I have just returned to Canada after our latest team camp which took place in the Appellation mountains in Western South Carolina.

I spent the two weeks in the deep south training, racing, talking to team sponsors, and feigning an ability to speak French with my teammates from Quebec.

I'll start with the training: it was amazing. If you ever have an opportunity to go ride in the Appellations, take it. The climbs are epic, the views are spectacular, and the roads are smooth with little traffic.

The racing also went well as Garneau Evolution/Club Chaussures raced aggressively and had some strong results in a tough field.

Another big part of the camp was meeting with sponsors who gave us instructions on how to use and how to set up our new equipment for this year. The coolest new toy we got was an ibike, which is a brand of power metre that can even measure airspeed!

The camp was topped off with a team outing to a traditional Carolina Southern BBQ consisting of shredded pork, hushpuppies, baked beans, and 'slaw. It was amazing.

Now it's back to Victoria for a week before I move my home base to Vancouver for the rest of the season.

See Y'all later

Chris McGarity