Brand New Team for 2014!

Things just keep going up!  Here's some big news:
I'm proud to announce that I have signed with the TWENTY16 Professional American cycling team.  The program is managed by Nicola Cranmer (she's great to follow on Twitter) and Kristin Armstrong.

"Our team consists of 14 professional athletes ages 19-35 including, numerous national champions and 2 Olympic Medalists; Kristin Armstrong 2008 & 2012 Gold Medalist who will continue as our High Performance Director and 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist and 2000 World Champion Mari Holden as Sports Director. The team was the only U.S women's road team to earn medals in London Olympics. The team is now TWENTY16 with an eye on Rio." 

We will be riding FELT bicycles with SRAM components (I can't wait to ride the new 11 speed set up!), K-EDGE, and ZIPP wheels.  I'm so happy to be back on SPEEDPLAY pedals for 2014 as well.  We'll be wearing OAKLEY eyewear, CATLIKE helmets, PACTIMO cycling kits, and we'll be fueled by none other than CLIF.

Lex Albrecht (Photo Copyright: Justin Knotzke)

Being a part of TWENTY16 is an especially great opportunity for me since I'll be able to enjoy the latitude they give athletes to compete in road and track, and on National Team projects.  I will continue to be based in Montréal, Québec, and train with PowerWatts.  Our first race will be in mid-February. 

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and check back regularly here for the latest and greatest! 
 Follow TWENTY16 on Twitter

Follow TWENTY16 on Facebook

TWENTY16's 2014 roster:

• Lex Albrecht
• Kaitie Antonneau
• Sofia Arreola
• Katie Donovan
• Allie Dragoo
• Amber Gaffney
• Lauren Komanski
• Mary Maroon
• Kristin McGrath
• Abby Mickey
• Greta Neimanas
• Alison Tetrick
• Jennifer Valente

I'm a roadie.  I'm with the Canadian National team to ride the track in L.A., California. No gears, no brakes, no asphalt... except on our recovery rides, for now.

Every morning priority number one is to score hotel java from the lobby, and grab a few oranges for my fridge-stash, and oatmeal bars for snacks at the track.  I whip up a bowl of magic oatmeal, and clear out e-mails that have come in on East Coast time.  The bag gets packed with my collection of gears, chainrings and tools (I've never wrenched so much in my life. Good thing track mechanics are easy...).  Thanks Martin Rooseboom (2524 Hochelaga, Montréal) for lending me what I need.  And I never forget my tube of DZ Nuts Bliss shammy cream anymore.  It's my new favorite.  Especially since the saddle on my loaner track bike and I don't have a great relationship...

Track sessions always start with a 20 minute warm up.  We spin around in a paceline, going progressively faster.  1 lap-to-go always feels like balls-to-the-wall speed.

Hammering out near-maximum efforts for 4km with my teammates, reefing on the pedals to shoot my bike forward from standing-starts, whipping up and down the track walls when we do our exchanges, and holding a tight, straight line down at the base of the track (the pole line) despite those HUGE G-forces as we spin at unheard of (OK, for a road cyclist...) cadences are all things that are going to pay off once I get out on the road to start racing next month.

But the best thing about the track is the consistent environment.  The conditions are reproducible and our efforts are easy to measure.  That means when there's something to fix or improve, we keep giving the same thing a shot, making minor adjustments, until we NAIL IT ON THE HEAD.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! 

2013 was an awesome year.  
I raced professionally for NOW and Novartis for MS, and had the chance to represent some awesome sponsors like Specialized Bikes, NOW Bars, Spy Optics, SRAM, and Nuheat.  Thank you for your support! 

Thank you also to the Global Relay Bridge the Gap Fund for supporting me in 2013. 

In North America, we won numerous victories and titles.  I defended the Champion of Québec title, and finished twice on the podium at the Canadian National Championships.  I made significant improvements to my time-trialing. I represented Québec at the Jeux de la Francophonie in France, and Canada at the World Championships in Italy.  

I also had my first experience with the Canadian National Team on the track in Los Angeles, thanks to so many of you who helped fund the project on GoFundMe.  I moved from the beautiful city of Québec, to the one-and-only Montréal, and began training with PowerWatts.  ..and I feel like that's just the tip of the iceberg!

2014 has a lot of Great Things in Store
I am excited to share that I will be racing for a new professional team with an excellent structure, great sponsors, and a wildly good track record.  (Stay tuned...I'll let you know more soon).

I'll be returning to Los Angeles for 1 month with the Canadian National team in January.  I was selected to continue on to the next stage of the track program.  Thanks again to everyone who has helped me overcome the financial barrier that was standing between me and this goal. 

I am also proud to announce a new partnership with You Culture Significance, an interactive, creatively informative, and motivating presentation program for CEOs and business leaders.

2013 was awesome, and 2014 is going to be even better!  Remember...where there's a will, there's a way.  Happy New Year!

Lex's Hockey Stop

I like to play outside during the off-season.   Here in Montréal there is no shortage of winter activities.  Since today was an "off-day" and I didn't have any training to do, I pulled out my ice-skates.  I thought I'd test out my skating skills for fun.  I was trying to get ice to fly up above my head...what do you think? 

Good news, we made it to the next step!

In November 2013 I had the opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Los Angeles with the Canadian National Team, at the Vélo Sports Center Vélodrome.  National Team programs are often self-funded, as was this one.  Thanks to everyone who made it possible for me to get to Los Angeles.

Good news, we made it to the next step!  I've been chosen to continue in the program.  I am invited to spend a good part of January at the vélodrome in Los Angeles with the Canadian National team.  Here is why this is such a big deal:  This is where the final decision on which athletes will continue in the permanent program (ultimate goal: Rio 2016) will be made.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to helping get me to Los Angeles for the first round.  This truly feels like a team-effort.  We've made it to the next step!

A GoFundMe campaign has been established help cover the costs of participating in this round of the project.  The cost is quite substantial (it's outlined here), but I don't want finances to get in my way of giving my best shot again.

Thanks to everyone who has believed in me, and thank you so much for your support.

Lex's GoFundMe fundraiser : http://www.gofundme.com/5w1tkk

Photo copyright : Justin Knotzke.  www.justinknotzke.com

A Bloody Good Day

Before the crack of dawn this morning, I was at the hospital for blood tests.  There are two reasons for the timing: 
    1. To get free parking in the street before 9am (JACKPOT)
    2. Get the boring stuff over with so I could move on to training at PowerWatts!

I was waiting patiently for the priority patients to have their blood drawn ahead of me.  (When I fly, it's cool to have priority status.  At the hospital, nobody gets Special-Priority-Status for a "cool" reason.  So, I was happy to wait.)

Instead of sitting in the waiting room, I stuck around in the hallway to up my chances of not going home with some nosocomial infection.  (It probably didn't make much of a difference.)  My cellphone rang.  "Lex, we're here for blood testing.  We're at the door"

"Well, actually, I'm right here!"  I replied, thinking they decided not to call my name over the waiting room loudspeaker.  Hey if they think a cellphone call is more efficient, cool. 

But in fact, it was the CCES who was at my home, waiting at the door to take blood for the Blood Passport program.  How ironic!

After getting 6 tubes of blood drained from my left arm in the hospital, I hustled home and gave 2 more to the CCES from my right arm.  The rest of my blood?  I'm keeping it for MYSELF!  

Photo copyright : Justin Knotzke (www.justinknotzke.com)

...that's what I call a bloody good start to the day.

New North American UCI Race for Women for 2014

Tour de Delta Gets 1.2 UCI International Status for Women’s Road Race

In 2013 I was proud to be named Ambassador for BC Superweek.  I won the opening stage and final race general classification with my team, NOW and Novartis for MS.  My teammates swept the podium in other stages of the event. Check details from the press release here:

BC Superweek has announced that the international governing body of cycling, Union Cycliste International (UCI), has officially upgraded the 2014 Women’s White Spot | Delta Road Race to a 1.2 UCI sanctioned event.

“The Corporation of Delta is very excited to have the Women’s White Spot | Delta Road Race become a UCI 1.2 sanctioned event and join the men’s race on the international cycling calendar,” said Corporation of Delta Mayor Lois E. Jackson. “Delta is a community that encourages active  healthy living and fair play, therefore, the inclusion of the women’s race was a natural step for us to support."

"As the title sponsor for the Delta Road Race, we’re happy to support the growth of women's cycling in British Columbia and Canada with the inclusion of the 2014 race on the UCI calendar,” said White Spot President & CEO Warren Erhart. “It's an honour to be a part of the Delta Road Race since it's first year in 2001 and to see it become an internationally recognized event."

 

With international sanctioning and awarding of official UCI points, the road race will draw a deeper, stronger field of top professional cyclists from all over the world to the already well attended three event Tour de Delta and the rest of the nine race BC Superweek series ...

UCI officials attended and closely examined last year’s race before awarding the certification. White Spot | Delta Road Race Director Mark Ernsting added, “With the inclusion of the women's race into the UCI calendar, this adds significant profile to the Tour de Delta and overall series of BC Superweek.”

“Cycling Canada is extremely pleased to see the White Spot | Delta Road Race for women has now been upgraded to UCI sanctioned event,” said John Tolkamp, President of Cycling Canada. “...we thank all the supporters of the Delta Road Race for making a significant commitment and investment in supporting the growth of women's cycling in Canada and North America.”

“Cycling is definitely one of the most popular outdoor activities in Canada and its popularity  is growing at an exciting rate, that’s why I’m thrilled that the Delta Road Race has become a UCI event for 2014,” BC Superweek Ambassador Lex Albrecht exclaimed. “This new classification has positive repercussions for women’s cycling, riders who represent Canada internationally, and for BC Superweek.”

(UCI points are used to determine the number of entries each country gets into events like the World Championships and Olympics.)

A member of Team NOW and Novartis for MS, Albrecht won the Tour de Delta Criterium and the Tour de White Rock Hill Climb in 2013.“The UCI status will attract teams and riders from around the world, and gives Canada, BC, and the Lower Mainland a chance to shine on an international level,”  continued Albrecht. “Presently, the majority of UCI races are in Europe, which makes accessing points difficult for riders who focus on the North American race circuit. The White Spot | Delta Road Race now brings anopportunity for Canadian riders to score points on home soil.”

BC Superweek is Canada’s biggest cycling series, with $110,000 in prize money available during
nine races over 10 days. BC Superweek takes place in July 2014, and is made up of the Tour de Delta, UBC Grand Prix, Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix, Giro di Burnaby and the Tour de White Rock.

Learn more at www.bcsuperweek.ca