Podcasts about cycling tips

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This week Randall and Craig have along overdue catch up and discuss SRAM's new XX SL Eagle ‘hanger-less' derailleur and its implications for the gravel market. Episode Sponsor: Hammerhead Karoo 2 (use code: THEGRAVELRIDE for free HRM strap) Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello, and welcome to the gravel ride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in-depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes. Who are pioneering the sport I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner down, unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. This week on the podcast, I'm joined by my co-host Randall Jacobs for another edition of, in the dirt. We're going to take a look at Schram's new mountain bike derailer group. Oh, and the removal of the derailleur hanger. It's quite big news and has big implications. We've already seen a couple of gravel bikes with this type of dropout ready for this new type of derailer system. Perhaps some mullet systems will be up and running as we speak. And as we record this podcast, It has ramifications in terms of compatibility, both backwards and forwards. And we asked some questions about how Shamana will play into this new paradigm. The new derailer has some super nifty design elements to it. And a lot of thought was clearly put into it by the folks at SRAM. Speaking of the folks at SRAM, I need to thank this week. Sponsor hammerhead and the hammerhead Caru to computer. They hammered crew two is the most advanced GPS cycling computer available today. With industry leading mapping navigation and routing capabilities that set it apart from other GPS options. It has free global maps with points of interests included like cafes and campsites. So you can explore with confidence and on the go flexibility. As I've mentioned before, one of my favorite features is hammerheads exclusive climber feature with predictive path technology that lets you visualize and prepare for upcoming gradient changes in real time. With or without a root loaded. I was using this feature today. In fact, I was adding on to one of my favorite rides, the Dawn patrol here in Marin county on Mount Tam. And I decided to extend the day. And honestly, by the time I dropped down to mirror woods, I decided I'd climb up the roads because I did not have the legs to go up the trail system, knowing that that trail up middle green gold Chaz. Gosh, it's probably about a 20% climb. I opted for the road and I had my face glued. To the hammerhead crew to screen, as I was watching those gradients change. And my legs were aching. I knew what was ahead of me. I knew how long I had to go and I just kept plugging away. And that kind of knowledge. Whether it's in your home terrain or even more importantly, when you're riding routes that you've loaded on that potentially you haven't written before. It's just great. It works well for me, I tend to like to know how long I need to suffer for up these Hills. So kudos to the team at as you know, they continually update via over the air software upgrades. So they're keeping the system fresh. They just released a new e-bike integration that brings detailed battery life usage. Right to your display so you can stay attuned to if you're running low on batteries. Right now for listeners of the podcast, you can get a free heart rate monitor with the purchase of our hammerhead kuru to simply visit hammerhead.io right now, and use that promo code, the gravel ride at checkout to get yours today. This is an exclusive offer. So don't forget to use that promo code, the gravel ride. Just add that heart rate monitor to your purchase of a kuru to@hammerhead.io. And you'll be good to go. With that said let's jump right into my conversation with my co-host Randall Jacobs. [00:03:57] Craig Dalton: Hey, Randall. How you doing? [00:03:59] Randall R. Jacobs: Doing very, very well, Craig. Good to see you buddy. How are [00:04:02] Craig Dalton: Yeah, good to see you. Yeah, it's been a while. I feel like we've exchanged a few texts here and there over the last, say, 30 or 40 days, but we haven't actually connected. [00:04:11] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, I think, uh, you've been pretty busy with work and with family and on my end, um, I just bought a house and so that's been occupying a lot of my mindshare and time, uh, which [00:04:22] Craig Dalton: That's huge. I'm both, I'm both excited for you and then a little sad cuz I think feel like that has more permanence of you on the East coast than not on the West coast. [00:04:32] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, the good news there is that, um, I will have two different little, uh, guest loft suites in the space. And so come out anytime with the fam and, uh, we'll put you up. [00:04:43] Craig Dalton: Great. Where is the house located? [00:04:45] Randall R. Jacobs: Kingston, New York, which, um, folks here may have heard us talk in the past about the Old Positive Festival. Um, and, uh, we actually sponsor that ride and that ride will be the sixth through the eighth and, uh, of October. Um, and the riding out here is beautiful. It's right in the Catskills, the Hudson Rivers there. It's the original capital of New York State. And so there's a lot to do, a lot to experience, and I can't wait to. I mean, to meet some of the people, um, in our, you know, in the ridership and, and some of our listeners out here now that I'm officially putting down roots. [00:05:21] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I know you've spent, uh, a bit of time there in the past through the O Positive Festival and other rides you've, you've had with, with friends up there. What's, what's the riding like in that area? [00:05:31] Randall R. Jacobs: uh, we have mountains. Uh, the biggest mountain in the Catskills is about 4,000 feet. Uh, you can't ride to the summit, but there are plenty of hills, as you might imagine. Uh, and then Kingston is this little. Urban oasis amongst the sea of, you know, towns and, um, you know, and, uh, farms. Uh, there's communes, there's, there's lots of, um, interesting social innovation, new economics type thinking happening here. Um, and as far as the riding, it's, it. It's like classic northeast riding, um, quiet back roads, plenty of gravel. Uh, there's a rail trail, uh, that comes out of town here and goes up into the, uh, into the mountains. So plenty to do. [00:06:21] Craig Dalton: And just geographically speaking, so you know, listeners can figure out where is Kingston without going to a map, how would you describe it relative to other big city landmarks? [00:06:31] Randall R. Jacobs: So it is about an hour and a half to two hours from, uh, Manhattan on the Hudson River. Uh, if you are coming from little further north, uh, I come from Boston, so it's about three hours from, from my hometown of Waltham, uh, out on the 90 and and south from there for about 45 minutes. So right on the border with, with Connecticut on the Hudson River. [00:06:55] Craig Dalton: Okay. Awesome, awesome. Well, I know like we've had a lot of listeners from that area and I know it's got a great cycling community. I think the interesting thing about um, the east coast cycling communities is you have such good proximity to other communities, right? So if you live in ride in Kingston and you have an opportunity to. Go to an event in Vermont, like that's feasible, right? Versus going to Vermont for us from the West coast is obviously a bit more of a, of a hike. [00:07:25] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, and there's lots of small local events in the Northeast as well, which is, which is quite great. And I love the vibe at those. Uh, there's a place for the really big events, and we'll talk about Sea Otter in a second. Uh, but the intimacy of an event that has 200, 300 people show up and, you know, everyone's volunteering and it, you know, maybe the funds go towards some local cause, uh, is something that's very New England. Uh, [00:07:49] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. And I mean, I know you've been operating out of Massachusetts for a while, for, for thesis bike and locus components. Any changes in operation for, for, for the business, for moving up to that area? [00:08:03] Randall R. Jacobs: Uh, I will need to take my laptop with me from Walham to Kingston, um, and then hook up to an internet connection here, uh, to do all the same things as before. But otherwise, we've always been, uh, a remote distributed team with, uh, you know, warehouses, one in the US and one in Taiwan. So that'll all stay the same. [00:08:25] Craig Dalton: Yeah, we don't have time to get into it on this podcast, but I have heard about this thing called the internet and how it empowers entrepreneurs to work from around the world. [00:08:34] Randall R. Jacobs: It's like a series of tubes, um, is what I heard from one, uh, senator in, uh, deliberations at one point. But, uh, I'll, I'll have to read his testimony, uh, you know, in more detail. So let's, let's get in, let's get into something serious here. Um, so. [00:08:49] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:08:50] Randall R. Jacobs: Lots of stuff to cover. Um, the, the, we have, you know, escape Collective. We had Kaylee Fritz on the pod, uh, a few months ago talking about, um, what came next after, uh, he was let go at outside and that's huge. Escape collective.cc. , they have a, a, um, a member funded model for independent cycling media. Uh, they are over subs. They, they more than, uh, achieve their goals in terms of the initial subscribership. And they've got people like James Huang on board who, you know, as you know, I, I personally respect immensely. He's obvi, arguably the best in the game. Um, and, uh, yeah, they, they seem to be doing it. Uh, I think it's super promising. [00:09:39] Craig Dalton: Yeah, it was really interesting that interview you had with him earlier in the year and how he was teasing out some ideas, but pretty impressive how quickly they moved from ideation to actually execution and pretty impressive how many other journalists across a number of different disciplines they managed to get involved in the project. Great to see like, Their community and their following. I think a lot of these journalists have pretty strong individual followings. Good to see those followings all kind of come together and see an enterprise such as Escape Collective garner enough early subscribers to kind of kick it off and become a going concern. [00:10:26] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, I think it speaks to the quality of the community and the content that they were creating at Cycling Tips, which was founded by Wade Wallace. I remember the early days of cycling tips. I was. It was, you know, my racing days and that was the go-to cycling tips blog. It's where you went to get like inside line on training with power in the latest tech and so on. And they did such a good job and continued doing a phenomenal job right up until the end. , uh, when unfortunately, you know, economic pressures and, you know, venture capital demands, um, on the model at outside, you know, uh, resulted in a lot of good people being let go and then, um, a lot of people following them after. But, you know, it's, and the, I, I don't know if you've been in Velo Club. Which was the cycling tips, uh, slack forum, um, super vibrant, healthy, uh, community there. And those people, I mean, I think, I think it's still active. Actually. I'm, I'm in, I'm in that slack, but they have a new discus, or, or I should say discord and um, you know, those dynamics are continuing. So [00:11:33] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:11:34] Randall R. Jacobs: it just goes to show that like, The label of the, the publication mattered a lot less than the integrity and the competency of the people involved with the project. And, uh, yeah, I'll power to them. I, I'm very excited to have this sort of funding model for independent cycling media. [00:11:51] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. I am as well. I'm, I'm, you know, I'm a member and excited to kind of get it into my routine of sites that I hit for cycling news, and I'm, I'm still trying to get it straight in my head, like, where, why, and what I'm going for there is it, Long form media, is it the podcast, et cetera. But, you know, super excited to support what they're doing. And I'd love to see the, the sort of media go that direction. I do sort of have some sort of concerns as to, okay, six months from now, eight months from now, a year from now, how does the economic model pan out? Right? Can they, can they get more subscribers? Can they, can they do more? Can they all get paid what they deserve to get paid? Under this model, I'm, I'm hopeful that there's enough shift in how people want to, uh, pay for the content they're consuming, that they can achieve the goals and make it, you know, a con going concern for years to come. [00:12:45] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, and if anyone knows what the potential is, it's the people on that team because they had the numbers from when they were at cycling tips. Right, so they know what the potential market size is and what the willingness to pay. Um, they had a lot of people paying 99 bucks a year, and that's, that's significant. Um, but you're right. Yeah. If you have a, a, a crew of, you know, 15 full-time. Uh, journalists, um, you know, that that requires sig significant funding, particularly if you are going to not entirely forego advertising, but, um, have it be largely member funded and, uh, forego, uh, for reasons of, of ethos, um, any sort of like, Pay to play or, you know, um, are, we may earn a small commission when you click this link and buy the product that we just did the review of. And even if there's journalistic integrity in the review, well, you know, it, it's still isn't a great look. Um, so, so, Yeah, [00:13:46] Craig Dalton: it was interesting. I, I was listening to, uh, another podcast the other day, um, and it was reminded of the cycling independent. which was something that was started, you know, maybe 18 months ago. And it's, it's, I'm curious like how both businesses evolve. I mean, I think with the Escape Collective, the journalists involved, they all had big social followings and, uh, a lot of committed kind of listeners and fans and, and readers of their work. So I think they had an easier time kind of bringing together enough subscribers versus like, I don't hear a ton about the cycling in depend. [00:14:23] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, and I, I think to the community piece, they were really engaged. You look at the, the, I've said this on the pod before, the comment sections in their articles, they were in there and answering questions and providing perspective, and then the forum, um, you know, there are real relationships formed in the forum, as with ours. But, uh, the scale, or when I say ours, I mean collectively, ours, not you and I, uh, the, the, the ridership community. . Uh, but I think that that is where they really differentiated themselves and it's, it's been an inspiration. There's a reason why I kind of wax on about this is because, uh, for me, I looked at that and it's like, oh, I would love to be involved in building something like that. Um, you know, just from a distance, not, not that I want to be a cycling journalist. Um, I got, I already have a job, but [00:15:10] Craig Dalton: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean, I mean, sort of selfishly like it, it's nice to have readers and listeners acknowledge the work that you're doing by paying some amount of. to support what you're doing right. It gives you a little bit of wind in your sails. And obviously like you and I are in positions where this is something we do for fun, obviously, like I want my costs, uh, taken care of ideally by sponsors or contributors to the podcast, [00:15:38] Randall R. Jacobs: Speaking of which, [00:15:40] Craig Dalton: on it. Yeah, [00:15:41] Randall R. Jacobs: where can people go to, uh, support Craig Dalton in, uh, covering the cost for the Gravel Ride Podcast [00:15:47] Craig Dalton: uh, buy me a coffee.com/the gravel. [00:15:51] Randall R. Jacobs: There, you hear it [00:15:52] Craig Dalton: This. This was not a long-winded plug for that, by the way, [00:15:58] Randall R. Jacobs: Um, yeah. Every, every single dollar of it goes towards just covering the costs. I certainly don't take a penny, nor do I want a penny. Uh, this has benefits for me that, that more than cover any sort of cost that I could incur. And this is just fun. [00:16:10] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Well, let's, let's transition into riding and, and, uh, general geekery. One thing I wanted to comment on, so, you know, it's been raining like cats and dogs this winter in California. I mean, it's been, it's been crazy and I've been out here for, for 20 years at this point, and this has been the most disruptive weather. to my cycling that I've ever experienced in California. Um, so it's, it's driven me indoors a little bit. And one of the funny things I found, like, I think it was like two months ago at this point, stepping back for a second, at the beginning of the pandemic, my wife and I had a discussion around indoor trainer bikes. I was advocating for a trainer to put my bike on like so I could connect his lift. She wanted to get a Peloton. It was clear she was gonna probably enjoy the indoor cycling more than I was, cuz typically in California I like to ride outside. That's all I do. But we, so we ended up getting a Peloton. And quick aside on Peloton, I did find the platform. Great. Like it definitely is fun, enjoyable, like I can see why people like it. It, uh, my annoyance with it has more been around, like if someone instructor is telling me to stand up and go 120 RPMs, I'm just like, What are you talking about? I would never do that when actually riding a bicycle and that kind of stuff irks me. But I have found my instructors who are cyclists and so they don't stay crazy, stuff like that. But at the same token, like this whole, this whole world of Swif obviously has kicked off through the pandemic and see countless friends on Strava posting theirs with files. And I was always curious. I had become aware of a, a Kickstarter project that sort of went over. Resistance snob on the Peloton, but it never went off the ground. I found out about that, you know, two plus years ago. But just recently I found about, found out about this product. It's a hardware hack, which I love. I love the hardware game. Um, it's called the data Data fitness Connector, and I found it by searching like Pelotons with connection. And it's this little box that you unplug a couple of the wires that go into the pelo. And kind of create this junction box, if you will. That junction box will take the power data and beam it over to your Z Wif account, in my case, on an iPad. So I've been, the last two months, maybe less than that, I've been kind of experiencing zw and understanding what everybody's been raving about. And you know, I, it definitely has me working out. [00:18:50] Randall R. Jacobs: Hmm. Yeah, just the, [00:18:53] Craig Dalton: I think it's because Y Yeah, because there is like, there is this sort of sense that you're on a group ride, right? And getting dropped. I now, I don't have to leave my house to get dropped. I can get dropped right in my garage. [00:19:07] Randall R. Jacobs: Congratulations, [00:19:09] Craig Dalton: Yeah. But, you know, so anyway, quick aside, I mean, this product exists. I have found it interesting. It's just been nice. Like hopefully we're kind of getting to the other side of this rain period and I can get outside more. But, um, it's kind of kept me busy and definitely worked me over on a couple instances where I, you know, I rarely get off a, an indoor bike needing to go like, get a recovery drink or take a nap. But that's definitely been the. [00:19:35] Randall R. Jacobs: I was gonna crack a joke and say, and they have it, folks. Cycling is over. Craig Dalton hosts the Gravel Ride podcast, lives at the base of Mount Tam and is riding in digital worlds instead of going outside. But perfectly reasonable, um, you know, perfectly reasonable to be riding indoors in those conditions. And in general, I'm, I'm just joking if you lo if you love it. Some, I mean, I hear, I've read stories about serious cyclists who've transitioned almost entirely to indoor cycling as a consequence of just life constraints. Having kids, you know, a lot of busy work schedule and whatever, uh, all power to you. Not my jam, but I can absolutely understand why it's somebody's jam out there. So, [00:20:16] Craig Dalton: to underscore how crazy the weather's been out here. So obviously like I'm in the Bay Area, we're getting the rain, but when you go up to Tahoe, these atmospheric rivers are creating. Feet upon feet of snow and I, I just caught wind. I, I'm was hoping and intending to do the, the trucky gravel, Fondo, I forget what they call it. It just had, uh, Carlos on talking about it a few episodes ago in early June, and I just caught wind that they're talking about having to postpone that event in June because some of the areas where they go will likely still be covered in. [00:20:53] Randall R. Jacobs: Which Tahoe in that area is beautiful, but I do wonder how like people were buried for two weeks. Um, you have to really love winter sports and, and solitude. I, I feel in order to live up there. Uh, but, uh, [00:21:10] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I w I was up there to, there you go. I, I thought about that on my last trip to Fatbike, but then a storm came in and the guy told me it was horrible for fat biking in an actual storm. So I tabled that. I was up at a boy scout cabin with my son and his scout t troop, and we had to enter the cabin on the second floor because the snow pack in the field was at 10 feet [00:21:35] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, isn't that a, a thing in the Tahoe area? Like you, you have an a, a lot of the houses have a second floor en entrance because certain times of year that's where you're getting in. And the only way, and maybe the only way you're getting out [00:21:46] Craig Dalton: I, I don't know about that, but it certainly is logical this, this winter. [00:21:51] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. Uh, that's funny. That's funny. [00:21:55] Craig Dalton: Um, but onto more forward thinking, writing plans. I mean, I know we're both hoping to get out to Sea Otter in April, so this coming month. [00:22:05] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, if anyone's gonna be out there, definitely hit us up in the, uh, in the ridership and let's meet up. Uh, there'll be, uh, I know that Enduro is hosting an event. I don't, uh, have the details offhand here. I'll, I'll make, uh, I'll mention it in the next podcast in case people want to join. Uh, and I'll be there. And, um, Sam Jackson, my colleague, will be there. And hopefully you'll be there as well if you're, if you happen to be, uh, at the show at that time. Um, and yeah, if we hear any, anything cool going on, we'll definitely announce it here so that we can all meet up cuz uh, it's always good to put faces with some of the names and, and to just connect with folks. [00:22:44] Craig Dalton: Yeah, un undoubtedly. There'll be group rides, et cetera, in the days surrounding Sea Otter, as people probably know, it's a four or five day long festival at this point, with every single discipline of riding available. And I, I, I'm pretty sure there was when we were down there last year, Thursday and Friday and maybe even Saturday, there was multiple gravel ride options from various vendors and partners out. [00:23:11] Randall R. Jacobs: I am, I'm trying to type and, um, talk at the same time. I'm wondering how many people attend. Uh, I feel like it's on the order of a hundred thousand or so. [00:23:19] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think [00:23:20] Randall R. Jacobs: it's it's huge. And the facts, I, you know, I love, I love the format. Um, so it has become the industry's de facto most important trade show in North America. Um, and the fact that it's also a festival and the trade show. Um, largely consumer facing, uh, consumer facing, ugh, uh, rider facing. So you can go and talk to the engineers and the product people at the, you know, who, who are behind the, the things that you use or interested in. Uh, I think is really cool. Uh, so I actually skipped Taipei show this year cause I didn't have any. Strategic sourcing stuff to do, and it's a long flight and I didn't, you know, didn't wanna go to mainland right now. Um, you know, after that. Um, and, you know, I'm gonna go to Sea Otter and see all those people there. Uh, and yeah, it's, it's a lot of fun. Haven't raced it in a while. Do you have any races planned or. [00:24:14] Craig Dalton: you know, last year I did that, the gravel race at Sea Otter, which if the timing works, I would do, and I think it may actually be on Friday. Uh, but I will definitely be riding logos six 50 B wheels this year. Last year I think you were in the final kind of production version, and I wrote the 700 C set that you lent. Which I loved, but it was not the wheel set for this course. Cause it's so rough that the mountain bikers hammered it. There was a lot of just breaking bumps, et cetera. So this year I feel like I have the full knowledge. I'm bringing my titanium unicorn frame with a suspension fork and six 50 B wide ass tires. And I'm gonna bomb that course if I can, if I can have the time to. [00:25:04] Randall R. Jacobs: bomb. That course. Like m o [00:25:05] Craig Dalton: Ba bomb. [00:25:07] Randall R. Jacobs: Oh, bomb. That course. Okay. I was like, is this, is this some new, new slang the kids are using these days? Um, [00:25:14] Craig Dalton: like, you know, my, my kid's slang is not solid, so don't, don't look to me for that. But one of the things I wanted to revisit, um, you had mentioned, and this is so true, it's like Seattle Oder has become this moment in the cycling world's year where they reveal some next new technology. Shram just kind of dropped a bomb this, this week, I think it was. And I, I think we should dig into that cuz I, it, while it was a, a mountain bike centric release today, it's definitely gonna affect the gravel world. [00:25:49] Randall R. Jacobs: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. It's, it's what's next? Um, so where do we wanna start? [00:25:56] Craig Dalton: Well, why don't you tee up like, what the heck are we talking about? What did I just reference? [00:26:00] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, so Ceramic has a new, um, group set. It's an electronic mountain bike group set. Um, and the, the key part of this, I, I don't think, you know, the others are covering this in far better detail. Um, escape Collective, actually I think is Dave Rome over there. Um, Yeah, he wrote the, this really long form Well, well done, uh, piece that I'm referencing. Uh, and I also listened to their podcast discussion on the topic. Um, the key element here is the death of the derailer hangar, um, in the back, which I think is a very good thing, but that has some potentially very negative consequences as well that have nothing to do with the tech and the experience and everything to do with competition and innovation in the bicycle industry. [00:26:47] Craig Dalton: We'll roll back for a second. The death of the Derailer hangar. How do you, we have derailers. We need derailers. How are we gonna remove the derailer hanger from this equation? [00:26:57] Randall R. Jacobs: so Derailer hangers, uh, if you go back, um, you know, original Derailers, they had this little extension on the rear drive side dropout of the frame, and it was all metal frames in the early days. Um, and you would have a threaded. You know, a threaded hole that you can screw a derailer into, and if it bent you bent it back out. It wasn't replaceable. And so if it snapped off, you had to go to a welder or your frame was toast, or it was now a single speed. Um, fast forward you have, you know, the advents of replaceable derailer hangers. Um, and with metal frames, these could be made pretty robust. Um, but every company had their. and anyone who's tried to source a derailer hangar will know. There's like, this entire business is built around having every single last derailer hanger on hand. Um, which is absurd. And a lot of the designs aren't very good, and even the good ones can be hard to find. Uh, and literally hundreds, hundreds of different skews, um, uh, stocking units. Um, and when you got to composite frame, They needed to be, you know, composite frames, ultra lightweight aluminum frames. Um, you'd have to make them even lighter so they'd be more prone to bending and braking. and then you add to that wide range drive, trains that use really big cassettes in the back. So this is, you know, it started with 36 and then 42, and now we're at a 52 tooth pie plate in the back. I'm sure somebody will try to one up everyone else and it'll be 53 and you know we'll, we'll, we'll at some point it you'll be riding on your. Uh, largest cog rather than your tire. Um, and then we'll have 32 ORs and 36 er wheels. But, but anyways, not to go too far down a rabbit hole, but this just resulted in a situation where you had this, this piece that's designed to fail. It's designed to protect the frame and the event of a crash and designed to be replaceable, but it's a pain to replace it cuz there's so many different ones. Um, and it's just not up to the task. Not to mention it's. um, you know, something that is, that can fail is also not gonna be very stiff. Um, so it's gonna affect shifting. Um, and then the precision with which shifting can be controlled. . It's not just a matter of the derailer alignment. It's also, um, if the derailer is flexing as, uh, sorry, if the hangar is flexing, as the derailer is trying to shift particularly into a larger cog, you know, that's gonna affect shifting performance. Uh, and then, and, you know, I, I won't be too exhaustive here, but then there's also the fact that you now have another, um, set of tolerances. Between the derailer and the cogs. So, you know, you have the, the cassette itself, you have the end cap, you have the dropout, you have the hangar, and then you finally get to the derailer. And so that just results in a lot of, of, you know, manufacturing tolerance issues across multiple manufacturers. So that's how we got here today. [00:30:05] Craig Dalton: so in the history, so originally metal frame bending, potential for failure there. Um, improvement to that next generation of replaceable derailer hangers, cuz at least if we bent our derailer hangar, we could replace it. It might be hard to replace, but we could replace it. And then what comes next? [00:30:24] Randall R. Jacobs: so, so, yeah. So we've gotten to a place where, you know, this, this particular solution is no longer. Great. I mean, it's fine. It works. Um, so a direct mount interface, so this is the, um, str, uh, released a few years ago. Their universal derailer hangar, standard U D H, and you can source this anywhere. It's readily available, it's cheap. Um, it's robust. Um, and a lot of, particularly mountain. Manufacturers have been building to this drive side, rear drive side dropout standard so that it can integrate this universal hangar [00:31:04] Craig Dalton: Yeah. And as I'm [00:31:06] Randall R. Jacobs: through axle threads right into. [00:31:08] Craig Dalton: yeah, so I was gonna say, as I'm kind of visualizing it, that's sort of a largest, large-ish hole in the frame where the axle would go through, and then you're putting the. Derail the replaceable derailer hanger. This, this u d h Derailer hanger through the axle next to the frame. Kind of in that, in that configuration. [00:31:28] Randall R. Jacobs: Yes. And that largely solves the issue of having so many different standards. And it is a good standard, it's a well executed, um, derailer hangar as far as derailer hangers go. But it still has [00:31:42] Craig Dalton: But is that, [00:31:43] Randall R. Jacobs: in terms of being need, uh, you know, needing to be made in a way that it can fail in the event of a crash. And if it can fail in the event of a crash, it's gonna be more flexible and so on. [00:31:54] Craig Dalton: And is that, does that work for both Shram and Shaman? Derailers. [00:31:59] Randall R. Jacobs: it works for any derailer because it's still the same exact mounting interface for the Derailer. So that's where we get to today with this release. And what I believe is the most, you know, uh, uh, well, I, I think it's, uh, a very significant, um, development, um, in part because of the performance and durability benefits that it provides, but also significantly because of the implications for. Innovation and comp competition, uh, in the bike industry. [00:32:31] Craig Dalton: One, one question before we go into that, which is just I think a real critical point to underscore the U D H. Uh, was that an kind of open source design? Could anybody make a U D H Derailer hangar? [00:32:46] Randall R. Jacobs: Uh, I believe I, I'm not certain, but, um, I wouldn't be surprised because the, um, the strategic benefit of U D H comes from having it implemented across as many bicycles as possible. And so, um, and STRs selling them for cheap, uh, it's not a huge money maker. . I, I, I don't, I can't recall if I said have said this directly on the pod, but I've definitely alluded to such things in other conversations. You know, I viewed it as a Trojan horse from Day one and a Trojan horse in the sense of, um, you have this hangar. That May is the universal hangar, and it is a Trojan horse for a derailer that bypasses the hangar. And so now my question is, can other derailer makers also attach to the frame in the same way bypassing the hangar. Or is that unique to str And now STR is the only option that you can have on your bike and a bike manufacturer has to design, has to choose at the design and manufacturing stage, STR or notam, just like they choose Bosch or Shaman or bong at when they're building an e-bike. And that, that would be a rate, a very negative development. Um, for reasons that we can get into. [00:34:05] Craig Dalton: Yeah. So we, we leapt forward a little bit, and I just wanna make sure this is not lost because I derailed the conversation. This new d Derailer. Actually does not have that derailer hangar piece. The whole entire derailer, if I'm understanding it correctly, is designed to kind of slot around the frame just as that hangar did, and again, used the uh, through axle as kind of a supporting mechanism that kind of locks it all together. [00:34:37] Randall R. Jacobs: Um, the, it stays attached without the through axle, but the through axle threads into it. So it attaches to the frames, basically a, a hole, and then it, you know, comes together and, and, and holds itself in place. Um, and it can rotate, uh, and so on. But, [00:34:53] Craig Dalton: Yeah, it's. [00:34:54] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, the now this new Derailer, um, which is a good thing, attaches and bypasses that hangar. Now what do you deal in, you know, how do you deal with, uh, like, uh, a crash, right? How does the new Derailer deal with a crash? Well, first off, it's much more inbound because you don't have that hangar. Um, Design that forces you to, you know, have more components hanging further out of the bike. So it's tighter, so it's, it's less exposed. Um, but then also ceramic has done a really good job of designing a, uh, like a clutch mechanism or, or like a, I forget what they're calling it, but essentially you can impact this thing with a hammer, and it's going to, it's going to move, it's going to give, and then, Push it back into place and the thing is solid. Um, it's, it would take quite an impact. Um, I suspect having not ridden it have, having not seen their testing data, it'd take quite an impact for this derail to fail or for it to result in forces to the frame that would cause the frame to fail. Uh, instead of the hang, instead of the [00:35:58] Craig Dalton: it's, it's so interesting, you know, in a world of iterative designs, when you see a leap like this, it's just super interesting and I encourage people to like source a picture of this to see how it kind of sandwiches around the frame. And as Randall as you just described, you know, because the derailer hangar's not in the equation, you do have more kind of girth and protective material right in there. That's part of the derailer mechanism itself, [00:36:24] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. Yeah. So, and I, and I would go again, um, not getting paid for this, but I'm, I'm, I'll go ahead and plug Escape Collective dot cc's coverage of this, because it is comprehensive. Um, and it was a, a se one of it was the best one that I dug up in my research about this. Um, though I'd love to, for them to cover some of the economic implications that we can dive into. [00:36:49] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Well, let's, I mean, let's talk about that. So, I mean, obviously like this requires the frame to have had that u d h kind of dropout set up to begin with. Now suppo, I mean, I, I would imagine like, okay, if you get a frame like that, you have two options. You could choose a, a new derailer like this, like the one they just release. Or you could still use that original U D H Derailer hanger, say if you wanted to use a Shaman Drive train. [00:37:21] Randall R. Jacobs: Correct. And as a consequence, shaman and any other, um, competing derail maker will be stuck using this old interface and not the, this new, more robust one. And so it's a, it, you know, being first to market with it and having patented around all the other ways that it could be implemented or attached to. Um, I, I don't have a definitive answer on whether or not other dreier makers can, uh, attach to a U D h, um, universal dreier hangar equipped bicycle in this same direct mount way. Um, but if STR has precluded others from attaching in that same way, then it truly was the Trojan horse. That I was concerned about when I first saw this, because the benefit of a universal dror hangar is very obvious. But now you've, we as an industry have given up a tremendous amount of freedom in terms of IOP interoperability and that, you know, you know, that goes into, they're now calling this a transmission. What does transmission, what's the difference between a transmission and a drive? , all I see is that a transmission means you're not allowed to use other people's components. It's all the same parts, but it now, it is now even more of a walled garden. Um, then, then it already was as a result of having a closed protocol. So different, you know, the, the shift sh third party shifters can't communicate with strand's, derails, you know, a new chain design, which has some benefits but then doesn't work with other, or they, you know, it's claimed not to work with other people's cassettes and chain rings. Um, you know, they had the new bo, they had the new spindle standard, which again, like, um, that is more. So, you know, the dub, uh, spindle standard, um, and has some other benefits. But, and then you have the fact that like, as an oem, um, already they were not allowing OEMs to mix and match components from third parties even if they, um, Were compatible or, or if the OEM was taking the risk of it not working. Um, and in fact, you know, so like in our case, we ended up ha having to buy an entire groupo and then just hold on to the stock we didn't want to use so that we could offer some third party components from say, you know, e thirteens cassette or our aluminum cranks for, you know, more budget option or whatever. Um, uh, you know, and, and then we end up sitting on some extra STR stock that we were forced to. [00:39:57] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. It's super interesting and just super interesting to kind of play this forward in this, you know, does the, does the historic way a derailer attach go away over time? And what happens if you have a fr old frame and parts don't become available because everything's transitioning to this new format? [00:40:18] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, I think that there's, you know, again, um, still not clear. I would love if, if any listener has, you know, has or wants to dive into ceramic's patents on this, I'll do so myself at some point. Um, I have some clarity on whether or not other third party derails can attach in the same. , that would be, you know, that would be a, a significant, um, significant thing to know. Um, and, you know, this, this fits the interesting thing here is, um, it fits a pattern, uh, where so already, like, um, there's a lot of patterns around shift lever design and on a road bike, you know, as soon as you have sh you know, shift leaders in levers integrated with the. . Um, well first it was indexing, so instead of friction shifters you had like indexed, um, which I indexing. So you have those little clicks that knock it into certain gears, and those clicks are used to correspond with a mechanical system with a certain amount of pull. Like the pull ratio of the cable to actuate the derailer. And so, you know, shaman would constantly vary their pull ratio to make their own compat different group sets not compatible with each other or to preclude. Ironically, uh, grip shifts the precursor to RAM from getting any market share. Uh, and then when that wasn't working quite well enough, they forced o they, they didn't force, they told OEMs like, if you buy a complete group set, you get a 20% discount, or whatever it was. And as a result, it was no longer economic to s to, um, to spec grip shift on your bike. And the ironic thing is, uh, str sued them, won millions of dollars. Um, it that may, I don't know if that lawsuit was existential for them, but certainly, um, had it gone the other way, we might not have str as we know it. Uh, and now we're seeing what for me looks like very analogous sort of, um, anti-competitive, um, tendencies in the bike industry that will. Cons, we're seeing innovation, but you have to ask the question, what innovation would we see if more people, if more companies were allowed to innovate on the individual components? Uh, and the, and the, you know, interoperability was something that was, uh, considered from the get-go as opposed to very actively tr you know, thwarted. [00:42:46] Craig Dalton: Yeah. The battle continues, I suppose, and we'll see whether it's uh, through some sleuthing, through patent. Documents or a year from now, let's say another manufacturer comes out with a derailer that attaches in the same way. It's gonna be interesting to see, as you noted early on, this current announcement is a mountain bike groupo, but I, I know several manufacturers including, uh, envy with their new MOG gravel bike, is using this dropout. So they're certainly prepared on a going forward basis to use. This type of derailer system should one come out specific, uh, in the Explorer Groupo. [00:43:25] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. And, um, there's a, a really good case study that I dug up years ago when I was working on the open bike project, which was an attempt to create an open platform for bicycle electronics and software and hardware, um, called Shaman Inside. , uh, and I dug it up and I will make sure that we put it in the show notes for anyone who's curious about the history of, um, you know, Sam and Shaman and, and you know, the evolution of the drier and poll ratios and all this other stuff and how it affects, uh, economics and market dynamics, which as you can tell, I have a little bit of an interest in. [00:44:01] Craig Dalton: Well, this was fun. I mean, that was big news that came out this week, and certainly if any, you know, if any of our listeners want to jump into the conversation, come into the ridership, that's the ridership, or sorry, www.ridership.com, and look forward to those conversations. I can hold my, I feel like I can hold my own to a certain degree, certainly on the economic side and the game theory and strategy side of things. But as we get into the deeper technical nuances, you definitely have me in spades. [00:44:32] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, well, um, I have spent way too much time on this and spoken with, um, When I was doing the open bike projects, you know, every single Taiwanese vendor. Was trying to, uh, get the other Taiwanese vendors to work together on a, on an open platform and things like this. So it's something I've gotten into the weeds in, uh, on, maybe in a uniquely deep way. Um, so thank you for the opportunity to actually share. I've been wanting to nerd about this sort of thing on the pod since, uh, since joining, and there just hasn't been the appropriate time. But with this, uh, it just seemed like the time. Um, I do wanna close up with one thought on this, um, which is, um, the engineering on this new group set from SCRAM looks outstanding. They have some super clever stuff in there. Um, and I commend the engineering. The engineering, I, there's a lot of things that. I look at and I was like, wow, what? That never even occurred to me. Like they have this pulley wheel on the hangar that, um, is super skeletal. So it has a lot of space and it's big. It's one of the, you know, 16 teeth. And they designed it in a way where if, if something gets jammed in there like a stick, well it's an aluminum, um, like spider. That the bearings are in, and then there's a, uh, a plastic, uh, piece that is the actual cogs and that can spin independent of that spider. this is brilliant. So, so if that wheel, if the something gets jammed in the spider and stops it, that'll keep spinning. Um, so, you know, there's lots of clever stuff like this and so I don't want to at all take away from the design and the engineering, the execution on this and the fact that it is genuine, um, a genuine leap forward and innovation for the industry. I'm just concerned about the implications for innovation generally, and h. The loss of, uh, competition even until now, meaning that, you know, maybe we would've had these innovations much sooner if we didn't have these dynamics. [00:46:36] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Important to note and acknowledge that amazing innovation that the design team over there had worked on. You sort of wonder if they were just given a blank slate and said, you know, think about performance in the derailer and the dropout and the hangar. Don't be constrained by anything, and this is what they came up with. [00:46:57] Randall R. Jacobs: you need a lot of resource and a lot of market power to make something like that work, which is why, you know, you only see, uh, really swam and shaman able to do it these days. And, uh, campy has done a good job with ecar in creating a competitive product. But it's, it's, it's not at, um, you know, it's not electronic. It's not, it's not really moving the needle that much. It's just an extra cog for the most part. Uh, [00:47:20] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, [00:47:21] Randall R. Jacobs: But, [00:47:22] Craig Dalton: Well, super good to catch up with you and my friend. [00:47:24] Randall R. Jacobs: yeah, we've been nerding for a bit. Should we, uh, save, save the other things we had on our list for a future conversation, I suppose. [00:47:32] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I think so. We're good to catch up and we'll, we'll chat again soon and we'll get all these links in the show notes so people can dig deep, read all about this and form their own opinions. [00:47:43] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, and absolutely drop some comments too in the ridership. Um, I would love to get some external perspective here cuz usually this is just a, you know, industry insider talk and, um, I don't know that this has been discussed in a public forum all that much. So, uh, would love to hear, uh, the community's input. That's going to do it for this week's edition of the gravel ride podcast. As Randall just mentioned. We'd love to hear from you on this topic at the ridership, just visit www.theridership.com to join the conversation. Big, thanks to our friends at hammerhead for sponsoring the show this week. If you're interested in a crew to make sure to use the code, the gravel ride. And add a heart rate monitor to your order and you'll get that heart rate monitor for free. Just simply visit hammerhead.io. If you are interested or able to support the podcast. Please does it buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride? Or ratings and reviews are hugely appreciated in the podcast world. Until next time here's to finding some dirt under your wheels.  

“It's not spinning out your legs, it's spinning out your brain.” -Betsy Welch Senior Editor for the Outside Cycling Group which includes Velo News, Cycling Tips, and Pink Bike- Betsy Welch sits down to share her experiences of being both a writer and rider! We talk all about her years as an editor, her trip post Tour de France where she rode through France and Italy, and we touch on the topic of women in the cycling industry and what the future looks like for the next generation! You can find Betsy on Instagram at @thebootsappeal

In this excerpt, Raeann Sparks shares some tips on how she uses body movements such as cycling, to improve her mobility.Mentioned in this episode:A Heart to Heart Collaborative Community EventJoin our sixth annual lipedema virtual Event on March 31, April 1 & 2, 2023.Join our Event!

The Nero Show is your WEEKLY cycling podcast that isn't afraid to discuss the issues you are talking about in your bunches and on your rides. In today's episode we talk about the VEGAN CYCLISTS recent gravel adventures, some new tech from SRAM and Canondale, the return of BI-Carb and how the PROs are using it, second hand cycling wear and CYCLING TIPS has a new home. The Nero Show is available on your favourite Podcast platform Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UEODvANsVqrvSZV5TAqBv Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/28558e66-2a6b-4ff5-a6bf-709f05b1ffe9 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nero-cycling-show-|-unfiltered-cycling-podcast/id1659229051 SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/2gMWc1t Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:19 THE VEGAN CYCLIST BLOWS UP 10:38 NEW SRAM & CANNONDALE 18:46 BI-CARB IS BACK 23:28 SECOND HAND SHORTS 30:00 THE NEW CYCLING TIPS 42:13 ZWIFT VIDEO ON STRAVA TECH ROUND UP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTAGRAM: @chrismiller27 @nerocontinental TWITTER: @chrismiller @nerocontinental STRAVA: https://www.strava.com/athletes/186450 SERVICE & SUPPORT: Cycling Projects Racing Check Out Jesse's Coaching: https://www.nero.club/coaching Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Training inside when it's cold outside can be boring enough. Here are 6 Tips to help change things up or make it interesting.

This week, Randall connects with Anne-Marije Rook, North American Editor at Cycling Weekly with an exploration of how she got into cycling and from there into cycling journalism, with fun tangents into competitive cycling, exploding e-bikes, and a bit of gear nerdy. Episdoe Sponsor: Athletic Greens  Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello, and welcome to the gravel ride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in-depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes. Who are pioneering the sport I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner down, unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. This week on the broadcast, I'm handing the microphone off over to my co-host Randall Jacobs. Who's got an Mariah Rook on the broadcast. She's the north American editor at cycling weekly randall will take us on an exploration on how she got into cycling. And from there into cycling journalism, with fun tangents, into competitive cycling. Exploring e-bikes and a bit of the gear nerdery that Randall is famous for. Before we jump in and hand that microphone off to Randall. I do need to thank this week. Sponsor athletic greens. Athletic greens and AIG. One is a comprehensive daily nutrition made from simple, powerful ingredients. It's made up of 75 high quality, whole food sourced ingredients. Carefully curated to nourish all the body's systems holistically. As many of you know, I've been an athletic greens user for many, many years, predating the podcast. So I've been super stoked that athletic greens has been a big partner for what I do The key to ag one is that it replaces key health products in one simple scoop. AIG one combines nine health products working together as one, replacing your multivitamin. Multimineral. Pre and probiotics. Immunity support and more, that means ag one does more for your body and saves you time, money and confusion compared to taking multiple unique products. And that is a hundred percent key for me. I do one scoop in the morning, mixed up with a little bit of ice, and I feel like I've got some of my nutritional basis started before I've even begun the day. If you're interested in learning more about athletic greens, go to www.athleticgreens.com/the gravel ride. For podcast listeners, our friends at athletic greens have given us a free year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs. If you ordered today. Simply visit athletic greens.com/the gravel ride to get your age. The one on the way today. With that said i'm going to hand over the microphone to my co-host randall jacobs [00:02:35] Randall R. Jacobs: Let's talk about how you got into this particular field. How did you end up as a cycling journalist? [00:02:42] Anne-Marije Rook: Sure. Yeah. So I was actually, uh, a real journalist before, um, not that second journalist aren't real journalists, but, uh, I did a lot heavier topics, um, you know, worked at newspapers, just straight up outta college, became a newspaper journalist, and then, , uh, at some point, I think I was 22, I started racing bikes myself, and when I did, I, I was looking for content and I realized there wasn't a lot of women's seconding content coming out of the us. So I started kind of dabbling with that on the side. And, uh, then started riding for some different publications and eventually seconding tips reached out and were like, Let's do something. So we founded Ella Cycling Tips, which was the, the women's side of Cycling Tips. And then, um, yeah, just stayed in the field. I quit my day job and started doing cycling journalism while still racing, and I've been doing it ever since, going on 10, 11 years now. [00:03:39] Randall R. Jacobs: and was your educational background in writing in journalism specifically? [00:03:44] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, I did, uh, journalism, German and French. So interestingly enough I get to use all of that nowadays [00:03:51] Randall R. Jacobs: Are you native in any of those other languages? [00:03:53] Anne-Marije Rook: In Dutch. So I was born and raised in the Nets, the, the biking country, and then, uh, lived in Germany for three years and then ended up in the US uh, when I was almost 16. [00:04:04] Randall R. Jacobs: That's quite a skill to have, and makes me think of a joke about Americans. What do you call someone who's speaks three languages trilingual, two languages bilingual and one language. We have US Americans. [00:04:13] Anne-Marije Rook: I think a lot of people actually do, you know, they dabble in Spanish and some other languages. I think, uh, you shouldn't sell yourself so short. [00:04:22] Randall R. Jacobs: True, maybe I'm projecting a little bit. In my personal case, I studied six years of Spanish in middle school and high school and was able to get by during a month stint in Peru. But, it didn't seem immediately relevant at the time. And so later on in life, I moved to China and learned Mandarin and actually being present and having to use it in day-to-day life just makes such a, a world of difference. And for I think a lot of people who are born in the us and who don't grow up in a household or another, the language is spoken, there's just not. That impetus versus in Europe you have surrounding countries where with different languages or maybe even within one's own country there are different dialects or different languages being spoken. [00:05:04] Anne-Marije Rook: That's really good though. So you're a trilingual. [00:05:06] Randall R. Jacobs: I wouldn't go as far as to say trilingual, other than in the sense of trying , a little bit of Spanish and enough, what I call cab driver Cantonese in order to be able to fool somebody that I speak some Cantonese before switching over to Mandarin. [00:05:21] Anne-Marije Rook: That's, I mean, that's pretty impressive. Those are really difficult languages. I never studied, uh, Cantonese from Mandarin. I, I studied Japanese and just having to learn a whole new way of, of writing, uh, is, is, yeah, it's difficult to do. [00:05:34] Randall R. Jacobs: that's probably the hardest part. I would say that , Mandarin the scripts for sure. It's a very abstracted pictographic script. To be able to read a newspaper, you need, two, 3000 different characters and to have a higher level of sophistication, you need 5,000, 10,000 characters. And, even a native speaker. , especially in this day and age, we'll have difficulty remembering how to write a character. Cuz everything is being tight. [00:06:00] Anne-Marije Rook: Hmm. [00:06:01] Randall R. Jacobs: But on the other hand the grammar is really simple. So in English we say, yesterday I went to the store and we have to go and we conjugate it as went, which actually comes from an entirely different language family than to go. and in Chinese you just say, ah, yesterday, go store. [00:06:20] Anne-Marije Rook: Ah, yeah. [00:06:21] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. English also has way more synonyms because it's such a hodgepodge amalgamation of other languages, whereas Chinese also has external influences, but it's arguably more insular versus English. You have Germanic, you have Latin, you have Greek, you have various forms of cockney and so on that are all in there and the occasional Chinese phrases, very little that comes over for Chinese. Uh, one example being longtime nok, which is a direct translation from the Chinese [00:06:50] Anne-Marije Rook: Really, that's fun. Here's the thing I I discover with my language skills or lack thereof, is that, um, learning all the bike parts, for example, I had, like, I never learned those in my native tongues. So like suddenly I had to learn like, oh shit, what's the railer or what's, what's the railer hanger in Dutch or in German or whatever. And it's been fun learning those terms for the first time, even though, yeah, I grew up with that. [00:07:19] Randall R. Jacobs: that's actually a common phenomenon and one that I definitely resonate in my own experience too. I have friends who were born in China, but largely grew up here or even who came over to go to college. And, they're native speakers. I'm not at that level but I will have terms that I know that they don't because I am in this highly technical context of the bike industry of manufacturing, materials and production processes and so on. Um, and so it's kind of the same, same sort of phenomenon. [00:07:50] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of a fun thing where I was like, wow, I never learned any of these terms in those languages. Yeah, [00:07:55] Randall R. Jacobs: So you've been doing cycling journalism for, you said about 10, 11 years now. [00:08:00] Anne-Marije Rook: yeah, yeah. It's been a minute. [00:08:02] Randall R. Jacobs: I'm curious to hear more about the project at Cycling tips. How'd you get brought into that and, and how did that come about? [00:08:09] Anne-Marije Rook: So they, uh, I think they found me on Twitter. Uh, Twitter was really where. , um, women's cycling was, was living for quite a while cuz there was very little streaming and you can watch any of these races live, so you followed them online and Twitter had a really wonderful community of, of women's cycling fans and it still does to a certain extent, but yeah, that's where it used to. Live and I did a lot of, you know, uh, I would watch races and Life tweet and, you know, uh, was pretty active on, on Twitter and um, was writing for Podium Cafe, which is a nation site at the time, and they were looking to start a women's cycling component. Uh, and so they like reached out to various people and, you know, did a job interview and, you know, got going that way. [00:08:54] Randall R. Jacobs: And this was when? Who was there at the time? Kaylee and James and, [00:08:59] Anne-Marije Rook: No, this was before Kaylee. Um, this was, it was just, uh, Matt dif and, and Wade. [00:09:05] Randall R. Jacobs: Oh, okay. [00:09:06] Anne-Marije Rook: Um, Andy was there already, and then it was Jesse Braverman and myself who came on to do the women's cycling. [00:09:12] Randall R. Jacobs: Let's talk about women's cycling for a little bit. what are the areas in women's cycling that you find most interesting, most compelling, and that also you think that are maybe, under discussed underreported. [00:09:23] Anne-Marije Rook: Oh yeah. The nice thing about women's cycling is that it's been growing so much in the last 10 years or so, so that it's uh, people get to see it a bit more and I think what. , uh, intrigue me about women's second from the get-go is just how aggressive the racing is and how, um, while there was a definite period of like modern force dominating, and then we had and then we have anique. The nice thing about women's acting, I think is because it has grown so much is that you never really know who's gonna win. and it makes a racing very exciting. Cause it, it, like I said, it is so aggressive cuz the races are shorter, so you have fewer opportunities to make, you know, a break stick. So there tends to be more attacking and, uh, you, you don't really experience that unless you're watching it. I think the nice thing about. Where we are now, we can actually watch in the Tour de France Femme showed this, like watching women's cycling is actually very entertaining. And you know, in France alone, like millions of people tuned in every single day. So it is, it's different and I think that's, uh, something we should celebrate. rather than point out like, you know, women's cycling is, is men's cycling, but in shorter distances, and that's not at all true. I think women's cycling is a bit of its own sport in, in terms of tactics and the way the races play out. And, uh, in psycho cross especially, that's been very apparent. You know, people have shorter attention spans. So if you can sit down for a, you know, a 45, 50 minute bike race, you'll see basically what women's cycling is like on. On a heightened level, and it's extremely entertaining. You don't know who's gonna win. There's a lot of good candidates and, uh, it's, yeah, it's aggressive from the gun. [00:11:03] Randall R. Jacobs: At least in the us it seems that women's cyclocross racing was most prominent, most early. Mary McConnellogue is one example I remember from my racing days, I don't remember hearing as much reporting about women's road racing at the time. Maybe that was just what I was tuning into, but cyclocross. I remember getting similar billing to men's cyclocross [00:11:24] Anne-Marije Rook: yeah, I think the, the heyday of women's cycling really was the 1980s, early nineties. You know, we had the course classic and we had some, some really great names. Um, and. That has dwindled down. There were a lot of lack of races. Uh, we've had some great road racers in the US you know, with, with uh, Christian Armstrong and, uh, e Evelyn Stevens, and we've had some really Mara Abod and the Jro, like some really great road racers. You just don't hear about 'em as much . I do remember a particular race where I like looked to my right and it was like Kristen Armstrong and I looked to my left and it was Evelyn Stevens and I was like, ah. This is gonna suck today, It's gonna be a fast one. [00:12:04] Randall R. Jacobs: Let's talk about that, let's talk about you're racing background. So you mentioned that you got into cycling in your early twenties. How did that come about and what was that like for you? [00:12:13] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, so I've, uh, coming from the Netherlands, I've been a bike commuter since I was, I don't know, six. Uh, and so I just like grew up on the bike. It's just how I got around. And in college I just rode everywhere. And there were a couple times where people were like, Hey, you should maybe consider. Racing or, or doing like, you know, grand Fonds or something. And I was like, ah, this is just my vehicle. And then, uh, I moved to Seattle and did the Seattle, the Portland, which is uh, like a 220 mile bike ride between the two cities. And there were some teams that were doing it. And, uh, you know, again, people were like, have you considered racing? You're pretty strong. And I'd be like, no. I mean, it's kind of like, Hey, do you like driving? You should do nascar. You know, like it's, it was just such a foreign concept to me. Um, which is funny cuz I grew up in the Netherlands, but like, uh, and my grandpa was super into bike racing, but it wasn't, uh, ever like, exposed to me or con like, wasn't just like, oh, you like riding bikes, you should become a bike race. It just wasn't a thing. It wasn't really a, a sport I was exposed to, uh, in the northern part of the. . And so I was kind of intrigued and, and I had enjoyed training for the 200 mile event, so I, I went to the, the tryout, so to speak, and start racing and. as a Cat four. And I remember my first race weekend was a double header, so Saturday and Sunday and Saturday I, I think I got eighth and I got, I was like, oh, okay, this is cool. Top 10. And I was like, I wonder if I can get better. And the next day I got fifth. And, you know, that's, that's all it took for me to get super into it and trying to see where, where I could take it. And, uh, I think I was racing UCI like the next season. [00:13:54] Randall R. Jacobs: Oh wow. [00:13:55] Anne-Marije Rook: mostly, uh, or at first in cross and then, uh, road and track as well. But um, yeah, it's, it's an interesting place to be in, in, in the US in that you can be racing as a pro. And I use pro here very loosely because it's called pro level, but no one's actually getting paid to race their bikes. Like I would never consider myself a pro. Uh, I just raced in the UCI one, two levels and it's kind of weird that we throw it all. Um, when really, yeah, very few people are actually getting paid to, to race their bikes. [00:14:29] Randall R. Jacobs: I definitely fall on that boat as well. I think my best season, I didn't quite break even as a, as a Pac fodder Cross Country Pro. Mid pack was pretty good at the national level. And then you have a good regional results here and there. [00:14:42] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, a good season for me, like, I loved crits, so that's where the money was at for me. You know, if I walked away with three grand at the end of the summer, I, I was pretty stoked. [00:14:51] Randall R. Jacobs: Oh, I never saw that. That sort of money and crits, crits always terrified me. There's a certain attitude that you have to have going into a crit, like a fearlessness that I, I dunno. Mountain biking always felt safer for me. [00:15:03] Anne-Marije Rook: It is, it is. And I, I quit racing after getting injured too many times. Like you can only hit your head so many times and, you know, if, if I list my, my laundry list of injuries, it's, it's definitely evident that, uh, yeah, quit racing is, is rather dangerous and asphalt is hard. And, you know, trees don't jump out on you. Where's Razor Smith? [00:15:23] Randall R. Jacobs: Yep. And pavement is like sandpaper when you're skidding across it in spandex. [00:15:27] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. There's not a lot of protection there. Um, but it was all, it was all good fun. And you know, I, I wish I'd gotten into it earlier in my life, but I had a, a lot of fun during my twenties and early thirties. [00:15:38] Randall R. Jacobs: what'd you love about it? [00:15:40] Anne-Marije Rook: Uh, I liked the, the challenge of like the, the personal level, like how fit can I be? How strong can I get? Um, and then there's the direct correlation between what you put in that, that you get out, um, and then. Especially with crit racing. I liked, uh, the team tactics. I liked the aggressiveness. Like I was definitely that area that went like super hard on the front, on the first lap, just trying to get as many people off the back and then like would go for pre after, pre, pre and then in the last two laps found that I had no legs left and someone else had to finish it up. But, um, Yeah, I, I like the aggressiveness. I liked, I, I'm really a team sports person, and I think road racing, uh, doesn't get enough credit for the team sport that it is. And I think, like, personally, not to get on like a, a whole nother side spiel, but in, in [00:16:27] Randall R. Jacobs: No, let's do it. Let's do it. Go there. [00:16:29] Anne-Marije Rook: In Olympic racing, like why does only one person get a gold medal? Like in soccer? The whole team gets a gold medal. And I think, uh, you know, road racing especially is such a steam sport that everyone should be getting a medal. It's only, you know, six or seven medals versus 11. So, [00:16:47] Randall R. Jacobs: I mean, that's one of the, that's one of the things that's nice about the grand tours. There's lots of ways to win. There's the points, there's the stages, there's the gc, there's the most aggressive rider, so something more subjective. there's all these different ways in which to be acknowledged, but I'm definitely with you. It would quite a feat to show up at an Olympic level road race. Solo and [00:17:09] Anne-Marije Rook: went away. Yeah. [00:17:11] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. Yeah. No one to defend you, no one to pull you up. You'd have to be very, very lucky. And also be doing a lot of riding on people's wheels the entire time [00:17:20] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. And I think as a racer I enjoyed that. You know, I enjoyed the team aspect. I enjoyed the, the collective effort it took to, to win the race. Sure, one person was the first across the line, but it took all of us to, to get that person there. And like, there's, to me as a, as a racer, there's a few things as as beautiful as, as a well executed, uh, lead out at the end of the race. You know, like where everyone has a role every. You know, executes it perfectly, like a little team train. Like the, those things don't happen very often on the, on the non, you know, world tour level. And it, it's really, it, it feels amazing as a, as a racer to be part of that. [00:17:56] Randall R. Jacobs: I've had limited crit racing experience and you note about the intensity of it. There are a few things more intense because not only do you have the, the digging really deep, not just at the end, but every single time a gap opens up or every ti single time there's a break and it's such a short, tight circuit, and a short duration of an event that you really can't let anything open up. And people can sustain a lot more over 30 minutes to an hour than they can over the course of a four hour road race or a long gravel race . And there are curbs and there are other people and there are bottles and there are people taking shady lines. And that person who just passed you is on a trajectory where there's no way they're gonna be able to come around the corner without hitting the outside curb on the other side. Especially at the early levels like cat four or cat three, where you have strong riders coming over from other disciplines. and just don't have the chops. [00:18:50] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, I did a, I did a, a number of, of races in, in the men's field just to get more, uh, racing my legs. And, you know, the, the groups tend to be bigger but also very varied. You know, I'd be running around the course with like 80 dudes and maybe two women in there and be like, terrified of, of the experience. And at the same time, like that, getting that chariot effect, like having that many people around you, you're kind of just like, Kind of going with the flow and, and being dragged around the course, which was kind of fun too. But I think it's a pure adrenaline rush and I feel like I'm too old for that now. trying to hold those kind of efforts. My heart rate doesn't go up that high anymore. I mean, it used to go up pretty easily over 200 and I think now I'd be on the sidelines vomiting if I had 200, [00:19:33] Randall R. Jacobs: that's almost hummingbird level [00:19:36] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, yeah. You know, young and fit. . Yeah, I miss that. I think I miss being that fit. I do not miss having to put in the kind of effort to be that fit. [00:19:45] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, and more recently you've been doing a lot with gravel. is most of your riding gravel at this point? [00:19:49] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. And I've always done gravel, like back when we just called it road bikes off road, you know, there wasn't any special gear just riding 20 threes over gravel and, uh, I've always liked gravel and adventuring. I've always liked being underbid. Um, so I've been doing gravel for a long time and I think, uh, I've definitely, since quitting, uh, racing, I've done mostly off-road. I think nowadays if I have like two hours to kill, I'll most definitely ride through the forest rather than go on a road ride. [00:20:19] Randall R. Jacobs: You're based currently in Portland [00:20:21] Anne-Marije Rook: portland, [00:20:22] Randall R. Jacobs: yeah. So you have fantastic outdoors right out your door in the Portland area and decent bike infrastructure as well, at least by, by our US standards. [00:20:31] Anne-Marije Rook: yeah. I mean, I chose, so I live in a, in a neighborhood called St. John's and I, I chose that specifically cause I go over across the bridge and I'm in the, in Forest Park, which is a, uh, a really big, and I think the long shill, there's 30 miles or so. So it's like, it's a, a really big forested area with gravel roads. Yeah, I'm, I'm there all the time. Uh, I also really got into mountain biking after I quit racing. So, you know, like all, all Mountain, uh, I used to do mostly XE and definitely been working on my skills and, uh, since quitting. Uh, just it's nice to be away from cars. I think the gist of that. [00:21:07] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, I think that, in addition to the exploratory element of it, is one of the things that led me to transition to primarily gravel riding . And I do think it's a major reason why gravel cycling has taken off in general. Not only are the bikes really versatile, so if you're only gonna have one bike while you can do all these different things, but then also I remember reading a. Some years ago a university study that was looking at the reasons, that people cite for not riding more. And safety is always number one by. I think that study was maybe eight or nine years ago, so in a few places the infrastructure has gotten a little bit better, but still not enough. And the attitudes of drivers. Have gotten better, but , still you get out of a certain zone of safety and you still have people angry at you for being on the road. [00:21:58] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, I mean, like as a lifelong commuter, I, I've been hit quite a few times. I got hit twice during the pandemic alone, uh, while riding around town. And so, uh, It is the sa Yeah, I understand. The safety team. The thing a hundred percent, like you don't, uh, wanna take your life in your own hands when you're out riding. And, uh, it, it's, it's a big problem in the US that the infrastructure is still so lacking. And on one hand you're telling people to, you know, go get on your bike and be more sustainable and healthy. And at the same time, they're not offering a lot of, uh, insurances in terms of, you know, uh, infrastructure and whatnot to, to make that. [00:22:34] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. Now I'm, I'm curious as a journalist, what have been some of the areas that you've found most interesting to report on or that, you know, you've been able to dive into as a consequence of having that credential? [00:22:46] Anne-Marije Rook: Hmm. Uh, I'm, I always love people. I, I, I like to know what makes them tick. You know, especially those people on, on like the, the very top end of the sport. Like what makes 'em tick? How, how are they able to do this? And at the same time, uh, this year, one of the things I've been really interested in is, um, ebi. in terms of like the, the regulations around, um, lit I and, uh, batteries and, and the, the fact that there's so many fires and then the legislation around it and wish there is none yet, but that's coming. And so, uh, looking into a bit more of where these bags are coming from and, and what it takes. To control these, these devices a bit more has been very interesting. And it's not something that gets a lot of rates or gets clicks and whatnot, but it's something I find very interesting cuz it'll have a lot of, uh, repercussions I think in, in the next couple years as to which eBags are on the market, which products you can and cannot buy. And, uh, hopefully the safety of it all. [00:23:50] Randall R. Jacobs: What are some of the things that you've uncovered in that exploration? [00:23:54] Anne-Marije Rook: Well, the fact that there is absolutely, at the moment no legislation whatsoever, uh, for the consumer. So you can buy whatever you can find on the internet, and there's, there's no guarantee that it's not gonna set your house on fire. There's no safety around it, and that's, that's changing right now. New York City is currently, uh, considering banning the sale of secondhand or, uh, like. Uh, tested products, which would have massive repercussions cuz there's like 65,000 delivery workers in, uh, New York City alone. And these people are mostly relying on e-bikes to do their jobs, right? It's their livelihood. And so the moment you, you control these products, uh, it'll have a financial impact on these people as well. Well, third party testing and safety device. It costs more on the, on the manufacturers and therefore it'll have a higher price tag, price tag for the consumer as well. Um, but at the same time, you know, they ha are also dealing with 200 fires already this year. Um, specifically [00:24:56] Randall R. Jacobs: just the city of New York. [00:24:58] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, just the city of New York relating to um, e mobility devices like E-Bikes, ESCOs, hoverboards, e Unicycles, that kind of stuff, which is a lot, you know, that's a lot for one city, specifically around these mobility devices. [00:25:12] Randall R. Jacobs: Sure, especially when you have such immense density. So a fire in New York City is not a standalone house that's oftentimes a building with dozens of families and a lot of people get displaced. [00:25:24] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. Luckily they've, they've only, I should say that in, in quotation marks, they've had six fatalities and, and over 130, uh, injuries related to those fires. So, relatively speaking, that's not a high number, but it's, it's something that could be prevented with proper legislation. So I think for me, what's interesting is just like, The, the, the concept was that you can just import products that don't get tested and, you know, people will buy 'em because it's popular and it's, it's, uh, affordable and, and there's a reason, you know, items cost as much as, as they do and, you know, as, as someone who, uh, creates consumer goods. So, yeah. Anyway, that's, that's a long wind winded way of saying that's been a very interesting, uh, passion project of mine. [00:26:07] Randall R. Jacobs: well, on that particular topic, I know that there's, there's also kind of a cultural backlash against, say, in New York City, these e-bike, service providers out doing deliveries and if you look at who it is that is taking on those jobs, generally immigrant, , generally it's the first opportunity that they have in order to survive and make a living, getting a foundation here. So it's not as easy as simply, we're gonna band all these things , it's some, it's somebody's livelihood. [00:26:35] Anne-Marije Rook: And like as you said, it's a, it's a culture issue. It's a class issue. It's, it's not, not as simple as like, well, these items are unsafe, so we'll just ban them. [00:26:45] Randall R. Jacobs: And that, kind of speaks to, broader issues , that we could talk about in the bike space. Like we have this concept of a sidewalk bicycle, a more pejorative way of saying it would be a, bicycle shaped object. So these are, bikes that are generally built to a very low standard, generally sold through non, specialty retail , poorly assembled, and even if they were well assembled generally of parts that are of questionable quality. So poor breaking things like this, and they aren't required to. Hold up to the same standards as a bicycle that you buy at a bike shop that is designated for commuter use or other sorts of use. And, in the more premium end of the spectrum, which for a lot of people who aren't cyclists, would be any bike that's more than three, $400. There's detailed, is. International standards organization criteria for testing that. But that's another example of the same thing where, well, you could require that all bikes be built to a certain standard, but then new bikes would be inaccessible to lower income demographics. Though frankly, I think another outcome of that would probably be that you see more refurbishing of better quality. older used bikes and so that could be a net positive, especially given that they're likely to hold up a lot better. [00:28:01] Anne-Marije Rook: Mm-hmm. [00:28:01] Randall R. Jacobs: So, so that's another area [00:28:03] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, I mean to that, like, I could ask that a lot and, and we've, we're about to enter another recession. Um, it's, it's apparent in another country already and, and we're headed that way as well. And, and so a big topic becomes budget bikes, like how much do you spend on a bike and new bikes that are. of a certain budget , I always tell people, go, go shop for a, a used bike and, and refurbish it. You're, you're better off than a cheap brand new bike. And there, I think for a long time there was this, this rather like attitude towards buying secondhand. , uh, products, especially, you know, around carbon bikes, like people were worried that they were broken or cracked, and I think there's a huge misconception around carbon, specifically in, in terms of the strength and like a carbon bike, if it doesn't, if it's not cracked, will last you an entire lifetime. Like, they don't deteriorate. Like, you know, metals will cor. And the restin in carbon doesn't necessarily break apart. Like if maintained well, a carbon bike will last you a lifetime, the end, right? You sure it breaks and you have to maybe get it checked over by, uh, an expert. But I think, uh, now that we have been in this carbon age for a bit longer, there's, there's nothing wrong with a used carbon bike [00:29:23] Randall R. Jacobs: I think that that is often true. There's a couple of challenges there though, with a metal bike, if there's something wrong with it, you generally see it unless it's cracking. Uh, and, and even a crack, you'd be able to see, but you'd be able to see that with a carbon bike too. But what you wouldn't be able to see is an impact that causes delamination in a tube but doesn't result in visual cracking or damage. The construction has gotten much, much better, so they are vastly more reliable, but there's been this push for, as light as possible, which means there's not a lot of buffer and there's a lot of higher modus carbons that are not as impact resistant. So I agree with you that the concerns are overblown. but at the same time, actually this is something that, was talking to, Kaylee Fretz about when he was on not too long ago. The merits of metal bikes, and I think that. Especially on the more economical end of the spectrum, it would be great to see more, steel bikes. [00:30:19] Anne-Marije Rook: Oh, for sure. I love, I I myself, steel roadie. I, I think I would love to have a titanium bike for sure. Um, I just think that from a sustainability point of view, for the last, I don't know, 10, 15 years, we've been cranking out one carbon bike after another and they're not being recycled, uh, because. Well, you can, but it's very, very cost prohibit, pro prohibitive to, um, try to get around the re resin and recycle that carbon. And so I think I would rather see some of these older frames be picked up and, and reuse in one way or another. Um, you know, slap a new group set on and it's a good bike. I'm also. , um, privilege in that. In Portland, we have a great company called Ruckus Composites, and they for, for fee, but it's not a significant fee. They will scan your carbon frame to make sure there aren't any, uh, cracks or whatever that, that you can't see, um, simply with your eyeballs. [00:31:17] Randall R. Jacobs: That's a great service and one that if anyone has access to, especially if they're buying secondhand or if they've crashed, absolutely worth it., the cost of not doing it is, potentially nothing or potentially catastrophic [00:31:29] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. Yeah. And I think I'm, I'm more worried about people buying these really cheaply made. Carbon bikes cuz they're like, it's carbon and it'll be good. And I'm like, there is such a thing as bad carbon and uh, budget bikes that just, um, yeah, they, they don't stand the test of time. Whereas good carbon bikes will, like I said, last your lifetime, uh, obviously. You know, metal is, is, this is the safer bet. But, um, yeah, we, we just have so many carbon frames out there right now, and I just don't, don't see them being used, uh, ending up in landfill. I don't know. I think that's one of the things that if I could ask the industry to do anything, it's to be a bit more, uh, sustainable in, in what they crank out and, and looking for the opportunities to recycle some of the products that they create. [00:32:14] Randall R. Jacobs: There is talk about this within the industry. Craig was at the people for Bike Summit and there was a lot of talk around sustainability. It may have been more around packaging and the like, being discussed there. some of this is, the facilities haven't existed. So carbon recycling, for example, you need specialized facilities. fortunately there's new, ways in which recycled carbon can be utilized cuz it is a degraded material, right? So you're not going to get the long pure fibers that you're getting purely homogenous, resin with and so on. So you need to be able to create forged carbon components and the like, and you're starting to see that, um, That whole recycling infrastructure, like all recycling infrastructure, for the most part in this country, is not keeping up with the sheer amount of stuff that we're creating and discarding. [00:33:04] Anne-Marije Rook: No, absolutely not. And uh, I think especially after. You know, uh, right before, um, gravel got real big, I think the industry was just sitting on, on thousands of, of car, like mid-level carbon bikes with, with 10 speed group sets. And luckily in some ways, luckily the, um, pandemic created, um, this, this delay in, in, in the. Um, in, in getting new components. And I think that that forced people to go back and be like, can we use this nine or 10 speed group set? And there's an interesting amount of, of nine and seven speed groups that's on the market right now that just like got picked up cuz they were laying around. And uh, you see those especially in, in, uh, super adventure bikes or e-bikes where they use older group sets. And I think it's great cuz we, we need to use the, the things that we've produced. [00:33:55] Randall R. Jacobs: you've been following some of the supply chain changes. [00:33:59] Anne-Marije Rook: of course. Yeah. I mean, that's been the story for the last few years for the industry and, uh, it, it is a struggle. I, I can't imagine being one of those businesses that, that relies on. Uh, you know, uh, pretty much anything at the moment. But, uh, seeing, see, I think it's, it's really fun to see some innovations happening around, um, using the stuff that we already have. And, uh, there's a lot of, you know, maybe I'm just a super bike nerd, but a lot of different ways you can get more gears out of a you a seven speed trailer or like, you know, using micro shift and, and using all the different. uh, like innovative, uh, little handy tools out there to, to make what's old, new. [00:34:44] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, a hundred percent with you there. And some of the organizations that we've sought to support, as a company have been around taking old bikes and making them new again. [00:34:53] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. And down to sh shifters, I've been seeing a lot of those and, and just like old friction shifters being used again, which I thought was very fun because, uh, it's a cheap way to build an adventure bike. You know, you just go with, with, uh, , straight up brake levers, no shifting in the, in, in your handlebars, which leaves more room for bags and whatever else. And then, um, little bar end shifters or shifters, which never thought I'd see those come back again. [00:35:18] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, also provides a lot more options in terms of what you can spec, because there's really only three major players in that space currently. STR and Shao being the dominant two. [00:35:28] Anne-Marije Rook: What, uh, what's the coolest thing you've seen done with a, with a thesis? [00:35:32] Randall R. Jacobs: We did have a rider do this really stunning, metallic flake paint job With a painter out of the Boulder, Denver area. So those sorts of customizations have been neat otherwise. we have a lot of people who've done extended bike packing trips. We have a channel in an online community that we help to set up which is dedicated to bike packing. So there've been whole reports on people's setups, and that's been really cool to see. One. Has become normal at this point. But I think that we were relatively early with was dropper posts. So had a dropper post in second wheel sets. So had a hypothesis early on, that people would have a single bike for a lot of things and about 50% of people got two wheel sets and pushing 90% of our riders have gotten dropper posts. [00:36:22] Anne-Marije Rook: Really? That's, that's a, surprises me. That's a, a large percentage of people. Um, do they actually use 'em? Like, do they get shredding enough to where you need a, a drop or post? [00:36:33] Randall R. Jacobs: I've seen several examples of folks that have either discarded the dropper or who were really concerned about weight, and so you're trying to figure out how to swap it easily. But in general, like the typical response was, yeah, game changer. And, from, me personally, especially living in the Bay Area where there's so much fast and steep road descending, I'd used it all the time. The argument that I make is it adds say three quarters of a. [00:37:00] Anne-Marije Rook: Mm-hmm. [00:37:02] Randall R. Jacobs: one, you're, you're faster and more confident, less likely to crash in all of those technical or high speed sorts of situations. But then also, to be able to scoot your butt off the back of the saddle, you need to often compromise your satellite a little bit. . And so that means that you're no longer setting up your bike for pure comfort, pure efficiency, pure performance. And so that three quarters of a pound, I'm 165, so I'm probably pushing, let's say, round up to 200 pounds with gear and so on. Three quarters of a pound is as a percentage, less than half a percent. So am I getting half a percent more efficient, on a climb because I'm in the right position? I think that that's pretty plausible. Never. The rest of the time. So that, that's my pitch for droppers. I know that not everyone is sold on them, but I, I think that it's, uh, it is the thing that makes a bike that is otherwise really good on flat and smooth train, something that you can get really rowdy with. [00:38:00] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, I mean, I like to get rowdy on, on gravel bikes very much. It's, it's kind of like my, my favorite thing to do is see how far I can take it, uh, to the end I will say, uh, you know, I've, I've come around, I mentioned this to you in email, but I've come around on six 50 bees finally. That took me a long time, uh, to get, but having that actual rubber does, does allow me to get, uh, a little bit more rowdy than, than on 700. [00:38:27] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. And I, I had shared some thinking about why that might have been, but I'm curious, what did you find different and hard to adjust to switching from 700 to six 50? [00:38:36] Anne-Marije Rook: Uh, I think initially it was like, oh, this feels slow, and, um, You know, given my background, I, I, I liked really quick and, and fast responses and lively rides, and it felt like it did the opposite. Like it became a bit more, more twitchy, which makes for a bit more engaging. Right? But it just felt a little slower. Um, and it just, the handling was different than what I was used to on 700 seats, which also had to do with the, the tire width that was running, you know, going from, uh, 700 by. F maybe 40 to, you know, six 50 to 47. That's a huge difference in terms of like your, your rolling surface that you have and, and how that feels around the corners. Um, but then it got real rainy and muddy and I was riding the, this, this rather, uh, you know, Rudy Mound, bikey terrain. And that's when I noticed the difference of like, oh yeah, this really allows me to stay planted a bit better and, and, uh, maneuver these roots. . Um, I also like it, it started off like, oh, I understand this form, like a technical point of view. And then for comfort, it is really darn comfortable to just like crank out the miles on on more rubber. And it just, yeah, it's cushy and uh, I can see now why, you know, randomers and such opt for that, that tire size. But it took me a while. I, I will say maybe I'm just old school, but um, I finally got around to it. [00:40:01] Randall R. Jacobs: I can definitely relate to , at least the sensation of it, potentially feeling a little bit slower rolling. And there's definitely circumstances and this is, , Casing dependent as well, where, you know it very well may be, but at the same time, remember the first time you gave up 20 threes and put on 20 fives or 20 eights or thirties and how different that felt. And it's like, I'm not getting all of that, that road. It just feels slow all of a sudden. But, , data said otherwise, but I mean, six 50 s have their place. There's a reason why a lot of racers in certain types of events run 700 by, I mean, in the case of Belgian waffle Ride in San Diego, I think people are running like 32 slicks, [00:40:44] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense, right? Like it's if when you have that much, uh, ground to cover and, uh, a fair bit of road in that as well, I believe, um, you would opt for that. But yeah, I've, I've come around. I'm a hundred percent a six 50 B believer. Now I do think you need two wheel sets. Um, for different, different occasions. But yeah, it was, it was a fun experiment for me. This, uh, this fall. [00:41:10] Randall R. Jacobs: When you say two wheel sets, you mean 2 6 50 wheel sets or, or one seven hundred and one six fifty. [00:41:15] Anne-Marije Rook: The latter. Yeah. 1 700, 1 6 50. Yeah. There's definitely days that, you know, if I know I'm gonna go long, I, I just feel like I'm. covering more ground then, then I'll do that on a, a 700. But yeah, for my, my most, like my lunch rides, that's up in, in, in the trails, that's definitely six 50 now. [00:41:34] Randall R. Jacobs: So what else have you found surprising or delightful in terms of products or insight into the sport or, experiences you've had of late. [00:41:43] Anne-Marije Rook: Uh, well, sticking with gravel, I think we're starting to see a, a really broad spectrum. of bikes that are either super capable, have suspension, you know, there's an increasing amount of bikes and suspension. And then on the other side, the ones that are, are really going for speed. , um, where you basically have a road bike, um, that's, that's slightly more capable, you know, so like if you wanna go with specialized, you've got the, the new s C r with the sus, the rear end suspension and front end suspension versus the crux, which is, uh, you know, a very capable cyros bike basically, and feathery light. And I think we're seeing more of that divide happening, which is pretty quick given that gravel as a category hasn't been around for all that long. Um, and it's, it. I think it's a very interesting development just to see what people are gonna go for and how much we're we're differentiating between gravel racing and gravel adventuring and bike packing. And like the difference now, like you can't just say gravel anymore. You have to specify whether you're talking about gravel racing or, or adventuring. Cuz those are two very different. Sides of the industry now, which is, it's interesting and it's really fun to watch. Um, and I, I think personally, I like the adventure side from a tech nerdiness a bit more because we know what a fast road bike look like and what it can do, but like, how capable can you make, um, a drop bar bike and how, like watching people bring back rigid mountain bikes and, and just like drawing on, on, uh, old technology and, and, and seeing things. Redshift and connect with their suspension posts that, you know, remind me of Soft Ride and like it is just from a tech point of view, it's, it's, it's an interesting development and really fun to watch. [00:43:27] Randall R. Jacobs: It's kind of like, um fashion in, in a way, like what's old is new. I mean, it's definitely radically better with, composites and wide and tubeless and disc brakes, in particular. But in a lot of ways we're riding the original mountain bikes again. [00:43:42] Anne-Marije Rook: We totally are, we're just writing, you know, those, those spring loaded , what were they? Canadas the ones with the, the head tube springs. [00:43:51] Randall R. Jacobs: Oh, the head shock. [00:43:52] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. Yeah. , which I mean future shock is that, you know, connect and Redshift is basically a soft ride. It's just everything is, is new again. And it's really fun to watch. And I think what I geek out a lot more is just seeing what people are coming up with in their own shops and how people perhaps are learning for the first time to be a bit more hands-on and, and, uh, mechanical and. Exploring with their own setups. I mean, how many people don't know how to fix their own tire? Uh, and I think nowadays watching them experiment and building super machines, it's, it's just really fun. [00:44:27] Randall R. Jacobs: So given that we're kind of coming to the end of the., favorite products of 2022 and then in a general sense, products, racing. Otherwise. What are you most excited about in the new year? [00:44:39] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, so my favorite products, uh, some of 'em are things that I bought myself or own, like, uh, my Brompton was one I found on Craigslist, which is super random, but I. I wanted something to travel with, um, that's compact and wouldn't require me having an extra bag or anything like that. And, uh, my Bronson and I have been to the Tour de France fem together. We've been to the Netherlands, to London, to the Sac Cross World Championships. So that bike goes with me everywhere, which was a really fun, uh, crux purchase that I didn't need, but has given me a lot of joy. [00:45:13] Randall R. Jacobs: Are you doing a lot of long rides on that, or is it more getting around and being able to get that 20 miler in? [00:45:18] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah. Yeah. Getting around the, it's not , it's not very comfortable. Talk about like slow rolling, tiny. Like try, try 16 inch wheels, like no. Uh, but [00:45:28] Randall R. Jacobs: seen dispatches from people doing extended tours on a Bronson, which I've always found super impressive. [00:45:34] Anne-Marije Rook: I mean, good on them. I like, I, I, I applaud them. I, I don't, I don't enjoy that very much. Um, but it's been a great bike to travel with and, and it's just a really silly, really fun purchase. Um, I also got a ultra cleaner for the first. Which is great for, uh, you know, the position northwest is really wet, really muddy. Um, our, our gear gets just absolutely destroyed and so keeping it clean, uh, extends the, the lifetime of, of your components. And uh, that's really been a fun way to, um, get like that super shiny clean drive train. [00:46:14] Randall R. Jacobs: mm-hmm. [00:46:15] Anne-Marije Rook: Uh, and that was just a birthday present, so it's not something that was sent to me to review. Um, and then the best shoes I had were to live, uh, much shoes. Um, they are bright purple. Uh, they look great. Everyone is always asking me about 'em, and I keep asking them to make 'em into a gravel shoe because I don't spend enough time on my road back anymore to wear them. Um, go ahead. [00:46:42] Randall R. Jacobs: Do you love them for their styling or some other [00:46:44] Anne-Marije Rook: No, they're, they're, they're a pure race shoe, like you're locked in. They're some of the stiffest shoes I've ever worn, but they also are an absolute head turner. [00:46:52] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. [00:46:53] Anne-Marije Rook: so it's a two for one package. Um, and, and the gravel side of things, uh, the SW RS tires were super impressive. Um, they're so fast and, uh, I've yet to flat them, which is pretty incredible given a, my, my history and B uh, just how much I've written. [00:47:11] Randall R. Jacobs: What size are you running them in? [00:47:13] Anne-Marije Rook: I have, uh, 40 twos, I think is when I was running last, and I, I mean, I took 'em with me traveling. Like I, I did the, uh, Finland gravel and I did not know what I was getting myself into. And, and so getting a file, like bringing a file thread, Racy Tire is a bit of a risk. Um, but they did really well and, uh, they're probably the best tires I've had in no while. And I'd say in general, the market, it has gotten so much better. Like the, it's so easy to set up two plus tires now, whereas like even two years ago I, it was quite struggle sometimes getting those seated in your, in your garage. Yeah. [00:47:52] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, absolutely. Though I, I will say, um, and this is a hobby horse I often jump on, um, you know, road, road, tubeless hook, less road tubeless scares me, [00:48:04] Anne-Marije Rook: I tried to, I, I got a few to review this year and I, I tried to see if I could make them explode, but I think I reached my, like, comfort level far before, or the end of my comfort level far before the tires did. So there's that. [00:48:18] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. Yeah. Uh, and then going into 2023 and this doesn't have to be gear, it can be events, it can be, personal adventures. What are you excited about coming into the new year? [00:48:29] Anne-Marije Rook: Uh, yeah, I'm gonna go even more into gravel and attending some more gravel events. So I'm very excited to return to Unbound and to do s p d Gravel. There's talk about, uh, me and a colleague of mine setting an F K T. So there's some really fun challenges and, um, since stepping away from racing and, uh, you know, getting married, buying a house, I've definitely spent less time on. On the bike as I would like. So getting something to train for, for me personally, is, is uh, it's kind of exciting to get back to it. [00:49:01] Randall R. Jacobs: By the way, congratulations on those milestones. [00:49:04] Anne-Marije Rook: thanks. It was an exciting two years of the pandemic. Yeah. [00:49:07] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. Um, well, alright, um, so where can people find you on Twitter? Uh, you're at cycling weekly. How do, how do people get ahold of you or see what you're, what you're writing about? [00:49:18] Anne-Marije Rook: Yeah, definitely on second weekly.com and then on social media Am Rook is my handle across every platform, including the ones that are popping up now that Twitter is taking a t. [00:49:29] Randall R. Jacobs: All right. Well, Anne-Marie, it's a pleasure to finally sit down and properly chat and very much looking forward to seeing you at Sea Otter and other industry events now that that's a thing again, and we can be out in the wild seeing each other. [00:49:41] Anne-Marije Rook: That's right. [00:49:42] Randall R. Jacobs: All right. [00:49:43] Anne-Marije Rook: for having me. [00:49:44] Craig Dalton: That's going to do it for this week's edition of the gravel ride podcast. Big, thanks to Anne Mariah. For having that conversation with Randall, I hope you guys learned a lot and I hope you do follow her on Twitter and follow her work as north American editor at cycling weekly. Huge. Thanks to our friends at athletic greens. Remember head on over to athletic greens.com/the gravel ride to check out ag one. One today. If you're interested in connecting with me or Randall, I encourage you to join the ridership. That's www.theridership.com. If you're able to support the podcast, you can visit buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride. Or ratings and reviews are hugely important. In us connecting with other gravel athletes from around the world. Until next time. I hope you're well. And here's to finding some dirt under your wheels.    

One thing we need to watch out for while we train for months inside over the winter months is keeping our cycling skills from deteriorating and starting the spring with poor form and technique. Implementing a couple of training sessions on the ROLLERS can really make a difference and here's why.

8 TIPS to use when preparing your first 100km ride on Zwift. Enjoy and I hope this helps.

Dr. Alan McCubbin lectures and conducts research in sports nutrition at Monash University, consults with Triathlon Australia's High-Performance Program, and writes for Cycling Tips. He has worked as the dietitian for the Attaque-Gusto cycling team, adventure runner Richard Bowles, several triathlon squads, the Coburg Tigers VFL football club, and the Tour de Cure cycling charity, amongst others. He has written for Outer Edge Magazine, Trail Run magazine and lectured for Cycling Australia coaches. He has worked with summer and winter Olympians, A-League soccer players, national Taekwondo champions, triathletes, ultra-marathon runners, road cyclists & mountain bikers, boxers, and windsurfers. Alan has competed at an international level in sailing and in endurance mountain biking. Alan recently completed a Ph.D. in sports nutrition at Monash University, looking at the effects of sodium in endurance athletes. He is also the co-host of The Long Munch Podcast, a podcast that answers common nutrition questions asked by runners, cyclists, and triathletes.Alan founded Next Level Nutrition, Australia's first-ever online sports nutrition consultancy back in 2010. What was once an unheard-of service model is fast becoming the norm in the sports nutrition industry, better servicing the sporting community of Australia with access to state-of-the-art sports nutrition counseling and education delivered to clients anywhere in Australia via the web.Next Level Nutrition-https://nextlevelnutrition.com.au/site/about/Paper discussed-https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35616504/The Long Much PodcastBuy Training Essentials for Ultrarunning on Amazon or Audible.Information on coaching-https://trainright.com/Koop's Social MediaTwitter/Instagram- @jasonkoop

In this week's episode, cycling journalist and former CyclingTips Editor-in-Chief Caley Fretz joins Randall to discuss cycling's changing media landscape, the economic headwinds facing professional journalists, emerging models for supporting quality reporting and story-telling, and how the meaning of cycling changes as one pedals through life. Also: press-fit bottom brackets, hookless road rims, and too-stiff components and frames. Episode sponsors: Thesis Bike and Logos Components  Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Links to Caley's work: The Road to Nairo's House: https://cyclingtips.com/2018/01/the-road-to-nairos-house/ The Teaching Toe Strap: https://www.velonews.com/news/road/the-toe-strap/ Tales From The Tour: The Rest Day Pose: https://cyclingtips.com/2018/07/tales-from-the-tour-the-rest-day-pose/ Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello and welcome to the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig Dalton. This week on the show, I'm handing the microphone off to my co-host Randall Jacobs. Who's got veteran cycling journalists, Kaylee frets on the pod. To discuss some of the challenges and opportunities facing cycling journalism. You may know Kaylee from his work as editor in chief, over at cycling tips. And prior to that over at Velo news, both publications have undergone some downsizing of late. The economic headwinds facing professional journalists. Our strong, particularly in the cycling world. If we want to have quality reporting and storytelling. A new model needs to emerge. I don't know where this is all gonna end up, but I was super excited that Kaylee agreed to join Randall on the podcast. To just get his perspective and to get into some good old fashioned by geekery. Before we jump in we need to thank this week sponsors from thesis and logos components As many of you know, I'm a long time it's thesis. OB one rider for a limited time thesis is offering $500 off a thesis, OB one with access custom wireless shifting, and your choice of high-end carbon wheels. It's a bike that I can personally attest, stands up to every other carbon bike out there on the market at a really great price. One of the things that I've always appreciated about thesis is that they allow. A unique level of customization. So if you want size appropriate cranks down to, I think 160 or 165 millimeters, you can do that. You can get your stem size, you can customize everything. Based on a free one-on-one consult. So go check out thesis.bike, or contact. Hello at thesis stoplight to get started. I also want to give a shout out to logos components. Logos just receive huge recognition from bike packing.com and was awarded the gear of the year award for the wheelset category in 2022. You might recall an episode. We did a while back on how to choose a gravel wheel set, where Randall went through detail by detail on the design considerations When constructing a carbon wheelset I encourage you to listen to that as it provided a lot of riders with reflection on what they were looking for and what all the different things were, all logos wheels are built on proven open standards with non-proprietary components and with a manufacturing precision. That rivals anybody in the industry, the wheels are backed by Logus is five-year warranty, lifetime at-cost incident protection. And a US-based warehouse and support team to keep you rolling for many years to come. So head on over to logos components.com and use the code community free shipping all one word to take advantage of a free shipping offer. With that business behind us I'm going to pass the microphone back over to randall and his conversation with kaylee frets [00:03:06] Randall R. Jacobs: It's been quite a bit. I think I last saw you at Sea Otter. How have you been? What's going on in your world? [00:03:11] Caley Fretz: Well, I'm unemployed as of November 15th. I mean, yeah, let's just, we can get that one right outta the way. Right. I was part of the layoffs at Outside Inc. To be somewhat differentiated from Outside Magazine for anybody out there. I mean, outside Inc. Does own outside magazine, but it also owns lots and lots of other things. Yeah, myself the editor-in-Chief of Venu as well and two of the CT staff, two really core CT staff. Matt, our managing editor, and Dave Rome, one of our tech editors and, and kinda a legend in space. We're all let go on the same day on November 15th. So I am currently super fun employed and I think after we chat today, I'm probably gonna go skiing cuz it's snowing up in the mountains right now. And so I'm, I'm somewhat enjoying myself. But, you know, fun employment brings with it some level of stress as well, . So that's, that's how I'm doing right now. Yeah. [00:03:59] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, and I appreciate you sharing. I think last we rode together. You were still living in Boulder and you've since moved to beautiful Durango. When was that move? [00:04:07] Caley Fretz: That was shortly after we had our, our first child. My wife grew up here and, and we have grandparents here to help with childcare and all the rest. And we just wanted to get off the front range. No offense to the front range. There's too many people and there's fewer people here. And I can go skiing 18 minutes from here, from my door, and I can't really complain about that. [00:04:27] Randall R. Jacobs: Housing costs are probably a little bit less bonkers out that way as well. I was in Denver and particularly Boulderer lately, and it is nuts. [00:04:34] Caley Fretz: it's a little bit better here, although not as, Not as good as it was four or five years ago. It, it, it's a zoom town, right? So in the last couple years it has, it's gone up like 28% or something ridiculous in, in 2021. We love it here. It's amazing. Durango, the bike community here is, is unbelievable. The mountain biking is unbelievable. And there's nobody that, you have not as many people to share all the trails with. So I, we like that bit of it as well. [00:04:59] Randall R. Jacobs: Very, very cool. And so let's just dive into, cuz, cuz I've been curious share a bit about your background. So I, I've only known you as, you know, in your role as, as a journalist and editor at Cycling Tips. But how do you end up on this path? [00:05:13] Caley Fretz: Oh I mean, how far back do you want to go? I, I, I started racing mountain bikes at 12 or 13 years old. My dad was a cyclist. My dad was, I think one of the founding members of the Penn State cycling team, collegiate cycling team back in the day. So I grew up around bikes and I grew up around bike racing and watching the tour and all these things. And yeah, started racing when my family moved to Burlington, Vermont back in the day at Catamount Family Centers. Anybody who, yep. Very, very northeast connection. That's where I, that was all my youth. Yeah. Any, any any new [00:05:45] Randall R. Jacobs: and, and your dad is still in Vermont, if I recall [00:05:48] Caley Fretz: Yeah, yeah. He he actually just retired, but he, he used to run a small like sort of children's museum aquarium thing called Echo on the, on the waterfront in Burlington. And yeah so, so grew up, grew up racing, grew up around bikes, and went to school out here in Colorado. Mostly to ride by bike to, to ma major in bike racing, pre primarily . Much to my parents chagrin, I would say. And let's see what it, what would've been like junior year, summer in between junior and senior year of, of college. Shout out to a friend of mine, Brian Holcomb, who's still in, in the bike world basically came to me and was like, Hey, you should, you should be an intern at Be News. And so I did that and I, and I, I became an intern at Bean News and worked the summer there. And Ben Delaney was the editor-in-chief at the time, and Ben was, Ben was kind enough to bring me on in a, in a kind of part-time capacity that fall. and then it kind of just went from there. So, so yeah, a couple folks who were still floating around the bike world, I, I owe a lot to at this point. Ben and, and Brian and Zach Vest, who was sort of one of my first mentors and has been a, a marketing manager at Niner and a other, a Scott and a couple other places recently. Math yeah, and just kinda worked from there. So I was a tech editor at sort of tech writer at Be News for a couple years, tech editor at Be News for a couple years. And then kinda worked my way into bigger and broader beats basically, and, and kind of stepped into the racing space a little bit more. Became, I think it was like think it was senior editor or whatever the title was at the end of my, my Bella News tenure which was 2017 which is when Wade Wallace got in touch from cycling tips and he was actually just looking for a person to fill a somewhat similar role, kind of like a features writer do a bit of everything kind of writer. And I loved the idea. I loved cycling tips. I loved the brand. I loved everything that stood for, I loved the fact that it was kinda an up and comer and I had been at Villa News long enough that I was just was looking for a change basically. And so I, I jumped ship from one to the other, from Helen News to ct. Remained really good friends with lots of folks at, at vn particularly guys like Andrew Hood who had done a bunch of Tour de France with and things like that. It's like no hard feelings in that, in that jump. Just wanted something new. And within about a year of that for a number of different reasons Wade had promoted me to editor-in-chief at ct. So that was around 20, mid middle of 2018. And it was an interesting time kind of from a business perspective cuz it was near the end of a period when, when CT was owned by bike Exchange in Australia and we were about to be purchased by Pink Bike. And with all of that happening and then in particular with the purchase from Pink Bike we got a bunch more resource and really could expand into what I think most people probably know, cycline tips as now or maybe we'll say six months ago what they knew it as up, up until quite recently. And yeah. I'm trying to think this, there's not my time. My my time as EIC of, of CIP is, is obviously I think what most listeners out there would probably know, if not of me, then you at least know CIP and you know what we were trying to do there. [00:08:52] Randall R. Jacobs: I know how much grief there is out there for, that core team having been broken up. A lot of people, myself included, who value the perspective that you bring to the industry. It's not simply you know, flipping press releases which, you know, there's a place for like, there's, you know, some people that's, they wanna see what the press releases are but doing really interesting journalism. One of your colleagues Ian tralo, he's done some interesting pieces on Central Asian despots in their role in cycling and on the Afghan women's cycling team. And the controversy with how the UCI was prioritizing getting certain members of that team and the organization out of Afghanistan when the US was backing out. Like, this is not your standard bike industry journalism. And that's an angle that I think is going to be very much missed in the vacuum that's created by your departure and the departure of others from that team. [00:09:42] Caley Fretz: Yeah. It's a sad thing. I think the overwhelming emotion for a lot of us is, is just sadness because we spend a lot of time building this thing and a lot of time and energy and effort and, and yeah. No blood, but probably some sweat and tears in there. And yeah, and it feels that's just sad. You know, I. I enjoyed my time there tremendously. I enjoyed working with people like Ian, with James Huang, with Dave, who got laid off alongside me. It was just a really, I can't say it was massively surprising giving a number of things that I can't actually talk about. But I I, oh, I am still very saddened by it. Yeah, I mean, it's not gonna be what it was because a bunch of the people are gone like that, that, that I can say . Yeah. [00:10:28] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. Now, remind me, when did James join the team? Because he, he's someone I've admired for years [00:10:33] Caley Fretz: yeah. He, he joined a, I think about 18 months before I did. So when, when bike exchange, when, when Wade first sold a, a large portion of cycling tips to bike exchange that was sort of the first. Let's say capital infusion that, that the company got. And a lot of that was used to pick up kind of high profile folks, particularly in the United States which is what's sort of their next, the next market that, that Wade wanted to go after. So that was, they picked up James and they picked up Neil Rogers in the us as well as some other folks like, like Shane Stokes in the uk or Ireland, I believe he is right now. Yeah, so, so that was all a little bit before I got there. And part of my, sort of what they asked me to do, what Wade asked me to do when, when I became editor in chief was to figure out exactly how to best use people like James, who do phenomenal work. I mean, I, I, I maintain to this day that the three-person team, the three-person tech team that, that we had at Zeman Tips over the last year which would be James and Dave Rome and Ronan McLaughlin in Ireland as well. Was the best anywhere in cycling media? There's no, there's no question in my mind about that. And so basically trying to figure out how to steer that talent was one of the big things that I was tasked with doing over the last three, four years. [00:11:44] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, and you know, when you read a review from any of those team members that you're, you're getting it straight you know, for better or for worse for the brands that are at the mercy of, of that team. But honestly, it keeps the industry honest. And I recall early in my career in the bike particularly James' writing be being something that I referenced constantly. And in fact, when I was at one of the big players, if I needed to make an argument, I would oftentimes grab an article from someone like him to bring to the argument like, no press fit is not acceptable. And we're gonna spend the extra money and add the weight, and we're gonna tell a story about how a two piece thread together is a better solution. And honestly, it's a solution to fix what was broken when you went, you know, but that's, that's a, that's a, a hobby horse that I think we've all been riding for some time. [00:12:29] Caley Fretz: love hearing that though. I, I genuinely love hearing that because I mean, oh, first of all, James would also love hearing that. He'd be very proud of that fact. I think and yeah, like we, we know that that was the case, right? I mean, we, we the three of us have been making a, a podcast called Nerd Alert for, for, for the last year and a half or two years or whatever. And I got a fair number of, of Less than pleased emails off the back of, of that podcast. Cause we were quite honest in our assessment of what we thought was happening in the industry. And in particular, like I haven't been a tech editor for. Eight, nine years. I'm just a cyclist at this point. But Dave and James are so deep inside it and think they spend so much of their lives thinking about that stuff that yeah. You, you can't ignore their opinions, right? You absolutely can't ignore their opinions. And I think that's, that's a testament to one, the fact that they do their research. And two the fact that they've been right a number of times. And like over the years, I would say that CT is, was known as the anti press fit media outlet, right? Which is like, there are worse things to be associated with, I think, than hating on creaky bottom brackets. Like, who, who wouldn't wanna hate 'em? Creaky bottom brackets. That makes perfect sense to me. [00:13:33] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, and it, and it's deeper than just a creaky bottom bracket. It's detracting from this experience that we are all so passionate about. And so, I think that having someone out there who has influence saying no, this is not the way it should be. Hear the arguments and, and, you know, let a case be made. Hey, you know, come on the podcast and talk about why you think press fit is, is the best way to go about it if you really wanna make that case. But yeah, it's an approach that I, you know, I, I'll take you up on it, but I, I'd probably be on the same side with you on more or less every issue with the exception of maybe a few nuances here and there. But yeah, actually let's have some fun with this. Other stuff other than press fit bottom brackets that would be your hill to die on. [00:14:15] Caley Fretz: well. So actually Dave Ro and I so reminder, Dave Ro and I were both just recently laid off. And so our free, we, we are free to do whatever we want. I don't have a non-compete or anything like that. Right. So, we've kicked, we've kicked off a little podcast and. [00:14:28] Randall R. Jacobs: What is it called? [00:14:29] Caley Fretz: It's called, [00:14:29] Randall R. Jacobs: do people find it? [00:14:30] Caley Fretz: well at the moment it's called the redundant placeholders because we have no idea what to call it. So if you search it, I think any of the, any of the podcast platforms, if you search redundant placeholders, able to find it, you can also find it on, on any of my social channels. I'm at K Fretz on everything cause I'm the only person on the planet with my name. So that's very handy. Anyway David and I were talking about like, okay, so if we were actually literally talking about this yesterday, which is why it's funny that you bring up bottom brackets. Like if, if the bottom bracket the anti press fit bandwagon was the one that we were leading before, what's our, what's our new thing that we get to hate on? And we've actually decided that one of the things that we're most interested in pushing, and if you listen to the episode from this week, you would, you would hear this is bikes that are too stiff and just stuff that's too stiff. So specifically Dave, this, this week brought up the topic of of handlebars that are just like, Way too stiff. Right? Just, just ridiculously stiff. We were talking about the, the 35 mill trend on in mountain bikes, which I hate. And like, I've got a, you know, I've got a giant, I've got a giant trail bike with 170 Mill fork, and then I wanna stick like a, just a two by four in my hands. I don't really understand why I want to do that. And I've ended up with like, like more sort of hand cramp and hand pain on this bike than I've ever had previously. And it's got more travel than any bike that I've, I've had previously. So that, those two things don't really line up in, in my head, right? And, and so Dave and I were basically talking about pushing, pushing back on this need for for stiffer and stiffer and stiffer and stiffer all the time. And the fact that a lot of us don't need that, or really don't want it either. Not only do we not need it, we really don't want it because it makes the broad experience worse. I told a little story about how one of the best bikes I've ever ridden was a not particularly expensive mazzi steel frame, steel fork, steel frame. Then I put a pair of zip 3 0 3 carbon wheels on, so nice, nice light stiff wheel set with a somewhat flexi bike, flexi fork, flexi flexi frame. But it rode like an absolute dream, you know, 27 2 post it might have even had, it might have even not had oversized bars. I can't remember. This is, this is like eight, nine years ago now. And I loved it. I absolutely loved this bike. It, it, it got up and went when I asked it to, and I think the wheel set made a huge difference in, in that. But then it, it cornered like an absolute dream and it was comfortable and it was, it was just beautiful. And it was a, a not particularly expensive steel mozzie, right? Like . So that's, that's, that's the that's the high horse upon which we find ourselves now. The fight for less stiff. Bicycles, I think is what we're gonna go after next. [00:17:06] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, and you can kind of take that a step further, talking about steel frames, for example. If you get a steel frame, even a, a pretty decent steel frame at say o e m cost is going to be quite a bit less than a monocot carbon frame. And you don't have all the tooling costs and everything else, and you can change the geometry if you need to without having to retool. And those bikes are gonna be inherently more affordable at the same time. And unless you're an elite racer who's having to sprint off the line or so on, you know, you either spend less money for an equivalent bike that suits your needs well and is comfortable, or you spend the same money and you put it into say, better wheels. You don't get the cheap out wheels with the three Paul hubs that fall apart and in a year and what have you. Yeah, that's one I'll join you on. [00:17:46] Caley Fretz: So that, so [00:17:47] Randall R. Jacobs: right. So I'm joining the battalion. What? [00:17:50] Caley Fretz: That's what we're pushing from [00:17:51] Randall R. Jacobs: I've got another one for you. And, and this, this one I don't think you'll disagree with cuz we talked about sea otter hooks, bead hooks. So bead bead hooks on any real wheels that are marketed for use with road tubeless. [00:18:05] Caley Fretz: I, yeah. I, I don't feel like I am, I, I like having this conversation with James or Dave around because they know the actual technical reasons. You, yourself probably in the same boat. You know, the actual tech technical reasons why this is, this is a, a terrible idea or a good idea, I guess if, if you're talking other direction. I just know that as a, essentially, like I am kind of just a consumer these days, right? Like I said, I, I, I have not been a tech editor. It has not been my job to follow. Bicycle technology for close to a decade now. So I'm basically just a, a, a heavily invested consumer who pays, you know, quite close attention, right? And as a heavily invested consumer, I cannot figure out if my wheels and tires are going to kill me at the moment. And I think that that is not really an acceptable way forward. I don't , I don't think that that should be allowed in the cycling space. And I, and I, every single time I say that, I get a bunch of hook list aficionados coming back at me saying that, oh, it's quite easy. This works with this and this. I'm like, yeah, but I, I, as a person who does not want to go through a bunch of like charts to figure out what tire to run, I don't want that. Just put hooks back on my rims. I don't care about the 40 grams or whatever. It's, I just don't care. [00:19:14] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, would you like some more ammo for those arguments when they come up? [00:19:17] Caley Fretz: give me more. Am. [00:19:18] Randall R. Jacobs: All right. So, so first off the, it used to be the case that it was a substantial, you know, a reasonable weight penalty and higher cost that is substantially mitigated by new forming techniques for the bead hooks and mini hooks that you can create that have the same impact resistance as hook list, add about five, maybe 10 grams per rim at the high end. And cost, yeah, the cost is a little bit higher, but, you know, insurance premiums aren't cheap either. And if you have a single incident, that's gonna be a problem. So, you know, it was an obvious investment when we made that choice for any wheel that we're marketing for use with anything, say smaller than a 34. Plus you get the compatibility with non tules as you well know. But the other part is you think about the fact that there are compatibility charts that exist, right? [00:20:05] Caley Fretz: I don't want [00:20:06] Randall R. Jacobs: that [00:20:06] Caley Fretz: in charts. [00:20:08] Randall R. Jacobs: yeah. It, it's like if that is the case, then maybe the tolerances are too tight and it, it's actually, I'll tell you from the inside, it, it's actually worse than that because any good company is going to check every single rim for its bead seat circumference, right? So those are pretty easy to get within spec. And then the tires, the tires are not all checked. To my knowledge. They're kind of randomly checked. So, okay, now you, now you could have a variation. You only need one. That's not to tolerance, but let's say both of those are in are intolerance. Well, now you have the. and if the tape is too thick or too thin, or someone puts two layers on, they replace the tape or whatever. Maybe it was intolerance initially, but, and then you change it and you know, you do two layers. Now the bead is too tight, it wants to drop into the channel and then pop over the edge of the, of the hook. And so it's just not good. It's just all sorts of not good [00:21:03] Caley Fretz: I hate it so much. It's just, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I always, I was cognizant when, back in, when we were making the Nerd Alert podcast that, you know, we didn't just want to complain about things. Right? Like, we didn't just want to tell the industry that it was, it was doing things wrong. Cuz most of the time this industry does great things and they build lots of amazing bikes that I love to ride. There's just a couple things like this that are like, what, what are we doing? Like, is, is this, is this the beam counters? Is it the gram counters? What counters are, are causing ? This particular, it must be the bean counters at this point. But I hate it either [00:21:42] Randall R. Jacobs: Bean counter. And then, then also the, the marketing hypers. Right? So there's a new thing. Hopeless is a new thing. Car, car wheels don't have hooks. Why do bicycle school wheels have hooks? Well, you know, because it's 110 p s i that people are sometimes putting in there. That's why [00:21:57] Caley Fretz: car wheels have 33 Psi . Yeah. It's like a mountain bike tire. Yes. Well, I, we agree on that point. And I, I think that that is one that we will continue to complain about. And I will just continue to be annoyed that I, that I can't feel confident in what I'm writing without doing a bunch of, of searching and Google searching, and I don't want to have to do that. [00:22:15] Randall R. Jacobs: Nor should your average rider need to rely on that in order to be safe like that. That's the part that I find kind of, kind of bonkers. [00:22:23] Caley Fretz: Average rider doesn't even know to do that. That's the problem. [00:22:26] Randall R. Jacobs: yeah. True. And the la the last part of that is why do the tire pressure recommendation charts kind of go to 70 proportional with the weight and then they just kind of taper off. You know, that that also kind of tells you something about the confidence in this you know, particular combination of tire and rim and, and pressure and so on. But all right. Should we, well, I guess we hop off this high horse then. That was good fun. I could do this all day. So you mentioned Ben Delaney, and he's an interesting person to bring up because he's a, a mutual acquaintance. Also somebody who's writing, I've been reading since my early days in the industry and also somebody who has been trying to figure out how to navigate the changing landscape in cycling media, which the business model for, for media in general has undergone a dramatic shift. And in his case, he's has his new YouTube channel and is doing freelance work for certain publications and is making a go of it that way. But how would you describe the industry dynamics as having changed during your time in the media side? [00:23:29] Caley Fretz: Oh, I mean, I would say I was relatively insulated from it personally for a long time. And until I kind of reached a, a, a level of management, so to speak, that it became my problem , I didn't spend a whole lot of time thinking about it. Yeah, Ben was unfortunately the, the, the, the victim of a, an outside layoff a, a while ago. So he's been making a solo go of it since I think May or June of, of, of last year. Or this year, 2022. And yeah, like his, his he's experimenting and, and it's, it's good to, I like watching him trying to figure this out, right, because I feel like he's kind of doing it for all of us at the moment and, and trying to figure out exactly, you know, various ways to, to make this thing work and. He is, got his, his YouTube channel's. Great. I mean, I watch it all the time. I'm actually gonna be on it sometime soon. I just, just recorded a thing with him picking our favorite products of the year. I think I went in a slight, I think I went in a slightly different direction than, than probably most of his guests. Cause my favorite product was bar Mitz for my cargo bike. So slightly different place than, than probably a lot of folks he's talking to. But the, the media as a whole, I mean, it's rough out there. It's rough out there, right? Like I have spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about this and trying to figure this out over the last couple years as has like weighed my former boss at C T E before he left over the summer. As is everybody, I mean, frankly, like as is Robin Thurston the CEO of outside, right? Like he is genuinely trying to make this thing work. And at the moment as layoffs kind of. It's hard, right? It's really, really hard to, to get people to pay for something that they haven't had to pay for historically, you're, you're trying to put the genie back in the bottle, right? That's what we are trying to do. And it's really, really, really difficult. And then, frankly, it's one of the things we were most proud of at Cycline Tips is that we did have this core, hyper engaged audience that was willing to pay us for, for what we did. And not only just pay us for like, the content that they had access to, but pay us for the whole community that we had built. Right. I mean there, there's a, there's a Velo Club, which is the, the sort of membership program. Atip, there's a Slack group for Velo Club which I, which I'm concerned about right now. But that group of people, couple thousand people not, it's not the entirety of the membership. It's, it's like sort of the most hardcore of the membership, I would say. And it's a couple thousand people. It's sort of like its own little private forum, right? And, and they support each other and they ask each other questions, and they ask us questions asked, past tense, asked us questions. You know, when, when, when they had a tech question, they, they, they ping James and they had a racing question. They, they would, they would ping me or they would ping Matt e or something like that. And they would also just answer each other's questions. And they've built this, this incredible community there. That for me, underpins any successful, particularly sort of niche media or, or, or, or vertical media business. Because those are the people that not only are they giving you money to, to keep lights on, but they're, they're your, they're your biggest advocates, right? They're your, your most important advocates in the space. They're the people that, that tell their friends. They're the people that get other people signed up. They are, they're more important than any marketing spend you could, you could ever possibly utilize. Right? So that, that was one of the things we were really proud of the last couple years. And I think that that is a model in some ways for, for, for going forward. So, you know, like I said, I'm, I don't have a non-compete. I can start anything I want right now and, and I, and to be, to be very blunt, like I fully plan to I think that, [00:26:54] Randall R. Jacobs: think you absolutely should at this. You clearly have an audience that that misses your voice and that values what you brought to the table. [00:27:00] Caley Fretz: Yeah. And, and I would say it like, honestly, it's, it's even, it's less my voice and it's more like Dave Rome and Matt and like the rest of the crew because I, I, I do like to put, you know, put the folks that that were writing day, day in, day out for ct, like, well ahead of anything that I was doing. But I, I did spend more time than they did thinking about how to, how to build a media business. And so, yeah, I, you know, we wanna, we wanna, we wanna do something here. That there's it's only been a couple weeks since we were, we were. Let go. So we're still figuring out what the details are. But like I said, you know, we've already kicked off a little podcast. We know that there's a lot of people out there that are kind of waiting for this. And we will, we will just try to give them what they want, I guess. I mean, my, in my mind, the, ideal sort of media entity of the future and I, I've used this term a couple times with, with Dave in, in talking about these things is, is essentially an aggregation of niches or niches if, depending on which pronunciation you prefer. So rather than try to go really broad and talk about a little bit of everything, which, which tends to be kind of the model across most of cycling media, I prefer a concept where you, you essentially allow editors to. To dive into their, their interests and their strengths. Right? You know, you take, you take Dave Rome and you say, Dave, you love tools. You're real weirdo about it. But we appreciate your weirdness and we, we, we embrace it and, and do it. Like, tell me everything you can possibly tell me about tools, because I'm pretty sure there's an audience there. And even if it's not that big, even if it's a couple thousand people, if they are hyper engaged with you, a couple thousand people in a recurring membership model, recurring revenue model is enough to pay Dave plus some, right? And then you sort of, you take that concept and you, and you expand it out. And yeah, it's, it's, it becomes the basis by which you can build a, a, a media entity. That I think is, is sustainable. Not none, nothing I'm saying here is wholly original, right? Like this is the broadly the direction that a lot of different media entities are going. Anybody sort of follows that world. There's, there's like, there's a new politics site called S four that is essentially the same rough concept, right? You, you dive headlong into, into particular beats. You provide a ton of depth in those beats. You hit the, the audience, people who, who really care about that particular topic, and you pull that group in and then you do the same thing over here and you pull that group in, you do the same thing over here, and you pull that group in. And there's for sure people that care about more than one obviously. But you really, like, you focus really deep on each one of these things. And that's the, that's the, if I could build something and, and I, you know, like I said, I, I intend to try, that's the concept. I think that that makes the most sense to me from a. from a business perspective, from an editorial perspective, from from every perspective I can, I can think of, basically. [00:29:59] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah, so I've had folks like Russ Roca from PathLessPedaled. On the pod. He has a YouTube channel you may or may not be familiar with, but that's become his livelihood, right. And he has sustainers through Patreon. He doesn't do endorsements and things like that. I don't think he's doing any sort of sponsored episodes or anything of that sort. And he's been able to make a living. And there are obviously plenty of YouTuber influencer types who may have less scruples about promoting things and things of that sort. But who I'm curious, either within bike or, or outside a bike what projects do you see succeeding in the model that you could imagine emulating or building upon? Because I've seen a bunch of attempts at it and it's, it's a really tough nut to [00:30:43] Caley Fretz: it's a tough not to crack. I, I would say that the biggest and most obvious is the athletic, which was just purchased by the New York Times for something like, I think it was 425 million. Now, so the sort of caveat around that is that that's probably less than they were actually hoping for. This is a, a VC funded media entity that, that primarily covers ball sports. And their whole thing was you take, you, you, you essentially apply the beat reporter model of like a local newspaper. You know, you, you, the, the, the Denver Post for example, will have a Broncos beat reporter. Then all they do is talk about the Broncos, right? And, and they're even allowed to kind of be fans of the Broncos a little bit. They take that and they apply it to every single ball sport. So both types of football, you know, baseball, basketball, all the rest. And they apply a beat reporter to every major team. And sometimes more than one beat reporter to, to really big teams. You know, like if we're talking English, English Premier League you know, Manchester United has a couple different writers on it. Aston Villa has probably won, right? So, but, but, but even so, if you're a massive Aston Villa fan and you just want your Aston Villa News, you can go, you know that the athletics gonna have it cuz they have a person who is dedicated to your team and nothing else but your team. So you can also get like, okay, well I want some broader, I want World Cup news, I want, I want the Manchester United news. I want the Ronaldo news, but I really want my Aston Villa guy, right. That is essentially the same model that I'm talking about where like, I believe that people really want Dave Rome's tool. They probably also care about lots of other things that, that we will write about. But they really want Dave room's tool stuff. And that's probably the thing that's actually gonna get them across the line from a, from a membership perspective, right? Is that deep, deep, deep love of this one thing that a content creator they like is talking about. That's the kind of thing that, that, that moves the needle in. So yeah, the athletic is, is kind of the biggest, most obvious example of this kind of working. They made I think some strategic areas early on in the way that they pulled staff together that made it quite an expensive organization to run. And I think that's part, probably part of the reason why they didn't get quite as much cash for it as they thought. But still building a media a media entity from nothing in the last, I think it started five years ago or so. I remember sitting at a Tor de France press buffet with some of the. The British. So at the time it was, you know, sky Era. A lot of big name British sport writers, sports writers were coming over the tour, and a couple of those guys were talking about job offers from the athletic and actually like how insanely well paid they were going to be So I think [00:33:13] Randall R. Jacobs: And the, these are full, full-time positions. We're not [00:33:15] Caley Fretz: oh, yeah, yeah. [00:33:16] Randall R. Jacobs: Just shifting everything to freelance. Like so [00:33:18] Caley Fretz: No, no, no. These are, yeah, [00:33:20] Randall R. Jacobs: models Do. [00:33:21] Caley Fretz: no, I mean, I don't, I mean, perhaps they're contractors or something, but like, you know, the, the, these individuals are writing a, a story a day most of the time about the particular beat that they're talking about. A story every other day, depending on the, on the, on the writer probably. But anyway, yeah, about about five years ago. So you see, you know, you've got a media entity that's only about five years old and just sold to the New York Times for half a million or whatever it was, or sorry, half a billion. [00:33:43] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. [00:33:43] Caley Fretz: a pretty, that's a success story in my mind. And shows that the. The model can work, I think. There's no guarantees and that's a scale that I don't really have any need, want, or desire to come anywhere near. But I do think that the core essentially value proposition of membership that they, that they showed worked, can work elsewhere. It can work in cycling, can work across endurance media, I think. [00:34:12] Randall R. Jacobs: Well, and again, with my kind of very cursory understanding of the space, they were required by the New York Times, which itself went through its own economic model crisis and had to make the switch to a paywall. And the quality of the content was sufficient that they're, they're making such large acquisitions, so they must be doing something right. They're, they're not the failing New York Times. As some folks called them a few years ago. I think there's also something to be said for consolidating quality and having the interaction of the sort that you did at at cycling tips, not just through Velo Club but also just the comments section. It, it was a very unique space and your team was in there. Interacting and the, the nature of the communication that I saw, the way that your readers were engaging there, it didn't seem hierarchical at all. It was a conversation with, with you and your team and that that was very, very cool to see. And that was something quite special that I think is more a consequence of the people involved than of the particular platform as special as cycling tips was. And I was one of the early readers that was, those are my racing days when it was literally just the blog and it was pointers on how to train. It was the cool thing at the time. And. Actual cycling tips. Yeah. That name was, was a direct, directly correlated with the contents. But I don't know if I've shared this with you, but in addition to the podcast, which is founded by Craig Dalton we also started this Slack community called the Ridership, which also is bit over a couple thousand members, and also has these like healthy dynamics. We call it a, a community of Rogers Helping Riders. And that was directly inspired by what you guys do at Velo. like saw what you were doing over there was just something that wanted to emulate, found inspiring saw a place for. And I'd be curious one of the things that Craig and I have talked about, is some form of shared platform that's somehow democratically governed. Where content creators and those who are engaging with their content who wanna support them and so on, can all meet and having that be something centralized in the sense that it's all meeting in the same place, but decentralized in terms of the governance structure, and then maybe even set up as a non-profit. I'm curious if you've had any thoughts around that sort of thing. [00:36:35] Caley Fretz: Yeah, I've actually sort of played around with similar ideas. We, yeah. In this, well, and again, in the sort of couple weeks that I've been thinking about, really thinking about this now we thought through, so, so ironically, one of the things that. There's been a fair number of complaints around with outside was was essentially like web three and, and NFT stuff. However some of that technology would actually make something like what you're talking about potentially work quite a bit better. Again, I haven't spent, we, we didn't go too far down this, this, this rabbit hole cause we feel like getting something off the ground relatively quickly is, is, is a priority. But I agree that, that something platforms work, right? Like that's essentially, that, that's all YouTube is, is just a platform for other people to, to, to put content on. They monetize it over top. They give you a cut, they take most of it. That's a, it's a pretty good business actually. So like could you do that for endurance sports, perhaps? Probably. Are there enough? Are there enough really high quality individual content creators out there to make that work? Probably, maybe like, are, are there enough Ben Delaney's, who would love to probably work with a platform that, that increased their visibility? But, you know, in, in exchange for a cut of whatever he's making, probably. I mean, that's essentially the, the deal that he's made with YouTube, right? Like we were saying. I think there's something there. I don't, I think it'd, I think it'd be incredibly difficult to, to get off the ground and would almost have to be quite organic and you'd have to be kind of willing to, to sit on it and let it grow for quite some time or, or sit on a bunch of investment money and, and do it that way. Which I don't necessarily have the time for at this point in time, but I like the idea. I really, I like, I genuinely, you know, I've, I've had a lot of conversations with other people in, in bike media over the last couple weeks because for obvious reasons, people giving me a ring. They're saying a lot of 'em are saying basically like, Hey, I'm sorry just checking in on you. Stuff like that. And we, and we get to talking about this sort of thing. And one of the things that keeps coming up is this desire to stop competing so directly with each other as bike media, right? Like the space is too small. We all do our own thing. We talk to maybe the same audience in general, but we talk to them in very different ways. And you know, like I I I, I, I've been on the phone with editor in chiefs of, of, of a couple different major bike outlets in the last week and all have said something along those lines. And I think that some sort of collective would, would hit the same. Yeah, it would hit, it would hit the same. there, right? Of a, of a desire to provide a space for everybody to just create really good work that they actually get paid for. Cuz that's the hard thing again, you're still talking about putting the genie back in the bottle. You're still talking about trying to get people to pay for, for something that they historically haven't paid for, or you're running an advertising based model, which is incredibly difficult. And in part, and this particular moment is very, very difficult. I mean, you know, Robin, the CEO of outside mentioned that specifically in the letter that came along with with these layoffs is like the advertising world out there right now, particularly in endemic media, like cycling is bad. It is bad news. You know, they're, they're looking into 2023 and seeing and seeing steep drop-offs in the amount that that is being spent. So you've run up against kind of similar problems, I think with that model. But it is certainly something that is The incentives to me feel like they're lined up for creators in a, in a model like that, right? Because they, if done right, they would directly benefit from their, their work. Whereas, you know, something that's always kind of frustrated me in this space is like, the value of myself and, and, and editorial teams have increased the value of entities tremendously o over my career. And then they get sold and I see none of it And so like that, that the incentive, [00:40:24] Randall R. Jacobs: and [00:40:25] Caley Fretz: structure is not, is not great within most of bike media [00:40:29] Randall R. Jacobs: Yeah. It's bad enough in the tech space where there are stock options, but generally to the founder goes most of the spoils. Even though and I say this as a founder, I don't create most of the value, right? Nothing that, that I could do would get off the ground without all the other people who make it happen. And so, it's only right that there be a distribution of ownership and a sharing of the rewards if there's success, which in turn incentivizes success. In the case of cycling tips, in reading the comments it's very clear that the readership knows it. They're not there for cycling tips. Cycling tips is the bander under which all the people whose perspectives they valued. It's where those people are. And so, your standalone brand and that of your colleagues, has value and has value in particular, if it's brought in a single place where people can interact with you as, as they had in the past it's a terrible thing to lose. And you know, whatever the reasons for it, obviously there are economic headwinds. But it's, it's unfortunate. But there's a saying that I, I live by that seems to apply, which is change happens when the fear of change is less than the pain of staying the same. [00:41:36] Caley Fretz: Hmm. [00:41:37] Randall R. Jacobs: And there's nothing quite like a radically changing economic model or layoffs or things like that that make staying the same, really painful. And so whether the fear has changed or not, time to take the leap and people like yourself and Ben and others have been making that leap. I wonder you mentioned that some sort of platform would have to. Either be funded by a bunch of VC money, which honestly I don't, if you wanna end up with a small fortune, start with a big one. Throwing VC money at things is a really good way to end up with Juicero. I don't know if you recall that [00:42:10] Caley Fretz: Oh, yes. [00:42:11] Randall R. Jacobs: 130 or 160 million of Sandhill Road money lit on fire for a a glorified electric press for If anyone's curious, look this up. It is. It'll, it'll make you feel that yeah, it, it'll make you question the judgment of, of Silicon Valley in a way that I have learned too from the inside over the years. But the organic piece let's, let's unpack that cuz I, I have a couple of ideas that I'd like to bounce off of you. So platforms like YouTube, I suspect it's gonna be very hard for somebody who has an audience on YouTube or who wants to build an audience to leave YouTube. But having a platform that is essentially an a. So if you're a content creator, wherever your content is, this is the one place where you can find all of it along with, categorized content from other players. So you want to learn about tools you have, Dave Romes YouTube videos about tools. You have his podcast about tools. You have other content creators content there. And then it becomes kind of platform agnostic like you can be anywhere, but this is the place where you go to find it. And this is the place where you go to interact. Cuz the YouTube comments, that's not an interaction space that's largely a trolling space or, or it's a largely one directional sorts of conversation happening. Even, even the healthiest version of it is still not a conversation. But if you have a YouTube video embedded in a a community, [00:43:27] Caley Fretz: Mm-hmm. [00:43:28] Randall R. Jacobs: Now all of a sudden people are in digital community together and not just over say Dave and his tool-based content or his tool focused content. Not to say that's all he does, but using that as an example, but also Dave in community, in his local chapter, right. In his local riding community. And in the context of a place where people are also going for, James' bike reviews and you know, your Twitter de France coverage and, and things like this that's one model that I've wondered, like if there was such a platform. [00:43:59] Caley Fretz: how, how, how do you monetize it? Is it, is it pay? Walled, [00:44:03] Randall R. Jacobs: That's a big question, right? [00:44:04] Caley Fretz: Well, so, so, the reason I ask is because I, I, like, I would see a couple different options, right? And, and we're getting into real sort of media theory here, but , [00:44:11] Randall R. Jacobs: This, this was actually part of the conversation I wanted to have with you long before all these changes. And it's something we've discussed on the pod before as well with other content creators. [00:44:19] Caley Fretz: I, I think So I, I'll say that first and foremost that I'm, I'm not anti paywall. I know some of the, some others are in, in the media space, but I fundamentally believe that if done properly you're essentially only targeting. So, so, so I'm, I'm a big advocate of what, what we call meter paywall, which is basically you get a couple free stories in a given amount of time whatever the number is, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, whatever you want. And then at some point you, you pay right? Now, the nice thing about that is that you know, if we, if we take a, let's take a hypothetical cycling media outlet with somewhere in, you know, we, we'll call it, we'll call it 2 million unique users a month, right? You've got 2 million people showing up at a website every month. The number of people who are actually gonna get to the paywall that are gonna go to enough stories to get to that paywall is probably something in the neighborhood of like, Less than 5% of those people. It's a tiny, tiny, tiny number because a huge number of those people are coming in from Google. They're, they're, they're seo, they're coming into SEO stories, they're coming into, you know, how to bet in my disc brakes. And they're, they're in and they find out how to do that and they're out. Right? And that's the only interaction you have with them. And they're useful from a page view perspective if you're monetizing that. But they're not particularly useful from a membership perspective cuz who's gonna pay to get one story, right. That, that's, that doesn't make any sense. So you're really only trying to monetize your super users. So your super users are that 5%, the people that actually end up hitting paywall. And part of the reason why I'm not anti paywall is because those people that, that, that small group of people that is coming back day after day after day after day, they value you. And if they truly value you, they should pay for you. , like, I don't have any problem with, you know, we put a ton of time and energy and effort into this and it is our jobs. And we need to get paid. And if people, if people appreciate what we're doing enough to come back every single day and they're not willing to pay for that, then as far as I'm concerned, they need to look at themselves and, and, and ask why. Right? Like, all I'm asking for is, is, you know, eight bucks a month or whatever to continue doing so that, so that you can do something that you do every single day that you enjoy, that you, that you gain information and entertainment from inspiration from even. I think that that's a pretty reasonable trade off. I don't really have any problem asking the super user to do that. I think that there are other paywall versions of a paywall that, that I, that I don't agree with, sort of philosophically, I don't agree with paywall in a hundred percent of content. I also think that that just ruins your discoverability and it, it, it doesn't allow anybody [00:46:49] Randall R. Jacobs: was, I was gonna say, is [00:46:50] Caley Fretz: Yeah. Then nobody, [00:46:53] Randall R. Jacobs: thing or is it more just practically like, you're, you're gonna cut off all the channels for discovery? [00:46:58] Caley Fretz: Both. Yeah. I, I, it, it realistically, yeah. Like I said, your discoverability goes to zero. People can't tell that you make good content. I have kind of a similar issue with the, the like premium content model. So you, you know, you give away your, your crappy stuff for free and the really good stuff you gotta pay for, like, I don't like that either. Cause why then anybody's strolling around your website, it's gonna be like, well, it's the only thing is I can read are crap. So why would I pay for the, i, I don't know that [00:47:23] Randall R. Jacobs: poor, it's a poor pitch. [00:47:24] Caley Fretz: It's a bad pitch. So, so I have issues with that. I also just like philosophically, you know, the, the sort of fully hard pay wall that you can't read anything without paying beyond the discovery of discoverability problems. I just kinda have issues with that because like if we do write a, how to bet in your disc brake so they don't make noise story. Like, I want people to be able to access that, right? Like, then I don't have to listen up. people's loud disc breaks. You know, like people, I, I have no problem sort of providing that much content to somebody for free. And I think that the fully pay well in that is, is, is isn't great. But again, I I'm not against paywalls in general. Meter paywalls I think work quite well. They yeah, we know that they're effective. They can be incredibly effective, particularly if you have this sort of requisite essentially story volume to make them work and, and sort of audience size to make them work. So given that like the, the sort of concept that you are talking about, paywall seems like a, like a, a, a good way forward because again, you're sort of avoiding the avoiding the need to, to chase advertising dollars constantly. And this is, this is gonna be somewhat a reflection of what I'm thinking for, for. For myself going forward, obviously you're avoiding, you're, you're avoiding chasing advertising dollars incessantly, which, you know, I'm not against advertising either. I think the right advertising partners can be, can be crucial, right? They provide lots of actually value to an audience at some point, right. You know, the fact that you get bikes to test the fact that you have a good relationship there. Those, those are all valuable things. So not, not anti advertising either. I'm just more anti, constantly chasing every single cent you can possibly get out of advertising. And the, and the sort of the, the, the extra resource that, that very concept requires. And so yeah, some sort of like membership driven thing lines up with the sort of ethos of what you're talking about, which is very community driven. We know communities are willing to invest in their own space where they can be a community. And so that would make sense as well. And if you start to do things like add too much advertising to something like that, then you do the incentives start to shift. Cuz you start working for the advertisers instead of working for the community. And that I think goes against the whole ethos that you're talking about of the sort of communal thing. So that would be my, that would be my 2 cents on, on, on how to build something like that. Like I said, it is a concept that, that we played around with and I've played around with in my head for, for some time actually. I personally, again, it's more of a, more of a time issue for me than anything. Not that I don't think it could be cool and don't think it could work. I just think that the, to build that community would take quite a bit of time. And also figuring out the precise method of paying. So the other roadblock that I, that I came across when I was thinking through this was the precise method of paying content creators in that scenario, it's quite complicated. Cause are you paying them? Are you paying them by page view? Are you paying them? Is there a tip jar? Is there some sort of, of, you know, rank voting system when people sign up, like, I like these three creators and I don't like these three, and so the top three get, get my money. And the, and the other three don't. That starts to create some perverse incentives toward bad content as well, right? And, and essentially that's the, that is the YouTube problem. The YouTube problem is that YouTube is incentivized for clickbait. It's incentivized for garbage content, , because that's, that's the stuff that gets picked up. And think about, think about your average, like YouTube headline or YouTube sort of, title card. Versus what you would find on a, a site like cycling tips these days. Right. It's a dramatic difference. Like we, we would have to change headlines depending on whether it was going on YouTube or going on on the site back in the day. Cuz YouTube is incentivized to be like all caps and exclamation points and somebody crashing in the title card and all these things that we kind of hate because that's what you end [00:51:25] Randall R. Jacobs: Kaylee, Fritz destroys X, Y, [00:51:27] Caley Fretz: Exactly. So after the monetization question, how do you actually split up that money with the content creators? It's a, it's a, again, I like, I love the, the idea, I love the concept, but the sort of those particular decisions. Be crucial to success and crucial to it actually working for the people that, that you, that you know, that you want, want, would want it to work for. And it'd be hard. It'd be really hard. I I don't have the solution to those questions, which is why I, again, thought through a lot of this and, and thought through a similar concept, not, not identical but a similar concept and, and basically came to the conclusion that in the near term, a a slightly more traditional model is not the worst thing in the world, right? Like, build really good content, pay people for it make people pay for it. , that's essentially the, that's the, the, the three part business plan of most membership driven media entities these days. Does that all make sense? I feel like I went in a bit of rant there. [00:52:31] Randall R. Jacobs: Not at all. Not at all. And in fact, it's a conversation I'd like to continue cuz I have a few ideas that probably we, we don't want to dedicate a whole episode to just this conversation. But certainly appreciate you pulling back a curtain on the sorts of questions that you as an editor in the space and an editor for one of the most respected publications in the space and for good reason, providing that perspective in the sorts of things that you are thinking about from this new Vantage point is very much appreciative. So thank you for that. I wanna go in a completely different direction. What are the pieces that you've written that you most enjoyed or found most challenging, or that were most meaningful for you as a writer? [00:53:08] Caley Fretz: Hmm. Internally at cycling tips. We called them riddles. It was a, it was a coin, a term that I intro coined for his little, the little essays. Right. There's a couple of those that I, that I really enjoyed writing and, and liked writing. It's just sort of the pure act of, of, of sort of language, basically like playing with language. Which is still fundamentally like why I started doing this to begin with is cause I really enjoyed doing that. And the last couple years have stepped away from writing almost entirely. Not entirely, but almost entirely. And, and so when I did get a chance to write, it was always, it was always meaningful and I, and I liked it. That tended to be at things like the Tor de Frances where, you know, I would essentially send to myself cuz I, I wanted to go cover the to Frances again. I had plenty, plenty, plenty of, plenty of talented, talented writers that, that reporters that could have gone instead of me. But at some point you pull the boss card and I'm like, I'm gonna the tour So, so yeah, there's a couple pieces on that front. Actually one of the first pieces I ever wrote for segment tips it's, it was called The Road to Niro's House. And it was about a trip that my wife and I and two friends took to Columbia. And it, it, like half the photos are broken on it now. It's, it's, it's from like 2017 like 6,500 words of a trip around Columbia and all the sort of things that, that riding in Columbia. Particularly in 2017 meant sort of keeping in mind that that, you know, a relatively large and disastrous war there only kind of wrapped up around the 2010 mark depending on who you ask . So I, I, I really enjoyed that piece. And then, yeah, like these, these little riddles, you know, there's a couple that I've written over my career that I that you tend to write them in 20 minutes, right? Because something just hits you in the head and, and you just, I mean, you just get it out, but it, because of that, it's, they're very pure. I think. I wrote one about the toe strap that my dad would use to attach a sock full of Tube tire, co2, you know, flat fixing implements underneath his saddle. Right? And he would, he would strap this thing underneath his saddle with a, with a strap, like a tube sock underneath his saddle with a, with a, with a tow strap, like a leather tow strap. And, and I, and I wrote this story about how, like, you know, I just remember when I was 12, 13 years old. And you know, my dad is obviously a much stronger cycl cyclist than me at that point. And just like, you know, trying to stay on his wheel with this like, toe strap dangling in front of me as like the, you know, I'm just, I'm just, I just need to stay on the tow strap. Wrote a piece about that at some point that I, that I ended up, I, I really liked. And it was meaningful to me because of my, my relationship with my dad is like very tied into my relationship with cycling because we grew up doing it together and, and still ride together when we can and things like that. There was one about eating Castle and Carcassone during a rest day, Tor de France that I liked. Again, these, you know, [00:55:59] Randall R. Jacobs: Castle in Per, [00:56:01] Caley Fretz: Castle is is like a, [00:56:03] Randall R. Jacobs: I'm, I'm, I'm not so [00:56:04] Caley Fretz: is like, is like a meat, like a meaty stew thing you know, white beans and, and, and some, some meat. And Carcassone is a town in southern France with a big kind of world heritage site castle over top of it. And it's always hot as hell there. They often have restage there at the torque. It's always hot as hell. And I have yet to find a hotel or an Airbnb there that has air conditioning. So you're always just like baking, you know, second rest day of the Tor De France. You know, I, I think I was sitting in a cafe. And I had a couple roses like you do and, and eating a castle, which is also hot. So I'm like, I'm hot eating a hot castle and just watching the world kind of go by like the sort of Tor de France rest day world go going by and, you know, like Greg Van Ama coming up and, and stopping at a red light. I'm this, I've wrote the story a while ago and I'm trying to remember what I even talked about. You kn

What to eat or what not to eat, that is the question. I provided a couple ideas what to do and not to do based on my own experience. How nutrition can not be left out when setting up your indoor training. Love to hear from you about your experiences and favorite snacks.

Starting this episode is Abigail, Heidi and Emily with the Weekly News. Following the Weekly News, Maha Syed interviews Peg Morrison from NAMI covering several mental health topics. This interview does have a content warning due to the topics covered. Lastly, Brian Jurado interviews Lou a bike mechanic at Oak City Cycling. They talk about Bike Maintenance, Cycling through Raleigh and several more tips!

Out Of Bounds – E212 – Caley Fretz – Cycling Tips & TDF Woodchuck Cider– The Original American hard cider from Middlebury, Vermont. Check out their brunch box with flavors like Pearseco, Mimosa, Bellini, and Paloma Muir Energy  –  Code: OUTOFBOUNDS – Fast-burning energy that doesn't taste like butt. Simple [...] The post Out Of Bounds – E212 – Caley Fretz – Cycling Tips & TDF appeared first on Out Of Collective.

Dave Rome is regarded as the man when it comes to hoarding beautiful quality tools. He is also a tech editor at Cycling Tips and definitely knows his way around a bike. We chat about tools, becoming a journo and his fast rise to a major role in the industry!! Enjoy.    Trek- Trek have been making bike s since 1976 and since then they have been pushing what can be done with a bike. There is a reason that some of the best like brandon semenuk, Reece Wilson, Valli Hoel, Harriet Burbridge, Mike Ross and caroline buchanan ride them, they bloody rip. I am stoked to have them on board this year as we begin to grow at a huge rate.    Tailored Trails-  Tassie's specialist for state-wide transfers, private group shuttles, and all-inclusive packages. Operating on all the major mountain bike networks in Tasmania - including Derby, Maydena, St Helens, and the West Coast. Dedicated private group operator that caters for groups of up to 18 people with custom-built shuttle trailers and racks. Take the hassle out of your next Tassie trip, and let Tailored Trails take care of the logistics and planning. Rider owned and operated.  NSDynamics- The premier suspension service centre in Australia. The guys there have been doing this for over 20 years and know how to make your suspension feel better than new. Every time I have got my suspension back from these guys I can't believe how much better it works. They are masters of suspension magic! View their range here  Frank'd MTB Apparel-  Frankd is a premium MTB apparel company based in WA. They are at the cutting edge when it comes to lightweight racing jerseys, durable shorts and their designs are super eye-catching. If you would like to support their use, BEYONDTHETAPE at checkout for 10% off  Dirt Surfer mudguards are made of 100% Recycled materials and are one hundred per cent recyclable. Get one of there unique designs or one of your own designs on your bike now to make it your own.  Krush Oz- https://www.krushoz.com/ Krush Oz is 100% Australian made bike cleaner and degreaser. The best in the biz at getting your bike super clean.  Fist- http://fisthandwear.com.au/  Fist make the best gloves ever. That's all I need to say. 

In this episode, you will learn about: Layering for Spring riding is always so challenging, hot, cold, wind, rain, snow???? I've tried to break it down with some ideas on how to layer for breathability and warmth.

Endurance Innovation is now on Patreon! Have a peek at our page and show us some love.3:30 Cycling Tips review of fansFan specs: volumetric flow rate, airflow velocity, powerMeasured skin temp, core temp, heat fluxUsed an array of Core body temp sensors Compared no fan, small desktop fan, low velocity air mover, wahoo headwind, scroll fanHeat transfer equation: Q=k*A*ΔT, where Q is the heat transfer, k is  the heat transfer coefficient, A is the surface area, and ΔT is the difference between skin temperature and the air around the skinMaximize all three variable to maximize heat transferPerception of thermal comfort vs core temperature39:30 how much does a flappy run top cost in terms of run power?Tight clothing improves wicking and coolingBased on a CdA of 1.0, at 4:00/km, aero drag is 40WFlappy kit may increase CdA by 20% or 8WMichael's 4:00/km Stryd power is 340W, plus 40W for air resistanceSo floppy kit hit of 8W is an increase of ~2%@ a 5:00/km pace, the aero drag is too small to worry about.Check out our episodes on heat transfer: 112, 115, 32, and the Core Body Temp Sensor page for their webinars and blog posts. 

Payson is joined by Geoff Kabush and Kateřina Nash to talk about all things Life Time Grand Prix. The six-race gravel series kicks off this weekend with the Sea Otter Classic. Both Geoff and Kateřina have won Sea Otter multiple times, and are racing it again this year. Neither of them, however, is participating in the Grand Prix. Earlier this year, Geoff penned an article in Cycling Tips that criticized the points system and entry requirements of the race, questioning its impact on the careers of pro racers. In this conversation, he, Kateřina, and Payson discuss his concerns and how the Grand Prix might adapt in the coming years. They also pick their favorites to win the series overall and talk about how they think racers with a ProTour background will stack up against racers with a mountain biking background. They also discuss Geoff and Kateřina's own careers. After decades of world titles, they are still winning races (including Moab Rocks, which they both won the weekend this interview was recorded). They discuss longevity, adapting to the social media demands of the “modern athlete,” and where they think professional racing is headed.

I first met Nick on a trip to Mallorca where we just clicked. I have been wanting to do a podcast with Nick for some time to talk about his past, as a runner potentially heading to the Olympics to represent The USA in the marathon distance, to his transition to shoe design and now cycling. Enjoy!  I've also set up a Patreon if you'd like to help support the channel for less than the price of a fancy London coffee and croissant: https://www.patreon.com/chrishallrides https://www.chrishallrides.com​​​​​​​ https://www.instagram.com/chrishallrides​ https://twitter.com/chrishallrides​​​​​​​ BUY SOME ZERO LEMON MERCH: https://www.zero-lemon.com/​​​​​​​ The following companies (that you'll see in my content) support me either financially or with free stuff, so huge thanks to these guys for helping me with the challenges I take on Attacus Cycling,  Cervélo, Lazer Helmets,  Shimano, Schwalbe Tires, Parcours Wheels, Aerocoach, Sungod Eyewear, Tailfin Cycling, Styrkr

In this episode, you will learn about: I have a little story for you about my new trainer. February is the time to Check-IN on how your training is going. Are you chasing zwift badges, following the program or still waiting to get started?

In this episode, you will learn about: 6 Tips How to Set Goals for the New Year and some BONUS Ideas for the family.

In this episode, you will learn about: How you can make the holidays work for you with these 7 TIPS from your host Sylvie D'Aoust.

In this episode you will learn about: 6 Ways to test your FTP and why it's important to track progress.

In this episode, you will learn about: With your cycling goals, use this periodized program set up to your training plan for success.

In this fourth and final episode in our mini-series of Explore we look at the  gravel scene. Gravel at a crossroads is partly inspired by some of the reaction to our feature on the so-called "first professional gravel race" in Veneto in episode one. Some took exception to the description, with one listener advising us that if we want to talk about gravel we should speak to some Americans! So we have. In this episode we hear from Caley Fretz, editor of Cycling Tips and "groad" pioneer, and Ian Boswell, the former World Tour pro who won Unbound, arguably the world's biggest gravel race, this year. We also speak to two riders at a crossroads in their careers: Tiffany Cromwell, who is combining Women's World Tour racing with gravel races, and Finley Newmark, a promising young rider who is turning full-time to gravel in 2022.  The Cycling Podcast is supported by Supersapiens and Science in Sport. Supersapiens is a continuous glucose monitoring system that helps you make the right fuelling choices. See supersapiens.com For 25% off all your SiS products, go to scienceinsport.com and enter the code SISCP25 at the checkout. This episode is also supported by Babbel. If you want to learn a new language get six months free with the purchase of a six-month subscription with the promo code CYCLING at uk.babbel.com/play

This was an awesome podcast with one of our newest coaches and pro cyclist, Andi Bajc. Topics include: Court awareness The game is SO FAST at first, where you can easily make bad decisions. What did Andi learn from the good coaches in his life? Recovery and the Mental "head stuff" Being a pro and father of 4... Sleep Preseason Training Race Plan: terrain, race nerves, early season crashes Spring vs Summer Races Training Philosophy When you have too much motivation, that you overdo it Improvement is a stairstep, not linear Train smart Know your body Natural movement of the peloton Perserverance Letape Gran Fondo in Slovenia, Sept 4, 2022 Check out the EVOQ Store: https://grindcitydesigns.com/evoqbike/shop/home --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/evoqbike/support

In this episode, you will learn about: Hey my loyal listeners. I have 2 ASKS of you. 1. Please SHOUT out the Podcast on Social Media and tag @sylviedaoust_cyclist @secretsfromthesaddlepodcast 2. How can I serve you. What would you like to hear more off, next year? 2 STRESSORS for athletes and how to avoid them.

This week we're looking at difficulties for Finnish embassy workers left behind in Kabul, the Finnish national team's exit from the World Cup and finding out what we need to do to cycle throughout the winter. This week's show was presented by Egan Richardson and Veronica Kontopoulou. The producer was Mark B. Odom and the sound engineer was Panu Willman. Let us know what you think via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909. 18 November 2021 / All Points North / Yle News

📻 #elSemanal: Volvemos a la carga repasando la actualidad del ciclismo internacional. Debatimos sobre los candidatos a la Bicicleta de Oro y señalamos nuestros favoritos. Javier Prieto de Pedales Solidarios nos trae la actualidad del CX. Hay Diccionario SC, Fuera de Control y la Charla del Bus. 🚩 División del programa: 🔲 Presentación - ⏱️ 0:00:00 🔲 Noticias Breves - ⏱️ 0:07:54 🔲 La Bicicleta de Oro - ⏱️ 00:20:31 🔲 Actualidad del CX - ⏱️ 01:11:24 🔲 Diccionario SC - ⏱️ 01:24:45 🔲 Fuera de Control - ⏱️ 01:28:11 🔲 La Charla del Bus - ⏱️ 01:31:56 🔲 Cierre - ⏱️ 01:53:42 ************************************* 🔘 #elSemanal l 2x37 ************************************* ⚠️ Actualidad del ciclismo mundial. Y alguna que otra cosita más. Todo esto regado con nuestra mejor selección musical y buena dosis de humor. - 🚴 ¡Únete a nuestro pelotón! "La Grupeta de Sobre Ciclismo". Nuestro grupo de TELEGRAM. Un espacio en el que seguiremos charlando del deporte que amamos: https://t.me/laGrupetadeSobreCiclismo - ☕ ¿Quieres invitarnos a un café que sirva a continuar adelante con nuestro proyecto? Ahora desde CAFECITO puedes darnos una mano; https://cafecito.app/sobreciclismo 🔴 IG: https://www.instagram.com/sobre_ciclismo/ 🔵 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sobre-Ciclismo-237384870922463 🕊️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/sobre_ciclismo 📺 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1r-vKKGQPfuoru0BH5A1ZQ 🔸 Strava: https://www.strava.com/clubs/736786 - 📧 Escríbenos por mail: sobreciclismo@gmail.com ************************************* 🎶 Intro ▶️ The War On Drugs | Wasted 🎶 Noticias Breves ▶️ Queen | We Will Rock You 🎶 Intro a la Sobremesa ▶️ Bándalos Chinos | Vámonos de Viaje 🎶 Actualidad CX ▶️ Mumford and Sons | Little Lion Man 🎶 FdC ▶️ Daniel Pemberton | Take You Down 🎶 Cierre ▶️ Las Pelotas | Bombachitas Rosas ************************************* 🔊 🇫🇷 PLAYLIST DEL TOUR CON LA MÚSICA DE SOBRE CICLISMO: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7yOIH7Now9gRsJ90d4hdtd 🔊 🇮🇹 PLAYLIST DEL GIRO CON LA MÚSICA DE SOBRE CICLISMO: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0D2L6nvmUMs2GiNktJ8Xkj 🔊 🇪🇸 PLAYLIST DE LA VUELTA CON LA MÚSICA DE SOBRE CICLISMO: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3l0n0OztJMQXWZexccn2lq 📰 Evacuaciones de ciclistas en Afganistán. Artículo de Cycling Tips: https://cyclingtips.com/2021/11/serious-allegations-arise-over-afghan-cyclist-evacuations/ ************************************* 💢 Amig@s de este podcast: 🔅 Alimentos Conscientes DEL BIEN: https://www.instagram.com/del.bien/ 🚴‍♂️ Pedales Solidarios: https://www.instagram.com/pedalessolidarios/ 🏁 Buenos Aires Cycling Club - BACC: https://www.instagram.com/cyclingcluba/ ************************************* 👉 Este programa se ha realizado gracias a la colaboración de: Marcela Novais, Javier Prieto y Jesús Rubido. 👉 Presenta: Javier Ramírez.

In this episode, you will learn about: We will start diving into things we should consider when it comes to training as we age, as The Aging Athlete.

In this episode, you will learn: Where you can find unique cycling-related programs that focus on skills. In addition to just jumping on your bike and riding, working on your skills and techniques during the winter will get you further ahead for the Spring.

In this episode, you will learn: Getting a clear picture of what a full Season of Cycling Program looks like and how to work backward from the BIG EVENT.

Simon, Shane and Nathan discuss the big new idea from Zwift  . . . .This Season on Zwift offers Zwifters a taster of what's coming up in the coming weeks and months. This is a big change of direction from HQ, which has previously kept future plans close to its chest. We now know we are getting a neon-fest of an extension to Makuri Islands. We know that there'll be a new way to interact with the game with a much improved Home Screen. And we now know that Clubs is due to get a big jolt of new functionality. The Zwiftcasters discuss the upcoming new features and analyse the implications of what's a big decision for Zwift in how it relates to its community. Game creator Jon Mayfield has given a rare interview to a Cycling Tips podcast and as always, when Jon talks, it's worth listening. Simon, Shane and Nathan pick over Jon's thoughts on his new role at the company and his thoughts on innovation in indoor cycling. The Zwiftcasters discuss possible new moves from putative rivals this winter before moving on to discuss Zwift's burgeoning relations with the UCI and ASO and how those manifest as the big new sponsorship of, and revival of, the women's Tour de France plus the staging of the official e-World Champs to be run on Zwift next February. Shane goes into rant mode about Zwift's roll out of Strava's Local Legends on the platform. He is not impressed! And finally the podcasters discuss the arrival of He Who Must Not Be Named on the platform - for real. Should the community embrace him? We hope you enjoy listening.

In this episode, you will learn: Part 2/4: What KEY workouts should be part of your training plan.

Grace Elvin is a 2-time winner of the Australian National Road Race Championships and the only Australian female rider to podium finish at the Tour of Flanders for Women.She's represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games and Olympics.She left pro racing in 2021  to say to pursue life outside cycling but that isn't true. Gracie has reinvented her career and is giving back her all to the sport. She's currently a writer for Cycling Tips and co-founded The Cyclists Alliance, an organisation which fights for the rights for pro-female riders.As I've come to find out Gracie is also something of a comedian which is no small task given the gravity of the causes she fights for. Today I chatted to Gracie on;The art of reinventing yourselfCourage and holding courageous conversationsThe Cyclists Alliance and how it's supporting women in the sportShew these conversations keep blowing me away!Take a listen and let me know what you thinkLisa

In this episode, you will learn: PART 1: Julie's story from starting as a swimmer to the bike, to After sustaining a concussion over 6yrs ago. Learn how Julie used her fitness, professional help, family to recover.

Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.Visit thevelodrome.com to learn more about the Valley Preferred Cycling Center.Instagram: @elliston_coachingWebsite: Bill Elliston Coaching https://www.ellistoncoaching.com/Cycling Tips: https://cyclingtips.com/2017/12/the-lifer-the-extraordinary-story-of-a-somewhat-ordinary-bike-racer/Facebook: @elliston.coaching

In this episode, you will learn: How one man's passion for cycling, lead to the creation of the local Time Trial Series in Montreal that's been running for almost a decade.

In this episode, you will learn: 4 KEY Cycling Skills. when practiced and perfected during the winter can bring a 5% to 20% improvement by the spring. Do you know what they are?

Guest: Liezel van der Westhuizen There is a wrong way to do indoor cycling, and our resident fitness enthusiast Liezel van der Westhuizen is discussing the mistakes people often make, and the easy ways to fix them for the better. Tune in to find out more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, you will learn with Sylvie about her A-H Moment when she was riding the bike and discovered how gears work. The Comfy YOU holds back from getting better at cycling while the Uncomfortable YOU is holding us all up

In this episode, you will learn about: When starting a SEASON of training for any sport, there needs to be OR SHOULD be some consideration put into a PLAN. This plan lays out the Goals and what needs to be achieved during training.

In this episode, you will learn: 13 Tips How to cycle FASTER & INCREASE your Average Speed.

In this episode, you will learn: Thank you to all the listeners who have embraced this podcast About All Things Cycling and are making this podcast a huge success for me, I THANK YOU! I'm so grateful to reach 100 episodes and over 30K in downloads.

In this episode, you will learn: How David Bosley beat the odds of depression, bipolar, and obesity to becoming a fitness influencer in the UK, also working with helping his son passion for going PRO. David is also a CONNECTOR and loves helping out less fortunate cycling teams with cycling gear and training material.

Marianne Murciano, founder of Savvy-Planet, joined Bob Sirott to share a couple of useful tips on cycling! Marianne Share your own savvy tip: hello@savvy-planet.comFollow Marianne on Twitter (@marimur), Instagram (@havanagirl) and on Facebook (SirottAndMurciano)

Kate Courtney is a professional mountain bike racer for the Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team. She is the reigning UCI World Cup Overall Champion, the 2018 World Champion in women's cross-country mountain biking, and a member of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team. Kate has also earned multiple Continental and National Championship titles. She is a member of the USA Cycling National Team and a Red Bull Athlete.   Kate grew up in Marin County, California, at the base of Mount Tamalpais, the birthplace of mountain biking. Though she was introduced to the sport at a young age – riding on the back of her dad's tandem mountain bike – her race career started as a freshman on the Branson High School MTB Team. In 2018, Kate became the first American in 17 years to win an Elite XCO World Championship, only the fourth American woman to do so, and had the honor of bringing the title back to Marin and the roots of the sport.   Besides training and racing her bike, Kate enjoys yoga, skiing, hiking and writing. Kate is known for her insightful and clear voice, and her articles about being a professional athlete have been published in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Outside Magazine, VeloNews and Cycling Tips. Kate holds a bachelor's degree in Human Biology from Stanford University.   Kate joins us to talk about life as a mountain bike champion, getting a second year to train for the Olympics, and how having her family as part of the team makes the whole process joyful.   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Paleovalley Beef Sticks. Made from 100% organic grass-fed beef and organic spices, these are hands down our favorite on-the-go protein snack. They are naturally fermented making them shelf stable without chemicals or questionable ingredients, for when you find one in a backpack you haven't used since last summer. For more info and 15% off, go to thereadystate.com/beefsticks   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Kion Aminos. Available as powder or tablets, these aminos are 100 percent plant based with no artificial ingredients. Essential amino acids are the building blocks for all muscle and tissue but your body can only absorb about 50% from food which is why Kelly takes them everyday. For more info and 20% off your first purchase, go to thereadystate.com/aminos

In this episode, you will learn: The fundamental skills needed to improve your cycling. When it comes to biking or any other sport, It doesn't matter what fitness level you're at if you lack the necessary skills no one will be able to take full advantage of their abilities.

In this episode, you will learn: My secrets to getting good on the hills. Crush the Hills or Be Crushed by the Hills, it's all about how you train for them! Download my 9 Fav Hill Repeat Drills.

Andy van Bergen is a membership and events manager at Cycling Tips as well as the founder of Hells 500 and Everesting. We discuss Andy's background with cycling and his career with Cycling Tips, and we got to learn all about the origins of the Everesting Challenge and how it's become a global phenomenon. Andy, who has completed 10 separate Everesting's himself, is an incredible ambassador for the sport of cycling. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adventureaudio/support

With the Flagstaff Bike Challenge set to launch in mere days, Flagstaff County Communications Coordinator Cary Castagna picks up some savvy cycling advice from Bill Kropinske, owner of the Hardisty-area Grizzly Country bike shop.

Episode Highlights: Hear how the welcoming and engaged community of Veloclub is fueling their membership growth  Abby Mickey shares her personal story against inequality in cycling and as a female journalist  Learn how Youtube as a channel is helping build an audience excited about women’s racing Description: I’ve been a long time follower of Cycling Tips and became even more of a fan when Abby Mickey, retired professional cycling and extraordinary journalist joined the team. Abby brings a beautiful narrative touch and has such a strong sense of storytelling that it makes every story richer and offers a point of differentiation. I was absolutely thrilled to host her as my guest on this episode of Channel Mastery. During our interview, Abby shares the story of joining the team at Cycling Tips as Associate Editor and the negative response from some of the audience members. This unwarranted feedback was sent to her via email, comments on podcasts and articles or directly to the Editor in Chief.  She also shares how the community of Cycling Tips membership, Veloclub is highly engaged, loyal and quickly expanding. You’ll also hear how Youtube is becoming a channel important to women in cycling. Abby was born and raised in the mountains of Colorado. Until college she was a ski racer but once at the University of Colorado Boulder she discovered the world of bikes. She participated in mountain and road racing until she graduated from school with a degree in History. Afterwards she pursued a professional career in road racing and competed in Europe and the USA until 2019 when she hung up her race bike. Now she is an Associate Editor at CyclingTips. She focuses on covering the women’s professional peloton through writing and also on her podcast, Freewheeling.

Flashpoint MOVMNT is a collective of four riders with a mission of making cycling more inclusive and diverse. Hear from two of the athletes Andrew Jackson and Amanda Schaper.

In this episode, you will learn: I'm so excited to answer your question about what I would like you, the listener, want to hear. And as a bonus, I'll tell you some tips on how riders should pack their bicycle bag while out riding!

For 25 years Mike Berry has been supporting pro racers in road and cross events. As one of the only mechanics who provides support in the men's and women's fields on the World Cup circuit, his experience and knowledge is unparalleled. In this show, we get a look at his relationship with Curtis along with a deeper understanding one of the most difficult jobs in pro racing. Instagram and Twitter: @curtisjwhite & @mikeberrymech Mike's article in Cycling Tips. Curtis' YouTube Channel.  Email Curtis questions: inthered@curtisjwhite.com  

Pete Stetina and Colin Strickland join to talk about the new age gravel training camp and the new Wahoo Frontiers film Lost Coast.

In this episode, you will learn: Talking a look at the symptoms of Overtraining and how Burnout can be right around the corner.

If this is something that interests you, please let me know: Brendan@EVOQ.BIKE On our EVOQ Coaches call, we realized that we often go down some worm holes (that I haven't been recording; shame on me), and Craig made a great point: maybe we want to open this up to others? We'd select a topic, you bring a question, or you just come and listen. We set aside one hour, and we talk training and racing. This is just a concept as of now, but I think it could be really awesome. Stay tuned, and let us know if you're into this. https://youtu.be/chLgtqcBSBo

*BONUS* Abigail Mickey is a journalist from Cycling Tips. Today Abby and I spoke did not speak a word of cycling. This episode was sparked from the news of Deadpool finally joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) for its third installation, Deadpool 3. This is a super fun bonus episode, it does not disappoint. Enjoy!

In this episode you will learn: So many people are training on trainers this winter. What are the ideal tools for a beginner?

In this episode, you will learn: At the age of 65 Patricia Konantz is dominating in Mountain Bike and Cyclo-Cross. Age is just a number!

13. In this episode, you will Learn: 5 Top Cycling Intentions you can use to reach your goals. Cycling Tips from Coach Sylvie

In this episode, you will learn about Robert Toney. Bobby has been giving out FREE REFURBISHED KIDS bikes to his community in his daughter's memory. Watch the interview LIVE on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SylvieDAoustWorkoutsCyclingCoaching

cyclingtips.com despite sounding like a beginners guide, is in fact one of the most interesting cycling media platforms of the moment. Including traditional racing coverage, in depth reportage and superb tech content and a successful and engaged Membership subscription to help to pay for it all, the Veloclub. cyclingtips.com/veloclub-welcome-page/Their weekly podcast is a mainstay for many people’s engagement with the cycling world and has sprouted equally entertaining offshoots, such as Sean’s favourite, the Nerd Alert tech pod. cyclingtips.com/tag/nerd-alert/Sean chat’s to Caley Fretz, editor-in-chief about his background in cycling, how Cycling Tips found it’s unique voice and a few small topics such as diversity and corruption in cycle sport!Click to view: show page on Awesound

Faith and Val chat about their bike moments, jacarandas, Moreland BUGs AGM, deaths of bicycle delivery riders in Sydney, lack of commitment for active transport in the 2020-21 Victoria State Budget and Iain Treloars article "The dictator, the oligarch and the UCI president" published by Cycling Tips. Events include Abbotsford Cycles Swap meet on 19 December and opening of the Farren Collection afterwards and Melbourne Durt recommencing weekly rides.

Full blog: https://www.evoq.bike/blog/masters-cycling-training Email: Brendan@EVOQ.BIKE Cat 4 Questions: https://www.evoq.bike/blog/cat-4-questions Master’s Cycling is an awesome group of athletes. Massive kudos to everyone raising families and running businesses yet still carving the time out each week to train. Whether you are completing your first Gran Fondo or going for a Master’s National Championship, YOU ARE AN ATHLETE and that’s awesome. While we often view the P/1/2 race as the big race of the day, Master’s 35+ and 40+ are a different beast. Not only do you have skilled racers that oftentimes are competitive in P/1/2 cycling races, but you have a pool of experience that sometimes doesn’t exist in the Elite races. This is obviously not always the case, but I first experienced this while attending the Southeast Regional Road Championships outside of Atlanta, GA. It was an amazing weekend because there were so many “adults” out there absolutely shredding, with really good race craft, and a respect for each other that we all had lives to go back to when the race was over. I was one of the babies, at 37 years of age then, and it’s so inspiring to see guys 5-10 years older dropping watt bombs and you’re feverishly throwing grenades back at their camp. FULL ON BATTLE ENSUED. While master’s cyclists often come to me and say, “Oh I won’t beat that PR from 7 years ago”, I laugh, and more times than not, we absolutely destroy it. How? The tools, cycling training techniques and computer algorithms that we have today are so much more effective that what was used 10 years ago, or when this cyclist was in their “hayday”. There’s also this idea that we are supposed to get slower. I’m not picking fun at the non-athletes, but look at our society. Many adults get slower because we add weight through poor dieting, we consume a lot of sugar and alcohol, and our lives our solely focused on our children; we forget to take care of our bodies and get fatter instead of faster. I truly believe you can be your Fastest Right Now. Here are my tips for all of us aging cyclists that still want to be fast! Continue Proper Training Schedules: Periodize and Rest Lift Heavy Keep The Cycling Training Intensity High Get Personal With Your Recovery Routine Eat Like An Athlete Range of Motion and Stretching, Queue Yoga! Be Competitive Crosstrain In The Non Race Season Have FUN! Your Tips I’m a baby master, what are your tips that you’d like to share? Please email me and let me know, and I’ll update the blog with some recommendations.

The first of our brand new series, we get some insightful stories and tips from up and coming racer Red Walters on how to get picked up by teams and win races.Red is a perfect model for modern cycling on both attitude and marketing.

In this show a bunch of rad cycling tips. From why confidence is key to peak performance (and how to build yours) to when you should ignore your coach.Find hours of more cycling podcasts at semiprocycling.com.

Ive been racing road and xc bikes since 1997. Most of the tips that apply to racers apply to noobs from day 1. These are some tips not many people know or those who do know wont care to share with you for various reasons. Enjoy!

A look back so that you Do Better Than My Pro JMSR 2019. Just wasn't prepared for this type of event and got SHELLED last year. Take some tips with you so that you do better than I did! www.evoq.bike/blog brendan@EVOQ.BIKE

Co-host of the excellent Cycling Tips and Nerd Alert podcasts, James has covered so many tech topics to such a depth we wanted to find out more about the man behind the mic and keyboard and thrash out a few topics that we hope you’ll find as fascinating as we do.Click to view: show page on Awesound

30ish minutes of very little editing and the best podcast audio on the planet.We discuss the plan ahead, and what we're doing to stay sane.

Casual floor audio with added catTopics include:Same old CX chatSam's crapy bikeBetting is backHarry has given up cyclingPete's peakedFailed season goalsA failed game

Marshall Opel is an author, podcaster, racer and journalist for Cycling Tips. We got to chat with Marshall about his summer living in a van and attending gravel events all over the US, which he’ll be doing again in 2020. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adventureaudio/support

This week we speak with @cyclingtips, Chief Gravel Correspondent / Man in a Van / Gravel racer, Marshall Opel about his 2019 gravel tour and take-aways from the numerous great gravel events he attended over the year. Cycling Tips Website Cycling Tips Instagram Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos. Good day everyone, and welcome to the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig Dalton. This week on the pod we've got Marshall Opal, he's the chief gravel correspondent for cycling tips and last summer he went on a journey all around the United States racing gravel races out of a van. He was affectionately known as the man in the van. What's awesome about Marshall's experience last year was that not only did he get to experience all these phenomenal races that we'll get into in the podcast, but because he was camping out in his van, he really got a sense of the community in these events, which is something I think we all look at when choosing gravel events. We want to go somewhere that the racing is going to be fun, the terrain's going to be awesome, but the community's there. That's really the big draw. That's why it's so worth traveling outside your comfort zone and outside your local area to get into one of these races. Because the community, it's just fun to hang out and meet people. And what better way to do it then spending your time in the van and driving between races and just taking advantage of everything the local community has to offer. Marshall's a talented racer in his own right. So he got to experience some of the front end excitement in the race, but also that deep level of community across the country. So I was super stoked to meet Marshall down in Bentonville at the end of the year at the big sugar gravel reveal and talk to him about his opinions on where gravel's going, where it's been, how do we keep it fun and awesome. So I really looked forward to recording this interview with Marshall and I hope you enjoy it. So with that, let's dive right in. And Marshall, welcome to the show. Craig. Thanks for having me. I am stoked to talk about the endless summer of gravel you had in 2019. But before we get started, let's explain to the listener a little bit about your background and how you came to riding bikes off road. I grew up in Montana, so a lot of our riding is off road in the first place. But yeah, we used to have a, a road race called the Rocky mountain route Bay and that had a gravel section on a circuit. And I remember it being, you know, Oh, it's a off road race. I'm gonna put 20 fives on. And so it was very much riding road bikes on, on dirt and gravel. And it's only been pretty recently that I have gotten in this, the new wave gravel. I would say I did Belgium Walsall rod in 2016 and I did the way for that year and that was, I would say that was when I really started to see the, the new gravel movement. And you'd spent a couple of pretty intense Years in as a junior and later as an older, a rider racing on the road. Right? Yeah. I was determined to be a European professional road cyclist from the time I was like 12. I was like, Oh, this is definitely going to happen. And I'm, I chase that pretty hard. Dropped out of college and lived in a campground in Brittany France and raced for a French team and spent some time with the U S you train three national team and you know, looking back it was cool that I chased, chased the dream to that level, but I also, it was, it was an opportunity where I kind of realized that I needed to make adjustments for for myself that that wasn't going to be for me to be a full time pro cyclist. And I never really left the bike world though. I became a bike tour guide and then I got a job at Rafa. And now I'm sort of in the cycling journalism world and so bikes have never left. But the racing is, has evolved quite a bit. That makes sense. And the equipment has as well. So your, your role at at cycling tips puts you basically on the road, I would say beyond the summertime. It looks like you started out in April last year when all the way through October on this this gravel journey where you were living in a van part of the time and traveling around to some of the country's biggest and most diverse gravel events just to name a few Belgian waffle ride, dirty Kanza, the moots ranch rally crusher in the Tuscher, Steamboat gravel grinder row. You were really all over the place. And one of the things we're always exploring in this podcast is just sort of the, the regional nature of the feel of riding on gravel. And I thought when I met you, who better to co kind of comment about that than someone who's been across all these events all across the country this year? Yeah. You know, I did gravel events in small event in Northern California. I was riding gravel out in Northern Vermont and the Midwest dirty Kansas. So I definitely got a good perspective on the state of gravel in the U S in 2019 and yeah, stoked to share some thoughts. So when you were traveling, were you, were you modifying your equipment based on what was in front of you in any given course? I think that's one of the fun things about gravel is that there is like a, a conversation about what's the best equipment for, for an event. And I don't think you necessarily have that in traditional road cycling. But yeah, it was fun. I worked with Donnelley tires. It was fun to always be wondering what tire to use and I didn't really have to do too much with, I wrote a, a Niner gravel bike and you know, it was, it was a great bike all year. And so the only real adjustment I was making was my tires. Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, there is a, obviously a plethora of equipment choices out there and I always want to be the first to say, ride what you got. It's going to work in most of these events and then it's fine tuning from there. I think if you're in the front end of this sphere, you have to sort of think about, you know, do I want to go a narrower, faster tire? But usually for most people it's stick with what you got, get some nice, comfortable to you, rubber on there and just hit it. That's, so I definitely, it took me this season to learn, you know, like I said, when I was first road racing, when I was seriously road racing, I was on 21 tubulars like pinner little tires and I brought a lot of that sort of road mentality into gravel. Like, you know what, I was riding 32 [inaudible] at Steamboat gravel, which was nuts. I, you know, it took me the year though to realize every time I went with a bigger tire, I never once regretted it. And I think for anyone listening for almost everyone in gravel events, I just so wholeheartedly recommend, bigger is better when it comes to tires. I think there's probably a limit there, but if you're trying to optimize for gravel event and thinking about going with a smaller tire, I just, I don't see that being a smart choice for almost beyond the, like you said, the very pointy end of a race. Even those guys. Ted King was, was never on smaller than I think 36. And so yeah, those, Ted had mentioned that in my conversation with him as well. He's like, I've never regretted going fatter on the tires and it, I mean, it makes sense. I think there's, there probably is an edge to that as you said. I mean, if you're racing a salsa cutthroat 29 to four, you're probably a little bit got a bigger weapon than you needed for Steamboat gravel for example. But stick in that, you know, the 700 by 40 category and you're pretty good, you're still still fast. But you know, if you're a middle of the pack rider, you can still plow through plenty of stuff comfortably. Exactly. I think between 35 and 42 is sort of the sweet spot. Yeah. Yeah. And then depending on where you live, I mean, I, I'm a broken record on my six 50 B 40 sevens here in Marin County, but that's just what I have in front of me. Well, that's sort of my next step is I just I was in a revolve wheel launch this fall and it was actually the first time that I rode six fifties on gravel. And so I'm a new to that world and I liked I was on I think a 46 or 48. And yeah, it was great. And like, so every time I've stepped up to a little bigger tire, I'm like, Nope, this is even better. So I think next year I might be messing around with six 50 and even bigger tires. Yeah, you think about it, you and I, you and I met up in Bentonville this year pre-writing, the big sugar gravel course, and I brought 700 by forties with me thinking, Oh, this is going to be sort of more Midwest ms Midwestern style, rolling Hills and gravel and I won't need something big. And I left thinking that when I come back in 2020 probably ride six 50 B just so I just don't have to think about it on those chunky Rocky gravel roads they have in Arkansas. I've heard people say that six 50 B, we'll soon, it's in a couple of years it'll be this standard for gravel. So I think that's interesting to note where we are now and I'm in a couple of years. It might even be just that. That's, that's the norm. Yeah. And hopefully that'll push course design a little bit as well. So shifting to that, you know, as you sort of traveled across the country that you've obviously participated in a wide variety of events from, you know, like a Belgian waffle ride, which really demands a big road skillset to stay at that front of that race with a majority from a mileage perspective being on road, obviously the off road portion often dictates who's going to win or lose. You've got that, you've got crusher in the Tuscher, which is very road off-road, mixed terrain. And then you've got something like Kanza and I dunno, maybe Steamboat gravel, which is majority dirt. How do you think about those different courses and what were your experiences, you know, sort of in the front end of those races? Well, I don't know that I was always in the front end. I was in, I was lucky enough to be up there sometimes. I like the mixture of road off road. It feels so cool to get on pavement after you've been on a big section of, of gnarly gravel. It's like, you know, tarmacs never felt so good. And so that's a fun experience. But you know, something that I questioned with that is just these gravel events all of them that I've done have been on open roads. And when you get big groups of riders on open paved roads I just worry about that. Especially when there's a competitive nature to the, the ride. So I would prefer that these events stay as rural as possible and away from as many cars as possible. So usually that means majority dirt. And so I, I think the, as the sport evolves, I think it will just stay more and more gravel. Did you see, you know, on the events that had a mix of road and, but a mix literally mixed into the mileage. So my understanding of Belgian waffle ride is it's a lot of road up front and then the bigger off-road sections. But I'm curious like how the tactics evolve when you hit road sections in the middle of the course, if people tend to group up and that becomes a big differentiator between you're either in a pack or you're not in a pack. Yeah, I mean at a ride like Belgian waffle, if you're alone and you hit the road, if there's a group within sight you know, that's, you have to make an important decision there to either buckle down and try to close that gap. Or what I actually recommend is taking a break, you know, get off your bike and take a pee, grab some food and get in the next group. I think people, you know, these rides are so long. I think you'd be, I'd be surprised if you regretted that decision. And that's what I did a lot this year. If I was, even if I was in a group that, that I was, it was too hard for me. There were a lot of times where I'd, I'd eat food, take a stretch. And then, you know, in traditional road racing, when you get dropped from the group you're in, your sort of, your only goal is to get back in that group. But in gravel it's like you, there's just another, you just hop right in this next group and it's a whole new group of people to chat with. And I was one of my favorite aspects of gravel. So I'm remembering a moment of great regret and grind Duro where a riding buddy of mine was futsing with something right before the road section and a big group rode by us and we clearly didn't leave in time to join it. And he's like, no, no, no, let's chase. And I agreed and it was a horrible mistake and we just chased the entire road section where, and then when we stopped at the lunch stop, we realized there was a group of 40 that came in about a minute later that we could have [inaudible]. Yeah, totally. Yeah. It's I think that's one of the most interesting aspects of gravel. I think it shouldn't be overlooked that, you know, I spent a lot of time as a road racer getting dropped. I think a lot of road racers experience that and you, you're dropped from the group and it's like your day is over and that's just not the case in gravel. And you, you had these really nice chance to reset and rejoin a group and I think that's the best. Yeah. And I think you can even generalize that point even further for the listener who maybe hasn't signed, ever signed up for a gravel event. You literally can start with the top pros that are racing this sport and all your friends and lots of people you've never met and you toe the line with them and you're going to drop back. It's going to separate it, but it's rare you're ever riding by yourself and you always will have an adventure in these well-designed events and it's going to be a great day out. And you don't really, I find personally like I have no concept of where I am in the race. I just have a concept that I'm enjoying myself. Well that's because where you are, the race is pretty irrelevant. The relevant thought is yeah, how am I doing? How am I, have I been eating? Am I looking around? Am I enjoying this? Am I chatting with people? Like you could, that's totally you. You hit it spot on that there is no single narrative of the race. I mean, people will talk about the winners, but with an all day experience, it's so individual. There just, there isn't a a need to compare yourself versus a group that's an hour in front of you or three hours behind you or whatever. You're just all out there on the bike. Yeah, and I think there's a, there's an interesting parallel for me too. My experience is mountain biking where you know, you go to a place like bend, Oregon and you, you ride there awesome trail systems and you finish a section and you just want a high five and hug the person next to you even if you don't know him. And gravel has those elements. And you know, that's one of the things that I, I hope course designers always keep in mind. I don't want it to be just as a straight up a contest of who has the most horsepower. We want skill to be involved and we want the writers to push themselves out of their comfort zone. So for some it may be, you know, riding a, a steep paved or sorry. Yeah, you know, off road fire, road climb, that may be, it's a pure test of skill. But for others that may be a Rocky single track section that they, they've never experienced anything like on a drop bar bike. Yeah, clear the line. It was fun at grind dura this year, you know, the, the final climb was just a beast and people were off walking. But then if you were able to ride it, everyone was cheering you on. And I love that. It's like we're all just out here playing bikes and I'm celebrating the effort From your, your 2019 calendar. Are there a couple events that really stood out as being awesome and can't miss? I would spit. A lot of people have asked me that question and I keep going back to the Oregon trail gravel stage race outside of bend. That was a five day point-to-point race and I would really I'm excited to see more events of that style where you're out for multiple days. Something changes within the individual. And I think within the group when you're a few days into it's like, it's the feeling that you have at the end of a gravel ride where people are high five in and smiles and hugs and laughter, but then you just get to do it again the next day and it just, it grew and, and by the end it felt like there's like a little family and I didn't want to say goodbye to people. It was so fun. So that was definitely a major highlight. And I think I'm surprised that there aren't more events already like that. I thought, I thought you might say that. And we did interview Chad Sperry earlier on about the Oregon trail gravel grinder before the event had actually happened. And I hear ya. I have done a couple you know, week long mountain bike stage races where they were moving tents every night and there's a sense of community and really this sense of adventure that's unlocked in a way that a single day race can't touch. Absolutely. Yeah. If there's something special about it, it's the same feeling you'd get if you do a river trip or those multi-day, you sort of feel almost like, I think it may be taps into something primal for us. And we're like these nomadic creatures moving along. It's just a very it's a fun way to spend a few days with, with other great people. I highly recommend it for anyone considering their calendar of 2020 for a stage race. Absolutely. And I mean similar, I'd similarly recommend just the concept of bike packing, whether it's going hotel to hotel or carrying your own stuff. Just the idea of pointing your bike in a direction and going is so good for the soul. Yup. Yeah. And this is like this bike packing. Totally. There's something special too about, you know, having your, just your stuff for the day and your bike. It's really nice to ride without gear. Your bike just handles so much better. You, you F you can climb better. And so the, the experience is just, it's such a delight. I guess. It's a treat to not have to carry all your stuff and just makes the riding that much more special. Yeah, exactly. And then you get a course like the Oregon trail gravel grinder that is taking you into real wilderness. You get so much deeper in than you ever could have in a one day race obviously. And you get this just this massive adventure all under the guise of racing your gravel bike With a bunch of other people. And that's the real, you know, anyone can go out and ride the Oregon trail route for free whenever they want and they should. That's, people should be doing these events with friends on non-event day. But I think something that's so special is the people that you end up meeting at these events is really what makes it, you do it because everyone else is there. Yeah. And you, there's this unique thing where you might show up with your friends to start a race like that, but at the end of the day, the, each terrain and your individual ability levels are going to dictate where you sit. And it's this great opportunity that you find other people at your exact talent level that you just sort of randomly run into every day and they become your riding buddies even though you'd never met them before. It's such a cool thing when I guess the combination of when you find someone that you ride with well and then you also find out that you can jam conversationally. It's, that's one of the best things. It's like there's something magic there. It's it's very special, no doubt about it. So you've been involved in the gravel scene for a number of years, both as an athlete and a journalist. The last few years we've seen a lot of professional road athletes start to either dip their toe or embrace fully these quote unquote alternative calendars. What do you think about the influence of these new pros, perhaps big name pros from the roadside of sport jumping in? Is it, is it a risk of changing gravel? Is it a, is it a net positive? Actually, it's great. I think no one at the New York city marathon is bummed that the fastest runners in the world are up front. Trying to break world records. And I think that that atmosphere at big running marathons is it helpful for it? It's just like these are the best athletes in the world doing their, their craft at a level that's, that's truly remarkable and I think that it serves to inspire the rest of the field. So I, I'm full favor of having pros at these gravel events. So, you know, obviously there's such great mass participation numbers emerging with gravel and you have these events that are selling out lickety split. I wonder how the sponsorship model is going to change because I think it would be a shame to sort of imagine the team in iOS of gravel coming in with a massive war chest of money and hiring, you know, literally the, you know, the best 10 athletes and gravel and sort of dominating the scene. What do you think, how do you think the sort of sponsorship dollars are gonna flow and what would be a sustainable model for gravel to kind of envision? Well I hope That that doesn't happen. And if it does almost sort of feel like we've been down that road with other aspects of cycling that have grown and then receded. I think gravel is just fundamentally a different game. And I think success in large tr in like a, on a macro level for, for gravel comes from focusing on the everyday rider. The person that invests in a gravel bike and goes out with their buddies and does some rides, maybe does a backpacking trip, enters an, I think that's the focus. And if we start seeing gravel teams and tactics, and I mean, maybe that will happen, but I don't think that to me is nearly as interesting as, you know, when we saw, what was it, 16,000 people trying to sign up for big sugar. That's, that's where we're, that's the interesting part of gravel these days. Yeah, I think, you know, it's interesting as someone who sort of tries to put it two or three big events on the calendar, for me that means it keeps me honest in my training and you know, I have to stay focused to stay fit and healthy to get to the start line. Yeah, it's, it's, it's great for the industry because it gets me out on my bike. It's not like, you know, I had a year of doing crits for example. I didn't really think too much about it. I could just show up to a crit and do it and my sort of weekly fitness was, was fine. But with these gravel events, you really just need to put your equipment through the tests, through your body, through the test, and that leads to more purchasing decisions. You're going to go through tires, maybe you're going to think about things differently in terms of your equipment set up. So it does have all these positive elements for the bike industry as a whole. Sure. And there's been so much great innovation in the bike industry around the gravel world. And I think that's only gonna continue. And so it's fun as a consumer. I think the bike industry loves it. It's yeah, I wonder, I guess how far can we innovate at the end of the day? These are just, it's a bike going across a, a rough road. I guess the next big question with the bike industry is E bikes in these gravel events. Yeah. And I, I, I want to say I've witnessed one or two sort of sitting in there that that could be a warm hole that we may or may not want to go down. Yeah. Well it's a, it's a wormhole for the future cause I think it's not going to go away. It's e-bikes are, you know, they're not, they're everywhere in Europe. They're coming to the U S they're coming to gravel line and you're going to see an E an E category in each. I think each main frame that these big manufacturers are going to have a, they're going to have a regular, what do people call them? Analog bikes and an e-bike version of, of every bike they make. Yeah, I suspect you're right. And I, you know, I'm certainly one that I don't begrudge people who need help to get out there and experience the wilderness to get the help they need. Hm. Yeah. I will stay away from the rabbit hole. Yeah. I wonder if there's other, other sort of mass participation models that the industry needs to be looking towards. Like marathoning you mentioned earlier to kind of see the, of How we can continue to grow and have it so that, you know, of the 16,000 people that were trying to register for that race and how do we actually get more of them to safely participate in these races so they can have the experiences? Yeah. Well, I think part of it is celebrating the effort and you know, gravel is these, these events are long and difficult and there's nothing like having that beer at the end of a, of a long, hard day on the bike. There's something so rewarding about it. And I think to try to think that gravel is just for fun and just it's like you have to continue to, I guess celebrate that it's difficult and that, you know, running a marathon is difficult and that's why people are there. And instead of, I guess making that seems to Epic, it's like you can just embrace that, Hey, this is gonna be physically challenging and and yeah, I signed up for it and here I am. And that's just accepting that that's part of the experience. And it's actually part of what makes it feel so rewarding at the end. Yeah, absolutely. And that's something that all event organizers need to kind of be conscious of. You know, you, you want to embrace someone who wants to ride a short route. But I do think, you know, the marquee level events should all all be long enough that it's a day long test of your fortitude and adventure and strength. It's really interesting actually. Yeah. As these, you know, a lot of these bigger events have a 30 or a 50 mile, which I'm not here to say that we shouldn't be trying to get as many new people in the sport, and maybe that means doing, you know, a shorter event, but you don't see that at a marathon. Yeah, that's a big marathon. They don't have the little or aK category, or at least I don't think they do. Yeah, that's a good point. I hadn't thought about that. You do see it in the ultra marathon scene where you might have, you know, a 10 K at 20 K and a 50K and a hundred K on the same course. Yes. Umut it is, it is interesting to think about. I, I think someone mentioned to me, like, for them it was great because their partner could come and show up and do an event that met their ability level and it meant they could come on that trip versus being excluded from a trip. You know, one thing that I think is important, so here's, here's my take. These shorter distance events are rad. Umnd they're important in getting new people in the door. I don't think that they should have awards and podiums and metals and that just shouldn't. To me, this is again, my opinion. Umhat's not the focus. I don't even think that should be the focus in the, in the, in the long events. But especially getting people interested. I just, I dunno, I th I think it, it leads us down a road. We've already traveled in the road racing sphere mountain bike racing just traditional racing and focusing on podiums and results in awards, I think isn't how we stoke this fire the best going forward. Yeah, I'm certainly hoping we do not evolve to having short track gravel racing. Some might call that cyclocross, right? That is, that is actually just another word for cyclocross. But I could see, you know, what if they had a, a fun night race before the event that was on a, on a short, you know, like there, there could be a, you know, gravel's gonna continue a format. It doesn't have gravel, doesn't have to be this hundred, 150, 200 mile all day. Schlog it's gonna evolve and there's going to be little niche events and all sorts of different styles. So I think we'll see that actually coming from going forward. It'll be interesting. I remember sort of racing mountain bikes back, back at Mount snow and they had sort of even random community driven events during the Norman national weekend where they, they, they even had a naked parking lot. Correct. Yeah. I, yeah, I think those, those style of riots are fun and just keeping them low key, keeping it about connection, celebrating the bike, just there it is. It's, it's fun first with those and then you can have sort of the all day suffer fast where the fun is in just accomplishing this, this big, this big goal and you know, overcoming the day. But I think those less Epic events matter as well. Yeah. I think Jeremiah Bishop said something that I think is t-shirt worthy, which is keep gravel weird. Yeah, totally. That's something worthwhile. So you're, you're actually, you've got another big year ahead of you in 2020. What are your plans and what are you most excited to do? You know, it's funny, I going into 20, 20, I was thinking I would really like to do more low key small events. Last year I was at kind of all these main events. And I, it looks now there's just, there's so many big successful, well-run events that I can't not go to them and it art, it almost just filled up my whole calendar. So I think, I think maybe if and when this endless gravel is no longer endless, I'll look forward to doing some smaller, more local events. But yeah, I'll be at sort of all the main gravel events of the season. Starting off. Yeah. Yeah. Are you looking to sort of follow a similar path where you're, you're spending a lot of time in the van Between events? I'll be out in the van and it's actually, I'm really looking forward to being, I missed the van already and yeah, I'm looking forward to being back Back out there. Fun. Well, hopefully you'll have to find some smaller events in between point a and point B that you can hit to kind of break up the drive and fill your quotient. [inaudible] Yeah. And I really think that's where you find that weirdos of gravel is that small events and sort of off beaten places. That's where there's the soul of gravel is still very much intact and you don't see, you know, big sponsor expos and fancy finish line presentations. It's just a bunch of people out riding bikes and maybe drink a beer afterwards. So are you saying, Can I have a finish line without a pump up banner and big flags? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Well, right on Marshall. Thanks. I appreciate spending the time talking to me and I, you know, I appreciate your perspective on gravel in the future and am looking forward to following your journey across the States this summer. Yeah. Craig, thank you. And thanks for what you're doing. I think it's important to keep these conversations about gravel going and I think answering questions, helping people. I think all of us that are in the gravel community right now that are fired up and stoked and have gravel bikes and gear, it's our duty to spread this to people that might be, that are on the verge of, of interest and to say, Hey, this could be for you. Invite people out for a ride, invite people to sign up for an event. This is how we grow the sport. And I think it, it's, it's everyone that's already in it that already understands how cool it is. I'm saying, Hey, this is, this is for more people to do it. So I'm excited to keep doing that. I think you're doing that and to all the listeners out there I hope that it's the same. So let's stoke the fire Right on. I think that's a great takeaway. Thanks, Marshall. Yeah, great. Thank you. Thanks again to Marshall for joining the pod this week. What an awesome journey he had in 2019. And what an exciting year he's got planned in 2020. Definitely check out his musings, his writings. He's a great writer and it's got great contacts in the sport, so I encourage you to follow him on social media channels and check out his work over at cycling tips in this week's can't let it go. I wanted to talk a little bit about good rain gear. It's been a wet winter here in Northern California and I was really fortunate to have invested in some great rain gear. In many ways this goes hand in hand with a previous, can't let it go about gravel bags because when she have a bag on your bike you can just shove rain gear in and have it there. In case of an emergency. I've been riding in some Gore gear, which has been phenomenal. I can't believe how compressible these jackets are. You can get it into a pocket or into one of these small bags pretty easily and they double up nicely as an extra layer coming off the mountain. So what I've found is I've just been leaving it in my frame bag and anytime I get to the top of a climb, I'm just pulling on that jacket, whether it's raining or shining. Just keeping that extra warm thin, which has been awesome. But in the rain, you know, these shake dry jackets have been phenomenal in that you literally can stay dry in a downpour, which has been amazing and super useful, at least in my commuting lifestyle. So whether it's this year or next year, definitely put that on your list of gear that you want to get. I can't recommend having a nice lightweight rain jacket in your arsenal of gravel gear. As always, I appreciate you listening. If you're wondering what you can do to help support the podcast rating and reviews are incredibly helpful in discovery. It doesn't take much time and five-star reviews really go a long way in spreading the word. So I'd love it if you could take a moment and do that for me this week. As always, I welcome your feedback. Hit me up on social media channels or directly craig@thegravelride.bike. Until next time, here's to finding some dirt under your wheels.

Neal Rogers has been a cycling journalist for nearly twenty years, writing for publications such as VeloNews (where he was Editor in Chief), Global Cycling Network, and Cycling Tips. Throughout his career he's covered some of the biggest races and interviewed some of the most famous riders in the world. In this conversation, he discusses his unusual path into cycling journalism, the riders he most enjoyed interviewing, tough decisions about picking truth over friendship, the journalistic intricacies of when NOT to go live with information, and why he's feeling ready to move beyond cycling. Notably, he also shares a story of confronting the yellow jersey wearer at the 2007 Tour de France with a doping allegation, and how that question proved the beginning of the end for the rider. Lastly, Payson and Neal discuss how the efforts of journalists to expose the truth have helped today's pros enjoy a cleaner sport. 

I was reading an article on Cycling Tips about Dr. David Spindler and how he helps pro cyclists in the peloton most notably the former Dimension Data team.His interview was full of insight in what it was like to work with athletes at the highest level, with their needs and wants against their struggles with normal life.The idea of how much we as cyclists ignore out mental state as we grind through training and racing really hits home. Especially when you have responsibilities. Take a listen and think about taking care of your mind as begin your 2020 season.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Freebooter)

In Episode 020 of Bike Tour Adventures, I have the chance to get to know Chris Bennett, a 60 year-old Canadian who settled in New Zealand to escape the Canadian winters. As an engineer working for the World Bank, he has lived and worked in over 34 countries. After completing an Ironman race on every continent, except Antarctica, he shifted to self-supported ultra-endurance bicycle racing. He was attracted to the ‘purity’ of these races where it is just you and your bike trying to get from point A to B as quickly as possible without outside support. Among his races are the Tour Divide from Canada to Mexico, the Transcontinental across Europe, to Istanbul, and most recently the North Cape – Tarifa from Norway to Spain.Links to Chris' websites can be found by clicking my Episode 020 link below.Follow me at…EPISODE 020: http://biketouradventures.com/episode-020/WEBSITE: http://www.biketouradventures.com YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPQl_pNcMZA-hHckhVrpmaw FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/biketouradventures/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bike_tour_adventures/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/BikeTourAdv ITUNES: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bike-tour-adventures/id1464406852 Show Notes~ 50 sec       Intro to Episode 20 with Chris Bennett~ 2 min        About Chris' sport history and what got him touring~ 3m 30s     From running to triathlon, triathlon to ironman, ironman to ultra-distance cycling~ 8 min        Training and preparing for ultra-distance cycling events~ 18 min      Why ultra-distance cyclists are usually older, managing work and a racing schedule, and sleeping in cemeteries~ 23 min      How ultra-distance cycling is different from traditional bike racing~ 27 min      What he used to race off-road and on-road ultra-distance events, ultra-distance road bike geometry and Shermer's neck.~ 33 min      Finding the right bike seat, why he uses electronic shifting, and managing component failure during a race~ 37 min      Bike set-up, types of racers, equipment, nutrition~ 46 min      Preparing for the Northcape-Tarifa ultra-distance cycling race and cost for such an event~ 52 min      What gear he packed for this race and keeping motivated during the event~ 57 min      Music, fuelling the body, being vegetarian~ 1 hr           Challenges, mechanical issues, dealing with wild dogs~ 1h 8m       Best part of ultra-endurance cycling events, worst moments~ 1h 16m     What's next for Christ Bennett and where to find him

Season 2 starts with a bang. With better production, better sound quality and better chat. Topics include: Murray Walker Harry's floppy knees Road cycling swear jar 3 Peaks cyclocross Pooing with Lachlan Morton Gravel chaser 3 2 Become 1 is back

We go deep into the rabbit hole about binge eating in this podcast. It is audio from a video I made here in Chumphon Thailand. Home of the worlds best mangosteens.

On this weeks program Chris speaks to Dayna Andreussi and Cory Boardman from Brompton Junction in Carlton North about this Thursdays event:BROMPTON X CHPT3 2019 - Melbourne with David Millar, UK ex-pro cyclist and now UK Tour de France commentator and how Bromptons can open up transport possibilities beyond using a conventional bicycle.Local news includes The Age's editorial supporting City of Melbourne plans to close two city blocks to vehicles, and replace the road with space for cyclists and pedestrians, The Bikes of Wrath screening this Sunday 26 May at Cinema Nova, where five Australians attempt to cycle 2600kms from Oklahoma to California in honour of the westward migration undertaken by 'The Grapes of Wrath's' Joad family.Ian Treloar writes in Cycling Tips about "Waving at strangers: The bike that changed how I see cycling", a much-needed discussion of how cargo e-bikes can change a young families transport priorities. Programs ends with a cheery cocking a snook at the weekends federal election results with Peep Tempels "Rayguns"

Episode #176 (5/5) Tyler Hamilton Training Welcome Welcome to Episode #176 of the Mile High Endurance podcast.  You are listening to your weekly connection to coaches, experts and pro athletes to inspire and help you reach your endurance goals.  We are your hosts coach Rich Soares and 303 Chief Bill Plock.   Thanks for joining us for another week of endurance interviews and discussion.  Today we have coach Tyler Hamilton, Jim Capra and John Stickford.  As you know, Tyler Hamilton was a US Postal Service team, teammate of Lance Armstrong in 1999, 2000, and 2001.  Olympic games 2000 and 2004.  National road race champion in 2008.  Co-author of the 2012 The Secret Race.  We are talking to Tyler, Jim and John about Tyler Hamilton Training and their very individualized approach to cycling coaching. Thanks to last week's guest National champion cyclist, Denise Korenek on her record breaking feat of being the fastest sustained cycling speed of 184 mph.  We are going to talk about the inspiration, training, planning, engineering and nerves that it took to achieve that goal. Announcements: Go to  MileHighEndurancePodcast.com, click on the "subscribe" button, and you will get the newsletter with show notes and all the links and articles sent to you automatically every week. If you love the show, please consider making a donation of any amount by clicking the PayPal donate button at the bottom of the Podcast page.  If you are a coach or have something to share with an audience of endurance enthusiasts, please reach out and tell us about the topic you want to share. Don't forget the Park City, UT Sansego camp 05/30/19 - 06/02/19.  You can save $100 off the registration by using the code MHE100. https://intermountainhealthcare.org/Locations/Park-City-Hospital/Medical-Services/LiVe-Well-Center/High-Performance-Camp/ Sponsor - iKOR Labs: Today's show is supported by iKOR Labs.  iKOR is a clean, natural source of recovery enhancing CBD that protects your body from the stresses of training, improves recovery from intense efforts and helps you maintain a positive mental state. It is the most bio-available CBD product on the market, iKOR is a protective anti-oxidant and highly effective anti-inflammatory. It is used by world class professional athletes.  Save 20% by using the code "endurance" at checkout and consider saving even more by doing auto recurring order. Go to www.ikorlabs.com for more details. In Today's Show: Tyler Hamilton Training Video of the Week Training Discussion/Debate Articles News Rocky Mountain Tri Club Book Signing with Alex Hutchinson and Christie Aschwanden Upcoming interviews   Sponsor - Riplaces: Our interview is sponsored by Riplaces.  Riplaces are an elastic lace system that integrates a bungee loop with a plastic core to connect the loop in each eyelet of your running shoe.  The bungees come in 5 sizes to achieve custom tension for the perfect fit.  The bungees and the cores come in a variety of colors and styles to help you personalize your set. Or, you can choose the MHE logo package.  Pro triathlete proven and endorsed, use the code MHE25 to get that 25% discount.  Go to www.riplaces.com for more information, or go to the MHE Sponsor Discounts page by going to www.milehighendurance.com, or directly to https://www.riplaces.com/collections/mile-high-endurance   Interview Introduction: Tyler Hamilton is a retired professional American cyclist and founded Tyler Hamilton Training in 2009. A fierce competitor renowned among his peers for his endurance and tolerance for pain. Tyler raced professionally for 14 years and competed in 11 grand tours including the Tour de France eight times.  In 2012, he released his memoir, "The Secret Race," a riveting journey into the heart of a never-before-seen world which became a New York Times Bestseller.  Today, he spends his time between Boulder, Colorado & Missoula, Montana enjoying a slower paced life after pro racing. He enjoys hiking, skiing, yoga and bikepacking. Jim "Capo" Capra, brings a vast knowledge and hands-on expertise to Tyler Hamilton Training after years of training alongside Tyler.  Living in Tacoma, WA, and a CU Denver graduate, Jim enjoys the great outdoors, spending time with his sweetheart daughter Emma, and a house full of woofers. With a combination of a love for cycling, extensive coaching experience and a passion to motivate, Jim is the driving force behind THT's personalized approach and keeping clients on track to acheive their goals.    Sponsor - Halo Neuroscience: Our post interview discussion is sponsored by Halo Neuroscience.  The Halo Sport from Halo Neuroscience will help you learn the technique and form to get faster.  20 minutes of neural priming with the Halo Headset gives you an hour of neural plasticity to work and lock in the muscle movement that leads to strength, power and endurance. Use the code "MHE" at checkout to save an additional $20.  Pre order now and your regular price of $399 is $299.  Add the MHE code and your price is $279.    Tyler Hamilton Training Interview Discussion One thing we did not discuss was https://www.tylerhamiltontraining.com/tylers-training-tips Hematocrit numbers and how they decline over the physical demands of the Tour Using testosterone to get "healthy" How to climb How to warm up for a time trial Pedaling skills for time trialing    Video of the Week: How To Pedal | Cycling Technique Saddle height Core strength and stabilizing muscles Flexibility Still upper body 60 RPMs     "What's New in the 303": https://303cycling.com/may-is-national-bicycle-safety-month/ Rocky Mountain Tri Club Author Night with Alex Hutchinson "Endure" and Christie Aschwanden "Good to Go" Alex Hutchinson's book Endure about all aspects of endurance and Christie's book on all aspects of recovery. The each gave a 2 minute overview of their books (see 303triathon Facebook live post) and then took 15 minutes each to ask questions about each other's books. At the end they both got into a debate about hydration, which was topic common to both of their books.  Christie is a proponent of drink to thirst and being keenly aware of your thirst sensation and triggers. Both were skeptical of the commercialism of endurance and recovery products in the market I asked Christie about HRV as a reliable predictor of recovery and the accuracy of the commercial products in the market.  Bottom line is that it's not very reliable in her opinion, but you can add it to other methods of assessing your recovery.   Other News: Announcing USA Triathlon's Youth Scholarship Program  Dear Coaches, I’m proud to announce a youth scholarship program that USA Triathlon and the USA Triathlon Foundation will launch tomorrow in an effort to not only grow overall youth participation in multisport, but also to reduce barriers to entry for underserved youth. After kicking off the program with a special month-long promotion in May, we will continue to accept donations and distribute scholarships throughout the year. Your participation is important, as we need your help to identify youth athletes who may be scholarship candidates. During the month of May, for every USA Triathlon adult annual membership newly purchased or renewed, or for every current membership not set to expire that is extended by one year, the USA Triathlon Foundation will donate one youth digital membership to a deserving child. (Youth digital memberships include all of the standard USA Triathlon Youth Membership benefits, but without the delivery of printed materials by mail.) Our goal during this month-long “Buy One, Give One” initiative is to inspire 10,000 youth digital membership donations, which can be distributed to youth throughout the year. The scholarships awarded will be needs-based. Beyond May, the Foundation will maintain this youth membership donation page, where anyone can donate a membership for $10. As we roll out this initiative, I’m asking for your help in the following ways: Help us reach deserving youth: If you coach youth triathletes who may be candidates for this scholarship, or if you personally know an aspiring young athlete, please share this application form with them: https://forms.gle/r9MEn6TG4BQHHSqA9. Applicants will hear back from USA Triathlon within two weeks. Please note that if the applicant is planning to use the youth membership for an upcoming race, he or she must apply at least 30 days in advance of the race date. Encourage participation in May: This is an excellent opportunity to engage not only parents of youth triathletes, but also USA Triathlon adult members who may not otherwise be involved with our youth programming. Please share our press release about the “Buy One, Give One” promotion, which will be published on usatriathlon.org tomorrow morning. Encourage your network of triathletes to renew their memberships in May (if their membership does not expire in May, that’s okay — it will simply be extended for one year past the current expiration date).  -Rocky Harris, USAT CEO Upcoming Interviews: Running coach Andrew Simmons of Lifelong Endurance is joining us to talk about running coaching tips.  We can add coach Andrew to the long list of coaches who advocate lots of base work and some high end intensity.  His TrainingPeaks article Training in the Grey Zone: How to Avoid the Zone 3 Plateau is a read recommendation, but we are going to talk about it on the show. Coach Mikael Eriksson of Scientific Triathlon and "That Triathlon Show" podcast is joining us about training zones and how to make sure they are accurate and current.  With the context of the training (energy zones) we are going to talk about the importance of training volume in different training zones to achieve the right progressive overload and adaptations, and the many issues that can come from not executing the right training. Christie Aschwanden, author of "Good To Go".  Christie Aschwanden is science writer for FiveThirtyEight. She is also health columnist for The Washington Post.   She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, a contributing editor for Runner’s World and a former contributing writer for Bicycling.  She is co-host of EMERGING FORM, a podcast about the creative process. Aschwanden has a blog called "Last Word on Nothing".  A lifetime athlete, Christie has raced in Europe and North America on the Team Rossignol Nordic ski racing squad. She lives with her husband and numerous animals on a small winery and farm in western Colorado. (Read more about how she found her place in this Oprah Magazine essay.) In her spare time, she enjoys trail running, bicycling, skiing, reading novels, digging in the garden and raising heritage poultry. Justin Blalog - Film Shared Territory: Gravel Bike Across Iceland If there are any questions that you want to have asked of these amazing guests, DM on social media or email me at rich@milehighendurance.com.  Tell us your question and who it's for and we'll include it in the interview.  If you would like to remain anonymous, explain that or we'll give you credit for the question during the interview.  Eg, "this questions from listener, John Doe.   Closing: Please support our affiliate brands that support the show and help you get faster!  See the milehighendurance sponsors page. Be sure to follow us on social media to get the show announcement each weekend, plus additional links to show content.  We forward information related to our guests and provide teasers for upcoming interviews. Facebook @milehighendurance Twitter @milehighpodcast Instagram @tripodcasterrich YouTube Channel @Mile High Endurance We hope you enjoyed today's show.  Please rate us on iTunes or your podcast player.  Be sure you are subscribed in iTunes so you get the show automatically downloaded on Saturday evening and recommend Mile High Endurance to a friend.  Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!  

On this weeks show we have… Dale Hughes to talk about some cycling history and the Lexus Velodrome Bruno’s Chop Shop w/ Metropolis Cycles Three Things (winter stay in shape tips) Calisthenics Workouts Personal Training Option Swimming For Cyclist Stretch!!! ByCycle Calendar Midnight Marauders (weekly) Ay Cramba It’s Cold Out! (Feb 2nd) The HUB of Detroit Bike Dearborn ByCycle with us: For the Grams Face Space Twitter Us A series of tubes Music by Substance

In this episode, we talk to Jamie Finch-Penninger,  a Journalist who mostly covers Australian  Cycling and Cyclists. He works as a freelancer and works with SBS Cycling Central, and has published articles for Ride Magazine, Cyclist UK, Cycling Tips, Ella, Peloton Café and Bike Magazine.   In this episode we cover: The story of how Jamie started his journalist work in the cycling industry His unique perspective on the article he wrote about Racing the Tour de France in the fashion of the world cup What keeps people tuning in to the sport The interesting things about joining races, especially Tour de France His thoughts on GreenEdge ad transitioning to a GC team with less Australian riders and what he thinks influenced this decision Preparations and requirements for joining races How cycling is different from other sports Jamie’s thoughts on the surprise packets and who will be on it this year His thoughts on the NRS and who will be the next big thing A discussion on the commonality of rookie riders’ mistakes or common problems The most interesting Jamie has seen in cycling Jamie’s thoughts on Richie and BMC and how they will go this year   Links: Tour Tracker SBS Cycling Central article

Rob Pouw is joined by cycling commentator Andy Pickering to preview the 2018 Tour de France and dive in to the world of fantasy cycling. They briefly discuss the riders and route (6:00) before handing out tips (17:22) and start selecting their own riders for this year's Tour de France (26:40). Create your own team on Velogames.com and join the PouwerPlay Fantasy league with league code: 753919818

Simon and Shane are in New York City for a big moment in the history of Zwift - the launch of running. The expansion of the platform was marked with a splashy launch event and as well as Simon and Shane's views, there's comment from Zwift Insider editor, ric Schlange and pro triathlete Lionel Sanders. The huge flowering of innovation and ingenuity from the Zwift community has seen designs for rocker plates mushroom. Simon rounds it all up and gets expert comment from inside the trainer industry.  Many Zwifters work (a little) while training or riding, but the staff of a cycling website have taken Zwifting-while-you-work to a whole new level. Editor of Cycling Tips website Neal Rogers talks about how the virtual lunch ride has become a forum for company bonding and brainstorming. And there's a new Zwifty podcast coming along - Simon gets the lowdown on the Training Podcast featuring big names in the Zwift world. Due to a bit of a mechanical in the production of this episode, this Zwiftcast is a little shorter than usual. We hope you stillenjoy it!

Wes fills us in on his time in Chattanooga Tennessee for IM 70.3 World Championships, and his crazy bar experience.  We discuss the uses and possible benefits of using creatine as a cyclist or endurance athlete.  Check out the Cycling Tips article to read about what we're referencing in the show.  Salsa is also promoting a new bike they are calling the Blackborow, and we think it's pretty sweet, go check it out and let us know what you think.  We move on to help answer and often asked question, "What's the best road bike for the money", our answer is the Cannondale CAAD series.  Of which Cannondale has just released the CAAD12.  Finally we get some follow up the the Interbike discussion of women's drop bottom bib shorts from Gina.  A big thank you to her for letting us know  the correct terminology, that they're not new, and her favorite; the Gore Xenon 2.0

This episode of the Zwiftcast takes a long hard look at female Zwifters and Zwifting as Simon is joined by Lindsay Guerra and Veronica Micich in the role of guest co-hosts. The trio kick off with  a look at the everyday experience of Zwifting for women and whether the platform is a more egalitarian space for women than some encounter IRL. It's followed up with the first in a series of interview excerpts with Kate Veronneau, head of Women's Strategy at ZHQ, as she sets out the best ways to counter the gender imbalance in the game, with most estimates putting women in a minority of around 10%.  The trio discuss whether ZHQ's preferred tactic of boosting female participation using group rides and womens' only events is the best way forward before considering whether more aggressive methods might be useful. Inga Thompson was a legendary and pioneering road racer in the American scene in the 80s and early 90's. In a detailed interview, Inga discusses why she thinks women's cycling has moved backwards since she left the sport, and pinpoints a "lack of visibility" as a key problem. Simon, Lindsay and Veronica discuss Inga's contention that Zwift could improve this situation. Zwift Academy is now rightly recognised as a great success and the trio discuss both winner Leah Thorvilson's progress and the wider picture, with help from Anne-Marije Rook, the Women's Editor of the Cycling Tips website. Kate V is back to let us know what's new in Zwift Academy Two. 

0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 0:08:10 The Raw Skeptic Report... with Heidi Robertson An open letter to the Editor of the Tweed Daily News The Northern Rivers Vaccination Supports take action after a local newspaper published an uncritical story and interview with Anti-Vax conspiracy theorists.. With Heidi Robertson and Alison Gaylard https://www.facebook.com/150057145203234/posts/596209557254655 0:21:28 Wide condemnation of pro-acupuncture research paper on infant colic A controversial study that claims to have found proof that acupuncture is effective in treating colic in infants has been widely rebuked. In fact, even the associate editor of the journal where the study was published said “in technical terms, the study is negative … the primary outcome did not turn out to be statistically significant”. http://www.skeptics.com.au 0:28:18 Brew Ha Ha: Science in less time than it takes to order a coffee https://www.australiascience.tv/tags/brew-ha-ha With Tania Meyer With the latest disaster that is - was - the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, it's also an environmental disaster. While the company plans to recycle phones that are returned, many precious, rare minerals and metals will be lost through the recycling process. Further reading via VICE Motherboard: http://bit.ly/2dMi4ek As the Tour Down Under kicks off we look at one of the biggest controversies in cycling. Are cheats "mechanical doping" by putting tiny electric motors in their bikes? The French Parliament has even tried to make it illegal! Further reading via Cycling Tips: http://bit.ly/2jqN73Y 0:34:45 Maynard's Spooky Action.... Not many UFOs at Maynard's International Studio (annexe) as Richard Saunders drops by for a visit. Find out what about yet another of Maynard's favourite podcasts and we have a questions for the listeners. http://podcastufo.com https://www.patreon.com/Maynard 0:41:56 When or skeptics criticise homeopathy, they are often wrong By Edzard Ernst This post might come as a surprise to some. And no, Edzard Ernst is not changing sides in the debate in the debate about homeopathy. But he has long felt that, when skeptics criticise homeopathy, they often wrong-foot themselves by using arguments which are not entirely correct. http://edzardernst.com Also... "UFO Belief and Religion" Dr Steve Roberts https://www.meetup.com/Mordi-Skeptics-in-the-Pub/events/236343128/

Lot's of people getting it done "recomp" style and moving calories up while still losing weight. This one went long but it was real good.

As with every publishing business, the cycling media landscape has changed beyond recognition in the past 10 years with the move away from print to digital platforms. Long-standing print publications have faced challenges on all sides to maintain both editorial quality and advertising revenue in the face of competition from new digital publishers. But beyond this, what specifically has changed for both publishers and brands and how do those on both sides of the business need to adapt to this changing media landscape? Is print in terminal decline? And how are digital platforms challenging for both valuable consumer attention and ad budgets? I'm joined by 2 guests with some heavyweight experience on both sides of the publishing landscape to look at this in more detail; Neal Rogers, former editor of Velo News and current US editor of Cycling Tips, and Richard Schofield, cycling media consultant and former publisher of cycling titles at Future Publishing.

On Episode 105 of the Doc and Jock Podcast our very own Coach and former CrossFit Games Athlete Joe Szymanek sits down to share some techniques on cycling the Snatch in CrossFit workouts.

In this episode of the Outside Health and Fitness podcast we’re talking all about bikes. I’ll share road cycling tips and information on how to bike safely. On Today’s show you’ll discover… why cycling is a great way to get in shape outside; what to check before every ride to stay safe on the road; and more road cycling tips for having healthy fun on your bike. call the show: 207-370-9797 email: sws0926@gmail.com Full Show Notes: OutsideHealthandFitness.com/BIKESAFE

The fifteenth episode of The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast included David from The FredCast Cycling Podcast, Carlton Reid from Bike Biz Magazine and QuickRelease.tv, Tim Jackson from Masi Bicycles and The Masi Guy blog, Tim Grahl from The Crooked Cog Network, and Jonathan Maus of Bike Portland. Among the topics we discussed: Taipei International Cycle ShowFSA's New Road and Mountain GroupsDancing GirlsJohn Burke's Speech (Video from Taipei / Audio from Washington DC) Cycling Advocacy DiscussionBike PortlandAlice B. Toeclips Awards Track World ChampionshipsTour of Utah PostponementNike Dropping Cycling Products?Cycling Tips of the Week Subscribe via iTunes (CLICK HERE), listen to the show directly (CLICK HERE) or subscribe to our feed (CLICK HERE).