There was a slight chill in the air at the DA Ranch. It was the morning of our inaugural Dedicated Athlete Regional MTB Team shindig and meeting. Teammates started trickling in 11:45 am. Once everyone arrived I started the afternoon with a two-hour easy base ride right out of DA’s front door. Of coarse it turned into a hammer fest for some people who are not on the winter easy shmeesey base training plan. We had about twenty riders in all, attacking the hilly roads of Cherokee Co.

            After the ride we all changed and settled in the kitchen for some good healthy grub. John Gamble CEO of Dedicated Athlete and his wife Stephanie donned their chef’s hats and made a wonderful heart healthy spread, which everyone thoroughly wolfed down.  

            Once dinner was finished we relocated to the living room for a coaching seminar from training extraordinaire Rick Crawford. The amount of knowledge this man has on training athletes is absolutely amazing. He really opened up a lot of eyes and ears of expert and pro level racers who thought the new it all. We all could have picked his brain till the sun came up, but we let him off fairly easy.

            John introduced himself to the team and gave everyone the down low on Dedicated Athlete and the 2008 product line. He made sure to put all the info on the product ingredients and benefits into idiot speak, so all of us non-biochemists types could understand without needing a separate translator. John has a wealth of nutritional   knowledge of what works in the body and why.

            I finished up the evening with all the boring DA team requirements, sponsorship info and team contracts. I definitely hand picked some great riders for this team, not just guys that make podiums, but truly good people to represent our company all over the southeast and give back in a positive way to the sport we all love.

            By the time the formalities were done everyone was a bit tired, so the after party didn’t go on as long as we all thought (we cyclists are so boring), which was fine by me I had to get up early and pound out a five hour base ride the next day. We did end the night with a handful of B.S. racing stories and the lighting of a few fireworks, which in hindsight was probably not the best idea, considering we are under a major drought here in GA. That prompted all to say our good buys and scramble to our vehicles in the midst of a sulfur haze.

Dedicated Athlete Southeastern Regional MTB Team

1.      Shane Schreihart(Team Manager)

2.      Peter Joski

3.      Crispin Del Niro

4.      Greg Derosa

5.      Brian Deloughey

6.      Mark D. Johnson

7.      Scott Alexander

8.      James Wiant

9.      Cesar Jerez

10.  Michael Cummings

11.   Peter Uher

12.  Craig Spoon

13.  Eric Ritenour

14.  Marcus Seymour

15.  Tim Owens (Assistant Team Manager)