Hi everyone!
I have started a photobucket account and have a guest password. If you follow these steps you'll be able to see all of the photos I have taken so far on my trip in France....
Go to photobucket.com
Username: hecht_lauren
Password: france
Enjoy!
Lauren
PS This is a new application for me, so if it doesn't work or it causes problems, let me know...
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
March-April Schedule
This weekend: training locally. The Webcor women's pro team training camp is this weekend, and Annie Fulton (Big) is attending.
March 26-29 Annie Malouin (Red) to Redlands with Metromint
April 5 Santa Cruz crit
April 11 Copperopolis
April 17 & 18 Sea Otter. (Tentative)
Dana Point Crit April 26 (Tentative)
March 26-29 Annie Malouin (Red) to Redlands with Metromint
April 5 Santa Cruz crit
April 11 Copperopolis
April 17 & 18 Sea Otter. (Tentative)
Dana Point Crit April 26 (Tentative)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Madera - Annie M.
Race report Madera Stage Race - Women 1-2
20 mile criterium, 4 corners. Another bad luck happened.
Within the first 10 laps, just as I was starting to get comfortable in the pack and we started speeding up... Going over the train tracks, I hit something and heard a big "crack". Then, my bike felt wrong. I stopped at the pit and realized that my front 404 was broken. Due to miscommunications with Coach Dan, I had no spare wheel in the pit... Ross saved the day by running to my car to get a spare wheel. ..The official let me go back in the race.. but put me one lap down (-2min). I returned to the race. I was a bit weird out and also mad at this new the bad luck. :-(. The rest of the race was uneventful. I finished mid-pack.
10 miles TT
Bees & wind added challenge to TT! It was hard. I gave everything I had, I thought.
I for sure need to become more aero. ...and mainly I guess, I need to work on pedaling harder and faster for the next TT.
68 miles RR, 4 laps
We did the first lap with an easy steady pace. The paces speeded up as soon as we started lap 2, and many attacks went. I stayed towards the front, and covered many of them... Early on, I made the break, 5 of us got away, it seemed strong. However, the peloton ate us just before the hills. I then realized that the 3 leaders of the stage race were in the break! The speed continued to be fast with many attacks going. I contributed in covering many of the attacks, worked hard, hoping for a successful break away but nothing was going to get away. On the last lap, we went easier thru the rough pavement section. We went pretty fast up the hills, but everyone seemed pretty tired. I had not much left in me! I rolled in behind the sprinters. It was a very hard race. I felt good. I might have done a bit too much work, given I had no team mate in the race. I wanted to see what I would be able to achieve.
20 mile criterium, 4 corners. Another bad luck happened.
Within the first 10 laps, just as I was starting to get comfortable in the pack and we started speeding up... Going over the train tracks, I hit something and heard a big "crack". Then, my bike felt wrong. I stopped at the pit and realized that my front 404 was broken. Due to miscommunications with Coach Dan, I had no spare wheel in the pit... Ross saved the day by running to my car to get a spare wheel. ..The official let me go back in the race.. but put me one lap down (-2min). I returned to the race. I was a bit weird out and also mad at this new the bad luck. :-(. The rest of the race was uneventful. I finished mid-pack.
10 miles TT
Bees & wind added challenge to TT! It was hard. I gave everything I had, I thought.
I for sure need to become more aero. ...and mainly I guess, I need to work on pedaling harder and faster for the next TT.
68 miles RR, 4 laps
We did the first lap with an easy steady pace. The paces speeded up as soon as we started lap 2, and many attacks went. I stayed towards the front, and covered many of them... Early on, I made the break, 5 of us got away, it seemed strong. However, the peloton ate us just before the hills. I then realized that the 3 leaders of the stage race were in the break! The speed continued to be fast with many attacks going. I contributed in covering many of the attacks, worked hard, hoping for a successful break away but nothing was going to get away. On the last lap, we went easier thru the rough pavement section. We went pretty fast up the hills, but everyone seemed pretty tired. I had not much left in me! I rolled in behind the sprinters. It was a very hard race. I felt good. I might have done a bit too much work, given I had no team mate in the race. I wanted to see what I would be able to achieve.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Lauren @ Chambery, France
Date: 3/15/09
Start time: 1:30pm (woohoo European start times!)
Location: Chambery, France
Distance: 80km
Place: 31/70
Teammates: Amanda Miller, Ashley Dymond, Einat Aargon
Course: 8km loop starting on the top of hill at a three-way intersection among a neighborhood. The race started on the gradual descent leading to a quick right and then left-hand turn into a twisty, pedaling but high-speed descent. At the bottom of the descent was a sharp right hand turn to a flatter section that led to an overpass and into a VERY tight left-hand hairpin turn. From this turn to the bottom of the climb was pretty much like an extended crit course: flat with several turns and a few scary round-abouts (that we actually went through on the right side). A decreasing radius left-hand turn took us onto the climb, which was about 700 meters long with 5 switchbacks and average grade of about 10% which got gradually steeper). The finish was at the top of this hill.
The start list included two French UCI teams (Bigla and BGL93?), Jeanne Longo and several strong-looking regional teams (Italian and French).
The race started at 1:30 and we lined up at 1:15. As we were rolling up the hill at the end of our warm up loop to line up Chris, our direction, came over the radio and told us that Jeanne Longo had just shown up. Oh my. We lined up and they called us up by number, which put all four of us in the second row of girls. I was nervous but because I didn't know any of the girls or what to expect it was a different nervous. The follow cars were all crowded around behind and to the sides of us.
We made it down the descent without any major problems. I could tell immediately that the bike handling here was very different. The riders are more aggressive and there is more jostling but somehow, despite all the scares and dramatic yelling, no one went down the whole race.
As we came to the tight left-hand hairpin Chris came over the radio and told us all to move up. I made my way to the front relatively easily but we were moving pretty fast. After a few turns there is a section where we go to the right around three round-abouts. These were the hairiest parts of the race because girls were trying to move up before the climb but the road narrowed around the round-abouts and curbs kind of came out of nowhere.
We pretty much bombed the first time up the hill making it up in about 80 seconds or so. I felt good going up the first and second times and stayed in the top third of the group.
On the second lap I was sitting on the right side of the pack waiting for someone to give me a free ride to the front and who comes around me but Jeanne Longo! I jumped on quickly and moved up to the front. I laughed to myself at the surreality of it all.
The third climb is where the break got away. As I got the to the second one I could see my teammate, Amanda, up at the front with the girls who were quickly breaking away and who would stay away for the entire race. Chris came over the radio as we came to the bottom of the descent to confirm that Amanda was in the break. Quickly a few girls tried to bridge but the pack kept pulling them back and Ashley and I covered most of the wheels that tried to get away. The break included three Bigla girls (the Swiss champion rider and her teammates), two girls on the other UCI team, a local Chambery rider, Amanda and Jeanne Longo. Chris told Ashley and I to control the front of the race.
On the fifth lap Chris told us the gap was up to 1:15 and the follow cars blew past us. For the third and fourth laps two teams went to the front and tried to team time trial and pull back the break but with the strongest teams (Bigla and the other UCI team) just sitting on and a UCI group off the front, their time gap just kept increasing. Once the cars passed, though, the few teams working started to give up and the pace slowed a bit.
Ashley and I did pretty well together covering anything that tried to get off (not many serious attempts except on the descent).
During the last 4 laps the girls in the break were attacking one another and their race finished with one of the Bigla riders winning followed by Jeanne Longo, who had initiated the attack on the lead group. The next group consisted of five break-away riders who had been dropped by the Bigla and Longo. Amanda finished on her own in 8th. At this point they had well over two minutes on the field.
On the peloton's second to last lap I asked Ashley how she felt about me leading her out for the hill. I knew she was stronger on the hill than I was at that point and I felt good enough on the flats to try and do something. The Italian team set up their leadout at the beginning of the last lap and started rotating on the front. I stayed in the top 10 until we cleared the cornering section and then went up to about fifth position. At that point there were only two Italians who hadn't popped yet and they were pulling hard enough to keep it strung out so I continued to sit on. Ashley was on my wheel but lost it when I had to cut left through the line to end up in third spot. I hit the hill hard thinking she was behind me. I pretty much sprinted the bottom third of the hill with the mentality that my finish was halfway up the climb to slingshot Ashley. As I made it to the first switchback I heard a crash behind me and knew that it was Ashley. I was surprised that we were dropping people and that I was maintaining third position but knew that I was going to pop sooner than would allow for a good finish. I just coasted the second half of the hill, which was about all I could manage after my attempt at a leadout.
It was an awesome race! The course was amazing and a ton of fun with all the corners and obstacles and, yes, even the hill. I think later in my career a course like this will be great for me.
Thanks for reading!
Lauren
Start time: 1:30pm (woohoo European start times!)
Location: Chambery, France
Distance: 80km
Place: 31/70
Teammates: Amanda Miller, Ashley Dymond, Einat Aargon
Course: 8km loop starting on the top of hill at a three-way intersection among a neighborhood. The race started on the gradual descent leading to a quick right and then left-hand turn into a twisty, pedaling but high-speed descent. At the bottom of the descent was a sharp right hand turn to a flatter section that led to an overpass and into a VERY tight left-hand hairpin turn. From this turn to the bottom of the climb was pretty much like an extended crit course: flat with several turns and a few scary round-abouts (that we actually went through on the right side). A decreasing radius left-hand turn took us onto the climb, which was about 700 meters long with 5 switchbacks and average grade of about 10% which got gradually steeper). The finish was at the top of this hill.
The start list included two French UCI teams (Bigla and BGL93?), Jeanne Longo and several strong-looking regional teams (Italian and French).
The race started at 1:30 and we lined up at 1:15. As we were rolling up the hill at the end of our warm up loop to line up Chris, our direction, came over the radio and told us that Jeanne Longo had just shown up. Oh my. We lined up and they called us up by number, which put all four of us in the second row of girls. I was nervous but because I didn't know any of the girls or what to expect it was a different nervous. The follow cars were all crowded around behind and to the sides of us.
We made it down the descent without any major problems. I could tell immediately that the bike handling here was very different. The riders are more aggressive and there is more jostling but somehow, despite all the scares and dramatic yelling, no one went down the whole race.
As we came to the tight left-hand hairpin Chris came over the radio and told us all to move up. I made my way to the front relatively easily but we were moving pretty fast. After a few turns there is a section where we go to the right around three round-abouts. These were the hairiest parts of the race because girls were trying to move up before the climb but the road narrowed around the round-abouts and curbs kind of came out of nowhere.
We pretty much bombed the first time up the hill making it up in about 80 seconds or so. I felt good going up the first and second times and stayed in the top third of the group.
On the second lap I was sitting on the right side of the pack waiting for someone to give me a free ride to the front and who comes around me but Jeanne Longo! I jumped on quickly and moved up to the front. I laughed to myself at the surreality of it all.
The third climb is where the break got away. As I got the to the second one I could see my teammate, Amanda, up at the front with the girls who were quickly breaking away and who would stay away for the entire race. Chris came over the radio as we came to the bottom of the descent to confirm that Amanda was in the break. Quickly a few girls tried to bridge but the pack kept pulling them back and Ashley and I covered most of the wheels that tried to get away. The break included three Bigla girls (the Swiss champion rider and her teammates), two girls on the other UCI team, a local Chambery rider, Amanda and Jeanne Longo. Chris told Ashley and I to control the front of the race.
On the fifth lap Chris told us the gap was up to 1:15 and the follow cars blew past us. For the third and fourth laps two teams went to the front and tried to team time trial and pull back the break but with the strongest teams (Bigla and the other UCI team) just sitting on and a UCI group off the front, their time gap just kept increasing. Once the cars passed, though, the few teams working started to give up and the pace slowed a bit.
Ashley and I did pretty well together covering anything that tried to get off (not many serious attempts except on the descent).
During the last 4 laps the girls in the break were attacking one another and their race finished with one of the Bigla riders winning followed by Jeanne Longo, who had initiated the attack on the lead group. The next group consisted of five break-away riders who had been dropped by the Bigla and Longo. Amanda finished on her own in 8th. At this point they had well over two minutes on the field.
On the peloton's second to last lap I asked Ashley how she felt about me leading her out for the hill. I knew she was stronger on the hill than I was at that point and I felt good enough on the flats to try and do something. The Italian team set up their leadout at the beginning of the last lap and started rotating on the front. I stayed in the top 10 until we cleared the cornering section and then went up to about fifth position. At that point there were only two Italians who hadn't popped yet and they were pulling hard enough to keep it strung out so I continued to sit on. Ashley was on my wheel but lost it when I had to cut left through the line to end up in third spot. I hit the hill hard thinking she was behind me. I pretty much sprinted the bottom third of the hill with the mentality that my finish was halfway up the climb to slingshot Ashley. As I made it to the first switchback I heard a crash behind me and knew that it was Ashley. I was surprised that we were dropping people and that I was maintaining third position but knew that I was going to pop sooner than would allow for a good finish. I just coasted the second half of the hill, which was about all I could manage after my attempt at a leadout.
It was an awesome race! The course was amazing and a ton of fun with all the corners and obstacles and, yes, even the hill. I think later in my career a course like this will be great for me.
Thanks for reading!
Lauren
Thursday, March 12, 2009
My Journey to France
I landed in Toulouse, France on Wednesday March 10th at 3:30 or so in the afternoon. Luckily I was still functioning surprisingly well, considering I had been flying for 15 hours across an eight hour time change. I was greeted at the airport by a very friendly Israeli cyclist who is riding in the area on a French team. We located my baggage and mon velo (my bike - have to learn that French phrase quickly) and headed to Limoux, where I will be living for the next 4 and a half weeks. 
These tree-line
d sections of road are scattered throughout the towns and act as sort of natural entryways into the little villages along the French country-side. The roads are narrow and the cars are few and far between - as a cyclist, I already love it! This picture to the right is the view to the right out my front door. Obviously the streets are extremely narrow so navigating around town has been exciting to say the least :) The picture below and to the left is the front door of our house. This has been a hotel to a long list of famous cyclists including Olympic champions Sarah Ulmer (New Zealand) and Nicole Cooke (Great Britain), World champions Amber Neben (USA), Marion Clignet (France), and Elizabeth Chevanne (France),as well at least 15 national champions of Canada, New Zealand, Franc
e, Israel and Belgium. It is a true cycling house complete with bike hooks in the kitchen, two fridges, washer, dryer and posted translation notes of French phrases on the walls. The house is conveniently located at the edge of the town square (only 100 meters from our door). Today was our first long ride and we finished a perfect, beautiful day with a petit chocolat as a boisson du recuperacion (recovery drink) at the cafe around the corner.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Merco Grand Prix Race Report
Merco Grand Prix Race Report
Womens 1,2
Date: 2/28/09
Teammates: Annie Malouin
Field size: 43
This was a fast race from the gun. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th laps were prime laps so that set the bar for the race pretty high. A few breaks got off the front and one got around 40 seconds on the field but none of the teams were happy with the break so it was pulled back. There were a few crashes, one of which happened relatively early. This presented problems because an ambulance pulled onto the course in the first corner and the field was unaware so we tore around the corner and I just about ran into the moto ref. Luckily I bounced off his shoulder and made it back to the field but it caused some mayhem and some were not able to catch back on. I did not have the legs for the sprinty corners so besides one attack I made to try and bridge to the first break-away group, I mostly sat in and tried to finish. Unfortunately Annie was caught in all the confusion with the moto and the ambulance and so did not finish the race. But both of us were very pleased with the road race the next day. Stay tuned for Annie's race report.
Lauren Hecht
Womens 1,2
Date: 2/28/09
Teammates: Annie Malouin
Field size: 43
This was a fast race from the gun. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th laps were prime laps so that set the bar for the race pretty high. A few breaks got off the front and one got around 40 seconds on the field but none of the teams were happy with the break so it was pulled back. There were a few crashes, one of which happened relatively early. This presented problems because an ambulance pulled onto the course in the first corner and the field was unaware so we tore around the corner and I just about ran into the moto ref. Luckily I bounced off his shoulder and made it back to the field but it caused some mayhem and some were not able to catch back on. I did not have the legs for the sprinty corners so besides one attack I made to try and bridge to the first break-away group, I mostly sat in and tried to finish. Unfortunately Annie was caught in all the confusion with the moto and the ambulance and so did not finish the race. But both of us were very pleased with the road race the next day. Stay tuned for Annie's race report.
Lauren Hecht
Monday, March 2, 2009
Quick Merco Post
By Coach Dan
Just getting a chance to go through weekends emails... more to come later!
The crit was fast with lots of attacks, and breaks but came together for field sprint and Teutenberg beat Miller. Lauren was able to finish. Annie is still working on her crit skills.
The RR was 72 miles and the second day of racing. Some wind and sprinkles. Both did well and finished in the main group! I'm very proud of them both. Stellar field ended in another field sprint and Teutenberg won again.
Just getting a chance to go through weekends emails... more to come later!
The crit was fast with lots of attacks, and breaks but came together for field sprint and Teutenberg beat Miller. Lauren was able to finish. Annie is still working on her crit skills.
The RR was 72 miles and the second day of racing. Some wind and sprinkles. Both did well and finished in the main group! I'm very proud of them both. Stellar field ended in another field sprint and Teutenberg won again.
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