TrainingPeaks and Endura Racing Team: on PEZ and British Cycling

Scottish-based cycling team Endura Racing started their season with a training camp in the scenic Trossachs region in Scotland, where they spent time riding together, discussing their goals, and analyzing their power files with TrainingPeaks. Evolving from the PedalPower.org.uk/Endura racing team, Endura Racing has added some new riders to the roster this year and has applied to register UCI Continental for 2009. The team includes Gary Hand, David Smith, James McCallum, Duncan Urquhart, Scott Macrae, Gordon Murdoch, David Lines, Callum Wilkinson and Kevin Barclay.

Team founders Gary Hand and Jonathan McBain, the owner of Pedal Power Cycles, first discussed forming the team in 2007 and got things rolling quite swiftly once they decided to do it. As PEZ Cycling puts it, "Some guys dream of starting a UCI Continental team – others just go out and do it." Although the team does not yet pay the riders wages, starting a team isn't exactly cheap. Gary admits, "We had to pay British Cycling just under 5,000 Sterling - some of that stays in the UK, but most goes to the UCI to cover administration and licenses. If you are a Continental team then you don’t have to pay wages, but you still have to lodge a 20,000 Sterling bank bond to prove that the team is legitimate and it’s also there to indemnify any fines which the team might pick up."

Off-setting some of the costs of running a team are the sponsors, including TrainingPeaks. Coach Mark Smith knows how to interpret SRM and Power Tap data, helping the riders to make sense of the data they collect with these training devices. Endura Racing is also supported by Endura, PedalPower.org.uk, Giant Bicycles, Extreme Nutrition, Fisher Outdoor Leisure and Sibcas. A full team launch will be issued early in 2009.

Read more about the team on PEZ and British Cycling!