Professional mountain biker Payson McElveen sits down with some of the biggest names in sports and adventure to get an inside look at what sets them apart. With no script, the casual conversations are as diverse as the guests, with topics ranging from harrowing tales of survival, to debates on current events, to everyday tips and tricks and everything in between. As Payson travels the world for his two-wheeled day job, listen in as he rubs shoulders with and learns from some of the most inspiring athletes, entrepreneurs, academics, and others as they chase and inspire greatness.
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Sea Otter recap, with Betsy Welch
This week, Payson and VeloNews journalist Betsy Welch break down the first race of the 2023 Life Time Grand Prix. While there were few surprises at the front of the race, there were plenty of unexpected finishes and variables to suggest that we’re in for an exciting series. Payson and Betsy run through the leaderboard, discuss the riders that surprised them most, consider the implications of Keegan Swenson’s sprint finish with Russell Finsterwald, and highlight some serious mid-race comebacks in the women’s field.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
2023 Life Time Grand Prix Preview, with Michelle Duffy and Betsy Welch
The 2023 Life Time Grand Prix is about to be officially underway. The seven-month series will encompass seven races and involve 70 of the best gravel cyclists in the world. This year brings a host of new competitors from across the globe, from South Africa to Australia, Alabama to Switzerland. There are some familiar faces as well as plenty of new riders with impressive resumes. There are world-class triathletes, road racers, and engineers; veteran gravel racers and those who have just taken up the sport in the last couple of years. It's shaping up to be an exciting and dynamic field, and it all kicks off this weekend.In this week’s episode, Payson sits down with Michelle Duffy, Marketing Director for Life Time’s athletic events, and Betsy Welch, a journalist and senior editor at VeloNews who spent last year chronicling the series in detail. Michelle has been instrumental in bringing the Grand Prix to fruition and facilitates the application and selection process. She, Payson, and Betsy do a rundown of the riders, focusing on the ones that are new to the series. They also discuss the new format and how the altered points system, which allows athletes to drop two races from their final score, might affect tactics. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Aidan Haley, film editor of "Crossing Tasmania"
Aidan Haley has edited productions for HBO, Mercedes, and Patagonia. Most recently, he helped edit an episode for the Emmy-nominated HBO docuseries Edge of the Earth. He's also just wrapped up Payson's latest film about his one-day ride across Tasmania last November. In this episode, Aidan talks about his teenage years climbing mountains in the Pacific Northwest with his cousin, Colin, who is now one of the premier alpinists in the world, as well as moving to Paris after college to talk his way into a photojournalism internship, and finding his way in Hollywood after landing a job on the set of an Oscar Mayer commercial. He also discusses his approach to editing, whether he's working on a documentary, a commercial, or a feature film, and how his work has affected his ability to enjoy movies as a pastime.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Brennan Wertz, gravel racer and former champion rower
Brennan Wertz spent eight years as a top-level rower before transitioning to cycling. During that time, he raced for Stanford, nabbed a world record, and chased the Olympics before injuries sidelined him. When he picked up cycling to pass the rehab time, he fell in love with the sport and never looked back. In 2021, he jumped into Unbound and landed in the top 10. This year, he’s racing in the Life Time Grand Prix, which brings a whole new set of unknowns.In this conversation, Brennan sits down with Payson in Monterrey, CA to talk about his rowing career, finding his way into cycling, and why he was hooked on gravel from the start. With only a year and a half of racing under his belt, he’s aware that he doesn't have the experience that his competitors have, but with years of rowing, he’s got the power numbers and the mentality to make up for it. He talks about how much he enjoys getting out of his comfort zone, how he's tried to bring the team spirit of rowing into his gravel training, and how he hopes to prove that bigger racers can perform at the highest levels of the sport. This year, he isn’t looking forward to the events that his 6 foot 5, 200-pound frame is most suited for, but to the races that pose new challenges. Mountain biking at Sea Otter and elevation at Leadville are two of the events he’s most excited about, and he tells Payson about how he's training for them, and whether he'd ever be interested in dipping his toe in professional road racing.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Ted King on returning to racing after two years of setbacks
Ted King returns to the show to talk about the string of setbacks that left his career in limbo for the past couple of years. Some of those hurdles have been public, such as the numerous broken bones, while others have been largely private, such as an unexplained blood clot that has left him on blood thinners for the foreseeable future. The past two years have been a series of stopping and starting, from hospital visits and rehab to short-lived comebacks. This year, however, he’s back to racing, and he’s chosen a schedule that looks a lot different from his pre-2021 events lineup.In this conversation, Ted tells Payson about the rollercoaster of the past two years, including some unexpected upsides. He talks about what it was like to line up in the age-group category instead of with the pros at this year’s Mid South, how he used his tentative race schedule last year to raise money for charity, and why the cycling community has kept him coming back to races even when he was still processing his most recent health scare. He also explains why he’s decided to pursue an alternative schedule this year in which he will compete in ultra-long distance races like Unbound XL and the Great Divide instead of lining up for the Grand Prix. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Matt Fairbrother on bikepacking 4,000 kilometers to compete in the Enduro World Series
New Zealand cyclist Matt Fairbrother made a splash in the 2022 Enduro World Series when, at age 17, he bikepacked 4,000 kilometers to get to the races. The journey started when he couldn’t find transportation from the Scotland event to the next race in Slovenia. With only a few thousand dollars to cover his entire season, he decided to bikepack instead. Even as his enormous commute picked up media and sponsor attention, he decided not to accept offers for easier forms of transportation and continue bikepacking instead. His journey often required riding for 24 hours at a time with only a couple hours of sleep each night, all on a bike weighing over 70 pounds.In this conversation, Matt talks about why he decided not to bail on the season after finding himself stranded in Scotland, and what it was like to ride that first 1,500-kilometer push to Slovenia (his first ever bikepacking trip). He talks about the night when he was stuck in sub-freezing temperatures in the Alps without enough warm clothes to get him through to the morning, and the time he was held up at a ferry for being under 18. He also discusses his decision to continue bikepacking to his events in 2023, and the new sponsors that are along for the ride.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Mid South Recap, with Kerry Werner, Marley Blonsky, a Q&A, and rider experiences
In our Mid South recap, Payson sits down with Kerry Werner who finished in third place behind Payson and John Borstelmann in a sprint finish. They talk about his career on the road, in cyclocross, and his decision to participate in the Grand Prix this year. Payson also answers some of your questions about the Mid South and beyond, and chats to Marley Blonsky who got the loudest cheer of the weekend when she came across the finish line in last place for the 100-mile race. She talks about her last-minute decision to switch from the 50-mile course to the 100-mile, and how she felt during the final push to the finish. We also hear from some of the riders who sent us voicemails about their experiences racing at Mid South.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Raylyn Nuss, cyclocross racer and Pan American Champion
Raylyn Nuss is a cyclocross racer who currently holds the Pan American Championship title. Before cycling, she was a basketball player who got a full ride to a Division I NAIA school and later juggled a full-time job as a chemist for Pfizer with triathlon racing. When she competed in her first cyclocross race, it was love at first sight, and she never looked back. These days, Raylyn is running her own team, Steve Tilford Foundation Racing, and is expanding her calendar to include the Lifetime Grand Prix.In this conversation, Payson and Raylyn chat about her career as a top-level basketball player, her unsuccessful attempts to adjust to triathlon, and why she was immediately drawn to cyclocross. They talk about why she wanted to start her own team despite having little managerial experience, the excitement of watching her teammate, Curtis White, win Nationals, and why she’s decided to race some gravel this year. Way back in 2019, Payson and Raylyn were teammates, and they take some time to reminisce about how her love of shoes, basketball, and good coffee rubbed off of him. They also talk about elevating women in sport, and the athletes outside of cycling that she looks up to.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Taylor Phinney, artist and retired WorldTour cyclist
Taylor Phinney was one of the brightest stars of American road racing in the 2010s. The son of professional cycling luminaries, he was a world champion by age 17 and became the first American to win Paris-Roubaix the following year as a U23. A year later, he won the race again for good measure. During his 10-year career on the WorldTour, Taylor raced for Trek-Livestrong, BMC, and EF Education First. When he announced his retirement in 2019 at age 29, it shook the sport, but according to Taylor, it had been a long time coming. Earlier this week, Payson sat down with Taylor in his art studio in Spain to talk about how his life has changed since he left racing. They talk about how he became more involved with his art in the final year of his WorldTour career and how cycling was no longer bringing him fulfillment. He explains why he’s chosen to stay in the cycling mecca of Girona even though he isn’t racing anymore, and how he’s grown to prefer aspects of Europe that he used to find challenging. They discuss what it’s like to still be in the realm of WorldTour racing as he supports his partner, Kasia, who rides for Canyon–SRAM, and how professional women’s racing is so different from men's. They also talk about music, art, starting fires, and his obsession with handlebars. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Top 3 Finishers of the 2022 Men's Enduro World Series - Jesse Melamed, Richie Rude, and Martin Maes
In preparation for the upcoming season of the Enduro World Series, Payson talks to the top three men of last year, Jesse Melamed, Richie Rude, and Martin Maes. They chat about how they got into Enduro, their favorite courses, and how they’re feeling about all the changes being implemented this year. Martin talks about the success he’s found in both downhill and Enduro. In 2018, he won an EWS race and then followed it up two weeks later with a win at the World Cup Downhill Finals in La Bresse, France. He talks about the rivalry between downhill and Enduro racers, and the EWS goal he wants to fulfill before going back to downhill racing. Richie was the first man to win back-to-back EWS championship titles in 2015 and 2016 at 21 years old and continues to be a mainstay on the podium. He talks about his busy off-season, gravel riding, and how he’s changed as a racer since he burst onto the scene as a teenager. And we listen back to two of our interviews with Jesse, one directly after he won the 2022 overall title in which he discusses his victory, and one from February 2022 in which he talks about his love of training, camaraderie during races, and why heavy mileage is the key to his success. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Top 3 Finishers of the 2022 Women's Enduro World Series - Isabeau Courdurier, Morgane Charre, and Hattie Harnden
In preparation for the upcoming season of the Enduro World Series, Payson talks to the top three women of last year, Isabeau Courdurier, Morgane Charre, and Hattie Harnden. They chat about how they got into Enduro, their favorite courses, and how they’re feeling about all the changes being implemented this year. Hattie discusses her switch from dominanting cyclocross and XC as a junior to becoming the youngest rider to ever win an Enduro race. Morgane talks about how a broken wrist lured her away from her illustrious downhill career to Enduro racing, and why she still chooses to ride flat pedals despite the amount of pedaling EWS races require. And Isabeau talks about her deep love of the sport, how the death of her father changed her outlook on training, and the difference between results and performance. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Chad Haga, professional road racer
Chad Haga spent eight years in the WorldTour on Team DSM (formerly known as Giant-Shimano and Sunweb). During that time, he raced in 12 Grand Tours including the Tour de France, six Giro d’Italias (where he won a stage in 2019), and four Vuelta a Españas. In 2022, he stepped back from the WorldTour to join the ProTeam Human Powered Health. Although he's spent more than a decade in Europe, he was born and raised in McKinney, Texas and didn’t start racing seriously until he was finishing up his Mechanical Engineering degree at Texas A&M, a relatively late start that he says has been a benefit in more ways than one. In this conversation, Chad talks to Payson about his decision to switch from the WorldTour to a ProTeam after eight successful years, how his life as a professional racer has transformed since he had children, and how he's reconnecting with mountain biking in a big way. They also talk about how he plans to use his mechanical engineering degree after he retires from professional racing, the new races he's planning to do in the coming season, and how he and his family have come to feel at home in Spain over the past few years. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Shannon Vandivier, director of "Call of a Life Time"
Shannon Vandivier is a filmmaker and photographer who directed the recently released Youtube series following the inaugural Life Time Grand Prix, Call of a Life Time. His production company, Cold Collaborative, has worked with brands like YETI, Smith Optics, and Orange Seal to create award-winning movies about the outdoor industry, including Payson’s 2019 White Rim FKT project, Standing Man. In this interview, he tells Payson about growing up chasing tornadoes with his photojournalist dad and learning to shoot on a film camera at the age of six. He talks about the importance of constructing a story, no matter what the subject matter of a project is, and why he was so eager to create a series that makes gravel as compelling and character-driven as Drive to Survive has done for Formula One. They talk about the unique challenge of filming off-road cycling, including terrain, speed, safety, and interviewing athletes during some of the most hectic moments of their careers. They also talk about the feedback they’ve received from viewers, and how he plans to adapt the series in the upcoming season.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Seth Alvo of Berm Peak
With 2.5 million subscribers, Seth Alvo (founder of Berm Peak and Seth’s Bike Hacks) runs one of the most popular mountain biking channels on Youtube. Sharing hacks, reviews, and off-road adventures, he's built a passionate audience from a demographic that is largely ignored by the industry. The web developer-turned-content creator attributes his success to being the antithesis of a professional athlete. A self-professed nerd, he started out sharing tips and tricks for people who were new to mountain biking and needed guidance about how and where to begin. Answering fundamental questions about sealant, trail classifications, and tool basics filled a void that the industry neglected, and Seth has since amassed a passionate fan base of mountain bikers from across the spectrum of expertise.In this interview, he tells Payson about his quest to become the “Bill Nye the Science Guy of mountain biking,” from making videos in his free time to quitting his day job and taking his channel full-time. He talks about why ego has never been an issue, answering questions about mountain biking that everyone's afraid to ask, and how he’s managed to monetize his Youtube channel without compromising his creative integrity. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Griffin and Cullen Easter on returning to racing with OpiCure
Griffin and Cullen Easter have been racing with and against each other since college. The brothers graduated from separate universities but went on to ride for UCI Continental team Airgas-Safeway together. Their paths diverged when Griffin went to race overseas and Cullen pursued a nursing degree, but their careers have merged again in unexpected ways in recent years. While Griffin was winning a stage at the Vuelta a Colombia and pulling off impressive results in Europe, Cullen was working in Utah at a detox unit at a psychiatric hospital where many of his patients were recovering from opioid addiction. This experience, combined with a related family tragedy, led the brothers to found OpiCure, a non-profit organization focused on relieving opioid addiction. Part of their foundation is a cycling team that helps people recovering from addiction find fulfillment on the bike. In this interview, Griffin and Cullen tell Payson about the inspiration behind OpiCure, when they knew that their Rider in Recovery Program was working, and how they plan to expand the foundation in the coming year. Griffin also talks about how Cullen convinced him to start riding again after he contemplated retirement, and his decision to join the Grand Prix this year. Cullen talks about the time he went from Cat 3 road racer to former WorldTour pro Chris Horner’s hand-picked domestique at the Tour of Utah within the span of a few months. Donate to OpiCure: https://opicure.org/donateInstagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc