Harold Kamins tours with Andy Hampsten

Targetraining cyclist Harold Kamins rides with Giro d'Italia winner and Alpe d'Huez stage winner Andy Hampsten in Italy. Here is his report.

My wife and I just did an 8 day cycling tour in Tuscany with Cinghiale Cycling Tours, a company owned and run by Andy Hampsten. After retiring from pro cycling, Andy wanted to kick back and enjoy life, and felt the Italians did this best. He moved to Tuscany, and has become a local. Andy's bike tours reflect his own philosophy on life - enjoy the riding, but make sure to stop for an espresso or a gelato along the way. Andy rode with our group everyday, along with four other terrific guides.

Our tour included great riding on Elba island and on the mainland, as well as a winery tour, a visit to an olive mill and cooking classes. Andy personally conducted a seminar on Italian wine that included a tasting of great wines from his own cellar. He used to own a vineyard, so he knows his stuff. Despite al the riding, I'm sure everyone gained weight on the trip given all the great food and wine. The tour was able to accommodate a wide range of cycling abilities because of the large number of guides. If you're thinking about a bike tour in Italy, check out www.cinghiale.com.

Trail Series Results

Results from the 10/5 Training Race.

PLACE NAME TIME POINTS

1st Eneas Freyre 19.05 60
2nd Max Veiga 20.08 50
3rd David Booth 20.35 40
4th Bob LaBanca 21.13 30
*5th Kim Driscoll 26.10 20
6th Max Caspeschia 30.40 10
7th Joe Bogden 32.00 10

Conditions were cold, windy and rainy. Next race is 10/12 on the same course @ 8AM.
*1st Female Finisher

3:59.49 is no bull!

Ok, so the swim may have been a little short, but that did not stop me from sprinting to the line to make sure I was under 4 hours for the first time in a 1/2 ironman distance race.

The Longhorn Triathlon outside Austin, TX was a great event to end my on-road triathlon season. I finished 11th in a strong pro field that included two former world triathlon champions. While it was not my best day ever, sometimes it is what does not happen during the race that can produce a solid result. I had no flat tires, no cramps, no bonking....no issues.

After the race my wife and I had our fill of Tex-Mex and barbeque, and I got a photo taken with my buddy Dakota! Up next is the Xterra World Championships in Maui...only 2.5 weeks to go.

Toyota US Open

This past weekend I returned to racing after almost a two month hiatus (mostly due to a long, two-week trip to China to watch my friends race in the Olympics). The Toyota US Open in Dallas, TX was probably not the most relaxed way to ease back into competition, boasting a championship field certainly on par with the field at Lifetime Fitness, and easily one of the most competitive races of the year. All in all, it was an average day, which is both good and bad, depending on how you look at it.

About 21:30 on the swim (andy potts was fastest at 18:30), which is not great, but also not bad for me. It was a better swim than it looks. I was only 30sec back at the 800m buoy. Coming back was directly into the sun, so sighting was very hard. I was really close to that pack on the way out, so I'm getting closer to crossing that threshold of being able to stay in the pack.

Out on the bike, it was basically a tail wind the whole way (point to point) so that made it hard to really make progress, since you'd spin out the downhills. I just about even split the front group of five athletes, who made up five of the top six final placings, though Greg Bennett put about 35 seconds on me in total. Legs felt kind of flat without the snap you hope for, but I also think some of that was just the fast conditions, which make it harder to pound the pedals. 56:30 for 41km, so a fast day. Watts were not stellar, but again the wind was a large part of that.

Out on the run, I felt ok, but not great as I stood in 11th position overall. Focused on good turnover, and thought I might catch 10th, but Simon Thompson and Chris Forster ran by just after the turnaround, and I just barely missed catching 12th place in the final kilometers. I ran much better in the second 5km once I'd warmed up, running a 34:38 after a relatively slow opening 5-6km.

On the plus side, I was pleased that my "average" speed is better than it was, for example, at lifetime. I'm encouraged with that progress, and I'd like to do the Olympic distance races again next year, as I think a year from now, I'll be over that cusp and can consistently finish a handful of spots higher than I did this year. It's always good to see "representative" performances bringing me closer to the front, and I think it shows that I'm back on track with my training with two more races to finish up the year - a fun trip to Jamaica to race Greg Bennett head-to-head at the new Rosehall Triathlon near Montego Bay and then the big season finale at the second edition of Ironman Arizona, now on it's new date.

Thanks to Kerry Yndestad of Yndecam.com who always takes the best pictures. I think you can just spot the TargeTraining logo as I exit the swim.

© Kerry Yndestad

Longhorn Half Ironman Oct 5th 2008

Dom Gillen decided to warm up for XTerra World's by going to Texas to race in the heat. Dom we hope will put together a nice blog about the event. But if for whatever reason you didn't google "Longhorn Half Ironman" on the web, here it is. Dom raced to a personal best 3:59:40. He finished just out of 10th place (11th place), 10 minutes off of winner Richie Cunningham (an Australian with a lot of excellent 70.3 results). Dom also finished behind such notables as Tim DeBoom and Simon Lessing by 5 and 6 minutes respectively.

Dom's a little tired but when he gets a chance he'll give us some color about the race, share his experience and thoughts, including his disappointment that he missed the top 10 (but also his excitement that he did a PR time).

Here's a nice article from Slowtwitch on the race.