile continuous climb while the TeamEN machinery kicks into gear to take care of Coach Patrick and get him out of the San Jose hospital and back to his family as soon as possible.

The Full Run Down
After the excitement and chaos of Stage 3, we were ready to get back to business on the Tour of California course!  Stage 4 served up a mix of old and new terrain:

• The legendary Sierra Road climb. This 5k, 8-17% climb has been featured every year of the Tour. For us, it’s like seeing an old friend…who promptly punches you in the nose 5 miles from your hotel!
• The ride around Lake Calaveras, another Tour staple and one of the best example of “classic” California riding.
• Mines Road, new this year but scouted out by Coach Rich during a training camp for the EN NorCal Sleeper Cell.
• Del Puerto Canyon Rd to Patterson, a remix from ’08, except this year we would descend the canyon from west to east rather than climb up from Patterson.
• The area comprised of Mines Rd, Del Puerto, and Mt Hamilton (from ’08) has been officially named the EN ToC Triangle, as funky stuff just always happens whenever we go in here.

The B group, now quite large as the campers were beginning to feel the cummulative effects of 4-5hrs of riding each day, left 40′ ahead of the now-very-small A-group, riding through town to the base of Sierra Rd. Some of the campers decided to TT up the hill (or at least to pay attention to their time) while others just got up the KOM. From there it’s a quick and scenic descent on Felter Road and then the course pops over the ridge and sweeps through the hills and switchbacks over looking Lake Calaverras. It’s hard to believe you only a few miles from downtown San Jose!

The course dropped down to the I-680 intersection for a regroup of all the campers. Coach Rich had organized an “admin portage” to shoot those interested forward through the course to either the base or the top of the next KOM, near the start of Mines Road. Stage 4 was a monster stage and we made sure that everyone knew there was still much riding to come in the Tour. Those wanting to get in the miles were met by the EN NorCal Sleeper Cell, several members who took off from work to meet their virtual teammates, many for the first time, and lead us around some road closures to the base of Mines Road. The scene in the Park and Ride was like a high school reunion, as 2-3 year long friendships created in our forum were cemented with a real world hug, handshake, and face-to-face. As leaders of the EN community, this was very, very cool to see!

But we’ve got riding to do! About 9 of us, led by the cell members, rode smoothly about 15 miles on surface streets to the base of Mines Road, where they peeled off and we continued with our day. Mines Road is a “classic” California climb, with a steep 5k start (the KOM) and then 20+ miles of continuous 3-5% grade climbing to a plateau before dropping 15+ miles down Del Puerto Canyon Rd to our extraction in Patterson.

The EN ToC Triangle: something always throws us a curveball in this area. It’s stoopid remote, with no cell service, and there always seems to be an overzellous volunteer or local police working traffic. The net this year is that our rear SAG vehicle was prevented from following the A-group into the Triangle and we were left to fend for ourselves. Again, this is a situation unique to the ToC: the road behind you is closed, you have unexpectedly lost your support vehicle, but you do have a cue sheet that tells you when the peleton is expected to be where you are now (ie, I’m about 60′ ahead of them!!). You’re out of water = you forage for water and even a bike pump to fix a flat quickly from the spectators on the road. The Team works together to get everyone through the course, to include creating a wind-breaking phalanx or a well placed push on the back to help out the weaker riders. Fun stuff, always an adventure!

Everyone made it safely to Patterson where we gorged on fast food before watching the peleton blast by and continuing with our day and drive to Visalia. Once at the hotel we found that we had chosen the same digs as Cervelo, BMC, Jelly Belly, United Healthcare and others. Much bike porn in the parking lot and the female campers were able to get their groupie on, snapping pics with skinny EuroProDoodes and fantasizing what they could do with the published room assignments. Sorry, ladies, bail is NOT included in the price of the camp!

Meanwhile, back in San Jose, the TeamEN machine was mobilizing to get Patrick out of the hospital and into a member’s home for several days of physical therapy before he was able to get on a flight to Boston. Very, very cool to see the team work so hard to make this happen!

Stage 4 Map and Profile

Stage 4 in Pictures and Video

Felter Rd Descent

Lake Calaveras

EN ToC meets EN NorCal Sleeper Cell

Nemo and Kitima get their groupie on

The Endurance Nation Tour of California is a members-only event. Please join our waiting list to receive an invitation to join TeamEN as space becomes available.

Popularity: 7% [?]