School of Life: Copenhagen Time Trial

I got to ride the course several times which was good because it was very technical with 2 cobbled turns and a cobble section, I knew it was going to be tricky. The course had lots of speed bumps, road furniture (medians) and lots of turns, some technical, others not so technical. The course was good for me because it was completely flat, short, and I handeled my bike well through the technical sections.

I got took advice from some amazing people like Connie Carpenter, Evie Stevens, Amber Neben, and Taylor Phinney. With their time trialing experience and good knowledge of the course, they told me good lines to take through the corners and things to look out for.

When I started my warm up, I knew I was in good position; I felt good and focused. I was not intimidated by the other girls because I had met all the big names at track worlds, so that took away the fear factor. I kept myself calm, cool, and collected but very excited to race!

I was lucky to go 3rd from last so I got to see the times of the other girls. I started and it was very windy, it felt like I was being blown all over the course! At the halfway mark, Ben (Junior National Team Coach) told me I was sitting in top 5 over the intercom. I couldn't believe it! Then about 2 minutes later, I started to feel the burn! Instead of increasing the pace over the last half, I was doing everything I could to maintain the pace.

I started to get blurry vision, which typically happens but with a technical course it seemed 2x as hard. After just barely dodging barriers that narrowed the course, I was ready to get the race over with! Thank goodness Ben was in the car behind me to tell me exactly what was up the road and how to take some of the corners.

When I finished, I was in 12th place, but the 2 girls behind me got first and second place so, that bumped me down to 14th out of the 39 starters. I was so exstatic! I did much better than I thought I was going to do. After a not so great track worlds, I was happy to end my time trialing season on a good note!

Enjoy the pictures below!

This is at a train station, off in the distance is about 300 bikes parked for a daily commute.