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 ;).

Leaving in The Snowstorm

We got hit with a big dumping of snow in Montréal, Québec in the past two days.  The entire province pretty much got their "fair share", or more than it, just in time for SPRING.  Ladies and gentlemen, this is what the first day of spring looks like this year in Montréal.  (Last year I should mention that on the same date it was almost 25 degrees celsius though.)

This, is part of the reason why it's so great that I love training indoors, especially at the PowerWatts facility in Montréal.  Otherwise...my options are a bit limited.

The other thing that is arriving just in time for such a wintery beginning to a new season, is my return to California for 3 weeks.  I've only been back "home" for one week since NOW and Novartis for MS' first stage race, and team camp.  But I fly out again to Los Angeles this morning.  In two days, I'll be racing the San Dimas Stage Race in San Dimas, CA for the third consecutive year.

What's in my carry-on backpack?  A book, my Travel Roller, a toothbrush and some earplugs.  Oh and my S-WORKS cycling shoes.  Just in case my checked bag doesn't make it.

Watch out balmy weather and clear roads, here I come.  Watch out San Dimas, NOW and NOVARTIS for MS wants to ROCK YOU! :)

Final Stage: Criterium at the 2012 San Dimas Stage Race

Today was unseasonably cold.  We woke up to see Mount Baldy dusted with snow.  Riding to the race we were pelted in the face with a bit of hail.  Once again, we were well dressed with the digs that Champion Systems outfitted us with.  I was pretty much decked out the same way I would have been for cross country skiing.  I was comfortable.

The rain held off for the race though.  My teammate Jade Wilcoxson rode in the break that peeled off from the field early in the race.  She sprinted across the line in 2nd place, just behind Ina Tuetenburg.  Nice podium!  Along with a great performace in the prologue, this earned Jade a 5th place overall in the San Dimas Stage Race.  My other teammate Joëlle kept her 3rd place in the general classification which she pulled off with a super time trial as well as an excellent day in the breakaway of the second stage road race.

The San Dimas Stage Race was a great way for me to kick off my 2012 season, and Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefits Strategies brought home some impressive results.  I love seeing orange on the podium.  Good job girls!

We're off to Redlands tomorrow, and racing will start again on Thursday.

Thank you to all of our sponsors and supporters

Rainy Stage 2. San Dimas Stage Race 2012

They called for 100% chance of rain in the forecast, and they predicted correctly.  It was raining from the moment I woke up at 6am, and it's still coming down.  This is not typical southern California weather!  The office was open though; the race was still on, and we were ready.

To be honest, the rain didn't faze us.  Champion Systems has given us enough clothing to be comfortable in any type of condition, that's no exaggeration.  I hardly have room in my closet for all of it!  Today's combination for most of my teammates including myself was a Champion Systems jersey, winter arm warmers, sleeveless baselayer and a translucent rain jacket.  Those jackets are nice because the race numbers show through, meaning we don't have to take it off  before crossing the finish line.  I had my Mavic rain shoe covers over my yellow shoes as well.  I felt fine, and a bit like a warrior.  I always do when I'm well dressed for inclement weather.

Jeremy oiled up our legs before the race.  Oil is nice in the rain because it creates a barrier between the skin and the rain which helps keep warm, believe it or not.  The difference is huge. 

My teammate Joëlle (5th in GC at the beginning of the day) got off the front early in a break with three other riders: Kristen Armstrong (1st GC), Clara Hughes (2nd GC) and Alison Powers (7th GC).  This meant we didn't chase, we sat in the pack, hoping for the best outcome for Joëlle in the final sprint.

There were a few crashes today.  One time, I saw a pair of orange glasses fly across the road.  It made me sick to my stomach because they looked like our Lazer glasses.  I was sure that one of my teammates went down.  Later, I realized all of the Optum Pro Cycling girls had kept the rubber side down.  Thank you Challenge tires.  (What we were all most impressed with was our wheel and tire combination. Our Head Stinger carbon wheels with the Challenge tubular tires that our mechanic, Adrian, glued on a couple of days ago gripped the soaking corners without hesitation.  Adrian fine-tuned the pressure in the tires to suit today's conditions, and put a little less pressure than normal.)

The break ended up gaining over 5 minutes on the field.  The race officials decided that instead of 8 laps, the race would end at 7.   The message had been conveyed to field early enough so that all of the girls were aware of the change by 0.5 laps-to-go.  Except for the ones in the break...

The officials decided that the results for the 4 riders in the breakaway would be determined by the order that they crossed the finish line at lap 7 as well.  The only problem was that this decision was made when the riders had already began riding lap 8.  There was no real sprint, which is unfortunate for my teammate Joëlle, who's specialty is sprinting.  Joëlle was given 3rd place. 

So, the finish of the race was a bit confusing but we went home satisfied with how we handled the day, and proud of Joëlle's performance.  There is one more stage left tomorrow, the criterium which will be lots of fun.  Let's hope the weather clears up, but even if it doesn't, I'm confident that the Optum riders will be just fine.