LAKE SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Three days into Jelly Belly presented by Kenda’s training camp, all 13 riders still hadn’t jelled.
Then came the Navy SEALs team-building exercise in the chilly Pacific Ocean. The riders had to cling to each other to stay warm. They had to endure grueling workouts. They had to perform as individuals in order to succeed as a group.
“That broke the ice, I would say,” said team director Danny Van Haute. “A lot of that stuff will transfer over onto the bike. They’re going to be looking out for each other on the bike.”
For the 2011 season, Van Haute welcomes back six returning riders plus seven new members, including six who are first-year pros.
“It’s going to be an interesting season with seven new guys, and it’s a very young team too,” said Van Haute.
Emerson Oronte, 21, joined the team after getting noticed last year by Jelly Belly veteran Jeremy Powers. Both live in Massachusetts. Powers encouraged Oronte to send in a resume, and a few weeks later he had a job offer.
“My first impression is that I know nothing,” Oronte said. “It’s going to be a steep learning curve this year, and I have to accept the fact that I’m going to be making a lot of mistakes. I have to be prepared to learn and I have to be prepared to fail.”
Nic Hamilton, another new pro, said the week’s training rides and the SEALs exercises put a new emphasis on teamwork.
“Cycling itself is often not viewed as a team sport in the general public. For us there’s no other way to win if it’s not as a team,” Hamilton said.
After camp, the riders go home and train for about a month ahead of the first race, the San Dimas Stage Race March 25-27, followed the next weekend by the Redlands Bicycle Classic.
Van Haute said to expect to see every rider on a bike.
“There’s a lot to be learned in racing that you don’t learn in the training camp,” he said. “They are all going to race.”
