| Time Trial Report and Recovery Day |
| Thursday, 27 September 2007 | |
 The weather stayed dry. Since we were broken up into four different waves with the first rider off at 13:00 and the last at 15:15, there was plenty of time for rain to either start or stop or winds to change and affect the results. It would have been unfortunate if the championship was influenced by changing conditions, so it was important for the weather to stay consistent throughout the day. And, it did.I was the first USA rider off at 13:47, going in the second wave. I had a very solid ride. I was tough mentally the entire day, and I think I maintained a solid pace throughout. The course certainly raced differently than I expected. I thought it was going to be more of a rhythm course than it turned out to be. I was able to adapt fairly well and recover my rhythm in the areas where this was possible, but it was definitely a course that you needed to know...ie spend time riding it at tempo or at speed. My biggest coulda-woulda-shoulda, though, was that I should have spent more time practicing the downhill section. I was very tentative on the first lap, and a little tentative on the second. It is always important for me to minimize my losses on the sections where I will not reach the same top speeds, and yesterday, I did not do a very good job of minimizing my losses. Putting that aside, though, I had a great ride. Like I said yesterday, it is hard to be in 4th spot, because you are so close to the podium. You think of everything you could have done differently. 4th in the world is a great ride, but I am still reaching for the podium. (I think that is a good thing, because I am always motivated, driven, and challenged to get better:) The other three Americans had great rides as well. Alison was racing in her first ever world championships. She is coming off her first season racing in Europe, too. I think she rode very well, and should be very happy with a 20th. Christine, our full time doctor and last year’s bronze medalist, had a great ride to finish 5th. And finally, the defending world champion, Kristin Armstrong, rode very strong and courageously. She finished in 2nd behind Hanka Kupfernagel, the home town, home nation, cyclocross world champion. Hanka was completely dialed in. She raced a perfect race and took home the title. Today, Dave Zabriskie and Jason McCartney race the elite men’s time trial. The rest of the American crew took turns on the trainers in the garage. It was raining all morning, so we had a trainer party. Spin Class photos:  Spin Class in Session (round 2)  Class Participants: Amber, Bobby, Katheryn, TJ, and Peter  Ride leader (George) and watchers  Chris and George hard at work.  While pro mechanic Nick is lollygagging. |
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