TARGETRAINING in Ohio

The race is a mess, but we have gotten a little press; accurate or not...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2008/jun08/tourofohio08/tourofohio081/gallery-tourofohio081

Time machines and mid west fun

Greetings from Ohio!

Yesterday I took the U-25/Elite team on a long drive in the country out here to Granville, OH for the Tour of Ohio. A five day stage race in Southeastern Ohio with a decent field and some solid team exposure. Racing this week is Justin, Adam, Lee, Craig, Ben, Will, David, Nathanial and Josh Jamner. I am here to make sure they stay out of trouble.

The drive took almost 12 hours as we constantly had to stop to feed Lee and let Adam go the bathroom. This guy can drink a lot of water!! Also, we took the TARGETRAINING team Volvo with the trailer, and the maximum allowable (and safe) speed is about 27 mph! It was almost completely uneventful except when we were passed in West Virginia by three Delorean sports cars. It was some sort of Marty McFly nightmare!

We are staying here in Granville at Denison University. It is a super quaint school in the hills and we are in some nice rooms complete with kitchens and everything. All of the stages are in the area, so it is a good deal. All of the race is staying here, including our arch enemies Kenda/Raleigh! There goes the neighborhood!

This morning we got up, had breakfast and went on an awesome easy ride to open up the legs from the long drive. The farm roads are amazing and with almost no traffic. We had lunch (what is Nutello?) and got ready for the race.

Today was stage 1, a 60 lap criterium of a 0.5 mile, 9 corner loop with a cool hill in downtown Mt Vernon, OH. The race started fast with some locals trying to get things going until the Adam Bomb and Justin Wolverine Lindine went crazy. Justin attacked over and over again and once he stopped, the Bomb took over. After about 8 laps, the officials had to pull over 50 of the original 120 starters as they had all been dropped by the green machine!

Finally Justin countered an amazing Bomb move and stayed away solo for about 35 laps. Adam came super close to bridging up with local guy who just couldn't keep up and they got caught by the field. With No Nickname Nate and Craig-man covering every chase move like a wet blanket and Leero pulling up the rear, Justin stayed away and absolutely charmed the heck out of this small town. Nate even crashed and got back into the race no problem. These guys are motivated!

Finally however, three criterium experts bridged up despite our efforts and they outsprinted Justin despite his last lap attack. It was amazing to watch them all in action as they worked together well and handled every move perfectly.

Tomorrow is a hilly 70 mile road race with a one mile finishing climb. The riders here all seem to be strong criterium dudes, so our big plan is to let the Wolverine wreck havoc on the bumps as normal. They are no where enough prepared to experience the hurt that this team is going to give! All the other teams are very impressed and jealous of our camaraderie and strength. Cool!

Everyone is doing great and are eating well thanks to some pots and pans on loan from Try-Lyn. Thanks! Well, its off to the dorm kitchen to try to talk the night shift into washing our water bottles. Wish me luck! More tomorrow!

Tour of No Bathrooms

Greetings yet again from the Tour of Ohio. Last night was the stage 4 Worthington Criterium. It was 35 laps of a 1+ mile loop with about 1/3 straight, 1/3 downhill and 1/3 uphill turning to the finish. Lots of twist and turns. Fast and smooth.

Oh yeah, and no bathrooms. That's right. No portajohns, no bathrooms, just some trees and lots of bike racers with crossed legs. It seems our wonderful promoter forgot that little tid-bit. He did get the mileage correct though, which is good.

The race has been typically dominated by local dirty players Inferno Racing. This is the old Abercrombie and Fitch team and they also sponsor the event, which seems to explain a lot of the issues and things going on.

The race started slow as Inferno tried to set tempo at the front. No Nickname Nate and a Mengoni rider went off the front with a few others and a few laps later...Justin bridges up with Toby Kenda. Super sweet. This is an awesome move as only one Inferno rider has latched himself onto it. They start working really hard and get up to 45 seconds on this ultra fast course. Behind them, a desperate chase move is trying to make it, but Adam Bomb and Leero are covering it perfectly. Back in the field, BFD Dave is killing every chase move perfectly. Things are looking good.

The break is away for about 20 laps before this guy decides to start chasing. He is pretty quick and will some help from Inferno get the break back with only 5 to go. TARGETRAINING immediately shifts gears (literally and figuratively) and gets set up for field sprint mode for Stylin Ben. The lads go to the front and start filling up the pain box with lots of goodies for all the other teams.

As the bell rings, Big Craig Luekens tries to jump the field at about 45 mph. This sticks for bit and forces the other teams to give desperate chase. He is still a bit sick and can't stay away so Justin and then da' Bomb start the final set up for sprinter Ben. At the bottom of the hill is a sweeping right turn that Bomb hits full speed with no breaks and terrifies both the field and Ben. He pulls a bit and then off on the hill but Justin has been chopped by Inferno and Ben is sitting in the wind with 600 meters to go. Too far. He tries to get reset but is actually brake checked by World and Kiwi Olympian Hayden Godfried. What the heck man? Totally bogus there Fred. He goes from 3rd to much further back in a millisecond. Darnit.

We were super close with the breakaway, the solo and the sprint. The team absolutely raced the heck out of their bicycles and did a fantastic job actually making this race exciting. Everyone is commenting about the race this year. We have been told that the same stage 2 road race last year was 12 minutes slower. Everyone is saying how Inferno used to completely control the race but now has to chase and cover and manage.

The one unique difference: TARGETRAINING. Cool. Good job guys. One other sign of the aggression, Justin and Nate are 3rd and 4th in the sprint jersey competition. Trust me when I say that Justin is no sprinter, but if he is miles ahead of you at the line, you are not getting points.

Today is the fifth and final stage which is a big farm country circuit and then 8 super hard finishing loops here at the college. Hugh hill, scary descent to a hair pin turn and even some brick pavers. We think it will be a good day as the Inferno guys were showing some weaknesses at the crit. Talk to you soon.

Kyle Wolfe
Manager, TARGETRAINING Racing Teams
http://www.targetraining.com/

Tour of No Bathrooms

Greetings yet again from the Tour of Ohio. Last night was the stage 4 Worthington Criterium. It was 35 laps of a 1+ mile loop with about 1/3 straight, 1/3 downhill and 1/3 uphill turning to the finish. Lots of twist and turns. Fast and smooth.

Oh yeah, and no bathrooms. That's right. No portajohns, no bathrooms, just some trees and lots of bike racers with crossed legs. It seems our wonderful promoter forgot that little tid-bit. He did get the mileage correct though, which is good.

The race has been typically dominated by local dirty players Inferno Racing. This is the old Abercrombie and Fitch team and they also sponsor the event, which seems to explain a lot of the issues and things going on.

The race started slow as Inferno tried to set tempo at the front. No Nickname Nate and a Mengoni rider went off the front with a few others and a few laps later...Justin bridges up with Toby Kenda. Super sweet. This is an awesome move as only one Inferno rider has latched himself onto it. They start working really hard and get up to 45 seconds on this ultra fast course. Behind them, a desperate chase move is trying to make it, but Adam Bomb and Leero are covering it perfectly. Back in the field, BFD Dave is killing every chase move perfectly. Things are looking good.

The break is away for about 20 laps before this guy decides to start chasing. He is pretty quick and will some help from Inferno get the break back with only 5 to go. TARGETRAINING immediately shifts gears (literally and figuratively) and gets set up for field sprint mode for Stylin Ben. The lads go to the front and start filling up the pain box with lots of goodies for all the other teams.

As the bell rings, Big Craig Luekens tries to jump the field at about 45 mph. This sticks for bit and forces the other teams to give desperate chase. He is still a bit sick and can't stay away so Justin and then da' Bomb start the final set up for sprinter Ben. At the bottom of the hill is a sweeping right turn that Bomb hits full speed with no breaks and terrifies both the field and Ben. He pulls a bit and then off on the hill but Justin has been chopped by Inferno and Ben is sitting in the wind with 600 meters to go. Too far. He tries to get reset but is actually brake checked by World and Kiwi Olympian Hayden Godfried. What the heck man? Totally bogus there Fred. He goes from 3rd to much further back in a millisecond. Darnit.

We were super close with the breakaway, the solo and the sprint. The team absolutely raced the heck out of their bicycles and did a fantastic job actually making this race exciting. Everyone is commenting about the race this year. We have been told that the same stage 2 road race last year was 12 minutes slower. Everyone is saying how Inferno used to completely control the race but now has to chase and cover and manage.

The one unique difference: TARGETRAINING. Cool. Good job guys. One other sign of the aggression, Justin and Nate are 3rd and 4th in the sprint jersey competition. Trust me when I say that Justin is no sprinter, but if he is miles ahead of you at the line, you are not getting points.

Today is the fifth and final stage which is a big farm country circuit and then 8 super hard finishing loops here at the college. Hugh hill, scary descent to a hair pin turn and even some brick pavers. We think it will be a good day as the Inferno guys were showing some weaknesses at the crit. Talk to you soon.

Kyle Wolfe
Manager, TARGETRAINING Racing Teams
http://www.targetraining.com/

Speed Session -- Terrific Tuesdays at TARGETRAINING

Two trips for Tuesday. One to Staples, the Westport High School Track, which is used for speed sessions for TARGETRAINING's running/triathlon. And the other to Sherwood Island, the informal speed track for TARGETRAINING's cycling/triathlon program.

If you read the most recent Men's Health, or Bicycling, or any other general health and fitness periodical, you will see cited the importance of intensity. Intensity gets you lean. Intensity gets you fit. Intensity gets you fast.

Be warned, intensity done incorrectly has dire consequences. Supervised sessions are highly recommended. Doing intensity on your own is similar to cutting your own hair with a razor.
(A) Better to let an expert cut your hair (B) Better to not use a razor.

Eneas for cycling and Tyler/Dom for running are our respective experts. And the results show over time. It's awesome to see a tired yet exuberant group of clients head back to TARGETRAINING (or their homes or offices) after a speed session. They just got a little bit faster and leaner (we know they are going to eat properly and rest properly to be ready for our next session). Whether it is Dr. Rob or Megan or Kim or Andy...everyone has a grimace that quickly becomes a smile...and on to the next one.

Hope to see you out there with us on a Terrific Tuesday coming soon. You are invited!