As reported earlier this month on CyclingQuotes.com, the USA Cycling Team held a training camp in Richmond, Virginia ahead of the 2015 UCI Road World Championships there. BMC’s Taylor Phinney rode the time trial course, who had rolling road closures and police escorts on his ride.

"It's a nice course. I had a lot of fun even if it was 50 degrees and raining," Phinney told Cyclingnews. "I started off a little cold but having the police escort was nice."

"I've always loved point-to-point courses. I think they're more fun. Not that the whole goal of us being bike riders is to have fun, but it helps, especially in the time trial. It changes the scenery and enhances your experience," he said.

"It's cool to start outside of town and see some country and farm roads. The roads are in great shape, which is nice when you're sitting on a time trial bike for an hour. You also get a good sense for some of the local culture and history, which is important at an event like this. I'm from Boulder, Colorado and we don't have as rich of a history and culture as here in Virginia."

The course has been described as rolling, with road ranging from major to minor and with trees lining most roads, potentially protecting the riders from some wind.

"Having the rollers and the turns breaks things up. You never have too long straights where you start hating life. It being all up and down breaks things up - you can go a little over and a little under and you don't have to do the steady state thing for 20-30 minutes." said Phinney.

"With that build-up into town, it goes by quickly. Just riding it today, it felt like it went by fast, and you're able to keep speed and hit the little rollers hard. It'll be a fast average speed for the guy that wins."

Due to less than favourable conditions, the US team wanted to drive the course, but Phinney insisted on riding it as he is enjoying being back on his bike so much after fracturing his tibia in a crash at the US Road Race in May.

"This week, they were talking about driving the course instead of riding it, but we pros race and train in the rain all the time so for me, I wasn't going to come all the way out here and not ride it," he explained. "Even if you're not completely paying attention to the course the whole time, it's a muscle memory thing and your body remembers it a bit for the next time you ride it. It's so hard to judge things from the car. Things perceptively are totally different."

"You get out there and get warm and wet, but once you're went and warm, you're fine the rest of the time as long as there aren't any super long downhills. It's just that initial step of stepping out and getting it over with."

Phinney and his teammates rode the road race course on Thursday afternoon, the day after Phinney rode the TTT course.