FinKraft will once again host a training camp in Tucson, AZ in 2012. Thisis a perfect opportunity to build your base fitness and train like a pro with all the support you will need to do so. The minute you sign up you are committed to start training for your training camp , so the one week you spend with us riding 30 + hours has a very long term affect . You train to be in shape for the camp , once there you have the opportunity to just train , eat sleep/recover and this a tremendous boost in fitness , so when you come home you will be on a high and motivated to start racing and continue training . In other words this one week camp can have a several month effect on your fitness and motivation.
Most of you know I had a very bad crash in August at the New Hampshire 100 MTB race and the severity of my injuries has made the decision to have the FinKraft Cycling Camp in Tuscon in 2012 a difficult one. The FinKraft cycling camps, both in Arizona and Italy, are a trade mark of FinKraft and more camps are in the plans for the future. After carefully considering my condition and being very optimistic about my recovery, we have decided to go ahead with the 2012 Arizona cycling camp after all and it is time to sign up , because the camps will fill up fast. Start of camp is less than 4 months away and there are definitely still many uncertainties about my condition but the neck brace is coming off shortly and I've had my first indoor ride on a spin bike equipped with PowerCranks of course! I am going to very honest with you and say that riding with you every day at the camp might not be possible. This does not mean that your cycling camp experience could not be better than that of those who attended the camp in 2011. The service and the famous FinKraft hospitality will be at the highest level again and I will be next to you guys every minute of every ride, either on my bike, on a scooter or in a team car to assist and lead you . If I am unable to ride, I can offer an even more pro-level service with wheel support (wheels-in, wheels-out, just kidding), handing you food and drinks, video taping and much, much more. We will make every day a pro level experience for you.
The ride schedule is pretty standard and proven here in Tucson. Sundays is a meeting and greeting day, airport pick-up and drop-off's .Room assignments and a briefing about the camp and etc. A short ride in the afternoon over Gates Pass with a short loop to loosen up and check bikes for proper function and we are ready for our first dinner . The week will be a mix of climbing days , long and steady , and flatter roads with some wind. Well there is a little wind every day or more some days.
Mt Lemon is just an awesome climb that we can do anything on. Endurance , tempo or even some harder efforts if we wanted to . On top we get experience the altitude and as a reward the gigantic cookie is always waiting for us. There was a lot less snow last year and let's hope we have the same luck in 2012 , so not too cold and the decent back down is just a blast, 30 mph for 45 min with nice sweeping turns in other words free motor pacing.The Mt Lemon is such an awesome ride that we do it twice ( each week)
The Benson-Tombestone- Bisbee and back is a great 100 mile ride . Perfectly spaced stops and not too much climbing , just open roads in the desert with two really cool towns on the way. Pretty epic ride with the wind and the distance. Bisbee is just a cool laid back town and a perfect turn around point with a bakery to fuel us up for the ride back . With Tombstone as a half way point both ways , a real western town still alive . Then we have the Ora Valley- Oracle - Mamouth and back. This is the famous Empenada ride , with the 11 mile decent into a canyon where the one horse town of Mamouth lays. 
The one problem is after eating 3-4 freshly baked apple or pumpkin empenadas we have to climb back out of the canyon. Easy day though and back a little earlier than most other days. A perfect mid week ride with a little more time in the afternoon to have a presentation by an bike industry rep etc. Then we have the Queen stage , the 6 hour + ride from the house( base camp to Kitt Peak ) we do a little later in the week to test both our mental and physical strenght. Kitt Peak is about 6700 feet , a 12 mile climb , steeper than Lemon and about 45 miles to get to . Of course there is a fun downhill involved , but the ride back is not easy with Gates Pass and back to Casa de FinKraft. You can see what an accomplishment and satisfaction each rider shows on their faces when they roll back into the garage . For dinner that night we have lasagna and lot's of it -:) . The whole week is about training over extending with proper rest and nutrition to really boost your level of fitness. This point of the camp is when you start feeling the miles , but also realize that you can Do It ! It is almost like you go through a transformation and you want more of this good stuff . As a reward we will go up Mt Lemmon on Friday again and you would think we all have tired legs by now , but that is not always the case . We know the climb now from doing it earlier in the week , so I think that helps us judge the effort and it is a lot of fun reaching the top a 2nd time in one week . Then there is the finally on Sat . Early wake up and down to Starbucks on University boulevard . Not to have coffee , but be part of one of the most famous group rides in the US , the Shoot Out . This is a fast and very big local group ride that some time could be more than 200 riders of all different levels. You might have the chance to ride next to some well known pros and measure you strenght against some really fast riders , kind of a taste of racing and a nice way of ending the week. You do not have to win this ride and please be careful , it is not worth crashing in early March . We all meet after at Starbucks again and ride back to the house .
Saturday of the camp is a great day . A great sense of accomplishment and a great afternoon to hang out by the pool and reflect of what we just went trough on this amazing week .
Time to do a little packing and then have some pizza and a couple of beers while watching some pictures and videos from our rides we did the past 7 days .
If you have done these camps before this blog post is very familiar and maybe it is something you are looking forward to again . If you are thinking about attending the 2012 camps , read and watch some of the pictures or blogs from the past years and that should be enough to get you excited for sure , I am excited just writing this and I am thinking of ways how we can make it even more exciting every day .
Hope to see you in Arizona this spring or later in Italy .http://sites.google.com/site/finkraftcoaching/services/cycling-training-camps/arizona-training-camp
Thanks for reading ,
Roger
A month ago it was that time of the year again , Training Camp time. 
The weather back home on the East Coast had been terrible this winter and riding out doors has not been an option for most of us . I always look forward to the AZ Camp , it is pure and very straight forward training and all about building a solid base for the season to come . 
There is a lot of planning and work that goes into this camp way before I jump in the van ( which is a nice new addition to the Finkraft Enterprise-:)) and make the 2500 miles trip out to Tucson. To ensure this is a Pro camp with as much support as possible from various companies that has anything to do with being able to ride for 30 hours in one week is not easy these days. 
All this would not be possible with out a lot of support from a lot of people , specially my wife Kimberly. 
This year Kim's dad Gerald and my daughter Finley got to experience the camp as well and it was just nice to have a family atmosphere during these 3 weeks . 
Finley is here demonstration how to ride the Power Cranks , not easy but a very a good training tool for sure, something to put on your wish list if you do not already have a pair. It was great feeling having these guys around at the camp the whole time this year .
Robert and Alessandro where at my side the whole camp and kept everything running smooth with the rides and any mechanical issues we had . Setting up and tiering down the camp is another job and a half and without these guys it would not be possible. At our camp everybody is kind of a family and besides us working even the clients helps out and it is just an amazing team feeling each week . Thank you all !! 
We were able to get Accelerade, Zym ,Honey Stinger and GU as our sports nutrition companies , but we at FinKraft also have to add a ton more ride food to the list , something that I would like to build on in the future and secure more sports nutrition sponsors . 
Thanks to Andreas relentless work trying to get companies supporting the camp, we were able to have a whole host of sport related products at display and to our use these three weeks . 
We can not live on sports food , so the regular meals are very important to keep the guys going day after day . Barilla pasta is a life saver for this camp , what is a cyclists favorite food ? Pasta , right !! 
To have them as a sponsor for the camp is a privilege for the camp and could not be replaced by anything else . My wife Kim is the chef at the camp and I think her doing the shopping , planning the meals for each day so well really makes this camp a success . 
Wasa , an other Scandinavian product I grew up on for lunch .The meals are something each rider remembers the most when they go home and me leading the rides and making sure the training is great seems secondary -:) . 
Then we have our Primare Oatmeal Company; Country Choice Organic. This a our conclusive breakfast source , what an incredible product , I can not say enough about what kind of fuel this company provides us with . The selection is amazing , steelcut, quicksteel and instant oatmeal an oatmeal for every occasion. I have used this product now for years and I do not start a race or ride without a Country Choice Organic meal in my stomach . 
Besides the breakfast food from Country Choice they are providing us with the Oatmeal on the Run bars which are a staple food on the rides in addition to Fit Kids snack food and the Organic cookies . I can not say enough about how great this company is , if you see these products in a store , they will be worth every Pennie and you will see what I am talking about . 
When it is hot out there ( in the 80's a lot of the days in AZ this year) or when you are riding in general you loose a lot of electrolytes , so we have ZYM in addition to Accelerade and GU . A great addition to the drinks on the bike and when we refill bottles on the road , just drop a tab in the bottle and you are good to go . 
I love these for both racing and training and you can even get the Catapult with 100 mg of caffeine , now that is a boost!! 
When the sun is bright , electrolytes are not the only thing you loose , Kiss My Face was the skin saver and protector every day and their product is all natural , something that might be worth using the rest of the summer as well when it gets nice back home , they have SunBlock and a lot of other products as well for everybody.
Dynamic Foot Systems is a company run by the famous Bill Peterson . Just unbelievable knowledge and experience when it comes to orthotics and bike fitting. Bill has 35 years of experience working with pro cyclist including Lance and other well known cyclists. To be able to meet and have a precision fitting and evaluation done by Bill is an honor and for us at the FinKraft camp to be able to do this while in Tucson each week is such an valuable asset to this Camp . Thank you Bill and stay Strong , our prayers are with you to get healthy again.
This blog was a little contribute to our sponsors at the camp and a big thank you to them helping us put this yearly event on . They support me and some of them also support the Finkraft Cycling Team through out the year . Italy/Giro camp is next and even we are in Italy you will see these names and products making that camp possible . If you were at the camp or you are interested in anything I mentioned here , you can get it from us here at FinKraft of course at a killer price -;)
Slight uphill the whole way to the base of the mountain and then a good hour of pretty serious climbing . The race was on right away , I think everybody was feeling pretty good after a rest day and some motivation from watching the Giro stage the day before.
I could only imagine how hard it would be racing up this thing for real , it was relentless . I had done this climb in 2007 , so I kind of knew it , but I do not think it helped much. Paolo has ridden this thing numerous times as well . We get to the top , there is still snow and we can look down the other side where we had to turn around the other day .
It felt like a great accomplishment that we made it to the top and it was a great closing to the camp , we had now ridden everything we had planned .
There is a small lodge just below the summit ( I stopped there as well in 2007 to warm up after climbing in the freezing rain for 2hours) , so we rolled down and we had a great lunch .
Laughing about the adventures we had gone through during the week and more Coke of course!
The ride back was nice , pretty much all down hill except for the drive to the hotel. Kevin even thought about offering us some motor pacing. A great 4 hour ride to end the camp .
A very successful week , something like 35 hours of ( mostly climbing ) riding on awesome roads with the most spectacular views. The sad thing was; now it was time to put the bike back into the box ! If Mark only could figure out why the bike box seemed smaller than it was when he came here.
There is nothing I would change about this camp and I hope when you read the entire blog about our week in Italy you get the same idea and sign up for next year . This camp is quite demanding and you need good fitness and skills , but it is also the ride of your life time everyday .
Thanks to Paolo who made all these rides possible. He also took care of the travel and lodging logistics in Italy which was perfect . Paolo was no doubt the "Man" of the camp and I really hope we can have him as our guide again next year , he even gained some fitness for himself during this week . I am very fortunate to have a friend like him , thanks again!
Fabio and Matteo at the 
The service was absolutely phenomenal and I would not stay anywhere else in the future when we go back.
Then the food and wine they served just makes me hungry thinking about it . I rode and raced a lot this year , but it is save to say these were the best days on the bike in 2010 and I am really looking forward to do this camp again next year . Plan ahead , there will be maximum 8-10 spots available. The camp will be held last week in May again with an epic ride schedule on tap right around the Giro 
