Podcast appearances and mentions of Rob Britton

Rob Britton stole the show Saturday morning at UNBOUND. He not only passed Lachlan Morton after a 200km chase, but he forced the UNBOUND organizers to rethink their morning strategy because he crossed the line just before 9am, when there's traditionally a 50 mile roll out. He rode the nearly 360 mile in smoking fast pace! Rob is not new to racing, as he's won some of North America's biggest road races. With the switch to gravel in 2022, he's has big results in the LTGP and plenty of other big events. With success at Badlands, the BC Epic, and others, the ultra distance is nothing new to Rob either. Sit back and enjoy this fun conversation picking apart the very long day (and overnight, and the next day too). Pick up a Bolt Skin + Shave razor at boltshave.com and use the code king15 for some smooth savings. Give the newest edition of AG1 a try by visiting drinkAG1.com/tedking  

Fresh off his record-breaking win at the 350-mile Unbound Gravel XL race, Rob Britton chats with Levy about his strategy, how he fuels for an ultra, and why an aero bar and suspension fork make so much sense. They also get into stopping for pee breaks, those low moments before being reborn with the sunrise, and how he mentally recovers from such a massive effort.

Episode 141 - TT Helmet Trends, BWR AZ, Valley of Tears Preview, and Rusty's Back Baby! What up party people. We've got another fun one for y'all this week with talk about the latest helmet trends more and more resembling something from an outer galactic universe (which I think is actually pretty cool by the way), then we've got some BWR Arizona recap from our boy Dizzle who alllmost cracked his way into the top 10, before we transition over to quite a long discussion on this weekend's Valley of Tears race including our picks for favorites given the wild n out conditions that might show their teeth on Saturday. Oh yeah, and Rusty is back baby after taking Keegan to the line this past weekend! Speaking of taking something to the line, our homies at Silca want to make sure you don't let your next race end with anything short of the finish line due to air whizzing out of your tires with the launch of their updated Ultimate tire sealant 2.0. And if you don't want to take our word for it, just take the trusted age-old approach and use what the winner of the race does because Keegan Swenson is also a fellow Silca athlete. So head over to Silca.cc today and get you some before it sells out. Make sure to use the new code “bonkbrosfiberfoam” at checkout for an extra 10% off. (https://silca.cc/?utm_source=Bonk+Bros&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=stripchip&utm_id=Bonk+Bros+Podcast) Also, make sure you have some quality rubber that you're pouring that magic sauce into by heading out to Bike Tires Direct to nab a pair of(or 5) of your favorite tires today and use the code “bonkbros” for 10% off. (https://www.biketiresdirect.com/?utm_source=bonkbros&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=bonkbros2025) If you have any questions or feedback for the show you can drop us a note at bonkbrospodcast@gmail.com or hit up the Bonk Bros instagram page (@bonkbros @dylanjawnson @adamsaban6 @tylerclouti @raddaddizzle @scottmcgilljr).  Alright let's get this party started!   FOR UPDATED DISCOUNT CODES CHECK THE LATEST EPISODE: Silca (10% discount code: bonkbrosy2k25): https://silca.cc/?utm_source=Bonk+Bros&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=stripchip&utm_id=Bonk+Bros+Podcast   Bike Tires Direct (10% discount code: bonkbros): https://www.biketiresdirect.com/?utm_source=bonkbros&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=bonkbros2025   Dynamic Cyclist (10% discount code: BONKBROS): https://new.dynamiccyclist.com/a/43703/xkYViFV8     Patreon: http://patreon.com/patreon_bonkbros     For more Dylan Johnson content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIf1xvRN8pzyd_VfLgj_dow   Listener Question Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1T37wGRLk6iYTCF6X_DQ9yfcaYtfAQceKpBJYR5W7DVA/edit?ts=642eb6d6   MERCH: T-SHIRTS ARE HERE! Get your Bonk Bros swag below. https://bb5a73-20.myshopify.com/    IGNITION: Hire a coach. Get faster. It's that simple. https://www.ignitioncoachco.com/   MATCHBOX PODCAST: Check out our more serious training focused podcast.  https://www.ignitioncoachco.com/podcast      The Following Was Generated Using AI And Should Not Be Held To The Higher Standards Of Sentient Beings - Riverside.   Keywords ADHD, podcasting, ketones, bike racing, TT helmets, UCI regulations, gravel racing, BWR, cycling strategies, mountain biking, race strategies, tire technology, bike sponsorships, cycling dynamics, Aero bars, bike customization, cycling performance, YouTube content, niche channels, race commentary, cycling community, Teemu drone, product reviews, sauna, race predictions, weather impact, gravel racing, Mid-South race, cycling strategies, bike handling, race day conditions, mountain biking, race strategies, tire choices, weather forecasts, crit picks, training intensity, listener questions, gravel racing, performance insights, cycling community   Summary In this engaging conversation, the hosts delve into various topics ranging from personal experiences with ADHD and its impact on podcasting, to a lively debate about the benefits and costs of ketones. They also explore the intricacies of bike racing, including discussions on TT helmets and UCI regulations, as well as sharing personal experiences from gravel racing events. The conversation culminates in a detailed recap of a recent race, highlighting the challenges faced by the participants. In this segment of the conversation, the hosts delve into various aspects of mountain biking, including personal experiences with competitors, race strategies, and the dynamics of bike racing. They discuss the impact of tire choices on performance, the evolving trends in the pro field regarding equipment, and the significance of sponsorships in the cycling world. The conversation also touches on innovations in wheel design and the implications of these changes for racers. In this segment, the conversation delves into various aspects of cycling, including the technicalities of aero bar positioning, the importance of bike customization, and the impact of equipment choices on performance. The discussion also touches on the challenges of content creation on YouTube, particularly in maintaining a niche audience, and concludes with a lively exchange about live race commentary and community engagement. In this segment, the conversation flows from product reviews, particularly focusing on a sauna and other gadgets, to predictions for upcoming races in the women's and men's categories. The discussion highlights the impact of weather on race day and reflects on past race experiences, particularly the Mid-South race. The group shares insights on race strategies and the challenges posed by varying conditions, emphasizing the importance of bike handling and preparation. In this episode, the hosts delve into various aspects of mountain biking, including race strategies, tire choices, and the impact of weather on performance. They discuss the dynamics of crit races, training intensity, and listener engagement through questions and comments. The conversation highlights the importance of preparation and adaptability in cycling, as well as the community's perspectives on racing and training.   Takeaways ADHD can influence focus and multitasking during podcasts. Ketones are debated for their effectiveness and taste. TT helmets may face regulation changes in bike racing. Gravel racing requires strategic climbing and descending. Personal experiences shape perspectives on racing dynamics. The importance of hydration and nutrition in cycling events. Rider dynamics can shift dramatically during races. The impact of race routes on performance and strategy. Team dynamics play a crucial role in race outcomes. Fashion and branding in cycling gear can influence team identity. Kyle Trudeau's relationship with the group is tense. Mountain biking requires strategic thinking and awareness of competitors. Race finishes can be influenced by unexpected events during the race. Tire choice plays a crucial role in race performance. The pro field is increasingly adopting mountain bike tires for gravel races. Sophia's transition from gravel to mountain bike tires highlights evolving strategies. Sponsorships can impact bike choices and performance. Innovations in wheel design are changing the landscape of cycling. Handling and aerodynamics are critical considerations for deep wheels. The trend towards narrower handlebars may affect handling in technical races. Understanding aero bar positioning can enhance cycling performance. Bike customization is crucial for comfort and efficiency. Equipment choices significantly impact cycling performance. Content creation on YouTube requires careful niche management. Straying from established content can lead to subscriber loss. Community engagement is vital for content creators. Live race commentary can enhance viewer experience. Cycling events provide opportunities for personal connections. Technical discussions can be complex without visual aids. Maintaining a consistent theme is important for audience retention. Product reviews can lead to interesting discussions. Building custom equipment can be more satisfying than buying. Weather plays a crucial role in race outcomes. Past race experiences provide valuable insights for future predictions. Bike handling skills are essential in challenging conditions. Riders' mental toughness can influence their performance. The importance of preparation for unexpected race day conditions. Community engagement through product reviews enhances the conversation. Understanding the course can help in making better predictions. Cycling strategies must adapt to changing weather and terrain. Mountain biking requires understanding traction limits. Tire selection is crucial for race performance. Weather forecasts can influence race strategies. Crit picks can reflect riders' strengths and weaknesses. Training intensity varies among cyclists. Community engagement enhances the cycling experience. Performance insights are shared through listener questions. Crit races can be unpredictable and exciting. Preparation is key for successful racing. Cycling culture involves both competition and camaraderie.   Titles Navigating ADHD in Podcasting The Great Ketone Debate TT Helmets: A New Era in Cycling? Gravel Racing Strategies Unveiled BWR Race Recap: Climbing and Competition The Beef with Kyle Trudeau Mountain Biking Dynamics Race Strategies and Finishes   Sound Bites "I'm working on it, yeah." "That's why it's successful." "It definitely helps with concentration." "Dude, that's last year. That's old news." "I think it was Rob Britton and Keegan." "I just watched the highlights, man." "These actually look pretty sick." "I could have told you all of this." "If anyone has bought a Teemu drone..." "I got that sauna from Amazon last week..." "Last time I checked the weather..." "Dude, race day looks..." "Why would you do that?" "Throw some slicks on that bad boy." "You wanna borrow my single speed anyone?" "Great episode, keep it up fellas." "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."   Chapters 00:00 Navigating ADHD and Podcasting Dynamics 05:54 Bike Racing Insights: TT Helmets and UCI Regulations 11:58 Race Recap: BWR and Climbing Challenges 17:06 The Beef with Kyle Trudeau 19:18 Race Strategies and Finishes 20:51 Tire Choices in Racing 22:35 Pro Field Equipment Trends 24:41 The Evolution of Tire Technology 26:42 Bike Sponsorships and Choices 28:42 Wheel Design Innovations 35:50 Understanding Aero Bar Positioning 38:04 Exploring Bike Components and Customization 40:03 The Impact of Equipment Choices on Performance 43:01 YouTube and Content Creation Challenges 45:56 Navigating Niche Content on YouTube 48:57 Live Race Commentary and Community Engagement 53:00 Product Reviews and Returns 53:58 Building a Custom Sauna 54:59 Race Predictions: Women's Category 55:55 Weather Impact on Race Day 57:00 Men's Race Predictions 01:00:59 Mid-South Race Reflections 01:03:59 Discussion on Race Conditions and Strategies 01:10:45 Navigating Mountain Biking Challenges 01:12:46 Tire Choices and Race Preparations 01:14:49 Weather Forecasts and Race Strategies 01:15:20 Crit Picks and Race Dynamics 01:17:18 Training Intensity and Performance Insights 01:20:46 Listener Questions and Community Engagement

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Rob Britton, Principal of AirLearn, who brings five decades of experience in commercial aviation. This fascinating conversation covers the history and future of the airline business, the significance of the hub-and-spoke model, the realities of aviation sustainability, and the challenges and opportunities for advanced and regional air mobility. Throughout the discussion, we explore the enduring value of aviation, the power of market forces, and the critical need for innovation, all wrapped in a spirit of prudent optimism. Whether you're in the industry or just passionate about flight, this episode is one you won't want to miss.

In this episode, Craig Dalton interviews Andrew L'Esperance, a professional cyclist from Canada. Andrew shares his journey in the world of cycling, starting from his early days racing with his brothers to becoming a professional athlete. He discusses the challenges and opportunities he has encountered along the way and how he has managed to make a career out of his passion for cycling. Andrew also talks about his transition to gravel racing and the different strategies and equipment choices involved in this discipline. He shares his experiences in races like Unbound and Sea Otter Classic and provides insights into the world of professional cycling. Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  About the Guest(s): Andrew L'Esperance is a professional cyclist from Nova Scotia, Canada. He grew up in a family that spent a lot of time outdoors and started racing bikes at the age of 12. Andrew has been racing ever since, climbing the ladder and participating in various disciplines such as road cycling, cyclocross, and mountain biking. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has always had ambitions to be a full-time athlete. Andrew has raced for Norco Bicycles and is currently racing for Maxxis Factory Racing. He has also ventured into gravel racing and is excited about the opportunities it presents. Episode Summary: In this episode, Craig Dalton interviews Andrew L'Esperance, a professional cyclist from Canada. Andrew shares his journey in the world of cycling, starting from his early days racing with his brothers to becoming a professional athlete. He discusses the challenges and opportunities he has encountered along the way and how he has managed to make a career out of his passion for cycling. Andrew also talks about his transition to gravel racing and the different strategies and equipment choices involved in this discipline. He shares his experiences in races like Unbound and Sea Otter Classic and provides insights into the world of professional cycling. Key Takeaways: Andrew L'Esperance started racing bikes at a young age and has been racing ever since, participating in various disciplines such as road cycling, cyclocross, and mountain biking. He has always had ambitions to be a full-time athlete and has found ways to make it work alongside his engineering degree. Andrew's transition to gravel racing has opened up new opportunities and challenges, and he enjoys the adventure and technical aspects of this discipline. He emphasizes the importance of equipment choices in gravel racing, including tire selection and the use of suspension forks. Andrew's favorite gravel races include Unbound and Sea Otter Classic, where he enjoys the competitive atmosphere and the chance to showcase his skills. Notable Quotes: "I've always ridden a drop bar bike off-road. My first bikes were mountain bikes, and then I started doing cyclocross, which was my road bike, my winter bike, my cross bike. So, I've always had that mix of riding different disciplines on the same bike." - Andrew L'Esperance "I love the adventure of riding a bike, and it's a lot easier to find adventure on a gravel bike. In general, in the places that I spend the most time riding." - Andrew L'Esperance "If it's going to give you an advantage in the race, sometimes it will, sometimes it won't, and it needs to be at the right time in the race." - Andrew L'Esperance on using a suspension fork in gravel racing "Gravel racing is a combination of endurance, technical skill, and equipment choices. It's about finding the right balance and making the most of each race." - Andrew L'Esperance Transcription:   [TRANSCRIPT] [00:00:00] - (): Craig Dalton: Andrew, welcome to the show. Thanks. Thanks for having me, Craig. Yeah. I'm excited to have this conversation. I know you're, you're off to Europe tomorrow, so I appreciate you squeezing us in before you [00:00:13] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: go. Yeah. Thanks for you making it happen too. I think you were just on traveling as well. So thanks for making it work with your [00:00:20] - (): Craig Dalton: schedule. **** - (): Yeah, absolutely. We always like to start off by learning a little bit more about you. Where, where'd you grow up and how'd you originally find the bike? [00:00:28] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Uh, I grew up on the east coast of Canada, uh, in the province of Nova Scotia, just outside the main city there, which is Halifax. Uh, and yeah, kind of grew up in a family that, you know, spent a lot of time outdoors and we rode bikes together as a family on vacations. **** - (): And I'm the youngest of four boys. In the family, so I have three older brothers, and as you can imagine, like, I just looked up to my brothers big time, and especially my oldest brother, and he did a bike race once, so it was basically like, oh, I've gotta do a bike race, and yeah, I just kind of did my first race when I was 12, and ran, what's that, and, um, I've been racing ever since, kind of climbing the ladder, doing some education in there. **** - (): Uh, but yeah, just been racing ever since and obviously like sprinkling some other sports in there early on. [00:01:27] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, was Nova Scotia the type of area where youth cycling was easy to come by? I wouldn't say it [00:01:35] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: was easy to come by. Um, I think, I think I was, like, fairly self motivated, like, to make, to make it happen, and had some good support from my parents to make it happen. **** - (): Um, but there's definitely a tight knit community, and I think they certainly took me under their wing, for whatever reason. And, yeah, helped me, helped me Come up in the sport, but I guess the first race I did was a Tuesday night short track series. So from that perspective, certainly, um, that's like, that's a really great entry point for use. **** - (): To the sport. Um, when you say, um, when you say kind of youth programming, I kind of think about like a bike club or that sort of thing for like specifically for youth, because we see a lot of that around now. And there was certainly nothing like that. But that kind of forced me to kind of ride with the older, older people, uh, that were definitely better than me and that kind of helped pull me along in the sport early on for sure. [00:02:47] - (): Craig Dalton: Were you sort of racing consistently at that young age or did it take some time before you kind of really committed to a season? [00:02:55] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah, I mean, I think when I did my first race, I was still doing other sports. Like, so I was definitely not like full on right away. Um, but it was definitely a slow process to get into it. **** - (): Like the, it was more like regional racings first. I don't think I did any provincial level racing when I was 12. It was, it was, the racing I did was the short track series. It was like for, you know, eight or 10 weeks in the summer. And that was, that was the racing and it was, yeah. Like that was the season, uh, and then I just got more and more into it. **** - (): And next year I did provincial, provincial level races. Then probably when I was 15, um, I went outside the province to race. And by that point, it was kind of like doing every kind of racing that I could, uh, coming from a smaller province. You know, there's not, there's not a ton of racing, but, um, so you kind of need to do all the things. **** - (): So like do road, do cyclocross, do the mountain bike racing, do the group rides, all those things. Um, and yeah, that's how it, that's how I kind of started things off there. [00:04:12] - (): Craig Dalton: And at what point did you start to see professional cycling as a career opportunity? [00:04:19] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah, I don't, I don't know. To be honest, maybe, maybe I just have started to see it as a legitimate career opportunity in the last couple of years, you know, I, I have a degree in mechanical engineering. **** - (): It was sort of, um, that was always kind of the way I was going to make, And I never really saw bike racing as a way to make money, but I loved it and I could make it work. Um, and I, I do think I did have ambitions to somehow figure it out to be a full time athlete, whether, you know, putting that professional label on it. **** - (): Um, it's kind of, I feel like that's kind of different. Um, but yeah, I definitely wanted to be a full time athlete. It's a really, It's a really great lifestyle and just, I've just been chugging along trying to figure out how to make it work. And I would say in the last five years, um, Yeah, I figured that out and [00:05:27] - (): Craig Dalton: were you figuring that out from a, you know, what's known as a privateer perspective or five years ago, would you enter a team program? **** - (): Um, [00:05:36] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: yeah, not definitely not as a privateer. Uh, so previous, so I'm currently racing for Max's factory racing, uh, and this will be my third year on the team. And prior to that, I raced for Norco bicycles in various capacities for about 10 years. Uh, kind of finishing my career with them on the Norco factory team. **** - (): Those years, there was a period where there was, um, growth in the team and they went to another level. They stepped up to the world cup level and that meant reducing the team size. And that left me without sort of factory team support for a couple of years. Um, and at that time, um, you know, I wanted to keep racing. **** - (): So it was sort of like, okay, how do I do this? How do I keep doing this? And I created, or myself and a teammate created our own team called forward racing, brought in some other sponsors and kept the support from Norco. And so in a sense, that was sort of privateering, but it was also like, okay, I'm putting, we're putting in all this work to organize this sponsorship. **** - (): Hey, let's support another rider to, or, or a couple other riders, like bring them up with us. Um, so myself and my teammate brought on a younger athlete named Sean Fincham. And we supported him for two years. [00:07:10] - (): Craig Dalton: Uh, that sounds like the racing we've been talking about has been on the mountain bike side. And since the listeners of this podcast may not necessarily be as familiar with that part of the sport, can you describe the type of mountain bike racing that you found yourself competing [00:07:25] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: in? **** - (): Yeah, totally. Yeah, so XCO mountain biking, it's, it's what's in the Olympics. It's kind of the short 90 minute race, uh, done on a short course, you know, three to five kilometers. You do, you know, five to seven laps. It's intense, there's technical features, that's the kind of racing I grew up on, and that was sort of, yeah, that, that was the racing that was available when I was coming up in the sport. **** - (): And there's a pretty clear plan within Canada, you know, to do a national series, which is called the Canada Cup, and to perform at those races, and then you might get selected to do something with the national team, like an international race. You kind of just, uh, some opportunities open up that way. Um, and so, so that's, that's the kind of racing I grew up doing. **** - (): That's the kind of racing I did for the majority of my career. And yeah, until I signed with Max's factory racing, uh, three years ago. That was my main thing doing, you know, I did it to the level that I was racing World Cups full time [00:08:40] - (): Craig Dalton: Got it. And so was it [00:08:43] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: yeah, I mean, it's so funny like You know, we've always, ever since I can remember, I've ridden, ridden a drop bar bike off road. **** - (): I, my first, I, you know, my first bikes were mountain bikes. And then, you know, you're, you're doing mountain bike racing and you need to, you need to do some road riding. So that actually started for me with cyclocross. So my, my cyclocross bike was my road bike. It was my winter bike. It was my cross bike. **** - (): And obviously you're riding that off road. Um, yeah, there's where I grew up in Nova Scotia. There's just plenty of bike paths, like gravel bike paths and gravel roads to ride. So, yeah, I would say it started with that early on. Um, and I guess more recently, um, Just like training, like for training opportunities, a gravel bike was just a good tool. **** - (): Um, when I was training for XCO racing gravel bike, it just opens up the routes you can ride. You can ride on potentially safer routes. Uh, with less traffic and it's just a whole lot of fun. And I do, I like, I love the, the adventure of riding a bike and it, it's a lot easier to find adventure on a gravel bike, I feel, um, in general, in the places that I, you know, spend the most time running. **** - (): Gotcha. [00:10:21] - (): Craig Dalton: And was when you signed on with Maxis Factory Racing, was gravel racing an original part of the deal when they looked at you as an athlete? [00:10:32] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Um, it was definitely, um, you know, the team has always been focused on the mountain bike side of things. But, uh, the Uh, yeah, the, the way the market, or like the way the racing is in North America, it's, it's more like this off road racing. **** - (): So it's not all mountain, a lot of the biggest races are no crawl races. So, yeah, I mean, that was definitely part of the conversation. Um, And it was certainly something I was very interested in. I actually, I think I've shared this on a podcast before, but, um, about three years prior to, uh, you know, stopping my Racing World Cups full time and signing with Maxis and doing the off road thing, um, I had an unbound, uh, like lottery, lottery registration Okay. **** - (): That I got. **** - (): I was never able to make it work with my schedule, and then the pandemic got mixed in there too. And I just never got to use it. Um, the year that I could have used it, um, was the year I signed with Maxis and we were going anyways. And Maxis was a sponsor of Unbound, so. You know, we had, we had entries that way, so I ended up giving it away, but, um, long story short, this, this kind of racing was on my radar for a while. **** - (): Um, I think I was just before we started recording here, I was telling you. Um, you know, this adventure, I got, my interest got, uh, shifted towards some of this adventure racing back in 2017 when I did the Croc Trophy. It's an eight day mountain bike stage race across, um, tropical North Queensland in Australia. **** - (): And, yeah, just, just this, uh, very different racing compared to XCO. It's an adventure, um, and I just, I just loved it. Uh, so ever since 2017, I've been, myself and my wife, Haley, have been trying to mix in these different race opportunities that are, that I would categorize as kind of adventure racing. So Stuff like, um, Epic Israel, we've done that a couple times, Swiss Epic, um, BC Bike Race, these sorts of things. **** - (): And it's, I feel so lucky, I mean I'm still, I'm so fired up on what we're doing now, cause it's basically Those adventure races, but that's the full meal deal. Like that's what we're doing full time. Yeah. [00:13:21] - (): Craig Dalton: Amazing. Now I think you've been part of the grand Prix for two years already, and you'll be in it again in 2024. **** - (): Is that [00:13:28] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: right? Yeah, exactly. You got it. How did [00:13:31] - (): Craig Dalton: you manage to kind of make that schedule work and hit those mountain bike races that you like? Obviously the. The Grand Prix itself is not mountain bike heavy. There's a few occasions to ride your mountain bike, but not in the same way you had done in the past. **** - (): I'm just curious, you know, obviously with the different skill sets required for the different types of racing, how you organized your year and your training. So you can do things from, you know, 90 minute XC races to 10 hour unbounds. Yeah, [00:14:00] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: I don't, I honestly don't know how we did that first year. We went in like, okay, let's do all the racing and that's, that's what we did. **** - (): We, that first year we still had, well, I say we, cause Haley and I have been on this journey together and we, we, we jumped from XCO racing to this more off road stuff together, but yeah, that year we did five world cups, uh, alongside. The Grand Prix alongside a smattering of other races. And I think it was a big year of learning, uh, which was amazing. **** - (): It was, there was so much newness to it all, which was also like super refreshing. Um, I think I remember kind of reflecting on the season at the end of the year. And I like, I color coded all the races that I did based on which ones were new. And it was like, over half of them were brand new. And it was a large number of race days. **** - (): It was like, it was above 35 racing days and there was some stage racing in there. So it's a, it's, it's a little different, but, um, just a lot of racing. And yeah, I don't, I don't really know how we did it. I can't, I can't pinpoint to like, there was, there was no, there was no major thought put into the scheduling. **** - (): It was like just saying yes. [00:15:30] - (): Craig Dalton: If we can be there, we'll be there and pedal [00:15:33] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: totally, totally. And it was a ton of fun. Um, it ended up working, it ended up working out in, in general, um, in terms of like performance in the grand Prix. But again, I think the, the love, like the level of all, all this racing is, is increasing and I, I don't think that approach is. **** - (): is going to work again. Um, I mean, yeah, so there's definitely some lessons from the first couple of years and, um, I'm not, I'm not prepared to like throw all my eggs in the You know, just focus on the Grand Prix races. There's so, there's so many great events out there. Um, and you know, I also want to, want to continue to grow as a mountain biker and do challenging mountain bike events that really suit my, um, kind of my natural skillset and some of my best, uh, some of my strengths as an athlete. **** - (): So, so yeah, we're definitely mixing or I'm mixing a lot of different events in this season along the Grand Prix. [00:16:46] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, interesting. It'll be great to follow your season. Yeah, it's complicated. I can see, you know, over the last three years, going to the third year of the Grand Prix here. There's definitely been this specialization. **** - (): Obviously, there's a lot of prize money on the line for those who do well and get into the top whatever that gets paid out, but it is Increasingly clear that a lot of athletes are just laser focused on it. And I think it's still going to be interesting this year to see those athletes who are out there doing their own thing and racing some other crazy races, as well as popping into these races and see how the points end up shaking up throughout the year. **** - (): It's, it's an interesting equation. It's fascinating to me, listening to the athletes, figure out how to focus their time and energy. Yeah, totally. [00:17:32] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: And I mean, I think it's, it is, it is interesting because like, you know, the racing that we're doing, it's, uh, the Grand Prix is this, it is the series in North America right now. **** - (): Yeah, so there's just so many other good events. And, you know, I don't think any athlete is just doing the Grand Prix. And it is interesting to see, to spread, um, To see how athletes kind of spread their time and, and where their interests lie and, and all that. So it is cool to follow that, follow each athlete, um, doing what they're doing alongside the, alongside the Grand Prix. [00:18:11] - (): Craig Dalton: I also think it's interesting with the two drop races to just sort of see how the strategies play out. You hope that people aren't dropping them because they're sick or injured and they get an opportunity to strategically say, Hey, I'm not going to peak for that race because in the overall arc of my season, it just doesn't make any sense. [00:18:29] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah, totally. Yeah, it is, it is a, I mean, the season, the season goes from April till end of October, and this is a long season. Uh, so, yeah, and you can't, you need to be very good for all these races, and it's not possible to be kind of peaked. For every single race. So yeah, yeah, definitely some strategy involved. **** - (): And, um, I certainly learned a lot the first couple of years. Uh, things went pretty well the first year, not so well last year. And it kind of, uh, it definitely has me. Motivated to try to try to perform kind of do all the right things to perform Well all season long for that. [00:19:14] - (): Craig Dalton: Are there specific races in the Grand Prix that you personally enjoy the most? [00:19:20] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah, certainly like sea otter classic. It's definitely the most mountain bikey one. It's at sea level And I I really love the race course to be honest. It's just yes super fast fun riding Um It's not one where you can really, it's not like you can rip, rip this technical section and create a huge separation on, on the people you're truly racing against. **** - (): Obviously there's some big gaps in skills between, um, perhaps those with a mountain bike background and those with a gravel background. But, um, it's, You can't, there's not a huge, huge opportunities for separations there, but, uh, yeah, it's, it's an awesome race and yeah, just the energy at that whole event with the festival alongside of it, it's, it's pretty cool. **** - (): And it's kind of like the season kickoff too. So that's, that's exciting. [00:20:19] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, for sure. And anything on the gravel bike side that you look forward to? [00:20:23] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Um, I mean, definitely Unbound, just like the, the scale of it. Uh, I would say that that one's high on the list. And, uh, yeah, Big Sugar's a cool one too. I mean, I, I do, I'm still, like, I feel like I'm a beginner at this gravel stuff, and I'm still, um, I don't really have it figured out yet, to be honest. **** - (): And So all these races still feel like, like opportunities and they're very interesting to me. And, uh, yeah, so, um, yeah, I guess Unbound and, and Big Sugar are probably my favorite gravel races in the series. [00:21:05] - (): Craig Dalton: With Unbound being the longest one on the calendar on the gravel bike, uh, side for the Grand Prix, how do you, how do you approach that as an athlete? **** - (): I mean, obviously you train up to that distance. When you think about being competitive in an event like that, just kind of walk me through briefly, like the mindset of like, you know, are you following the early moves or are you conscious of Hey, this is a 200 mile day. And, you know, maybe I'm not the most in, I don't have the most endurance of everybody in the, in the Peloton. **** - (): I'm just curious, like how you manage that to maximize the best result possible for you. [00:21:42] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah, definitely. I mean, when I go into those races, I'm not, there's no, there's no pacing. It's going with the front of the race as long as you can. There's, there's no, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna try to make the front group. I'm gonna try to get on the podium. **** - (): I'm not going to have a deliberate strategy to not follow so I can, you know, finish 20th. Like that's, I'd, I'd much rather go for it and blow up than, than not go for it. Um, that being said, I do, you know, we learned last year that there is definitely some in terms of taking care of equipment in certain, um, conditions like, you know, very rough conditions, muddy conditions, there, there does have to be some strategy surrounding how you ride that stuff. **** - (): Um, so I'm definitely. taking that into Unbound this year, just that, that whole experience. Um, [00:22:45] - (): Craig Dalton: and you caught up in any disastrous way in the mud this past year? [00:22:49] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah, just, I lost my derailleur, um, very early on. Um, I just kind of snapped off in the mud and it was, uh, Was [00:22:58] - (): Craig Dalton: that game over for you? [00:23:00] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yes. I, yeah, I, I tried everything I could to try to, um, keep it going, but yeah, it was game over and it was just very, um, that, that was tough, I guess. **** - (): Uh, I definitely learned from that experience because I had never dealt with that kind of mud before and it's really something you need to experience to fully understand. Um, And yeah, so, um, yeah, looking forward to going in there a little more prepared and having those experiences under my belt and yeah, hopefully a little bit of luck too. **** - (): But you know, I think in chatting with my friend, Ian, who did quite well, he was, who's done in Boswell, who's done quite well at that race. His, his strategy was. Just kind of, um, sitting back and watching a little bit how, how those, the first section played out, and definitely a more conservative approach, but I was, I was like third wheel into that mud, riding on Tobin's wheel, um, I think when my derailleur came off, I was sitting on Russell or Keegan's wheel and just run, just run the race as best as I could and going for it. **** - (): Yeah. Those conditions, you know, if my bike can make it through it, it's a huge advantage for me. Um, just cause that is, you know, some technical. Technical ability is a huge asset, just pedaling the bike through that stuff, but you need to have a bike that stays together, um, to take advantage of those, uh, that, that opportunity. **** - (): Yeah, a hundred [00:24:52] - (): Craig Dalton: percent. I'm, I'm one of those sort of people who started out mountain biking like yourself, and I love I love the technical elements of gravel racing and the harder technically the races are, the more fun I think they are. Totally. That's the, that's sort of where I hope the sport would go. **** - (): And frankly, you know, as the Grand Prix got announced, like I've, I've always been hopeful for the mountain bikers to get more of an opportunity, not only in the mountain bike specific races, but in the gravel races to just kind of show that skillset. [00:25:24] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm with you on this. I, I would really. I would really like to Yeah, maybe just see a little more texture in some of these gravel races I I really like what the bwr does pulling in some single track Uh, yeah, I did A couple years ago. **** - (): I did It's in BC called BCBR Gravel and, you know, BCBR is a BC bike race. So it's the same promoters that do this, you know, um, seven day mountain bike stage race. So the gravel version of it was, was what you can expect from the organizers of a mountain bike stage race. And it was very gnarly. I kind of joked at the race. **** - (): Uh, like I wrote a, I wrote a taper cast, the Fox taper cast fork. During that race and it was like, oh man, if you had a, if you had a truck full of those at the finish line of that race, you could have sold them all. No worries. It was like a huge advantage to have, uh, Uh, yeah, have suspension on the gravel bike. [00:26:31] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. It's so interesting. Do you ever, you know, as someone who's obviously well adept with suspension and using it on your mountain bikes, how often do you consider it on your gravel [00:26:41] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: bike? Yeah, it's, it's always a tough, tough decision. And it's like, I've, you know, if I'm not sure if you've ridden it, but riding a suspension fork on a gravel bike is. **** - (): It's an amazing feeling and it's wild how much more capable the bike becomes. It's 100 percent so much more than what you think. [00:27:06] - (): Craig Dalton: I've got one on my bike for Mount Tam here in Marin County, and I can't even explain how much more confidence inspiring it is going downhill and. It's kind of cheating for me because I've got a mountain bike background. **** - (): So generally I ride harder downhill than most of my contemporaries, but putting that suspension fork on, it's just, it's almost unfair at times. Totally. I'm curious to kind of drill into that a little bit as a suspension owner. So what is that? Tell us more about that line for you. I mean, when we would consider it is the main, is the main downside in your mind, just the weight. **** - (): And if it's a climbing race and you need to stay up at the front, you got to shed the weight and otherwise you'd use it. [00:27:50] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah. So I think, uh, I, I reach for it quite often, uh, to be honest, I, my first year at Unbound, I wrote it. Uh, so that was two years ago and it was. It was a huge advantage in the rough stuff, but the thing is, um, that didn't, that kind of just kept me near the front of the group and out of trouble. **** - (): It's not like it, it gave me a huge advantage in the race overall. [00:28:23] - (): Craig Dalton: Do you feel like from a, does it, does fatigue come into play when you think about it? I mean, it's [00:28:28] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: so hard to get a sense of that because You know, no, no matter what bike you ride, if you're riding, riding unbound for 10 hours, fatigue is going to be high. **** - (): Um, I've not done like, I think that would be a fairly hard thing to test. Um, and I've not done like back to back testing on that, but it really does. The way I think about it is if, if it's going to give you an advantage in the race and some, sometimes it will, sometimes it won't, and it needs to be at the right time in the race. **** - (): So like, so I did BWR Vancouver Island last year, and the first, in the first bit, there was, um, some single, some heavy duty single track and I just rode away from the whole race. Uh, And was two minutes off the front by like the bottom, you know, in the first hour of the race, but this isn't super helpful because it's a seven hour race and then I was off on my own for the next few hours. **** - (): Um, so like from a tactical point of view, that wasn't great. Um, but the final descent on that course was one where having like the final descent, a few K from the finish. Having a suspension fork would have been an advantage. So it's sort of like, okay, do I carry this around for the whole race? It's definitely a little bit heavier, not as aerodynamic, but in those sections, it's like a laughable advantage. **** - (): Yeah. Yeah. [00:30:06] - (): Craig Dalton: I think that's, I mean, I think it goes with almost every part of a gravel bike. It seems like you just, you have to make these trade offs. And decide where is it going to benefit you like as a recreational racer, I consider comfort to be a big part of it, right? I got to get through these races to, to enjoy them, but comfort at the cost of, you know, an extra pound or so may come to bite me in the ass climbing 12, 000 feet in a day. [00:30:35] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Maybe. It depends on what your goals are. Like for me, I really need to think this through. But if I was riding my bike for, um, purely for fun and trying to enjoy and especially if I wasn't racing, like suspension fork on the gravel bike, for sure, as long as, as long as the terrain you ride and the way you ride kind of suits it, if you, if you go on to double track and single track, um, and you have access to that in your area and you enjoy that. **** - (): It's like, yes, get yourself a gravel suspension fork. It's going to be great. You're going to have a huge smile on your face. It's going to be fun. Um, and you'll be able to drop your friends. No question. [00:31:20] - (): Craig Dalton: I think you've been training this winter down in Santa Cruz, California. Is [00:31:23] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: that right? Yeah, yeah, we've been, uh, yeah, we did, uh, well, uh, pass through Santa Cruz on, I did this, uh, Rob Britton and I did this ride down the, down the entire coast of California, um, and then spent a week here after that training, and then I've been here for the last couple weeks, so, yeah, uh, basing out of here for quite a bit, and, yeah, just, Yeah. **** - (): Yeah. Yeah. Really enjoying the kind of road riding here. Amazing. [00:31:54] - (): Craig Dalton: Um, before we go, I'm curious to just learn about your bike choices for the year. What, what brands are you riding on the mountain bike and the gravel bike? And what do you like? [00:32:05] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Uh, yeah, I mean, for, so I don't believe our mountain bike. Sponsor has been made public yet. **** - (): So I'm going to stay quiet on that, but, um, yeah, we're on, uh, new drop bars bikes for this year and that's around time bikes. Which is, yeah, kind of, um, exciting new, new brand, uh, well, new to us brand, obviously it's a pretty storied, uh, brand that's been around for a while. Yeah, [00:32:39] - (): Craig Dalton: we just had them on the podcast about a month ago, learning all about the new owner, the manufacturing processes for that bike. **** - (): I think that the ADHX 45 looks like a rad bike to ride. [00:32:53] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah. No, I listened to that episode. It was great. I, I, I really enjoy kind of hearing the background and the business dynamics of, of, of some of these companies in the industry and yeah, the bike looks really great. I've just seen one once, um, I was down in Bentonville at the end of the season and it looks really good. **** - (): Uh, so I, I'm very excited to get on one and yeah, really push it. And, uh, yeah. Yeah, it's going to be fun. [00:33:25] - (): Craig Dalton: Awesome. When do you, when do you think you'll first race on that bike? [00:33:29] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah, we're, uh, first race will be BWR Utah. So yeah, once I got back from Spain after the stage race. Uh, probably spend some time on that, get it set up, get it dialed. **** - (): And yeah, it'll be a, that'll be a great first one for it. And yeah, I can't wait. Um, it's gonna be good. And [00:33:49] - (): Craig Dalton: since you're been on the Maxis squad for a few years, which, what are your favorite Maxis gravel tires? [00:33:57] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Well, the, the new, I mean, the tried and true Rambler, um, you really can't go wrong with that. If you know, you have to pick one tire to do it all, that's going to be it. **** - (): It's, um, Yeah, just super predictable. Easy to ride. Casing's very good. There's options there, um, you know, for a super heavy duty casing or a, um, you know, a higher TPI casing that's going to be a little more supple. Um, so yeah, Rambler for sure, but the new favorite is definitely the Reaver. Uh, it was released last year. **** - (): I expect that's going to be the go to, um, for the majority of the racing. And I haven't tried it in a 45 yet. Um, but yeah, really looking forward to that because I do think, um, yeah, just given the tire design, like a fairly kind of a file tread in the middle. I think it's going to scale up pretty good and feel. **** - (): Um, still roll really well in that larger size, um, whereas sometimes when you scale up on a super hobby tire, um, yeah, yeah. Just the, the speed changes quite a bit with your mountain bike skillset. Sorry, just from the casing and the, and the knob design, I guess. [00:35:14] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. With your mountain bike skillset, do you feel like that file tread provides you enough kind of traction for most of the gravel races? **** - (): Yeah, yeah, [00:35:25] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: I feel like I can, I can run with less for sure just because the, it's, it's just like not a limiting factor for me. Um, I can run, I've, I've raced gravel races on the refuse, which is just a very tough casing, but it's a full, full slick with no shoulder knobs and you, you know, I, I can manage that. **** - (): Um, you have to ride it a certain way. You can't, you can't push, you can't, you can't push it into the ground and expect that it's always going to hook up. Um, but it's, uh, yeah, it's a good tool for, for certain, for certain situations. And if you, I mean, with, with tire choices at the pointy end of things, you're always, um, you're always trying to choose the fastest one. **** - (): Um, and, and. Ride it, basically ride it correctly, like manage the tire well. Um, so yeah, you're never, at least I'm not, I'm always kind of pushing the limits on what I can, what I can run for speed and performance. [00:36:37] - (): Craig Dalton: And what do you think about inserts for gravel racing? [00:36:40] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah, yeah, I've, uh, used inserts quite a bit. **** - (): Um, typically on the Tannis, Tannis Armor inserts. And, yeah, if there, if it's rough and there's a puncture risk, it's, um, yeah, it's a, it's, it's a, I go for it, um, compared to, I mean, I think inserts, they, they kind of came from mountain bike, but they're actually far more applicable for gravel. Bikes just given the the low volume tire. **** - (): Yeah, and how how close the rim Like the tires aren't that tall compared to a mountain bike tire So there is there's kind of very little space for the tire deflect before it before it hits the rim and yeah having that cushion there and Yeah, it makes a huge difference. And, um, yeah, tire pressure obviously like pretty important on the gravel bike. **** - (): And, um, yeah, sometimes lower if you can manage it is, is a lot easier on the body faster. So many, so many little, uh, uh, so many things to think about all the time. And I'm, I feel like I I'm out of practice cause I, I haven't been racing for a few months. Um, so I'm definitely gonna have to brush up on my decision making skills cause the race season's coming and all this stuff really matters. [00:38:09] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. A hundred percent. Would you consider Unbound one of those courses that warrants inserts? [00:38:14] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Yeah. One, one hundred percent. Both years I've raced it, I've, I've run inserts. It'll be interesting with the North route this year on tire choices and, uh, on suspension choice as well. Um, yeah. Hoping to get there early and kind of suss it out and, uh, and do some testing there because it is, you know, equipment choice there matters and, um. **** - (): Yeah. North route. I hear it's a little rougher. [00:38:41] - (): Craig Dalton: Interesting. I think that's a good place to end, Andrew. Thanks so much for the time. It was great to get to know you a little bit and excited to follow you throughout the season and maybe run into you at Sea Otter. [00:38:52] - (): Andrew L'Esperance: Sounds good. Thanks very much for having me, Craig. **** - (): And uh, yeah, I appreciate the time and yeah, see you at Sea Otter for sure.      

In today's special episode, we sit down with cycling legend Rob Britton to delve into his extraordinary experience at the Badlands — one of Europe's toughest gravel races. Rob Britton is not just a cyclist; he's a conqueror of terrains that most wouldn't dare to tread. With multiple accolades and races under his belt, Rob shares his unique insights into what it takes to tackle the formidable Badlands and emerge victorious. Pillar Performance If you're ready to elevate your performance and sleep quality, why not give PILLAR a try, head to pillarperformance.shop and use the code Roadman on your local website for 15% off your first order.  Or for US listeners, head to TheFeed.com/pillar and use code Roadman for the same 15% off your first order. MyWhoosh Get started on the cycling platform everyone is talking about. It has all the features of its competitors plus more. I'm loving the new "Belgian World" . It's completely free to get started. Go to https://www.mywhoosh.com/ Wattbike Wattbike is the only brand I trust for my indoor training needs. Head on over to ⁠wattbike.com⁠ and use roadman10 you'll get 10% off the Wattbike Atom Factor Bikes Today's show is brought to you with special thanks to our amazing on-going sponsors ⁠⁠Factor Bikes⁠⁠  Silca ⁠ Go to www.silca.cc and use ROADMAN13 at checkout to get 13% off your purchase The heart beat of our community & best place to reach me is ⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠ Want to watch full interviews on video? Check out our new Youtube Channel ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/roadmancycling?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠ Our full back catalogue of episodes⁠⁠ https://anchor.fm/roadman-cycling-podcast⁠⁠ My gift to you is 14 days of free coaching. To Claim your gift go to ⁠⁠www.roadmancycling.com/14daygift⁠⁠ Support this podcast by buying me a beer ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/anthony_walsh⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roadman-cycling-podcast/message

Rob Britton is an accomplished pro road cyclist who has  turned  to the off-road scene in the second half of his career. He's been doing the Lifetime Grand Prix and other mass start events but he is also taking on ultra endurance challenges. This summer it was an event called Badlands:  Longer than Unbound XL, more climbing than an Everest Challenge and a landscape that blows the mind. Rob takes us through the unique challenges to body and bike this race presented. He talks about trying to scarf  down a jumbo size bag of chips, getting hit by birds, using Jensie's voice to push through the pain and how a fresh chamois is a marginal gain….   

In this Episode we talking with Badlands 2023 Winner Rob Britton about preparation, what it means to race Badlands and the recovery a body needs after a Ultra Endurance Gravel Race .

Gerard Daffy is joined by Jason Sharp, Dave Geall and Rob Britton on Tuesday's edition of Going Greyhounds.

Rob Britton joins Big V Racing after a winning double last night at Sandown Park highlighted by Trooper Tears who went straight past Amron Boy in his heat of the Harrison Dawson

Today on the Roadman Cycling Podcast, we are thrilled to be joined by Rob Britton, a former professional cyclist with the Rally Cycling team and now gravel privateer. . Rob's love for cycling began at a young age and has since taken him around the world, competing in some of the most prestigious races in the sport. With an impressive list of achievements, including victories at the Tour of Utah and Tour de Beauce, Rob has become a household name in the cycling community. In 2020, when the pandemic hit, Rob took on a new challenge - ultra cycling and bike packing. Unleashing his full Svein Tuft, he set out on the BC Epic 1000 and discovering another layer to love affair with cycling  We're excited to have Rob here to talk about his experiences as a pro cyclist, his journey as a privateer, and his recent foray into ultra cycling. Today's show is brought to you with special thanks to our amazing on-going sponsors ⁠Factor Bikes⁠ & ⁠Wattbike⁠ The heart beat of our community & best place to reach me is ⁠Twitter ⁠ Want to watch full interviews on video? Check out our new Youtube Channel ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/roadmancycling?sub_confirmation=1⁠ Our full back catalogue of episodes⁠ https://anchor.fm/roadman-cycling-podcast⁠ My gift to you is 14 days of free coaching. To Claim your gift go to ⁠www.roadmancycling.com/14daygift⁠ Support this podcast by buying me a beer ⁠https://www.patreon.com/anthony_walsh⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roadman-cycling-podcast/message

This week: Rob Britton, Principal, AirLearn, Are alliances outdated? Southwest takes a $800M hit; What's the future of passenger re-accommodations? United's claims "best airline in the world" - has a mixed week; Delta announces free Wi-Fi; Mexico launching a military run airline? Listener Q: Airline foreign partnerships/equity stakes.

Rob Britton is a Canadian multi-discipline professional cyclist. Now ‘retired' from pro road racing, Rob has been crushing some of the biggest and hardest gravel and mountain bike races on the calendar. We chat about Rob's career, his start in cycling, his love of bikepacking, gravel, chasing FKT's and his support of the counselling charity WIRTH. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adventureaudio/support

This week we take a virtual trip to the Canadian rockies with rider accounts from the TransRockies Gravel Royal. We hear from eventual winners, Rob Britton and Rach McBride among others to explore this 4 day gravel stage race. Episode sponsor: Trek Travel -- Come join me in Girona on Nov 6th. Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: TransRockies Gravel Royale [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 bringing you coverage directly from the trans Rockies gravel Royale. You might've heard me mentioned trans Rockies, gravel rail a few times over the years. It's one of those unfortunate events with regards to COVID timing. That got scheduled right at the beginning of the pandemic and had to get postponed on a couple of occasions. But they finally got it off the ground this year. And it is such a great event. Trans Rockies organization has been producing races for over 20 years. I actually participated in a mountain bike stage race a seven day race. That they put on, gosh, probably about 10 years ago. And it was really quite an amazing experience. There's something to be said for being out there in the wilderness. traversing some amazing terrain. And then camping with everybody who just did the same thing as you that day, they do great highlight reel videos. Every night, they've got sort of a. Dining tent, and they prepare all the meals. It's an all exclusive experience. So when I heard they were doing a gravel version, I was super excited to go ultimately and do it, unfortunately that wasn't in the cards for me this year. But I did have my friend Marissa from Verde brand communications up there. Doing some interviews with some of the athletes as they were crossing the line. We were fortunate to talk to many of the stage winners and both of the ultimate winners of the event. So you'll see, during this episode, we'll go through each stage to give you a little bit of a flavor. For what transpired during the race, I'll give you a bit of an overview and then we've got a couple of just general commentaries from participants at the end of the podcast. So I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about the trans Rockies. And with that i do need to stop and thank this week sponsor. This week we're once again, sponsored by our friends over at Trek travel and the discover Girona gravel trip. That I personally am going to be participating in on November 6th through 10th this year. And I encourage you to join me. You may recall. We did an entire episode on Jarana gravel last year. And learned a lot about this historic city. And what has become. A hub for professional cycling in Girona across the road and gravel spectrums. The city is surrounded by amazing gravel routes. And the Trek infrastructure in Girona is just top notch. It's a location of one of their service courses. So they've got a number of bikes and included in this trip. Is a bicycle rental from track. So you don't even have to travel with your bikes. As we talked about in the intro, I love the idea of multi-day gravel experiences. So whether it was the trans Rockies, gravel Royale. Or even better. A trip like this, where you can design your own experience. If you want to ride your bike from dusk till Dawn, the team attract travel can create routes for you. Or if you want to have more of a city experience and do shorter rides. And enjoy the cafes and the historic surroundings of the community of Girona. You can do that too. I am looking forward to bathing in it all, frankly, I've been dreaming about this trip for a few years, ever since I first found out about it from the group of Trek travel, and I want you to join me. So if you can. The. Trip I'll be participating in and starts on November 6th. If you register for the trip by visiting Trek, travel.com and search for that. Girona gravel bike tour. If you mentioned the podcast or the ridership, they're going to throw in a free handlebar bag. For your trip there and something you can take home with you it will be a small Momento of the time we'll share together. So I hope you'll join me there again. Simply visit Trek, travel.com and search Jarana gravel bike tour. And you'll see that November six. Trip amongst the other dates that they have available this year. And remember to mention the gravel ride podcast during your booking process. Without behind us, let's jump right into the overview of the trans Rockies gravel Royale. And hear from a number of the participants. All right. Stage one, the trans Rockies gravel Royale, Tigger pass Panorama to the, to the community of Becca it's 50 miles and 6,900 feet of climbing. We're joined today by women's race winner, Rachel McBride. And men's race winner, corey wallace from stage one [00:05:00] Rach McBride: This is Rach McBride, professional triathlete, and I guess gravel racer and mountain bike. Gracer this year. I am here at trans rocks, gravel, Royal, and just finished stage one. It was. A pretty awesome day. We started out with a nice neutral descent and Down into, from Panorama into, in Vermer and then started on the big climb up to about, I don't even know what, I don't know how high we went today. It was a really great day for me. I felt pretty strong all day. I saw, you know, there was kind of a pack of folks who went off the front and I did not stay with them. And so I was kind of on my own for most of the day back and forth with a couple of folks. And it was you know, this was probably one of the most technical. Gravel race days that I have ever done, we climbed and climbed and climbed on some gravel roads, but then it quickly went into double track that was not super rideable and there was a lot of walking and then it went into. Basically a trail that was a hiking trail and everyone was walking. I just tried to use some of my tri triathlete skills to jog a little bit up those walking sections. And it was pretty fun to just feel like you were out in the middle of with your gravel bike. And then once you reach the top of the. Of the climb and I knew I just needed to push it to the top of this climb because the rest of the ride was gonna be downhill and pretty flat. And so tactically, it was gonna pay off to spend a lot of matches on that first climb and Coming down the single track on the way down was very exciting. It was definitely quite technical didn't. I stayed on my bike for the most part, had to crash myself once when it got super, super steep and I couldn't stop myself and just need to work on some technical skills to actually. Feel comfortable riding down that in the future. And then yeah, was just like on my own got passed on the downhill by some really speedy downhill mountain bike types, but caught up with them on the flats and yeah, ended up finishing strong. There was I think everyone today is complaining about the. Final turn and the final climb because we're on a beautiful gravel road. And then turn onto basically what looks like. You're just riding into the forest and there's no trail at all and you just keep climbing up, but it was super fun. It was really exciting. And yeah, I don't know. I've never done you know, a four day stage race before, and especially with stages that are this long. So I hope I haven't burned a lot of matches. Today. I know I still have three more days to race and hope I can just keep pushing it and I may be totally dying by day four. We'll get there when we come to it. And this is why I do this sport is to just challenge myself and see how far I can go with it. [00:08:13] Cory Wallace: I'm Corey Wallace, the Kona Factory team, and we're here at day one in the trans Rockies, gravel Royal. Yeah, I finished up epic on Friday and then started the drive up here Saturday and got here last night, around eight o'clock woke up, threw some stuff in a bag and we went off bike racing. I was pretty grateful for the one hour rollout from Panora down to in Vermer before the race started, gave me a chance to woke up and then. Yeah, the race is on. Yeah, typical trans rock up a pretty gnarly climb bit. A hike, a bike is Rob my an American myself kind of, battling it out and they would drop me towards the top of the climb. And then I went pretty hard through the single track and caught 'em on the descent and attacked right away. And Rob came with me and we would work together to the finish. And I kind of knew the finish from 10 years going. We did trans Rockies here, so I did a little effort with about one K out and yeah, took the, took the win and now we're just hanging out and getting ready for day two. [00:09:10] Craig Dalton: All right onto stage two, which is Becca to Knippa CTCA highlighted by Miller pass. It's a 51 mile stage with 4,900 feet of climbing. Once again, we're joined by rich McBride. Who successfully got first place in this stage for the women? And we're also joined by second place finisher in the men's category. Rob britain [00:09:33] Rach McBride: All right. Stage two. We left Nica and came back to beautiful Nica. It has been amazing to be here in this beautiful place. My race was super fun. I just like was determined to make the battle Royal. This time around and yeah, just rode strong all day and finished with a bunch of guys, two guys who I made work with me and had a really, really fun time and made some new friends and that, and then immediately went and jumped in the pond to cool off Is the, I've just been like super impressed with NA NCA here and just the like camp atmosphere is really fun and really means that like, you get to meet new people and like, see everybody coming in and you know, Kind of get to know each other and chill, like the afternoons have been so awesome to just like, hang out and sit in the sun or sit in the pond go for a little walk. I went for a little jog this afternoon and yeah, it was pretty amazing. Yeah. I love it. And. Yeah, food's great too. good. Good evening entertainment as well with the like evening of photos and videos. So you also like get to see like what other people doing on race day and on course, which is pretty cool. Cool. How are you feeling for two more days? Two more days, man. I mean, they're gonna be longer. And I'm definitely feeling tired. And I know that like for me, the longer, the better I'm really excited about the upcoming about tomorrow. And we get to move to a new place. So that'll be cool though. I think we got really spoiled here. totally. Yeah. [00:11:22] Rob Britton: . Hi, my name's Rob Briton. I race professionally for east Overland slash felt bicycles. And right now we are on stage two of the trans Rockies gravel Royal. Currently I am in first, overall and finished second on yesterday's first stage and third on today's stage. So it's going pretty well so far. A little bit different experience than my past life, where we would sleep in hotels and have toilets. And this is more of a roughen it experience. Yeah, camping. So yeah, just hanging out in the tent at night with about 300 folks. and yeah, early starts, which is sort of the, the jam with gravel. I don't really tell you that in the gravel brochure, but yeah, most most stages start before 8:00 AM. So these ones start right around eight and they're relatively short for the races we've done this year around 80 K or. For any Americans listening about 50 miles. So that's give or take three hours and you're done before noon. So the rest of the day is just spent relaxing, which where we are right now. Looking at a pretty incredible view of we've got the cutey mountains on one side and the Rocky mountains on the other side of the valley we've got a pretty incredible. Pond or it's pond little swing hole here from a Creek, which is quite refreshing considering it's about 26, 27 degrees, or I guess 35, 80 degrees. So yeah, just taking it all in it's my first year doing this gravel gig. it's quite a bit more fun than my past life racing on the road, especially kind of the last couple years in Europe when things went from hard to much harder. So yeah, this is, this is nice. You have hamburgers for lunch and beef brisket for dinner and beer is kind of in between. So yeah, it's it's a pretty good gig, but otherwise yeah, running my felt breed carbon right now with. GX D I two, we've got a classified rear wheel on there. So it gives me kind of the option of my standard 48 with an 1134 cassette or the virtual second ring is close to a 32. So pretty killer climbing gear Schwabe G one RS tires and 45 C, which is pretty sweet for traction. And then I kinda made the last minute switch to the Fox taper cast 32 fork. So I've got just a little bit of little bit of cushion to the front end for those descend switch so far has paid off quite a bit. I don't mind carrying it up the climbs for the yeah, the mortal relaxed ASC descending. And yeah, we got two stages left. I think it's about. Tomorrow's 110 K giver take. And then the final day is kind of there at queen stage. And that's about 130 K. So I think that's around 87 miles and yeah, finishing fornia and, and call it a week and then onto whatever my next thing is, which at this point I actually don't even know, but I know I'm busy for the next month, but Yeah, all and all it's been pretty awesome being out here in BC. It's nice to race, relatively close to home. You don't get that opportunity. And certainly haven't had that for a number of years, so I'm stoked to be here. [00:14:33] Craig Dalton: The stage three, this is where the writers are really starting to feel the first two days of effort. This day's stages from Nica to canal flats. I'll actually be moving camp today and it features little ALK pass. 67 miles, 4,900 feet of climbing. We're going to be joined again by Rachel McBride who managed to successfully. When this stage as well. And then on the men's side we're joined by caleb swartz from missoula montana who came in third place on stage three [00:15:07] Rach McBride: All right. Day three, trans Rockies gravel Royal. Today was a more of an epic day than we had experienced in the past couple of days, just because it was a little bit longer and started off. Pretty much right off the bat with the Q O M climb, which was pretty challenging and still involved some walking at the top, which I think everybody was not fond of. And and then quite, I mean, for me, it was a technical descent. I was pretty, I was scared shitless going down the descent, cuz it was super fast yet. There were some technical bits. And and ended up getting up out onto the main road, the drag that was hours and hours long initially on my own. And then thankfully got caught by two guys and we then eventually. Reeled in another two guys. And there were five of us working together for a long time. And that was one of the interesting things about this course today was that it really, your success kind of depended a little bit on who you ran into and what kind of a group you had and if you were working together or not, and I really got pushed by the. Folks that I was riding with, which was awesome. And eventually we got rid of most of them except for one person. And then that guy rode me into the ground and I B I really baed at the end of the, at the start of the last climb, that was just like, you were so many hours in and then had to do this. Climb that looked like forever, even though I think it was only a minute or so. But I definitely felt a lot more tired on day three and a little bit more cracked at the end. And yeah, we landed in canal flats and had an maing dinner. The food is so fantastic here. And what else am I talking about? I was Just about gravel, gravel. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, for me this year racing, the lifetime grand Prix has meant that I have put, put triathlon on the back burner a bit though, still raced here and there. And what has kind of ended up happening? I mean, this is like my fifth weekend or fifth week in a row racing between gravel mountain bike and triathlon. And I have. Kind of felt like I've been racing into shape. And I mean, the GRA the, the punchiness and the dynamics of gravel racing and the mountain bike racing like Leadville 100 and the Leadville stage race that I did has really reminded me of just how. Much you can push in these shorter races and how much stamina my body has. And to be able to like in between all of these races, still show up and like win Boulder, 70.3 was kind of insane for me and really has meant that Yeah, that, you know, my gravel racing this year has really upped my triathlon game, which is really exciting. It's very cool to feel like still in the mix at the age of 44 in this career and being like racing in this totally new dynamic. World of gravel racing. It's a new crowd. It's a new scene. It is new competition. It is different courses a different community and yeah, just a really awesome vibe and I'm loving it. [00:18:34] Caleb Swartz: Alrighty. My name is Caleb Swartz. I'm from Madison, Wisconsin, and I live in Missoula, Montana. And I ride for giant envy, which is my own program that I put together. Cool. So tell me about your stage today. It was, it was really hard and then it was not so hard and then it was really hard again. Yeah, we hit the first major climb about, you know, less than 10 minutes in. And I immediately attacked as soon as we got there and got away a little bit and started going, then we got into like a mudslide. It was like riding through wet concrete. So then we ended up doing some running then Corey, who had some issues yesterday came through with just vengeance and just absolutely started smashing up the climb. That was quote, mostly rideable which was actually some running. Then we got into a pretty technical descent or not well, could be technical depending how fast you go. A lot of. What they call stitch up here in Canada, which we would call water bars in the states. And so I almost got dropped, but I knew if I got dropped there, I'd be in trouble for the next like 50 miles of flat draft essential riding. So then I attacked into the downhill and got a couple minutes gap. And made him chase me and we all regrouped and then basically all stayed together until we dropped one guy Josiah. And then I got dropped within the last climb and they sprinted it out. So, yeah, cool. How are you enjoying doing a stage race and camp antics and hanging out with the guys and all of that? It's really fun. I did one other stage race earlier this year. That was a similar style called trans or Sylvania epic. Similar trans. And that was a mountain bike stage race in Pennsylvania. Similar thing, like five days of racing there, camping, like similar, no, not quite this level of production, but greats too. And it's super fun to be doing point to point. And yeah, I really enjoy the, I don't. I ride my bike to be outside and getting to camp and race and be in super gorgeous areas. Like this is just as everything I love. The sport and why I raised professionally. Cool. How is your bike setup? A lot of people have had flats or mechanicals. How's your bike been doing this week? My bike setup is not quite ideal, but it's, it's going strong. No issues yet. Yeah. Knock on wood. Yeah, I. I didn't really change my gearing or anything. It's my cycle cross bike. And that's what I, I'm primarily a side cross mountain bike racer. And so my, my like gearing is I have a 42 chain ring and a 30, 10 36 cassette, which is far from ideal for like 25% chunky, like rock gardens. But so far is so good. And I'm running 42 mill tires. Well, 42, 38, cause I destroyed a tire in my race last Sunday, too. So I'm running a, running a black and tan mullet set up here. It's doing the trick and yeah, it's holding together strong and taking care of it and trying to ride smooth and minimize, minimize mistakes while going fast. Cool. What are you looking forward in last stage tomorrow? Looking forward to this big climb. I love to climb. And it'll be interesting to see how everyone else is feeling and how I'm feeling. See if I can get some time back on second place in GC. And yeah, try and, you know, anything can happen or, you know, be tough to get the overall here, but I'd love to get another stage win and really I'd love a good mountaintop finish. [00:21:55] Craig Dalton: And now on the stage four, which is the queen stage and the final stage of this year's 2022. Therese Rocky, gravel Royale. They're going from canal flats to the town of Fernie going over. Hartley pass. It's an 84 mile ride. With 7,900 feet of climbing, boy, that's going to hurt. At this stage in the game. I've I've written in Fernie and around that area during the trans Rockies. Mountain bike stage race. Absolutely stunning to rain, incredible single track and dual track. Coming into Fernie. We're joined by rich McBride again, who managed to win the stage as well as the overall title. On the men's side, we're joined by Rob Britton who won the overall title for the men. So excited to have you hear from them. And then we'll conclude by hearing from a few other athletes. Who participated in the event [00:22:50] Rob Britton: well we're here at the finish of stage four final stage of the trans Rockies gravel L in traditional fashion of my experience infer any it's raining and the temperature is dropping. Step as the final stage. Finally got my stage win searching for that for a few days now. Yeah. First stage race in gravel, done dusted kind of a bunch of first. I haven't done a capping stage race before and never done gravel stage Jason before. So certainly continues to be more different than my past life, but fun, nonetheless. I mean, The group from trans Rockies did a heck of a job, you know, taking care of us, great food every night, nice breakfast in the morning. Some of the most incredible scenery you can imagine the Kenn Rockies obviously never disappoint, but yeah it was. All said and done ended up first on the final stage. And first overall, which I'm super happy about because this was an important race with three quarters of my sponsors between felt Easton and chiro all taking part as major supporters of this stage race. So. Yeah, I'm really happy to get a win at this race and kind of, I think my first real win is a gravel pro or whatever my title is now, but yeah, definitely be back in the future and hopefully one of these days I'll finish in the sunshine for any and life will be good. [00:24:15] Rach McBride: Day four, trans Rockies, gravel, Royal. This one was a beast. If I thought that I dug deep yesterday I really went into the pain cave today. It started off I started off feeling pretty ragged and finally got a bit of a second wind or first wind, maybe about halfway. Through and suffered up the final 13 kilometer climb to the finish. I had an awesome group though, to ride with a bunch of really strong guys who we all just pushed each other and we were. Like egging each other on and coaxing each other on to stay together. It was super supportive and that was a really, really cool experience. And I don't think I would've pushed as hard had I not had such great riders and folks to be racing with my thoughts on this whole week are, I mean, Race is definitely like, unlike anything I've ever experienced in my gravel racing days, for sure. From the courses to the multi-day aspect, to the The tent, camping and the evening awards and support and awesome food and everything. It's just been a really fantastic experience to, I mean, if you want to like feel in the gravel community, this is a pretty awesome way to experience it because you're all stuck together for four days. And so you make new friends and you meet people from all over. The world really, who are doing this race. And it's a fun, little, like, You know, little town that you're in for, for a couple of days, for folks who are interested in doing this, maybe even for their first gravel race. I mean, first of all, I would say that if you are going to do this race for your first gravel race, any other race that you do will likely be seem a lot easier than anything else than anything that you would do this week. The I would definitely recommend when you're training for it to do some multiple big days in a row, because, or just do some training when you are fatigued, because you know, really doing the bigger days in the days three and four takes a lot out of you and you definitely need some stamina. And you want to. I think some of the biggest things is like you can't deplete yourself on every day, so you really need to be fueling and hydrating during your race prepping for the next days, as well as afterwards, eat a lot at dinner, eat a lot at breakfast. And what else would I say? . Yeah. Be prepared. Another tip I would give is be prepared to walk a lot with your bike because there are some technical aspects and some super steep climbs that everybody is walking. And some technical aspects that if you're not a mountain biker, you probably will be Walking with your bike, which is totally fine. I definitely walked some of the more technical sections myself. And maybe that's it. Yeah. What was your favorite moment of the week? Oh, my favorite moment of the week was definitely, you know, over because I was riding with a few guys for over the, the whole course of the race. You know, we got to know each other a little bit and there was a bit of a rivalry going on and it was just really fun to be like, I think the, the best moment for me was just. Like being out there with like new friends and pushing each other I think just that community side of things and that like new friends sort of thing was pretty awesome. [00:28:21] Jacob Paul: Hi, my name is Jacob Paul. I'm from west colon BC, and I competed in the 30 to 39 men's category of trans Rockies this week. The week went really well. Had a lot of fun out racing with everyone. I have not done a whole lot of racing, so a whole new experience riding in a group and yeah, working with other people, the course had a great mix of everything. A lot of gravel roads, a lot of single track and some pretty cool views. And yeah, I would strongly recommend this race to anyone who's interested in mountain biking and gravel biking. What was your favorite moment from the week? Hm, my favorite moment from the week was on day three when we were rolling into canal flats. And you could see all the jagged mountains above the clouds. Awesome. Sweet. Well, thank you super all. [00:29:15] Zoe Roy: . My name's Zoe. Roy, do you want me to spell it? No, that's okay. And I'm from bend Oregon, originally, Ontario, Canada, but live in bend Oregon. Awesome. What did you do for the last four days? I rode my bike over a lot of up and down. And through the woods and around mountains and hung out with a lot, a lot of really fun people. Cool. Yeah. So you're not a gravel biker, but you did a gravel event. Yeah. How was the gravel community and everyone that you met? Oh, man, your week, like, great. It was so fun. It, it was my first gravel event, gravel race ever. But I really didn't expect anything. Like for the community to be as great as they were. Yeah. I assume they would be. cool. And you're queen of the mountain Royal attempts. How were those? Oh yeah. They were fun. They were really fun. I was on, I think I had a little bit easier gearing cuz I had mountain bike gears in the. On my bike. I was on a gravel bike with flat bars and mountain bikers. So the steep uphills were to my advantage. Yeah. But they were they're, they were really fun. We thought we might as well. I thought I might as well try and see what happened. Totally. And it worked out the last two days. Awesome. What was your favorite moment of the week? Favorite moment of the week. The downhill yesterday was really fun. Yeah. If I was picking a moment during the, during the stages. Yeah. Through the creeks, it was just really fun and fast and it kept going through fun Creek crossings. Yeah. Yeah. So that good. What about your favorite camp moment? Favorite camp moment? Staying in Nico is pretty fun, was really fun cuz everyone just stuck there. Internet or wifi. Yeah. And so you're just kind of forced to hang out with each other. Yeah. So that's great. Have you been in this area? Much biking? I have a little bit around here and I did trans Rocky's the classic, the mountain bike one mm-hmm in 2019. So I have been, and I think the stage, the first stages were similar or the same. Yeah. So I have done, I've been in this area and I also work at a lodge that we rode really close to a back country, ski and hiking lodge. So we were probably within 10 K of. On the same gravel roads we take to get to the lodge. Yeah. Barry, do you wanna make a cameo? This recording? Sure. Hello? Can introduce yourself. [00:31:20] Barry Wicks: My name is Barry Wix. How was your week? Oh, it was excellent. Yeah, super fun. You know, another awesome stage race experience. Just spending four days out in the woods. Riding bikes doesn't get much better. Cool. What are you guys doing next? Where are you? This we're actually adding cam more to do a 24 hour race tomorrow, which is probably a bad idea. but I'm sure this day of rest will be very helpful, feel super fresh tomorrow. Cool. What was your favorite moment from. I think probably my favorite moment was watching Zoe go up hill really fast. That was quite impressive. I was struggling to keep up. It was inspiring to watch her just zooming up the hill, passing everybody. It was also pretty fun having the Spanish people here, the whole crew with the media team and we rode. Rael yesterday from like at least half, maybe three quarters of it. And then we were on Spanish TV afterwards. yeah, yeah. Highlight. We got be on TV potentially. We don't know actually, if we made the cut, but yeah, that's true. We might get cut out. You never know, but we were interviewed. That might might been a highlight. Good. do you need to speak Spanish? No, zero Spanish. I'm sure the subtitles be excellent. Subtitles. Cool. [00:32:32] Marisa Dobrot: Hi there. This is Marissa with trans rocks. You might have heard my voice throughout this podcast, just in the background asking some of the athletes questions. And before I sign off, Craig just wanted me to give you all a little recap of how the week went from my perspective and how the event was overall. Obviously you heard from a lot of the athletes, how they were racing and. The camp was and everything like that. So just a little bit more background where the four stages of the race were, were just amazing, beautiful mountains and terrain. Really unlike anything we obviously have in the United States which is where I'm from from Colorado. so it was just a great opportunity to get athletes out on these magnificent gravel roads. Even if some of the time the athletes might have complained a little bit, that it was a little more technical than they were probably used to in a gravel race. Having to even the pros, having to get off their bike and walk some portions. Which I think just makes the event so unique and interesting. And you really get a perspective of back country gravel over the four days. So. As you know, the, the race started out in Panorama which is a really cute little ski town ski resort and looked like it had some great downhill mountain biking for the summer. So that's where night one was. And they started right at the base of the ski hill and took off from there. And it was a neutral start. So everyone. Kind of got a chance to just chill for the morning. For that little first bit probably have some conversations with fellow writers before they really took off once they got down to town and on their way to Tager pass which that first day, and that first pass was sounded pretty challenging for a lot of the athletes. And definitely from the videos that we got from the video team. On course it was technical and a lot of people took some spills or walked down some of the technical technical sections. But overall was still super gorgeous. And can't really be going on some of that terrain on two wheels. And then ending that day out at ni PICA, which was a super beautiful place. The, the trans Rockies team had been setting up the tents and obviously getting everything set. We were in ni PICA for two days which was really cool to kind of spend a good amount of time there, like totally you cell service surrounded 360 by mountains. Really gorgeous. And Niah as a whole is is what they consider an eco resort. So a lot of the buildings that had been made were from various recycled materials and wood that they had found and things like that. And the, the creator of Niah Lyle was talked to the, to the athletes a couple times and just his vision for the resort really plays into what trans Rockies is all about, which is super cool. And definitely a place I wanna go back in the winter. Seems really beautiful for CrossCountry skiing or, or fat biking, but was in, was very enjoyable for the summer. And so that day too going out in Nico was actually a loop. So they started out from camp. Did a loop around around some mountains there did a pass called Miller pass and then looped back on some great mining, gravel roads back to camp. So I think that was a great day for everyone to just kind of explore more. The parts of the course that I was able to get out on in the morning were just beautiful. Super gorgeous, like glacier rivers going through Really have no complaints on that one. And then later that afternoon was a little stormy. It had poured down rain and everyone went hiding under like the dining tent or in their tents. We were in the media RV, which was nice. So everything got a little soaked, but I think it helped it cool it down. In the afternoon before we had dinner And I think what's super cool about having these stage races is often in one day races, you kind of are in your own zone and you get to the start line and you do your race. And. Talk to people on the course and you have a great time and you have great interactions. And then, and then the race is over and you're with your family or you're onto your next thing. Versus stage race. It's you have all of this time to really know the community and the people that you're with and really have that super cool experience making friends, and we were really lucky to have people from all over the world, come out for the inaugural. I had a group from Spain, obviously a lot of people from the us and obviously a lot of people from Canada on all over the the country, which was really awesome. So people got the chance to meet so many different kinds of people. We were grateful to also have some, some pros come out. So some people got to talk to some really fast bikers which is really awesome to have. And each night just, if you're not familiar with kind of how trans Rockies runs, they do awards for the stage. And they have a ton of categories. They have age group and the pro category. You can do it in a team. So things like that. So awards, and then we also put together some fun, little slideshow of all of the shots that we get from the media team. And then the video team puts together a pretty funny little recap video of the day which is great for the athletes to just see how the day was for everyone else and see some cool, some cool spots and things like that. And just a fun way to end the night. And then. Pretty much wraps it up and people go to bed. They're thankfully not super early mornings. Start times at 8:00 AM, but we have breakfast open at six. So people start kind of rolling around, getting ready for the day each morning, pretty early. And so day two, starting at Nica. We went out of there and we were making our way down to canal flats. That day was a less technical horse, but definitely a little bit longer. But I think people enjoyed the break of it not being quite as technical . Because the last day of the event is definitely a long, the longest day with the biggest climbing ending in fie. So the village of canal flat was awesome. And it was just like a really tiny little town nestled in the mountains, close to a lake. We were just kind of right in, in the town, which was really cool. We were, the, the tents were set up on a baseball field and we had plumbing, which was, which was a change from Nica where we just had porta potties. So I think that was a nice change for everyone going to that last day. And then on Thursday morning, took off from canal flats and head down to F. Unfortunately I was driving a truck, so I didn't get to see any of that course. Just the course footage that came back from the media team. And it looked gorgeous. That's definitely a unique course in that route pretty much the only road there, the reason that we, we couldn't really go in to the courses because there was no other way, it was kind of in between two mountains. This one mining road that they Rodee on So it was super gorgeous. The footage that the media team came back with was unreal. So gonna have to figure out how to get myself on a bike next time to cover social and do these interviews which will be exciting. And then ending in the town of fie which is another really awesome little mountain town. There's a ski hill, great hiking. Just full 360 views of just incredibly big mountains. And super dramatic a little bit different than Colorado. And so cool. And the town was super inviting. Trans Rockies has had a number of events come through fie. They'll actually be starting out in fie again in about a week for their single track six mountain bike event. So their, their team will be working hard again for a six stage stage race for those mountain bikers. And at the end, it was unfortunately a little rainy. So , people hung out for a little bit, but then they went and got some, some dry clothes and met back up again for the final banquet, which is how all trans Rock's events end. We had at the community center. infer. And we do final awards and the final video and just thank yous to the full crew and obviously all the athletes and support and the host communities and things like that. And then we say farewell. So it goes by fast for sure. Those four days But an amazing experience for myself kind of being on the outside and not fully participating, but getting to see the athletes and just be around the trans Rockies community and this new gravel community that trans Rockies is putting together on this stage. Race is really awesome. So we hope to see returning faces next year. And we also hope to, to see some new ones as well. Wanna enjoy four days of amazing gravel. That they might not necessarily do if they weren't gonna do an event like trans Rockies. So, grateful to be a part of it. And we hope you enjoyed this recap. And I wanna thank Craig for putting it together. My first adventure into doing podcasts and recording. So hope you all enjoy and we'll hopefully see you a trans Rocky's event soon. Thanks so much. [00:40:47] Craig Dalton: That's going to do it for this week's edition of the gravel ride podcast. I hope you enjoyed hearing from those athletes from the trans Rockies gravel Royale certainly does look like an amazing event. And I can personally attest to how awesome the terrain is up there in that region of Canada. Huge. Thanks to our friends. Attract travel, please consider joining me this November 6th on the Girona gravel tour trip. Just visit Trek, travel.com and search for that. Jarana gravel bike tour. And mentioned your listener of the podcast. For that free handlebar bag I look forward to spending some time and spinning some miles with you over in Girona. If you're interested in connecting with me. I encourage you to join the ridership. That's www.theridership.com. It's a free global cycling community where you can connect with over 1500 athletes from around the world and discuss anything to do with gravel cycling. If you're able to support the podcast, please visit buy me a coffee.com. Slash the gravel ride. Or ratings and reviews are hugely appreciated. Until next time here's to finding some dirt under your wheels

And here we are for Episode 2, Pt 2 of OffRoad Inroads. This episode is a continuation of our discussion on Unbound Gravel, the second stop of the LTGP. Featuring interviews with Rob Britton and women's champion Sofia Gomez Villafane, this is a don't-miss episode! We get Sofia's take on the validity of starting the men and women together and hear all about her commanding victory, and get former road pro Rob Britton's take on the whole gravel scene, whether flat tires are luck or lack-of-skill-induced errors, and his upcoming challenge to set the FKT on the BC Epic 1000 route.  We'll begin the episode with a rundown of Haley and Lespy's equipment choices, who were proud members of the No Mechanical Club at this iconic race. Sit back, turn up your speakers, and enjoy this dynamic episode. Timestamps:Haley and Lespy : 1:44Sofia Gomez Villafane : 14:40Rob Britton : 47:40

Albert Labs International Corp. new Scientific Advisory Board member Professor Robert Britton, BSc, PhD, of Simon Fraser University, joined Proactive's Stephen Gunnion to discuss his background and what he brings to his role at the mental health research and drug development company. Britton has joined the board along with renowned toxicologist and pharmacologist, Dr Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira. You can find his interview with Proactive's Katie Pilbeam here.

Payson is joined by two standout racers from last weekend's Sea Otter Classic, Mo Wilson and Rob Britton. Mo won the race, beating a formidable field that included Olympians, national champions, and former WorldTour riders. Having made a mark on the gravel circuit in 2021, winning Big Sugar and placing second at the Leadville 100, her decisive victory at Sea Otter demonstrated her potential in other disciplines. Mo talks to Payson about her mindset going into the race, her childhood ski racing career, and how she only got into gravel racing during the pandemic. She also shares some breaking news about some big career moves she's making this year. Later in the episode, Payson is joined by Rob Britton, who finished eighth out of the Grand Prix roster and tenth overall. His result comes barely six months after announcing his retirement from a 12-year road racing career, six years of which he spent with Rally Cycling. He talks about why he decided to leave the WorldTour, being pleasantly surprised by his Sea Otter result, and why his 2022 racing schedule is more packed than ever. Payson also highlights some of the breakout rides from Sea Otter and discusses some of the implications for the Grand Prix.

S3 Ep5: Rob Britton – How Pro Cyclists Eat This week, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with pro cyclist Rob Britton. Rob's been racing bikes professionally for over 10 years and it was fascinating to hear how he's upgraded and adapted his nutrition strategies throughout his career. There's an incredible amount of value and lessons to be taken away from this conversation with Rob. From the ‘starvation culture' of pro cycling back in the day with the aim of being as light as possible, to building solid fuelling and recovery strategies to perform optimally on the world tour. If you're an endurance athlete, this is definitely an episode you'll gain a huge amount of insight and inspiration from. p.s. whilst you're here… If you're an athlete who wants the high performance eating habits, the personalised nutrition programming, the support, the accountability and all the education you'll ever need to raise your game and compete with excellence every day - check out my six-month online Athlete Coaching Programme >>> https://chrislowenutrition.com/onlinenutrition/  

Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys John Lewin, Habib Balian, Ethan Milius, Euguene Miyata, and Rob Britton join the podcast and discuss the prosecution of Robert Durst. In this episode, the prosecutors discuss organizing discovery, preparing clips for cross examination, how they decided who would do opening and closing argument, whether they could prove the case without the cadaver note, changing Durst's catheter bag, what surprised them during Durst's testimony, and who would play John Lewin if they made a movie about this case. The trial of Susan Berman's murder lasted over 4 months, had over 100 witness, had over 180,000 pages of discovery, and over 1,000 clips from interviews and trial footage that were presented to the jury in an organized and seamless way. Durst was tried and convicted of 1st degree murder on September 17, 2021 for the murder of Susan Berman, and the jury agreed Durst killed her because she was a witness in the disappearance of Kathie Durst who Durst allegedly killed in 1982. Durst was sentenced to life without parole on October 14, 2021. Facts:Kathie Durst mysteriously disappears on January 31, 1982. One of the last people to hear from her was the dean of Albert Einstein Medical School, where Kathie allegedly called in sick and said she wasn't going to be able to attend her rotation. In November 2000, it becomes public that the police reopened the investigation into Kathie Durst's disappearance. On December 24, 2000, a woman named Susan Berman is found murdered execution style in her home in Los Angeles. Who was Susan Berman? A close friend of Robert Durst and the daughter of a mobster. She was also someone who told others that she in fact placed the call to the dean of the med school and pretended to be Kathie, thus creating an alibi for Robert Durst. The police later receive a note postmarked December 23, 2000, saying there was a “cadaver” at Susan's address in Beverly Hills, except “Beverly” is misspelled as “Beverley.” On October 9, 2001, body parts of a person named Morris Black are found floating in Galveston Bay, Texas. Durst is arrested that day but posts bail and skips his hearing, only to be arrested a month later for shoplifting a sandwich. Durst is acquitted of murder on a claim of self-defense, even though Durst admitted to dismembering Morris Black after Black was shot and killed during a struggle with Durst. A movie called “All Good Things” starring Ryan Gosling is released and is essentially a rendition of the crimes by Durst. After seeing the movie, Durst reaches out to the makers of the film and sings them praise, saying it's essentially accurate. The makers of that film make The Jinx: The LIfe and Deaths of Robert Durst in 2015, where Durst sits down for an interview that lasted 20 hours over the course of several years. During the filming of The Jinx, the makers confront Durst with the writing of “Beverley” on the cadaver note and comparing it to a letter that Durst himself wrote to Susan Berman in the past (known as the "Sareb letter" after her son Sareb found the letter). It's written the same way and Beverley is misspelled the same way. At the end of the documentary, Durst is caught on a hot mic and says “There it is. You're caught. What did you do? Killed them all of course.”On March 14, 2015, Durst is arrested in New Orleans and had a loaded .38 caliber revolver with one spent shell casing, 5 ounces of marijuana, $42K in cash, his passport, maps of Louisiana, Florida, and Cuba, and a flesh toned latex map. Police later discovered an additional $117K in cash sent by a friend. Durst eventually pled guilty to a federal firearm charge and then was extradited to California to face charges of the murder of Susan Berman.Laws on the Books:Each episode we look at the laws on the books. 3 are real, 1 is fake. Can you guess which one is the fake?A. In New York, it is illegal to commit adultery.B. In Galveston, Texas, it is illegal to bury a body except in a cemetery.C. In Beverly Hills, it is illegal for a person to discover a body or acquire the first knowledge of the death of a person and fail to report it.D. In Louisiana, it's illegal to wear a facial disguise calculated to conceal one's identity (except during specified activities such as Halloween, Mardi Gras, etc.). Disclaimer: The views expressed on this podcast are solely of the speakers and do not reflect the views of the Deputy DA's Association nor the District Attorney. Questions and comments can be emailed to crimenewsinsider@gmail.com.Featured in the Top 10 Criminal Law Podcasts!Website: https://sdddaa.net/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoDDAsTwitter: @CrimeNewsInsidr, @SanDiegoDDAsMusic by: The Only Ocean - "Snake"Image by: Pixabay user Michael Gaida.Image by: Pixabay user Michael Gaida

Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys John Lewin, Habib Balian, Ethan Milius, Euguene Miyata, and Rob Britton join the podcast and discuss the prosecution of Robert Durst. In this episode, the prosecutors discuss investigating the case, interviewing Durst, preparing for trial, and catching a fabrication by Durst while he was on the witness stand.  (Spoiler alert: there is a reference to the movie The Usual Suspects.)The trial of Susan Berman's murder lasted over 4 months, had over 100 witness, had over 180,000 pages of discovery, and over 1,000 clips from interviews and trial footage that were presented to the jury in an organized and seamless way. Durst was tried and convicted of 1st degree murder on September 17, 2021 for the murder of Susan Berman, and the jury agreed Durst killed her because she was a witness in the disappearance of Kathie Durst who Durst allegedly killed in 1982. Durst was sentenced to life without parole on October 14, 2021. Facts:Kathie Durst mysteriously disappears on January 31, 1982. One of the last people to hear from her was the dean of Albert Einstein Medical School, where Kathie allegedly called in sick and said she wasn't going to be able to attend her rotation. In November 2000, it becomes public that the police reopened the investigation into Kathie Durst's disappearance. On December 24, 2000, a woman named Susan Berman is found murdered execution style in her home in Los Angeles. Who was Susan Berman? A close friend of Robert Durst and the daughter of a mobster. She was also someone who told others that she in fact placed the call to the dean of the med school and pretended to be Kathie, thus creating an alibi for Robert Durst. The police later receive a note postmarked December 23, 2000, saying there was a “cadaver” at Susan's address in Beverly Hills, except “Beverly” is misspelled as “Beverley.” On October 9, 2001, body parts of a person named Morris Black are found floating in Galveston Bay, Texas. Durst is arrested that day but posts bail and skips his hearing, only to be arrested a month later for shoplifting a sandwich. Durst is acquitted of murder on a claim of self-defense, even though Durst admitted to dismembering Morris Black after Black was shot and killed during a struggle with Durst. A movie called “All Good Things” starring Ryan Gosling is released and is essentially a rendition of the crimes by Durst. After seeing the movie, Durst reaches out to the makers of the film and sings them praise, saying it's essentially accurate. The makers of that film make The Jinx: The LIfe and Deaths of Robert Durst in 2015, where Durst sits down for an interview that lasted 20 hours over the course of several years. During the filming of The Jinx, the makers confront Durst with the writing of “Beverley” on the cadaver note and comparing it to a letter that Durst himself wrote to Susan Berman in the past (known as the "Sareb letter" after her son Sareb found the letter). It's written the same way and Beverley is misspelled the same way. At the end of the documentary, Durst is caught on a hot mic and says “There it is. You're caught. What did you do? Killed them all of course.”On March 14, 2015, Durst is arrested in New Orleans and had a loaded .38 caliber revolver with one spent shell casing, 5 ounces of marijuana, $42K in cash, his passport, maps of Louisiana, Florida, and Cuba, and a flesh toned latex map. Police later discovered an additional $117K in cash sent by a friend. Durst eventually pled guilty to a federal firearm charge and then was extradited to California to face charges of the murder of Susan Berman.Disclaimer: The views expressed on this podcast are solely of the speakers and do not reflect the views of the Deputy DA's Association nor the District Attorney. Questions and comments can be emailed to crimenewsinsider@gmail.com.Featured in the Top 10 Criminal Law Podcasts!Website: https://sdddaa.net/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoDDAsTwitter: @CrimeNewsInsidr, @SanDiegoDDAsMusic by: The Only Ocean - "Snake"Image by: Pixabay user Michael Gaida.

We have a different show for you this week! We just finished up a three-day gravel bikepacking trip from Gold Bridge, BC. It was a wild trip with lots of great stories that we share in this episode as we sat down with the whole crew: Rob Britton, Jamie Sparling and Taylor Little. We hope you enjoy it!

Greyhound trainer Rob Britton joined Michael Felgate and Gareth Hall to discuss a planned trainer strike over pay battles with the regulator and claims of unfair treatment

With the boys on a quick let up, we take a journey down memory lane and replay some of our favourite interviews on the show. First up is Martin Attard, Rob Britton and Cindy Alderson.

This week we have our friend and professional cyclist Rob Britton on the show. We've all been racing against each other since the mid-2000's but it took until 2019 for us all to be on the same team at Rally Cycling. We get into some old stories from racing along with an update on Rob's life over in Europe right now. 

George Farrugia and special guest Rob Britton joined RSN Central to discuss all the big topics in Greyhound Racing

GRV's George Farrugia joined RSN Central for the latest on feature greyhound racing across the country this week, plus trainer Rob Britton dials in following the announcement yesterday that staying king Tornado Tears has been retired in this weeks edition of Off The Leash

In episode 2 of the Strategic Marketing podcast, Professor Andreas Eisingerich and Dr Omar Merlo discuss the impact of the pandemic on the airline industry. They are joined by guests Rob Britton (former executive of American Airlines, now an adjunct professor at Georgetown University) and Anthony Anderson (former marketing director of Easyjet and Easygroup) to discuss the challenges airlines are currently facing and how the pandemic might change the future of the industry.   Find out more about the Strategic Marketing programme: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/business-school/strategic-marketing-online/ 

If you’re punting Sandown Park tonight, don’t miss this comprehensive preview with Gareth Hall and Jason Adams, plus trainers Anthony Azzopardi, Jason Thompson and Rob Britton

Rob Britton joined RSN Central, ahead of Tornado Tears' Bold Trease Heat tomorrow night

Trainer Rob Britton joined RSN Central after Tornado Tears took out the Topgun Stayers Final at The Meadows Saturday night

When Rob Britton got into bikepacking, he really went for it. In 2018, the Tour of Utah winner set off from Calgary to Port Renfrew, B.C., on a nine-day adventure. The saddle time seemed to prepare him nicely for spending the day in the breakaway at the world championship road race soon after. Since then, Britton has continued to have some long adventures on his bike, including a big trip to Japan in November 2019 and a gravel epic earlier this year.In this episode, Britton covers all kinds of topics related to bikepacking. He talks about how he sometimes pushes himself and his friends. He’s very safety conscious, and even has some good advice about when and how to take risks. There’s discussion about gear, including his go-to equipment list. He puts a lot of thought into every gram including what goes in his flask.After you hear this interview with Rob Britton, you’ll want to plan a big cycling adventure.

Today we talk with Dr. Rob Britton, Principal at AirLearn, a boutique consulting firm, former Managing Director of American Airlines, and a Professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.During his period at American Airlines, Rob was responsible for rebuilding the airline's brand following the September 11 attacks. We talk about how those lessons can apply now as companies try to manage the COVID-19 crisis, about the future of tourism & aviation, and also, about why it is critical to develop well-rounded leaders and the importance of emotional intelligence in the times of technology and automation.

Blazing Cartier won her heat in 41.927, defeating Just Terms and pre-series favourite Mister Harlewood. This will be her 4th group 1 final. She’s a natural stayer, is wonderfully clean winded and could stay all day. Rob Britton; Trainer of Blazing Cartier joined the Breakfast Club

Rob Britton discusses his runners engaged at Sandown Park tonight (19/9/19)on RSN Central's Form Express.

Rob Britton joins the team on RSN Carnival at the closing stages of Sandown Cup night. He discusses Tornado Tears' defeat as well as Neo Cleo's triumph in the Sapphire Crown.

Jason Bonnington & Nick Quinn are joined by Sandown Park Racing & Media Manager Mick Floyd, GRV Steward Paul Searle and the TAB's Trent Langskaill as the 2019 Sandown Cup Box Draw is conducted. The panel are joined by Rob Britton and Jamie Ennis to discuss their greyhounds chances after the draw

After a recording meltdown last week, the team have secured G1 training superstar Rob Britton for one of the all-time greyhound yaks. They also chat Australian Cup Final and Super Stayers action at the Meadows. Listen in.

In episode 64, we ask the question: What does it take to stand on the podium at the world championships? It’s a simple question without a simple answer. Strength buys you a seat at the table, but playing a winning hand takes effective training, teamwork, near-perfect strategy, and an incredible mindset. In today's episode we take a deep dive into all of the elements that are needed for a podium placing at worlds with two of the members of the Canadian team — Mike Woods and Rob Britton. The two of them, along with their team of coaches, asked that simple question over a year before the 2018 world championships. Canada doesn't have the biggest reputation, nor the best-funded team, but they found the answers and earned Mike the bronze medal. So, how did they do it? Today we'll cover: - How the race played out to put Mike in a position to fight for the podium - Rob Britton's all-day breakaway that helped put Mike in that position - The final “hell climb” as Rob calls it, how it was central to Mike’s strategy, the sort of numbers he put out on the climb, and why those numbers don’t tell the full story - The finale, and why in a split second the excitement of a podium momentarily turned into a disappointment - A comparison of Mike’s and Rob’s very different preparations for worlds. Mike used the Tour of Utah and the Vuelta to get his legs ready. Rob, on the other hand, loaded his bike up with fifty pounds of gear and did a very low-tech ride across half of Canada. Yet, both riders arrived with great legs… and, perhaps more importantly, great mindsets. - How Rob and Mike balanced their training — including the balance of long slow volume rides, threshold work, and VO2max training, and how training for a seven hour event like worlds may differ from the local two-hour race - Our primary guests for this podcast were the Canadian superstars themselves: Mike Woods of the EF Education First team and Rob Britton of Rally Cycling. Mike, who comes from a running background, exploded onto the scene five years ago and since then has raced multiple grand tours, which has included a recent stage win at the Vuelta. Rob has dominated the domestic scene with multiple wins, including the GC victory at races like Tour of the Gila. In addition to Rob and Mike, we'll talk with Mike’s coach Paulo Saldahna. Despite his remarkable coaching success, Paulo points out that coaching is only one of the many hats he wears. He’s the owner of the successful indoor training company PowerWatts and is an endurance sport physiologist by trade where he builds support structures for athletes worldwide and runs a high performance facility in Montreal. Finally, we'll talk briefly with Dr. Ciaran O'Grady, a coach and sports scientist at Team Dimension Data. As a WorldTour coach, we'll ask him what's different about training for a seven hour race.

In episode 64, we ask the question: What does it take to stand on the podium at the world championships? It’s a simple question without a simple answer. Strength buys you a seat at the table, but playing a winning hand takes effective training, teamwork, near-perfect strategy, and an incredible mindset. In today's episode we take a deep dive into all of the elements that are needed for a podium placing at worlds with two of the members of the Canadian team — Mike Woods and Rob Britton. The two of them, along with their team of coaches, asked that simple question over a year before the 2018 world championships. Canada doesn't have the biggest reputation, nor the best-funded team, but they found the answers and earned Mike the bronze medal. So, how did they do it? Today we'll cover: - How the race played out to put Mike in a position to fight for the podium - Rob Britton's all-day breakaway that helped put Mike in that position - The final “hell climb” as Rob calls it, how it was central to Mike’s strategy, the sort of numbers he put out on the climb, and why those numbers don’t tell the full story - The finale, and why in a split second the excitement of a podium momentarily turned into a disappointment - A comparison of Mike’s and Rob’s very different preparations for worlds. Mike used the Tour of Utah and the Vuelta to get his legs ready. Rob, on the other hand, loaded his bike up with fifty pounds of gear and did a very low-tech ride across half of Canada. Yet, both riders arrived with great legs… and, perhaps more importantly, great mindsets. - How Rob and Mike balanced their training — including the balance of long slow volume rides, threshold work, and VO2max training, and how training for a seven hour event like worlds may differ from the local two-hour race - Our primary guests for this podcast were the Canadian superstars themselves: Mike Woods of the EF Education First team and Rob Britton of Rally Cycling. Mike, who comes from a running background, exploded onto the scene five years ago and since then has raced multiple grand tours, which has included a recent stage win at the Vuelta. Rob has dominated the domestic scene with multiple wins, including the GC victory at races like Tour of the Gila. In addition to Rob and Mike, we'll talk with Mike’s coach Paulo Saldahna. Despite his remarkable coaching success, Paulo points out that coaching is only one of the many hats he wears. He’s the owner of the successful indoor training company PowerWatts and is an endurance sport physiologist by trade where he builds support structures for athletes worldwide and runs a high performance facility in Montreal. Finally, we'll talk briefly with Dr. Ciaran O'Grady, a coach and sports scientist at Team Dimension Data. As a WorldTour coach, we'll ask him what's different about training for a seven hour race.

In episode 64, we ask the question: What does it take to stand on the podium at the world championships? It’s a simple question without a simple answer. Strength buys you a seat at the table, but playing a winning hand takes effective training, teamwork, near-perfect strategy, and an incredible mindset. In today’s episode we take a deep dive into all of the elements that are needed for a podium placing at worlds with two of the members of the Canadian team — Mike Woods and Rob Britton. The two of them, along with their team of coaches, asked that simple question over a year before the 2018 world championships. Canada doesn’t have the biggest reputation, nor the best-funded team, but they found the answers and earned Mike the bronze medal. So, how did they do it? Today we’ll cover: How the race played out to put Mike in a position to fight for the podium Rob Britton’s all-day breakaway that helped put Mike in that position The final “hell climb” as Rob calls it, how it was central to Mike’s strategy, the sort of numbers he put out on the climb, and why those numbers don’t tell the full story The finale, and why in a split second the excitement of a podium momentarily turned into a disappointment A comparison of Mike’s and Rob’s very different preparations for worlds. Mike used the Tour of Utah and the Vuelta to get his legs ready. Rob, on the other hand, loaded his bike up with fifty pounds of gear and did a very low-tech ride across half of Canada. Yet, both riders arrived with great legs… and, perhaps more importantly, great mindsets. How Rob and Mike balanced their training — including the balance of long slow volume rides, threshold work, and VO2max training, and how training for a seven hour event like worlds may differ from the local two-hour race Our primary guests for this podcast were the Canadian superstars themselves: Mike Woods of the EF Education First team and Rob Britton of Rally Cycling. Mike, who comes from a running background, exploded onto the scene five years ago and since then has raced multiple grand tours, which has included a recent stage win at the Vuelta. Rob has dominated the domestic scene with multiple wins, including the GC victory at races like Tour of the Gila. In addition to Rob and Mike, we’ll talk with: Mike’s coach Paulo Saldahna. Despite his remarkable coaching success, Paulo points out that coaching is only one of the many hats he wears. He’s the owner of the successful indoor training company PowerWatts and is an endurance sport physiologist by trade where he builds support structures for athletes worldwide and runs a high performance facility in Montreal.

In this episode, we look back at some big rides of the past year. In September, to prepare for the road world championships, Rob Britton went on a nine-day bikepacking trip with two friends. He had this idea earlier in the year and got advice from a rider whose big rides are legendary: Svein Tuft. Both Britton and Tuft discuss the joys and training benefits of going for fully loaded, long rides. Social media editor Dan Walker and editor Matthew Pioro try to cover their top-five moments in cycling for 2018 in five minutes. Coach Peter Glassford of the Consummate Athlete podcast offers advice for making it through the holidays without totally zapping your fitness and without forgoing a nice glass of scotch. Finally, regular contributor to Canadian Cycling Magazine Melanie Chambers got a last-minute invitation to the Taiwan KOM Challenge this past October. In a short documentary, follow Chambers up 3,275 m in 105 km after only three-weeks of preparation. Chambers was against the clock. She wanted to finish in less than the six-and-a-half hours to earn a finisher’s medal. Artwork by Maxine Gravina This episode features music by Chris Zabriskie, licensed through CC 4.0. Rate us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts. Send in your ideas for Full Send/No Send or your questions for coach Peter Glassford to podcast@cyclingmagazine.ca The Canadian Cycling Magazine Podcast thanks the Ontario Media Development Corp. for its support.

On this weeks' edition of Talking Greyhounds, Simone Fisher and JT look back at the week that was in Greyhound Racing. Simone wraps up the RSN927 Sandown Cup meeting, talking with trainers Rob Britton, Harry Manolitsis and David Geall who all tasted Group 1 success on Thursday night. Simone has her best bet for the weekend, run of the week and dog to follow.

The WorldTour peloton has left the pavé behind, but the classics rage on for another week in the Netherlands and the Ardennes forest. Michael Valgren kicked off Ardennes week with a classy victory at the Amstel Gold Race, toppling heavyweights like Peter Sagan and Alejandro Valverde. On the women's side, Chantal Blaak took the win for Boels Dolmans, defending the title her teammate Anna van der Breggen nabbed last year. Meanwhile, the North American peloton got into gear this week at the Joe Martin stage race, where Rubén Companioni and Katie Hall delivered overall wins. The VeloNews podcast talks Amstel takeaways as well as the domestic racing scene — with Canadian pro Rob Britton weighing in to boot — as the Amgen Tour of California approaches. VeloNews tech editor Dan Cavallari also gets in on the fun as he prepares for the Sea Otter Classic — and a string of his own tech-oriented shows soon to arrive on the VeloNews podcast network.

The WorldTour peloton has left the pavé behind, but the classics rage on for another week in the Netherlands and the Ardennes forest. Michael Valgren kicked off Ardennes week with a classy victory at the Amstel Gold Race, toppling heavyweights like Peter Sagan and Alejandro Valverde. On the women's side, Chantal Blaak took the win for Boels Dolmans, defending the title her teammate Anna van der Breggen nabbed last year. Meanwhile, the North American peloton got into gear this week at the Joe Martin stage race, where Rubén Companioni and Katie Hall delivered overall wins. The VeloNews podcast talks Amstel takeaways as well as the domestic racing scene — with Canadian pro Rob Britton weighing in to boot — as the Amgen Tour of California approaches. VeloNews tech editor Dan Cavallari also gets in on the fun as he prepares for the Sea Otter Classic — and a string of his own tech-oriented shows soon to arrive on the VeloNews podcast network.

Rob Britton talks Fanta Bale win with RSN's Andrew Kuuse

This year at Tour of Utah, the domestic teams were picking on the one WorldTour team at the race, BMC Racing. Should we fault BMC for coming up short? Rally also proves its mettle with big overall win by Rob Britton. Plus, we call our man on the ground in Europe, senior editor Andrew Hood to talk about all of the hottest transfers this season. Oss leaves BMC. Kristoff goes to UAE. But what about Mikel Landa and Tejay van Garderen? All that and more on this week's podcast.

This year at Tour of Utah, the domestic teams were picking on the one WorldTour team at the race, BMC Racing. Should we fault BMC for coming up short? Rally also proves its mettle with big overall win by Rob Britton. Plus, we call our man on the ground in Europe, senior editor Andrew Hood to talk about all of the hottest transfers this season. Oss leaves BMC. Kristoff goes to UAE. But what about Mikel Landa and Tejay van Garderen? All that and more on this week's podcast.

Lots of lovely new releases and reissues on the show this week. We have a couple of tracks from a terrific new compilation on Because Records of classic French electronic music from the 70s called Cosmic Machine. There’s a track … Continue reading →