By Holly Mathews
Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All-Stars Team
University of Wisconsin-Madison
When most people think of a time trial, it seems they usually think of 40km. While this may have been the norm, that gold standard seems to be changing to much shorter distances. Regardless of distance, I think the proverbial “You either love time trials or you hate ‘em.” stands true, but it would be premature to tag myself with either extreme given that this was only my second individual time trial. This morning was a race of truth and I learned a lot.
The team got to the course with ample time to get warmed up, get changed and be ready to go. I was the first to go from the Kowalski’s Collegiate All-Stars Team and I found out the hard way that keeping an eye on time is just as important as hydrating, warming up, having equipment ready, this, that, and the other thing. If my heart wasn’t already pounding when the clock was close enough to see that I had less than one minute to be ready on the ramp, it was then. I threw my extra clothes to John (our director sportif), ran up to the platform with my bike, clipped in with 5, 4, 3, 2… and off I went.
Other than the start, the race went pretty much as anticipated—roads were rough, conditions were not optimal, it hurt the whole time and the last hill stripped my legs of the little they had left. My performance placed me in the lower half of the field, but I’m moving forward because it’s the only thing I can do. There is a lot more racing to look forward to and I am thrilled to be here at a race of this caliber, riding with some of the best in the sport.
