Haley Batten spent years preparing for the Olympics, and it all came together this summer when she walked away with Silver. She sat down with Payson last month to talk about where it all began, when she was a 14-year-old with a printed resumé approaching pro racers at bike events. Eventually, one of them took notice and gave her her big break. She talks about how she built a career with the help of other women in the sport without trying to copy a blueprint of success, and the times (one of whic...
Nov 24, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 301
Earlier this week, Payson completed his latest ultra-endurance crossing challenge following his Crossing Iceland and Crossing Tasmania projects from previous years. This time, he connected three of New Zealand’s best-known routes — the Paparoa, Old Ghost, and Heaphy trails on the South Island. With a few unexpected twists, he managed to complete the 241 miles and 24,587 feet of climbing in under 24 hours. Payson sits down with the crew who helped bring the project (and the upcoming film about it...
Nov 17, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 300
Ryan Standish has had a tough year. During pre-season training in Madeira, he split open his knee during a crash and had to put his entire season on hold. The crash ended up going viral thanks to the GoPro he was wearing at the time, and he found himself in the middle of an unexpected internet news cycle. Ryan sat down with Payson over the Big Sugar weekend to talk about the crash, how it shaped his season, and the project he undertook recently to combine the Kokopelli and White Rim trails into ...
Nov 11, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 299
Kelsey Urban’s time racing the World Cup circuit has been anything but smooth. After years of suffering from a mysterious health condition that mystified doctors and forced her to pull the plug on her 2023 season, she was finally able to begin the long journey back in the UCI points this year. In the first World Cup of the season, she made it clear that she was a top contender by finishing 8th, and she rounded out the year by winning XC nationals in July. Kelsey caught up with Payson in Bentonvi...
Nov 03, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 298
And that’s a wrap on another round of the Life Time Grand Prix. Payson goes over the final points breakdown and talks about the changes that have been announced for the series for next year. He also talks to Matt Beers about their tie-breaking sprint for second place overall, and Alexis Skarda, who, after a five-week break in the middle of the series due to injury, still managed to come away with fourth overall. We also hear from listeners who attended the race. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:04:07 Li...
Oct 27, 2024•1 hr 49 min•Season 1Ep. 297
There was a point when Payson thought there were two Heather Jacksons racing the Grand Prix. How could one person excel in so many sports? The former hockey star who landed a spot on the Olympic track cycling team is now known mostly for her career as a star triathlete on the Ironman circuit. Lately, however, she’s transitioned into gravel racing and ultrarunning, competing at the highest levels of both at the same time. Heather sat down with Payson before the final round of the Life Time Grand ...
Oct 20, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 296
When Justinas Leveika raced the Tour Divide for the first time last year, it was, according to him, “a disaster.” But despite having done almost no preparation, he emerged from two weeks in the wilderness in second place behind Ulrich Bartholmoes. His bike barely made it, and he resolved to put the event behind him. This year, however, he returned, and not only did he win the race, but he beat the official record that has stood for nearly a decade. All this is just par for the course for Justina...
Oct 13, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 295
On this week’s episode, we’re covering round five the Life Time Grand Prix which took place last weekend in Trinidad, Colorado. We hear from listeners who attended the race followed by Payson's breakdown of the current points standings and some of the possible podium scenarios that could unfold in the final round in Bentonville later this month. Payson also chats to two breakout riders at the Rad, Finn Gullickson and Cecily Decker. At just 24, Finn decided to step away from pursuing a road caree...
Oct 07, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 294
In just two short years, Rosa Klöser went from never having ridden a gravel bike to winning the biggest gravel race in the world. Between her first gravel ride in 2022 and standing on the top step of the Unbound podium in 2024, she also managed to spend some time as a visiting researcher at MIT as part of her PhD work on the green transition of the maritime industry. Rosa catches up with Payson this week to talk about how she discovered her talent for gravel by accident during a trip to Girona, ...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 293
Another Chequamegon 40 has been and gone, and we’re here to recap it all with the help of 7th place finisher John Borstelmann, 8th place finisher Anna Hicks, and the listeners who sent in their reports on the race. And because this was a Grand Prix race, Payson and Nichole also do some serious number crunching to figure out where the current standings lie (including drop races) and see how wide open the chase for a top 3 overall is in both the men’s and women’s fields. Instagram: @withpacepodcas...
Sep 23, 2024•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 292
When Brennan Wertz lined up at Gravel National Championships last weekend, he was coming off of a bad case of covid and wasn’t sure if he would make it to the end of the race. When he came across the finish line, he was National Champion. Brennan sat down with Payson to talk about his last-minute decision to attend the race and how it all went down, from the cagey tactics to his surprise attack that snagged him the victory. He also talks about how working with coach Dennis Van Winden has transfo...
Sep 15, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 291
Anna Greetis is a mechanic and race technician for SRAM and one of the unsung heroes who helps to keep athletes on track during big events. As part of her role, she travels around the world to gravel events like Unbound and the Traka, road events like the Tour de France Femmes and Paris-Roubaix, and occasionally to cyclocross races and triathlons. Anna sat down with Payson last week after the Durango Derby to talk about what it’s like being a female mechanic in a male-dominated sport, why even s...
Sep 08, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 290
When Christian Bagg crossed the finish line at the Leadville 100 this year, he became the first rider to complete (and start) the notorious high alpine race with a handcycle. He did it with a bike he created through his company, Bowhead Corp, the leading purveyor of adaptive mountain bikes. Taking part in Leadville was part personal challenge and part broader statement — he wanted to make it clear that cyclists with mobility disabilities can race alongside able-bodied riders at the toughest even...
Sep 02, 2024•1 hr 44 min•Season 1Ep. 289
There are many riders who dream of winning Leadville, but few if any have spent as much time working toward it as Melisa Rollins. She’s done the mountain bike race seven times, the stage race twice, the Leadville Trail Marathon once, and the back-to-back 50-mile running and mountain biking races. She even completed the Leadville 100 running race in 2018. She was the very last racer on the course for that one, making her perhaps the only participant to have finished first and last at Leadville ev...
Aug 25, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 288
To recap this year's Leadville, Payson sits down with two riders who had some of the most impressive results on the day, Michaela Thompson and John Gaston. Michaela rode to third place this year, a full hour faster than her time last year. She talks about returning to Leadville ready to change the narrative, gives a play-by-play of the race, and talks about the emotional moment she shared with Sofía Gómez Villafane at the finish. John Gaston placed second at Leadville, even though cycling isn’t ...
Aug 18, 2024•1 hr 48 min•Season 1Ep. 287
Dr. David Spindler has been working as a high-performance cognitive specialist for over 25 years, helping top-level athletes unlock their brain chemistry and reach new levels of achievement. Cyclists he’s worked with include Mark Cavendish, Sam Gaze, and recent podcast guest, Riley Amos. Last week, Dr. Spindler stopped by the podcast studio in Durango to talk about why he prefers to spend time with athletes on their training rides instead of just in an office, what cycling teams can learn from F...
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 286
Just a few days after returning home from Paris, Savilia Blunk sits down with Payson to talk about her experience competing in the XCO race at the Olympics. After years of targeted preparation, she had a lot riding on the race. In the end, she was disappointed with how it all went down. In this conversation, she tells Payson about the things she sacrificed to make it to the start line in Paris and whether, in hindsight, she thinks it was all worth it. She also gives her verdict on the course, ta...
Aug 07, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 285
After going nearly undefeated on the World Cup circuit this year, U23 XCO rider Riley Amos returns to the show to talk about the season and the lead-up to the Olympics, which have just gotten underway in Paris. He talks about the heated points pursuit that the U.S. team undertook to snag two Olympic slots, and how this goal was at times in conflict with his personal quest to qualify. He talks about what it’s like having his first elite race be the Olympics, why going home to Durango was an essen...
Jul 27, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 284
Sarah Sturm is back, fresh off of winning Migration Gravel in Kenya. As usually happens when she and Payson start chatting, the conversation covers a broad range of pressing topics. Did Sarah watch Cole Paton ride to his doom in a rainstorm just before recording the show? Will Cole reply to Payson’s texts? What is tempo? Why did the runners at Hardrock 100 wear bucket hats? Will Payson make his dinner reservation? They also talk about the grueling, exhilarating experience that is Migration Grave...
Jul 24, 2024•1 hr 49 min•Season 1Ep. 283
Dylan Stucki has dabbled in just about every bike-related career out there. He's worked as an equipment tester, mechanic, and race promoter, and even found the time to do some pro racing along the way. These days, one of his main roles is team manager/mechanic/and all-around support system for his fiancée, Sarah Sturm. Payson caught up with Dylan this week to talk about what it’s like maintaining a personal and professional relationship in the non-stop world of pro racing, his trajectory from bi...
Jul 10, 2024•1 hr 46 min•Season 1Ep. 282
New Zealand cyclist Samara Sheppard has found success in multiple disciplines, including cross country (she won a U23 World Cup in 2012 and is a multi-time New Zealand and Oceania champion), road (she nearly landed a contract with one of the most prominent WorldTour teams in 2019), and marathon (she’s placed 5th and 6th at the marathon world championships). This year, she’s taking on a new discipline — gravel. As one of the new riders in the Grand Prix, she wasted no time in showing that she is ...
Jul 08, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 281
As co-founder of SkratchLabs and co-author of the FeedZone cookbooks, Chef Biju Thomas has played a major role in how cyclists fuel themselves. He and his family emigrated from a rural part of Southern India to Colorado when he was 10. As a teenager, he fell in love with cycling right around the time he started working in restaurants, and dreamed of combining his two passions. Decades later, he’s done just that, cooking for top cyclists, authoring cookbooks that have changed the way the cycling ...
Jul 01, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 280
A year and a half ago, Paige Onweller was working as an emergency PA and racing bikes on the side. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she won Big Sugar. Recognizing that she had a fraction of the racing experience that her competitors had, Paige quit her job, built out her sprinter van, and got to work racing weekend after weekend around the country. She tried everything from time trialing to mountain biking, eventually deciding to commit to gravel and the Grand Prix. At Unbound this year, despite ...
Jun 23, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 279
Lea Davison thought long and hard about her retirement, but even when she finally decided to bring her mountain biking career to a close, she didn't have any intention of slowing down. During her racing career, she won a silver and a bronze medal at the World Championships, placed third overall in the 2015 World Cup series, and went to the Olympics twice. Now in "retirement," she's working as a race commentator, mountain biking coach, and public speaker. Last year, she traveled more for work tha...
Jun 16, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 278
Trains, a moto crash, the hero pull of the day, and two peeing mishaps are just some of the crazy moments from Unbound that make the cut in this episode. As the race expands every year, so does the potential for chaos within the peloton. Payson rounded up some of the most striking examples that you didn't see in any on-the-day coverage. Click to WIN: TIME XPRO 12 SL Pedals + Sockeloen x Payson Aero Socks You can find out more about TIME pedals here Instagram: @withpacepodcast YouTube: Payson McE...
Jun 14, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 277
This year’s Unbound was one of the most dynamic and exciting in the event’s history, featuring two new winners, separate starts for the elite men and women, and a nine-up sprint at the women's finish. Payson caught up with two of the top riders to get the lowdown from inside the men’s and women’s fields. We also hear from some of the riders across the other categories, from 50-milers to the Unbound XL. Payson and Pete Stetina discuss how the men’s race played out, including Lachlan Morton's crow...
Jun 09, 2024•1 hr 47 min•Season 1Ep. 276
Jasper Ockeloen started racing on the road in the Netherlands when he was 8 years old and took up cyclocross not long after. The combination has come in handy now that he’s turned his focus to gravel and the increasingly popular discipline of beach racing, where he's a two-time European champion. This month, he’s back in the U.S. to tackle Unbound for the fourth time. In addition to racing, he runs the aero-sock brand Sockeloen, which he founded more than 10 years ago while racing for the Raboba...
May 31, 2024•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 275
At 46, Kateřina Nash has been racing bikes for three decades and continues to compete at the highest level. Originally from the Czech Republic, she competed in skiing throughout her early life, even competing in two Winter Olympics before discovering a love for mountain biking. She was part of the first cohort of the groundbreaking LUNA Pro Team in 2002, and stayed with the team for more than two decades. In that time, she won seven Cyclo-cross World Cups, competed in three Summer Olympics, and,...
May 21, 2024•1 hr 42 min•Season 1Ep. 274
Kenny Belaey started riding professionally at age 9 when he and his brother began doing trial biking shows in their native Belgium. Since then, he’s racked up nine UCI world championship titles in the discipline, more than any other rider. But even during the peak of his racing career, Kenny kept up with the performance circuit, using the shows as a training ground for the next competition. In 2007, for example, he did 170 shows in 17 countries on four continents while maintaining a full schedul...
May 11, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 273
After participating in the Life Time Grand Prix in its first two years, Taylor Lideen missed out on a spot this year. While that might leave some riders struggling for motivation, it’s done the opposite for him. Two weeks ago, at Sea Otter (the first Grand Prix race of the season), he snagged 6th place, just seconds off the podium. The next weekend, he placed 6th at Whiskey Off Road. In February, he and Lachlan Morton set a decisive record at 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. Taylor attributes these r...
May 04, 2024•1 hr 39 min•Season 1Ep. 272
