Olympian Jasmin Glaesser briefly takes respite from her daily routine: cycling for hours and hours in 32 degrees Celsius heat while taking in less oxygen than she is normally used to.
The Terry Fox secondary alumnae spoke to The Tri-City News, on Monday, from Colorado Springs, Colo., where she is taking part in a training camp ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Scotland later this month.
The thin air is not unnoticed by Glaesser in the Rocky Mountain city with its ubiquitous biking trails situated over a kilometre above sea level.
"That's definitely one of the aspects that brought us here - the altitude training effect," said Glaesser.
Only two summers ago the 21-year-old Coquitlam resident brought home a bronze indoor cycling medal from the London Olympics.
Glaesser recalls the pursuit-style team race against the Australians. Starting on opposite sides of the track from their opponents, Glaesser and her teammates pedaled furiously in circles, for a total of three kilometres, trying to catch the Australian riders, who had beat the Canadians in two previous rounds.
"We beat them by a tenth of a second," she said. "It's for sure something I will remember for my whole life."
The win was even more unexpected given that Glaesser and her teammates had only started cycling together that season.
"We are gathering a lot more experience and hope that by [the] 2016 [Olympics] we can set our sights even higher," she said.
The German-born cyclist moved to Coquitlam at the age of nine. And it wasn't until her high school graduation, when Glaesser was given a road bike as a gift that she took up cycling seriously.
"I used to be a runner, but I got injured and wanted to find a way to stay fit," she said. "It started with a few local [cycling] races and it kind of went from there."
Since working her way up to the national cycling team, Glaesser has claimed a bounty of international titles including top prize at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
Now, with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow just weeks away, Glaesser, who is competing in the individual pursuit cycling event, is feeling quite confident.
"I know that a medal is more than possible, but there are some strong cycling nations - Great Britain, Australia - but, it is doable. I think we all have a great shot," she said.
As for future aspirations, the Simon Fraser University computer sciences student plans to stay involved in sports while making use of her education.
Glaesser, who has been out of the country training for competition, has a soft spot for Tri-City summers.
"If I was there right now, I would probably be hanging out at White Pine beach," she said. "It's such a nice place to be in the summer."
The indoor cycling events at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games run from July 24 to 27.
