Podcasts about Schwa

The stress is almost unBEARable. Season 3 is here, and the roller coaster of emotions continues. Is Marcus the most likely to find success? Does Carmy's cooking have anything to say? Is Joel McHale's David Fields actually a good leader? What are the real economics of 'The Bear'? Dave and Chris talk about the season, answering these questions and discussing even more topics, like cameos and real nonnegotiables. They finish with a 'Bear'-related Ask Dave. Catch up on Season 3 of The Bear here: https://www.hulu.com/series/05eb6a8e-90ed-4947-8c0b-e6536cbddd5fWatch our episode on Season 1 of The Bear here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4hUOyL6WaSIbeKF25rIPWI?si=145056437b1c44f9Watch our episode on Season 2 of The Bear here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/59pVhs4GLIbrtezVy9wenP?si=bd9Img4VSsOLuqv7OUQKNARead Carmy's list of non-negotiables here: https://www.vulture.com/article/the-bear-season-3-non-negotiables-list.htmlLearn more about Pascal Barbot's L'astrance here: https://www.astranceparis.fr/Learn more about Michael Carlson's Schwa here: https://schwarestaurant.com/Listen to Weezer's appearance on the Song Exploder podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/371iQXyqCH8WxuU2KvdCfE?si=JJtgvtkLSke_3kbVUKKKLAWatch Joel McHale on Dinner Time Live's "Choose Your Own Adventure Menu" episode here:https://www.netflix.com/title/81748864?source=imdb&fromWatch=trueSend in your questions to askdave@majordomomedia.com.Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedavechangshow.Subscribe to Recipe Club on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recipeclubofficial.Submit your favorite food moments in your favorite movies to majorfoodporn.com.Join our community Discord on majordomo.com. Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Majordomo Media Producers: Kelsey Rearden and David Meyer Spotify Producer: Chris Thomas Editor: Stefano Sanchez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover. To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button. You can find Sariah Wilson at her website www.sariahwilson.com or on IG - @sariahwilsonauthor   We chat this week with Sariah Wilson, the author of many, many rom-coms, who recently published her first romantasy titled A Tribute of Fire. A Tribute of Fire is inspired by the myth of Cassandra who, if you remember, is the Trojan princess who was cursed with the ability to see the future but no one believes her. Sariah's story focuses on Cassandra's assault in Athena's temple by Greek hero Ajax and the resulting punishment which is that two maidens from Ajax's home, Locris, will be sacrified. How exactly, this punishes Ajax, I'm not sure, but such is Greek myth.    Sariah talks to us about her favorite romance trope (which she hardly ever writes herself), the whirlwind backstory to the publishing of this book, and how the popularity of The Fourth Wing series really cracked open a whole new world for romance writers.   And for our book recommendations, we're going to share some children's picture books that have stories and illustrations we love. Earlier this month was National Picture Book Authors & Illustrators Week, but we don't think you need a special week as an excuse to read a delightful picture book.    Books Mentioned in this Episode:   1- A Tribute of Fire by Sariah Wilson 2- The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks   3- A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes   4- The Schwa was Here by Neal Shusterman   5- Greek and Roman Warfare: Battles, Tactics, and Trickery by John Drogo Mortagu   6- A Monsoon Rising by Thea Gaunzon   7- Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet by Samantha Leigh Allen   8- A Book Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Corinne @she.loves.bookshelves - A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas   9- Little Golden Book, The Christmas Story  10-  Little Golden Book, Colors Are Nice  11- Little Golden Book Riddles, Riddles From A to Z 12- Little Golden Book,  Mickey Mouse Picnic 13- Disney's World of Wonders The Magic Grinder 14- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats 15- Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf 16- The Mitten by Jan Brett 17- Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett 18- The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone   19- The Water Hole by Graeme Base   20- Uno's Garden by Graeme Base   21- Animalia by Graeme Base   22- The Verts: A Story of Introverts and Extroverts by Anne Patchett, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glaser   23- Quiet by Susan Cain   24- Mimi's Dada Catifesto by Shelley Jackson 25- Oh, Bear by Melissa Nelson Greenberg. illustrated by Ruth Hengeveld 26- Boobies by Nancy Vo 27- The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods by Mickey Please 28- The Cave Downwind of the Cafe by Mickey Please 29- Shakespeare The Tempest by Georghia Ellinas, illustrated by Jane Ray   Media mentioned--   1- Stephen King/Maurice Sendak upcoming children's book - https://apnews.com/article/stephen-king-maurice-sendak-hansel-gretel-c9f8c7e18254d1e406b59e0ebe3cd20b 2- Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey - coming in 2026 -  https://variety.com/2025/film/news/the-odyssey-matt-damon-odysseus-christopher-nolan-1236311018/   3- The Return (2024)  

｜PresenterドクターD イングリッシュ発音ディレクター Dr. D・ドクターDイングリッシュ創立者・元プロミュージシャン・改善を伴わない継続は無意味｜Introduction　 勝手に日本人が出来ない英語発音ランキング第５位　Schwa /ə/, definitely第４位　Dark L, jewelry第３位　/ther/, Thursday第２位　/wu/, wood第１位　/yi/, yeild｜No.5 Schwa /ə/ 　 実はその発音 “schwa” だった/ə/は短い/uh/の音、口を開かずに「あ」April /'ei prəl/telephone /'te lə foun/similar /'si mə lər/definitely /'de fə nət li/｜No.4 Dark L 　 母音後のLは /o/っぽく発音full は /fuo/ って感じで発音（舌は前方へ）April, tall, jewel などLで終わる場合は、舌は歯に当たらない最も言いにくい単語、jewelry は、/ju wo ri/ の様に発音している｜No.3 th+rの組み合わせThursdayが意外と難し過ぎる/th/は舌と歯の隙間から漏れる息の音で、実は噛まない方が出しやすいEx 1.息を止めずに/hah~/から/th~/へEx 2.舌を奥へ引いて/u/を発音すると/ur/この要領で“Thursday”を発音してみよう｜No.2 w+uの組み合わせ /wu/ がタダの「う」になる人多数wa, wiの時は/w/の音が出ているのに、wuになると/w/が消えて「う」になる問題とにかく粘っこくwa, wi, wuと発音して、/w/と母音を別々に発音できる様になろうこの要領で”wood”を発音してみよう｜No.1 y+iの組み合わせ /yi/がタダの「い」になる人多数ya, yuの時は/y/の音が出ているのに、yiになると/y/が消えて「い」になる問題とにかく粘っこくya, yi, yuと発音して、/y/と母音を別々に発音できる様になろうこの要領で”yield”を発音してみよう｜All in a phrase　 最後に全部つなげて発音してみましょうI would definitely go shopping /ai wu ‘de fuh nuh li gou ‘shah pin/for jewelry on Thursday/fur ‘ju wo ri on ‘thurz dei/if it would yield a good discount./i fi wu ‘yeeo duh ‘goo ‘dis kaunt/

Neben der Hamburger Sternwarte gab es jahrzehntelang die Schorrhöhe. Weil der Astronom Richard Schorr während der NS-Diktatur Astrologen denunziert hatte, wurde der Weg nun umbenannt – in Schwaßmannhöhe, nach dem Kometenentdecker Arnold Schwaßmann. Lorenzen, Dirk www.deutschlandfunk.de, Sternzeit

Practice Sentences for Reducing the Unwanted Schwa Sound in American English Listen to some practice sentences for reducing the unwanted schwa sound, and follow along reading the sentences below. Then try to repeat the sentences yourself, using the same pronunciation, prosody, and syllable stress. Do you have some gum? I believe you. I have three dogs. She had lunch at 3 o' clock. Does he have time to see me? They made tacos last Tuesday. I need some water. The lab coat needs cleaning. Do you have change for a dollar? The sad lady is over there. Give it to the man that is standing. I made it just for you. The kids slide down the banister. My mom has two sisters. My dad has one brother. We had a fun time last weekend. I have the report you need. Do you need some more information? The chicken crossed the road.

Die deutsche Industrie steht vor enormen Herausforderungen: Hohe Energiepreise, Fachkräftemangel und steigende Produktionskosten machen den Standort zunehmend unattraktiv. Doch wie können Unternehmen diesen Entwicklungen entgegenwirken und wettbewerbsfähig bleiben?In dieser Episode beleuchtet Anes Cavka, verschiedene Ansätze, um die Industrie in Deutschland zu stärken. Anes spricht über:Den dramatischen Rückgang der Industriejobs und warum die Abwanderung von Unternehmen zunimmt.Wie Unternehmen durch Automatisierung und Digitalisierung ihre Kosten senken und gleichzeitig die Effizienz steigern können.Strategien zur Bindung und Förderung von Fachkräften, um langfristig wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben.Wie Investitionen in energieeffiziente Technologien und modernes Supply Chain Management den Standort Deutschland wieder attraktiver machen können.Erfahren Sie, welche Maßnahmen Industrieunternehmen ergreifen können, um den Herausforderungen zu trotzen und auch in der Zukunft erfolgreich zu bleiben.

Die deutsche Industrie steht vor enormen Herausforderungen: Hohe Energiepreise, Fachkräftemangel und steigende Produktionskosten machen den Standort zunehmend unattraktiv. Doch wie können Unternehmen diesen Entwicklungen entgegenwirken und wettbewerbsfähig bleiben?In dieser Episode beleuchtet Anes Cavka, verschiedene Ansätze, um die Industrie in Deutschland zu stärken. Anes spricht über:Den dramatischen Rückgang der Industriejobs und warum die Abwanderung von Unternehmen zunimmt.Wie Unternehmen durch Automatisierung und Digitalisierung ihre Kosten senken und gleichzeitig die Effizienz steigern können.Strategien zur Bindung und Förderung von Fachkräften, um langfristig wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben.Wie Investitionen in energieeffiziente Technologien und modernes Supply Chain Management den Standort Deutschland wieder attraktiver machen können.Erfahren Sie, welche Maßnahmen Industrieunternehmen ergreifen können, um den Herausforderungen zu trotzen und auch in der Zukunft erfolgreich zu bleiben.

Kayiu and Juliet tackle what makes designing for an IP swing or miss, covering Portal: Three Kingdoms and Chikyu: Ruined Future. Along the way, we break down some bad card design habits, some -1/-1 counter mechanics, Dynasty Warriors, a general acclaim for decayed, and a quick introduction to what makes Moxtober great! Juliet & Riley's Three Kingdom Spectacular is on Oct 1st at https://www.twitch.tv/moonshotnetwork Kayiu's live set-design streams are Sundays at https://www.twitch.tv/kayiu102 Schwa's article on fan-sets: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CcsU5xtDLNSm2DWh4zZDY46gDuvZkHBh3beFj3qioPk/edit?usp=sharing Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: https://discord.gg/t88Vpwh Show Notes: https://beaconofcreation.com

Schwaß, Robert www.deutschlandfunk.de, Informationen am Abend

Welcome to Episode 130 of the TRANSFORMA TU INGLÉS PROFESIONAL podcast!I'm your host Daniel Smith.Today we have an amazing show lined up for you and by the end of it you will:discover the wonderful world of the Schwa sound in Englishunderstand why it is so fundamental to pronouncing words correctly in Englishlearn why the word "chocolate" can help you understand the schwaand discover why those who can speak catalan have an advantage with this special soundThis podcast helps you push your business English communication skills to the next level so that you can grow professionally and achieve your international career goals!

What exactly is a syllable? You may have heard this term a lot, but were never sure how to identify it on your own. Understanding syllables is essential to building a foundation for your pronunciation practice. So today, I'll explain what a syllable is in English, how to divide a word into syllables, and how it will help your English practice. Get your FREE syllables practice sheet here! https://bit.ly/3Z9DauZ For more syllable practice, check out these videos: Schwa – the BEST vowel sound in English https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/schwa/ How to Find the Primary Stress in Words https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/how-to-find-the-primary-stress-in-words/ How to find the stress in long words (words with suffixes) https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/long-words/

Next episode is the 200th, therefore this is the 199th. I raid the 66 pages of ideas for episodes I have been keeping for nearly a decade, and present to you 199 that I have not yet made into podcasts (except for this one). Find the episode's transcript, plus more information about the topics therein, at theallusionist.org/199ideas. NEWSLUSIONIST: The new Allusionist live show Souvenirs is on tour in the UK right now! Rush to theallusionist.org/events for tickets and dates. And if you fancy concocting a quiz question for the imminent 200th episode, go to theallusionist.org/quiz to submit it; your deadline is 6 September 2024. To help fund this independent podcast, take yourself to theallusionist.org/donate and become a member of the Allusioverse. You get regular livestreams with me and my collection of reference books, inside scoops into the making of this show, watchalong parties eg the new season of Taskmaster featuring my brother Andy, and the company of your fellow Allusionauts in our delightful Discord community.  This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, with music and editorial assistance from Martin Austwick of palebirdmusic.com. Find @allusionistshow on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, YouTube etc. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you want me to talk about your product or thing on the show, sponsor an episode: contact Multitude at multitude.productions/ads. This episode is sponsored by: • Home Chef, meal kits that fit your needs. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering Allusionist listeners eighteen free meals, plus free shipping on your first box, and free dessert for life, at HomeChef.com/allusionist.• Squarespace, your one-stop shop for building and running your online empire/new home for your cryptic puzzle that takes months to solve. Go to squarespace.com/allusionist for a free 2-week trial, and get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain with the code allusionist. • Bombas, whose mission is to make the comfiest clothing essentials, and match every item sold with an equal item donated. Go to bombas.com/allusionist to get 20% off your first purchase.  • LinkedIn Ads convert your B2B audience into high quality leads. Get $100 credit on your next campaign at linkedin.com/allusionist.Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're revisiting some of our most popular and favorite episodes on the podcast. I mention the schwa almost every time I speak about American English. That's because this vowel is all over the place, and once you hear it, you never stop hearing it

Geschäftsführerin Christiane spricht mit Rike und Markus über den Zusammenschluss von Lohospo und Holidu. Wie kam es dazu? Was bringt die Kooperation für Möglichkeiten mit sich? Was können Gastgeber und DMOs sich von den maßgeschneiderten Lösungen erwarten?

Der Leitfaden, SIE zu erobern, ohne dass es peinlich wird: Kostenloses LIVE Online Seminar DIESEN Sonntag (Auf 50 Plätze begrenzt) ➤ www.live-coaching.authentic-charisma.net/ Hast du den Termin verpasst? Kein Problem, hol dir einfach deine eigene Kostenlose Flirttyp- und Charisma-Analyse. ➤ Kostenlose Flirttyp- und Charisma-Analyse: www.flirtanalyse.de In dieser kostenlosen Analyse bekommst du einen Leitfaden, endlich eine Partnerin auf Augenhöhe zu bekommen. Wir analysieren deine Ausgangssituation, woran die Suche nach der Richtigen bisher gescheitert ist und zeigen dir, wie du charismatisch auf Frauen wirken kannst. Wie funktioniert das? Gemeinsam arbeiten wir an deinem Selbstvertrauen und entwickeln einen individuellen Leitfaden, damit du dich nicht verstellen brauchst. Gemeinsam analysieren wir die Dinge, die du bereits gut machst, und die dir gar nicht klar sind, dass sie unheimlich charmant sind. Genau so beleuchten wir die Bereiche bei denen du mit ein paar kleinen Kniffen extrem schnelle Resultate bei Frauen beobachten wirst. Wir gucken uns nicht nur an, wie du eigentlich flirten solltest, sondern wie dein authentisches, natürliches Charisma am besten aus dir raus fließt und auf Menschen wirkt. Um zu wissen, welche Fähigkeiten jetzt schon in dir schlummern, und wie du die Frau eroberst, die du magst, komm in die kostenlose Analyse. Hier finden Männer mit Herz die Frau, mit der sie im Leben ankommen wollen. Melde dich kostenlos jetzt an. ➤ www.flirtanalyse.de

Sarà vero che l'uso dello schwa è stato vietato nel Land della Baviera in Germania? Per approfondire: Notizia sulle strette sul linguaggio di genere su AP Associated Press Vera Gheno, Al margine della norma Questo e gli altri podcast gratuiti del Post sono possibili grazie a chi si abbona al Post e ne sostiene il lavoro. Se vuoi fare la tua parte, abbonati al Post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Yvette Manns discusses the schwa and its importance. She shares insights from her book, The Not So Lazy Schwa, and explains how it helps children understand the schwa sound. Yvette also tells all about National Schwa Day, a holiday she created to celebrate language and literacy in schools. She provides suggestions for celebrating the day and highlights the resources available in the National Schwa Day toolkit. TakeawaysThe schwa is a neutral unstressed sound that is the most common sound in the English language.Teaching the schwa is important for helping students decode and encode multisyllabic words.National Schwa Day is a holiday created to celebrate language and literacy in schools.The National Schwa Day toolkit provides resources and activities for teachers to implement the holiday.Connect with us Facebook and join our Facebook Group Twitter Instagram Don't miss an episode! Sign up for FREE bonus resources and episode alerts at LiteracyPodcast.com Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum.

What is up Bros?! It is our VPR episode and this season has really hit it's stride. In today's episode, Lala and Katie make amends and try to figure out a way to not go for the jugular every time they get into it with one another. Scheana and Ariana have a sit down where Scheana shares what's been bothering her and Ariana is very receptive to the things she's saying. Even if its not Ariana's fault that Scheana didn't get WWHL and couldn't tell her because of an NDA but whatever... Ariana goes out to an event with the crew while Sandoval is present and is presumably trying to regain her friends from Tom. Schwa and Jo have more screen time... And of course the big reveal for today is Jax taylor's return to the screen leading up to the crossover event of The Valley (which was better than we thought it would be) The boys have a big dinner scene in which Jax gives his two cents to Tom Sandoval. This season has picked up VERY well and its really been an enjoyable watch. All that and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, I interview Agma Schwa about dog languages, cursed conlangs, and creativity. Make sure to check out this year's Cursed Conlang Circus!

Amare Parole è un podcast condotto da Vera Gheno. Questo e gli altri podcast gratuiti del Post sono possibili grazie a chi si abbona al Post e ne sostiene il lavoro. Se vuoi fare la tua parte, abbonati al Post. A partire da Lucca Comics, dal patrocinio di Israele e dalla rinuncia di Zerocalcare, Sio e Fumettibrutti a partecipare alla fiera, alcune considerazioni sul modo in cui viene portato avanti il discorso pubblico in queste settimane. Per approfondire: Kobane Calling, di Zerocalcare Cos'è lo Schwa, di Sio Il discorso di Antonio Guterres Guia Soncini, I disagiati: Zerocalcare, i punti visibilità, e i capezzoli finti di Kim Kardashian La newsletter di Jennifer Guerra La newsletter di Donata Columbro “Ti spiego il dato” La newsletter di Davide Piacenza “Culture Wars” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shannon and Mary host a returning guest to the Reading Teachers Lounge @MindfulTeacherRachel, who you heard in Season 5 on the Schwa episode.   In this episode, Shannon, Mary, and Rachel talk about English word histories and how they may inform how a word is spelled.   Check out this discussion to get ideas for how to share word origin stories with your reading students and help students see how important morphology is in addition to sound symbol connections.RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODEOnline Etymology DictionaryWhen is an O a Scribal O?Literacy Nest resource for Scribal OScribal O videoLatin Connective IWord Smarts: Van Cleave Vocabulary Connecting VowelsHistorical Layers of English: Reading RocketsIG Post from Laura.Loves.Teaching:   English Language Layer Cake Scribal O slides by Laura Watkins Word Origins by John Ayto *Amazon affiliate linkOnce Upon a Word by Jess Zafarris *Amazon affiliate linkBeneath the Surface of Words by Sue Scibetta Hegland *Amazon affiliate linkAnd Sometimes Y by Rachel *Amazon affiliate linkShort Vowel Protectors by Rachel *Amazon affiliate linkScience of Reading book list (compiled by Rachel and others)Contact Rachel on Twitter @TeachRachelSORcontact Rachel on IG @MindfulTeacherRachelcontact Rachel on TikTok @TeacherRachelSORSELour SCHWA episode with Rachel from last seasonBook a free call with us to tour our Patreon and see if it's right for you!Get Literacy Support through our PatreonCOME JOIN THE CONVERSATION!Our WebsiteFacebookInstagramOur PatreonShannon's TpT StoreSupport the show

In this podcast, you'll learn about the schwa, the most common sound in English, the scshwa. What does the schwa sound like? Where does it appear in spoken English and is it a good idea to learn it?  Shownotes and more podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/   Las notas del episodio y más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles están en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/  

Il maturando Gabriele Lodetti ha usato, nel suo tema di maturità, lo schwa, e ha motivato la sua scelta affermando che questo simbolo fa ormai parte della sua lingua quotidiana. Ha fatto bene? Ha fatto male? Per approfondire: - Vera Gheno, Schwa: storia, motivi e obiettivi di una proposta - Vera Gheno, Questione di privilegi: come il linguaggio ampio può contribuire ad ampliare gli orizzonti mentali Amare parole è un podcast del Post condotto da Vera Gheno Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luca's guest this month is Helen Nonini, Founder & CEO of Schwa. Together they talked about the increasing importance of incorporating diversity and inclusion in brand strategy and work culture.

Shannon and Mary meet up to review how season 5 of the podcast has gone.    They share some of the things they learned during the season and list some of their favorite episodes and guests.   They also chat about the school year as it winds down, their upcoming summer plans, and what is in store for the podcast in Season 6.    At the end of the episode, they're joined by Kelsey Sorenson from Wife Teacher Mommy to talk about the Educate and Rejuvenate event they're all participating in during June 2023.RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODESeason 5 Episode 4:  the Schwa with Mindful Teacher Rachel  Season 5 Episode 6:  Balancing It All with Linda RhyneSeason 5 Episode 7: The Reading Brain with Dr. Marnie GinsbergSeason 5 Episode 8:  Orthographic Mapping with Anna GeigerSeason 5 Episode 9:  the Simple View of Reading and Beyond with Dr. Janet MortSeason 5 Episode 10:  Decodable Texts with Emily GibbonsSeason 5 Episode 15:   Practical Tips for Reading Teachers with Jamie SearsSeason 5 Episode 17:  Putting the Science of Reading Into ActionGreat E-books about Structured Shared Reading & Writing and other guides Regarding DyslexiaGet Literacy Support through our PatreonEducate & Rejuvenate June 27-28, 2023

Oggi parliamo di linguaggi "inclusivi", italiano, imposizioni e politicamente corretto, il tutto ovviamente sbagliando apposta tutti i generi. Il libro di De Benedetti: https://amzn.to/3L6T80s CAMBLY moltiplica le tue capacità di imparare l'inglese, da oggi anche in gruppo! Usando il codice cogitospring avrai accesso ad uno sconto straordinario del 55%, sia per le lezioni individuali che quelle di gruppo! Usa CAMBLY gratis per 15 minuti cliccando qui: https://bit.ly/cogito423 - non te ne pentirai! Compra e leggi "La Parola a don Chisciotte" ➤➤➤ https://amzn.to/3jmCYpQ ⬇⬇⬇SOTTO TROVI INFORMAZIONI IMPORTANTI⬇⬇ Abbonati al canale da 0,99 al mese ➤➤➤ https://bit.ly/memberdufer I prossimi eventi dal vivo ➤➤➤ https://www.dailycogito.com/eventi Impara ad argomentare bene ➤➤➤ https://www.dailycogito.com/video-corso/ Entra nella Community ➤➤➤ https://www.patreon.com/rickdufer La newsletter gratuita ➤➤➤ http://eepurl.com/c-LKfz Daily Cogito su Spotify ➤➤➤ http://bit.ly/DailySpoty Canale Discord (chat per abbonati) ➤➤➤ https://discord.gg/pSVdzMB Tutti i miei libri ➤➤➤ https://www.dailycogito.com/libri/ Il negozio (felpe, tazze, maglie e altro) ➤➤➤ https://www.dailycogito.org/ #schwa #fratelliditalia #linguaitaliana INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/rickdufer INSTAGRAM di Daily Cogito: https://instagram.com/dailycogito TELEGRAM: http://bit.ly/DuFerTelegram FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/duferfb LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/riccardo-dal-ferro/31/845/b14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chi sono io: https://www.dailycogito.com/rick-dufer/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- La sigla è stata prodotta da Freaknchic: https://www.freaknchic.it/ La voce è della divina Romina Falconi, la produzione del divino Immanuel Casto. A cura di Stefano Maggiore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you ever feel like you understand most everything when you watch your favorite YouTuber, or have a conversation with others in English, but when you watch a movie or TV show, you suddenly start to question how much you really know and understand!? You're not alone! In fact, today I share with you 3 reasons why it's hard to understand TV and movies with subtitles, and what to do about it! Learn more about why we need subtitles in movies and TV from this video by Vox: https://youtu.be/VYJtb2YXae8 Improve your listening comprehension with these episodes: Schwa – the BEST vowel sound in English https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/schwa/ How to Improve Your Listening Skills in English – 9 tips for English Learners https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/how-to-improve-english-listening-skills/ How to pronounce AND, OF, OR and FOR in a sentence | Reductions in English https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/reductions-in-english/

Do you ever feel like you understand most everything when you watch your favorite YouTuber, or have a conversation with others in English, but when you watch a movie or TV show, you suddenly start to question how much you really know and understand!? You're not alone! In fact, today I share with you 3 reasons why it's hard to understand TV and movies with subtitles, and what to do about it! Learn more about why we need subtitles in movies and TV from this video by Vox: https://youtu.be/VYJtb2YXae8 Improve your listening comprehension with these episodes: Schwa – the BEST vowel sound in English https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/schwa/ How to Improve Your Listening Skills in English – 9 tips for English Learners https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/how-to-improve-english-listening-skills/ How to pronounce AND, OF, OR and FOR in a sentence | Reductions in English https://hadarshemesh.com/magazine/reductions-in-english/

Цей епізод — практичний. Хельґі Палко закликає насолодитися обмеженнями аудіоформату та попрактикувати разом із нею вимову деяких голосних звуків. Як відрізняти «і» та «е»? Чому іноді треба відпустити і не паритися? І до чого тут тепле масло? Памʼятайте: вміти розрізняти звуки на слух важливо не лише для власної вимови, а й для розуміння вимови інших. А іноді це просто весело.

This week we catch up with Amanda Nauman to discuss all things gravel. We touch on the Mammoth Tuff gravel race, Tuff Camps and how to continue to invite women into the sport.  Amanda is an OG in the sport and friend of the pod which made for a super enjoyable conversation.  Tuff Ventures Website Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello, and welcome to the gravel ride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in-depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes. Who are pioneering the sport I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner down, unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. This week on the podcast, I'm super stoked to invite back. Amanda Naaman. Amanda is a big time friend of the pod. A podcast or herself as the co-host of the grody. Podcast. A very accomplished off-road athlete. With notable wins twice. At Unbound 200. Five times at the rock cobbler, . We touch on rock cobbler this year, and some of the help she provided Sam aims with inviting and encouraging more female athletes to toe the line at this year's rock cobbler event. She and Dave Sheik are also the co-founders of the mammoth tough event in mammoth, California, which occurs in September. Each year She's a member of the gravel cycling hall of fame advisory board. And according to her. She's Walter, the dog's favorite. I'm not going to get into that domestic squabble, but we'll leave it at that. I'm excited to bring you a followup conversation with our friend, Amanda Naaman. Hi, Craig. How are you? I am doing great. It's so good [00:01:32] Amanda Nauman: to see you. Yeah, likewise. I'm excited. What, almost two and a half years [00:01:36] Craig Dalton: later. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, the funny thing about our first recording I was recalling, we were doing an Instagram live at the same time. It was back when everybody was trying to figure out Instagram Live, so we were doing that. And recording our conversation and I ultimately posted it to the podcast Feed . [00:01:54] Amanda Nauman: Nice, nice. . [00:01:56] Craig Dalton: What am I sort of, I would say to the failed endeavor into Instagram Live. It's not something I, I jam on. I'm much more comfortable in the podcast format where I can just talk to people and publish it later. [00:02:08] Amanda Nauman: Yeah. Yeah. No, it's hard and distracting. You get all the messages, you're like, what? What is that question? ? . [00:02:14] Craig Dalton: I feel like we have so much ground to cover. We were chatting a little bit offline, but I, I thought what would be an interesting place to start knowing you participated in the Lifetime Grand Prix in in 2020 2, 20 22. I just wanted to get your kind of overall perceptions as someone who's been around gravel racing for many years with that structure of your season. infused onto your life. H uh, how did it go and what were your thoughts on the, the lifetime Grand Prix in general? [00:02:42] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, I signed up probably on the last day that was possible to turn in the applications that, um, winter before, cuz I really contemplated whether or not it was something that I wanted to do for a while cuz I knew. You know, I had done Unbound Excel. They had put Leadville on the list for the Grand Prix, and I was like, man, I've always wanted to do Leadville. I can kind of shape my calendar around the rest of the series as well. So ultimately I decided to sign up for it knowing, you know, it's kind of a shoe-in to Leadville, which is one thing I had always wanted to do. And at the same time, I get to do some gravel and some other mountain bike races that I hadn't necessarily done before. So I was very optimistic and excited about the Grand Prix last. . It didn't necessarily go how I had planned or anticipated, but uh, yeah, I think what they have created in the series and the opportunities for athletes to go race that, I think it's a great, a great thing and great structure for a lot of people, but it wasn't necessarily, let's say, the right fit for me last year. [00:03:44] Craig Dalton: Did that make sense? I mean, just for the listener's sake, like if you go back a few years before that as a gravel racer, how would you go about picking your Cal. [00:03:53] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, I mean, there's just some of the marquee events that. I would've picked, you know, in 2019, like for sure rock cobbler, mid-South Belgian waffle ride San Diego. And then you'd go into Unbound, like for I think a California racer. That was sort of the way you would go. And then as summer happened, you know, you could pick and choose events. S B T I think was a was happening at that time. So it was a good summer. One gravel worlds. And then R P I. Was kind of sort of a season ender a little bit before you hit fall, and some people would race cycle lacrosse and whatnot. So that was kind of the loose structure, I think, at least in 2019. And then 20 20, 20 21, everything kind of changed and there was a big reevaluation of what was important in terms of picking events, going to events or not , and then, Yeah, in 2022, everybody had the opportunity to apply for the Grand Prix, so that changed things. But beforehand it was sort of what events were some of the big names going to, which ones had the most prestige, and, and if you were looking for sponsorship and stuff, you wanted to make sure you were at an event where there's enough competition there to show that let's say your results are are worth not. [00:05:11] Craig Dalton: Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. It's so interesting to think, like, think of it from the professional athlete's perspective, going back prior to the existence of the Grand Prix, just the flexibility to kind of go do whatever you wanted and whatever was exciting to you. And then to see athletes be, uh, forced because as you said, this amazing opportunity and I think the Grand Prix. Fits so many people's needs right now. It does exclude certain events and it certainly does drive your calendar and just looking at it from the outside and maybe talking to a few athletes along the way, there's definitely an increased stress when you've, you've got this season long endeavor that you're pursuing and you're trying to get points at every stop. [00:05:51] Amanda Nauman: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And I think that was where it caused me some stress last year because I got sick a couple times and the kind of sick where had it been a normal year, I just would've like pulled the plug and not gone to Sea Otter, for example, cuz that was the first one that I was sick for. and in hindsight, like I probably should have done that, but when you're in the moment you're like, no, I can't skip this cuz I only have one scratch race. I had to skip Schwa again because of Mammoth. So I was already in a tough situation of like, I have to do all of these other ones no matter what. And that was the stress for me, I think was feeling like I had to do this thing. And especially because last year we paid for it. So I was also like financially invested in the decision that I had made. Um, so yeah, for me, like I said, that that feeling. Wasn't perfect for me because. Bike racing isn't my only source of income. So it, I've always tried to go towards what I'm doing has to be fun because if not, then like, what's the point? It's not like the money puts food on the table for me. So I have that ability to say, Hey, I need to pick and choose things that are important to me. And I think I've come back a little bit more to that, uh, in 2023, which I would say I was at in 2019 for sure. Um, and then a period. A few years floundering of what, what was important for me, . [00:07:13] Craig Dalton: I know you guys at the Groo podcast did a really great episode with, I think it was Michelle Duffy talking, just talking about your, how you felt the season went at the Lifetime Grand Prix, and some suggestions and some questions. What were some of the key takeaways if you look back on that season to say, What would you recommend they changed in that program and did they ultimately end up doing that for [00:07:36] Amanda Nauman: 23? Yeah, I definitely, I asked some hard questions. I think he, I told chemo I was going to ask some hard questions and he was like, yeah, okay, But I, you know, I pulled some of them from like actual trolls on the internet that would say like these most. Outlandish things and you're like, really? Like, did you even pay attention at all? But I wanted to give them the opportunity to respond to some of that stuff. Like, like did, did social media matter? Or you know, how could you charge everyone money and all the ENT entry fees to go do this stuff? And kind of. Pinpoint some of the things that people had complained about, I would say. Um, and yeah, they changed a lot. I mean, at that time they had already made 2023, like no fees so people don't have to pay for the entry fees. Um, and I think they're doing a much better job with social media. And that was. , one of my major points that I wanted to drive with them was like the stuff that I was seeing, they had relied so heavily on the flow bikes deal that they had made. Yeah. And doing that live coverage and really just making sure that flow was going to do the storytelling for them and it just never happened. And that was my, my main frustration. in March, like before we went to Mid-South, Flo did one-on-one interviews with probably everyone, and they had all this great content that they put out before Sea Otter, and it was very in depth and it felt like everybody was telling their story and it was fun to follow that part of it. And then after Unbound, it just stopped. And then they had the issues in Utah and. . So ultimately for somebody like me, where being in the top 10 wasn't necessarily realistic and being in that midfield to back of the pack zone, I kept saying like, what is the point for somebody like me and somebody let, and now let's say somebody in the 20 to 30 range, what's the point of being in it if you're not giving me the exposure? that I want if I'm gonna be in the series and like, invest in this with you. And so I hope that that's the biggest thing that they change for this year is not relying on the flow stuff, probably expanding the storytelling to more than the top five at each event. Yeah. And, and being able to tell more of the story of everyone [00:09:52] Craig Dalton: I. Yeah, that would be interesting. I, I sort of, when I look through the list of writers, both male and female, and I think about like who, oh, who might I interview over the cross cost of the cross of the season, as you know, this isn't specifically a racing podcast. Yeah. But even if it was like, I can't get to all those athletes and it's almost like I just need to get a dart board, just throw a dart and pick someone that I don't know and interview because I think you're right. There's interesting. Across the board and the more that they can kind of create those personal connections with the athletes, the more excited people are gonna be to follow. [00:10:27] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, for sure. And I think, like chemo said, his major goal was to get non-endemic sponsorship into the sport and to get these athletes able to make a living off of it. Like those were his two main goals in making this series. And I was like, okay, if you do that, like you need to work more on the marketing side of it and you need to tell. All of the stories because if we're just gonna talk about the top five and we're only gonna pay the top 10, then what's the point of going 30 deep So . Yeah, like that's, I think, I think they get that now and they'll probably work more on that this year. But for sure, like I'm, I'm gonna have Anna Ya mochi on Groo next. And she just won rock cobbler and she's doing the Grand Prix and she's one of those like up and coming names where it's a really exciting story to follow and if they go the same route they did as last year, which is like, well, let's just focus on the top five hopefuls at each event, like she's never gonna get any coverage then So yeah, if they can expand the way that they tell those stories, I think that would be, [00:11:31] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Similarly, I just launched an episode with, uh, Ian Lopez, San Ramon, nice. 19 year old out of Northern California who's joined. He's the youngest person who's part of the series. Yeah, and it's just, I think it's just gonna be an interesting timestamp for. He and I to like look at this interview where he is at, what he's thinking about with his career in cycling and yeah, follow him throughout the [00:11:52] Amanda Nauman: year. Yeah, I love that [00:11:53] Craig Dalton: stuff. I love it. Yeah. So did you decide to, to throw your hat in the ring for 2023 in the Grand [00:12:00] Amanda Nauman: Prix? I did not, and mostly because I think of the experiences that I had in 2022 and not enjoying that stuck feeling. Um, if they had. another deal or contract, or if they had presented a way that they were going to do marketing for all of the athletes, I might have reconsidered it, but because we were just going blindly on the hope of like, yeah, we're gonna make it better than the year before, I was like, well, I'd rather focus on more of the stuff I think that I wanna do personally. Um, so yeah, I'm, I'm optimistic about the things that they do change for this year. I just think it would've been cool for them to maybe present that upfront. [00:12:42] Craig Dalton: When you saw the call of a Lifetime series on YouTube, did that make you. They might be approaching it differently or what were your thoughts on that series? [00:12:50] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, I, I loved it. I think they, you know, they had told us initially that it was going to happen and before every race weekend they had said, Hey, if you're in the top three men or women, cuz they alternated. Genders throughout the the series. They told us all of that upfront and they said, if you are going to be in this top group, please make sure you make time for the interviews and all of that. So that part of it we knew was for sure happening. And they made some of the vignette videos highlighting some of the athletes, but it just wasn't, it wasn't everyone, and it wasn't clear how they were picking the stories to tell essentially. Um, So, yeah, I think they did a really good job with the series though. I, I joked that it's, like they said, make it like drive to survive with a little less drama, but, and a lot more cool bike racing. I think they nailed it pretty good. [00:13:42] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I enjoyed it as well. Yeah. With with the idea that you can drop two races and now it's up to seven races, do you think that would meaningfully change, like what your experience would've been? If that was the scenario last [00:13:54] Amanda Nauman: year, yeah. It would've eliminated some of that stress of feeling stuck or knowing that. you had a little bit more flexibility. Uh, yeah, I think that, that that format will be healthier for people and I think that is for sure something that they realized last year with some of the injuries that happened already, like Pete racing through when maybe he shouldn't have with his hand still hurting and pacing. So, um, yeah, just lessons learned, growing pains of how you set up a series from the get-go. [00:14:23] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think that'll be interesting. I also think it'll be interesting if someone is riding through the series healthy. And just decides not to do something, you know, unbound obviously being a huge effort that maybe some people might not be suited for. At least that was the speculation last year. Yeah. Um, wondering like whether they'll just opt out of one and save one in their pocket for either a bad day or an illness or injury. [00:14:48] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, everybody was afraid of that and I felt like there were a lot of rumblings of like, oh, so-and-so's gonna skip unbound cuz they can. But I think peer pressure might have just went on that and most of them ended up just doing it. So maybe that'll keep happening. I think everybody kind of feels that is the marquee one and if you skip it, cuz it doesn't suit you and you one people will probably be like, well they didn't do unbound. So Yeah, [00:15:12] Craig Dalton: I could see. Yeah. Little, a little asterisks, by the way. [00:15:14] Amanda Nauman: Exactly, exactly. Uh, well they chickened out on that one. . . [00:15:19] Craig Dalton: Love it. So what, what are some of your plans for 2023? Obviously, like over the last couple years, you've. Uh, become an event organizer with Mammoth Tuff, which we'll get into. Also started dabbling in gravel camps, which sound amazing. But why don't you just, let's talk through what 2023 is gonna look like for you for both erasing and other gravel endeavor perspective. [00:15:42] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, I, yeah, quite, quite a few people have asked me this, and I think it's important to. also reminds people again that like, this isn't my job, per se. You know, like I have a regular desk job. And so the way that I've approached anything has always been fun first in doing things that I want to do. Um, and last year my dad got sick a couple times and the business that I work for is my parents own it. And so, and it's just me and my brother that work for them. So I think we kind of had this like revelation of. All of this other stuff that we're doing isn't quite as important and putting my dad's health first and focusing on that kind of was, and it's one of those things where it puts stuff into perspective. And I'm like, yeah, I've been doing this bike racing stuff for a decade. It is, it has been a very selfish endeavor. And there are kind of other things. in my life that I would like to focus on. Um, so yeah, that, that's, that's the background to all of it, essentially. You know, it's not as easy of a decision as like, oh, well I'd rather race mid-south than Unbound. Like, it was, it was never really that simple for me. For 2023, it was kind of more like, mammoth is very important to me. Doing camps is very important to me. Having more time at work is also important to me. And, um, Going back to the goal that I had in 2020 of finishing the calera 500 was also a goal and something I wanted to do last year, but like I said, the like shiny object of the Grand Prix got in the way and I was like, oh, I could do this thing. So I just put that on hold for another year. Um, so I'd like to, to go back to that and try and finish it. Awesome. [00:17:20] Craig Dalton: Can you describe that, that attempt at Calera and what that [00:17:24] Amanda Nauman: is? Yeah. So it is the Calera 500. Um, the person who started it, his name is Alan Jacoby and he lives in Idaho now. So he doesn't live in Mammoth anymore, but he was a big tour divide fanatic. Um, and he came back to Mammoth after doing tour divide and was like, I need to do something similar here in my backyard. So he came up with Calera, which is a hundred fifty, two hundred fifty North and South Loops. And then the Calera 500, which is the big Mamma Jamma one. And most all of this is like, An Excel spreadsheet of maps and queues and like very rudimentary stuff. I think over the course of the next year or so, it will be a little bit more updated Ever since, um, one of the bike packing.com people did a feature story on it cuz he finished the 500 last fall. So with more attention, more eyeballs, I think it's going to gain popularity. But essentially they're just like really stupid hard bike packing routes in the area. And I think the fastest time on the 500 is just under five days. . So it's not really something that can be done in a couple, and it's more walking than you think, and it's, uh, a lot harder just because of the elevation and the massive climbs in the Eastern Sierra. So, . Yeah, that's, that's the backstory. There's a cool video that Niner put out in 2020 when I had first started it and kind of the goal of finishing it has is still, is still there looming over my head. I've had a couple of times that didn't go right, [00:19:01] Craig Dalton: and is it the type of thing now that in the bike packing community, it's this, Entity and people are starting to sort of check it off their list and make attempts to go at it fast. [00:19:12] Amanda Nauman: Barely. That's why I said like I think it'll gain popularity now that bike packing.com did a feature on it because I think they're only five or six guys that have ever finished the 500. I'm the only person to ever finish the one 50 South Loop. Um, yeah. So it's very, very grassroots. I mean, there are probably. 200 people in the Facebook group that know about it. Um, but yeah, if you are interested, there is a Facebook group. It is private, so you can just request access for it for anybody listening. But yeah, I would love to see it blow up. Like I think it's a, it's a really beautiful route. It's very challenging and hard, but if you're looking for a good reason to, to get away, it's a, it's a good one. [00:19:53] Craig Dalton: How did you fall in love with that area in the Eastern Sierra? [00:19:57] Amanda Nauman: M uh, growing up, I think, um, yeah, we probably talked about this a few years ago, but my parents always took us to Mammoth growing up and same thing with David's parents. And so we both sort of fell in love with it in a parallel way as we were younger. And then once we met, um, we were like, oh man, this place is awesome. And my parents saved up enough money to get a house there, I think in 20. 15 or 16 I think. And because of that opportunity to be there and stay there, I ended up doing a lot of my training for, at the time, DK Now Unbound. And so I attribute a lot of the success I had winning in 15 and 16 to training up there because it was just the most like wide open. Not California, like in the way that you would think about California gravel. It was just more Midwest than anything I'd ever found in the state. And because of that, it gave me the opportunity to put my head down and go hard the way that you would in the in the back roads of Kansas . So that was sort of how we fell in love with it. Definitely skiing and snowboarding first, then mountain biking over the years, and then, hey, like let's go down this road that looks like it goes off to nowhere. . Yeah. [00:21:14] Craig Dalton: Love it. And then which year was the, was 2020 was the first year that you guys attempted to put on Mammoth Tough, right? Right. [00:21:22] Amanda Nauman: Yeah. We came up with the idea in like, well, I'd say late 2018 or so. Um, I don't know if I've ever told this story publicly, but we actually went. Maybe half a year of doing it with Lifetime and thinking it was gonna be a lifetime event. And ultimately Dave and I decided we wanted to do it on our own. And so in 20, late 2019, we were like, okay, we're gonna do it ourselves cuz this is how we wanna do it and present it. And, and then with the intention of it kicking off in 2020 [00:21:54] Craig Dalton: and what year did it actually kick off? [00:21:56] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, last year , so, [00:21:59] Craig Dalton: yeah. Yeah. I couldn't remember if it happened once or twice already. Yeah. No. So you got got one [00:22:03] Amanda Nauman: under your belt. Yeah. Covid. And then 2021 was wildfires, unfortunately. And then, yeah, 2022 finally happened last year. Which, one thing I do wanna mention, I just set up bike ride for. this in 2023. For me, I'm the tough, and they have a new insurance policy option for their event promoters where there's like a natural disaster thing. You can pay a fee into this insurance thing where they will cover refunds for natural disasters like wildfires, which is huge, especially so any promoter's listening in California, think about it. It's only like 2.2% of your fees or whatever, and I think. The state that we're in and with, you know, some of the things that could happen in our areas like that is a, a pretty good opportunity for promoters. . [00:22:53] Craig Dalton: Yeah, that sounds like it. Yeah. So the events in September, so end of the year each, each season. [00:22:59] Amanda Nauman: Yes. Yeah, it is the weekend after Labor Day. So traditionally the Mammoth Grand Fondo has Labor Day weekend, and then we are that next Saturday after that, which is the closing weekend of the Mountain bike park. So we had a lot of people that were up there. You know, you have siblings or other family members that wanna just go ride park all day and. Go do your little grapple adventure. [00:23:22] Craig Dalton: Nice. A little I'd I'd do a little bit of both if given the opportunity. . [00:23:26] Amanda Nauman: Yeah. A lot of people went and rode mountain bikes on Sunday. . [00:23:29] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Um, and tell us a little bit about the event. Like if someone's considering it for their calendar, what, what is it like? Obviously Mammoth Mountain is at a high elevation as you referenced before, but how did you design the, the, the event? What are the, the roads and trails like up. [00:23:45] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, it's one thing. So when we first started it, we had a short course and a long course. We were gonna do a 40 mile and a hundred mile option ish. And then in 2020, One, we had a bunch of people come out and we tested sort of a medium route. Even though the event was canceled, we were like, Hey, go ride part of this and tell us what you think. And that was the genesis of the medium distance. So in 2022 last year, we had three routes, even though that was never the initial plan, but some people felt like, oh, the short one's too easy and the long one's too hard. So we need an in between. And that was where we came up with the idea of doing three different ones and they. Very different. Like they're in completely different sections of the, of the valley of the mountain. They go in different areas. So I wanted to be able to sell a different experience for each distance and sort of have it as a stepping stone leading up to challenging yourself over a hundred if you want to, and letting those first two on the way kind. get you ready for what to expect for the, for the long one, cuz the long one you go pretty much all the way to Bishop and back essentially is the route. [00:24:57] Craig Dalton: Yeah. And how much climbing is in the long one? [00:25:00] Amanda Nauman: 7,500 or so? It's not too bad, it's not like raw cobbler where it's a hundred feet per every mile. It's a little bit less than that. So I think it's, um, it's not as like punchy and brutal in that regard. . [00:25:15] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Are you doing sort of long duration climbs on the course or is it [00:25:19] Amanda Nauman: rolling? Yeah, it's mostly you just like kind of get in the zone and climb for. Good chunks of time. It's a lot less, like five minutes as hard as you can go. You're kind of like, yeah. All right. Kick it into gear for the next hour, essentially. . . [00:25:37] Craig Dalton: Nice. And then the, the, um, the, the short and the medium courses, what are those [00:25:42] Amanda Nauman: distances? Yeah, the short is about 40 miles, very palatable. You go by, uh, the the Hot Creek area, which is cool, so you can stop and go down there. And then the medium distance is about 75 miles or so, and it has some pretty technical descending in it, I would say. And for folks who aren't used to riding or navigating sand as much, that feeling. Riding in Palmist stone is very different from anything else in the state, essentially, cuz you're just riding in old lava fields. So, . It's very unique. So I had a lot of people tell me last year like, oh man, you weren't kidding when you said it was gonna be hard. I'm like, yeah. It wasn't, it wasn't like some like silly marketing ploy to be like, this is gonna be the hardest event ever. I was like, I was serious. Like it's not easy. Um, and so it was, it was funny to have a bunch of people come up to me afterwards and being like, yeah, you were right. Like I know I wouldn't lie to you [00:26:40] Craig Dalton: What does that end up translating wise for equipment? Like what do you sort of recommend people ride up? [00:26:46] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, 40 minimum tire width. And I tell people like, go with as wide as your frame would allow, essentially. So like I could fit a 48 Oracle ridge on my R L t if I, if I needed to. And I think that would be the most fun realistically for the day if you were just looking to have a good time. And a lot of it is because some of the softer stuff, if you're not used to the like fish taily feeling of your bike, With when it has two narrow tires and sand, then go wider because you, it'll be more stable and a lot less like wiggly, I guess. So it kind of depends on. Number one, people's handling abilities and number two, what your frame can allow. And then, yeah, just go big. It's safer. , [00:27:32] Craig Dalton: did people listen to you or were people showing up on 30 twos? Yeah, [00:27:35] Amanda Nauman: no, people listened. I think that was, that was the thing we tried to scare everyone with. I was like, if you go under 40, you're not gonna have a good time. Just trust me. . [00:27:45] Craig Dalton: I love it. I love it. So overall, how was the first year of the event? Did it meet your expectations? [00:27:51] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, yeah, it was, it was great. I think the one thing, I don't like gloating, but I will toot my horn on the safety aspect because the one thing about that area is there's, you have very little cell service. You're kind of really, truly in the middle of nowhere and the only people who ever go out there are just going in their side by sides or motorcycles to, to get away. So we made it an an emphasis on safety and having a hundred percent rider accountability, which you'd be surprised looking into events that you're trying to sign up for that. That's not really the case for most events that you go to. Promoters kind of put it on you to, oh, well, if you're out there, you're kind of on your own and if you don't get back like, and you tried calling, sag, whatever, like you'll figure out how to get back essentially. And there's not really making sure that everybody is back. Okay. Whereas in our case, if you get out there and you get lost or. Can't find your way back. Like there's a, like you go into the risk of like making it out alive essentially, cuz temperatures can drop overnight and there's kind of more risk factors involved. So we wanted to make sure that we knew where everyone was. And TBG timing had a really good setup where you could text them if you dnf, if you got back to your hotel room on your own. And then if you got picked up by people, obviously we knew where you were. We got that idea from, there's a, there's an ultra, a Bishop Ultra that happens in May every year, and they have a policy where if you don't report your DNF or like that you left the course and just went home, you're never allowed back. like they have a very like hard. Stance on that, and they just don't want people back that disregard that rule. So we were like, well, we don't wanna be that strict, but we want to make sure people know that we care about where they are out there. Um, so yeah, safety, I think was, was the biggest thing that we wanted to, to shoot for. And hopefully everybody's told me like, you're never gonna be able to scale that if you have 2000 people. And I don't know, I'd like to take on that challenge just because I think making sure everyone's safe is, is always gonna be our biggest priority. Yeah, for sure. [00:30:03] Craig Dalton: That sounds great. I remember in the first year you guys were advertising that it was kind of co-located alongside Octoberfest in Mammoth. Did that turn out to be the case? [00:30:13] Amanda Nauman: It didn't. They, uh, they ended up canceling their festival. They like, I. Covid stuff and the people who ran octoberfest have other businesses in town that they were kind of more worried about than, than putting on the festival last year. So they canceled. And so that is why we did our own beer run on Friday. So we ended up doing what used to be theirs. They handed it off to us and they're like, yeah, if you wanna do this, Stupid beer run. Go for it. Which we did cuz I had done it the year before and I was like, this is awesome. Um, so we took that over and, and we obviously last year didn't have time to like throw together a full on music festival like they had had in the past, but cuz they canceled sort of last minute. So this year the village is kind of helping us. Get talent involved for kind of having it be a little bit more of a festival and live music and entertainment for Saturday. Um, so yeah, no more October Fest, but, but we're trying to make the party . [00:31:10] Craig Dalton: Love it. Um, now I know you guys have been through the ringer as far as event organizers are concerned between the pandemic and the fires. But let's put those two years of waiting aside. Like how would you, what. , how do you think about the amount of effort required to put on Mammoth? Tough. And was it a satisfying enterprise for you guys to put together, or was being an event organizer just like this crazy amount of work you never anticipated? [00:31:40] Amanda Nauman: It was a crazy amount of work. I never anticipated a hundred percent. Um, I think that Sunday after the award ceremony when we were all cleaning up, I was like, somebody asked David, like, oh, are you guys gonna do this next year? David was like, uh, I don't know. And I was like, yes, . So we had very different, I think, immediate reactions to it. David ended up doing a lot more of like the manual labor, I would say, and I did a lot more of like the computer work and logistics and all of that. So we came at it from different perspectives, but in, even though it was more work than we had anticipated, I would say it was a lot more rewarding than we had anticipated as well. because I have always told the story that Mammoth was like the special place to us. Like so much so that we thought about just keeping it a secret and not really like displaying it as this gravel destination, I guess you could say. But doing that and having the opportunity to share this place that has meant so much to us, I think was. Ultimately the biggest gift and the thing that we were the most proud of because everybody was like, yeah, I come up and ski here in snowboard and mountain bike. I never thought to bring my gravel bike and just go explore. And people have spent so much time on the 3 95 and just never really thought about those roads that are out there. So that part to me was very rewarding. I think Visit Mammoth now knows that it is a really great destination to, for people to go bring a gravel bike and explore. and that part I think will be the thing will, will always be the most proud of is kind of sharing that adventurous spirit up there. [00:33:17] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Did you think about the event from like, um, you want this to be a hyper-competitive event or was it something else in your mind when you conceived of it? [00:33:27] Amanda Nauman: Um, that's it. That's kind of hard for me because I am so competitive. So we wanted this fine balance of making everybody feel like they were competing for something, um, because I don't want to exclude all of those people. Like I always appreciated that Sam aims with the rock cobbler. He was always like, this isn't a race, but two people are going to win. Like he's always said that. and he's always acknowledged me or whoever else was winning those years, but he didn't like do categories for all, you know, the age groups and whatnot. But re I really wanted to do that for our event because, As a swimmer, as a triathlete, having those goals for everyday regular people was something that was important to me, cuz it was important to me a decade ago before I got into anything super competitive. So I think it's important to reward. . Um, yeah. The people that are doing the thing and going how they can as fast as they can for their certain categories, I think is still important to me. Um, but in that sense, I also just wanna make sure people can come and have a good time and not feel like the pressure to, to perform. [00:34:37] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Well, it sounds like you've covered both bases, right? You've, you've, you, you've allowed the racer types to go at it, go hard and get some recognition at the end, but you've also built that safety net to make sure that there's no man or woman left [00:34:50] Amanda Nauman: behind. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. , . [00:34:54] Craig Dalton: The other thing I wanted to touch on that seems like it's been growing in your portfolio of gravel offerings has been the camp. what can you just tell me about like what a tough camp is like and what are tough? What's the vision for 2023? Yeah. [00:35:10] Amanda Nauman: Yeah. I. I will go as, I'm gonna go a decade back real quick. So when I was, uh, I finished my master's degree in 2012 and I had planned a trip to Europe with my best friend from high school, and we signed up for one of those like v i p experiences with the Tour de France. And so we did like this like. 10 days in the NY sort of thing and blew all of the money that I had made in college to go do this trip. Cuz I was like, whatever, I'm starting work after this. Like I can make money later. And it was like a very, I don't know, transformative, life-changing trip that we did. And I think, you know, the, the people I had spent a week with, I still talked to you today and uh, I think that experience was important for me cuz it made me realize how much. Travel and sharing cool experiences on two wheels was to me. And then, you know, shortly after that, I met David, I was working at, felt all of these things kind of stumbled into bike racing and bike racing became the catalyst to going cool places and riding bikes with friends. and then now I am like moving that pendulum sort of back into to what was really important to me 10 years ago, which was like just going and doing these trips and riding with people for fun and like sharing kind of all of the experiences that I've had in the past decade. So that was the impetus of it. And like I knew we were gonna have this conversation and I was thinking a lot. Why I wanted to do camps and why they were so important to me and Dave working as a coach for Carmichael Training Systems, like they have always done a really amazing job with camps, and I've had the pleasure of helping coach some of those and being a part of them. And every time I'm like, this is where it's at, like the like intimate, like group setting. You know, you have good food, you hang out, you just talk about important life stuff. That I think is always something I enjoyed. So that was the impetus of of all of it. We started some of the camps in 2020, a couple more in 2021, a couple more last year, and to where we are at today, making all of them sort of under the Tough Ventures umbrella and expanding it to a couple camps in Kansas. [00:37:31] Craig Dalton: Super cool. I do, I do think for many cyclists, the idea of a camp evokes this. Training camp mentality, which is like, oh, I'm going because I'm trying to do well at Unbound, or what have you. Yeah, and I think it's an inter really interesting opportunity to kind of shift that mindset to more what you're saying, which is like, I'm gonna go somewhere cool. I'm gonna ride my ass off for four days. I'm not doing that for necessarily for anything beyond the sheer pleasure of writing. For four days and getting access to people who are knowledgeable about the sport and learning a thing or two. [00:38:07] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, exactly. I think it's a middle ground of a training camp and like a vacation trip, , because I want, I want to bring value and the way I've been explaining it to everyone is like, Dave and I made a lot of mistakes in the past 10 years. We did everything the wrong way and I would like to make sure that people coming into this discipline now, Kind of learn from our mistakes, start doing everything the right way, because you will have a much more pleasant experience doing these long adventures if you have, you know, some, some semblance of like how you should take care of yourself essentially. [00:38:42] Craig Dalton: Yeah, definitely. There's just a lot of low hanging fruit in terms of if someone just tells you something simple like make sure you eat every hour in these long events. Yeah, yeah. You're gonna be a lot better off than [00:38:52] Amanda Nauman: or some people that are like, oh man, I only had a bottle in four hours. I'm like, well, that's why you feel like crap. [00:38:58] Craig Dalton: Yeah, . Exactly. I like you had the benefit of doing triathlons. You sort of learned those lessons very quickly. Yeah. If you didn't fuel in one activity for the next one, you were pretty much [00:39:09] Amanda Nauman: hosed, right? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And I, again, one of the other things that happened was we had so many people that came to Mammoth and did the short route last year, and it was like their first gravel event. And that was very intimidating for me cuz I was like, this is going to be like their introduction to this experience and this discipline. and I wanted it to be good, and I wanted them to have resources at their disposal to make it comfortable. So much so. I feel like I over-delivered and overshared on some of that information. And I had a couple people emailing me and say like, you know, you don't really have to like handhold so much for all these people. I was like, yeah, I do, because some of them literally have no idea. So like if it's annoying to you that I'm telling you to drink a bottle an hour, like just ignore me. Then , this isn't for you. [00:40:03] Craig Dalton: So most of the camps, well all the camps last year were up at Mammoth. And obviously like just being able to showcase all the great trails and roads up at Mammoth was an obvious thing for you to do both in terms of getting people pumped about that region that you love so much and getting people excited, maybe specifically for your event, but now you're expanding to Kansas. Let's talk about like, what's the orientation of those camps in Kansas? Is it just yet another great place to ride that people should go? Or is it trying to get you ready for any particular event? [00:40:35] Amanda Nauman: Uh, yeah. Yeah, they, so the first one is with the Flint Hills gravel ride, and the second one in July is with the Rockridge gravel. And so both of those events are run by Bobby Thompson and Dave and I met Bobby. . Like way back in 2017, the Dirty Kansas production or promotion company was the company that was, that DK was under at the time. They had dabbled in this idea of travel trips as well. So they did this like test run to do the Dirty River in the uk and Bobby was on that trip. So we met Bobby in that like travel trip, bike thing, atmosphere, and we became really fast good friends, and they had come out to Mammoth a couple times, um, in 2020 or 2021 and 2022. So we have always had this relationship with Bobby and he wanted to build his. Camps, or sorry, his events in Kansas that were more of like grassroots, like OG gravel style there. And that's very much the stuff that Dave and I fell in love with and we were like, well, , let's see if we can do tough camps in Kansas. Because Bobby came to me and said like, Hey, I'm not getting enough women signing up for these. Like, what am I doing wrong? And I was like, well, I don't think you're doing anything wrong necessarily. I think just like what you're offering is still intimidating for women. So let's try and maybe bring this camp idea to to soften. That experience or make it feel more palatable for women and for anyone as a whole. Um, so that was where that idea came from to build those camps there. And o obviously I have a really good reputation and love for that area in terms of what I've been able to do, um, with Unbound and all of. The experience that Dave and I have with that event. So I think sharing what we know and doing that and again in a place that um, means a lot to us was kind of why we wanted to do. . [00:42:35] Craig Dalton: So will those camps actually culminate in participation in the those events? [00:42:40] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, so that's how we structured. It was like a three day leading up to that event so that that final day you get to sort of execute everything that you've learned in the three days prior, which is, which is a fun way to do it. [00:42:54] Craig Dalton: Yeah, that's super interesting. I want to touch on something that you mentioned offline, but just kind of reference there about just. Finding a way to bring more female athletes into the sport. And you mentioned some work you were doing with Sam at Rock Cobbler this year. , can you describe what you were doing? [00:43:11] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, yeah, so Chris Hall was on the marketing team helping Sam out this year, and he sent me a message a couple months ago and was like, Hey, Sam's at like 16% female participation. And he was like, how do we make that bigger? I'm not happy with it. And I was like, yeah, I'm not happy with that either. That's not a great number. So I was like, well, let's, you know, open 50 spots on the backend for any women. Sign up after it sells out. And I was like, I will volunteer my time if people wanna ask me any questions about it, if they're nervous, cuz maybe women don't necessarily want to email Sam or an unknown face behind an event and say like, Hey, is this for me? Maybe they'll feel more comfortable if it's for me. So they put a whole special section of the website called Ask Pan. People could email me their questions if they were concerned about stuff, and we got quite a few people that emailed and women that were just uncomfortable. Or didn't feel great about doing the short distance cuz it, it didn't feel like enough or they felt like a failure cuz they wanted to do the peb. And it was very eye-opening in the sense that I was like, yeah, maybe just women need that safe space to be able to say, Hey, I am uncomfortable. And they need somebody to tell them like, it's gonna be okay and you are fully capable of doing this. or maybe you're not fully capable and it's okay to do this other part of it instead, you know, it was, um, yeah, again, just a very eye-opening thing because women traditionally can just have a lot more self-doubt, I think, than men, and that idea that they perhaps might not feel like it's a space or. a discipline that's for them necessarily. So the more that I can try and crack that code on making women feel like they're more capable, I think that that's something that I'd like to, to focus on in the [00:45:09] Craig Dalton: future. . Yeah, I think that's super cool takeaway for a lot of event organizers listening. It's just like, find a female athlete that can be supportive and be open to questions like that, just to make people feel welcome. Yeah. [00:45:22] Amanda Nauman: Yeah. It seems so simple, but really like, and again, a lot of that has, has stemmed from talking to other women or like even my best friend, the one that I was talking to, that we went to Europe together. I always kind of use her as my litmus test. Like a better representation of all women in terms of how they're looking at the stuff. And she'll always second guess herself or say like, I don't think I can do that. And most of the times it's, cuz I feel like she's comparing it maybe to things that I do or things that she sees other women do, these like epic things and she's like, yeah, that's not for me. I'm like, no, it is like, you have no idea that you are fully capable of doing this if you want to. And a lot of times they, they won't even take the step to do it because. They're unsure. So the more that I can help, like, no, you can do it. If you want to do it, you should do X, Y, Z to, to get there. Um, yeah, those conversations I think are so important and for men listening to this too. You all have also a responsibility I think in to like make your female friends feel comfortable. Because a lot of times, like women just are too afraid to ask or they think that their questions are stupid. So the more that men. dads especially, um, brothers, the more that you all can make your female counterparts more comfortable, I think the better off we'll all be. Cuz it's not necessarily my job, only either , I think it's everyone's job to, to make it, to make it feel like something that they can do. [00:46:55] Craig Dalton: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for doing that by the way. Yeah. Yeah. It's important you've got a busy calendar of your own activities. , are there any events for the rest of the year that you're excited about doing? [00:47:09] Amanda Nauman: Oh, I don't know. I sort of don't, I don't really, I don't think I have anything. I was like super excited about rock cobbler and I even just did the short one this year. Um, yeah, I'm, I think I'm putting all of my eggs in the, the camp and mammoth basket and really focusing on calera because it is something that, Of steep learning curve, like obviously I haven't, I haven't finished it twice. So there's a reason why, and it's just a lot of like learning things the hard way I think when it comes to backpacking. So the idea of like even more self-sufficiency than I've been used to in the past is the, like that learning thing that I'm most excited about for this. [00:47:53] Craig Dalton: Is, was that the, if you could point to like the reasons why you haven't been able to complete the route, or is it a self-sufficiency issue? [00:48:02] Amanda Nauman: I would say it's equipment, honestly. Like the, well, the first year I couldn't even start it cuz of wildfires. So that was, that was a whole nother thing. Yeah. And then the second time I got stuck in like a lightning storm and on top of that my knee was bugging me cause I had picked. , I had made wrong equipment decisions, essentially. Yeah. And it's something where, you know, if I'm used to a certain position riding style and I have so many hours in that same position, I was jumping into something different, more weight on my bike, more everything. More walking. Yeah. . So it was just a, yeah, a learning curve of equipment and how I need to manage like, I don't know, just a very different style. Goal chasing essentially. [00:48:49] Craig Dalton: Yeah. It's so, it's so different. Yeah. I mean, just, just, just having a loaded bike in and of itself is like a game changer in what, how your knees feel in particular. [00:48:59] Amanda Nauman: Exactly, exactly. Because I, so I had like a frame bag on my frame, and so I thought, well, I'll make my Q factor wider so that my knees aren't rubbing my frame and that. Q factor thing, just royally effed up my left knee . That was the thing that ultimately did me in, was changing one thing that I thought was gonna help me. But really, like your bodies are so fine tuned to a certain feel that if you throw that off and you're trying to do it for five days in a row, like, forget it. . Yeah. [00:49:27] Craig Dalton: Yeah. And cycling because of the repetitive nature of it, it's. , you get something wrong it you're doing over and over and over and over and over again. Eventually it's gonna add [00:49:36] Amanda Nauman: up. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Just again, stupid things where if I was telling somebody, I would say like, yeah, nothing new on race day. That's like one of my main mantras, and I of course, like I did something different for this major goal that I shouldn't have. , [00:49:53] Craig Dalton: something that was even harder than race day. Arguably. Yes, exactly. , . I love it. Well, I'm super excited for all the camps. I think for anybody listening like that is a good way to spend four days. Yeah, and I love that Mammoth tough went off well, and I'm excited for you guys doing it again. And obviously I'll put um, a link in the show notes to registration, which just opened up so. People listening, make sure to go out and grab your spot. [00:50:18] Amanda Nauman: Yeah. Yeah. Thanks Craig. Yeah. I think, and for anybody that's listening to this that does, hasn't listened to a bunch of the, the Gravel Ride episodes, go back and listen to the one that Craig did with Trek Travel in Jerron and. just be inspired to go, to go do a fun bike trip cuz I think yeah. I'm, I'm really gonna push that more for a lot of people who are, you know, race or event anxious and just need, like, need a good reason to go explore and do it in a different way. Yeah. [00:50:50] Craig Dalton: Gravel travel, it's where it's [00:50:52] Amanda Nauman: at. Yeah. Yes, exactly. . [00:50:55] Craig Dalton: So good to spend some time with you again and hopefully we catch up later this year. [00:50:59] Amanda Nauman: Yeah, thanks Craig. I appreciate it. [00:51:02] Craig Dalton: That's going to do it for this week's edition of the gravel ride podcast. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Amanda as much as I did. She's such a great member of the gravel cycling community. I always learn a lot listening to the grody IO podcast and appreciate her perspective. She's been doing all these gravel events for a while. So just offers a great historical view as to what it was like, what it's like now and what are some of the ways that we can chart the course forward. I encourage you to check out all the tough ventures work. It's tough.ventures. As she mentioned during the show, they're doing the mammoth tough event, but they're also doing a series of camps this year, which I think will be super fun and informative to anybody who can attend. If you're interested in connecting with me, I encourage you to join the ridership. That's www.theridership.com. If you're able to support the show, please visit buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride or ratings and reviews are hugely appreciated. Until next time here's to finding some dirt onto your wheels.    

Prueba TWYN grátis una semana y practica tu SPEAKINGThe first episode of Why is English Difficult, a series that will come out every few weeks. This episode deals with vowel sounds, differences between Spanish and English and the beauty of the SCHWA sound.Follow me on Instagram / TikTokPrueba Twyn gratis 1 semana Support the show

Download your FREE PDF to get more words to practice and make your pronunciation easier with these disappearing sounds in English: https://hadarshemesh.com/syllable-deletion-freebie/ Make your life easier with this hack! You don't always have to pronounce all the syllables in a word! In some cases in English, if the syllable is unstressed in a word, you can completely drop it. In this episode I share with you when you can eliminate an entire syllable from a word, and make your life so much easier! Don't forget to download your FREE PDF for more practice Make your life easier with more pronunciation hacks: Schwa – the best vowel sound in English Are you struggling with understanding word stress? Watch this Boost your PRONUNCIATION, GRAMMAR and VOCABULARY with this 10-min daily exercise Make the American R sound

Download your FREE PDF to get more words to practice and make your pronunciation easier with these disappearing sounds in English https://hadarshemesh.com/syllable-deletion-freebie/ Make your life easier with this hack! You don't always have to pronounce all the syllables in a word! In some cases in English, if the syllable is unstressed in a word, you can completely drop it. In this episode I share with you when you can eliminate an entire syllable from a word, and make your life so much easier! Don't forget to download your FREE PDF for more practice : Make your life easier with more pronunciation hacks: Schwa – the best vowel sound in English Are you struggling with understanding word stress? Watch this Boost your PRONUNCIATION, GRAMMAR and VOCABULARY with this 10-min daily exercise Make the American R sound

At last, Park has reached the Chinese border. But how will he cross the freezing cold waters of the Yalu river, and what will be waiting for him on the other side?This episode is full of fascinating vocabulary, interesting expressions and colourful metaphors. Let's start off with some of the advanced vocabulary.Are you familiar with the verbs TO GRUNT, TO WRITHE AROUND and TO PERISH? These are all appropriate verbs considering the predicament that Park finds himself in. Also relevant are the nouns ONSLAUGHT, DEADWEIGHT and RAGDOLL.We discuss three everyday expressions. What STATE OF MIND are you in right now? Should we meet IN THE FLESH? Do you need a PAT ON THE BACK?We also do a brief pronunciation exercise to help you with the most common vowel sound in spoken English, known as THE SCHWA.And finally, we cover a couple of colourful metaphors. Have you ever been THROWN AROUND LIKE A RAGDOLL? Have you ever had LEGS LIKE JELLY. We hope you enjoy the diverse and relevant content in this episode. When you are ready for more, sign up to live and interactive classes with Marina and me, right here:www.gratton.es/club-gratton-infoBring English into your life! And gain the language skills and confidence to succeed in international communication.

This week we sit down with Michigan based, professional gravel racer, Paige Onweller. Paige, a former runner, had her ups and downs throughout the 2022 season, but ended it with a bang with a victory at Big Sugar Gravel in October. She is looking forward to doubling down on her efforts for the 2023 season. Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello, and welcome to the gravel ride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in-depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes. Who are pioneering the sport I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner down, unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. This week on the broadcast. We welcome page on Weller. Uh, gravel racer from grand rapids, Michigan. Paige participated in the inaugural lifetime grand Prix in 2022. And has been selected for the grand Prix. Again in 2023, she finished the season with a big victory at big sugar gravel in Bentonville, Arkansas this year, and is really excited to be able to dedicate more time to the sport. Pages and other one of those amazing female athletes who discovered the sport after a career, as a runner. Only a few years ago, she was riding a trainer and figuring out how to ride a bike outdoors. Pedro we'll get into how she got into the sport of cycling, what our journey's been over the last couple of years. And what our experience has been joining the lifetime grand Prix and racing throughout the year with all the best female athletes in the gravel cycling world. With that said let's jump right into my conversation with Paige. Paige, welcome to the show. [00:01:26] Paige Onweller: Thanks, Craig. Glad I'm here [00:01:28] Craig Dalton: Good to see you. Yeah, it sounded like you had a busy day in the er, so I'm pleased you're making time for us this evening, [00:01:34] Paige Onweller: Yeah. Yeah. I was a little, a little late to this meeting, so thank you for being flexible. The ER is a little busy these days. [00:01:40] Craig Dalton: Yeah, no, of course. My pleasure. Hey, I always love to start off Paige by getting to know you a little bit about your background, like where did you grow up? [00:01:48] Paige Onweller: So I grew up in kind of a smaller town called Lapeer. Uh, it's in Michigan, kind of in the thumb area. Uh, maybe like an hour north of Ann Arbor, uh, if people know that as a reference point. Um, yeah. And then I went to undergrad at Fair State University up in Big Rapids, also in Michigan, and then, uh, grad school in Grand Rapids. And I've been settled in Grand Rapids for the last, about 10. [00:02:11] Craig Dalton: Got it. And were you a, were you a sporty young lady? [00:02:14] Paige Onweller: Uh, kind of, my parents kind of made us get into sports. Like I think they wanted to keep us out of trouble and keep us busy. And so, um, yeah, I did like, uh, swimming and diving and softball, volleyball track, cross country. Um, I was a big runner. Uh, I actually got a scholarship to, to run at Ferris and that's, you know, cross country and track. So I did running. Many years of my life and was a very dedicated runner, even after college on some post collegiate elite teams. Um, that's kind of where most of my athletic background was. [00:02:46] Craig Dalton: what was that journey like as a, as a runner would, did you sort of materialize in high school that you had a good endurance endurance engine or. Wear of a sprinter at that point. [00:02:55] Paige Onweller: I was more middle distance. To be honest. I never really, I kind of wasn't all around her. Like I, I definitely wasn't a sprinter, but I kind of excelled at. 400 meters and anything up to two mile, uh, at least in high school. Uh, but more focused on like the mile and 800. And then in college was similar. I was more middle distance, uh, 1500 meter, um, was kind of my specialty in, in track. And then in cross country it's just a six K for uh, ncaa. Um, so that was kind of my specialty overall. Um, but I got injured a lot and. , I think, you know, I could have done much better, like in the 10 K or 5k, I think would've suited me more. Um, but I think I was just always injured that we kind of kept doing the middle distance, shorter volume, you know, or, or less volume. Uh, but then after college is kind of when I started to hit my stride a bit in the endurance events, um, like I did at Ultra-Marathon in Grand Canyon. and that was like 55 miles, um, like rim to rim, to rim it's called. Um, and started doing like more half marathons and those longer distance events. And that's when I, like, I was beating all of my college times and just really excelling. So I think after college, once I was healthy and not getting injured as much, I was able to kind of, you know, consistency really helps with endurance . So if you're not getting injured and you can keep running, then you're gonna do. [00:04:15] Craig Dalton: That's quite a huge journey from where you started out as a runner to doing ultra-marathons, as you progressively grabbed hold of longer distance events. Was that, did it feel sort of more comfortable and more what you were built for? [00:04:30] Paige Onweller: I don't know. I, I mean, I was still running similar mileage throughout the week, but a lot of it was like power hiking up hills and like getting used to like the vertical gain because in running, like. Ultra-marathons are very, um, there's a lot more climbing and descending, and you have to get your quads ready for like that descending load, um, and the, the EENT changes that occur. And so I feel like. It was similar but yet very different. The volume was similar, but the intensity was much lower. Um, and I think that probably helped. Um, but honestly, like I just love being outside and being outdoors and I just like working out . And so, um, yeah, I mean, I think the little longer stuff was. Was fun to me and obviously more challenging just in a different way though, like, you know, a half marathon and 10 miles, like what I loved. And those are like, you know, hour, hour and 20 minute all out efforts, um, relative to like an endurance ultra marathon, which is like the whole day. So just kind of a different type of pain, I guess, , but I enjoyed the process for both and, and how you train for. [00:05:38] Craig Dalton: Yeah. They're so distinctly different as running disciplines. I've done a little bit of ultra marathoning myself and I I hear you like it's this descending that really adds up. But for me, the interesting thing was it was a complete mentality shift, right? Because you'll, you're running in the woods, you come up to a big hill and the 10 K in, you wants to run hard over everything. But every ultra-marathon and coach or colleague or friend is gonna tell. Just shift into another gear and walk up this hill. Yeah, to power hike up the [00:06:08] Paige Onweller: yeah, no, for sure. And it's, it's funny you say that, like the, the mental change is, you know, more than anything, and I've been a coach for many years and when I was coaching ultra marathoners, like one of the primary focus, you know, in, in the season was focusing and developing why they wanted to do that race. And cuz there was studies and research to show. Having an emotional bond to those longer events gets you through it versus like, you know, an hour and a half. So that's like a whole different way to train and it's like more mental training than the shorter distances. And I always thought that was fun. And you know, my medical background kind of makes me a little bit more intrigued into that as well. [00:06:45] Craig Dalton: Yeah, a hundred percent. Like you just have to believe and you have to always put a foot forward. And I think, I'm sure we'll get into this later, just how the, the parallels with gravel racing, particularly the long stuff, you just, you gotta keep going and know that your body's capable of much more than you probably think it is capable of. [00:07:02] Paige Onweller: Yeah, for sure. [00:07:03] Craig Dalton: So did you discover cycling at any point in that journey so far? [00:07:08] Paige Onweller: Um, I mean, you know, I would hop on a spin bike when I was injured, right? But it was always dreadful. I'm like, oh, I'd rather be running and I'm here in spin class. This is lame. Um, but you know, it was like, I didn't know any of the numbers meant, and it was always kind of a punishment for me. So, I had no idea what, you know, it was always like, What I had to do to stay in shape for running. Every time I was injured, I'd go on the bike. Um, and it was usually a stationary bike or a spin bike, but it wasn't until the pandemic, uh, so about two years ago is when I started biking outside. Um, and that was terrifying, like the clipping in for the first time. And I was like, what am I doing? You know, I'm like, this is horrendous. I'm gonna a crash. Um, let's see my, see my colleagues at the medical clinic. Um, but yeah, I think. For me, that's kind of when I first started, but it was still because I wanted to get better at running. So what I was doing is I was running like 40 to 50 miles a week, and then I would be trying to hit like, five to six hours on the bike a week as well. Um, and then I started biking more and realizing like, well, this is actually a lot of fun. And I started, you know, getting Strava kms and I was like, oh, well I'm beating these cyclists like maybe I'm, you know, pretty good at it. And I just think I started to enjoy it. But it wasn't a competitive, um, component for me. It was like just simply to get in more of. Aerobic training and cardiovascular training did benefit my running. And I did the ultra-marathon that fall. Um, and that was, so that would've been 2020 and did the ultra-marathon. So I kind of stopped biking for a little while to help with the legs. And then that, that winter I was like, okay, I'm gonna get whiffed and I'm gonna have an indoor setup because I liked biking this summer and I can do that throughout the winter. So I signed up for Zift and then, you know, a couple of local friends were like, you should do this with Community League. And I was like, oh, that sounds fun. do the community races. So I do started doing those first. When I signed up, it was like all out from the gate, um, swift, I think I dropped hard, like finished near the back and I was like, well, this is hard Um, and I was like, what am I doing? And eventually I just kept showing up and learning, you know, the tactics within thew world and then started winning the community events and that, that's kind of how I got recruited to my first pro team, um, was for eSports on Zift because of you. Essentially my raw power. Um, yeah. And that's when I first started to realize like, I'm just a competitive person and so you put me in a situation where I have the potential to win. I'm like, oh yeah, I wanna do that again, . So, uh, that's when I was like, oh, maybe I should race bikes, you know, like that, that could be fun. Um, so that's when that transition. Transition started, um, and I actually did sign up for a triathlon. I did, um, St. George, uh, 70.3 as my first, uh, triathlon. And then that was the last one I ever did, , cuz I realized biking is way better, [00:10:00] Craig Dalton: I don't wanna glance over something that I think every athlete goes through. You were also building a, another career in the background post-college. So do you wanna talk about what you've been doing professionally that has been effectively financing some of your racing endeavors in the running world, at least to date? [00:10:17] Paige Onweller: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I end up finding a lot of my cycling stuff too. Um, which, you know, I don't, we, it's a whole nother topic right there, but I don't think people understand that as much, you know, when you race pro, like they assume you have all the support. Uh, but we can get into that later. But yeah, so I work as a physician assistant. Uh, I've been a PA now eight years, and I've. Worked and practice all in acute care. Uh, so either urgent care or emergency medicine. Um, and I work for an emergency medicine group right now. Um, and I've had various roles, uh, very career driven, you know, I'm just an eager, motivated person, and so I've had. department lead roles where I'm help managing and more of an administrative role in the department. Um, so yeah, I've been a PA eight years and just a very busy person. Um, and it's, it's a great job, but medicine has changed a lot. If you talk to any medical provider, particularly some, someone that works in the ER or the urgent care, um, they will say medicine has definitely changed over the last few, few years, and part of that is covid, but we live in a very, Demanding world. And that floats over to medicine as well where patients are, uh, coming in and it's, it's not like they're always asking for medical advice, which is what we're trained to give, um, and use evidence-based medicine. It's more like demands and that can sometimes be a little exhausting. Um, cuz you know, we're there to help people and use science and, um, you know, there's a lot of stuff on the internet that patients come in and. you know, talk to us about. Um, but it's a, it's a hard job. Uh, it's very rewarding. But, you know, I've had to tell patients they have, you know, a new mask that's likely cancer. Um, you know, just today I had to tell a woman she's mis discouraging and telling her what I saw on her exam and. , you know, just helping patients process and essentially my job is if someone comes in, they have a problem and I'm supposed to fix it and make sure they're not dying. So, uh, it's rewarding, but it's also very mentally exhausting and it is, it's a hard job. [00:12:17] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I wanted to make sure to highlight that. Cause I know like many athletes as you, as you said before, like there's this aura that your name is inve and you must be having a full ride with your sponsors and all you do is train. But I think you'll probably attest that, you know, probably 90% of the pro Peloton has other jobs behind them allowing them to do these things. [00:12:40] Paige Onweller: Yeah. And you know, it's best. And I also, um, you know, I own a coaching business and I coach, um, and that has allowed me to have work that's more mobile and, you know, a little bit more relaxing work, I should say. Not as mentally demanding or physically demanding too. Cuz right now, like, I don't know if people understand, like this last year, like I still had to work my weekend requirement, which is every other weekend. or every third weekend depending on which job I was at. And so, you know, basically I would like stack my hours in the ER and urgent care work, crazy amount of hours, like 56, 50, 60 hours, you know, in a week or a little over a week. And then I'd fly to a race, race bikes for a week, come back, work in the er, urgent care. So it was like this constant yo-yo of two lives. And I knew it wasn't sustainable for too long, but I knew I could do it for one year. Like anything's tolerable. Like if you have an end. Um, and I also knew, like I had so much potential in cycling, I just hadn't had the opportunity to get the support that I needed. Um, and you have to earn that. Like, there, I never expected to have, you know, to only be able to race bikes. Like I was thinking it'd be a five year process for me to get financial support. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's, it's. very hard. And I do think, you know, for example, social media is a good example. We're posting all the positives and, and that's a good thing. We want to do that. Um, but at the end of the day, the reality is like, it's not always as glamorous as people may, you know, assume that it is. [00:14:06] Craig Dalton: Yeah, so you were just touching on your journey. You got identified as, uh, a strong athlete via the zw kind of experience. Fast forward. When did you start racing outside on a bike, you know, kind of formally. And then let's jump into how the heck you got selected for the 2022 Lifetime Grand Prix. [00:14:30] Paige Onweller: yeah, yeah. So, , I think like, and I'm sorry, I'm gonna mute my, I'm not sure if you're getting notified. Um, I apologize. I just wanna make sure that you're not getting, are you hearing the dinging on your [00:14:43] Craig Dalton: No, no, [00:14:44] Paige Onweller: Oh, you are? Okay, cool. Yeah, won't worry about that then. Um, yeah, so I first started racing bikes, um, . So I basically did, started Swift the winter of 2020 to 2021 and then I was racing the premier leg ands with, after doing all the validation testing and making sure that like, you know, I was legit and not weight doping and, and power doping and all that stuff. Um, and then so my first like main, you know, race was, um, , you know, I did some time trials, so I got an coach coaches' exception to race U s a Pro Road Nationals in 2021. So that was one of my first like main races. I did a local, uh, time trial, Willow tt, uh, before that, but really like that was one of my first outdoor races, which is, Somewhat terrifying to show up at like Pro Road Nationals and like barely riding your bike outside. Um, I didn't know how to do a U-turn. Like I just really was afraid to ride the disc. Um, had no idea what I was doing to be, to be honest. Um, and it was kind of a disappointing, I think I was 11th there, which honestly is not that bad. Um, my, my power was really good, but again, like I lost so much time in the U-turns and I really wasn't maintaining an arrow position because I think. Guarded. And you know, if you barely know how to ride a bike and then you put an 80 mill up front, a disc on the back and then tell someone to get a really aggressive TT position, you're probably not gonna hold that . So, um, I kind of, you know, I was a little jaded after that experience because I had a coach at the time that kind of. Kind of dropped me, uh, I think because I had a disappointing, um, uh, race according to them and the team that I was previously on. And that honestly like little fire under my ass, uh, pardon of my language. Um, and so I was kind of told like, well, you don't need a coach. Like you just need to learn how to ride your bike. And in my mind I'm like, well, that's why I need a coach. And so I went and hired my own coach, paid my own money. Um, and then I signed up for the biggest mass dark gravel race that I could find. And I said, gravel doesn't have all these rules, like with road. I was working a lot of weekends and I live in the Midwest. There's not access to road races to do all the category upgrades, and it just didn't make sense for me. And Gravel seemed like a good way to like try to prove myself, um, and have the opportunity to race against the guys and really show like I was strong. So sign Up for Gravel Worlds. That was August of last year. That was my very. Mass start, bike race. Um, my very first ever bike race was the March bef, uh, so the march that, uh, March in 2021, but they did Covid wave, so I really don't count that as a mass start race. Um, so I would say, yeah, August, 2021 Gravel Worlds was my first mass start race, and I kind of told myself like, okay. Don't die because I like had barely rid it in a pack before. I didn't know what I was doing. And that race also starts in a dark, so it's like dark. There's like gravel flying everywhere. You're in a pack. I'm like, I'm gonna die. Like what am I doing? Um, But I didn't die. Uh, I definitely did. Okay. I was fifth. Um, but I remember thinking like, a, I had fun. B I did decently well relative to like, my experience. And I was like dangling off the Peloton, right? Like I wasn't in the middle. I didn't know how to draft. And so there's just all these things where I was like, okay, I think there's something here. Um, and again, more importantly, like I had fun. The community was great. That event is very inclusive, and so it was just a really good. First experience. Um, and so then I signed up and I did Barry Rebe that fall, and I ended up getting second there. Um, and yeah, I kind of thought to myself, you know, maybe I have a, have a future in this. I did iceman, you know, I barely rid a mountain bike. Borrowed a mountain bike from a local guy. His name's Peter. He had messaged me. He is like, you should do this. And I'm like, what? Single track? No way. Um, so yeah, last year was kind of like my first experience without all that. And then when I heard about the lifetime Grand pr. I kind, I applied thinking like, there's no way I'll get in, but [00:18:31] Craig Dalton: And was your, was your application sort. , Hey, I was this, this runner. I had this career in running and I've transitioned. I've shown these sort of glimmers of potential already kind of thing. [00:18:43] Paige Onweller: Yeah, and I, I had just highlighted and said like, I need more opportunity to show how strong I am and I need help with that. Like, I didn't even know about race centuries. You have to register and get into the lotteries. Like, before I even knew, I didn't even know what S B T was like, I was that new. People don't understand, like I have no idea even what these races are like. And so I didn't know there was a lottery. I had never even heard of the race before now. And so yeah, I kind of entered and my application was mostly. Hey, like, I think I'm strong, but I haven't had the opportunity. I've had bad experiences. Um, I've been put down and I'm a female and, and I feel like I have an opportunity to prove myself. So I kind of, I think I framed it in that way. Um, honestly, it was like a year ago. I'm not exactly sure what I put, um, but I do remember saying like, I'm not an influencer. I barely, I think I had like, I don't know, 800, you know, Instagram followers. So I told them. I'm not here to influence. Um, I don't know if social media's important to you, but I think I'm strong. And if you look at my story, I was fifth at gravel worlds against all these people. And uh, I was second at Barry Rebe and I was top 10 at Iceman. I think there's something there, like, please give me a chance. Um, and I didn't have any expectations. Of course you want to get in, but I was out on a training ride with a friend. I remember checking my email and I, I remember getting in and being like, oh no, I gotta buy a mountain bike. No. Like I was, you know, what did I get myself into? Um, so that was like very, very scary, if I'm being honest. Uh, and I was also working, um, and so I was worried about fitting everything in. Um, I was on a gravel. for this last year. So I did not have any mountain bike support. I had to source my own bike, pay for my own bike, uh, you know, all of that stuff. So yeah, I was like very excited I got in, but I was also scared and recognizing like I had to fund the mountain bike portion of my season. Um, but I also knew like worst case scenario, I would just really get experience in learning and I just am so new that I needed that experience. So of course I was gonna give it a whirl, [00:20:47] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Amazing. And obviously the Lifetime Grand Prix is a variety of different races, as you noted, both mountain bike and gravel cycling. How did you feel sort of at Sea Otter kicking off the year? There's a bunch of single track there. You have to get pretty aggressive to sort of do well in a race like that to get out and get, get out in front and be able to stay out in front [00:21:09] Paige Onweller: Yeah. And Sea Otter was horrible if I'm being totally transparent. Uh, so to put things into perspective, uh, my very first time riding a mountain bike was that fall, like that October, 2021. And then I live in Michigan, so I have no mountains here to train. We have the winters and so sea otter's in April and our trails like, really aren't that rideable. Um, and so I went to see ot. with like very minimal experience. Um, and I remember going there on a pre ride, um, and I literally crashed, I think it was like four, three or four times on the one pre ride and I broke my fork. Um, thankfully the guys at Fox replaced it for me. It was incredible. Um, but the reality is like, I remember crying on the sideline of the trail thinking. what am I doing? Like, I, I can't do this. Like, I can't even pre ride and stay upright. There's no way I can race in, in this course. immediately, I had to change perspective and say like, I can't view this as a race. I'm a very competitive person. If I view this as a race, like I will be competitive. So in my mind, I said, Seattle's gonna be my wash race. I'm just gonna do this as a skills day. Like literally view it as a skills day. Stay upright. Don't ruin your whole season. And then drop the race and you'll be fine. And so, um, yeah, I'm not gonna lie, I hated it. It was not a fun race for me because like, I just, you know, the descending, like the climbs, gimme a climb any, any day I will climb my heart out. I love climbing. My power to weight ratio is great. So climbs I excel at. But the reality is like you climb, you pass a bunch of people and those same people are passing you, not pedaling, doesn't make you feel the greatest. And [00:22:47] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I feel like many people who are listening may not be mountain bikers or have mountain bike racing experience, and it is definitely different being out there on the single track. And it's amazing, you know, if you're just not comfortable with the single, with the flow of the single track, or going fast through single track on the descents, make you nervous. [00:23:06] Paige Onweller: Right, [00:23:06] Craig Dalton: is like, you know, minutes and tens of minutes of time that can be lost versus someone who's just has the experience to be comfortable and, and let the bike flow. [00:23:15] Paige Onweller: For sure, for sure. And I don't think people realize like the type of mountain biking definitely changes. Like I was used to like tacky dirt in the Midwest, um, on our trails in the woods in sc Otter, it's like rock with like kitty litter and like you can't corner the same way you would in the Midwest. And so. , I think like pros that have been writing many years and have all these experiences across different terrains, like really have that knowledge. Um, and for me, like that was the first time I'm like, why am I going down? Like I know I'm cornering the right body position. Like I studied this. Um, and then I'm just like, oh, well it's totally different terrain. It's, you know, then someone said, oh, you're writing on kitty litter. I'd never heard that term before. Um, and I was like, yeah, that, that makes a lot of sense. [00:23:56] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I always, I thought that was interesting when the Lifetime Grand Prix came up and, and I understood the type of racing they were gonna have the athletes do, because it really does require that you've got a full bag of tricks. So it's interesting, you know, and I, I'm interested as we fast forward through this conversation at the end of 22, like, you know, how your skillsets have evolved and your comfort level, and as we go into 23, what that means for. Potential in these races. But so you start off at Sea Otter, have some ups and downs there, and then I forget what's next in the calendar. But why don't you quickly walk us through some of the other racing through the [00:24:31] Paige Onweller: Yeah. Yeah. So Seattle Oter. Um, and then unfortunately after Seattle Oter, uh, I was really gunning for Unbound. Unbound suits me very well, that course profile and like my power strengths and how I ride. Um, so Unbound was like the big priority of the race. Um, and I had like set a goal to podium at Unbound, um, top three. And so I was like, okay, like this is gonna be a good year, unbounds of my race. This is right up my skillset. And I was out on a training ride back in April and ended up crashing. Um, a cross wind kind of took me out in a really loose section. It was not ideal. Ended up having to have, uh, surgery to remove, uh, like a surgical debridement of my left knee cuz of all the gravel debris. Um, and that really set me back. I had like a month of like minimal to no riding and that my leg was immobilized and non-weightbearing. And so, Yeah, going into Unbound, I had been off the bike for like, literally a whole month and I started riding like, uh, three weeks, three or four weeks before Unbound. And so I was really trying to say like, I just need to not do Unbound. Um, but I also knew, like I have very little experience with Mass Start races and I know Unbound is very chaotic in the beginning, and so I kind of told myself, do the. Go all out, like you would act like you're in shape, behave like you're in shape, race, like you're in shape, knowing that I probably will blow up and that's fine, but I, I wanted that experience and then I would just, you know, maybe a miracle would happen and I'd pull it together. But, um, I mostly did it because I knew I needed the experience with a ma start. So, uh, showed up with very, very, very little fitness. Um, and then also a little bit like scared because after you have a crash with a surgery like. You know, you're very, you're a little bit more timid and I'm already timid at that point, So that was a challenge in itself just to show up and race. So, ended up getting through and I, I did fairly well. I started off a little bit more conservatively, then I started checking it off people, but then I totally bonked. Um, and it was like so painful, a painful death. And then I ended up crashing, like. at mile one 30 and hurt the knee. That, and so anyways, I, I ended up DN Fing at Unbound and I had never DN FD a race before. Um, so that was Unbound and then, then I was like, okay, crusher's next and starting to get fitness back. Um, then I got covid like two weeks before, um, crusher and I have asthma. I did not do well with Covid. I got very sick. that derailed, trailing or training yet again. So I showed up to Crusher, was like, do I do this? Do I not do this? You know, I was like, do it for the experience. Uh, ended up, you know, not doing very well there. I think I was like 15 through 18th or something like that. And so at that point my season just was not going very well and I was racing pretty poorly. I was like, do I even finish out the Grand Prix series? Like. , this is costing money for me. Like a time, like I'm taking all this time off of work to go to these events and travel. Um, and I was just struggling mentally, like just really wasn't happy with where I was at. Um, and so I actually kind of did something different and I went and did a ran nearing event and ran nearing is basically, um, , I don't know if you're familiar with it or not, but it's not a race. It's like ultra endurance cycling where you show up and the camaraderie is the main goal of the event, not competition. And a close friend of mine in training partner was doing a 750 miler. So basically we you ride from New York up to Montreal, then back to New York again. And so. . I was like, this seems kind of wild, but I just needed something different to remove, like the disappointment of having a poor season. And so I ended up doing that for him, just thinking it'd be a good mental reset, get me in shape, you know, for the rest of the year. But it was like 10 days before Leadville. So uh, I had like a 33 hour week, uh, leading into to Leadville. Not an ideal taper. Uh, you know, I joke and I call that the anti taper. Um, but it really was the mental reset that I needed. And I think too many times people set a calendar at the beginning of the year, especially pro riders because there's a lot on the line for us. The sponsors need to know, you know, there's, we plan our whole year around this and I think there needs to be some flexibility because you don't know what's gonna happen in eight months, six months, or whatever case may be. And for me, I knew my mental, where I was at mentally. Is going to impact where I finished in a race more than what people I think recognize. And so for me that mental reset at that event was really, really important. I showed up to Leadville with the anti taper as I talk about, and ended up doing really well. I was seventh there. And then, um, s B T was a bit of a struggle, I think just because of all the subsequent fatigue, uh, in the earlier weeks, and then ended up getting fourth, that lead boat. Um, and that's when I started to feel like my normal self again. I said, okay. Performance is getting back to where I think it should be. And, uh, I was starting to feel like I was racing again. Leadville was hard just because of the descending, and I'm not used to that. Um, and I've never raced a altitude either, so that was like a whole nother animal in itself. Um, yeah, so that was kind of through the summer and then, Schwa again, was after that, and Schwa again was a Med Fest. I've barely, I've barely ridden in any mud. You know, I've, there's a lot of racing, uh, that I haven't done, um, in a variety of conditions, but I felt like I always joke and say, schwa again was my very first CY Lacrosse race. And that's what it felt like to me. I was like, if I were to ever do cycl cost, this is what I would imagine it'd be like, except on skinnier tires. Um, ended up crashing at Schwam again, no surprise there because it was so muddy and I don't have that experience. Um, but I, I fought my way back, you know, fell off the group and then time trialed my way back and motor mooted through, you know, the chorus as much as I can and got seventh there. Um, so still a respectable finish [00:30:16] Craig Dalton: Yeah, very much so. Even on the ones that you said were, you know, like, oh, I, you know, didn't do that well or went in with a light mentality like you were consistently performing, you know, you weren't maybe knocking on the door of the podium on any of these yet. [00:30:28] Paige Onweller: Right. [00:30:29] Craig Dalton: but you, you were up there. [00:30:30] Paige Onweller: Yeah. Yeah. And I was kind of like, that's why I always joke, you know, before big sugar, you know, I did that, uh, news article with Vela News that I was kind of the dark horse because I was kind of like there under the radar. And you know, the unfortunate part with this sport and with any support is that like you really don't get the attention unless you're winning. Right. Um, and you know, there's some exceptions to that and there's, there's nothing wrong with that. Um, but I do think there's a lot of really strong athletes that are like consistent. , you know, performing quite well. Um, but they might not get the spotlight as as much. Um, and so for me, like, you know, I was. Okay. You know, I just, you know, this is something I'm always struggling with too, is just to be happy with what you have that day. Um, because I'm always, I'm always wanting more. Right. Um, and some of that is knowing what I'm capable of. And part of that is like wanting to prove, like, Who I am and what I, what my worth is in this sport. Mostly because I had, I had some rejection last year. My very first, you know, year in the sport, I was rejected by, you know, someone that I respected and I looked up to, and that was my coach. And then, you know, so I think like that kind of always had stayed with me a bit. Um, you know, and I admit that, you know, And I don't know if I should admit that, but I think there is some truth to that. And, and as an athlete, you need to assess like where the drive is coming from and you need to make sure it's from a healthy place. Um, so I did a lot of that this year in making sure that like, I wanna win because it's for me. Um, and not having anything to prove either. And I say that like I had had to prove myself, had to prove myself. I think I'm at a place now. I know what I'm capable of and other people know that too. Um, but in gravel it's such an unpredictable sport that you can be there, you can have the legs for the, for the win, but it doesn't mean that you're going to win. Um, [00:32:22] Craig Dalton: I think, yeah, I think as you go back to races every year the weather conditions can change. You can have a mechanical, you can have nutritional issues. There's so many things that can go wrong in these long events that it's, it's really, it's hard to keep going and cuz you always know, it's like something went wrong. I'm sure even in like a great day, winning big sugar, something still went long wrong along the way that you had to cure and keep. [00:32:46] Paige Onweller: for sure. Yeah. I think the biggest thing is, uh, you just have to be really good at losing . And, uh, I always, you know, in setting goals, I kind of tell myself I wanna be in the position to podium or the position to win. Knowing like if I tell myself, well, I wanna win, most people aren't gonna win. And even the best athletes, like, you're, you're not gonna win. Um, but if you set the goal that you wanna be in a position to win, then it's a little bit different because, . Yeah. Like I said, you have to be good at losing, and if you're not, , you're not gonna be sustainable in the sport long term. Like, I'm not here to race for one or two more years, like I'm here to race for another 10 years. And so you need to have the right mindset and be okay with those losses and, uh, be happy with what you brought to the table on those days. And, and that's not easy for someone that's competitive and. At my level, like I'm not a magical, you know, unicorn. Like we're all this way, we're all competitive, we all wanna win. And so I think the athletes that maybe have a more sustainable future in the sport, um, have a little bit better mindset or healthier mindset with, with or losing. [00:33:50] Craig Dalton: When you looked at that big sugar course in Bentonville, Arkansas, was that something you were naturally drawn to, that it was a course you could do well at? [00:33:59] Paige Onweller: Yeah, I mean, I think the rolling hills are good. Um, I had heard that course was a little scary with the off-camera descending. Um, and I actually re-wrote all of the course, uh, on the days leading up to it. Um, and I remember. You know, as I'm going through the course, um, thinking the course actually wasn't suited for me, uh, because of the descending. Uh, so looking at it on paper, I liked the climbs. I thought, you know, the course could do well with my strengths. Um, but then when I was out there pre-writing and I pre-rolled with like my, uh, friend John, and he just like bombs down, you know, the, the descents. And I'm like trailing a minute back and I'm like, oh my goodness. Like if this is how it is in a race, like there's no way I'm gonna win. So I remember kind of having some moments of panic during the pre ride. Um, so my goal and mindset completely changed in how I approached the race. Um, so I was like, well, if I know my descending is the weakness, then I wanna be at the front of all the descending so I can pick my line and people can go around me. Um, cuz it's easy to be a timid to sender and say, well, I don't wanna block anyone. I'll just, you know, enter from the back. So I don't get in any way anyone's way. But for me, I said no, like, I'm gonna push the uphills and then that way I would mitigate any losses, uh, on the time, on the descending. Um, but what I'm learning, and, and I don't know if this is relatable to other athletes, is for whatever reason, I'm a very different writer on race day and I do things on race day that I could never replicate in training. Um, or I haven't figured out how to replicate in training. And I think that's because I'm just very competitive and I do take more risk. and then you just kind of let the bike do its thing and you trust the process. And so on race day, like I really wasn't, I was descending quite well, much better than what I did on the pre rides. Um, but there's also a lot , you know, on a line too, so, [00:35:54] Craig Dalton: yeah, yeah. So, so, you know, one of the big things that weekend was that there was a forecast for heavy winds that did materialize. Did that go through your mind at any point, and did you make a calculation that that was a particularly good thing or bad thing for you? [00:36:11] Paige Onweller: Yeah, so whenever the race gets harder for a longer period of time, that will almost always benefit me, um, because I, the harder the day, the longer the day, the better. . And so, uh, when I saw the forecast and saw the wind, um, I, I liked that. I was like, yes, bring it on. Especially the headwind for the last 40 miles. I was like, uh, bring it on. Like, make it heavier winds. That's great. Um, so I, I liked that and I, I think that's important to. Have that mindset because how you think about things in a race or leading into a race will impact how you approach it. And so people that dread headwind or complain about it or maybe have a more negative mindset, um, maybe they don't do as well. I don't know. That's just my theory. Um, so I ended up making a move pretty early and it was risky, like without a doubt because I was with a pretty solid group of most of like the lead. and then I left that group to ride with one other person, one other person, one other guy came with me. And what ended up working in my favor is that we were both very strong and motivated to like keep going. And so we started picking up all these men that were falling off the league group. Um, and good strong guys like. You know, famous pro gravel guys. Um, and I just remember like the group kind of swelling and, um, that really benefited me into the, into the headwind section. So oftentimes, like if you're with a group and you leave them into a headwind, like it's a risk because you're with a smaller group, but then all the people that you just passed now catch back up to you. That's a possibility. Um, but I also knew at that point, like I was feeling pretty good. So if I had to like buckle down and just, you know, solo TT. Maybe I could have pulled that off. But the reality is like it worked out well and we started catching other men off the leads group and you know that that seemed to work well. And in gravel, like I'm sure you've maybe experienced this, like your group is really dependent on how you do and so, , sometimes you're with a group and we're all working well together and especially in wind sections, you know, having that even rotation, someone peeling off and not having this yo-yo of pace. Um, and the group I was with was doing, doing well with that and that helped. [00:38:28] Craig Dalton: yeah, yeah. Absolutely. That was huge for me that weekend as well. I just got, I happened to make a selection early on through one of the pinch points in the early port of the. And then I just happened to be with congenial, well-working simpatico people, and I was burying myself to stay with them because I knew, to your point, like if I was off by myself, it was gonna be a dramatically different day. And sort of as it turned out, I, like, I finished way ahead of where I ever would've predicted. I would've finished simply because of a, a coup couple good decisions, a decent amount of effort, but also a lot of just good luck of riding with people. [00:39:05] Paige Onweller: yeah, yeah. And like you said, like sometimes you do bury yourself and. That last hour of that race was really challenging for me, um, cuz I was at my limit. And um, I just remember thinking like, if you fall off, it's gonna suck a lot more than what it's doing. What, what is sucking right now? ? So I just remember thinking like, hang on, hang on just a little longer. Um, yeah. And I remember like Ted King kind of like made an attack, like, I don't know how many miles we were from the finish and I was just like, yep, see you later, . I was like, there's no way I'm going with any, anyone that makes any move right now. . But it's also hard cuz I didn't have any time gaps. Like I had no idea. And I remember thinking like going into the finish and I hadn't really seen a lot of media cars in the last half too. And so, . I remember thinking, I was like, is there something else in front of me? Like, do I put my hands up across the line? Like, did I really, am I really winning? Like I, I knew in my mind I was, but yeah, it's sometimes really hard cuz you're like, not thinking straight. You're working so hard. No one's told you you're in first, like, you know, an actual official or something like that. And yeah, like the lack of media and, and time gaps like sometimes. You don't really know, um, because we're not like the men where there's no other rider in front of us. There's all these men. And so it can get really confusing for the females. Um, and, and I get bummed about that sometimes. I think there's some opportunity for races to improve what that looks like. You know, a, a lead moto car for the women, right? Perfect example. Um, you know, that sort of stuff. I think there's some room for improvement there. [00:40:33] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Interesting. So when, when you crossed the finish line and someone confirms that you are indeed the first place women athlete, uh, how did you feel? I mean, you had a whole season where things weren't coming together necessarily. What was that like? [00:40:48] Paige Onweller: Yeah, I mean it felt so good. Like I, you know, I kind of like, I think I remember joking with a friend, I was like, you know, if, if I win I'll thank you for picking up my groceries or something. And you know, I think they probably chuckled like, yeah, you're not gonna win. And I just remember like, just being, I felt validating like these are things I knew I was capable of having a big win this year. Um, and you know, some of those beliefs are, things that I've learned and observed in racing, like knowing that I'm, that I'm strong and, and seeing and feeling that, but for me, like it just felt so validating to get that whim. But I also, like no one else really knew the struggles that I had during the year. I mean, some people that follow my process, but when you look at race results, you don't know, like she just had surgery a month ago, or she had covid 10 days ago. You just think they have a bad race and. , what I've learned this year is that race results do not tell the whole story. And so for me, like the wind was great and I'm sure a lot of people would be like, yeah, big breakthrough race, you know, she got lucky or good for her. But the reality is like it's so much deeper than that. And like those. , you know, feelings like are so personal and really the only people that know that are like, the people are closest to you and your family. And so I just remember being overwhelmed and like immediately wanting to call my family and talk to my sisters and my mom and dad and, and just, yeah, just felt so good. Um, and I was excited. Like I knew, like I had raced a little differently. I raced more aggressively and I came up with a plan and I stuck to it. And I wasn't afraid to like make the moves. And I think before like I was maybe more timid and more reactive to how I raced and you know, that was like eye-opening for me. So I remember thinking as I finished. I think I learned how to ride my bike today, . So, um, and what I mean by that is like just being more ballsy and when you make a move, you stick to it. Um, . So it made me really excited. Like I immediately wanted to be like, is it 2023 yet? Can I race more? You know, everyone's like tired and they want the season to be over and I'm just like getting started, you know? Um, so I remember just being, you know, validated, excited. Um, yeah, I just, I just felt really good. Um, but of course, like, you know, you get pulled away to get a drug test. I didn't have my phone, like I didn't eat after for a while and anyways. , it was a, a blur after that. Um, yeah. And then for me, it's like you win a big bike race and it's like this huge career defining moment for me to win big sugar. And then it's like immediately fly back and then go to work in the er. And you know, it's like people in the er, like they don't, they don't know what big sugar is. They don't even know that I was gone racing bikes. And so I just go back to work, see patients and blah, da da da, da, and then try to deal with all these sponsor, you know, decisions for next year. So it was like two worlds and um, yeah. , definitely an adjustment coming back home. [00:43:37] Craig Dalton: That's crazy and exciting and I'm glad I was able to witness it and I'm glad I was able to revisit it with you. Now, so you talked about your eagerness for 2023. I'm not sure exactly when this will post, but probably in January of 2023, I just saw the announcement that you've signed on board for another year of the Grand Prix. [00:43:57] Paige Onweller: Yeah. Yeah. So put my name in the hat. Uh, year two of the Lifetime Grand Prix. Um, so yeah, got accepted into that. So they upped the ante a bit with 35 athletes for the women and 35 for the men. Um, they seem to have a good lineup. And yeah, I mean that series really gave me a good opportunity and I really feel like Lifetime is trying to. make some good changes, some positive changes. Uh, it's the most competitive female, uh, pro Peloton. You know, you go to other races and you don't see the depth of women that the lifetime events are bringing. So that to me is like, if I'm racing, I wanna race against the best. Um, and I love that. So that's been awesome. They're also trying to make sure that this is a, a. Sport by doing drug testing and they're gonna be increasing that. And I very much support that. I think that's awesome. Um, and so, yeah, I just think there's so many positives that, uh, lifetime Grand Prix series is bringing in and, you know, it's not perfect. Nothing is, uh, but they're willing to listen to the athletes and get input and, you know, hopefully I can be a part of the change that's happening in American. [00:45:05] Craig Dalton: You must be happy that you did gut it out and attend all the events, so now you have at least a bit of knowledge of what those courses look like, et cetera. [00:45:14] Paige Onweller: yeah, for sure. For sure. [00:45:16] Craig Dalton: And then they have added a seventh event that they haven't announced. That's gonna be a wild card. And the fact that you can drop two events, does that meaningfully change the way you approach the season, those variables, or do you think it more is just an accommodation? That stuff happens to athletes along the way, and it's just giving a little bit more of a breathing room for, you know, getting covid, having a crash, et [00:45:39] Paige Onweller: right. Yeah. I think if you would've asked me that question last year, you know, I very much had the mindset of this is the race dropping and these are the ones I'm doing well at. But I think at this level of racing, like you better bring your A game to all seven and then like you're probably not, you're gonna get a flat or mechanical or an illness. So my mindset is to race hard, there will be races that will be more important to me personally, that I'll target. Uh, but for the most part, you know, I'll definitely, um, you know, target all of them and then, you know, just stuff just happens. Um, but you know, for example, sea Otter, like that's not gonna be an a race for me. Like, you know, I'll probably do the road event the day before. Um, that's, you know, it's just not going to be something that I'm gonna aim to win because of my lack of skillset. Now, will I do better than last, last year? Heck yeah. And I'm gonna have a skills coach that I'm working with this winter, and I'll be out in California and I pre-read the course a lot more. And there's all these things that I will prepare myself to be better than I was last year. But knowing like, you know, I only can go so far in one year, so, [00:46:43] Craig Dalton: Yeah, you talked about the rush of kind of, uh, talking to sponsors and media attention that happened after Big Sugar. I know you're not able to kind of reveal your sponsor program for 2023, but is it safe to say that it's expanded? You're gonna have more opportunities, a little bit more time and energy to focus and less stress on, uh, the rest of your life, so to speak. [00:47:07] Paige Onweller: Yeah, for sure. Like, as we talked about earlier, like I've been juggling a lot this year and it's been very difficult. Um, even though I act like I'm handling myself well, like it's been a struggle a lot of the time. So I am excited that in 2023, um, I will no longer be working as a pa. I will be racing bikes full-time and I'm extremely grateful to the, all the sponsors that I'll be bringing on board. That see my potential and wanna invest in, in what I'm potentially capable of doing. Um, cuz I am a new writer and um, you know, I think, you know, there's other people in this sport that may have the level of support that I'm going to be having, that have been doing this a very long time. And so I don't take for granted that these are sponsors that. See potential in me. Um, you can't just win one bike race and expect that, you know, you're gonna be able to race full-time and, and have that support. Um, so yeah, I'm very excited about that. Um, my last day in the ER is January 3rd, and then, yeah, I'll drive directly to California after that to escape the winter snow here in Michigan. Um, and get some big training blocking and yeah, start, uh, start learning more in 2020. [00:48:13] Craig Dalton: That's so amazing and congratulations for that all coming together. It's just gotta mean so much to just have the opportunity to kind of go after it in 23 and really see what your potential is. [00:48:25] Paige Onweller: Yeah, no, I am excited and, and I'll be doing a private tier program and I think what I love about it is that the, you get to work directly with the sponsors and, um, , you have input into products and equipment and um, you know, you feel like you have a voice and you work with people that you respect and value, and it just feels like a family. Um, it already has felt that way with me, uh, for the sponsors that I'll be working with and. I'm just excited. And the other part of that is that when you are privateering, like you have a platform for advocating for what you believe in. And, you know, I wanna race well, but I also have some goals off the bike too. And, um, I think those are important for me to start building towards in the cycling world. Um, so it's just fun to have that freedom and opportunity to, to work with brands that believe in that too. [00:49:15] Craig Dalton: Yeah. That's awesome. Well, I'll certainly be following along with you in 2023, and I think you've got a lot of new fans that wanna see. How you're gonna do out there. So best of luck. The conversation was a lot of fun. And again, I wish you all the best. [00:49:30] Paige Onweller: Thank you. Thank you. [00:49:32] Craig Dalton: That's going to do it for this week's edition of the gravel ride podcast. Big, thanks to Paige for joining us. We wish her all the best in the 2023 season as usual. The women's lifetime grand Prix is setting up to be one of the more exciting series to watch and follow throughout the year. If you're interested in connecting with me, I encourage you to join the ridership. That's www.theridership.com. That's a free global cycling community to connect with other gravel cyclists around the world. If you're able to support the podcast. Please visit, buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride. Or ratings and reviews are hugely appreciated and a great way for other gravel cyclists to discover the podcast. Until next time. Here's to finding some dirt onto your wheels  

Happy Holidays, Joiners fans! Our guest this week is Chef Wilson Bauer. Bauer is the talent behind Flour Power, a gem of a pasta restaurant he opened at the beginning of the pandemic. They're doing incredible stuff over there, and it makes sense why: Bauer came from Elizabeth and Schwa, and even helped out as a mercenary cook at Scofflaw. He cuts no corners: he puts a lot of emphasis on ethical sourcing, maintaining relationships with vendors, and making sure he uses local and sustainable ingredients. We get into the sometimes-tricky ethics of food, pricing and service, as well as the illuminating practice of growing your own. 

Shannon and Mary chat with Mindful Teacher Rachel about the Schwa vowel sound and how to teach it to students.  She shares great stories from her classroom about teaching reading and all about her newly published book that can be used to introduce the Schwa to readers.   You'll want to listen in on this chat between reading teachers to get strategies and resources for working on the Schwa with your own reading students.Episode Resources:Rachel's book Schwa in 1st Grade on AmazonUncovering the Logic of English by Denise Eide *Amazon affiliate link*Tools4Teachers Schwa informationPhonics Hero The Schwa Explained and How to teach itLiteracy Nest: How to Teach Schwa Part 1Literacy Nest: How to Teach Schwa Part 2Keys to Literacy: Teaching Schwa in Unaccented SyllablesFive from Five: The SchwaLists of Multi-Syllable Words with Schwa from Reading RocketsSchwa Words and ActivitiesRachel on Instagram @mindfulteacherrachelRachel on Tiktok @teacherrachelsorsel*We earn a small commission from the sales when you purchase the texts through our Amazon affiliate links. Thank you for taking the action to support the work of our show.*COME JOIN THE CONVERSATION!Our Website   our Patreon site and detailsSupport the show

Ogni passo avanti verso l'inclusività e la lotta alle discriminazioni viene sempre accompagnato da polemiche a cui si risponde con altre polemiche. Stiamo davvero diventando una società migliore?Scriveteci la vostra a info@italianoavanzato.comSe il podcast vi piace, sosteneteci su Patreon > https://www.patreon.com/user?u=43064316&fan_landing=true

The post Ə [Schwa] by Paul Blake appeared first on A Mouthful of Air.

in this episode, we talk about inclusive language. What is changing in Italian? What cannot change?Let's find it outHere is the link to my website, where you'll find the transcript in Italian:Go to https://italianstorieswithdavide.com/....Support the podcasthttps://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HJF6KQ4BY27Y2.Hope you enjoy and...Ci vediamo presto!L'episodio sulle parole straniere in italianohttps://italianstorieswithdavide.com/17-parole-straniere-in-italiano/Music by Andrea Danuzzo: https://soundcloud.com/andrea-sven-danuzzo.Ice Cream - Joey Pecoraro..Sources:Vera Gheno - Femminili singolari:https://www.amazon.com/Femminili-singolari-femminismo-parole-Italian-ebook/dp/B09SM72DJY.Brevissima storia dello schwa | Vera Gheno:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCx9t2OLOSY.World Economic Forum - Gender Gap 2022:https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf.Stahlberg, D., Braun, F., Irmen, L., & Sczesny, S. (2007). Representation of the sexes in language. Social communication, 163-187..Corriere della sera - Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi sarà la prima arbitra in serie A:https://www.corriere.it/sport/calcio/serie-a/22_maggio_25/maria-sole-ferrieri-caputi-arbitra-serie-a-d9c26ae0-db9e-11ec-bcd4-cfa7afd043fb.shtml

You'll never view spellers in the bee asking questions the same way again after you learn about the schwa from Brian Sietsema, an associate pronouncer for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing course.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475)| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.| Theme music by Catherine Rannus at beautifulmusic.co.uk.| Links:https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcastshttps://www.tiktok.com/@therealgrammargirlhttp://twitter.com/grammargirlhttp://facebook.com/grammargirlhttp://instagram.com/thegrammargirlhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl

A relatively easy Saturday crossword - Jean knows from personal experience, Mike knows because Jean told him. The fun factor -- heavily weighted in the complex computations that go into calculating the JAMCR score -- was particularly high, which is how this earned a stellar 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Also, it's Saturday, time for the awarding of the JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award). Did your champion win? Download now to find out (and if you haven't already, subscribe, so you won't miss an episode!).

A solid effort by John Westwig: Jean liked it slightly more than Mike, who was disappointed in the presence of HOSER and the absence of PASTEYMAN as a DC Comics supervillain. Still, it's hard to stay mad at any crossword that manages to work SCHWA into the grid: we give it a 4.5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

English words can be really confusing sometimes. In these how-to-pronounce episodes published on Fridays, I'll help you with the pronunciation of confusing words and common names. This week we're going to talk about the function words ‘and', ‘or', ‘for' and ‘of'. Here's a loose transcription of the words as explained in the episode: and: and [IPA: ænd] or euhnd [IPA: eənd] or ‘n [IPA: ən] or: awr [IPA: ɔːr] or uhr [IPA: ər] or uh [IPA: ə] for: fawr [IPA: fɔːr] or f'r [IPA: fər] of: uhv [IPA: ʌv] or aav [IPA: ɑːv] or ‘v [IPA: əv], or even uh [IPA: ə] before a consonant Want to learn more about the schwa? Tune in to the previous episode #157 – Schwa – The BEST Vowel Sound in English: https://a73023-tmp.s431.upress.link/podcast/157/ If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course: https://a73023-tmp.s431.upress.link/audio-accent-course/ You can also download an interactive list of 50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words: https://theaccentsway.com/mispro-signup/ Join our Facebook community to connect with non-native English learners from all over the world: https://a73023-tmp.s431.upress.link/influency-community/

You wanted it, you got it! In this episode I'll talk about the schwa vowel sound. Understanding it will help you sound more natural and effortless, and will help you pronounce words clearly. You'll learn why the schwa is so important, and what makes it hard to understand. But fear not – you'll find answers in this episode and learn how to identify and practice it in words and sentences. Are you ready? What's your favorite word with the Schwa sound? Put it in the comments! The Schwa episode (long lesson): How One TINY Sound Can Make a HUGE Difference https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/09/ Link to the videos about syllables and primary stress: Are you struggling with understanding word stress? Watch this https://youtu.be/8XhV4oAuPcA How to find the stress in long words https://youtu.be/65wx9_zmuqQ Visit my website: https://hadarshemesh.com/ Say hi on ?INSTAGRAM: https://bit.ly/2M4Tg2R

You wanted it, you got it! In this episode I'll talk about the schwa vowel sound. Understanding it will help you sound more natural and effortless, and will help you pronounce words clearly. You'll learn why the schwa is so important, and what makes it hard to understand. But fear not – you'll find answers in this episode and learn how to identify and practice it in words and sentences. Are you ready? What's your favorite word with the Schwa sound? Put it in the comments! The Schwa episode (long lesson): How One TINY Sound Can Make a HUGE Difference https://a73023-tmp.s431.upress.link/podcast/09/ Link to the videos about syllables and primary stress: Are you struggling with understanding word stress? Watch this✨ https://youtu.be/8XhV4oAuPcA How to find the stress in long words https://youtu.be/65wx9_zmuqQ Visit my website: https://a73023-tmp.s431.upress.link/ Say hi on ?INSTAGRAM: https://bit.ly/2M4Tg2R