Mid-Summer Racing and Training in California

Lex on the attack.  The San Rafael Twilight Criterium race started with 85 riders, and TWENTY16 made it so hard that 35 could finish ... Photo Credit : Garrett Lau

I've been on the road since early June, leaving Montreal to travel to Boise ID to cheer my teammates on as they raced and I recovered from being under the weather. We hit the road for Bend OR, to race the Cascade Cycling Classic. I ate my first and last Red Robin burger after that race. Never again. Then, my teammates and I trekked to Marin County, CA to race the San Rafael Twilight Criterium, where they blasted Notorious B.I.G.'s Hypnotize over the loudspeakers as they called me up to the line. With a welcome like that, I had to stick around longer.

Photo Credit : Garrett Lau

Marin County, on the opposite side of the Full House Bridge (the Golden Gate Bridge) relative to San Francisco California, is one of the world's road cycling paradises. As I sat outside of a grocery store one late afternoon, downing a bottle of ginger kombucha, I thought about how out of place I might feel in that particular instant had I not been a cyclist. Everybody either looks like a cyclist, is pedalling their bike at a given moment, or is cruising around with a bike rack hitched to their car.

Easy-day spin. Riding across the Full House Bridge with my teammate Allie Dragoo.  Because.  It's cool to be tourists.

And why shouldn't it be that way. Like I said, Marin County is a cycling paradise. The twisting roads offer ample climbing, and a good deal of spectacular views. Leaving the quaint town of Fairfax with its fair share of coffeeshops to climb up Mount Tam through the shady, humid forest of Redwood trees, across Seven Sisters' rolling golden hills (not yellow, golden, as I was corrected) that tower over a thick blanket of misty fog that often covers the Pacific Ocean at that area, before descending down the fast, curvy road to Stinson Beach, was one of my favourite rides. On Wednesday morning a large group of very fast, competent, and just-competitive-enough-for-a-group-ride road enthusiasts gathered to “drill it” for nearly 2 hours. It was a great training ride and a nice way to do some socializing. Two birds with one stone, you've got to love it. I was thankful they let me tag along.

The Golden hills of Seven Sisters, with the Pacific Ocean laying way down below, blanketed with a thick mist!

During my stay, I got pulled over by a cop for rolling through a few intersections in Ross, CA without stopping “enough” to his taste (I thought every state would adopt the Idaho Stop?), saw a few deer and wild turkeys, chatted with a Maserati dealer, drank enough kombucha at the grocery store patio that they were probably wondering when I was going to move in, and got motorpaced up a climb by Barry Bonds. I had to ease up because my Quarq Powermeter was telling me I was pushing more watts than what my coach wanted me to do. He's the boss, since he's pretty much always right.

Oh deer.  I saw this one in somebody's yard as I walked home from drinking a fresh kombucha on the grocery store patio.

Ross, CA is a good place to have an espresso...but if you're riding through, don't go skimpy on your stopping!  The cops are on the lookout ;)

Always looking to have fun, and ride hard!

And if that wasn't enough, instead of going home to Montreal right away, I hit the road to Tahoe, to explore some more new roads for a few weeks. I feel like I'm in a retreat. I have no cell access, have to pirate a wifi signal a few blocks away if I want to connect, and there's no TV to watch (my last resort for electronic entertainment). So between long hard rides, I've been reading (I'm on book #3), trying out new ride-food recipes, religiously taking an afternoon nap, and never neglecting my stretching and “foam rolling” with my Travel Roller. It's the perfect training environment ... and I haven't even told you about the awesome roads ... ;)!

Truckee River, Tahoe California.

The first view I have every morning when I roll out on my Felt road bike, ready to train hard on the roads of Tahoe.

I love riding my bike.  I matched my Modify Watches with the colour of the sky today ;)

In Arizona and California with Team TWENTY16

Lex, Greta, and Abbey. Team TWENTY16

Team TWENTY16 kicked off the 2014 season at Valley of the Sun stage race in the Phoenix AZ area.  The 3 day race was a perfect event for us to get to know eachother, get dialed in on our new Felt bikes, feel out the eachother's riding styles, and ENJOY racing!

It was also the perfect time to get familiar with the nutritional products we'll be using this season.  I've fueled with CLIF over many years, but this time around I got the chance to test out some new CLIF products.  I wasn't familiar with Kit's bars, and they're my new favourite I think!  We're also hydrating with MRI's products.  I like to start the race with a half-portion of MRI's mix in one of my bottles, and grab a full-strength one in the feed-zone during the race.

Kit's Organic cashew and fruit bar is my favourite flavour so far, but they're ALL so good!  They're so soft and moist.

Next, we're off to southern California for our team camp.  Our first priority is to get some great training rides and drills in together. There will be a lot of awesome things going on with our sponsors during camp, ant that will be a lot of fun too.  Then, Murietta Stage Race in Southern California will wrap up this first block... and I'll head home to my trusty eMotion Rollers, and my espresso machine (I'm all about living in the moment, but okay, okay, I admit, I'm missing that thing...)

One of the final espresso shots that I pulled before leaving Montréal...good memories. I'd still rather be here with my team though ;)

Jeux de la Francophonie

J'ai eu l'occasion de parler des médiaux sociaux, mon sport, et les Jeux de la Francophonie avec Cédrik de Unikeo Media à Montréal dernièrement...

Allez voir les entrevues avec d'autres athlètes sur son site : UNIKEO Sport Digital

Québec Road Cycling Championships 2013

In 2010 I was the Criterium and Team Time Trial Champion of Québec.  In 2012 I was the Road Cycling Champion of Québec.  After training in Lac St. Jean, the Laurentides, New England, and at home in Montréal, I felt ready to try for a new title in 2013: Individual Time Trial Champion.

THE TIME TRIAL :

Photo: Robert Wilson.  Added with permission

The course was 22km along the coast of the St. Lawrence river near Rivière du Loup, QC.  It's so far east that the St. Lawrence actually smells like the ocean.  It's gorgeous too.  With a tail wind, the flat course was so fast I didn't appreciate the beauty of anything further than several meters from my Specialized S-Works SHIV though.  I tried to stay focused on my pacing, and go hard enough to keep the speed up, without emptying the tank too early and 'exploding' before the end. 

I'm proud to be the new Champion of Québec in Time Trialing, it's an honour to stand atop the podium with such strong girls!

Motel Recovery 101: After the road race, I recovered with a good Travel Roller session (I'd almost left my Travel Roller behind in Montréal!), microwaved a steak, drank a Rumble, and enjoyed the scenery at the waterfront.

Travel Roller, Rumble, and a to-be-microwaved steak!

Rivière du Loup port

ROAD RACE - alone with 5.5km to go

The road race the next day was different.  A time trial is an indvidual effort, all about pacing, position and approach.  There's quite a bit more strategy involved in road racing.  As the solo athlete from NOW and Novartis for MS, and the defender of the Championship title, I knew I would have to be savy.  I pre-drove the course in my beast-of-a-car to make sure I knew what to expect.

I told Audrey Lemieux, the race's announcer, that I would try to escape the peloton later in the race.  I followed some moves and tried my chance at creating a break earlier on but I didn't like how things played out.  In the final km of the first lap, I found the place where I wanted to attack the next time around: a long, slightly uphill grind with rough pavement, where the winds seemed to shift unexpectedly.

The race dynamics were perfect when we approaced that area a second time and I slipped from the pack 5.5km before the finish line, and pounded on my Time pedals.   I crossed an overpass, and still nobody was on my wheel. As I approached a roundabout, a car came onto the course. Talk about DANGEROUS!  The  commissaire tried to stop the car much too late, and suddenly were blocking my entry into the roundabout. I screamed at both of them to stay where they were as I sped through.  I didn't want to lose my gap, and I didn't want to get in my second accident with a car in the same week.

#doored in #montreal today on my @iamspecialized #shiv. Weird riding home like this... #couldhavebeenworse pic.twitter.com/cAmVguscle
— Lex Albrecht (@Lex_Albrecht) August 21, 2013

I ignored the pain in my legs in the final km, especially up the last kicker where I promised myself I would drill it as hard as I could.  I was convinced after cresting that hill, my lead would hold and I would be safe.  I get a little loopy sometimes when I go really hard though; I became a bit paranoid that the girls would come back on me.  I looked behind a zillion times, and threw in some last efforts.  The gap was there.  Everything was fine.  I sat up.  I put my arms in the air in the final metres.  Crossing the finish line and I brought back another victory for NOW and Novartis for MS, successfully defending my title.

On the podium with my Nuheat bottle, and my fresh Champion of Québec jersey

What a weekend!

Rouler sous la pluie, pas de problème.

C'est très rare qu'il ne fait pas beau.  Ma théorie est la suivante: si on n'a pas mal à cause du météo, il fait beau.  Ensuite vient la théorie assez populaire (et assez vraie, à mon avis!) : il n'y a pas de mauvaise température, juste des mauvais vêtements.  On me dit que c'est une proverbe Suédoise...

Dernièrement j'ai fait une course par étape (Joe Martin Stage Race, à Fayetteville, Arkansas) où il a pleut à tous les jours quasiment.  Le lendemain de la course Grand Prix Granby, je suis allée au Parc de la Mauricie, ma place préférée pour rouler au Québec.  Il faisait froid, et il pleuvait.  Selon moi, au Parc, il fait toujours beau. J'avais choisi la même stratégie que j'ai pris à Fayetteville pour éviter de gêler, et de me garantir une belle ride:

La Vaséline qui a sauvé ma course à : Joe Martin Stage Race.  Format régulier!

LA VASÉLINE.  Au dépanneur YOGI à Grand Mère, (juste avant l'entrée du Parc de la Mauricie) j'ai été assez chanceuse de trouver de la Vaséline.  Un tout petit, mini, bébé pot pour $3.  C'est le format de Vaséline le plus cher, le moins économique au monde, mais tellement, tellement pratique.  J'ai mis une méga couche épaisse sur mes jambes (par dessus une couche de crème chauffante) avant de partir.  Ca crée une bonne barrière entre la peau, et la pluie et le vent, et c'est pas mal plus comfortable que les jambières.

Je récupère avec une patate sucrée avant de me laver les jambes à la fin de ma ride sous la pluie!

Avec autant de Vaséline sur les jambes, je dois avouer qu'après 4 heures sous la pluie en vélo, il reste un peu de travail à faire pour enlever non seulement ce qu'on s'est mis au départ, mais aussi tout ce qu'on a ramassé sur les pistons pendant la ride.  Mais ça vaut tellement la peine...!

Montréal Snow

San Dimas Stage Race 2013

That's just my game face.  (Photo credit: Phil Keoghan)

San Dimas Stage Race: Three days of racing. 
In 2011 I won the title of Best Young Rider at this race, my first title on the American racing scene.  This year, NOW and Novartis for MS came back for some more success.  San Dimas is one of my favorite races, and the perfect event for the beginning part of the race season because it's not too long, and just tough enough...  It makes for an excellent lead-up to Redlands Bicycle Classic as well, the first event on the National Race Calendar (NRC).

A view of the hill-climb prologue road course.  Not too shabby! (Photo: Lex Albrecht)

Stage 1 Uphill prologue on Glendora Mountain Road.  A grind up just over 4 miles of twisty climbing roads and beautiful scenery. One of my favorite hill climbs all year.  I like the gradient, I like the distance, I like the scenery...I like lots of things about it.  I finished in the top-10 with a 7th place, and three of my NOW and Novartis for MS teammates rounded out the remaining places.  If there was a Team General Classification here, we would be rocking it at this point.  (Mara Abbott won this stage, with Amber Neben and Tayler Wiles not far behind.)

Sneaking up the side to score full QOM points on this lap of the SDSR race.  Photo credit: Phil Keoghan

Stage 2 Road Race.  8 laps of 7 miles with lots of turns, ups-and-downs, Queen of the Mountain points and Sprint points on alternating laps.  This is a fun course with a lot of turns, a few obstacles (park-entrance barriers, cones on the road, potholes, elevated manhole covers, narrowing roads, a fast chicane.)  The best part is the punchy 13% gradient hill that leads up to the Queen of the Mountain sprint line.

On the first lap there was a major crash where race leader Mara Abbott went down hard with a whack of other girls.  2nd place GC rider Amber Neben made the call to neutralize the race and wait for Mara to get back on to the peloton.  Taking advantage of a crash to win a race...just isn't cool.  Luckily once she got back in the pack, she didn't look too mangled.

First over the QOM line, and at the front of the pack going downhill.  Photo credit: Phil Keoghan

I felt good, and I managed to beat the rest of the peloton up to the top on 2 of the 3 QOM sprints.  I crossed the line in 3rd place on the other one.  My teammate Katie Donovan was on a solo-breakaway for 4 of the 8 laps, and Alexis Ryan scooped up oodles of intermediate sprint points.  Katie and Alexis were sitting 2nd and 3rd respectively in the sprint competition by the end of the day.  I had managed to lead the QOM competition, and secured the polka-dot jersey for NOW and Novartis for MS for the rest of the race.

Warming up on the Kinetic trainer, for the SDSR criterium.  Sporting the QOM polka dots.   (photo: K. Stockton)

Stage 3 Criterium in downtown San Dimas, with tons of spectators, and more intermediate sprint points to be won.  6 corners, none overly technical, but tight enough to make it fun and challenging course. 

I wasn't on my A-game for this stage.  Teammate Maura Kinsella was in several good moves, and Alexis Ryan scored extra sprint points but not enough to secure the jersey.  It was a fun race...on the bright side of things...but not one of NOW's finest.  Canadian Gillian Carleton won the stage.

OVERALL
Mara Abbott (Exergy-Twenty16) won the overall race, Tayler Wiles (Specialized-Lulu Lemon) was the Best Young Rider, Brianna Walle (Optum) the Best Sprinter, and I was proud to represent NOW and Novartis for MS in the Best Climber (Queen of the Mountains) polka dots. 

NOW and Novartis for MS kept 4 riders in the top 10.  I sat in 7th place overall.

Lex Albrecht (QOM), Mara Abbott (Leader), Tayler Wiles (BYR), Brianna Wale (Sprinter) (Photo: R. Heal)

After the race, I lost my In-N-Out Burger virginity (as we so eloquently put it), with my teammates Alexis and Katie.  This is how I like it: Protein Style, no cheese, no special sauce.  It's delicious.

I'll hang out and train with Alexis Ryan in California for 1.5 weeks before heading to the next race: REDLANDS BICYCLE CLASSIC in Redlands, CA.  And I'll make sure to go back to In-N-Out ;).

De retour chez Power Watts

Depuis deux jours je suis de retour au Québec, après avoir passé 2 semaines en Californie.  J'y ai fait ma première course de la saison 2013 (Merco Cycling Classic) avec ma nouvelle équipe, NOW et Novartis for MS à Merced, CA.  Par la suite, nous nous sommes déplacées à Santa Barbara pour une dizaine de jours pour notre camp d'entraînement.

Ma nouvelle équipe (NOW and Novartis for MS) avec une de nos voitures : Ford C-Max hybride

Je passerai une semaine au Québec, pendant laquelle je partagerai mon temps entre Montréal et Québec.  Dépuis deux jours je m'entraîne de nouveau chez PowerWatts à Montréal. 

Mes co-équipières démeurent quasiment toutes dans des régions chaudes, où elles peuvent rouler dehors confortablement presque à l'année longue.  Elles ne comprennent pas à 100% comment on peut faire pour arriver en forme au début de la saison sans avoir accumulé beaucoup de mileage dehors.  C'est un des affaires que j'aime de PowerWatts; avec les entraînements que mon coach me donne, et le suivi qu'il fait sur ma forme, je réussis à faire une bonne quantité de travail de haute qualité.  Puis en plus, l'environnement est trippant.  S'il y avait des PowerWatts chez elles, elles comprenneraient mieux ;).

De retour chez PowerWatts Premier Studio à Montréal

Aujourd'hui mes doigts me fassent un peu mal, grace aux nombreuses prises d'échantillons sanguins que mon coach à fait afin de mésurer mon taux de lactate pendant mes efforts.  Mais, ça vaut la peine.  C'est trippant de voir les chiffres, et de comprendre ce qui se passe dans mon corps. 

Il ne me reste que quelques jours au Québec avant de retourner en Californie pour une autre 3 semaines.  Les deux prochaines courses : San Dimas Stage Race et Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Climbing Gibraltar!

NOW and Novartis for MS Women's Pro Cycling team climbs Gibraltar on one of the 2013 Team Training Camp days in the Santa Barbara, California area.  A great day for fitness, and riding together on our new Specialized S-WORKS Amira road bikes.

Team director, Kurt Stockton, followed in the Ford C-Max hybrid team car.  Check it out!

Lance Armstrong: Lance Isn't CYCLING.

Read Gene Pereira's article in the Feb. 22 2013 edition of the Barrie Examiner (online HERE ) to find out what Lex Albrecht has to say about the whole Armstrong affair. 

What Else is Training Camp for?

Denise Kelly, National Team Women's Road Coach (Cycling Canada), asked the athletes in South Carolina what they learn at training camp.  Training camp is for a lot of different things like racking up volume and accumulating fitness before the race season starts.  Everyone knows that. But this another way I like to see it:

I'm a big fan of Toastmasters.  I was a member of St. Lawrence Toastmaster's Club in Montréal.  It's the place to practice public speaking.  You can try new things, mess up, and make a bit of a fool of yourself in front of everyone, and it's 100% okay. You're not presenting to your boss or a potential client.  You have nothing to lose if you choke-up or stutter, just a heck of a lot to gain.

Marie Paule Gagnon welcoming Lex as a new member of Toastmasters a few years ago (http://www.toastmastersmontreal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/lex-albrecht.jpg)

Training camp is very similar.


It isn't a championship race, you're not defending a teammate's jersey, and you don't have any UCI points on the line.  There is no podium and no results sheet. Training camp is the place to try out new things.  Pushing yourself a little hard, testing different climbing and pacing techniques, cornering, descending, working on team time trialing, lead-outs... and if something doesn't work, it's 100% okay.  Just like at Toastmasters.

It's also an ideal opportunity to benefit from the strengths and experiences of the other riders, and use their feedback to improve.  Just like fellow Toastmasters constructively evaluate eachothers' presentations, riders can offer other athletes the same type of valuable tips.

You often have to fail about a zillion times before you succeed.  Training camp is a great opportunity to trip up a little bit.  You can figure out what works and what doesn't, so that you'll be ready when it counts most.

Food Poisoning Adventure

If you don't follow on Facebook or Twitter, you missed being the first to see the news of the latest (not greatest, but not too shabby either) California adventure.  I went out West to meet some new riders and get some testing done at Athleticamps in Fulsom, CA.  We've got great facilities back at home, but why not explore a little bit when the opportunity presents itself.

I flew in to San Francisco, where apparently Rice-A-Roni isn't such a big deal anymore: street fare is the new hype. I wasn't hungry though and headed northbound and inland to NorCal where the next morning determined the fate of the rest of my stay.  I choose the breakfast panini over sugary, soupy oatmeal.  Bad choice.

Athleticamps gave me the opportunity to do a lactate threshold test.  They drew blood out of my earlobe at 3 minute intervals to measure and chart lactate concentration levels, while increasing the resistance that I had to pedal against.  Right up next, I was hooked up to a huge tube and a machine.  I wondered if I looked like Snuffy the Snuffalupagus, until I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a mirror: nah, I just I looked like I was about to do a VO2 max test.

VO2 max testing at Athleticamps -Copyright: Alex Chiu 2012

It was during the Retul bike fit that signs of what was about to hit the fan started to show.  All I had to do was push 150 watts for a few seconds while the Retul camera picked up data from the sensors that were stuck all over my body.  The program mapped and measured my movents and the Athleticamps experts used the data to analyze and tweak my position.  But every effort between adjustments was harder and harder for me to complete, I was not feeling good.

At the end of the day, all of the ''evil'' came out of me, you know, the way it does when you have really bad food poisoning.  I spent the next days in bed.  Then, being as lucky as I am, I got 3 seats to myself so I could sleep comfortably on the whole flight home.  My first purchase in Québec: high quality probiotics to get my digestive system back on track.  I'm on the road to a full recovery now.  Going-going, back-back, to Cali-Cali wasn't exactly what I expected.  But it was another great experience to add to the bank.

Permission to Accept the Sacrilegious

I used to think pedalling in the small chainring was for weaklings.  I used to think that off-days from cycling or training were restricted to lazy people.  That was back in my earliest days of road cycling.  I also used to think that motorsports were sacrilegoius.  Then, I learned better.

The off-season is in full swing ladies and gentlemen.  I set my Orbea Orca bicycle aside for a day and kitted up to rev up my engine (which for the first time ever was not my own cardio-vascular system) and kick up some dirt.

Riding motocross is useful for bike handling skills, pushing the limits of stability and technique, and gaining confidence in ...wiping out. 

I did wipe out a few times.  It was actually fun.  Part of the challenge was heaving the heavy bike up off of the ground.  Getting back on my feet and the machine back on its wheels was rather satisfying.  As was going faster and faster on the trails, and higher and higher on the bumps that intimidated me the first times around. 

Nothing can replace the thrill of pumping my own pistons to crank the pedals around the bottom bracket pivot of a bicycle to reach crazy speeds on the asphalt, or manouvering through tight single tracks and up and down rocky, rooty pitches.  But, motocross my friends, is a mighty fine compliment to my favorite sport.  Phewf, good thing that I'm not naïve anymore.

Summer Training in Québec

Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies has a full race calendar.  Every rider races the National Championships (the Canadians, the Americans, our British rider Emma Grant) except Courteney Lowe from New Zealand.  Her championships are in January.  A few weeks off of racing follows the ''Nationals Block'', but training doesn't stop!

For a girl who loves her Kurt Kinetic Trainer as much as I do, a few indoor interval sessions are inevitable if I want to keep myself satisfied.  I don't make it a habit to sweat buckets on my livingroom floor too often in the summertime, but I like to get my Orbea back on the green machine every once in a while.



I rode in the Parc de la Mauricie on several occasions this year, a national park in the Mauricie region of Quebec that has pristine pavement, oodles of lakes and forests, and gentle rolling terrain.  It's a safe place, a fun place, and a beautiful place to ride.  In the winter I go on a weekly basis for cross country skiing.  I'm in no rush to getting my skis out yet though...

I've been introduced to Les Équerres in Québec City, a reputable loop that everyone who lives in the Capital region of Québec knows.  Now I do to, and I understand why it's so popular.  There are some nice climbs, (longer and steeper than in the Parc) and lots of options to turn off course and add in extra pitches or kilometers. 

When I need an easy spin I head to the South Shore of Québec, to Lévis and ride the bike path that follows the shore of the St. Lawrence River and offers an excellent view of Québec City.  It makes for a 2 hour ride, and when I'm lucky I meet someone to chat with about bikes while I pedal.

In Montréal the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a classic place to do intervals.  The circuit is easily accessible, and half of the road is closed to cars so the loop safe.  It gets busy at the end of the afternoon and on weekends, so it's important to be careful to avoid crashing into roller bladers or riders who are recovering from their last set of efforts, or those who are just out to ''chill''.

Sometimes in the fall when I want a worry free longer-ride, I choose the Petit Train du Nord, a bike path that goes all the way up to Mont Tremblant.  Even though long parts are in gravel, it is more than hard enough to be perfectly suitable for a road bike.  There is no traffic, not a lot of people to navigate around, places to stop and fill up bottles, and of course, it's nice to ride amongst the forests that line the path!

Camilien Houde on the Mont Royal is another classic, it's where the old women's World Cup race used to climb up, and now the men's World Tour races up the ascention in their September race.  Lots of riders like to do repeats on this climb.  When Montréal's public bicycle rental system (Bixi) came into effect in 2009, my first priority was to check out how well they could climb and I took one out to do repeats on the Mont Royal.  Whoever chose the gearing on those 3 speed urban cruisers was wise, they climb like a charm.  A year later I remembered my test and took the bike out to see the Pro Tour racers attack Camilien Houde, because my legs were toast from running up and down the hill.

There are a lot of cool places to ride and train in Québec, it's not tough to find one perfectly suited to my mood or training plan.  My next race is in Bend, OR (Cascade Cycling Classic) but for now I'm going to ride all over La Belle Province!

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.