We want to provide you with a fantastic and memorable training experience.  Here are some of the awesome things that we do:

Support Vans

For our 2009 camps we had two vans for sag support, airport pick-ups and transportation to any camp activities. We customized each van with external forward-facing speakers so that our athletes can listen to some kickin' tunes while they pedal away the days.  One of our vans has custom artwork all over the exterior.



When you get rolling down the open road with the amazing van followig behind, it is an unforgettable experience. Check out this video and listen for the audio coming out of the van's speakers!

Training Food & Beverages

Thanks to some generous support from Nuun, we are able to provide plenty of hydration during your long rides.  THe vans are equipped with coolers full of bottles of Nuun and water.  We also carry plenty of bars, gels, blocks, sandwiches and fruit to keep you going strong all day.

And we do mean "all day."  Our longest rides at our 2009 camps were the 115-mile Marble Falls loop and the 100-mile point-to-point Enchanted Rock ride. We try to schedule our longest rides to coincide with the best weather forecast, so it was 72 degrees and sunny for our Marble Falls ride.  In January.  Yeehaw!

Each day's schedule can be customized to suit the needs and desires of the athletes at the ranch, but here is an idea of what to expect:

MON: Arrive; airport pick-ups; ez spin for early arrivals (your bike is already there!) … ez jog on the town lake trail, too. A balanced dinner at the house, with an amazing salad and dessert. Slideshow/video intro and run-down of the rest of the week.
 
TUE: Longhorn 70.3 day. Big breakfast at the house. Stock up on calories. Drive to the Longhorn course. Start with a ride -- the entire course; then a brick run -- one loop of the run course (6.6mi); shake-out / chill-out swim after, maybe 1k; recovery drinks on-site; sandwiches on-site; back to house, clean up, relax a bit; Sushi Night at the house; watch the bats at sunset at Congress Ave bridge, then go check out a live band and have a few local beers … or Amy's Ice Cream for the teetotalers
 
WED: early risers go to Barton Springs. "Polar Bear Challenge Day." wetsuits optional! Big breakfast afterwards. Then a long ride out west … Fitzhugh? Johnson City? Marble Falls? Depends on the crowd … lots of food hand-ups during the ride. Arrive home for a big Italian meal, built around the Tremonte family recipe for red sauce; ride bikes to Amy's Ice Cream for dessert
 
THU: another long ride day -- south and east of town … Buda, 5-mile dam, San Marcos, … optional short brick run afterwards; late lunch; core or yoga class in the evening; dinner: Brisket at the house … optional evening activity: First Thursday -- open art galleries on South Congress Ave, w food and drink vendors
 
FRI: lighter day. Sleep in. light snack and swim at Barton Springs. Big breakfast. Bee Cave 30-mile loop (rolling hills, preview part of Saturday's group ride). EZ 5-7mile brick run. Late Lunch at the house, chill out a bit, then happy hour at the Hula Hut -- big outdoor patio, tex-mex, etc., or another similar spot. Some may head downtown to the bars & bands afterwards while others will rest up for Saturday's ride.
 
SAT: ATC Ride -- pre-ride light breakfast; 50-mile loop with brick run; lunch at house; drive to Hamilton Pool and chill out. Stop at the Salt Lick for dinner on the way home. Optional night out -- Master Pancake Theatre at the Alamo Drafthouse.
 
SUN: light pre-race breakfast; duathlon or running race or long run around Town Lake; stop for lunch on the way back from the race; social Barton Springs swim afterwards; activity: Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon for Chickensh!t Sundays (think cowpie bingo on a smaller scale); light ride in the evening -- 20-30 miles, flat.
 
MON: breakfast, Barton Springs, airport … optional ride for those with later departure times ... no time pressure to pack up your bike because the Ranch will do that for you after you depart!

For more ideas, check out our Fun in Austin page or the Austin Chronicle.

Note again that we'll customize each day depending on the training goals of the athletes who are currently present at the Ranch.  Our staff is large enough to support multiple ride options on days when some folks want to go short and others want to go long.

The Hike-and-Bike trail runs along the north and south sides of Ladybird Lake (formerly Town Lake), which is a dammed section of the Lower Colorado River. There are six bridges with pedestrian access, offering the runner looped routes from 1.5 to 13 miles in length. This dirt/cinder/gravel trail is heavily used by runners, joggers, walkers and a few mountain bikers. Lots of eye candy but not so crowded that you can’t maintain your pace. Local running store Run-Tex provides free water and cups every few miles along the trail to keep you going strong.

Lake Austin High School offers a quarter-mile synthetic oval for track workouts.

The Barton Creek Greenbelt offers more shaded trail running and can be a bit rockier. It starts at Barton Springs Pool, less than a mile from the house.

Austin features a few distinct types of bike-friendly roads, with rolling hills west of town and flatter rides to the south and east:

• Farm-to-market roads tend to be two lanes, often chip-sealed, lightly traveled ... the Longhorn 70.3 bike course is mostly on this type of road.
• Larger, busier roads tend to feature wide shoulders with regular cyclist traffic.
• Limited-access highways have access roads with two or three lanes in each direction and lots of room for bikes.

Campers are encouraged to participate in the Austin Tri-Cyclist Taco Ride on Saturday mornings. Quite possibly the largest and longest-running tri group ride in the country, the taco ride will have well over 100 riders in the peak season. 50- 30- and 20-mile options are available.

We do most of our rides together, as a group, but if you have different training goals then the house staff can provide you with maps, cue sheets and human guides for looped rides ranging from 20 to 120 miles, with flatter and hillier options. The Texas Hill Country starts just west of Austin, providing a lot of rolling hills and a few steep or sustained climbs. East of town the landscape is much flatter, letting your athletes drop into their aerobars and just go steady-state all day. The pro triathletes on our staff will accompany your group on their rides with back-up nutrition, sag support or even a picnic lunch.

A great mountain-biking trail starts about half a mile from the house and there is a BMX trick park downtown, about a mile from the house.

Sometimes, when we are feeling especially manly, we ride to Manville.  (This is actually on the Longhorn 70.3 race course.)



If we are feeling more bovine than manly, we might go ride with the cows.



Some of the roads are so empty that you may not see a car for 10-20 miles.



One thing you are likely to see a lot of is the sun.  Even in the greyest part of winter, Austin averages 6 days of sunshine per week.