DEVO U19 mens team member Howard Grotts recently returned from a weekend at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Howard and teammate Joan Walker were invited to attend the development camp and take part in the training rides and testing.
DEVO U19 mens team member Howard Grotts recently returned from a weekend at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Howard and teammate Joan Walker were invited to attend the development camp and take part in the training rides and testing.

Q: What did it feel like walking into the Olympic Training Center for the first time?

A: It was sweet, I didn’t really know what to expect, but everyone was super nice and accommodating.

Q: What were the group rides/workouts like? Did you mountain bike or road bike?

A: First day was the time trial pre-ride, which was a chill ride at our own pace. Then the time trial on Friday and skills work later that day with the roadies. Last ride was a fun ride on some super technical and icey singletrack. All on mountain bikes. Everything was at an easy pace except for the TT.

Q: Did you recognize anyone from the racing we do in the summer? Where were the kids from?

A: Keegan Swenson, from Park City, he got third in Cat 1 15-16 at Nats and Skyler Trujillo, from Fort Collins, got 2nd or something like that in Cat 1 17-18 at Nats.

Q: What was the best thing you learned during the weekend? Are there any secret training tips you can give us?

A: There were so many informational meetings it’s hard to choose. The yoga lady had some pretty good stuff to say about posture while riding. Hmmm… Eat your broccoli.

Q: Did you see any famous Olympic athletes? What other sports were there training? Could you tell what they played by looking at them?

A: The basketball team was there, I had no idea who any of them were, but they were all like 7 feet tall… so you definitely knew what sport they played.

Q: What was the food like? How about the housing?

A: The food was amazing, I went to the cafeteria at least 6-7 times a day. It was pretty much a buffet with anything you could want open from 7am-8:30pm. Housing was 3 kids to a room with a communal shower/bathroom, nothing special.

Q: Whats your best memory from the weekend?

A: About 6 hours of dodgeball over the two super cold and rainy days we had.

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