Nailpolish for Worlds 2013

I'm in Italy.  I'm staying at Il Borghetto Andrea Tafi (Tafi is an ex-pro cycling champion) in Italy, with the Canadian National Team.  Today we drove to Florence to pre-ride the Worlds race course.  It's not going to be anywhere near easy.  But, it is a really, really cool course.

2013 World Championships manicure

Before getting on the plane to Italy I went and got my nails done with my friend Véro (check out her site here).  Last year I painted Candian flags on every nail, this year I decided to leave the painting up to the pros.  It was good for my brain.  Check it out, the mani-pedi matches the new Cycling Canada team kits.  ;)

World Championships

I'm proud to be one of 10 Canadian cyclists selected by Cycling Canada to be eligible to represent Canada at the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Toscana, Italy.  Cycling Canada's final selection will be made the second week of September, 2013, just over two weeks before the event.

Representing Canada at the World Championships is one the most important targets on my calendar each season.  Following a short break, I'll be working on building up my fitness following the expertise of my coach (from PowerWatts Premier Studio in Montréal) as the Championship date approaches.

Thanks to my team: NOW and Novartis for MS, and our sponsors including Specialized, NOW Bars, Ford, CytoSport, TIME Pedals, Champion Systems, SRAM, as well as Nuheat Industries, Global Relay's Bridge the Gap Fund and PowerWatts.   
Find out more about each one by clicking on their logo on the righthand side of this website.

Canadian National Road Cycling Championships 2013

 BRONZE AND SILVER at the Canadian National Road Cycling Championships

Lex Albrecht: Canadian National Road Cycling Championships 2013. Photo © Pasquale Stalteri / All rights reserved

The Canadian National Road Cycling Championships were held in St. Georges, Québec from June 20 - 23 2013.  I race for NOW and Novartis for MS, an American team.  Since I'm the only Canuck, I was on my own, which is an exceptional situation.  No teammates, no staff.  A lot of extra work, but a welcome challenge.

Lex Albrecht, Canadian National Road Cycling Championships.  Time trial.  Photo © CanadianCyclist.com / All rights reserved

The first event was a 28km time trial (TT).  I went at the rolling course on my Specialized S-Works Shiv TT bike like I meant it.  I put in a solid effort.  I had installed a special chainring to help me go faster on the downhills but the plan backfired a tiny bit.  The chain wouldn't stay on the ring near the end of the race.  Lesson: never deviate from SRAM components.  Regardless, I'm proud of my 7th place finish, and am even more motivated to keep working on my TT.

Photo: D. Gagnon

The next day was a 110km road race around St. Georges.  To recover in time, I used my Travel Roller .  I bring that Travel Roller with me, EVERYWHERE.

On the road course, there were some really rough sections on the road (deep crevasses, huge potholes, sharp, rocky gravel), some good climbs, and rolling hills. 

I played it safe for the first part of the race, saving my energy for the end.  At one point I let my guard down and let myself get shuffled too far back in the pack.  As the riders hammered up a hill in front of me I decided I needed to step my game up.

I counter attacked another rider's effort, hoping to get away from the pack who was already tired of chasing the previous attack.  I wanted somebody to follow me or bridge up to me, so we could work together and stay away.  But, I saw that I was floating off the front solo a little too long and let up on my pace.  As the gap shrunk, one rider bridged up as a precaution before we were "absorbed" back into the pack.  I was a part of a small group that would finally break off the front on a difficult part of the course, leaving the rest of the pack chasing.

BRONZE MEDAL
In the final kilometers, we were a select group of only 5 or 6 riders being chased down.  I took the 2nd last corner with just a bit too much precaution and had to make up for it in the final few hundred meters.  I sprinted up the last pitch to a 3rd place finish.  Especially after crashing out of Nationals in 2012 with a nasty concussion, it was good to be back on the podium.

2013 Canadian Road Cycling Championships podium. Proud to wear my Nuheat pin! Photo: B. Poredos

A quick interview with Pedal Mag after the podium ceremony.  Photo: B. Poredos

Canadian National Criterium Championship race was two days later.  I still "Travel-Rolled" and rode my bike on the day off to make sure my legs didn't seize up.  I did some mechanics on my bike, and mixed and matched some cassettes on my Rolf wheels to find the perfect combination of gears.  I needed something fast enough to launch fast attacks and to be in contention for the final sprint, and something easy enough to fly up the steep uphill pitch that we would climb 24 times during the race.

Greasy hands, again.  It's important to have an idea of how to take care of your own bike!

The crit was fun, and hard, but that's the way I wanted it.  I raced one of my most aggressive races of the season, throwing attacks at the peloton and trying to make a break stay.  The peloton dwindled down considerably by the end but no breakaway succeeded.  

Lex Albrecht, Canadian National Road Cycling Championships. Criterium.  Photo © CanadianCyclist.com / All rights reserved

SILVER MEDAL
With less than one lap to go, I put in a hard effort at the top of the climb that seemed to tire a lot of riders out.  I drilled it.  Leah Kirchman of Optum chased and caught up through the final corner that she took fast and hard, and shot past me.  I pounded the pedals until the finish line, not even daring to look behind me.  That earned a silver medal in the end.

Lex Albrecht, Canadian National Road Cycling Championships. Criterium podium.  Photo © CanadianCyclist.com / All rights reserved

It is great to bring home the hardware and represent NOW and Novartis for MS in "my" country.  I want to thank my team, NOW and Novartis for MS, all of our sponsors, as well as my partners for their support.

www.nuheat.com

I love riding and racing regardless of results, but I definitely know that training hard at PowerWatts Premier studio in Montréal, Québec is really paying off.  (If you want to learn more about PowerWatts, click HERE to follow them on Facebook)

GP Cycliste Gatineau 2013

I raced the 4th edition of the UCI 1.1 Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau with the Canadian National Cycling Team.  Our roster was cut a little short with one athlete injured, and another one with a last minute race calendar modification that had her racing overseas.

Denise Kelly, Candice Vermuelen, Véronique Labonté, Kinley Gibson, Véronique Fortin, Lex Albrecht

I raced with:
Véronique Fortin (2011 Canadian Road Cycling Champion)
Véronique Labonté (my teammate from 2011)
Kinley Gibson (a second year junior, super strong track racer, and great hotel roommate)
Candice Vermuelen (track specialist who went on to win a race the next day in Niagra Falls. What an athlete).

The 12 lap race (122 km) started out at a slower pace than in previous years.  A few riders attempted to throw some attacks, but all attempts of creating a break were smouldered.  At one point Claudia Haussler (TIBCO) attacked on an uphill and I jumped on her wheel, thinking it might be a move that could stay away for awhile at least.  The two of us were reeled back within a kilometer.  But by the 6th lap, Steph Roorda (Specialized-GSD Gestion) attacked and escaped from the peloton.  I waited until a nice little kicker came up in the course and gunned it.  I got away from the pack and rode until I caught up with Steph just before the feedzone.  We worked together to stay away for another 3 laps.  Suddenly I heard ..."Lex.  LEX!"  Music to my ears.  I glanced behind me and it was my teammate Véro Fortin bridging up to us.

The three of us worked hard in hopes of staying away until the end.  Our team director, Denise Kelly drove up alongside us and handed me a delicious Coke.  I hate Coke.  Except in the middle of a race.  Then it's DARN good.  But with just 1 lap left to go, TIBCO and Optum managed to reel us in. This was was perfect for them; Both had a team full of sprinters and great leadout riders.  It was also probably to their advantage to have the most teammates together up there to drill the pace and set up the win for their final sprinter before the finish line.  In the end, Shelly Olds from TIBCO took home the victory.

So, hey, we knew we had little chance to win out of a bunch sprint.  However, we did a decent job of making our plan of a break work.  I wanted the Maple Leaf on the first step of the podium, regardless of who was wearing it.  "Close, but no cigar" (the big, fat, stinky kind- why not?) is a lot more satisfying than sitting around in the peloton and not risking anything.

I think we would have needed an additional rider from another strong team there with us in that break...but that's not what they wanted.  Bike racing is all about pedalling hard and lots of strategy.

ONE thing that I have to mention about the Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau is that the spectators are awesome.  I heard my name yelled out so many times around the course! And, I was thrilled to see the plethora of people who came to watch the show.   

This is probably the coolest thing that I saw all day though (it definitey added a few extra watts to my pedal stroke in the breakaway, each time I rode past!):

Thanks W. Saunders for getting a photo of this sign for me, and thanks to the girls who made it! WOW! :)

CHECK OUT SOME GREAT PHOTOS OF THE GP GATINEAU FROM CANADIAN CYCLING MAGAZINE BY CLICKING HERE!

Grand Prix Granby 2013

Le matin avant le Grand Prix de Granby, avec mon espresso et mon Specialized SHIV.  Toute belle journée commence avec un bon espresso (ou deux...) n'est ce pas?

Je ne prends pas pour acquis le support que j'ai de mon équipe NOW and Novartis for MS, mais une journée de contre-la-montre en solo m'a rappellé de comment je suis chanceuse d'avoir une aussi belle groupe de personnes qui travaille avec moi et mes co-équipières pendant nos compétitions.

Habituellement nous avons 2 méchanos, et 2 soigneurs avec nous, ainsi que notre directeur d'équipe pour nous aider.  Nous n'avons qu'à penesr à faire notre course, et à rien d'autre.

Habituellement, ça n'aurait pas été moi qui aurait monté mon vélo, qui aurait changé le pédalier S-WORKS pour installer mon pédalier Quarq/SRAM Red et qui aurait fait des ajustements de dérailleur.

Cependant, ça fait du bien de se rappeller qu'on est capable d'accomplir ce qu'il faut faire toute seule.  Avec mon petit coffre d'outils et une carte de crédit, je me sens quasi-invincible ;).  Je n'ai pas réussi à préparer mon Specialized S-WORKS Shiv aussi bien que Erik, (mon méchano habituel de Reno, Nevada, É-U) mais ce que j'ai fait a quand même fait la job.

Ils annonçaient de la pluie pour Granby, mais ce n'est que les maîtres hommes qui sont partis en fin de journée qui ont dû le subir!  Pour mon rechauffement, et pour la course des femmes, il faisait super beau. 

Il ventait fort sur le parcours, tellement que j'ai vu quelques-unes de mes adversaires se faire pousser de la voie droite à la voie gauche.  Je pense que ma course à Gila (Silver City, Nouveau Mexique) où les rafales sont très fortes, m'a bien préparé pour GP Granby 2013!

La première page de résultats du Grand Prix Granby, 2013.  Ma moyenne était 44.04km/h sur 19km.

Mon équipe n'était pas à Granby avec moi, mais je suis fière de ramener une autre victoire pour NOW and Novartis for MS.  Ma prochaine course sera le Grand Prix de Gatineau, avec l'équipe Nationale du Canada.  Ensuite, je ferai le contre-la-montre du Grand Prix de Gatineau sous les couleurs de NOW and Novartis for MS.  Granby était une très belle occasion pour me préparer!

Podium du Grand Prix de Granby. (Photo: Marc-Wayne Addison)

Tour of the Gila 2013

Tour of the Gila: 5 day stage race at altitude in the New Mexico Desert.  It's windy, it's dry, and there's a heck of a lot less oxygen up there than what most riders are used to. 

The thin air makes it a lot harder to recover from every effort.  It also makes it quasi-impossible go hard enough to make my legs hurt.  My breathing goes into the red-zone before it can happen.  As if my body cannot get enough oxygen to the pistons to let them go hard enough to BURN.

I spent a total of a few hours in the K2 Altitude Room at Power Watts several days before leaving Montréal to race Joe Martin (a race at NORMAL altitude!) and Gila. 

Lex Albrecht in the K2 Altitude Room at PowerWatts Premier Stuido in Montréal.

The first day was relatively flat and downhill, until the final 10km where the road shot up.  And up, and up.  The finish line sits at just under 8000ft.  At the bottom of the hill Mara Abbott (Exergy 2016) attacked, and Claudia Haussler (Tibco) followed, only to "blow up" a few minutes later.  In the end, Katie Donovan, the star climber of our team, finished just barely behind 2nd place on the 1st stage of Gila.  Alison Powers finished in 4th.  I was 12th out of the 62 riders that day.

Stage 1 Podium: Katie Donovan in 3rd place.

1	Mara Abbott (Exergy TWENTY16)	3:19:48
2	Kristin McGrath (Exergy TWENTY16)	0:01:58
3	Kathryn Donovan (NOW and Novartis for MS)
4	Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS)	0:02:10
5	Andrea Dvorak (Exergy TWENTY16)	0:02:28
6	Claudia Häusler (Team TIBCO)
7	Anne Perry (DNA Cycling p/b Plan7)	0:03:01
8	Joelle Numainville (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)	0:03:20
9	Jade Wilcoxson (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)	0:03:32
10	Scotti Wilborne (Leborne Development)	0:03:34
11	Joanne Kiesanowski (Team TIBCO)	0:04:20
12	Lex Albrecht (NOW and Novartis for MS)	0:04:24
13	Janel Holcomb (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)	0:04:55
14	Rushlee Buchanan (Team TIBCO)	0:05:04
15	Amy Charity (Vanderkitten)	0:05:16

Stage 2 ("Inner Loop") began early in the morning at Fort Bayard.  The peloton split and regrouped several times.  In the end, Katie Donovan, Robin Farina and I were with Alison in the final group.  Robin Farina get into a non-general-classificaiton-threatening break just before the finish.  She just missed the podium, but that was okay.  Our priority was to either gain time on Mara Abbott for Alison Powers, or not lose any.  We didn't lose any, as Mara was in the same group as Katie, Alison and I.  We wouldn't have let her off the front.  Mission kind of accoplished.  (Janel Holcomb of Optum got away early and stayed away SOLO in the end, to win the race.  An impressive ride by Janel!  She blew the field away).

This is the result breakdown:
   (Solo Break: 1)
   (Small Break before the finish: 2-5)
   (Lead group: 6-19)
   (Other riders: 20-61)

1 Janel Holcomb (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 3:29:00 2 Shelley Olds (Team TIBCO) 0:00:48 3 Jade Wilcoxson (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 0:00:49 4 Robin Farina (NOW and Novartis for MS) 0:00:56 5 Joanne Kiesanowski (Team TIBCO) 0:00:59 6 Lauren Hall (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 0:01:27 7 Claudia Häusler (Team TIBCO) 8 Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) 9 Chantal Blaak (Team TIBCO) 0:01:32 10 Scotti Wilborne (Leborne Development) 11 Rushlee Buchanan (Team TIBCO) 12 Kathryn Donovan (NOW and Novartis for MS) 13 Mara Abbott (Exergy TWENTY16) 14 Amy Charity (Vanderkitten) 15 Andrea Dvorak (Exergy TWENTY16) 16 Lex Albrecht (NOW and Novartis for MS)
The 26km Time Trial was on the 3rd Day.  It was cold and windy.  So cold I wore long fingered gloves and arm warmers.  (I have yet to receive my long sleeved skinsuit. For the moment I wear a borrowed one from my teammate Beth Newell).  I decided to go with a less aero-dynmaic front wheel at the last minute, in hopes that I would have a greater chance of not getting blown off my bike by a huge gust of wind.  In hindsight, I'm not sure if it was necessary. Warming up for the TT on our S-Works Amiras.  We raced on our S-Works SHIVs. I was baffled to find out that only 4 other riders had beaten my time by the end.  Race winner: ALISON POWERS, my teammate!  She gained time over the leader, Mara Abbott.  The race organizers had watermelon for the riders at the end of the race.
Alexis Ryan getting watermelon for her teammates after the Time Trial Delish!  Thanks Alexis, and thanks to the Tour of the Gila race organizers and volunteers
1 Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) 0:39:23.41 2 Janel Holcomb (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 0:00:10.92 3 Kristin McGrath (Exergy TWENTY16) 0:00:51.05 4 Mara Abbott (Exergy TWENTY16) 0:00:56.01 5 Lex Albrecht (NOW and Novartis for MS) 0:01:07.25 6 Shelley Olds (Team TIBCO) 0:01:24.70 7 Claudia Häusler (Team TIBCO) 0:01:31.09 8 Rushlee Buchanan (Team TIBCO) 0:01:35.69 9 Jade Wilcoxson (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 0:01:44.37 10 Andrea Dvorak (Exergy TWENTY16) 0:01:59.16
The criterium in downtown Silver City was fun, and NOW and Novartis for MS raced a very agressive race.  We had coffee on the same day to celebrate our teammate's birthday (Olivia Dillon) The final day finished with a long climb, and Mara Abbott (Exergy) won all over again.  Katie Donovan and Alison Powers fought the entire climb to bring her back and did a great job.  Alison finished 2nd overall in the 2013 Tour of the Gila thanks to some REALLY spectacular riding and great teamwork from NOW and Novartis for MS. Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) 2nd place overall at the 2013 Tour of the Gila (Mara Abbott- Exergy 2016 in 1st, and Janel Holcomb - Optum in 3rd)  FINAL TOP 10 GENERAL CLASSIFICATION: 1 Mara Abbott (Exergy TWENTY16) 11:44:29 2 Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) 0:01:32 3 Janel Holcomb (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 0:02:42 4 Claudia Häusler (Team TIBCO) 0:03:03 5 Kristin McGrath (Exergy TWENTY16) 0:04:34 6 Andrea Dvorak (Exergy TWENTY16) 0:06:38 7 Jade Wilcoxson (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 0:08:01 8 Rushlee Buchanan (Team TIBCO) 0:08:27 9 Lex Albrecht (NOW and Novartis for MS) 0:09:06 10 Kathryn Donovan (NOW and Novartis for MS) My next race: Gatineau Grand Prix in Gatineau, Québec.  I'll be racing with the Canadian National Team for this one!

Joe Martin is Finished, We're Rocking Gila

The Joe Martin Stage Race finished with Alison Powers from NOW and Novartis for MS 2nd place overall, just behind Claudia Haussler of Tibco.  Tibco raced an excellent race... we still wanted that win though.

Alison Powers 2nd and Lex Albrecht 5th overall in the Joe Martin Stage Race (Claudia Haussler from Tibco won)

Right after the conclusion of the final stage, we jumped in the Ford van and C-Max hatchback and started the long drive to Silver City New Mexico for the 5 stage Tour of the Gila.  A tough race at altitude.

We're in the middle of the race, but this morning is an extra special day.  It's my teammate's birthday.  Happy Birthday Olivia Dillon!  We went out for a fun coffeeshop ride this morning before our afternoon criterium.

Coffeeshop ride to flush out the pistons before the stage 4 afternoon criterium.  NOW and Novartis for MS enjoying  downtown Silver City New Mexico.

Two Stages left to go.  Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) is sitting in 2nd overall behind Mara Abbott of Exergy 2016.  Katie Donovan and I (NOW and Novartis for MS) are rounding out the top 10, but our whole team has our work cut out for us to get Alison to the top step.

Joe Martin Stage Race 2013. Stage 3

It was another rainy day at the Joe Martin Stage Race (stage 3).  I used the same formula as yesterday to keep warm in the rain.  The only bad part was that after almost 3 hours of riding in the wet weather I was ready for a hot shower.  But because of the embrocation burning on different parts of me...I could only handle lukewarm. 

It was a 68 mile day with a decent amount of attacking, with several small breaks going up the road.  My teammate Katie Donovan initiated one that stayed out for 20 miles.  At the end of the day the sprint didn't play out for us and race leader Claudia Haussler (Team Tibco) scored a few more seconds over NOW and Novartis for MS's Alison Powers who is in 2nd place.  We didn't want Claudia to gain any more time on her... Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Powers finished just off of the podium in 4th.  After moving back up after an attack just before the end of the race, I rolled across in 6th, followed by Alexis Ryan who had been working to lead Powers out.

There is one more stage left: a 50 minute criterium in downtown Fayetteville and a lot can still happen.

This is the top part of the GC going into the final stage:

1	Claudia Haeusler (Team Tibco)	5:46:58
2	Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS)	0:00:16
3	Lauren Stephens (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore)	0:00:30
4	Joelle Numainville (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)	0:00:32
5	Lex Albrecht (NOW and Novartis for MS)	0:00:42
6	Lorena Vargas (ISCorp p/b Intelligentsia Coffee)	0:00:51
7	Brianna Walle (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)	0:00:54
8	Anna Sanders (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore)	0:01:01
9	Maura Kinsella (NOW and Novartis for MS)	same
10	Shelley Olds (Team Tibco)	0:01:02
11	Robin Farina (NOW and Novartis for MS)	same

Resolutions of a Non-Believer

New Year's Resolutions: I don't believe in making them because when something needs to be changed, the time is NOW.  Not tomorrow,  not next week, and certainly not at the beginning of the next year. 

But, every one of my good days (there are about 358 of them, annually) I :

I want to be a well-rounded individual...figuratively speaking.  It'll make me a better athlete.  So, I took my reflections from January 1st, and made them into resolutions.  Just for the sake of calling them that.  But they're not "New Year's Resolutions", because I don't believe in that, remember?  Here are 3:

1.  Time to give some loving attention to my imagination and make a bit of an investment into becoming more cultured.  I'm a newspaper addict.  But I need to read more books.  They do the trick, in a way newspapers cannot. I'll take the time to read a book a few days a week.

2.  If you want big success, you've got to pay attention to small details.  My hips and legs are often tight and I could have a more powerful pedal stroke if I loosened them up.  I'll get hooked up with the best myo-fascial release tools, and be diligent about using them.

3. I want to crank out more watts.  There is more than one way to train, and the more you're willing to explore, learn, and discover, the greater the chances are of finding cool ways that work best for you.  I'll scout out some new techniques and training tools from sources that I can put my full trust into.  Because second-guessing and questioning training plans and techniques is not cool, and not effective.

Okay, okay.  One more.  I'm going to create and sport some rockin' nailpolish designs this year.  Just because I like to.  And that, is good for the mind, heart, and soul.  ;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!