Video: Ontario’s provincial squad hits the roads and hills of North Carolina during spring training

Recently, the Ontario provincial cycling team headed to North Carolina, taking in the scenery, the roads and the unique challenges offered by terrain south of the border. Their destination, just south of Highlands, NC, was the Mountain Retreat and Learning Center.

Their objective? To refine their long-haul power as a pack through their spring cycling endurance camp.

“We chose this location for a number of reasons,” said Sean Kelly, Ontario’s provincial road and mountain bike coach. “The roads down here are absolutely incredible. The road surfaces are clean and smooth, and there’s a ton of elevation, so we’re able to do lots and lots of climbing.” In a video posted to YouTube by the Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, the Ontario team’s riders mentioned the beauty of the landscape, too, their exhilarating descents taking them past waterfalls and the state’s unique, rocky geography.

With spring approaching, the call of such environments to Canadian riders looking to shake off winter with a little—or perhaps more than a little—adventure is getting louder by the day. Take a look at how Ontario’s squad answered that call themselves: