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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Bond Almand on smashing the Pan-Am record self-supported
Bond Almand was just 20 years old when he rode the nearly 13,500 miles of the Pan-American Highway from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina in 75 days, beating the previous record by nearly 10 days. That feat is even more impressive considering that the last rider to hold the record was a professional racer who did it with a support crew, while Bond did it all self-supported between semesters at Dartmouth.Bond sat down with Payson to talk about confronting months of intense loneliness, riding without a shirt for a week, clenching his teeth so hard they cracked, and getting to hug his dad at the end of the journey. He also talks about the beauty of the Andes, riding at 62mph in the dark on a road full of potholes, and the assumption people make about the ride that he wants to dispel. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
BONUS: Payson and Hannah Otto talk preseason training and race FOMO
In an extended outtake from our previous episode, Payson and Hannah chat about how they're preparing for the upcoming season, whether they're changing anything, and how they're balancing the Grand Prix schedule with non-Grand Prix events they love.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
2025 Grand Prix preview: Women's roster with Hannah Otto
This week, Payson is joined by Hannah Otto to run down the women's roster for the 2025 Grand Prix. They talk about the five new riders, the riders who won't be returning, and how the slimmed-down field might affect the overall series. They also go deep into the weeds on whether the Grand Prix is now geared toward mountain bikers (spoiler alert: they're biased), talk about why they want more rules rather than less, and speculate about how all the drop races and surgeries in the women's field this past season might offer a glimpse of things to come. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
2025 Grand Prix preview: Men's roster
Big changes are coming to the Life Time Grand Prix in 2025. Among them are fewer events, fewer riders, less altitude, and an extra mountain bike race. There are new riders, riders who were absent for a season but are coming back, and riders who have featured heavily in the series who won’t be returning. Payson unpacks all the changes on the men's side, including the new riders, the most painful omission on the roster, and why some racers decided to sit this season out. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Haley Batten on Olympic silver and why she’s glad she went to college
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 which was very recent) that she thought about quitting. She also talks about coming back from a flat during the Olympics, and why she thinks that going to college has made her more secure than ever in her commitment to professional racing. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
New Zealand Crossing crew recap
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) to life. Filmmakers Thomas Woodson and Joey Schusler, editor Aidan Haley, local guide Callum Wood, and coordinator-in-chief Nichole Baker join him to talk about their highs and lows from the trip, mechanicals, wildlife sightings, hallucinations, over-fueling, and much more. Watch Crossing Iceland here.Watch Crossing Tasmania here.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Ryan Standish on his viral crash and Kokopelli and White Rim FKT attempt
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 one 310-mile FKT with 25,000 feet of climbing. He talks about why he decided not to put it off even though he was still recovering from his injury, and the video he produced about the experience.Click here to watch Ryan’s film ‘Why Wait? Attempting a Kokopelli and White Rim Trail FKT.’Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Kelsey Urban on a bittersweet win at XC Nationals and returning from injury
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 Bentonville after racing Little Sugar to talk about why Nationals was bittersweet, the emotional rollercoaster of watching the Olympics from afar, and her friendship with teammate Jenny Rissveds. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Big Sugar recap with Matt Beers and Alexis Skarda
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 Introduction00:04:07 Listener experiences 00:08:40 Grand Prix points overall and series changes for 202500:26:23 Matt Beers01:13:33 Alexis SkardaInstagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Heather Jackson on the Grand Prix, triathlon, and ultrarunning
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 Prix to talk about why she started racing off-road events, what gravel racers can learn from ultrarunners, and how on earth she trains for two completely different sports simultaneously. She also talks about her early career as a hockey player, studying political science at Princeton, and why she still gets imposter syndrome on the start line of races. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Justinas Leveika on his Tour Divide record and choosing chaos over preparation
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 Justinas, who says he prefers to race with heart rather than numbers and forge his way through chaos rather than planning. He sat down with Payson to talk about heightening the adventure of every race through minimal preparation, stopping to take in the view every so often, and whether he considers “the real world” to be the time he spends off the bike or on. He also talks about his favorite gas station food, getting disqualified from the Colorado Trail Race this year on a technicality, and why he’s going for the Triple Crown anyway. You can follow his dot on the third and final installment, the Arizona Trail Race, starting this Thursday. Register to attend Payson’s free Red Bull event in Bentonville, Chasin’ Payson, here.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Rad Dirt recap with Finn Gullickson and Cecily Decker
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 career in Europe to pursue off-road racing in the U.S. He talks about why he left road racing, the frustrating middle part of his 2024 season, and how he managed to place sixth overall and fifth in the Grand Prix points in Trinidad. Cecily is also a recent convert to gravel. Having been medically retired from ski racing while still in college, she quickly learned she had a talent for cycling. She tells Payson about when she knew she was fast on a bike, how a crash at Chequamegon dashed her hopes of a mid-season reset, and how she placed 3rd at the Rad. Before all that, however, Payson provides some life (and podcast) updates and shares some thoughts on this weekend’s Gravel World Championships in Belgium.00:00:00 Introduction00:03:35 Life/podcast update00:08:30 Gravel World Championships 00:17:39 Listener recaps from the Rad00:23:01 Points analysis00:40:34 Finn Gullickson1:03:50 Cecily DeckerInstagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Rosa Klöser, winner of Unbound
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, how she balanced her PhD studies with late night training rides, and why her area of research has implications for all of us. She also takes us inside her rocky Unbound experience and explains why she was, uncharacteristically according to her, cool as a cucumber by the time that nine-person sprint rolled around. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Chequamegon recap with John Borstelmann, Anna Hicks, and a points breakdown
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: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Brennan Wertz on winning Gravel National Championships
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 transformed his skills this season, and what he has planned in Europe over the next couple of months. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc