Day 1

In lieu of more scintillating material (we spent twelve hours in the car today), here are descriptions of us (the racers) and the people making this happen.

The Directors:

Stu Bone: The Popchip carrying, kale wielding team director of Bear. His presence is felt both literally (he's 6' 7") and figuratively everywhere the team goes.

Chris Burnham: Chris coaches every one of the team members on this trip. The results this year attest to his quality and we have yet to find a sport physiology topic that he doesn't know about.

Rob Evans: After countless years in the Norcal P12 peloton Rob knows every race and every racer like the back of his hand. He races with us (at least until the road goes uphill, sorry Rob!) and is vital towards making decisions in the heat of the moment.

Steve Ellsworth: Steve has the most glamorous job on the team: driving five teenage boys across the country. Thanks Steve.

Julia Violich: Though she isn't here in person, "Mama V" is the reason we have a cooler, van, and trainers, and even more importantly, she makes sure all that equipment is in the right place at the right time. Julia is also an avid snapchatter, keeping us entertained on the long haul drives.

The Bears:

Matt Schaupp: The sprinter of our team, Matt always seems to want to get into breakaways. We let him have his wish, with the one caveat being that he can only break away in the final 200 m.

Bryan Duke: Bryan is by far the quietest member of the team. He was labeled by Stu as, "the most underrated P12 rider in Norcal". With his power on the flats and in the mountains, it is only a matter of time until he wins a big one.

Sam Cerruti: The "hammertime coordinator" doesn't really understand the concept of rest in training (much to Chris's chagrin) or in racing. He can often be found on the front bringing back breaks or keeping the race fast and safe to set up his teammates for a good result.

Trevor Ellsworth: As Matt is to sprinting, Trevor is to climbing. Once you watch him float into the distance on an epic mountain pass, you won't have any trouble believing he weighs 104 pounds. He also requested that his mullet be mentioned in the post (it truly is impressive).

Tim Aiken: He's talented, he's crafty, he's skilled, and he's a little biased because he's the one writing this blog.

Preriding starts tomorrow. Then we race.