liz hatch

liz hatch
Liz Hatch Interview with CycleTo

In a CycleTo exclusive, Hatch talks about her reasons for posing for Maxim...what it was like on the day of the shoot...and how she will deal with the heat she expects to get.

CycleTo: How did all of this come about? How did Maxim first contact you?

Hatch: The two guys who run New York VeloCity forwarded me an email from a cyclist who works as an art director at Maxim. He told me that they were going to do a "Women in Sports" layout, featuring several different sports and several different women, and I was one of their choices.

We went back and forth for a while on the details...what it would actually entail, would I have any control over the pictures and what their ideas were. They sent me a storyboard and it seemed pretty interesting. I have to admit that it appealed to my vanity.

CycleTo: When you first heard of the opportunity, what was your gut reaction?

Hatch: I kind of had a mixed reaction. Personally, I don't have a moral issue with something like this, it doesn't spin my moral compass in the wrong direction, but I also had to look at it from the standpoint of being an athlete and wanting to be taken seriously. But on the other hand, it was a good opportunity. So yes, I had pros and cons on both sides.

CycleTo: So, you go to New York for the the photo shoot with Maxim. What had they told you about preparation and what to bring to the shoot?

Hatch: I had a few long conversations with Kelly Stuart, the photographer, and she asked me to bring my kit and my shoes. And Adam Vincent from BH Bikes had three bikes shipped to New York for the shoot. So when I got there, they were completely put together and go. I also took a bunch of Vanderkitten stuff, and them Maxim provided a bunch of outfits when I got there.

CycleTo: The outfits that they suggested...did you get approval, did you reject anything? What was the general feeling of what they were presenting to you?

Hatch: I got there at about 8:00am, and they immediately did my hair and makeup, which took about two hours. Then they took me into a room that had a huge table full of outfits, probably 30 different outfits. It took probably two hours to try them on, and decide what would end up in the shoot. There were a few things that I looked at and said, "No, I don't think so...this doesn't quite go." Some of it I just wasn't crazy about, but most of the stuff was great.

CycleTo: Was there anything that you looked at and said, "Oh, no...I'm not gonna do that"?

Hatch: Yeah, they had a fishnet top. I'm not a fisherman.

CycleTo: So you pick the outfits, and they go the first of the setups...what was the first one?

Hatch: We had a whole floor of an office building that was empty, just the pillars an the windows, and nothing else. It was pretty cool. The first was was a portrait photo in an old window, it had pipes around it kind of framing it. But I'm not super photogenic...yes, I have a huge forehead, I know that...so the first pictures were probably going to be throwaway pictures just to get comfortable, and for me to stop being so self-conscious.

CycleTo: So, what was the next setup that was less portrait and more posing?

Hatch: Remember that ad with Tom Boonen with his helmet, and he's naked from behind? We did that, but I had bottoms on. It's a behind shot with my helmet...and big hair. But it's just my back. I can't wait to see how that turns out.