Rivian owner Kate Courtney built her career on dirt, with world titles in cross-country and marathon mountain biking. This year, she started over, competing as a road cyclist for the first time. For the recent UCI Road World Championships, Kate drove an R1T from New York City to the race in Montréal. We asked her to reflect along the way. Her answers have been edited for length.
What's in the truck, and what would you turn around for? KC: Bike racing requires traveling with a lot of stuff! I traveled to Worlds with two bikes, a set of wheels, a big suitcase, and a backpack. I tend to overpack, mostly race nutrition. I also had a big bag of gluten free pancake mix for race day morning! I brought three books which did not exactly help my overweight luggage situation. There are very few things I'd actually turn around for. Most importantly, my shoes. They're broken in just right and not something I'd want to replace the night before a race.
On a full day drive from NYC, are you running the race in your head? KC: It made it a great opportunity to slow things down and let the car become a bit of a transition space. I didn't need to run it over and over again. I wanted to transition to really trusting my prep. The drive was a great way to come down from that intensity and move toward the sense of calm I wanted to bring to the start line.
Any stop worth telling someone about? KC: I stopped once to charge and there was a little convenience store that had a $2 pair of American flag socks with enormous eagles on them. Obviously, I had to buy them. I ended up wearing them for a lot of the trip.
You've said the shift to road cycling gives you "a freedom to just compete." Did that still hold up in race week? KC: Absolutely. As I sat around the dinner table with our Junior and U23 racers, many of whom were representing their country for the first time, I heard them talking about family members flying in, making posters, and printing shirts. It was a reminder of what a huge deal it is to make it there and what an honor it is to represent your country. After more than a dozen times representing the US on the mountain bike, I think it got too easy to lose sight of some of that magic and feel like my purpose there was just to get a result. At this race, I wanted to embrace the freedom of being new, of feeling like a Junior again and embracing every part of the experience.
Now that race day is over, what would you go back and say to the Kate who was loading up that truck in NYC? KC: This race did not go to plan. I was taken out in a crash mid-race. What surprised me was being able to feel deeply disappointed in the outcome without feeling disappointed in myself. It gave me time to arrive slowly, to take in where I was going and what it meant to be there. If I could say something to myself while I was loading the truck, it would be: keep your eyes wide. Take it all in. You can do everything right and still not get the result you hoped for. But if you keep showing up this way, eventually the race will break in your favor.
