For family and team

Today was the Tokeneke Road Race held on multiple laps of a tough and hilly 22 mile course in East Hartland, CT. Promoted by local clubs and our friends at Tokeneke, Mossman and Cafeteros, it promised to be a tough day with the masters doing only two laps and the P12 three. With the TARGETRAINING U-25/Elite team getting ready for the upcoming Green Mountain Road Race, this was an important event. Adding to the pressure was how last year Eneas won and Justin took third place.

This year saw the squad send Eneas and Justin again, along with No Nickname Nate, Adam Bomb, BFD Dave, Will Monster, Matt (nickname withheld) and Stylin Ben. Paul "Tailgunner" Levis was also there!

The first lap started quick with multiple attacks until Ben got off the front and away with a Kenda rival. This forced the fruities to chase the next 15 miles and set up Will and Matt going into the big climb. With the Monster pulling full speed, Eneas and Justin pushed the pace with the field right behind them. Eneas coasted through the KOM prize (in his big ring, ouch!) and the mood of the day was set. The field came back together until a touch of wheels put Adam and another rider onto the pavement. Ouch. Adam had to wait a bunch for the service call but got back on with just some scrapes and bruises.

Meanwhile, up the long tough feed zone climb at the end of the second lap, the lone green and blue jersey of Eneas came flying up the climb. About a minute back was Justin just hammering the heck out of a different Kenda and the field about 30 seconds behind with Will and Nate covering moves nicely. Justin dropped his partner and bridged the gap over the next 20 minutes to reach his teammate. They worked well together through a quick rain storm in the valley until their gap hit almost four minutes at the base of the final climb to the finish. They stayed steady up the hill and crossed the line hand in hand with Eneas dedicating the win to his mother in law; who has just finished her cancer treatment. With this type of inspiration, it was no wonder that no other team could keep up with them for almost three hours.

Then, a few minutes later, a flash of green at the finish line shows Will Nowak winning the sprint for third place in front of a fruitie and a nerac. What? Holy crap, that is fantastic! With his teammates up the road, Will got a free rider for the last lap and nailed the remainders for a TARGETRAINING 1-2-3. Nice!!!! Look to see this kid on TV someday soon; strong rider, good skills and does what he is told. I need 9 more! Really, though: I guess we improved on last year the best way possible!

It looks like the team is getting ready for GMSR in the proper fashion and the energy they are producing can be felt with those looking to recover from sickness and continue to influence the lives around us and the team. Our thoughts and prayers are will all of you.

In the Masters 35+ event, you know who won solo, with Scott Bodin 5th, Max L 9th and the best looking man in cycling, Max Viega leading the field up the climb in sterling fashion. Ian just made it home from the Cape to help out too! Nicely done guys!

Kyle Wolfe

Director, TARGETRAINING Racing Teams
http://www.targetraining.com/

The Circle of Life

With less than 24hrs until the start of the Pan Mass Challenge, I find myself reflecting on a cycling season that is not only an athletic endeavor, but a learning experience that has taught me just how precious and at times how fragile our lives can be.

Having been blessed with a son last year, my wife and I spent the beginning of the year struck by how rewarding new life truly is. Yet our world was about to change in a way that neither of us anticipated.

Rick and I had agreed to participate in the Pan Mass Challenge early on and had planned our racing seasons around it. Before we could even think about the start of the year’s 1st road race, Rick was diagnosed with testicular cancer. What went from a worthy cause, in the Pan Mass Challenge, hit close to home when your fellow athlete’s life is threatened by the very disease that you were raising awareness for.

Fortunately Rick’s rehabilitation has gone well and he is back on the bike racing and getting ready to participate in the Pan Mass Challenge with me this weekend.

Yet this story has only just begun. Soon after Rick’s battle, my mother in law was diagnosed with breast cancer. She too has fought her cancer and on mother’s day of 2008 I dedicate my cycling season to her. You may have seen my fabulous pink bar tape, well that’s for Oma!
As part of my pledge to ride the Pan Mass Challenge, I have committed to not only fund raise for the event, but to match my sponsor’s generosity with my own personal challenge.
For every $100 that I have been sponsored for my completion of the Pan Mass Challenge, I will also ride up the simulated Alp D’Huez climb at TARGETRAINING in under 1hr.

This may not be an easy way to raise money, but it’s nothing like the fight against cancer. Looking beyond this weekend’s event, it is my goal to help spread the word about cancer prevention and management through diet and exercise. Mother Nature brings us life, and she provides us with the tools to nourish it.

Training Snack Food of the week

We all know that Fig Newtons are an underground training food for pro cyclists, but for the recreational cyclist they can be a refreshing snack change on your favorite training route.

Want to take a fig bar to the next level? Then try Barbara's whole wheat all natural Fig Bars. They have no artificial colors or flavors, sweetened naturally with fruit juice, and are even tastier and juicier than your traditional Fig Newton. They pack 60 calories and 13g of carbohydrates per bar so you will be sure to keep the gas tank full with a pocket full.

Connecticut Challenge and Pan-Mass Challenge

The TARGETRAINING gang is focused less on racing both this past and upcoming weekend and more on dedicating itself to help those who have felt cancer touch their lives.

Cancer is hardest on family and friends who deeply care for those afflicted with the disease. For Eneas, he was touched very personally when the mother of his lovely wife Nancy was diagnosed with cancer. Eneas races with pink handlebar tape to make clear that his thoughts go beyond the realm of racing each and every day.

Jeff Keith, a co-founder of the Connecticut Challenge, lost part of his leg to cancer as a teenager. He has fought on mightily. A superb athlete, Jeff is also a tireless worker for the cause of militating against the effects of cancer. Jeff ran across the US on one leg, but more importantly, is the father of a lovely family whom he supports and who cares for him. Along with his charity's partner, John Ragland, Jeff has poured tremendous energy and intelligence into crafting Connecticut's version of the Pan-Mass Challenge.

Team Brent was founded to help the McCreesh family in their effort to support their youngest, Brent. As a 2 year old, Brent and his family found out he had a cancer that had severely metastasized (that means it spread). Brent lives today and is an incredible testament to our ability to fight on. That such a young person should have to live through this is both sad and inspiring; how hard can it be to go up a hill or to get ready for a training ride compared to Brent's travails and the struggles his family has had to endure? Endurance is life. And Team Brent, a group of 20+ cyclists, ride in honor of Brent's survival and to help others do the same.

Many clients inspire us to undertake these two weeks of contributing in a very small way to the community around us. One of our great client families had cancer strike in their midst. Last year father, mother and son rode the Pan-Mass Challenge together. Healthy. Fit. Strong. They inspire us. So does our client who has had cancer twice. She rides well every times she trains with us. You could not tell by looking at her that she has had to deal with this twice. She has a young son who probably cannot envision his mom ever sick. And the way she rides, we cannot, either. She inspires us. So many of our clients have lost family members to this multi-faceted disease. They resolutely continue. They are inspired.

Cancer is one of those uncontrollable, horrific items that happen. And then we (the collective) are faced with dealing with the fact that we are not in control of our destiny. We draw strength from each other, and we need strength ourselves, to face the reality that life and death are not that far apart. We have and will overcome. Or face death well. And we do our best to help those face their personal battle with hope and ultimately with dignity and joy. Oncologists are the heroes who everyday have to fight to allow us to survive. This never-ending battle reinforces that every day we live we have to represent who we are to our fullest, because life is certainly short. It is our only chance to be ourselves and to ensure that we live it well.

So when Eneas, Team Brent and the rest of us ride the Pan-Mass Challenge on Saturday and Sunday, we ride in support of everyone who has and will have to deal with this ongoing scourge. We are the fortunate, the ones who are healthy enough to ride fast and strong, to observe cancer, to experience it while overcoming it, even if only for a while. We certainly are not laughing at it, since cancer is an opponent always looking for weakness. We thank God for modern medicine and science, and all those who have helped get science to the point it is at now.

We will do our best to be brave for everyone who has and will have to face it. You are not alone. We are there with you, every pedal stroke of the way.

To our families and friends who suffer or worry, you are with us, always. You are with us, especially when we are riding fast and strong, going up that hill, aiming for that finish line, enjoying just being.

2008 Univest Grand Prix Selects TARGETRAINING

Sparta Cycling, organizer of the Univest Grand Prix, has invited TARGETRAINING to compete in the classic road race on Saturday as well as the Univest Criterium on Sunday. The Univest Grand Prix is one of the premier cycling races in the Northeast and its younger cousin, the Criterium, is quickly becoming important as well.

The team, including manager extraodinaire Kyle Wolfe, captain Eneas Freyre, and young guns Justin Lindine, Ben Zawacki, Lee Rosenthal, Craig Luekens, and Adam St. Germaine, along with our own Matt Baldwin, earned the right to compete in (and a chance to win) this 100+ mile race through the hills of Lancaster County.

The history of the Univest Grand Prix's race usually sees a select group of riders entering the finishing circuits, where it completes the first part (an 80+ mile road point to point race, which causes the peloton to shrink to a small gruppeto). The remainder of the shattered peloton then battle it out in what is a painful, fast 20 loop finishing circuit with a tough, repeating hill just in case anyone still feels fresh. Will Frishkorn, who got 2nd in the 3rd stage of the 2008 Tour de France, won Univest in 2007. So this is a tough race with top competition. Eneas placed 9th in the 2002 version of this race and will be a strong guiding force for the entire team. In 2005, Anthony Colby got 3rd for TARGETRAINING and in 2006, Frank Pipp got 4th racing for TARGETRAINING. This younger TARGETRAINING team will we hope live up to the tradition of responding to the challenge of this arduous contest.

Final team selection will be announced in the coming weeks. To see more about this race, please go to http://www.univestgrandprix.com/.