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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Safa Brian: Filmmaker and cyclist
Brian “Safa” Wagner has carved out a niche for himself within cycling as one of the fastest road descenders outside of the pro peloton. Through his Youtube channel, he shares films of his most nail-biting descents that see him maintaining average speeds of nearly 50mph over the course of 15-minutes. Safa started out as a bike messenger, navigating the crowded streets of cities such as London, Sydney, Glasgow, and Mexico City as fast as cycling allowed. Over time, he elevated this to an art form, and pioneered the bike messenging scene in Mexico City, where he lived for six years. He now lives in Los Angeles, producing films and pushing the limits of fast descents. In this interview, he talks about why he’s chosen to make Los Angeles his home, being passed over by potential sponsors who think his riding is too dangerous to promote, and why his new film, Pray for Speed, is a special one. He also talks about why he isn’t too fussy about bike setup, his thoughts on the UCI ban on the “super-tuck,” and why he thinks all cycling is equally dangerous.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Chris Cosentino on being a restaurateur in the pandemic
Chris Cosentino is a celebrity chef and avid cyclist, best known for his many television appearances on shows such as Top Chef Masters (which he won), and for owning restaurants across the US. Chris first made an appearance on the podcast in episode 16, and returns this week to talk about the state of the restaurant industry. Perhaps no area of the economy has been hit harder by the pandemic, and Chris has experienced this first hand. Last fall, he made the decision to close his San Francisco restaurant, Cockscomb, which had been a labor of love since it opened seven years ago. Chris tells Payson about how he finally came to the difficult decision to close the restaurant, the painful process of letting go of such a major part of his life, and how long he thinks it will take the industry to bounce back. He also talks about how he’s learning to embrace the time away from the kitchen, some his new chef-related ventures, and how cycling his helping him move through it all.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Jolanda Neff, XC World Champion
Jolanda Neff is one of the most decorated cross country mountain bike racers in the world. In addition to winning the XC World Championship 2017, she has won 12 XC World Cups, five Swiss XC national championships, and competed in both XC and road races at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She now has her sights set on the 2021 season and the Tokyo Olympics. In this interview, she talks about how she got stuck in the Canary Islands following a successful winter training camp with the Swiss national team, and her misgivings about the next few months of racing. She tells Payson about her love of travel, and how she’s kept perspective during the pandemic despite suffering a career-compromising crash in early 2020. She also talks about why she decided to join Trek Factory Racing after spending much of her career moving teams every couple of years, and the pros and cons of having a partner who is also a professional cyclist. They also discuss her love of shopping, motocross, and Joe Rogan.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Ted King on bikepacking and the uncertainties of the 2021 season
Ted King returns to the show to talk about the uncertainties of 2021, leaning into the Vermont winter weather, and why he isn’t stressing about perfect training conditions. He also tells Payson about his first bikepacking experience at the end of October when he won the 1,017 mile Arkansas High Country Race. They compare the battle scars they each sustained from their 2020 adventures, as well as their unshakable excitement to embark on even rougher bikepacking challenges in the future. They talk about how they’re strategizing for an unpredictable 2021 racing schedule, how Ted's life has changed since becoming a dad at the beginning of last year, and the time he caught a pass from Tom Brady. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Episode 100 Special: Justin Williams on signing with Red Bull (with Colin Strickland)
In this very special one hundredth episode, Payson, Justin, and Colin are reunited nearly a year after their first conversation on the show. They talk about their plan to revolutionize American cycling, and, of course, the moment that Payson, Colin, and Kate Courtney got to present Justin with his Red Bull helmet (a day that featured celebrity cameos from Reggie Miller and Chris Froome). This full interview can be viewed as a film on YouTube beginning tomorrow, and includes footage from Justin's helmet presentation and more. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Pat Lemieux, athlete agent
Pat Lemieux may be best known as the husband of Olympic gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen, but he has recently entered into a new role as an athlete agent following a request from pro cyclist Ellen Noble. He now works for athletes such as triathlete Lionel Sanders and cyclocross racer Stephen Hyde, and as the partnership manager for the entire Rally Cycling team. Even though he hadn’t planned on being an agent, he quickly discovered that his personality and experience both of his wife’s career and his own as a former professional cyclist make the new role an obvious fit. In this conversation, he talks with Payson about learning on the job, negotiation 101, and why he sees his role as serving first and selling second. They also discuss the trends in athlete/brand partnerships that have been accelerated by the pandemic, such as diversity of content creation and the ability to evoke emotion. They discuss which athletes can benefit from having an agent, when the numbers simply don’t add up, and why his wife will never been on his roster.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Maddie Munro, cyclocross racer
Maddie Munro is one of the brightest up and coming stars of the cyclocross scene. Following her bronze medal at the 2020 junior World Championships, she joined Trek Factory Racing and is currently competing in the Elite category at just 18 years old. In this interview, she tells Payson about why she decided to start college just as her racing career is taking off, what her first semester has been like during the pandemic, and how she’s adjusting to the excitement of professional racing. She also talks about what her cycling goals are, why she’s already planning for life after racing, and what it’s been like having her first pro season during the pandemic. She also tells the story of her first ever trip with the Trek team, when she found herself rooming with her hero, World Champion Jolanda Neff at a World Cup in the Czech Republic. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Anton Cooper, Cross country racer
Anton Cooper is a fixture of the World Cup cross country scene. He won the U23 World Championships in 2015 and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but perhaps his best known finish came in 2018, when he battled World Champion Nino Schurter for the top step of the podium in a sprint finish at Nove Mesto. In this interview, he talks about all the things that went right that day, and what he would have done differently to snag that final victory. He talks about why the pro field might be changing in the coming years, and what to expect from the other riders. He also discusses his love for bike packing adventures that take him far into the wildest parts of New Zealand and sometimes involve rock climbing and helicopter rescues. His adventures with his dad have led to some harrowing stories of survival in the wilderness and few near death experiences. In contrast, he talks about the way World Cup courses have changed over the past few years to accommodate spectators and media, and what he hopes to see in the future.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Ellen Noble, cyclocross racer
Ellen Noble returns to the show to talk about developments in life and training since the beginning of the pandemic. In addition to moving states, she has also started working with a new coach, the renowned Allen Lim, and begun the long, slow process of getting back into racing shape following health challenges that put her career on hold for several seasons. She talks about moving from the coach she had worked with since she was 14, to Lim, who put her fitness and determination to the test from the first day. She talks about the upside to having no races the past year, and how she’s feeling about making a comeback in 2021. They also talk about why she finally decided to get an agent, and the unconventional approach she took to finding one.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Aaron Lutze, athlete marketing manager at Red Bull
Aaron Lutze is an athlete marketing manager at Red Bull where he works with an illustrious roster of talent including Kate Courtney, Carson Storch, and Rebecca Rusch. In this conversation, he talks about his unique role in the careers of his athletes, and what he loves most about his job. He and Payson go back in time to learn how he got to this point in his career, from working at McDonald’s as a fourteen-year-old, to becoming a trials rider on the Warped Tour music festival circuit in the late 90s, to broadcasting the UCI World Tour for Freecaster from the back of sprinter van with a black and white tv and a limited amount of satellite time. He talks about why athletes are entertainers first and foremost, and why he's made an effort to become proficient in multiple sports in his own right. He also talks about the time he got lost in a game reserve in Botswana at night and thought he would never make it alive, and answers a few (mostly serious) questions submitted by Kate Courtney, Eric Porter, Jill Kintner, and Rebecca Rusch.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Stéphane Tempier, cross country mountain biker
Stéphane Tempier is a professional mountain biker who has been a fixture on the cross country World Cup circuit for over a decade. He placed second overall in the World Cup series, medaled in the World Championships, and represented France in the Olympics. He currently rides for Trek Factory Racing. In this interview, he and Payson talk about training during France's lengthy lockdown this year, how mountain biking has changed since he started racing, how his role as an athlete has changed with the rise of social media, and his plans for the 2021 racing season. They also talk about what it was like to join Trek Factory Racing earlier this after racing for Bianchi Countervail for many years, and the origins of his famously unique riding style.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Rebecca Rusch, "The Queen of Pain"
Over the course of a more than 30 year career, Rebecca Rusch has become one of the foremost athletes in ultra-endurance adventure sports. Whether rock climbing, white water rafting, gravel racing or bikepacking, Rebecca has demonstrated time and again that she is the undisputed “Queen of Pain.” Four time winner of the Leadville 100, 24 hour solo mountain biking world champion, Emmy Award winner, multi-time Eco Challenge competitor, author, public speaker, and philanthropist—the list of her accomplishments is extensive, and she is far from retirement. In this conversation, she and Payson talk about using success as springboard for pursuing projects outside of cycling, and why it’s important to her to keep pushing the boundaries of her sport alongside running her own charitable foundation Be Good. They talk about harnessing the surge in enthusiasm for the outdoors that the pandemic has created, and how she’s changing the business plan for her popular gravel event, Rebecca’s Private Idaho, to accommodate the changing landscape of mass participation events. They also talk about the whirlwind following her 2015 film, Blood Road, which documented her journey mountain biking the 1,200 miles of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in search of where her father had been shot down as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. The film won an Emmy and gained her an even wider audience, many of whom connected with the project through personal experience. Rebecca talks about the power of sharing her story, but also the moment she realized she needed to take a step back and refocus her attention on personal health and wellbeing. They also talk about what it feels like to have been inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame before retiring, her 2021 goals, and the four "navigational handrails" she lives by.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Hattie Harnden, U21 Enduro world champion
Hattie Harnden is a professional cyclist whose relatively short career has spanned multiple disciplines and garnered her both national and international titles. In addition to being U21 enduro world champ, she also became the UK elite cyclocross national champion at the age of 18 earlier this year, and holds multiple national titles for cross country. In this episode, Hattie tells Payson about juggling so many disciplines, and whether she's planning on adding a few more to her CV. She talks about signing with Trek Factory Racing earlier this year and finding her feet as a professional racer alongside teammates who are veterans of the sport. She talks about her long term racing goals, whether or not she plans on going to college, some of the skills she picked up in lockdown, and what it's been like getting back to racing without spectators. They also talk about her relationship with one of the sport's most legendary racers, Tracey Moseley, who lent her a bike when she was just getting into mountain biking and continues to be a mentor and close friend. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Evie Richards, cyclocross and cross country cyclist
Evie Richards is a cross country and cyclocross racer who rides for Trek Factory Racing. She won the U23 cyclocross World Championship in 2016 and 2018, and achieved second place in cross country at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. Earlier this fall, she gained her first elite mountain bike World Cup win in the short track race in Nové Město, Czechia. In this conversation, she and Payson talk about her rapid rise to elite international success, including the contentious sprint finish at Nové Město that left her with complicated emotions in spite of her victory. She talks about how her determination to stay fit and learn new skills during the UK’s first lockdown in the spring resulted in a severe knee injury that hindered her training, and why she chooses to keep her presence on social media as positive as possible. They also talk about how she’s carefully cultivated a healthy work/life balance in spite of her busy professional commitments, what’s it’s like living down the road from her entire extended family, her Olympic ambitions, and the inspiration she draws from athletes outside of cycling. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Kerry McCauley, ferry pilot
Kerry McCauley is a ferry pilot who delivers planes around the world, usually on routes that not many other pilots are willing to take. The planes are often too small to safely make the journeys, but need to be delivered to an owner across the world and can’t be transported any other way. In this job, Kerry has flown nearly fifty different kinds of planes to sixty countries. He also owns a skydiving school and flies corporate jets. In this episode, he tells Payson some of his most harrowing adventure stories, including the time his fuel tank malfunctioned 15,000 feet above the Atlantic with nowhere to land, and the time his power went out somewhere over the Sahara desert at night and he lost all ability to navigate. They discuss his experience starring in the Discovery Channel show, Dangerous Flights, which included one of his most dangerous adventures to date, and how the show was canceled after one of the crew members passed away while on the job. They also talk about some of the most dangerous airports in the world, how he wound up stealing $50,000 from a Spanish bank, and why he still can’t quit ferry flying even though he recognizes its risks more than he used to. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc