Aarons Professional Women's Training Camp
February 17-18, 2006
Atlanta, GA

Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings Womens Team completes their first Team Camp

The Aaron’s Pro Women’s Team held their team camp on Presidents Weekend in Atlanta, GA, which despite the lack of any good weather, was a huge success. The whole camp proved to be a full team effort from the riders and sponsors alike in their ability to pull together and be well prepared.

Candice Blickem drove in from Greensboro enjoying the last hours of warmth while Catherine Powers and Mackenzie Dickey flew in from Denver and Boston, respectively. Shannon Hutchison-Krupat was able to leave her Orchestra Teacher post a little early to pick up Catherine from the airport only to find that Catherine’s baggage never made the plane in Denver. Catherine took this all in stride and set the standard for the rest of the weekend that this team was not going to let anything interrupt their camp! Once Team Director Jeremy Hutchison-Krupat picked Mackenzie up from the airport everyone packed into the Hank Aaron Land Rover and headed out for their inaugural team dinner.

After an unseasonably warm week of 70 degree temperatures in Atlanta leading up to the camp the riders were greeted by a cold and rainy weather for their ride Saturday morning. The team immediately showed that they were as solid as could be and could take whatever was thrown there way as they toughed it out, slogging through the last portion of their ride in heavy downpours and near freezing temperatures everyone felt sorry to have to treat their new Bianchi bikes to such abuse so early on! Yet just like Catherine and her luggage, no complaints were heard as everyone simply took their hot showers, wrapped themselves in comforters and gripped their warm beverages firmly as they shook off one of the coldest days in “Hot-lanta”.

The temperatures continued to drop on Sunday as once again the women all broke their personal bests for riding temperatures and made it out in sub 30 degree weather for riding and photo shoots in and around Atlanta and at one of the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings stores. Monday the team was greeted with yet another rainy day as the team went to the Aaron’s headquarters to meet Aaron’s employees and executives. All were impressed with the company’s commitment to the cycling program as Aaron’s jerseys and cycling related items were present all throughout the office space. The team was then shown an internal marketing video that Aaron’s had produced highlighting the analogous behavior of cyclists and the Aaron’s employees in their shared determination, focus and ability to work hard. The team was sent off with a relaxing lunch and discussions of an exciting season to come!
 

The Aarons Women's Professional Cycling Team 2006

Catherine's Take
by Catherine Powers

Team Training Camp – Sunday 2/17/2006

After Saturday’s hypothermic team bonding experience, we were all delighted to see that it was not raining when we woke up on Sunday. Jeremy supplied us with waffles and (more importantly) real Italian espresso and Scooter the kitten entertained her adoring fans over breakfast. The weather was, uh, a bit nippy so we dressed in every layer of cycling clothing we could get our hands on and headed out the door. For some reason, our plucky young New England teammate refused to wear a hat, a decision she would regret …

The first stop was Outback Cycles for some team photos in front of the shop. Then we hopped back on our bikes and rode to a park where Jason took some action shots of us riding up and down the same hill 50 times in the 38 degree weather while Jeremy and Chad cheered us on from the warm car. By the time this photo shoot was over, we couldn’t feel our hands and feet so someone wisely suggested we go for coffee to warm up.

Coffee turned into breakfast, as we couldn’t resist the warm grits, hot cocoa and huevos rancheros … and we really didn’t want to go back outside. Two hours later, the wait staff started giving us dirty looks so we had to move on. Jeremy and I decided to brave the cold for a 2-hour ride (I had to work off those huevos) and everyone else headed home. Jeremy proposed that we do the regular Sunday group ride route and turn around at the “pee stop”. Since I’d downed about 7 cups of coffee at the diner, I was very excited when Jeremy announced we were nearing this “pee stop” but was disappointed to discover that he was actually referring to a few strategically placed bushes …

When we arrived home, we were greeted by Shannon with bowls of steaming hot chili. Mmmmm! Then it was crunch time. We had to get ready for the afternoon’s high fashion photo shoot. Girls were whipping out the makeup, the blow dryers and Mackenzie’s super duper hot iron hair straightening device with a strange name (the Hot Chi?). It was crazy.

When everyone was primped and ready, Jeremy drove the Hank Aaron’s Land Rover full of gorgeous babes over to the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings store. Don and Elizabeth were waiting for us there to show us around and help with artistic direction. Since the theme of the weekend was COLD it was no surprise when we were asked to strip down to shorts and jerseys for a team photo in front of the big Aaron’s sign in the parking lot. Then we raced back inside to pose in the showroom for the “Aaron’s Team Board Meeting” shot, the “Look! There’s something exciting on the computer!” shot and the “Have you read the Aaron’s catalogue lately?” shot. Candice was happy to comply with lots of toothy smiles for the camera. Finally, we all posed for individual photos with various office accoutrements. We got a chance to take a look at some of the pictures from the morning and we all thought Jason did an excellent job.

We finished off the day with a team dinner at a Thai restaurant. We discussed race tactics and team dynamics and made big plans for the season.
 

Shannon Hutchinson

Mackenzie's Take
by Mackenzie Dickey

This past weekend I traveled to Atlanta to attend my very first team camp, as a member of the newly formed Aaron’s Professional Cycling Team. I had been looking forward to this weekend ever since I had signed my team contract back in November and now the weekend had finally arrived. Needless to say, I was determined not to let the predicted weather forecast of cold temperatures and rains do anything to spoil my trip. Even if we would be unable to get in a quality weekend of training due to weather, I knew the weekend held much more in store for me. I arrived in Atlanta on Friday night and was greeted by my team director Jeremy Krupat. After countless emails and phone conversations over the past few months, it was nice to finally meet Jeremy in person. From the airport, we headed back to Jeremy’s house to pick up the rest of the team and go to dinner. Although I had seen all of my teammates at previous races throughout the season last year, I was actually meeting the majority of my teammates for the first time. The dinner conversation quickly took off over some delicious chips and salsa, as the girls caught up with each other and began discussing the latest cycling news. Soaking in the moment, I quietly sank back into my chair, wide eyed and grinning. I had been dreaming of joining a professional cycling team ever since I hopped on my bike three years ago and competed in my first race. Now, in a dimly lit Mexican cantina in Atlanta, that dream was coming true right before my very eyes! The dinner was everything I hoped for and more. Sitting at the table among three of the most talented and well respected riders in the women’s peleton, I knew I was in good company. The conversation continued to flow effortlessly, as we all got to know each other better by admitting any odd quirks that we possessed. After dinner we returned to Jeremy and Shannon’s home to begin fine tuning our bikes and sorting through our team clothing. I could not have been more pleased with our team kits and Bianchi bikes, as it all looked amazing. I went to bed that night with a huge smile on my face. Grateful to be apart of this team, I was looking forward to the rest of the weekends activities which included; rides, photo shoots, and of course meeting the Aaron’s sponsors who were instrumental in making this all happen.

-Mackenzie