Chris Jones’ Diary – January 24, 2009

January 24th, 2009 by Ron Callahan 309 views One Comment

Chris Jones of Team Type 1 is sharing his experiences during the second-year professional cycling team’s training camp with Bike World News. Jones and more than 50 other athletes will be taking part in training, sponsor education and team bonding exercises over the next 10 days. Here is his first entry:

I boxed my bike up for camp on Wednesday. It took me an hour to do that. But it only took me 45 minutes to fly here. It’s kind of ridiculous that it took me longer to box my bike up than it did to fly to our training camp.

Once I got into Santa Barbara on Thursday, Ian (MacGregor) and I rode to Gibraltar (a nearby mountain). It was sunny on the way up there and then it started raining on the way down.

Speaking of rain, in northern California, it’s been in the 80s for the past week, so I was surprised to see the rain here Thursday and Friday. We’re hopeful it clears up for the rest of camp.

As for the team, we’ve been apart for three or four months, but it seems like it has only been a week since I saw these guys. Ian got married and Moises (Aldape) has a baby.

Training camp is a lot like a second Christmas. You come here with an empty bag and you leave with more equipment than you could ever dream of using – much less needing.

Team Type 1’s program has grown so much – we’ve added a women’s team, a triathlon team and even a “Team Type 2.” Last year, we had 25 people or so at this camp. This year, we had so many people, we filled up a huge ballroom.

This is a tremendous team to be apart of because we have such a great message to spread. Four of my teammates on the men’s pro team have Type 1 diabetes, meaning they have to keep a close watch on their blood sugar because their body doesn’t naturally produce insulin. I’ll have more on that topic in my next entry.

I was excited once we heard officially that we would be in the Amgen Tour of California. I had heard about the possibility of us getting into the race. It starts in my hometown so it will be a joy to be a part of it.

The Tour of California is a lot earlier than when we would most normally start racing. So I started training a month earlier and that much harder. But it’s been hard to get intensity – though I have been training. Hopefully, I’ll be on good form for it.

I have been following one of my teammates, Matt Wilson, at the Tour Down Under. Many others have been following Lance Armstrong at that race. There is a definite buzz in Sacramento about Lance coming to the Tour of California. A lot more people are aware of the event this year. I have actually never been with Lance so this will give me a chance to beat him.

Team Type 1 is one of 17 teams selected to race in the 2009 Amgen Tour of California. Be sure and follow Jones as he and the team offer unique, behind-the-scenes insight into America’s most prestigious stage race Feb. 14-22.