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.
Similar Podcasts
The Rich Roll Podcast
A master-class in personal and professional development, ultra-athlete, wellness evangelist and bestselling author Rich Roll delves deep with the world's brightest and most thought provoking thought leaders to educate, inspire and empower you to unleash your best, most authentic self. More at: https://richroll.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Making Sense with Sam Harris
Join neuroscientist, philosopher, and five-time New York Times best-selling author Sam Harris as he explores important and controversial questions about the mind, society, current events, moral philosophy, religion, and rationality—with an overarching focus on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live.
Sam is also the creator of the Waking Up app. Combining Sam’s decades of mindfulness practice, profound wisdom from varied philosophical and contemplative traditions, and a commitment to a secular, scientific worldview, Waking Up is a resource for anyone interested in living a more examined, fulfilling life—and a new operating system for the mind.
Waking Up offers free subscriptions to anyone who can’t afford one, and donates a minimum of 10% of profits to the most effective charities around the world. To learn more, please go to WakingUp.com.
Sam Harris received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.
Más que urgencias y emergencias
Podcast sobre salud, urgencias y emergencias y más: reflexiones, entrevistas, recomendaciones de blogs, APP, libros, podcast, webs, etc.Las notas del episodio aquí: https://www.urgenciasyemergen.com/podcastmasqueurgenciasyemergencias/
David Spindler on brain chemistry and mental health for athletic performance (with Riley Amos)
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 Formula 1 about accountability and trust, and how he helps athletes balance their professional goals with personal fulfillment off the bike. Later, Riley hops on the mic to recap his seventh-place finish at the Olympics, how his work with David helped him achieve the result, and how they’re looking ahead to World Championships and his first Elite season. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Savilia Blunk recaps the Olympics XCO race
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, talks about the athlete’s village (including those viral cardboard beds), and gets candid about how it felt watching US teammate Haley Batten win silver. Later, her partner, Cole Paton, jumps on the mic to talk about what it’s been like to watch Savilia chase the Olympic dream and how they've navigated their respective cycling careers (and relationship) from different countries. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Riley Amos on the Olympics and a dominant World Cup season
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 essential part of his preparation, and how he and fellow Durango local Chris Blevins avoided the awkwardness of Olympic qualifications to punch their tickets to the big event. Riley also tells Payson about how his strategic skills have improved over the past year, and why he thinks he’ll never match the hunger and tenacity he had when going head-to-head with the top domestic pros when he was a kid.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Sarah Sturm on Migration Gravel, plus Crusher cancellation analysis
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 Gravel, including the white-knuckle van ride to the start of each stage, beautiful cows, and the "princess palace" that the pro men stayed in. Sarah also talks about why she almost skipped the Grand Prix this year to focus on the Gravel Earth series (which she’s currently leading), how she’s managing to pursue both, and her latest efforts for Protect Our Winters. But first, Payson recaps the race that wasn’t -- Crusher in the Tushar -- which was canceled due to wildfires. He talks about where the cancellation leaves the Grand Prix standings, who benefits and who suffers, and how changing the points structure from best of 7 races to best of 6 will make the final event in Bentonville all the more exciting.Register for the Rad Dirt Fest here. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Dylan Stucki on aid station chaos, Single Speed Worlds, and the Durango Derby
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 bike shop grom to cycling Renaissance man, and racing alongside Sarah at Migration Gravel in Kenya last month. He also gives a glimpse into the stress of manning aid stations at Grand Prix events, talks about the merciless battle he waged to bring Single Speed World Championships to Durango in 2022 (shock collars and hot dogs were involved), and how he and other members of the Durango cycling community are trying to revitalize mountain bike racing with the Durango Derby, which takes place in September. You can register for the Durango Derby through July 15th at durangoderby.comAlex Roszko's metal album recommendation: Manifesto 1.0: Stages of Grief - OrphanInstagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Samara Sheppard on her Grand Prix debut, Olympic disappointments, and Cape Epic podium
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 one to watch when she placed second at Sea Otter in April. Despite her many successes, however, Samara’s career has been full of near-misses. From seeing her long-held Olympic dreams dashed when the cross country spot was given to a reserve track racer to losing out on a road contract at the last hurdle, she has had to constantly find creative ways to pivot. Samara sat down with Payson in Durango this week to talk about chasing World Cup success by herself in Europe as a teenager, getting a Master’s Degree in Public Health when racing stopped in 2020, becoming the first athlete from Oceania to podium at the Cape Epic, and how the online riding platforms Zwift and MyWhoosh have provided some of the biggest opportunities of her career. She also talks about why she had everything riding on a top result at Sea Otter and why she chose not to race Unbound. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Chef Biju Thomas on cycling, food, and emigrating to the U.S.
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 industry thinks about fueling, and starring in his own TV show for Outside. Payson caught up with Biju in Bentonville earlier this month to talk about moving to the U.S. as a kid, falling in love with cycling after the 1984 L.A. Olympics, and finding a kindred spirit in future business partner Allen Lim. You can follow Biju at @bijuthechef on Instagram or find out more about his latest projects at chefbiju.com.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Paige Onweller on her surprise Unbound success after ankle surgery
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 having spent barely any time on the bike since undergoing major ankle surgery, she placed third overall and first in the Grand Prix. Paige sat down with Payson in Bentonville shortly after the race to talk about how her nerdiness and curiosity have helped her go from amateur to top pro within a mere 18 months, the rare ankle injury she suffered during a crash in February that brought her season to a standstill, and how she played to her tactical strengths during Unbound to ensure she would stay at the front despite having almost no training under her belt. They also talk about how groundbreaking the race was for the women’s field and how the past four months have taken her to the darkest and brightest places of being a professional athlete. Paige's YouTube video: How to Survive Unbound GravelInstagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Lea Davison on putting the “tired” in retirement and being an advocate within the sport
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 than she did at any point during her racing career. Payson caught up with Lea at Unbound earlier this month to talk about how busy her work has been since stepping away from the World Cup circuit, why she was devastated to miss out on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics team, and how racing Unbound in 2022 forced her to confront the weight of her retirement. She also talks about a turning point a few years ago when she decided to go all-in on advocating for women in cycling, the difficulty of coming out as one of the few openly gay athletes in the sport in 2018, and her elaborate routine for preparing for the grueling 15 hour day of commentating for Unbound. Get 15% Dometic.com with code PAYSON15Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Payson's 10 craziest moments from Unbound
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 SocksYou can find out more about TIME pedals here Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Unbound recap with Pete Stetina and Lauren De Crescenzo
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 crowd-pleaser of a win, how Gravel World Champ Matej Mohorič ended up being less of a threat than expected, and why starting separately from the amateurs and elite women actually impacted the race in a big way. Lauren De Crescenzo joins Payson to talk about her ill-fated solo breakaway, why the new rules for the women’s race didn’t go far enough, and which Grand Prix riders over and under-performed. Watch the Unbound race highlights hereClick to WIN: TIME XPRO 12 SL Pedals + Sockeloen x Payson Aero SocksYou can find out more about TIME pedals here Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Jasper Ockeloen on Unbound, Sockeloen, and the Dutch Mafia
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 Rabobank development team and doing a degree in commercial economics. Today, Sockeloen’s aero-socks are favored by some of the world’s top pros.Jasper sat down with Payson in Bentonville last week to talk about their predictions for Unbound, how the race has changed since he and fellow Dutchie (and 2022 winner) Ivar Slik started attending, and why, despite some impressive road results, he never went to the World Tour. They also talk about how Jasper and his fellow members of the so-called “Dutch Mafia” are helping to make Euro tactics mainstream in American gravel, and how witnessing Ivar’s recent crash first-hand has made him re-evaluate the safety of the sport, especially in relation to his wife, Visma Lease-a-Bike rider Riejanne Markus.Click to WIN: TIME XPRO 12 SL Pedals + Sockeloen x Payson Aero SocksYou can find out more about TIME pedals here Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Kateřina Nash on 30 years of racing and her role within the UCI
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, for the past few years, has served as a Vice President of the UCI and President of the Athletes’ Commission.Payson caught up with Kateřina in Bentonville last week to talk about growing up behind the Iron Curtain, moving to the U.S. on a ski scholarship, and why she still can’t believe she got to sign with the LUNA Pro Team. She talks about how her training has changed as she’s gotten older, why she still loves professional racing, and how she’s managed to stay so fast for so long. She also talks about how her roles within the UCI came about, and the phone call she received last year that is an athlete’s worst nightmare. Use code PAYSON20 for 20% off at voler.com through May 30th.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Kenny Belaey on 9 trials World Championships and life after competitive cycling
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 schedule of racing. Since 2012, he’s been a regular act during NBA halftime shows. Now living in Bentonville, he runs the Bentonville Bike Fest, an ever-expanding three-day event featuring nearly every style of cycling. Payson caught up with Kenny in Bentonville this week to talk about his more than two decades as a Red Bull athlete, landing an Adidas commercial alongside David Beckham, and the grueling training regimen he maintained during his competitive career. He also talks about his many trips to the Middle East for Red Bull in the early 2000s and his unique artistic side hustle in which he uses his trial biking skills to paint large canvases. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc
Taylor Lideen on missing out on the Grand Prix and starting the season with a bang
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 results to multiple factors, including a brand new approach to training that has put him in the best shape of his career. Without the pressure of having to wrestle for points at all the Grand Prix races this year, he's pursuing an ambitious and varied schedule, including Unbound XL, Leadville, and Vapor Trail.Taylor sat down with Payson in Bentonville this week to talk about missing out on the Grand Prix, why his new training methods might be controversial for some, and why seat tube angle was one of the things he was most excited about when he joined Allied this year. They also talk about the exacting approach to nutrition that helped him win Unbound XL in 2021 and the time he came face-to-face with a mountain lion on a training ride.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc