WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2013

I am very excited and proud to officially announce that the Canadian National Team has released their roster for the World Cycling Championships to be held in Florence, Italy.  I have been selected to represent Canada along with 5 other athletes amongst the best women in the world at the World Championship race on September 28, 2013.

Lex Albrecht: Canadian National Team.  Photo copyright Nicolas Paquet - kipphoto.ca

I will spend the remaining period of time before the big event training in Montréal and at the PowerWatts Premier Studio.

THANK YOU TO :

 My team, NOW and Novartis for MS and all of our sponsors.

 Nuheat for your ongoing support, I am so proud to be a Nuheat sponsored athlete.
Global Relay Bridge the Gap fund for helping me achieve this ultimate goal for 2013, your support has made an enormous difference for me this year.
CSHNQ for supporting me with an amazing deal of valuable resources to help me train and prepare for my competitions.

Silver Medal at the 7th Jeux de la Francophonie

 I had the honour of representing Canada and Québec in Nice, France at the 7th Francophone Games (held every 4 years).  Nice (pronounced "niece" by the way) borders on the Mediterranean sea. I had been once before, but without my bike.  I was so happy to have had the opportunity to return, to RACE.

The day we arrived was long and difficult.  I like challenges, but only when my basic needs are met: sleep, food, and reasonable hygiene.  Priority #1: Getting our bikes built up, and riding.  I ended my ride with a swim in the Mediterranean ocean.  That was pleasant. Exhausted from jet lag and travel, we could not sleep until late at night due to meetings and ceremonies and events that we were happy to attend, but perhaps not in the best shape to get the most out of.

Waiting for a ceremony to begin... the energy tank is past empty, but the spirits are high.

We had one day to get over the travel and jet lag (6 hours time difference).  I did a warm-up ride with my teammates, and headed back home to do the real intervals on the stationary trainer.  Alain from ISM took care of my legs afterwards with an excellent massage that I was more than grateful for.

 

 We skipped the opening ceremonies of the Francophone Games that night.  It made me sad to hear the fireworks and see them flash through the trees of the campus where I was staying.  But I knew I was better off resting.  I was already sleep deprived and the race start was at 9 am the following morning.  

We started in a heavy rainfall on the Promenade des Anglais and headed out towards the hills.    With the 100 SPF sunscreen running down my face in the downpour, much too often I could only see out of one eye, even with my Spy sunglasses.  There were climbs, attacks, flats, and plenty of crashes on the extremely slippery roads out there.  Fortunately, even in Cyclops-mode, I had no such issues other than my wheel slipping across the pavement a few times.  

In the final kilometers, there were 7 of us up the road, ahead of the peloton.  One French rider attacked and got away, but I jumped on her wheel and went with her.  We sped down the road and as the finish line neared, we started playing a bit of cat-and-mouse.  I was on the front, and didn't want to be.  She attacked hard, and even though my legs were tired, I pounded on my Time Xpresso pedals and jumped in her draft.  HA! Now I was in the favorable position, and she just burnt half a match...  A large, blue, inflatable arch was coming into sight.  There was no red flag (or flamme rouge).  I was sure it was the finish.  Jumping off her wheel and crossing under it first was a mistake.  1km was left.  I felt silly for my mistake but determined to fight to the end.  I was now on the front, and she was in my draft.  With 275m to go, I stood up on my pedals and tried to start a long sprint, but the French rider used her momentum from riding behind me, and accelerated so fast out of my draft that I couldn't catch her before the line.  She won.  I got silver.  I was a bit disappointed.  But very happy at the same time.

Ministre de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport : Marie Malavoy et Lex Albrecht. Jeux de la Francophonie. Nice, France

What an honour to represent my team, my sport, my province, and my country on the podium at the 7e Jeux de la Francophonie.  The minister of Leisure, Education and Sport, Marie Malavoy came to congratulate me after the race.

Lex Albrecht et chef de mission et coordonnateur sport de l’équipe du Québec, Éric Pilote.

 It was a tough day, and a lot happened out on the road.  I'm proud of the work our team did together. The courage and strength of my teammates was exceptional.  What an honour to be a part of it all.

La plus belle médaille que j'ai eu à vie!  (Et du vernis à ongle qui s'agence avec l'uniform de l'équipe du Québec.. :) )

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

Green Mountain Stage Race

The Green Mountain Stage Race is a cycling race in Vermont, USA. An awesome 4 day race where the race isn't over 'till it's over.  The courses are fun, tough enough, and the time bonus structure is exciting.

Green Mountain Stage Race Criterium. Photo: C. Johnson

NOW and Novartis didn't have this race on their calendar, but I went alone.  I ended up having a BLAST.  This year, I was able to fit the 4 day event in my schedule as perfect preparation for upcoming European racing.  I couldn't believe how smoothly the GMSR was run, the exceptionally positive aura and atmosphere, the security of the courses, and the quality of the race circuits.

Stage 1 podium with my NUHEAT bottle and Rumble for recovery.  Photo: Gary Kessler

The first day I finished 2nd (by 7s) in the 5 mile time-trial, that started with a long steep uphill.  No TT bikes were allowed so I left my Specialized S-Works SHIV at home and went with my S-Works Amira.

In the Stage 2 road race, I planned to ride conservatively.  After sitting out the first intermediate sprint I thought "that's enough, I'm going for it", decided to go for all, and scooped up the remaining sprint and QOM (Queen of the Mountains) points.  I went for gold too, sprinting to a stage victory and taking the yellow leader's jersey while I was at it. I was feeling good.

Lex Albrecht, Specialized S-Works Amria, and Rolf tubular climbing wheels

I heard the next day's course finished with a brutal climb.  I took 2.5 hours to pre-drive the course in my boat-of-a-car.  (I wish I had a NOW and Novartis Ford C-MAX hybrid in Vermont with me...way smoother!).  I knew what was to come.  I did my own wrenching and put on a big (28 tooth) cassette. I wished I had a SRAM compact crankset to go along with it though.

Day 3 my job was only to protect the jersey.  My plans were otherwise though.  It wasn't "smart racing" attacking the field over and over from the gun, and I knew it.  But it hurt, and it's going to pay off.  I went for the QOM points and got them.  Towards the end of the 67mi stage with tired legs, I tried to hang on to Amy Bevilacqua's wheel as we dieseled up App-Gap, a 4km climb that ends with pitches with 20% gradient pitches.  With 2km to go..she stared slipping away.  I lost just over a minute in those final km as Amy pounded up the hill.  Seeing how strong she was made me feel good about only being 7s behind her in the TT at least.  I lost the yellow jersey for good to Amy that day (she deserved it, a LOT), but managed to secure the Queen of the Mountain jersey by scoring all of the points, except the ones at the finish that Amy earned fair and square.

 That Zenberry QOM jersey was mine to keep for the rest of the race!  Photo: Gary Kessler.

Stage 4 was a just-technical-enough criterium in Downtown Burlington, VT with my favorite thing : an uphill finish.  I wanted the Green sprinter's jersey to go with my Polka Dot climber's jersey.  So I went for all the sprints, and the win.  I got enough points to keep the jersey, and the victory was mine.  The screaming fans made it even sweeter, especially the crew from Trois-Rivières Québec (where I went to university and started racing!) who surprised me!

Burlington Criterium.  Photo: C. Johnson

THE FINAL SPRINT: (video J. Mathieu)

 Thanks to the awesome crowd for putting so much cash into the crowd-prime cup.  Hearing that bell for that prime made me sprint like there was no tomorrow.


At the 2013 GMSR, I became the Queen of the Mountains, Best Sprinter, had two victories, and two 2nd place podiums.  A race to remember.  And to return to. Thanks to Gary and Peter, the race organizers and all of the other staff and volunteers.  What an event.   If you weren't there this year, you should be next year.

Photo finish - Stage 4

Photo: C. Johnson

Recovery at the Green Mountain Stage Race

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!

Volume, Technique, Intensity, Recovery.

Since my last big racing block with NOW and Novartis for MS out West (B.C. Canada, and Bend, OR)  I'm happy to be home in Montréal for a few weeks to focus on hitting some good training days HARD.  I'll be training at the PowerWatts Studio in Montréal, all over the province of Québec, and even in New England, USA.

VOLUME
I spent a weekend on the Véloroute des Bleuets in Lac-St. Jean for some volume riding.  Steady pace, long rides.  The bike route goes around the Lake, covering over 200km with perfect pavement and the scenery is excellent.  Here are a few articles on my visit in the local papers:
En amour avec la région - Roby St. Gélais (Journal de Québec)

Lex Albrecht s'entraîne chez nous - Serge Tremblay (L'étoile du Lac)
I took the time to stop and pick blueberries after my final ride in Lac St. Jean, a fruit that the area is famous for.  I had a tough time deciding what I was going to do with them.  I ended up creating...these:


TECHNIQUE
Kindgom Trails in East Burke, VT is my absolute favorite mountain bike destination.  I took my 29" double suspension trail machine and hammered through the trees for 5 hours.  Pure bliss!  What a great way to work on bike handling skills.

INTENSITY
Le Parc de la Mauricie the ultimate place to ride in Québec, in my opinion.  I drilled through the Parc with the highest intensity I've ever held before (confirmed by my Quarq Powermeter) with a great training partner and friend.  YEOWCH.

RECOVERY
You can't go hard if you're not well recovered from the last hard workout.  I purchased the Indie Coffee Passport in Montréal this summer for my coffeshop rides.  It's the perfect way to see the city, discover new coffee shops, and a fun way to create a destination for a recovery ride.  Somtimes...I go to two in a row.  Want to know my favorites?  I usually share on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Lex_Albrecht