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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Chris Burkard on his record setting bike lap of Iceland
In the summer of 2019, acclaimed photographer Chris Burkard set a new record in the WOW Cyclothon in Iceland, completing the 844 mile ride that traverses the perimeter of the country in 52 hours, 36 minutes and 19 seconds. In his second appearance on the show (he appeared previously in Episode 2), Chris does a deep dive on his record-breaking effort, which included 45mph crosswinds, zero sleep, unicorn hallucinations, and nine hours of torrential rain. He talks about why he puts himself through such grueling hours on the bike even when he isn’t training for an event, why getting out of your comfort zone even when you have a career as multifaceted and exciting as his is so important, burning 35,000 calories over the course of his ride, and why he made the deliberate choice to not document his experience. He also talks about how cycling facilitates a unique and exhilarating closeness with landscape, and how that relationship is the motivating factor behind his seemingly limitless drive for the sport. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Justin Williams, road cyclist (with Colin Strickland and Kate Courtney)
Justin Williams is a professional cyclist who has raced both domestically and internationally. He’s won multiple national titles, including both the road and criterium races at the Elite National Championships in 2018. As one of the small number of professional cyclists of color, Justin has chosen to prioritize inclusivity and representation in a sport that still lacks diversity. In 2019, he and his brother and fellow racer Cory Williams founded their own team, Legion of Los Angeles, which seeks to elevate the careers of cyclists from diverse backgrounds. Payson caught up with Justin on a recent trip to Los Angeles, where they were joined by racers and former Adventure Stache guests Kate Courtney (Ep. 5) and Colin Strickland (Ep. 31). The conversation was free flowing and off script, with Kate and Colin jumping in to ask Justin questions, and Justin turning the tables with some questions of his own. They talk about how all four of them have found their own unique space within the vast world of cycling, why representation matters, what Justin and his team are doing to increase female participation and equal pay, and when to say “hell no” to sponsorship deals. Justin also shares his first run-in with Colin’s particular set of racing skills, and Colin explains why his winning strategy has more to do with perspective and analysis than it does with fitness. Kate shares her thoughts on the dangers of equating amateur athletes with pros, and Payson, Justin, and Colin settle the great Aero Bars debate once and for all. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Johnny Collinson, skier
John Collinson is a big mountain freeskier whose accomplishments in the sport have earned him multiple podiums on the Freeskiing World Tour and awards for his frequent appearances in Red Bull and Teton Gravity Research films. Equally skilled in the tricks and style of free skiing and in the speed and scale of big mountain skiing, Johnny is known for his versatility and range. In this conversation, he and Payson talk about how a recent knee injury has helped him discover an affinity for a whole new kind of athletic achievement, how diet influences his training, and why he chooses diversity in rehab workouts over specifics. While Johnny is primarily known for his abilities going down mountains, his accomplishments going up them gained him widespread public attention in his early years. He tells Payson about his mountaineering career, which dates back over decades when he climbed including what it was like to climb Mount Rainier at age four, how he became the youngest person ever to climb the Seven Summits at the age of 17, and why he’s glad he never got sponsored for it. They also talk about his childhood traveling around the mountains in the west with his parents and older sister Angel in a ’79 Ford Econoline van, and how an unfortunate incident with a piece of cheese led to some youthful innovations in the disposal of unwanted food on family hikes. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Reilly Brennan, transportation investor
Reilly Brennan is an early stage investor in the transportation industry and a lecturer at Stanford’s School of Engineering. As cofounder of Trucks, a venture capital group that funds the future of transportation, he has played a crucial role in the development of self driving car technology and other advances that will modernize the way we move from place to place. In this conversation, he explains to Payson how transportation touches every part of life, the thousands of decisions that go into evaluating young entrepreneurs, why he invests in the person over the idea, and how he uses the principles of cultural anthropology to assess the potential of the teams that pitch to him. As an avid sports fan, Reilly also has thoughts on the changing landscape of the industry, including the ways in which social media is making athletes more powerful than their sanctioning bodies, why young athletes shouldn’t wait to secure sponsors or results to start creating a personal brand, and what the NBA is doing right. Early in his career, Reilly was a member of the Le Mans-winning Corvette C5-R program, and watches car racing closely. He talks about why NASCAR isn’t what it used to be, why Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was the last of the great NASCAR drivers, and why the commoditization of the sport deliberately robs drivers of their personalities. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Angel Collinson, free skier
Angel Collinson is one of the most accomplished big mountain freestyle skiers in the world. Throughout her career, she's won two championship titles at the Freeskiing World Tour, and was the first woman to be awarded Best Line at the Powder Video Awards in 2016. Angel is perhaps best known for her many appearances in Teton Gravity Research’s (TGR) annual ski films, which have featured some of her most spectacular and daring runs. When Payson interviewed Angel last week at Red Bull headquarters, she was still recovering from a thousand foot tumble down an Alaskan mountain that led to a second knee surgery and extensive rehab. In this conversation, they discuss her injury, how she has maintained her legendary positivity throughout the lengthy recovery process, her close relationship with brother and fellow professional skier John Collinson, and how leaving a promising academic career in Environmental Law to pursue skiing gave her an even more powerful voice as a lobbyist for environmental change in Washington and beyond. They also go in depth on Angel’s complex feelings about the post-#MeToo era and how she thinks the pendulum might have swung too far. And just in case the conversation was in danger of getting a little too serious, Angel tells the story of when her dad lowered her headfirst into an outhouse toilet by the ankles. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Neal Rogers, cycling journalist
Neal Rogers has been a cycling journalist for nearly twenty years, writing for publications such as VeloNews (where he was Editor in Chief), Global Cycling Network, and Cycling Tips. Throughout his career he’s covered some of the biggest races and interviewed some of the most famous riders in the world. In this conversation, he discusses his unusual path into cycling journalism, the riders he most enjoyed interviewing, tough decisions about picking truth over friendship, the journalistic intricacies of when NOT to go live with information, and why he’s feeling ready to move beyond cycling. Notably, he also shares a story of confronting the yellow jersey wearer at the 2007 Tour de France with a doping allegation, and how that question proved the beginning of the end for the rider. Lastly, Payson and Neal discuss how the efforts of journalists to expose the truth have helped today’s pros enjoy a cleaner sport. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Todd Wells, mountain bike and cyclocross icon
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Q&A Show: Payson answers listener questions
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Sepp Kuss, LIVE from the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Registration Party
Sepp Kuss is a World Tour road cyclist currently riding for Team Jumbo-Visma. He's raced the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, and was just named to his teams's 2020 Tour de France lineup. His major wins include stage 17 of the 2019 Vuelta a España, and three stages and the overall in the 2018 Tour of Utah. Sepp and Payson recorded this interview in front of a live audience at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic registration event in Durango, Colorado, Sepp's home town. They talk about his transition from mountain biking to road cycling, the pressures of being singled out as one of the most promising up-and-comers of the World Tour circuit, staying grounded in a new world of fame and success, and why he's not interested in being a leader at Grand Tours at this point. In the second half of the interview, the floor is opened up to audience questions. Some Durango's cycling icons such as Todd Wells and Ned Overend were in attendance and had questions for Sepp.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Phil Gaimon, cyclist
Phil Gaimon is a former World Tour road cyclist who rode for Garmin-Sharp and Cannondale-Drapac among others. While racing, he blogged for VeloNews, Bicycling, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and wrote the popular book Pro Cycling on $10 a Day (2014). He retired at age 30, expecting to hang up his race bike and put on some cookie-weight. He continued writing (Draft Animals (2017)), but through a series of unexpected twists, launched his wildly successful YouTube show “Worst Retirement Ever,” which follows his pursuit of breaking hill climb records all over the world. In this conversation, Phil and Payson discuss his decision to quit pro cycling early, how he got his start on YouTube after a marketing job fell through, stealing STRAVA KOM’s from dopers, racing Fabian Cancellara for charity after an internet spat, and how he became the final authority on cookie ratings on Instagram. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Christian Williams, Payson's coach
Christian Williams and Payson have been working together for over a decade, ever since Payson was a junior racing in local and state races in Texas. Over 20 years of coaching, Christian has led over a hundred riders to national podiums, and been the director of the Garmin development team and the USA Pan American Games team. In addition to his coaching, he's raced for over 35 years as well. In this conversation, he and Payson discuss why their relationship has lasted for so many years when most coach/athlete relationships last only months, the training methods Christian uses for pros and non-professional cyclists, doping, and why former pros don’t always make the best coaches. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Tiffany Cromwell, road cylist
Tiffany Cromwell is an Australian road cyclist who rides for Canyon-SRAM. Her many accomplishments include stage wins at the Gira d’Italia and victory in the Belgium Spring Classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. She and Payson caught up this summer at Steamboat Gravel (SBT GRVL) to talk about her early introduction to the world of professional cycling, starting her own fashion line, how she’s hoping to turn her passion for travel into a post-cycling career, and what she wants to see change in women’s road cycling. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Carson Storch, freeride mountain biker
Carson Storch is a freeride and slopestyle mountain biker, best known for his participation in the Mountain Bike Freeride World Tour and Red Bull Rampage. He and Payson caught up in L.A. only a few days after this year's Rampage to talk about the event and its challenges. They discuss the behind-the-scenes build process that can make or break a good run, and the alliances and politics involved with it. They talk about techniques Carson uses to keep his cool during such a high stakes competition, and why he keeps his gym regimen to a minimum. They also do a deep dive into Carson's experiences filming the 2018 film North of Nightfall in which he and three other big mountain freeriders were taken on a month-long filming expedition to Axel Heiberg, an uninhabited island in the High Arctic that is home to one of the world's largest glaciers and is experiencing some of the most rapid repercussions of climate change. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Ted King and Payson McElveen interview each other
Ted King is a former professional road cyclist and current gravel racer. Ted's diverse interests off the bike are nearly too numerous to count, but include hosting his own podcast (King of the Ride), co-owning a maple syrup based nutrition company, Untapped, and founding the acclaimed gravel event Rooted Vermont. Before his gravel racing career, Ted was a professional World Tour road racer with Liquigas, during which time he raced the Tour de France and was a key domestique to Peter Sagan. Payson caught up with Ted at the media launch of Big Sugar, a new gravel race in Bentonville, Arkansas. Short on time, they decided to interview each other during the discussion and upload the conversation to each of their shows. They discuss their favorite podcasts, their love of the off the bike hustle, why Ted retired from world tour racing at the tender age of 32, and how he feels about the professionalization of gravel racing. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Ned Overend and John Tomac, mountain bike icons
Ned Overend and John Tomac dominated professional mountain biking during its hay day of the late 80’s and 90’s in a rivalry that is permanently etched in off-road racing history. Their battles defined the sport for nearly a decade, and were made even more memorable by the diverse and dynamic technological advancements of the time. One year ago, Payson got Ned and John together for a rare one-on-one conversation, which they recorded at Tomac's 800 acre ranch in Cortez, CO. They talk about what it was like to see the sport change due to drug use, and ultimately be forced in to retirement because of it. They reminisce about unique bike set-ups and the limitations of early race bikes, what their relationship was like when they were at the peak of their careers, and how mountain biking has changed in the decades since. They also discuss Tomac’s current work with his son, Eli, one of the best motocross racers in the world, and Ned’s continued age-defying career on the bike that is still giving some of the best racers a run for their money. Payson also reached out to some of the biggest names inspired by Ned and John, to see what they wanted to ask their heroes. As such, questions from Geoff Kabush, Todd Wells, Travis Brown, Alison Dunlap, and Carl Decker are featured throughout the conversation. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc