My name is Ben McIntosh and I’m 18. I’m currently an assistant buyer at PBK, but I’ll soon be moving to Belgium to live and race with XELtexitel VDB Steenhouwerjj who are a development team made up of Elite/Under 23’s.
Over the next seven months I will be posting product reviews and updates about living & training within the toughest race scene around.
Day - 1 the adventure begins – training camp with the team in Valencia.
As I arrived in Valencia everything began to feel real. I picked up my bike box and luggage from the carousel in airport and as instructed called the Team masseur who would be my taxi to the hotel. No answer. What do I do? I don’t know what anybody in the team looks like; don’t speak the language and I’m stranded in Spain!! After walking around the airport aimlessly, I finally found the masseur and we were on our way. 55 minutes the estimated arrival time on the GPS. 55 minutes in a car with someone I have never met. Luckily the masseur could speak English and the conversation flowed. I had arrived!
I walked through the hotel main entrance apprehensive, curious and excited. The team were sat down waiting for my arrival to begin eating. I walked towards the table and every member of Xeltextiel stood up shook my hand and attempted to speak English! I was welcomed with open arms and all apprehension had disappeared. I was comfortable.
The food.
During the training camp all the food was the same every day. It consisted of pasta, chicken and tomato sauce. Lucky I’m not vegetarian. Every breakfast was oats with raisins and semi skimmed milk.
Day 2
6:50am the alarm goes off, up and out of bed within 10 minutes for a team walk by the beach. Wrapped up with my base layer, leg warmers and normal clothes just to keep warm at 5 degrees Celsius. To this day I still don’t understand why we did this.
Onto the ride, the day was an easy spin off in order to prepare ourselves for the week ahead. We did three hours around the surrounding local villages creeping into the mountains on a few occasions. It was a good time to really meet each rider individually, picking up some Flemish on the way (nothing I can go home and tell my mum). It was a beautiful day, the sun was out and the scenery was jaw dropping. However, still too cold for just short sleeves and bib shorts. At the end of the day we managed 20.5mph (32.8kmh) for this easy ride.
Then we got back to the hotel and relaxed in the Jacuzzi preparing ourselves for the next day.
Day 3
A 7am wake up again ready to hit the hills. We had a 9km climb with an average gradient of around 7% to do 3 times. It was a test from the manager to see where each rider is at in terms of fitness. Somehow a fat bloke like me managed to be in the top 3 all 3 times which for me was a good sign. As you can see from the pictures I managed to go up in full summer kit, whilst others deemed it too cold for short sleeves. It was probably the hardest ride in terms of effort all week so a recovery ride was needed in the evening. Just 2 hours spinning the legs off and having a good laugh.
Nutrition – My Protein ENER:GEL + Caffeine Gels, My Protein Recovery XS, My Protein Impact Whey. I felt pretty good all week, I didn’t bonk so the gels and the food I was eating where providing a sufficient amount of energy. I also seemed to get stronger as the week went on, so the way I was recovering in the evening with my nutrition and My Protein Compression Tights must have helped.
Day 4
Another lie in until 7:30 giving us the extra 30 minutes from the day previous. Four hours in the saddle and an easy spin on the flat roads. Unfortunately it was wet and windy all morning and therefore too dangerous to ride so we delayed our ride to the afternoon. Even with setting off in the afternoon, none of us had come prepared for the cold and the wet. 30 minutes in and none of us could feel our fingers, for some reason I didn’t pack winter gloves.
Day 5
“Ben get up” always the nicest way to be woken up in the morning. My roommate was probably sick and tired of waking me up each morning. Four hours in the windy hills through and off in a chain gang manner a delight. I could see myself getting through this one. It was an hour to the circuit in which we would ride. With 4 huge lumps to conquer and tricky descents, the circuit was built to split us all up. On the descents into a headwind we were travelling, through and off at 50mph. Fast. On one of the hills one of the best riders who was driving the pace snapped his chain. I don’t think anyone had been so happy for another rider to snap his chain!
Five and a half hours today, most people at this point were already walking irregularly, so five and a half hours in the saddle today was certainly not going to help. Most people go to Spain for a relaxing holiday, a sit down by the pool and a bit of a sunbathe on the beach but us we do 2500 meters of climbing in the Spanish mountains. Personally I prefer the latter but I’m “not normal”. Another day with stunning views of my team mates rear wheels and the Spanish scenery. Paradise.
Day 6
Last day of riding a nice little treat from the manager “six hours today lads in the hills like yesterday” obviously he spoke in Flemish. So from what the manager said to what I was translated was a bit like Chinese whispers. However, the team managed to translate pretty well, as six hours and 2600 meters of climbing later we arrived at the hotel. Then we filled our faces and relaxed for the evening. Our training was complete.
Day 7
The last day, if I’m being honest it wasn’t as cliché as some may have liked it to be. We literally said good bye and boarded our planes. It seems strange but that’s just the nature of the people in the team.
Until next time.
Ben
Over the next seven months I will be posting product reviews and updates about living & training within the toughest race scene around.
Day - 1 the adventure begins – training camp with the team in Valencia.
As I arrived in Valencia everything began to feel real. I picked up my bike box and luggage from the carousel in airport and as instructed called the Team masseur who would be my taxi to the hotel. No answer. What do I do? I don’t know what anybody in the team looks like; don’t speak the language and I’m stranded in Spain!! After walking around the airport aimlessly, I finally found the masseur and we were on our way. 55 minutes the estimated arrival time on the GPS. 55 minutes in a car with someone I have never met. Luckily the masseur could speak English and the conversation flowed. I had arrived!
I walked through the hotel main entrance apprehensive, curious and excited. The team were sat down waiting for my arrival to begin eating. I walked towards the table and every member of Xeltextiel stood up shook my hand and attempted to speak English! I was welcomed with open arms and all apprehension had disappeared. I was comfortable.
The food.
During the training camp all the food was the same every day. It consisted of pasta, chicken and tomato sauce. Lucky I’m not vegetarian. Every breakfast was oats with raisins and semi skimmed milk.
Day 2
6:50am the alarm goes off, up and out of bed within 10 minutes for a team walk by the beach. Wrapped up with my base layer, leg warmers and normal clothes just to keep warm at 5 degrees Celsius. To this day I still don’t understand why we did this.
Onto the ride, the day was an easy spin off in order to prepare ourselves for the week ahead. We did three hours around the surrounding local villages creeping into the mountains on a few occasions. It was a good time to really meet each rider individually, picking up some Flemish on the way (nothing I can go home and tell my mum). It was a beautiful day, the sun was out and the scenery was jaw dropping. However, still too cold for just short sleeves and bib shorts. At the end of the day we managed 20.5mph (32.8kmh) for this easy ride.
Then we got back to the hotel and relaxed in the Jacuzzi preparing ourselves for the next day.
Day 3
A 7am wake up again ready to hit the hills. We had a 9km climb with an average gradient of around 7% to do 3 times. It was a test from the manager to see where each rider is at in terms of fitness. Somehow a fat bloke like me managed to be in the top 3 all 3 times which for me was a good sign. As you can see from the pictures I managed to go up in full summer kit, whilst others deemed it too cold for short sleeves. It was probably the hardest ride in terms of effort all week so a recovery ride was needed in the evening. Just 2 hours spinning the legs off and having a good laugh.
Nutrition – My Protein ENER:GEL + Caffeine Gels, My Protein Recovery XS, My Protein Impact Whey. I felt pretty good all week, I didn’t bonk so the gels and the food I was eating where providing a sufficient amount of energy. I also seemed to get stronger as the week went on, so the way I was recovering in the evening with my nutrition and My Protein Compression Tights must have helped.
Day 4
Another lie in until 7:30 giving us the extra 30 minutes from the day previous. Four hours in the saddle and an easy spin on the flat roads. Unfortunately it was wet and windy all morning and therefore too dangerous to ride so we delayed our ride to the afternoon. Even with setting off in the afternoon, none of us had come prepared for the cold and the wet. 30 minutes in and none of us could feel our fingers, for some reason I didn’t pack winter gloves.
Day 5
“Ben get up” always the nicest way to be woken up in the morning. My roommate was probably sick and tired of waking me up each morning. Four hours in the windy hills through and off in a chain gang manner a delight. I could see myself getting through this one. It was an hour to the circuit in which we would ride. With 4 huge lumps to conquer and tricky descents, the circuit was built to split us all up. On the descents into a headwind we were travelling, through and off at 50mph. Fast. On one of the hills one of the best riders who was driving the pace snapped his chain. I don’t think anyone had been so happy for another rider to snap his chain!
Five and a half hours today, most people at this point were already walking irregularly, so five and a half hours in the saddle today was certainly not going to help. Most people go to Spain for a relaxing holiday, a sit down by the pool and a bit of a sunbathe on the beach but us we do 2500 meters of climbing in the Spanish mountains. Personally I prefer the latter but I’m “not normal”. Another day with stunning views of my team mates rear wheels and the Spanish scenery. Paradise.
Day 6
Last day of riding a nice little treat from the manager “six hours today lads in the hills like yesterday” obviously he spoke in Flemish. So from what the manager said to what I was translated was a bit like Chinese whispers. However, the team managed to translate pretty well, as six hours and 2600 meters of climbing later we arrived at the hotel. Then we filled our faces and relaxed for the evening. Our training was complete.
Day 7
The last day, if I’m being honest it wasn’t as cliché as some may have liked it to be. We literally said good bye and boarded our planes. It seems strange but that’s just the nature of the people in the team.
Until next time.
Ben