Christmas Gifts

Here is a list of ''on-a-budget'' holiday gift ideas for the bike lovers in your life.  Or for those who you want to strongly encourage kindling a new love for bicycles ;). 

1. Bike jewelery made by Carlee.  There's no better way to a girl's heart than with jewlery.  And you don't need to sell a disc wheel to afford these earrings.  (Two pair for $25!).  They're made by a girl named Carlee and sold at Bikeland Barrie (Barrie, ON, Canada's best bike shop).  Call 705-726-7372 to order yours.  I have some :)

2.  Bike t-shirt.  Dark Cycle Clothing has an impressive collection of original cycling-themed t-shirt designs.  I have a whole closet full of prints of different animals riding an assortment of bicycles.  They're printed on American Apparel cotton t-shirts, and are available for women, men, and kiddies.

3. Gingerbread men.  Listen, there aren't any cyclists who don't like fresh cookies or pastries.  Gingerbread men will please any one of them.  I made a whole pile of them and this morning, shipped them off to some lucky recipients!

4. Race DVD.  In the winter, the majority of us rack up at least a few hours in front of the TV on our bikes.  There's nothing more motivating than having a bike race playing while you pedal along, and you can't have too many races in your DVD collection.  Suggestion: New World Disorder (Freeride DVDs)  and World Cycling Productions where you can even get the 2012 Giro D'Italia and relive Ryder Hesjedal's amazing feat!

5. Cycling Apparel : Champion Systems gives you the chance to offer your loved ones the chance to wear the colours of some of the best known teams in America!  You can offer the same gear that Optum Pro Cycling wears while training and racing as a gift that is bound to be adored!  Check it out here. (How about arm warmers, a cycling cap, or new gloves?)

6. Bike tubes : Listen, if you're really on a tight budget, a cyclist can't really have too many spare tubes (size : 700 x 23 cc and ask for a presta valve), for $5 each.  If you want to go full out, throw in a couple of 16g CO2 cartridges (same price).   Sometimes practical gifts are the best.

7.  Embrocation.  The only bad weather is weather that you're not properly dressed for.  An essential element in any cyclist's winter or spring pre-ride bag is embrocation : warming cream.  Chamois Butt'r is a company that makes a super balm that I really love and it's on sale right now at Competitive Cyclist for under $15!

8. Coffee.  A gift certificate for the best java shops in your favorite cyclist's region, a french press coffee maker (so easy to travel with) or a stove-top espresso pot are no-fail presents that are useful and fun.

9. Magazine subscription.  Canadain Cycling and Pedal, are a couple of magazines that can be delivered to whoever is on your list.  There is something for everyone in each edition, and it's a gift that truly does last all year long.

10.  Nailpolish.  Okay listen this might be less of a suggestion for you and your loved ones, and more of a personal wish. It's tough to have too many colours of nailpolish.  I'm hoping to find some new colours of high quality 'vernis à ongles' in my stocking this year... If you send me some, I'll feature a picture of the end result online :).

Go big or go home.  There are a couple of gifts that you're bound to be thanked rather profusely for.  The Compex electro-muscle stimulator has saved my legs time after time, and if I didn't have one, it would definitely be on my wish list.

The Kurt Kinetic Rock and Roll trainer would also be high up on my list.  It's got the smoothest resistance unit in the industry and pivots with my bike so I have a more realistic feeling when I crank out my highest watts.  Plus, it doesn't strain my Orbea frame like a typical trainer would because it moves WITH it instead of against it.

Happy Sunday: Get Ready for Monday!

It's that time of year: the snow has arrived in Québec.  Last weekend I hit the trails with my Orbea Occam 29er in Tremblant.  Snow was flying; it was one of those days where I could have ridden in the woods all morning, and then have swapped my mountain bike for my snowboard in the afternoon.  But I don't snowboard anymore...you never know when you'll catch a darn edge that will send you crashing on your head, compromising the entire road-cycling race-season.  So I just ride my bike.

It's also the time of year where my coach gives me workouts that I can't do.  But that's okay, because every time I take a shot at one, I get better, and further into the training, and eventually I nail it on the head.  But to get there, I've got to give myself the time to recover between tries.  Like today, which is an easy day.  It's a day to give the pistons (and the head!) a break to get ready for another biggie tomorrow.  I pulled out my Compex electro-stimulator this morning as part of my recovery.  The Compex has served me pretty well in the past year.

My Compex Sport Elite electrostimulator gets the blood circulating and flushes out my legs without fatiguing them

Later on, I'll do one of my classic 'off-day' activities: length swimming.  One of the reasons cycling is so great is that you do it whenever you feel like it, whenever it works best for you.  Ideally, I'd be in that pool right now, but it's not open. Plus 3 points for cycling, minus 3 points for swimming.  In the meantime, I'm taking care of other business: New nailpolish job!

Lex's colour of the day: Gunmetal grey.  Everyone knows that pink is the best nail colour, but variety is a good thing.

I'll Tell You How Stage 3 Went...

(Team Optum-KBS getting ready #EXGT: Team Optum-KBS getting ready #EXGT)

After some quality recovery with my Compex Sport Elite Machine (check out @Lex_albrecht on Twitter for pictures) following Stage 2, the pistons were feeling pretty good.  Stage 3 of the Exergy Tour started with 3 km neutral out of Crouch, ID, and then Optum put out a few attacks, and covered a few more.  It was going well.  

We entered into the feed-zone at an unusually early point in the race (only 38.3 km in).  Most riders didn't even bother taking a bottle.  I had plenty of Clif Shot drink mix left in my bottles and the 10+km climb was about to begin anyways.  Nobody wants to haul around extra weight uphill for the fun of it.

A break with Optum's Janel Holcomb got away on the climb.  The field split up as we ascended, and all of the Optum riders were in the front group (execpt Janel, who was off of the front).  As we crested the top of the climb, the pace kicked up and the 5 km descent before the second climb began. 

Today, I remembered my Mavic shoes, my Thule backpack, my Lazer helmet and frame-less Lazer Magneto sunglasses, but I left my balls at home.

I got dropped on the darn curvy wet roads, and just as I clawed back to the lead group, I got dropped again as we entered into the day's final descent.  Not cool.

What is cool though is that as the lead group neared the finish line, Jade Wilcoxson launched some strong attacks against the field, keeping the pace high and the pack organized.  Carmen Small and Janel gave Leah Kirchmann a sweet lead out, and Leah just barely missed the victory, which German national champion Ina Teutenburg took home instead.  2nd place podium for Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies.  Way to deliver the goods LEAH!  And Jade is back in the top-10!

Way to go girls!

If anybody saw where those balls are at, shout me a holler.  

(P.S.: BIG ups to Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, who WON THE GIRO D'ITALIA!)

Optum Pro Cycling at the 2012 SRAM Tour of The Gila

The SRAM Tour of The Gila is a 5 day stage race around Silver City, New Mexico.

The dry desert air, the hot desert sun, a few twisty descents, long climbs, and the high altitude make the Tour of The Gila one of the tougher races on the NRC calendar, and of course one of the most fun.  This wasn't a time for me to leave my Banana Boat SPF 50 sunscreen at home, it was one of the first things I packed before leaving.

The hills, sand, shrubs, and cacti around New Mexico

Riding down from our host homes to several of the stage start-lines was scary at times; wild deer wandered out on the roads that we flew down.  The jackrabbits and lizards seemed a little wiser and stayed amongst the cacti and tough bushes.  We didn't hit any of them.  I wondered if like those silly cows, the deer are also tricked by the cattle guards that make for the majority of the ''desert road furniture''...  If they are, they might consider putting those metal contraptions in the ditches.  Roads are for bikes, not deer.

Stage one saw the field split up as it always does on the final climb.  Carmen Small and Janel Holcomb were the top Optum finishers, impressively (zero exageration) taking the second and third steps of the podium.   This set the stage for our strategies for the week.
Stage two was another road race, and day three was a 21 km out-and-back time trial.  Day four was a criterium, and the final day finished on the open road, once again.

Stage 4 criterium. -Casey Gibson

Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies brought home second place overall (Carmen Small) and the green jersey (Carmen Small) as well as second place in the team general classification.

We rode hard, fought hard, and were patient boiling our eggs and cooking our rice (it takes a long time at about a gazillion feet of altitude).

I'm being patient, I've got an 18h day of aiplanes and aiports before I get to home sweet home, Québec. I have my Compex muscle stimulator hooked up to make the best of it.  Next race: Gatineau Grand Prix UCI women's 1 day race in Gatineau, Qc.  Then it's the Exergy Tour in Boise, ID.

LAX to YQB and a New Member of My Carry-On Family

Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies ran a training camp for the men's and women's teams in Southern California.  It was a a first chance for the entire groups to ride Orbea road bicycles together, meet a few sponsors, learn about equipment, experiment a bit with new ride and recovery food products from Clif, and test the legs on some long rides, hilly rides, fast rides, and...a coffee shop ride as well.  Just one.

After 10 days I returned to the LAX airport.  This is what I made sure to have in my Thule backpack that I carried aboard:

A couple of airplane snacks.  Apples, lettuce and tomato that I made into a makeshift salad.  Produce is priced at a fortune-and-a-half at airports.  I like to think ahead and beat them at their own game.  (I threw in a can of herring as well...of course.  The finest travel food known to Lexkind.)

My toothbrush.  Hey, having dirty teeth on a cross country flight is not fun.

Earplugs and earbuds.  I want to watch the TV shows onboard, and when I'm sick of them, I want to sleep! 

Compex: I made sure to have my Compex muscle stimulator nearby in the Thule backpack.  I tried to use it discretely.  It was my first, but NOT last time using the Compex on a plane.  My legs felt awesome when I landed back in Quebec.  The Compex not only helped with recovery, but it kept the blood flowing through my legs during the flight.  A new member of my official carry-on family.   I made a quick video of me using it...how can you not want one of these puppies!