Kelly Benefit Strategies Camp - Winter Park Camp
Jonas Carney leads his 15 adventurers into the snow of the Colorado Rockies for their first season camp... snow shoe'd and dodging trees on Snow Mountain.

Hidden Dangers of Cycling KBS-Style
Dan Bowman Tangles with Tree at Pre-Season Camp; Cando Gets Food Poisoning

Cycling is a dangerous business, but the drama usually happens on the road. Not so for the Kelly Benefit Strategies pro cycling team who convened last weekend in Winter Park, Colorado for a pre-season training camp to introduce the squad’s seven new riders to returning athletes from last year.

“This was a great way for all of the guys to get to know each other without the pressure of a traditional training camp,” says local resident and team performance director Jonas Carney. “We snow shoed and spent a lot of time at Snow Mountain Ranch; maybe too much time looking at Dan Bowman.”

Dan Bowman drew "first blood" for the team this season.

It was only a tree branch that could put a dead-end stop to more than five hours of tree runs on day two for Bowman who hit a tree branch and ripped open his face. Teammate Alex Candelario took that, and a bout of food poisoning, as sign to call it a day too.

Kelly Benefit Strategies 20009 Roster

Over the course of the weekend, the camp also included a snowshoe hike up Sheep Mountain (10,600 feet) on day one, backcountry snowboarding and hiking on Berthoud Pass (11,600 feet) and skiing in the Snow Mountain Ranch and Winter Park resort – before getting down to official team business and discussing goals, strategy and race schedule for the year.

“It was kind of like that Rocky movie where he’s training out in the snow with logs and the Russian guy’s going all high tech – but still loses in the end,” says Carney. “Building a great team is more than just working out on the bikes. It’s about knowing each other. Looking at our new lineup I am 100 percent convinced we have our best team yet and will have an unbelievable season of racing and winning.”

The team will hold a second training camp in San Antonio, TX in late February where the riders will meet team sponsors and ride the new Gary Fisher 2009 road bikes for the first time. “We’d like to thank our friends at Snow Mountain Ranch, the Viking and the Winter Park Athletic Club for their support of the team,” adds Carney. “I’m sure we will be back next year.”

Change of Strategy - Ken Mills Moves to General Manager
During the same week there was a management change on the team with Ken Mills being promoted to general manager of the team: Mills will continue to work under the supervision of Jonas Carney, performance director, but also assume more daily management duties for the program.

Ken Mills

“Ken’s done a terrific job since he joined the program,” says Jonas Carney, performance director. “He has a great instinct for racing, knows everyone in the business and has become an invaluable member of team management. He’s played a big role in allowing our program to expand rapidly and for us to have athletes racing domestically and internationally at the same time.”

Mills will continue to work with the team’s athletes but also assume responsibility for team logistics, shipping, transportation and travel as well as liaison with sponsors and partners of the program.

International Goals 2009
The move enables Carney to focus his time exclusively on athlete and program development, race and season strategy and growing the KBS program internationally – a key goal for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He will also assume many of the management tasks handled by Charles Aaron and the team’s parent company Circuit Global Sport Management.

“We’re thrilled to see Ken’s willingness to step up and take more on – he’ll be a great success,” says Charles Aaron, team owner and Managing Director Circuit Global Sport Management. “With Ken assuming many of our team HQ’s daily logistics, our support staff will be freed up to focus on providing even more support, integration and promotional benefits to our current and future sponsors.”

Mills’ new position is effective immediately as the Kelly Benefit Strategies team preperation for continues with  two training camps in Winter Park CO this week, and San Antonio, TX in February.

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Kelly Benefit Strategies is a group insurance broker and consultant that specialize in healthcare, and is a division of Kelly & Associates Insurance Group, Inc, headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland. KBS serves thousands of employers ranging in size from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies and is committed to bringing its customers affordable group benefits through innovative benefit design, management, and administration. www.kellybenefitstrategies.com

Circuit Global Sports Management is Minneapolis-based; facilitates strategic alliances between corporate partners and professional cycling initiatives. Previous high-profile clients include Cadillac, Red Bull, Panasonic, DKNY, Dollar Rent a Car, Jeep, Timberland, and the State of Minnesota.  www.circuitsport.com

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