Welp.

It's here.

I write this while I nurse a completely bruised inner thigh, and avoid picking at a scab on my knee that's not likely to heal until December.

My mind is on last season's tubulars that need peeling, and on a dang flotilla of new Garneau Steeple-XCs heading our way at the end of the month.

But somewhere in there, guidance from Hyde and Al is on repeat.

Snap the bike all the way up – let your bones hold its weight.

Use weight to slow down, not brakes.

Your saddle isn't there to sit on.

As part of what is fast becoming a tradition for us, we headed back to Cycle-Smart's cyclocross camp this past weekend to get instruction from the top of the sport (getting chased into corners by Stephen Hyde is...illuminating) and those that helped to make Northampton the training ground that it is. 

We crashed a lot. We drank some exceptional beers and some just-right margaritas. Somehow we persuaded ourselves to get ice cream cake for breakfast. And some of us finally met our team coach, Jacob Fetty, in person.

We'll see you at practice – remind us to shut up about camp already.