BaseCamp 2023 Recap

What a great year! This page is a small celebration of the amazing community we enjoyed and the great things we accomplished. We've made so many new friends and broadened our horizons in so many ways. Simple words are not enough, but we'll say them anyway: thank you for being part of our BaseCamp family!

We hope you enjoy reading some of your parting messages to each other and looking through some of the photos you shared with us this winter. Thanks again for all the smiles as we put in all the miles.

388

members

countries

290

cities

34,144

workouts

Click here to open the map in Google Maps

My third Basecamp come and gone. Every year some of the same, but also different. One thing is for sure, the word is out, everyone is getting smarter and freakin’ fast! What a mix of Veterans and Rookies all unified and reading the same pages, doing the work, and expanding their knowledge and performance. Thank you Coaches for the continued knowledge, hard truths(I hate long z2), guidance, and patience with all of our questions. Basecampers, thank you for the inspiration, the stories, and the laughs. Rock on, and have a wonderful season!

- Doug Rusho

I am so thankful for Basecamp…It is amazing having access to coach advice at the top of the sport. I think it is really special that the coaches, PhD, olympian, etc... choose to spend time with us amateurs and enthusiasts. Additionally, I never felt that I deserve coaching, I felt that I should have to reach some level of accomplishment in order to deserve to invest in coaching. Of course, I know I am wrong, but some deep-seated beliefs die hard. Thank you Basecamp, for making coaching accessible and unintimidating.

- Maia Paris

So thankful for BaseCamp Coaches and community! Bigger takeaways: 1. Fueling properly 2. Control and building into power 3. True periodicity or rest Opportunities still: 1. Reading my body 2. Don't be a wimp/PMA 3. Improved control under duress

- John Keepers

I’m sure we all have a lot of thoughts on the wrapping up of BC. I am not only a stronger rider than I was when we started, I am am now accountable to MYSELF to get the work done. I’ve learned so much, but my big tangible takeaway is a commitment to consistency.

- Jaime Baeza

Wow - It's just gone with the wind! Such a great 16 weeks of training. I was just doing my comparison between last and this year, I can see learning a lot during my rookie year, paid off this year. Dear coaches, Thank you very much for your patience and support. Tons of takeaways and I'm leaving my second year with appreciation and a big thank you. And of course, I will be back.

- Erdal Yazicioglu

Thank you Tim Cusick, all the awesome coaches, and all you fellow BaseCampers for doing what you do for these last 16 weeks. We've all had our battles and hopefully victories throughout these last few months. I know I have gained knowledge, fitness and most of all joy from all our interactions. I sometimes marvel at how much support we can give each other, even though we are so scattered all over the world. It's like we have 200+ gifted digital pen pals to share our struggles, successes, and goals with.

- Mary Carroll

The “Shaws” would like to sign out for this season and want to thank you all! One of the best things Tim, Kathy, and the rest of the BaseCamp coaches and staff have created over the years is the community. And I want to express my particular thanks to you all, who make up this community. I knew this season was going to be tough due to personal circumstances and having to regularly be away from any bike meant I was already limited on what progress I would make. However, the community, with its jokes, shared knowledge, discussions and support has helped us through these very challenging times and meant we gained far more from this BC season than we expected. So thank you all! And can’t wait to see you all next season.

- Lucie Gallen

I can't believe BaseCamp is already over. I'm in a pretty solid state of denial right now. During last Thursday's meetup Coach Kate asked us what our biggest take away was from BaseCamp. I struggled to think of anything in the moment, but after reflecting on this the past couple days I figured it out: the importance of the community. This was a pretty rough BaseCamp for me off the bike and life hit me pretty hard the past few months. I was so grateful that I had a place where I could go for support from people who are otherwise perfect strangers, but united in the quest to improve. I'm usually a lone wolf, but I found that I started to look forward to my Thursday afternoon meetup and enjoyed seeing the familiar names and avatars. Thank you BaseCampers and coaches. You all helped me in more ways than you can imagine. Oh yeah, and today I beat my all-time 20 minute power (previously set at last year's final FTP test) by 12 watts.

- Patrick Sullivan

I would like to say “Thank you for everything that BC community created and provided.” I have done all scheduled rides now. I enjoyed outdoor ride today embracing confidence that I gained in the camp. Regarding the final FTP result, the number was almost the same. But the test created a strange confidence to me. With remarkably slow recovery from the overreach week and sleep deprivation, every part of the body hurt. However, like “Rest is Rest,” I thought “Test is Test.” I could manage to do it with a few records. My discovery was even if I felt terribly fatigued, it didn’t necessarily indicate bad condition. In short, I am convinced myself I am growing, which I greatly owe to BaseCamp training.

- Taeko Shibahara

Thanks to each of you for your encouragement and words throughout BC. Even if they weren't directed to me it still helped. I didn't get to start with you all as a week before BC I got Covid. It was a struggle to get back to any type of fitness, even though I wasn't that sick. I'm still not where I was this Time compared to last years BC. But I feel I'm getting there. It was harder mentally this year. Being behind I didn't feel as part of the community. I tried to ride on Tuesday/Thursday group rides. It helped some but was hard to do a separate WO. There is so much to learn. It never stops. Thanks again and fingers crossed I'll start RPI & BC next year fresh & ready to rumble. My husband joined BC this year. He thrived and enjoys it a lot even though he's not on Facebook. Hee Ed was my rock this year. Here's some of what our season looks like in the picture. This was last years. This year will look about the same for events. Most of these are fun practice rides. Here's to all of you and May you have a successful season. Be prepared for ups and downs. Just like in training. Learning during events make you stronger physically & mentally too.
Hope to see several of you on some rides! Till July or November!

- Sue Hageman

I have greatly appreciated BaseCamp and everyone in the BC Community. Thank you all for being part of my journey. 16 weeks ago I started in the BaseCamp program. It was a transition in my journey from one of weight loss where I had lost 65 pounds and focused on my personal relationship with health, to one of training for performance and reengaging and identifying as a cyclist. ... There are so many wonderful learnings from BaseCamp. Specific tips on training, and the adaptation to training, or the key aspects of fueling for performance. But the biggest takeaway I have to continually asking myself “What do I want my story to be”? I get to write that story every day, and keeping that in the back of my mind has helped me to start a story that I am really proud of. On to the next chapter.

- Aaron Bandell

It is amazing how far training has come in the last 20 years, I don’t think it has gotten easier at all, but our use of time has gotten much more effective. The part I was missing was the community and coaches to help keep me motivated. I just wanted to thank everyone involved with BaseCamp, the coaches, fellow basecampers, and everyone behind the scenes that make it work. It has been a wonderful 16 weeks, we made a ton progress and I can’t wait until next year! Good Luck everyone and thank you.

- Padraic Gallagher

This is my third year of BC. I began in injury mode with twenty minute no power spins. There was celebration when I completed my first 10 mile indoor ride. By February i was able to complete a century outdoor group ride at Bartlett lake AZ. This past Saturday I had the strength to be part of the TT challenge. 100 days from hoping to succeeding.
I truly believe that I could not have been this successful with out the structure of Basecamp and the community support.

- Ken Carl

Huge thank you to all of you for the camaraderie this year! Although I had to miss the last month of BC...I was getting fitter every week! Now I will go back to cycle 2 or three when I can ride again. But that's what we do. Get knocked down and get up again....We can do hard things. Huge thanks to all of the amazing, empowering, knowledgeable coaches and staff at BC. Wishing you all an amazing race or adventure season! If anyone is coming to Paris to Ancaster in Canada let me know. It's an AWESOME course and event. I live about 15 minutes from the course and would love to meet you! Cheers, wind at your back all!

- Anne Guzman

I'm immensely grateful to the coaches for their dedication and generosity - nobody can believe the giant talent pool we learn from AND that we have such individual relationships with our coaches as we work. Boy do I feel lucky! I'm also SO grateful for this Basecamp community. I'm impressed by every one of your rides and posts and chats, and have learned more than I knew I didn't know just by being a part of this with you. Your support is REAL and has meant a lot to me. I'll SUPER miss our T/Th afternoon ride crew! You really made those rides FUN and BOY did you get me through some mental tangles - I'm enormously grateful for that and still carry a lot of it with me. Riding with you is truly one of my favorite parts of the winter season.
Thank you to everyone, I've had the BEST time. See you in 7 short months!

- Anna Abrams

Thank you Tim, Kathy, Amber, Namrita, Rebecca, Jim, Debi, Kate, Menachem for a great BaseCamp season! A great job! Great coaching! Great science! My 2nd BaseCamp season, and the fitness/skill slope keeps rising, so better things are to come. Trying to absorb all learning, experiencing and teaching is like drinking out of a fire hose at times. But I’m hooked. Just like organic farming, it requires a continuous learning and observation process of natural biological systems. We humans are a natural biological system. Thank you to all my fellow BaseCamp athletes. It is like a giant team family that thrives on the support, sharing and caring of each other. A rare occurrence in the turmoil of today’s world. Be fierce and fearless with love! We have each other’s wheel.
I eagerly look forward to the next BaseCamp season. Also, thank you for supporting my little mission to help family organic fruit farmers, thru Michigan Organic Fruit.

- Mike Adsit

It was a bumpy start and eventually a restart for Basecamp 2023. I missed the Tuesday and Thursday group rides, conversation, and camaraderie, as well as all the learning that takes place Tuesday and Thursdays. Weekend meetups were a great place to reconnect with the community. Jumped into a couple of challenges and beat my time from last year. Getting stronger and wiser…. Thanks coaches. See you all next year. I still have a month to go, so anyone interested in meetups, let me know.

- Connie Phillips

Thank you, Coaches! Thank you very much for the time and effort you put into this training! It was a new and very interesting experience for me. In addition to what I knew before the BC, I've learned a lot about cycling training and how to analyze/compare/use the data as well as how to "decode" workouts rather than follow them blindly. While I did not reach my goals in terms of numbers, I learned immensely about the training's impact on my body and how it responds to one or another load. That knowledge definitely helps me to optimize my further training. Best of luck to everyone at your races!

- Yaro Perventsev

Well folks, let me add my thanks to the coaches for the wisdom, enthusiasm, and personal interactions that make BaseCamp special. All the sharing amongst us as been so helpful to me as I found myself challenged in ways I didn't expect. I'm not alone. We aren't alone. I carry that with me, and I think what comes out of my musing is, 1) seek expert help, sooner than later. 2) keep pedaling!
I started BaseCamp to get out of the fitness plateau I was in. Before going on a beta blocker to quell nonproductive PVCs, my FTP had risen 10% since the first FTP test, and I think I'd actually gained more since that 3rd test on Jan 21st. Now I just need to get my heart back to ticking evenly. I can't seem to get the plots out of WKO5 easily, but for 1 min, 5 min, and 20 min, I improved ~40 W! How's that, Tim Cusick? That's something, and now I will continue my progress with one of the BaseCamp coaches, Len Pettyjohn. I'm very excited about continuing my relationship with the BaseCamp family! As we say before starting a day's riding, Andiamo!

- Michelle Shinn

Thank you Team Basecamp for another fun winter!
I had fun-really lots of fun. I trained less hours this year than last year. I am not quite where I was last year but: I had fun. Lots of adventuring planned for the summer! I cannot wait! I am ready for summer!! See you all next fall - or sooner!

- Ise Ruetz