The expected and some great developments

Eneas Freyre is the head of the cycling program at TARGETRAINING. Eneas is a father. Eneas is a great bike racer. Eneas won the road race stage of GMSR yesterday up the epic App Gap. It was freaking great. But first, how it all happened.

The TARGETRAININ Elite team went into the road race stage with the simple goal of doing what it took to score the overall victory in this four day race. Everyone was on board to support Eneas and Justin in doing so, as this course was perfect for both of them. After a long neutral section at the start of the stage, the attacks were non stop from everyone in the field. At only 75 miles this year, the winning move was going to have to be soon and super fast. The team was covering everything well until a solid attack went and the Adam Bomb covered it hard. These guys were flying and Adam was spinning his 11t cog just trying to stay involved. At the first sprint line (which was also for GC time) da' Bomb took 2nd place and robbed the overall leader of a few seconds. Yup, the sprint leader, the GC leader and the KOM leader were all in this breakaway. Adam had picked the right move.

Back in the field, Big Craig Luekens was trying to bridge but got caught. This allowed Eneas to counter will Monster Will Nowak glued to his wheel. This kid is great as I specifically told him to always be with his teammate. They finally caught up to Adam and now the move of ten had three TARGETRAINING team member in it. At the feed zone at mile 27 (which they took 56 minutes to reach, ouch!), Adam was leading the group with Will and Eneas in the group and they had built a lead of two minutes already. Wow. Adam led up the seven mile 8% Brandon Gap climb and flew down the long descent at speeds reaching 65mph.

Adam and Will were completely dedicated to making the move stick and did over 75% of the work themselves to keep the group away and put pressure on the field. In the field, CCB and the Fruities starting to panic and put 6 guys on the front to chase. It was not easy as the boys in the break were also going fast. Finally, after 60 miles, the break was caught, but at what price. Those two teams burned a lot of matches, but with our GC men doing no work. As it was caught, TARGETRAINING was back at the front making things fast and scary and bang! Eneas attacks the tired field with a tailwind move. He is gone with only a few elite riders going into the last ten kilometers. Big Craig sets tempo for a bit and then Eneas jumps them all with 2k to go and heads up the final climb. He is going hard, but the steep slope makes it seems like he is crawling. Time slows to a stop as the crowd and announcers realize he has the stage and is getting close to the overall lead. The riders behind him are speeding up but he does it! Eneas takes the stage with every bit of strength he could muster. He suffered like I have never seen him and I catch him at the line and push him to the recovery area. What a great win!

To the right is a podium picture at the top of the mountain at the finish line. Eneas is holding future GMSR winner Eneas Caden. What a great team!

What made it even better was how the team all worked together.

Adam and Will hammered themselves to make the break work which forced the other teams in the field to chase hard but allowed Eneas to sit on the move and stay fresh. In the field, the lads covered moves and kept Justin safe in case of complete disaster up the road. Especially strong was David BFD Hoyle. Dave has been finding his form all season but got it figured out on the road yesterday. He was always with Justin and even led the field through the dirt road sections to make sure that we dedicated the pace and line for our riders to keep things safe. Great job BFD!

The whole purpose of this team is to take young riders and teach them about cycling and racing and how to race as a team at the highest level, not just always try to win alone. Over the past two years this has really begun to take shape and has been a really pleasure to watch. All of my faithful readers know about Justin, but to watch Adam has also been great. He didn't finish his first Bethel Crit last year, but this year he is driving breakaways for his team and sprinting heads up for GC time. Dave is got it, and Will Nowak is amazing. He has raced alone a lot in his short career, but his natural talent now matches his tactics and he is always there for his team. Craig is a powerhouse, Gabe always ready, Nate and Lee also are always doing the right thing. What a great group of riders.

Today is the last stage in Burlinton, VT. It is a very tough fast and super technical criterium and there are GC time sprints and lots of action. The team is going to go hard to get the overall win for Eneas as he sits only three seconds off the lead. Watch for updates soon!

Kyle Wolfe

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

"Keep Those Tires Rollin' " Bicycle maintenance tip of the week

Your bike tires are the main contact point between you and the road so keeping them ready to roll will make your cycling sessions safe and reliable. Here are some tips to keep those tires rolling smooth and fast:
- Keep your tires inflated according to manufacturer’s specifications. Making sure that your tires are properly inflated is the single most important thing that you can do to prevent flat tires and premature wear. All tires come with recommended tire pressure ratings so follow them closely. Low tire pressure can lead to pinch flats and dangerous cornering, while pressure readings that are too high for clinchers will lead to a rough and inefficient ride, and with some wheels will even lead to damaged rims and blow outs. Many people think that high tire pressures will decrease rolling resistance and improve performance. This is a misconception. For most clincher tires, a pressure reading of 100-115 will achieve optimum rolling resistance and provide better handling and a more comfortable ride. Rotating your tires is not just limited to your car. Switching your bike tires from front to back every 1,000 miles will maximize the life of a good quality set of tires.
- Keep those tires away from the sun and nature’s elements when not in use. Excessive light and outdoor conditions can damage and weaken the rubber in your tires leading to cracked and weakened sidewalls. Keeping your bike and wheels indoors when not cycling will help extend your tires’ life span.
- When installing new tires or tubes, use baby powder to keep the tire and tube from galvanizing together over time.
- Frequently inspect your tires for damage and stuck debris. You can often spot problems such as cut sidewalls or glass stuck in tires and easily repair or place the tire before your next ride. This simple preventative measure will save you flat tires and headaches on future road rides.

September -- what a month

There are so many great happenings in September it is incredible.
1. Green Mountain Stage Race. The TARGETRAINING Elite squad is racing in Vermont, as is Max Veiga. The race goes 4 days with four stages: a time trial, a circuit race, a long point to point road race and a criterium. Look for results here. And check the TARGETRAINING Blog for more on this.
2. September TT Saturday Centuries(100K). Every 7 AM from TARGETRAINING.
3. Westport Kiwanis Triathlon. Sunday September 7th at 7:30 AM. Sprint triathlon in our hometown. What fun! Please see here. Great for entire family.
4. Threads and Treads Tour de Greenwich. September 14th. This is a blast, but be careful out there. See here.
5. Charter Oak Charity Ride September 20-22 (Friday-Sunday). Great cause -- building and running a school for Bridgeport CT children who now due to the program make it to college. Founded by Andrew Boas who is a caring individual and is passionate about education and cycling. 80 miles each day. Great group of people. Great scenery. Great ride. Please see here.
6. ITP Triathlon September 27th in Darien CT. Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura ("ITP") is a very rare bleeding disorder. The ITP Foundation helps families with children and adolescents with ITP who need financial assistance to manage and treat the disorder, and raise funds to further ITP research. TARGETRAINING will be at this triathlon in force. More to follow. Mark your calendars for this great event. It is slightly longer than a sprint triathlon (1/2 mile swim, 15 mile ride, 5 mile run). Jordan Rap from TARGETRAINING won it two years in a row but this year you will see Dom Gillen and team there.

Come join TARGETRAINING professional endurance coaches for 100 kilometers (62.5 miles) each and every Saturday in September 2008.

Each ride will be 3 to 4 hours and will have ride leaders for beginners (15 mile per hour pace) to advanced cyclists (20 mile per hour pace) along with vehicle support.

Each week willbe a different course.

Call Eneas or Dom at 203 227 6177 extension 2 or extension 3 or write to Eneas@targetraining.com or Dom@targetraining.com or Info@targetraining.com to sign up.

We look forward to riding with you.

Round and round with no brakes

This past weekend I had the honor of officiating at the New York State track championships held at the Kissena Velodrome in Queens, NY. I bet most of my faithful readers didn't even know there was a velodrome in Queens. I used to race down there about twenty years ago every week for food money. Let's just say it kept me thin! It is actually a pretty decent outdoor set up and the racing is fantastic. The event was two days long and included 500m and 1000m time trial events, points racing, match sprints, scratch racing, pursuits and of course my favorite: the keiren.

That's right, just like on TV.

The thing that stuck out most in my mind were the people involved. From Alan the tireless and generous promoter to the development team coaches to the sun baked referees to the fans in the bleachers; everyone was super supportive and excited to be part of the program. But let me tell you the most amazing people there were the racers themselves.

These men and women were some of the nicest athletes I have ever met. Track racing is a small community and they all know each other by name. No matter what the situation, they may be rivals on the high pitched banks, but they are all best friends on the infield between events. They are also some of the most diverse and eclectic group of riders too. They almost all have beautiful artwork tattooed on their bodies, piercings, style and heritage that were so storied and layered that I found myself listening and learning for hours at a time.

There were cadets from West Point (no tattoos), messengers from Brooklyn, 50+ masters from Manhattan and engineers from Cambridge. The most impressive group were the women's field: more than twenty racers in all. Simply amazing and all of them strong and fierce competitors.

The fun part about track racing is that if you want, a rider can compete in as many events as he or she wants to at the meet. That means some of these guys would do ten or twelve races. Sure, they are only about 2 minutes or less each, but the rhythm is non stop. Warm up, race, recover, nap. Warm up, race, recover, nap. Endless highs and lows. Sound familiar?

The coolest event as I said above was the keiren. It is a 2000m long event (5 laps on the track) paced behing a durney type moto-scooter. The riders all line up in a row on the start line and the durney goes by at 30kph and off they go. The riders have to stay behind it as it slowly builds up to 50kph by the fourth lap. Then it pulls off and game on. So these guys are going at mach 5 and then get slammed by an instant head wind and start going crazy sprinting and moving and racing hard. It is super fun to watch.

One of the most notable items was the complete and utter lack of TARGETRAINING athletes, probably the first time all year that I have not seen someone racing somewhere. If any of you want to get fast in a hurry, see Viega or Matt at Tri/Cycle in Westport, CT to get a nice Cervelo track bike and get down there to race. I know I am hooked again.