The Gravel Ride. A cycling podcast

This week we sit down with Kemi King, Director of Philanthropy for World Bicycle Relief. World Bicycle Relief is an international, non-profit organization based in Chicago, IL that specializes in large-scale, comprehensive bicycle distribution programs to aid poverty relief in developing countries around the world. Their programs focus primarily on education, economic development, and health care. World Bicycle Relief -- Donate to support my team The Ridership Forum Automated Transcription (Please excuse the typos) [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig Dalton. [00:00:05] This week on the podcast, I'm thrilled to have Kemi king from world bicycle relief. join the show. [00:00:12] If you're not already familiar with world bicycle relief, it's an amazing 15 year old non-profit that has delivered over 500,000 bikes to those in need around the world. [00:00:24]I'm very excited for you to get to know a little bit more about world bicycle relief from Kemi, and also hear about their ride on June 5th, the pedal to empower ride it's something, regardless of where you are in the world, you can get involved in. As well as three in-person events around the country that we'll get into. Stick around until the end of the podcast Cause we've got a special announcement about how local gravel riders in the bay area can get involved. [00:00:52]Ordinarily, this would be where I ask for your support of the podcast. But today I'd prefer that you go over to world bicycle relief.org and contribute to what they're doing. [00:01:03] As you'll learn from Kemi every $147, and that's a new bike for someone in need. So let's get together and support this great cause. With all that said let's dive right in to my discussion with Kemi. [00:01:18] [00:01:18] Kemi welcome to the show. [00:01:20] Kemi King: [00:01:20] Hey, thank you so much, Craig. Thanks for having me. And I'm excited to, to chat. [00:01:25] Craig Dalton: [00:01:25] I'm really excited to learn more about world bicycle relief and it was super [00:01:30] fortuitous that I ran into one of your contributors on the trail a couple of weeks ago, and learned about the upcoming events you have. [00:01:37] So super excited to dig into that, but before we get started, let's just find out a little bit about your background and how you got involved in cycling and. Ultimately joining the world bicycle relief team. [00:01:49] Kemi King: [00:01:49] Sure. It actually all started during a tough period of my life. I personally embraced cycling as a positive force and I wholeheartedly understand really how a bicycle can change everything. [00:02:00] And I think a lot of the listeners here can relate to that. For me, it really was profound. I went from a really unhappy overweight lounger to an, a joyful elite cyclist in three short years. I at that time founded a women's pro road team and found myself training and racing among some of the world's strongest people on earth. [00:02:22]I had been a supporter and kind of long time. Donor for world bicycle relief and was thrilled to take on the role of director of philanthropy for the Western us and Canada, just about two years ago. And now I get to support their mission daily and spend some of my time training and looking for that next extreme challenge, whether it's on a road or dirt. [00:02:47] Craig Dalton: [00:02:47] First off what an amazing journey into cycling. And I think as you noted, a lot of our listeners have mimic that same story back to me that the bicycle has been really transformational in some element of their [00:03:00] life. So it's really exciting to hear you say that and really excited to learn that you've changed that. [00:03:05] You've fueled that passion into a career first founding a cycling program, the racing program, and later finding world bicycle relief. Can you tell us about world bicycle relief and what the focus is? [00:03:19] Kemi King: [00:03:19] Sure. Yeah. World bicycle relief or WBR as we like to shorten it because it's a mouthful was founded in 2005 by FK day. [00:03:28] One of the founders of Ceram and Liam is buck day, a documentary photographer in response to the tsunami in the Indian ocean. And they want it to be able to provide some support to the people in Sri Lanka. So they quickly rounded up as many bicycles they could and traveled to Sri Lanka to distribute them and through the beautiful stories that Lee Leah captured. [00:03:52] And the time that they were able to spend just meeting with the people and capturing all that information, they brought back this this. Devastation to light to the rest of the world. And they quickly learned that their work would not end there so together with support from Ceram and other industry leaders FK and Leah designed a rugged, especially design and locally assembled Buffalo bicycle and launched. [00:04:19] World bicycle relief to mobilize and empower people with bicycles to help them conquer the challenge

This week thanks to vaccinations, I'm able to interview my father without whom I'd likely never have discovered a passion for the sport. At 84 years old and still riding every Sunday, I hope the conversation keeps you stoked to ride into the future and gives you a little glimpse into my introduction to the sport of cycling. Join The Ridership Support the Podcast

This week we wish Randall well on his cross country journey, highlight the Gravel Adventure Field Guide from Trinidad, CO and discuss casual cycling shorts. Support the Podcast Join The Ridership

This week we welcome the team from the Southeast Gravel Series to the show. Ben Renkema and Boyd Johnson discuss the journey to creating a 6-event race series in North and South Carolina. The team share their passion for the Southeast region and the desire to create a competitive, yet inclusive series to serve the area. Southeast Gravel Website Southeast Gravel Instagram Support the Podcast Join The Ridership Automated Transcription (please excuse the typos): Southeast Gravel Craig Dalton: [00:00:00]Hello and welcome to the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig Dalton. This week on the show, we've got Ben Renkema and Boyd Johnson. Founders of the southeast gravel series [00:00:15] As you know, I love talking to event organizers because I think they're the lifeblood of the community and the sport. It's great having people put effort in and in the southeast ben and boyd have been [00:00:26]Contributing to the community for a number of years, both as riders and racers and Boyd as the founder of Boyd cycling. [00:00:34]The team decided to create a six events series throughout 2021 with the falling Creek pinnacle Punisher, actually coming up this weekend, May 8th. So if you're in the region, make sure to grab a slot. [00:00:47]There are three additional races stretching out to October 2nd. So if you're in the region or fancy a trip to the region, there's still time to get some great racing in. [00:00:56]Before we get into the show, I've got to thank long time program sponsor athletic greens. The most comprehensive daily nutritional beverage i've ever tried. [00:01:04]As gravel cyclists were often required to go super deep in our rides to reach those milestones we're shooting for. And if you're like me, you struggle a little bit with your nutrition and that's where athletic greens comes in and helps. [00:01:18]Athletic greens contains 75 vitamins minerals and whole food sourced ingredients, including a multivitamin multi-mineral probiotic [00:01:26]Green superfood blend and more that all work together [00:01:30] to fill the nutritional gaps in your diet increase energy. Focus aid with digestion and support a healthy immune system. All without the needs to take multiple products or pills. That's the key for me. I love taking a drink every morning and just knowing that I've got my nutritional basis covered for my athletic greens use. I like to mix it with ice and on big ride days, I'll actually take it after the ride, as well as my daily drink in the morning. I've been an athletic greens user for many years prior to this podcast. So I was super excited to have them come on board as a sponsor. And even more excited that they've been a long-term sponsor. If you're interested in checking out athletic greens, simply visit athletic greens.com/the gravel ride. [00:02:15] [00:02:15]And if you do so today they're throwing in a year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs. So remember, visit athletic greens.com/the gravel ride. [00:02:26]With all that said let's dive right in to my conversation with Ben and Boyd about the Southeast gravel series. [00:02:32]Gentlemen. Welcome to the show. [00:02:34] [00:02:34] [00:02:34] [00:02:34] Ben Renkema: [00:02:34] Thanks for having us. [00:02:35] Craig Dalton: [00:02:35] Yeah. Happy to be here again. Yeah. Excited to have you back Boyd and happy to meet you Ben for the listener, we had boy Johnson on the show. [00:02:43] I think it was episode 30 back in 2019. Talking about Boyd's experience as a writer. As well as the founder and owner of Boyd cycling, a great wheel manufacturer out there in South Carolina. So I encourage you to go [00:03:00] back and listen to that Boyd. You're in rarefied air of being a two time guest on the show. [00:03:04] I think there's only two or three others in that group. [00:03:06]Boyd Johnson: [00:03:06] That's good to be in that company. Yeah. [00:03:09] Craig Dalton: [00:03:09] Cool, Ben, welcome to the show for the first time. We always start by getting a little bit of your background as a writer. If you could just start by, just give us a quick synopsis of how you came to the sport and how ultimately you ended up riding off road on gravel bikes. [00:03:24] Ben Renkema: [00:03:24] Definitely. So I like to tell people that I've been riding gravel since, Oh, the early two thousands. I grew up in Holland, Michigan, and before I even knew bike racing was a thing. He used to take my crappy road bike and just bombed down gravel roads. Cause that's what we had a lot of. About a year later, I found out bike racing was a thing. [00:03:40]So I went with my best friend did my first bike race. And that was it started as a mountain bike race, or mostly gotten into road racing. About 2007, started racing at a professional level on the road, did that all the way until halfway through 2019. And then, yeah, partway between that, Boyd and I were teammates for awhile And yeah, we both had this common we'd love to explore, ride off road on road bikes. [00:04:04

This week Randall and Craig take a look at the new Cervelo Aspero and discuss its fit in the spectrum of gravel bikes. We then dive head first into a discussion of the myriad of ways one achieves suspension on a gravel bike. Cervelo Aspero Support the Podcast The Ridership Automated Transcript, please excuse the errors In the Dirt 20 Craig Dalton: [00:00:00] [00:00:00]Hello and welcome to in the dirt from the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig Dalton. I'll be joined shortly by my cohost Randall Jacobs. [00:00:13]Each week we muse about gravel cycling and how it's fitting into our lives. [00:00:18] These episodes are supported by listeners. Like you simply visit buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride to support the podcast. Additionally we encourage you to visit the ridership a free global cycling community [00:00:33] It's something we created to serve the cycling community. And also serve as a back channel for any suggestions you had for the podcast [00:00:41]With all that said let's dive right into my conversation with Randall. . hey Randall, [00:00:46] how are you doing? [00:00:47] [00:00:47] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:00:47] I'm doing well, Craig, [00:00:48] Craig Dalton: [00:00:48] how are you? I'm doing okay. A little bit rainy day here in Marin. So I'm glad I got a nice ride in yesterday. [00:00:55] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:00:55] Very much needed given the water table throughout California and fire risks coming up next season. So not a bad thing. [00:01:03] Craig Dalton: [00:01:03] Yeah. Fortunately they were actually, so I looked at the weather forecast and I made sure I got our ride in on Friday, which was great to see you. And then I got a nice ride in on Saturday. [00:01:11] So I feel relatively fulfilled with my last few days of riding. [00:01:16] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:01:16] Excellent. Yeah, I've gotten been back on the bikes since being back in the Bay and I've gotten a few rides in with friends and it's been great. Two people who are vaccinated. The statistics increasingly show that the risk of transmission is exceedingly [00:01:30] low, at least with the variants that are out there now. [00:01:32] And so being able to go out for a ride with a friend and not have it be, something that has to be overly worried about is quite a relief. [00:01:39]Craig Dalton: [00:01:39] Absolutely. I think we talked about this maybe on the last, in the dirt. It is a little bit awkward right now. I We run into people on the trails and there's still, I'm pulling my mask up to be courteous, but it, I feel like there's going to need to be some statements by the government to say, Hey, it's okay to be outside. [00:01:54] If you're not, if you're vaccinated and eventually we can get back to normal trail use. [00:02:00] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:02:00] Yeah. There's a lot that shows that outdoor mask usage, when you have a lot of space can be somewhat performative. But I do think that, especially in dense urban areas, there's still some value to that. [00:02:11] And plus people are just getting over this traumatic experience of Being afraid of this pandemic. And so when I'm out and about, I have my mask with me and if I pass somebody even if I'm sufficiently distant, if they're wearing a mask, I honor their boundaries by putting my mask up and just, just so everyone is comfortable, but we're slowly getting to a greater degree of normalcy while at the same time needing to remain vigilant. [00:02:34] Yeah. [00:02:35] Craig Dalton: [00:02:35] Yeah. And we certainly have to acknowledge that other parts of the world aren't. Getting as close as we are to returning back to normalcy. So keep masking up, keep protecting yourself and keep protecting others for sure. Yeah. Yeah. But on, onto the gravel world, I saw pretty cool announcement from about their newest Sparrow. [00:02:53] Did you catch [00:02:54] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:02:54] that? I did. Yeah, it seems that they have shed some weights and gone internal with all the [00:03:00] cables and hoses and the I also, [00:03:02] Craig Dalton: [00:03:02] they did a good job of, aesthetically, it's a sexy, fast looking bike and I've always appreciated that they're very much in this race, bike category, which may not be for everybody. [00:03:13] But I think it is for some, and it's, it's an attractive package. [00:03:17] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:03:17] Yeah, and it's in the same mode of the, endurance, roadie type geometry. So this could be an excellent bike as the one bike for everything. Yeah. It's 72 head angle reasonably sporty handling and so on. [00:03:30]And they have this flip chip that is interesting in the fork too. So it's in the fork, the flip chip. [00:03:35] Craig Dalton: [00:03:35] Correct. And what's that [00:03:36] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:03:36] all about? So the way that, that they're marketing it in the way that they've implemented, it is it's really a way to maintain the same trail figure when you have tires of different radius. [00:03:49] And so if you have a six 50

This week we talk with adventurer, instructor and guide, Ben Shillington about an upcoming 12 day guided bikepacking trip offered by TDA Global Cycling in Quebec, Canada. TDA Global Cycling Guided Bikepacking trip TDA Instagram Ben Shillington Support the Podcast Discuss in The Ridership Episode Transcription (please excuse the typos): Ben Shillington - TDA Cycling Craig Dalton: [00:00:00] [00:00:00]Hello and welcome to the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig Dalton. On this week's episode we've got expedition guide adventure consultant and adventure instructor ben shillington coming on [00:00:17]To talk about a new guided bike packing trip from tda global cycling. [00:00:22]As we've talked about more and more bike packing and adventure riding on your gravel bike on the podcast. I thought this was a great extension. [00:00:30]And a really cool concept i hadn't seen elsewhere the idea of a guided bike packing expedition . [00:00:37] We'll get into all the details about the 12 day trip and what it entails. But before we jump in just a quick, thank you. To everybody who's been visiting. Buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride. Your financial support for the podcast means the world to me. [00:00:53]And it keeps me eager to find new guests to keep you on your gravel cycling journey, just as I continue to be on mine. [00:01:00] You may have gathered from some of my comments on the podcast over the last few years, that I'm a big fan of adventure. That includes adventures both on and off the bike. [00:01:11]Which is why I was super stoked to talk to Ben. Ben's been in big mountains all over the world, both as a Mountaineer. A guide and a cyclist. [00:01:21]With all that said i hope you enjoy my conversation with ben and let's dive right in [00:01:26]Ben, welcome to the show. [00:01:28] Ben Shillington: [00:01:28] Hey, Craig thanks. Thanks for having [00:01:30] me on, I appreciate appreciate your time and looking forward to chatting with [00:01:33] you. [00:01:34] Craig Dalton: [00:01:34] It's growing trend on the podcast throughout the pandemic to be talking more and more about adventures you can have on the bicycle and on a gravel bicycle. [00:01:43] So I was excited when the team at TDA cycling reached out to me and informed me about the new guided bike packing trip that they're offering this year. Yeah. We'll definitely get into the details about that, but I'd love for you to give the listener a little bit of your background. It's so diverse as an adventurer that I think it's relevant to the trip and just the experience that gravel cyclists will tend to have when they go out on their first bike packing expedition. [00:02:15] Ben Shillington: [00:02:15] Yeah, sure. Yeah I guess they're given a full CV. I've had the opportunity and pleasure, to work full time in the adventure guiding industry. So I started professionally, making money When I was 18. So I've been guiding and instructing in a variety of different fields from obviously cycle touring and bike packing mountaineering and tracking polar style trips, winter camping, so on and so forth. [00:02:38]So I've been able to have the opportunity to travel all over the world, leading expeditions or guiding on expeditions at least and instructing and educating folks in a variety of different skill sets. Yeah, over the last two decades. Yeah, I [00:02:52] Craig Dalton: [00:02:52] think that's so interesting bringing that broader adventure guide and instructor mentality to cycling. [00:02:59] I think [00:03:00] most of us, we'd get a bike as a child and we learned to ride it. And as we become passionate about cycling, we just ride further a field and get off road, et cetera. But it's not often we think about the need for guidance or instruction. Whereas in other sports, certainly mountaineering getting a mentor and getting guidance and instruction is so critical to your own personal safety and your ability to tackle more adventurous mountains and situations. [00:03:30] It's great to see that philosophy come into cycling via TDA cycling. [00:03:36] Ben Shillington: [00:03:36] Yeah. Yeah. We're pretty excited about that. as you've mentioned there at the top of this, that this is a new I guess a Avenue or a new venture for TDA global cycling. So TDA has been guiding cycling trips all over the world and pretty spicy ones. [00:03:50]And as far as adventure goes and getting into some, areas that you may not be it may not be first on your bucket list to think about doing something like that yourself. But the whole concept of that bike packing is to bring a little bit of an educational as well. [00:04:04]As the experiential kind of option to the table where folks can come out on this trip and although we're providing some security and we're, as far as some amenities and backups so on and so forth. We're also able to it gives them skills at the same time. [00:04:21]So that folks may feel a little bit more empowered or a little bit more confident on going out and doing their o

This week on In the Dirt, we tackle tire volume (courtesy of a Rene Herse discussion in The Ridership), Road Tripping, Group Riding, the AZT 750 and vaccinations. Support the Podcast Rene Herse Tire Volume Discussion Join The Ridership Episode Transcription (please excuse any errors) GRP In The Dirt Ep. 19 [00:00:00] Craig: [00:00:00] Randall welcome to the show [00:00:01] Randall: [00:00:01] Always a pleasure to be with you Craig. How are you my friend? [00:00:04] Craig: [00:00:04] I'm doing good. At this point I think you can almost say Craig welcome to the show [00:00:09] Randall: [00:00:09] Yeah you're still hosting vastly more often than I am so I need to up my game here. [00:00:16] Craig: [00:00:16] Speaking of upping your game you've transported yourself yet again since our last broadcast So you were in Utah [00:00:23] Where are you? [00:00:23]Randall: [00:00:23] So I am back in San Francisco staying in the marina for the month I was very fortunate to have some friends who were out of town and just said here are the keys to the apartment So I have been road tripping and house sitting and otherwise Taking advantage of a very flexible situation over these months which has been great [00:00:41] Craig: [00:00:41] Yeah it was cool on your way back from Utah did see you in Palm desert California was nice for an hour for a coffee and a little conversation [00:00:51] Randall: [00:00:51] Yeah [00:00:52] we had a coffee and a slush tone My Watching your son go down and slip and slide the bunch of other kids in Palm desert [00:00:58]Craig: [00:00:58] That may be interesting to some of our listeners I think where are you headed next even more interesting is that before or after you headed to the grand canyon [00:01:06] Randall: [00:01:06] That [00:01:06] was after So I had been in Southern Utah for a couple of weeks podding with a couple of friends and actually my youngest sister which was great So we hit up Bryce and Zion and a few different Parks in that area a lot of trail running a lot of hiking and a lot of just being outside Brought a fire pit along since sitting around sitting outside around a fire pit making things in the walk really lovely time and [00:01:30] a reminder of what life was like before pandemic two of my friends had been vaccinated and the rest of us got tested And so we did it in his safe away as we could and then being [00:01:40] Craig: [00:01:40] It's so nice to have some of that Normalicy creeping back into our lives I feel the same thing There's just been some casualness to my interactions with people that wasn't present A month ago prior to me getting the first shot of the vaccination Anyway [00:01:55] Randall: [00:01:55] Yeah And I just got my first shot today which I'm very pleased about and it's no panacea the effectiveness with new variants is still being tested and is shown to be a little bit less or potentially quite a bit less effective with new variants and then there's still research to be done on how long it lasts But with boosters and with more people having some degree of immunity does seem like the worst is behind us which is such relief Plus the risk of serious illness is significantly lessened with these vaccines to so strongly encourage everybody to take advantage as it's opening up to the full population [00:02:30]Craig: [00:02:30] And after this is published tomorrow I'm going away for my second shot So I'm excited about that. [00:02:35] Randall: [00:02:35] Very cool Very cool [00:02:37] Craig: [00:02:37] So you actually made it you actually made it into the grand canyon Did you not [00:02:41] Randall: [00:02:41] I did after I left my group of friends and my younger sister there drove down to the south rim and camped out and then woke up the next morning had a lovely breakfast and coffee on the rim and then ran down to the river A really nice way to spend a day got back up at about one o'clock or so one 30 [00:03:00] then, Had a beverage with a friend in Flagstaff and then continued on to Sedona [00:03:05] Craig: [00:03:05] Nice Is that a 3000 foot drop off the edge [00:03:09] Randall: [00:03:09] I think it's 48 [00:03:11] [00:03:11] Craig: [00:03:11] Been a hell of a day of getting back out [00:03:13] Randall: [00:03:13] Yeah I was more beat than I was expecting to be but granted it was a bit brazen of me to do aGrand Canyon run relatively off the couch. I haven't been training much at all I've been using this time to Recover overall And I was definitely hurting towards the end of it but it was something I'd been wanting to do for some time and was really a day well spent [00:03:33] Craig: [00:03:33] Yeah the one time I went down there I remember the way out It was like it was all good until it wasn't and that's like still got another 1500 feet to hike out of here [00:03:42] Randall: [00:03:42] Yeah Yeah It was it was stunning though I just went didn't out and back on the south Kaibab trail for those in the know or who are curious there's also you can do rim to rim

This week we sit down with Neil Shirley to discuss the new ENVE custom road bike. Yes, that is not a typo, we are talking about a road bike. :). ENVE Custom Road Website Join The Ridership Support the podcast Automated Transcription (please excuse the typos): Enve Custom Road Interview Craig Dalton: [00:00:00] [00:00:00]Hello and welcome to the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig Dalton. This week on the show, we have Neil Shirley from envy on to talk about the ENVE custom road. You heard me correct custom road. [00:00:17]Not to worry. We're not renaming the show, the road ride, but I thought this project was so interesting. And how they're manufacturing in the United States. That was worth highlighting. [00:00:27]In last week's in the dirt episode, we had so many questions about how envy was pulling off this custom road. . That I thought it was worth talking to the team at ENVE and who better? Than to talk to our old friend, Neil, Shirley. [00:00:39]The gravel ride podcast is supported by a limited number of sponsors as well as listeners. Like you. If you're interested in supporting the show please visit buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride [00:00:52]And now let's jump right into my conversation. Neil Welcome to the show [00:00:57]Neil Shirley: [00:00:57] Thanks for having me on Craig I'm excited to talk bikes [00:01:01] Craig Dalton: [00:01:01] You're back again You're in a rare breed of second time guests on the gravel ride podcast [00:01:07] Neil Shirley: [00:01:07] Really Wow It's been a how long has it been two and a half three years since I was on the show last time [00:01:12] Craig Dalton: [00:01:12] Yeah cause I think it was just before you moved out to Utah joined the team at ENVE [00:01:18] Neil Shirley: [00:01:18] Yeah I'm a Yeah happy to be back thanks for letting that making it happen [00:01:22]Craig Dalton: [00:01:22] When you work for a company like envy and you drop a project like envy custom road Despite being called the gravel ride [00:01:30] podcast I was instantly drawn To having this conversation with you [00:01:34]Neil Shirley: [00:01:34] It's an exciting exciting bike but the whole project itself is really cool because as I'm sure You're thinking like a couple little tweaks to some of the molds and all of a sudden it's a gravel bike too Right [00:01:48] Craig Dalton: [00:01:48] Yeah absolutely Why don't we start off Neil I'm going to refer everybody to our earlier conversation to learn a little bit about your background but for the listener Neil's a long time road mountain gravel athlete And it's really put in a lot of effort into the gravel community As has envy it's been a company that has been just thinking a lot about gravel and putting very thoughtful products in products that are used by a lot of custom builders Your handlebars are super well popular in the gravel cycling community But why don't you talk a little bit about envy as a company And where it got its start And then we'll get into this new project [00:02:27] Neil Shirley: [00:02:27] Yeah so envy we're located in Ogden Utah So just about 40 minutes North of salt Lake and we have a large military base just just South of a vog Din And so the area for a small area it has a lot of kind of has a long history of composites and some good engineers come from the area Envy was founded in Ogden 15 years ago And It's founded by a group of four people that really wanted they had the carbon expertise Had an idea around [00:03:00] manufacturing in the U S and We're all avid cyclists and decided there's a room there's room in the market in a need for some of the products that they really wanted to ride and experience themselves that just really didn't exist or at least not at the level because they wanted them out that's where envy started with mountain rims and then moved into road rims and just as the company progressed was able to dial in aerodynamics and the road side of the business really continued to take off three years ago We moved into a new facility still here in Ogden but really what makes envy special It isn't inherently that us manufacturing is superior to manufacturing anywhere else It's I think really what makes envy special is the fact that everything all of our rims are engineering this new bike that will jump into everything is done in house So we have [00:04:01]Design engineering Prototyping manufacturing shipping marketing everything under one roof and sit the collaboration between the different teams that actually get a product to market is all done Cohesively and efficiently there isn't shipping stuff back and forth Asia to iterate on and test it It's all done [00:04:25]In the same building here in Austin And so that's I think that's really what makes us [00:04:30] special as a brand [00:04:31] Craig Dalton: [00:04:31] is a really special thing to highlight I think oftentimes the layman doesn't realize how long it takes to develop an iterate on products Having had a little experience as a manufacturer mysel

This week Randall and Craig discuss the new ENVE Custom Road Project, SPD Power Meter Pedals from Garmin and what vaccinations are going to mean for our own group riding. Links: ENVE Custom Road Garmin Rally SPD Power Pedal DynaPlug Support the Podcast Join The Ridership Full Transcription: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to another episode of in the dirt from the gravel ride podcast i'm your host craig dalton i'll be joined shortly by my co-host randall jacobs. [00:00:10]Every two weeks Randall and I discuss how gravel cycling is fitting into our lives in that particular week. And also look at recent product drops and events being announced in the industry. It's been quite quiet over the last few months, but I feel like with vaccinations coming, we're starting to see new product launches and a lot more talk about events. In person later this year. [00:00:35] [00:00:35]If you're a first time listener. Welcome. In the alternating weeks, I have long form interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes. With a goal of shedding light on the ever nuance sport of gravel cycling. [00:00:50]We've got quite an extensive back catalog of episodes with about a hundred already recorded. So if there's an event or product or an athlete that you're curious [00:01:00]About just scroll back in your podcast feed. I think you'll find we've covered a lot of territory over the last two and a half years. The podcast is sponsored by a small number of supporters, but mainly by listeners, like you. Simply visit, buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride. [00:01:19]And choose how you'd like to support the show. Your support is greatly appreciated. With that said let's dive right in to this week show. [00:01:30] [00:01:30] Randall. Good to see ya. [00:01:33] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:01:33] Good to see you as well. Craig, how have you been? [00:01:35] Craig Dalton: [00:01:35] I've been well , for some reason it feels like I haven't talked to you in a long time this week. [00:01:40]Randall R. Jacobs: [00:01:40] I have been largely off grid. So, I on a road trip was in death Valley with my colleague, Sam, and then now I'm in Southern Utah and where I've been for the past couple of weeks. [00:01:50] So it's been a good amount of time since we, [00:01:53] Craig Dalton: [00:01:53] yeah, that makes sense. That's awesome. I forgot that you were intending on meeting up with Sam. Did you guys end up camping and doing some riding together? [00:02:00]Randall R. Jacobs: [00:02:00] So we left bikes at home and I've actually left my bike at home entirely for this roughly four week trip intentionally. [00:02:06] So a lot of trail running and hiking and long walks and so on. Just because of. Yeah, I figured it's one. I have a Prius camper and so I can fit the bike, but it's a lot more work to pull it out and then put in, pull it out, lock it up, outside the car to camp and then, throw it back in and so on. [00:02:21] But then also I just wanted some time away from the bike to, so I could fall back in love with it. And I've been really enjoying trail running and going up a little bit of light mountaineering and things like that on this trip. And so. So yeah, time away. So they do [00:02:34] Craig Dalton: [00:02:34] not take away your gravel cyclist membership card if you cycle for a month. [00:02:40]Randall R. Jacobs: [00:02:40] I think I think I got a lifetime membership for the amount that I've put into this particular space. Hopefully people will forgive me for being off the bike for a bit. Yeah. It [00:02:48] Craig Dalton: [00:02:48] often feels that way. I think, I growing up in the eighties as a cyclist, more primarily in the nineties, obviously. [00:02:56] There was this going sort of vision as a [00:03:00] cyclist that you just have to ride all the time in order to be a cyclist. So it's, I'm stuck in that mentality. I sort of start to get itchy. If I take a prolonged amount of time off the bike. [00:03:12] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:03:12] Yeah, I'll be honest. Like I, my relationship to the bike is very different than it used to be. [00:03:16] I used to have that kind of compulsive need to put the miles in, but I'm really enjoying both the change of scenery, change of lifestyle, still working on the road, of course, but just a completely different Headspace and out of my usual routines and the bike being one of those. When I get back to the Bay area, I'll definitely be doing plenty of riding. [00:03:34] And then again in Boston when I'm out that way, starting probably in may. [00:03:38]Craig Dalton: [00:03:38] Yeah. I mean, the thing is, and the truth is, and everybody listening knows it. Like the bike is always there for you. And that's the beautiful thing about it. Certainly when my son was born that first year, I was pretty light on the bike and that predated my interest in gravel cycling. [00:03:53] And when I came back and discovered gravel cycling, I just sort of grabbed hold of it and was all in again. [00:04:

This week we sit down with Gavin Coombs from Dead Man Gravel. We get into the details of this new July event in Colorado including conversation about the events' efforts towards diversity and the financial investment it takes to get an event off the ground. Dead Man Gravel website and Instagram The Ridership Forum Support the podcast Dead Man Gravel - Full episode transcript. [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: [00:00:00] \Hello and welcome to the gravel ride [00:00:03] podcast i'm your host craig dalton on this week's episode, [00:00:07]We have Gavin Coombs, one of the founders of the dead man gravel event in Nederland, Colorado. [00:00:15]The event is scheduled to take place on July 31st, 2021. Our conversation ranges from diversity and inclusion. To the economics of event production. And obviously the ins and outs of dead man gravel. Before we begin. I'd like to apologize for about a minute of poor quality audio. In the last episode, I only learned it after the fact. [00:00:39]From a listener. In the ridership. I appreciated that feedback, but thank you for bearing with me. I apologize for that. I'd also like to say a big thank you to those of you have supported the podcast via buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride. In particular, those of you who have chosen the membership option. [00:01:00] Having a consistent baseline level of support from you? The community means a ton to me, more and more. I'm having to move things around in my life. In order to hustle to get these episodes out the door. But knowing that you're counting on me, puts a little fire in my belly. When I first started the podcast, my intention was to cover an equal mix of athletes. [00:01:22] Product designers and event organizers. [00:01:26]As the COVID pandemic took hold in 2020. [00:01:30] It largely took events out of the equation for the podcast last year. So I'm happy to be slowly bringing them back into the fold. I'm cautiously optimistic that in the latter half of 2021. We will see events safely going off with riders and organizers, both sharing. [00:01:47] In the responsibility of safety. I have a ton of respect for advent organizers as you'll hear in my conversation with gavin even with a modest event size it often can carry significant expenses associated with it i hope you'll walk away from this episode with a little bit better understanding of what organizers go through in order to give us these experiences in the gravel community With all that said let's dive right in to my discussion with gavin about dead man's gravel. Gavin, welcome to the show. [00:02:21]Gavin Coombs: [00:02:21] Thanks Craig. Excited to be here. [00:02:22] Craig Dalton: [00:02:22] Yeah. I'm excited to talk to you about dead man. Gravel. It ticks a couple things that I really like about events. [00:02:30] It's got a funny name and it looks really hard and adventurous. [00:02:36] Gavin Coombs: [00:02:36] Yeah, definitely. We wanted to be a really fun event. And, I think the area that we live in up here in the mountains is a pretty special place. And yeah, it's going to be a great event. I think [00:02:47] Craig Dalton: [00:02:47] Before we get into the event, let's learn a little bit about you and your background as a cyclist. [00:02:52] And after that, I'd love to learn a little bit more about what inspired you to create an event. [00:03:00] [00:03:00] Gavin Coombs: [00:03:00] Yeah. In all, honestly, I am a new cyclist and I know lot of people pretty new to gravel riding. I was a professional trail runner for a number of years and would occasionally ride as like cross training. [00:03:13]I've been riding a bike, for a really long time. But just never in any kind of like structured or organized way. But it was always a runner and in my leader, Career was like a trail and ultra runner. And what really drew me to that is just the ability to be able to get out into the mountains and explore and just see just everything that. [00:03:31]That all has to offer. And then recently I ended my running career and then had a a skiing accident where I messed up my knee. Pretty good. And after a couple of surgeries, I've gotten more into cycling and just as a way to, to continue to do the things I loved about trail running I was able to do on a bike as well. [00:03:50] And was that's what really drew me to, to gravel cycling and in terms of starting an event I've been wanting to do something like that. I operate another business that runs dead, man gravel called peak-to-peak endurance. And we do like retreats and camps, and then wanting to get into the event world for a while now. [00:04:08] And saw this as an opportunity to create an event where there wasn't one here in Boulder County, Colorado, there are a few bike races not. A ton of gravel, specific ones, there's a couple races or one race in the winter. That's a little kind of gravel bike. And then but there's not a lot of races in this [00:04:30] area. [00:04:30] And so we saw an opportunity and kinda just threw ourselves into i

This week Randall and Craig discuss the essential gear for early morning and evening rides. Go to gear for every gravel cyclist. Support the podcast Join The Ridership

This week we talk with Taylor Bushong from DT SWISS about gravel wheels. We dig into the considerations surrounding rim width and wheel sizes to tease out the considerations when upgrading your wheels. We also get a glimpse into the company's interesting history. DT Swiss Website The Ridership Forum Support the Podcast Full Episode Transcription: DT Swiss Craig: [00:00:00] [00:00:00]Hello and welcome to the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig Dalton. [00:00:10]This week on the podcast i'm excited to welcome taylor bushong from dt swiss to the show. [00:00:15]We're going to explore a little bit of the interesting history behind DT Swiss as the company. But also critically explore some of the dimensions and rim technology and some of the features. You need to be considering when looking at wheel sets. [00:00:30]Before we jump in, I need to thank this week, sponsors our friends at athletic greens, the most comprehensive daily nutritional beverage I've ever tried. As you know, if you've been a listener, I've been a athletic greens customer for about three years. And I really consider it the fundamental building block. [00:00:48] Of my, sometimes less than perfect nutritional strategy. [00:00:52]With so many life stressors this last year and into 2021 with the COVID pandemic, it's difficult to maintain effective [00:01:00] nutritional habits and give our bodies the nutrients. It needs to thrive where their busy schedules, our workouts are tough rides. We simply cannot eat enough of the right foods and it can leave us deficient in key nutrients. [00:01:13]For me, that's where athletic greens slips in with 75 vitamins minerals and whole foods sourced ingredients. Including multivitamins, multi minerals, probiotic. Green superfood blend and more. They all work together to fill that nutritional gap in my diet, increase energy and focus aid with digestion and support a healthy immune system. [00:01:35] All without having to take multiple products or pills. So, if you're interested in more information, please visit athleticgreens.com/thegravelride gravel ride. They've been a long time supporter of the show and you having curiosity about what they provide is very important to me and the podcast. So thanks for visiting [00:02:00] www.athleticgreens.com/thegravelride to check them out. [00:02:02] [00:02:02]One further note from last week's episode where Randall had a great interview with Ted Wong. I'm definitely curious to get your feedback on that episode. It's a bit of a departure and something I felt strongly was well within Randall's wheelhouse. To conduct that type of interview and really extract those points about motivations around why we ride. [00:02:24] I was excited to hear it myself. It was great being on the other side of this feed and getting delivered at episode I enjoyed. So if you have any specific feedback about that episode, definitely hit me up or visit us in theRidership forum. www.theridership.com to let us know your thoughts. With that said let's dive right in to this week show. [00:02:46]Taylor welcome to the show. [00:02:48] Taylor: [00:02:48] Thanks. Glad to be here. [00:02:49]Craig: [00:02:49] Yeah. I'm excited to have you and just kind of dig into wheel technology and rim technology for the listener. I think so many people, obviously we get a wheel [00:03:00] set with the bike we buy from the bike shop and at the onset, we don't think too much about it, but as we get into the sport more and more and learn a bit more. [00:03:10] A replacement wheel set, a wheel set upgrade is always been one of those things that can really increase the performance of a bike. So it's going to be great to dig into some of those details with you. [00:03:22] Taylor: [00:03:22] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, as you know, as we all know, you're the motor on a bike, so the more efficient you can make that motor the the better time you're going to have, whether it's a update in the wheel or anything along the lines. [00:03:34] So [00:03:34] Craig: [00:03:34] right on, we'll tell her, let's start off by just learning a little bit more about you and get a brief background about you as a cyclist. And then let's talk about some of the storied history of DT Swiss as a brand. [00:03:46]Taylor: [00:03:46] Okay. Yeah. Not that I have an incredibly exciting cycling background. I studied exercise physiology in college that got me real excited on you know, more endurance during sports. [00:03:56] I grew up in Valdez, Alaska, where there's a [00:04:00] heavy adrenaline rush. You know, upbringing there, you have snowmobiles snowboards, all that sort of business. So I'm the kind of the combination of the two led me to more, more of the the Enduro free rides type mountain biking. But then as I went through the schooling there got realized that cardiovascular health is a very important for longevity. [00:04:20] So I started making roads into the more narrow, tired drop bar realm and been. Yeah, recreationally and recreationally competitively

On this week's podcast, we kick off a series of conversations about the meanings and motivations that underlie why we ride. Our first guest is two-time Olympian (wind surfing), former Pro cyclist, Pro team founder, Sport Psychologist, friend, and Ridership member Ted Huang. Together Ted and I explored collaborative vs. coercive team dynamics, the power of vulnerability in leadership, intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, perfectionism and the inner critic, flow states, mindfulness, inclusion and belonging, and other aspects of the riding experience that extend and indeed originate well beyond the bike. The goal of these episodes is to spark conversation that is of value to the community and its members, and we hope you'll join us over at the The Ridership forum (sign up at www.theridership.com) with your ideas, questions, and feedback. Ted Huang Website Ted Huang Instagram Support the Podcast Join The Ridership Ted Huang - Episode Transcription [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the gravel ride podcast. I'm Randall Jacobs, and this is the first in a series of episodes that Craig has graciously invited me to host in which i'll be bringing on guests to unpack the meaning and motivations that underlie why we ride. [00:00:12]Like Craig's episodes and our joint In The Dirt series, these episodes will simply appear in your feed as they're produced. [00:00:18] Randall R. Jacobs: [00:00:18] Before we get started. I'd just like to encourage anyone who enjoys the podcast to support Craig in his work by going to buymeacoffee.com/thegravelride and making a donation. [00:00:28]My first guest is Ted Huang. Ted is a two time Olympian in the sport of wind surfing, a former cat one road racer who competed in professional races here in the U S, a co- founder of two professional teams, one men's and one women's, and finally he is a sports psychologist who helps elite and amateur athletes alike achieve both their performance goals and a more balanced life through cycling. And with that, let's get started. [00:00:53] Ted Huang, welcome to the podcast. So glad to have you on. [00:00:57] Ted Huang: [00:00:57] Thank you. [00:00:58]Randall R. Jacobs: [00:00:58] So this is the first [00:01:00] in a series of conversations here on the pod, talking about this concept of ridership. This concept is pretty broad in the sense, you and I have discussed before around, fellowship and friendship and the bicycle is a vehicle for connection and what does this experience mean in a deeper sense? So I'm really excited to explore this with you. If you could give the audience a quick sense of your background, where you come from and what you do now? [00:01:23]Ted Huang: [00:01:23] I was born in the Bay area, Sunnyvale native, and I wasn't really into team sports so much when I was younger, I had a couple of bad experiences and ended up falling into the sport called windsurfing some of you may have heard of, it's basically a surfboard with the sales stuck on top that you hang on to and then go cruise to different places. So it's really the ultimate exploration machine on the water. [00:01:49] And I did that starting the age of 11. Very supportive parents started competing, ended up going to two Olympics in wind surfing and then [00:02:00] also loved the sport of cycling and actually went into road racing. I wanted to see how far I could take that sport just for fun cause I wanted to try something more aerobicly challenging and little did I know road cycling actually was much more of a team sport and help me develop my sense of belonging to something. So I was part of a team really took to the teammates, actually co-founded two professional cycling teams of men's and women's teams, and did that for a number of years. [00:02:33] And it just made me realize this whole power of many trumps the power of one in terms of satisfaction and reward. So that really helped me find my way to what I'm doing today, which is a mental performance coach. Went back, got my degree in sports psychology, and now trying to help people become the best versions of themselves, or be more comfortable in their own skins. [00:02:58]Randall R. Jacobs: [00:02:58] That resonates [00:03:00] granted I didn't go quite as far in my professional athletics career. I was a pack fodder pro cross country racer. [00:03:06]Ted Huang: [00:03:06] That's not what I hear, but yeah. [00:03:07]Randall R. Jacobs: [00:03:07] I was a decent local competitor at one point. [00:03:10]And at this point my relationship to the bike has shifted a lot and I really want to explore what is the deeper meaning of this experience? So you talked about connection, for example, and in fact, I recall very fondly being on a group ride and meeting you and we had a brief conversation and it was less the conversation itself than the feeling of here's somebody who's really kind who wants to include everyone in the ride experience . So when we started this off, it was very natural to reach out. [00:03:35] Ted Huang: [00:03:35] Li

This week we sit down with Matt Kadey to unpack (pun intended) the world of bike packing and route design. Matt has designed adventures in Columbia, Costa Rica and Canada. We learn about the design of routes, the idea of the Grand Depart and tools we can all use to design adventures. Join The Ridership Support the Podcast Matthew Kadey Website BT700 Columbia Bikepacking Route Costa Rica Bikepacking Route

This week Randall and Craig take a look back at how each of them found 'the bike' and think back to how ego played a role in improving as a cyclist. Fast forward to today, we reflect on how ego has largely disappeared and our enjoyment of the sport comes more naturally and independent of competition. Join The Ridership Support the Podcast

This week we sit down with Patrick Carey from Speed Science Coaching to look at the 5 skills every gravel cyclist needs to master. Whether you come from road or mtb, gravel demands an adaptation of your existing skillset. Patrick drills into 5 foundation level skills you need to know. Speed Science Coaching website and YouTube The Ridership Forum Support the Podcast Show notes: Floating Through Rough Terrain This is something that riders coming from the road are going to find different right away. From rough surfaces and washboard to big bumps and holes, on gravel we have to be more fluid and let the bike float around more. This bike-body separation can feel very foreign to someone who's used to a relatively static position. Being able to move around on the bike and to be engaged, but not tense, allows for increased speed and fun, while also being way less tiring. Learning to hop over holes, bumps and rocks is a huge help on gravel. Many things can be cleared with the "roadie hop" where we jump up and pull the bike up to us. When we need more height, learning a true bunny hop that uses a row/anti-row motion allows us to clear some very large obstacles. There is a video demonstrating this on the Speed Science Coaching YouTube channel. It's demonstrated on a mountain bike, but the movement is the same no matter what type of bike we're on. Turning This is the next thing people experience. Where did all the traction go? On gravel we have to make the most of what traction we have. This means leaning the bike over without leaning ourselves with it. Getting our weight on that outside pedal and off the saddle will help the bike hook up and will give us a good position for controlling any slides. Also, steering inputs at the bars will often result in the front wheel sliding out if we're going over 5-7 mph. That's why learning to lean the bike is vitally important. When we come into a loose corner too hot, it's important to commit to this lean and stay off the brakes. If we start to wrestle with the steering or we get onto the front brake, we are making that turn even more difficult. Braking Learning to use our brakes independently, especially the front brake is very important. When we need a lot of braking power that front brake is going to give us 70-80% of our total braking, especially if the surface is very loose. Along with this, learning to brake in places where the traction is good allows us to get a lot of braking done and then get back off the brakes where the traction is worse. Our tires have to deal with many forces and braking robs traction from turning. It also can tend to stand the bike upright and make turning difficult even when traction is good. Learning to really modulate those brakes will help us avoid skidding (unless we're trying to show off and then skid away!). Climbing 9:02 This is something that will be very new for riders coming from the road - going uphill and having the rear tire spin out. There are some tricks we can do here with pedaling smoothly, rather than just all on the down-stroke. We can also use our gearing to help add traction. Spinning can help when traction is decent, but leaves us more likely to spin out. A slightly taller gear will help with a move even, round application of power. It's also much better if we have to stand up to navigate a feature in the climb like a rock, hole or ledge. Changing our body position to hover above the saddle and also to get our chest lower to the bars will help keep our weight centered on the bike. This gives weight to our rear wheel, allows for a bit of float, and it prevents the front wheel from rising up on really steep climbs. Descending What goes up must come down. Descending on gravel can be super fun if we're able to relax and let the bike float around. Being able to get low and into the drops gives us more control, but it can be awkward with a high saddle position. This is where a dropper post can help a gravel bike come alive. It allows us to get much lower on the bike and to create a proper separation. Hinging over at the hips, rather than arching our backs pushes our weight back. This balances our weight over the pedals and gets us out of a squatting position, which can be exhausting for our quads. It also allows our arms to relax, because they're not carrying our body weight. This allows for engaged control of the bike without being tense. Tension is exhausting and it makes the bike handle very poorly. Bonus Tip: Looking Forward On the road we can often get away with looking wherever. As long as we're looking generally ahead of us, there usually aren't too many surprises. On gravel, the surface and features are far less predictable. Keeping our eyes up prevents surprises and allows us to choose lines through and around these features. Seeing what's coming and envisioning our line through it before we get there allows for a feeling of flow and relaxation. Not to mention it's safer, faster and more fun.

This week we sit down with Zachary Lambert, founder of Blackheart Bike Co. in Venice, CA. Zach walks us through the brand's namesake titanium frame and his new retail venture Luft launching in March 2021. Support the podcast blackheartbikeco.com @blackheartbikeco luftlosangeles.com @luftlosangeles growcyclingfoundation.org @growcyclingfoundation @ornamentalconifer rideforblacklives.org @rideforblacklives

This week we look at the options a full-frame bag creates for gravel cyclists as well as a look at the new Farr Twin-T. Finally, we dive into a discussion of flat-bar gravel bikes and drop-bar mountain bikes to explore the various edges of the sport. Farr Twin T Rockgiest bags Support the podcast Join The Ridership

Part 2 of my discussion with Gregor von Medeazza and his experiences at The Munga in South Africa. Gregor showcases his determination and equipment choices on his way to surviving this 1000km gravel event dubbed 'The World's Toughest Race'. Gregor reveals the backdrop of his motivation, raising awareness for The Bicycle Empowerment Network Namibia. The Munga Bicycle Empowerment Network Namibia Support the podcast Join The Ridership

This week we travel across the globe to Africa with Gregor von Medeazza. In Part 1, Gregor tells tales of Namibia's Desert Dash and South Africa's The Munga (self-described as 'The Toughest Race on Earth'. Gregor's story should inspire anyone looking for a gravel adventure. Support the Podcast Namibia's Desert Dash South Africa's The Munga Charity: Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia

This week we conclude the year with a discussion of the 2020 gravel bike boom and bust looking at some of the challenges faced by the industry (and endured by consumers). We also look at some of the trends in 2020 that will continue to affect what we will be riding in 2021 and beyond. Support the podcast Join The Ridership forum Randall's Path Less Pedaled discussion on fact and myths of bike manufacturing

Kimo Seymour (Life Time) and LeLan Dains (UNBOUND GRAVEL) take a look back at 2020 and forward to the 2021 gravel event season including UNBOUND GRAVEL. We take a close look at the COVID protocols the team has put in place to ensure a safe event. UNBOUND GRAVEL Instagram UNBOUND GRAVEL Covid Safety Support the Podcast Join The Ridership Episode Transcription: Craig: Gentlemen, welcome to the show. Kimo: Thanks for having us. LeLan: Yeah, thanks for having us, Craig. Craig: Yeah. So it'd be a good place start off since I've got two of you on the line today. Why don't we start off with Kimo, and then go on to LeLan? And just talk about your respective roles at Life Time. And maybe Kimo, prior to that, you could just tell the listener about Life Time in general. Kimo: Okay. So Life Time may be more nationally known as a leading health club company around the country. We operate 154 what I'll call destination health clubs around the country, and very nice, I'd consider pretty high end type health clubs, very family oriented company in 30 plus states. So Life Time's been around 20, I think we're coming up on 28, 29 years now. I'm fortunate enough to get to work on the events and partnership side of the business, so partnerships meaning most people think of it as sponsorships. We call them partnerships because it's an opportunity for us to share our partners with our audiences, and that happens to live both in events, which are outside of the walls of our clubs, as well as our members, which a couple million members, which attend our clubs. Craig: So how did Life Time start to see exterior events, events outside the club, as being an opportunity for a health club? Kimo: It's a great, great question. I think it was prior to my involvement. I've been with the company a little over nine years now. And my understanding was the idea was we kind of positioned ourselves as what we call a healthy way of life company. And I think the thought at the time, and continues to be our thought process that clubs and these destinations are an important component of a healthy way of life, but not necessarily the only component of a healthy way of life. To live healthy, you have to eat healthy. You have to have activity every single day. And clubs are an important component of that, but we also saw that to keep people in the ecosystem, it's important to engage them beyond the walls of the clubs, and events were an opportunity like that. Kimo: On top of it, events were a great brand. We found out that, gosh, you get a lot of really good exposure for your brand if you go create great experiences outside your clubs, a lot of media exposure. A lot of people start to learn about your ecosystem through these events, and so I think it was a combination of extending that lifestyle beyond the walls of the clubs, but also it was a marketing idea. It was a way to extend the brand, if you will. Craig: And were those first events things that Life Time conceived of themselves and created? Or did it start with sponsorships or partnerships? Kimo: To my understanding, I think there were a few sponsorships early on. But our CEO is, I'll say very protective of the brand. And the idea that we would put our brand on somebody else's experience and not control what that experience is like, he didn't like that idea. He liked the idea that we want to deliver a premium experience in everything that we do, therefore, we probably need to really do that effectively, we need to control that experience. So we get asked frequently if we would like to sponsor other events. We've chosen typically not to do that. We've found more success where we can kind of control and really engage with the consumer with our brand, that putting our name on somebody else's event hasn't been as effective for us. Craig: I remember the first time Life Time got on my radar was from the Leadville 100. And I think it was the year after I did it, the acquisition was announced, and it was really interesting because I know how much the founders of that event, how much passion and love they had for it, so it was very kind of curious when this outside entity came in and acquired that event. And then it was very heartening to see how much involvement the founding team has and still has in it, and how the character of the event didn't change. Kimo: Yeah. That's a great example of one where I think Life Time sponsored it for two or three years prior to the acquisition. I was actually, I came on shortly after that acquisition really, and that was my first job, was to make sure that we didn't "screw it up." And first and foremost to me, I thought it's really important to keep those founders because they're the ones that keep us engaged with the community. And they're the ones that know how to make sure that thing continues with the heart and soul that it had developed over the 25 years previous to our involvement, so yeah, I think that's an example of one where I like to think we've done an okay jo

Kimo Seymour (Life Time) and LeLan Dains (UNBOUND GRAVEL) take a look back at 2020 and forward to the 2021 gravel event season including UNBOUND GRAVEL. We take a close look at the COVID protocols the team has put in place to ensure a safe event. UNBOUND GRAVEL Instagram UNBOUND GRAVEL Covid Safety Support the Podcast Join The Ridership Episode Transcription: Craig: Gentlemen, welcome to the show. Kimo: Thanks for having us. LeLan: Yeah, thanks for having us, Craig. Craig: Yeah. So it'd be a good place start off since I've got two of you on the line today. Why don't we start off with Kimo, and then go on to LeLan? And just talk about your respective roles at Life Time. And maybe Kimo, prior to that, you could just tell the listener about Life Time in general. Kimo: Okay. So Life Time may be more nationally known as a leading health club company around the country. We operate 154 what I'll call destination health clubs around the country, and very nice, I'd consider pretty high end type health clubs, very family oriented company in 30 plus states. So Life Time's been around 20, I think we're coming up on 28, 29 years now. I'm fortunate enough to get to work on the events and partnership side of the business, so partnerships meaning most people think of it as sponsorships. We call them partnerships because it's an opportunity for us to share our partners with our audiences, and that happens to live both in events, which are outside of the walls of our clubs, as well as our members, which a couple million members, which attend our clubs. Craig: So how did Life Time start to see exterior events, events outside the club, as being an opportunity for a health club? Kimo: It's a great, great question. I think it was prior to my involvement. I've been with the company a little over nine years now. And my understanding was the idea was we kind of positioned ourselves as what we call a healthy way of life company. And I think the thought at the time, and continues to be our thought process that clubs and these destinations are an important component of a healthy way of life, but not necessarily the only component of a healthy way of life. To live healthy, you have to eat healthy. You have to have activity every single day. And clubs are an important component of that, but we also saw that to keep people in the ecosystem, it's important to engage them beyond the walls of the clubs, and events were an opportunity like that. Kimo: On top of it, events were a great brand. We found out that, gosh, you get a lot of really good exposure for your brand if you go create great experiences outside your clubs, a lot of media exposure. A lot of people start to learn about your ecosystem through these events, and so I think it was a combination of extending that lifestyle beyond the walls of the clubs, but also it was a marketing idea. It was a way to extend the brand, if you will. Craig: And were those first events things that Life Time conceived of themselves and created? Or did it start with sponsorships or partnerships? Kimo: To my understanding, I think there were a few sponsorships early on. But our CEO is, I'll say very protective of the brand. And the idea that we would put our brand on somebody else's experience and not control what that experience is like, he didn't like that idea. He liked the idea that we want to deliver a premium experience in everything that we do, therefore, we probably need to really do that effectively, we need to control that experience. So we get asked frequently if we would like to sponsor other events. We've chosen typically not to do that. We've found more success where we can kind of control and really engage with the consumer with our brand, that putting our name on somebody else's event hasn't been as effective for us. Craig: I remember the first time Life Time got on my radar was from the Leadville 100. And I think it was the year after I did it, the acquisition was announced, and it was really interesting because I know how much the founders of that event, how much passion and love they had for it, so it was very kind of curious when this outside entity came in and acquired that event. And then it was very heartening to see how much involvement the founding team has and still has in it, and how the character of the event didn't change. Kimo: Yeah. That's a great example of one where I think Life Time sponsored it for two or three years prior to the acquisition. I was actually, I came on shortly after that acquisition really, and that was my first job, was to make sure that we didn't "screw it up." And first and foremost to me, I thought it's really important to keep those founders because they're the ones that keep us engaged with the community. And they're the ones that know how to make sure that thing continues with the heart and soul that it had developed over the 25 years previous to our involvement, so yeah, I think that's an example of one where I like to think we've done an okay jo

Kimo Seymour (Life Time) and LeLan Dains (UNBOUND GRAVEL) take a look back at 2020 and forward to the 2021 gravel event season including UNBOUND GRAVEL. We take a close look at the COVID protocols the team has put in place to ensure a safe event. UNBOUND GRAVEL Instagram UNBOUND GRAVEL Covid Safety Support the Podcast Join The Ridership Episode Transcription: Craig: Gentlemen, welcome to the show. Kimo: Thanks for having us. LeLan: Yeah, thanks for having us, Craig. Craig: Yeah. So it'd be a good place start off since I've got two of you on the line today. Why don't we start off with Kimo, and then go on to LeLan? And just talk about your respective roles at Life Time. And maybe Kimo, prior to that, you could just tell the listener about Life Time in general. Kimo: Okay. So Life Time may be more nationally known as a leading health club company around the country. We operate 154 what I'll call destination health clubs around the country, and very nice, I'd consider pretty high end type health clubs, very family oriented company in 30 plus states. So Life Time's been around 20, I think we're coming up on 28, 29 years now. I'm fortunate enough to get to work on the events and partnership side of the business, so partnerships meaning most people think of it as sponsorships. We call them partnerships because it's an opportunity for us to share our partners with our audiences, and that happens to live both in events, which are outside of the walls of our clubs, as well as our members, which a couple million members, which attend our clubs. Craig: So how did Life Time start to see exterior events, events outside the club, as being an opportunity for a health club? Kimo: It's a great, great question. I think it was prior to my involvement. I've been with the company a little over nine years now. And my understanding was the idea was we kind of positioned ourselves as what we call a healthy way of life company. And I think the thought at the time, and continues to be our thought process that clubs and these destinations are an important component of a healthy way of life, but not necessarily the only component of a healthy way of life. To live healthy, you have to eat healthy. You have to have activity every single day. And clubs are an important component of that, but we also saw that to keep people in the ecosystem, it's important to engage them beyond the walls of the clubs, and events were an opportunity like that. Kimo: On top of it, events were a great brand. We found out that, gosh, you get a lot of really good exposure for your brand if you go create great experiences outside your clubs, a lot of media exposure. A lot of people start to learn about your ecosystem through these events, and so I think it was a combination of extending that lifestyle beyond the walls of the clubs, but also it was a marketing idea. It was a way to extend the brand, if you will. Craig: And were those first events things that Life Time conceived of themselves and created? Or did it start with sponsorships or partnerships? Kimo: To my understanding, I think there were a few sponsorships early on. But our CEO is, I'll say very protective of the brand. And the idea that we would put our brand on somebody else's experience and not control what that experience is like, he didn't like that idea. He liked the idea that we want to deliver a premium experience in everything that we do, therefore, we probably need to really do that effectively, we need to control that experience. So we get asked frequently if we would like to sponsor other events. We've chosen typically not to do that. We've found more success where we can kind of control and really engage with the consumer with our brand, that putting our name on somebody else's event hasn't been as effective for us. Craig: I remember the first time Life Time got on my radar was from the Leadville 100. And I think it was the year after I did it, the acquisition was announced, and it was really interesting because I know how much the founders of that event, how much passion and love they had for it, so it was very kind of curious when this outside entity came in and acquired that event. And then it was very heartening to see how much involvement the founding team has and still has in it, and how the character of the event didn't change. Kimo: Yeah. That's a great example of one where I think Life Time sponsored it for two or three years prior to the acquisition. I was actually, I came on shortly after that acquisition really, and that was my first job, was to make sure that we didn't "screw it up." And first and foremost to me, I thought it's really important to keep those founders because they're the ones that keep us engaged with the community. And they're the ones that know how to make sure that thing continues with the heart and soul that it had developed over the 25 years previous to our involvement, so yeah, I think that's an example of one where I like to think we've done an okay jo

This week Randall and Craig discuss 2020: the year that was and the year that wasn't. While the pandemic canceled most of the gravel cycling events on the calendar, it did open up opportunities for adventure and community. Support the Podcast Join The Ridership Forum

This week we learn the ins and outs of gravel bike tire sealant with John Vargus of Orange Seal. John gets into some tips and tricks every cyclist should know and discusses his support of the Orange Seal Off Road Racing Team featuring Payson McElveen and Hannah Finchamp. Orange Seal Website Orange Seal Instagram Support the Podcast Bike Index Donations Automated Transcription (please excuse the typos) Orange Seal - The ins and outs of tire sealant with John Vargus 00:00:01 - 00:05:06 And welcome to the gravel ride. Podcast i'm your host dolts. This week's podcast is brought to you by our friends. At the nonprofit bike index bike index is a free bicycle registry and stolen bike recovery platform having recovered over thirteen million dollars in stolen bicycles. Bike index is really making a dent in crime by connects is currently. It's end of year fundraising campaign. Donations can be made at bike. Index dot org slash. Donate this week on the podcast. We've got john vargas from orange seal. John gets into a little bit of the history of the company and the ins and outs of tire sealant. Why it's beneficial to gravel riders some installation tips and some great maintenance advice on how to keep your ceiling topped off as an interesting side. Note the idea for this podcast actually came from the ridership forum. There was a community member who made a post about tire sealant going into winter and asserted thinking about. Who do i know who could answer all these great questions. So the real pleasure. Getting to talk to john with all that said. Let's dive right into this week's interview john. Welcome to the show morning. Thank you pleasure to be here. I'm excited to dig into the topic of sealant because United states matching tee off. I'm surprised that you know number. My listeners are still running tubes. And i think the advantages of sealant are so vast that i really wanna convey a lot of good information to them before we dig into the details. Can you just tell us a little bit about where you're located and how the company came about. Yeah no i'd love to So we started or unseal in twenty eleven. The the process started about two years ahead of that we had Started with the right across the parking lot. And we picked up a shard of glass or something and it was not see link so my partner Were my best friend at the time and now a partner said you know what i'm gonna i'm gonna make something. So he worked on it for about two and a half years and We finally got the formula where it was performing at or better than the sealants that were on the market at the time. We didn't want to just develop another mouse trap. We wanted to take the best. And the worst of all the sealants in the market and designed something different We looked at natural look at synthetically tech. Would latex we looked at other materials and what we came back to is latex Natural latex is best plugging material and so then we just had to refine our formula. So that We could actually adhere to the robber versus just creating a plug. And that's what makes our formulas different is at once we create a plug. It's a permanent plug in the did. Here's from the inside out. So it's like inserting Plug or Bay construct from the outside. But we do it from the inside out and we'd coat the inside of the tire. What most people don't realize is Today's tires especially today or getting lighter faster center and so there are a lot more porous. Rubber is very poorest by by default and so are latex actually goes in and seals up all of that prosperity and creates A sealed cavity. So that you can hold your pressures longer and what another area that people don't realize that there's major leakage is in the tire bead mating surface and we go in and seal up those imperfections in the tire bead mating surface and so When you feel up entire beat mating surface still up the city and you still up. Anything that comes in from the external You've got a pretty bulletproof system and as we all know not. One formula is going to fit every single environment and every type of terrain and such and climate so we have three finalists. We came up with a regular formula endurance formula and our sub zero formula Regular is really was our original formula designed to seal faster bigger holes while the enduring it was formulated to last longer And not feel as fast but still seals permanently and then we created the sub zero for really when the fat bites took off and riding and Extreme cold climates down to minus twenty was necessary. 00:05:06 - 00:10:05 Because don't wanna be changing a flat at minus twenty and so we've had huge success with the equivalent of did arrive Rebecca rush has run are several times in the fat bike. I did rod race and very successful. Jay I can't think of this last did very well So we have three formulas each geared towards climate and ceiling capability and We also have Versus which work into if you're on tube still you've got to look at a taping mechanism a

This week we talk nutrition with professional athlete, coach, and nutritionist, Kristen Arnold. We break down how to approach a big event day starting a week out and Kristen shares a few clever tricks on how to limit nutrition mistakes on the bike. Kristen Arnold Website Kristen Arnold Instagram Support the Podcast Join The Ridership

Announcing The Ridership, a new, free community resource for the gravel and adventure cyclist. After several months of soft launch, we are now inviting all listeners to join our experiment in community building. The goal is to build a global, searchable resource that will help cyclists of all experience levels explore the sport, discover new routes and make connections. Send a direct message to the podcast for an invitation. Support the podcast

This week we sit down with Dave Pryor from the Pennsylvania gravel event, UnPAved to discuss how the 2020 events was executed in a COVID safe fashion. We get into the changes in format that may be here to stay and how other race organizers can learn from his experiences to execute future events.

This week the tables are turned and your host, Craig Dalton gets interviewed by Randall Jacobs. Craig covers his personal story leading up to the beginnings of the podcast and his journey into gravel cycling. Support the Podcast.

This week the tables are turned and your host, Craig Dalton gets interviewed by Randall Jacobs. Craig covers his personal story leading up to the beginnings of the podcast and his journey into gravel cycling. Support the Podcast.

This week we check in with George Huxford from Apidura makers of cycling bags for every gravel cycling adventure. We learn the various types of bags from tip to tail of the bicycle and get some practical advice on packing and load distribution. Episode Sponsor: PNW Components (15% off with code 'thegravelride') Apidura online Apidura Instagram Support the Podcast Automated Transcription (please excuse the typos) Apidura: George Huxford - Bags for every cycling adventure 00:00:05 - 00:05:12 Hello and welcome to The Gravel Ride podcast I'm your host Craig Dalton. This week's podcast is brought to you by our friends at P. N. W. Components. I've been riding the coast handlebar at four hundred and eighty millimeters and the coast dropper post for maybe almost three months now, and after tell you I'm really sold particularly with my recent move down to two Panga California. I've really started to own my appreciation for the suspended dropper post. So, let's make an important distinction. there. I'm a big fan of the dropper post the ability to drop your saddle down via technical sections the Costa Dropper Post is actually a suspended dropper post. So it's air actuated meaning. You can tune it to your body weight and preference, but the post will actually dipped down when I hit a rather aggressive hit with the back end of my bike. So I'm using the dropper component. When I know I'm going to get into some rough stuff and the suspended component when I don't. The net result of this is I'm always protected when I get into the rough stuff saddle up saddle down I've got a little secret weapon. This dropper post combined with the wide handlebars has left me as comfortable as I've ever been getting into the technical terrain. So if you're looking for something to up your technical elements, definitely give pm w components look at pm w components, dot com, and for the gravel ride podcast listeners, you can get fifteen percent off coupon for your first order using the code the gravel ride. So onto this week's guest, really excited to welcome George Houck's furred from the bag company Applera based in London England. Abdur has a full range of bags for gravel cycling bike packing excetera. You guys know I love bags. So as exciting to talk to George and take bags from every different angle on the bike and talk about mixing and matching different bags to meet your gravel cycling needs so I. Hope You enjoy this interview and with that said, let's dive right in George Welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you. It's great to be here Yeah. It's a real honor you listen to podcasts for. Rages now. Yes. Fantastic guests and yeah. So It's going to be amongst them I appreciate that. Well, let's start off by learning a little bit about you and your cycling background, and then about epidurals and how it came about and I'm excited really everybody on the WHO listened to the podcast knows I'm a big bag geek. So I'm excited to kind of just go from tip to tail and talk about the full range of bags that grovel cyclists can be using to satisfy. Their their gear capacity heeds. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. That sounds great. I'm Yeah. I'm a massive Geek on as well. So we're GONNA need someone to stop too much into the details to a perfect house zips work and all that kind of thing. But yeah, we'll try and keep interesting right on. So how did you? How did you get into cycling and how did you find your way to aperture and how did the company get started? Well, I've I like a lot of your guests start off in white shops. Growing up at always been into bike since anything really racing mountain bikes riding Banamex is all kinds of stuff. Are Not led me working in bike shops Off the. Ships bit moved up to the what can brand and. I ended up driving a big van for the demo bikes round the UK, for a number of years to events, setting people up full suspension bikes setting up in talks and trial sentences, which was which was great and that sort of led me down a kind of marketing within the cycle industry Yeah and then I I came across the aperture once they've been what's been going for little bit to kind of help them with the with the growth than. Themselves in the in the kind of wide cycling market. So. Yeah. At this point, I've been here. Account even think maybe it's three is Yes go relatively young company and. Yeah I'm not spend time with them now and when the company was first founded, they've was it founded around us certain specific product or opportunity. yet to ascend extent. So the company was actually founded in two thousand thirteen, but it was it was about a year and for products came out. So a found a tour had been been writing for a great number of years and had really gotten into the side riding coming mugged on a long distance cross country background, and then moving into longer longer events. I'm basically found that the kind of the on offer at that time to kind of backpacking gear wasn't the same kind of experience maybe wasn't the same k

This week we tackle some of the basics around nutrition for gravel cycling setting the stage for deeper research and understanding. Craig checks in from his new residence in Topanga while Randall plans a return to the West Coast from Massachusetts. The Gravel Ride Podcast Forum Support the podcast

This week we sit down with Ray George one of the founders of the Ohio Gravel Grinders group. Using grassroots community-building tools, OGG has assembled an ever-growing resource for regional gravel athletes. These regional efforts are an incredibly useful tool and can be replicated by anyone to benefit their local communities. Episode Sponsor: Athletic Greens Support the Podcast: Buy me a Coffee! Ohio Gravel Grinders Facebook - ColumbusRides Blog • Tuesday Night Ride Twitter - Columbus Rides • Tuesday Night Ride

This week we are tackling what to carry on your gravel bike rides. We discuss the must-haves and the why nots of carrying a little extra gear for those unexpected emergencies. We close with a discussion on living and riding in the moment.

Talking gravel tires this week with Jan Heine of Rene Herse Cycles. Drawing on decades of experience and very specific testing, Jan walk us through all the tire considerations from size to pressure to knob patterns. This episode is a must-listen for any gravel cyclist. Episode sponsor: PNW Components (use code 'thegravelride' for 15% off) Support the podcast Rene Herse Cycles Website Rene Herse Cycles Instagram Rene Herse Cycles - Jan Heine takes us on a gravel tire deep dive 00:00:00 - 00:05:00 Hello and welcome to another edition of the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig. Dalton. This week's episode is brought to you our friends at P. N. W. Components. I got to sit down with Erin Kershaw and one of the CO founders of peon w a couple episodes ago, and it was great to learn the back story of the company I've always been impressed as a customer from way back when as. To their customer service and I've been even more impressed by their products. I spoke a little bit more about the coast handlebar. I've been riding a few episodes ago but I wanted to add on the coast dropper post the suspended version. That's right. Not only am I in the dropper camp but I'm writing suspended post and I've been really excited about how it's been performing. I've had a bit of a bad. And while I keep the pressure quite high because I don't want a lot of movement in it when it does move I realized that I've probably taken a pretty substantial hit on the back of my bike, and this is really saving my body. I'm a big advocate of configuring your bike to support you for longer and longer journeys and I think taking the edge off really. Falls into that camp. So I've been super jazzed by the coast dropper suspended post. So head on over to pin W components, dot com, and check out the product line that they're offering and see if anything they're offering helps you get where you need to go with your current bike set-up gravel ride listeners can use the code the gravel ride for fifteen percent off their order. So guys you to click in and grab those handlebars because we're on for an awesome ride today. got. Yon. Haina from Rene air cycles coming to talk to us about tires. I don't think there's a single episode IV recorded that I've learned more than in this conversation with John It. All kicked off in episode for of in the dirt where we discussed an article yon had posted on the Rene our website blog entitled wise seven hundred c wheels don't roll faster Randall and I, both had our own takes on the article but suffice it to say it was extremely thought provoking I got a ton of emails and a ton. Of comments on facebook about our conclusions and it was a natural place for me to go to talk to Yon and say, Hey, why don't you come on the podcast and talk us through all the different things that went into that blog post and all the different things you've kind of accumulated in terms of tire knowledge over the last decade, we touch on rim sizes we talk about tire casings we talk about tire tread patterns, and we talk about tire inflation I'm going to warn you. I think this is one of those. Ads that you might need to listen to more than once in order to take it all in I know for me tires of been this journey of understanding and nailing down my tire pressure numbers has been something I've played around a ton with to try to get the personality of the bike that I'm looking for as Yon Concludes the conversation he highlights something I believe as well that the. Tire and wheel combination is very unique and important area of any gravel rig and it can dramatically change the performance personality and characteristics of your ride. So it's something don't be afraid to play around with try things that are radically different, try higher and lower tire pressures to figure out what the sweet spot is. Well, that's probably enough preamble. Let's dive right into this week's episode. Welcome to the show. Hi. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to talk to you too. DAD LOVES TO START OFF BY JUST getting a little bit about your background as a cyclist before we jump into learning a little bit more about your. Company. G. Yeah. Since liking on my life pretty much I grew up in Germany and there were eye I lived on the very popular route for for braces to train. So every weekend, there were these groups of five, six, seven people on the beautiful bikes you know flying by the House and it just seems so so we're learning. Mountain racing inside the racing, but they'll also. Always was thinking about what sort of behind the horizon always wanted to explore for the so Back in Germany I rode to visit friends all over Germany on weekends sort of taking off You know after after Joshua's in college and writing all day and You know exploring new places and that. So from that became yeah. The the long distance is just so appealing to see how far you could go and what you could see. 00:05:02 - 00:10:03 Amazing and that eventually transition to you becoming professi

This week we tackle gravel bike maintenance 101 with the goal of equipping you with tips for daily, weekly and monthly habits that will keep your gravel bike rolling well in the dirt. We also discuss what to look for in a riding buddy and the value of camaraderie in gravel cycling. Support the podcast.

This week we speak with PNW Components Co-Founder, Aaron Kerson. We dive into the growing influence of MTB technology and philosophy within the gravel market and the benefits. Wider handlebars and dropper posts are making their way onto more and more gravel bikes. What do you think? This episode is sponsored by Athletic Greens. Click through for a free gift. PNW Components Website PNW Components Instagram

This week we tackle the $1200 and $2200 price point gravel bikes via the Cannondale Topstone Sora and Landyachtz AB1. We dive into what can and should be upgraded versus what is better left alone. We then jump into the idea of gravel cycling scratching a particular itch and what to do when that is not possible. Support the podcast GRP Facebook Forum Cannondale Topstone Sora Landyachtz AB1

This week we speak to Jenny Tough; ultra-endurance bikepacking racer and adventurer. Jenny was the 1st woman to complete the 2020 Atlas Mountain Race and the inaugural Silk Road Mountain Race. We unpack some of her many adventures and strategies for thriving when the going gets tough. Episode sponsor: PNW Components. Use promo code: 'thegravelride' for 15% off. Jenny Tough Website Jenny Tough Instagram Jenny Tough: Bikepacking Racer and adventurer Automated Transcription, please excuse the errors. Hello everyone and welcome to the growl ride podcast I'm your host Craig. Dalton. This week's episode is brought to you by our friends at P. N. W. Components I mentioned the company a few episodes ago and the great customer service I received ordered a mountain bike. See Post many ago. So I was super excited to start talking to them about what they were doing in the gravel market specifically this week I wanted to highlight the coast handlebar I've been writing the four. Hundred Eighty millimeter version of the bar, which is about forty millimetres longer wider. Excuse me than the bar I had previously been riding. They also do make a five hundred twenty millimeter bar. It features a shallow drop and a twenty degree flair which all translates into a super stable bar. When you're getting aggressive on the bike I'm really valuing the width of the bar in terms of getting leverage from the outside to throw the bike around the shallow drops seemed to make it. Easy for me to move around between positions, I feel very comfortable when I combine a dropped saddle with shallow drop bar that I'm very much in the pocket of my handlebar and I very much in control of the machine. So I've been super keen on it. It's definitely a different look for the bike. If you're more used to a Rhody type position going to the wider bar feels a bit extreme to begin with, but it quickly fell into the recesses of my mind. As I took advantage of the attributes of the bar and as I said I feel really great in the technical terrain so much so that we really want to dig in and do a full episode on these wide bars because I think it's super interesting for certain writers to consider depending on the type of riding they're doing what they're looking for. So head on over to PM W components, Dot Com and use the code the gravel ride for fifteen percents off your order. This week's guest on the podcast is Jenny tough. I'm not sure where to begin talking to you about her resume. She's an amazing adventure athlete both a runner and a bike pack racer. We got to talk about the Silk Road Mountain Race and the Atlas Mountain, race, and these bike packing events are going to blow your mind and you absolutely have to go visit Jenny tough dot com and see some of the pitchers and interviews and videos of these events Kazaa absolutely breathtaking in terms of the terrain and incredibly inspiring about what the human body is possible of just talking to. Her about the lack of sleep and the challenges that one goes through in these expedition style races was really inspiring for me and I remember my last long ride thinking about how I was suffering and thinking. Well, that's nothing compared to what these athletes like go through. So I hope you enjoy the episode Jenny's one of the APP Adora ambassadors for the bad company out of the UK who made the introduction for me. So I appreciate that and I very much appreciated this conversation with Jenny and I hope that you take a look at all her adventures and enjoy the conversation. So with that, let's dive right in Jenny. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. Awesome. I Love I always like to start off by finding a little bit about your background and I think in this conversation, your background is both an athlete and someone who's riding gravel bikes. Athlete is a really strong word I don't know if I'd go. Hi. Yeah I mean, my background's always been adventure and travel was always one of my biggest passions and and on the. Side of that I was also really into endurance sport like why I mean like a normal person I guess I started doing marathons before realize marathons are just terrible thing to do to yourself and I started. Cycling actually because I was running marathons going to spin class. Now he's actually really So when I graduated university I. Spent what little money I had on a touring bike and I cycled all the way to the Yukon from my hometown. Calgary having never rode a bike anywhere before only best-in-class. And then I just realized that this combination of my two loves endurance sports and travel was really what made my heart sing and that was really where I found my bag, what I want to keep doing so you know that was Eleven years ago and I guess you say it keeps us going and getting a little bit out of hand. So, that after that first trip did that sort of spiral your imagination to like Oh, I'd love to go ride here an adventure there. Yeah I think it really opened my eyes because before that didn't I me

This week we look at Ridley's new gravel rig as a jumping-off point to discuss the new Classified 2-Speed internal rear up and all that goes into the 1x vs. 2x debate. We then take a look at the importance of cycling for mental health during these challenging times. Support the Podcast Ridley Kanzo Fast Classified 2-Speed Internal Hub

This week we speak with cyclist and yoga instructor, Gabriel Benjamin about integrating yoga to maximize gravel cycling performance and well being. We discuss the challenges of starting new practices and the opportunity to start slowly. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. Like the show? Buy me a coffee. Try Yoga for Cyclists here.

This week Randall and Craig take a look at the Enve Builder Round-Up and the new Enve Adventure fork featuring a geometry changing flip-chip. We later look at 1x drivetrains and how to think about the pros and cons. Support the podcast Enve Adventure Gravel Fork Enve Builder Round-Up Specialized 1x Tarmac

This week we speak with Dr. Allen Lim, founder of Skratch Labs about fueling up for big gravel rides. Allen's experience preparing athletes for big events such as The Tour De France has left him with a wealth of experience in how to prepare for massive days in the dirt. Episode Sponsor: PNW Components Support the podcast: Skratch Labs website. Automated Transcription: Please Excuse the typos. Dr. Allen Lim - Founder of Skratch Labs talks gravel nutrition Hello and welcome to another edition of the gravel ride podcast I'm your host. Craig. Dalton this week, I get to welcome on board another amazing sponsor of the podcast P. W. components. Peon. W was founded by husband and wife team Aaron and Emily up in the Pacific northwest after a long history working in the bike industry I I discovered pm w probably four years ago when I got a dropper post for one of my mountain. Are Really loved their focus on the customer. The product was well reviewed when I looked at it over the web and the delivery of the package was awesome. I just overall had a great experience. So was pretty stoked when I started to learn about their growing focus on the gravel sector. Because as you know, I've been fascinated by the growing influence of the mountain bike side of the sport to gravel whereas it's been dominated historically from a road orientation I think this outside influence from the mountain bike side is really starting to benefit consumers. So I've been using the PEON W dropper post on my gravel bike right now, I'm actually using one of their. Suspended dropper post which has been interesting and I want to give you some more feedback about that in a later episode but suffice it to say it's been really eye opening part of my writing. The second component I've been using has been there coast handlebar at forty eight millimeters. It's considerably wider than I had been using and what's been remarkable is the leverage. I can get from the outside of the bar that combined with short drop and a twenty degree flair has made me feel super dialed in the technical side of my riding. So anyway, go check out what they're doing at P. N. W. Components, Dot Com i. think as you dig in you'll. Start to see where their philosophy comes from and start to appreciate whether that'll fit into your writing. They've generously offered our listeners fifteen percent off their first order simply use the code, the gravel ride upon checkout, and that fifteen percent off will be applied to your order with thanks to pm W. Let's talk about this week's episode this week we've got Dr Alan Limb founder of scratch labs on the podcast a couple of things I. Love about Dr Lim is that he's a super straight shooter and he's the first person to tell you go cook something in your kitchen before buying something off the shelf I had the pleasure of talking to him while he. Was Actually running and coaching training camp from his car out in Colorado with some professional athletes. So as a few hiccups and fun things that happen during the conversation that I've left in for you to enjoy Allen's work with tour, de France, athletes, and ultra endurance athletes are really applicable to what we do in the gravel seen many of us are normal rides might be two to four hours, but a Lotta the events we sign up for be eight, ten, twelve hours. So how do you graduate you're feeding and nutrition and hydration strategy from the shorter rise to the longer rides with Dr Lim describes and recommends really resonated with me and I hope it does. Too, with all that said, let's dive right it. Dr Allan Lamb. Welcome to the show. Thank you very much for having me. Glad to be here I. Think it'd be interesting for my listeners to hear what you're doing at this exact moment. skills and drills I'm actually in the middle of a training camp following a group of writers who are doing some speedwork based on work on a little loop here in. Colorado we're doing a little bit of experimentation today with some hydration strategies, and after they finish this, we're gonNA give them you know argue super product that we've been playing with. We're GONNA try a little experiment do a time trial effort up big climb here, and then the workout today so. We're back in training camp mode, which is You know Kinda strange and a weird but glad to be added again, a a lot of caution being taken. It's super exciting to hear that it's super exciting to hear that kind of we're getting back in action because I know it's to look forward to the idea that racing and events are going to happen later in the year. So that's good to hear to take a step back for a second. Allen, could you tell us a little bit about scratch labs and how the company was formed and what the mission was? Yeah. So scratch lab started in two thousand twelve. It was myself a good friend Ian Macgregor who was a former pro cyclists and my old college buddy Aaron Foster and really scratch came from Kind of the work that I did on the pro cycling tour you know

This week we drill into the value of the DIY gravel movement in the time of Covid and how excited Craig is about his SF routes for SBT VRTL. Randall dives deep into a Rene Herse blog post about what tire size rolls faster. We conclude with a discussion about wide handlebars for gravel and the use of 3d printing technology. Support the Podcast Register for SBT VRTL Rene Herse blog post: Why 700c wheels DON'T roll faster

This week we speak with Caroline Dezendorf of the Easton Overland Gravel Team and the Marin County Bike Coalition. We learn of Caroline's start in the sport and her work supporting cycling in Marin County and beyond. Sponsored by Athletic Greens, the all-in-one daily drink to support better health and peak performance. Episode Links: Caroline Dezendorf Instagram Marin County Bike Coalition Website Automated Transcription, please forgive the typos. All right, Caroline, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, Craig. Yeah, we always like to start off by learning a little bit more of your background as a gravel cyclist. Can you talk about how you originally discovered riding off road and maybe a progression from other elements in the sport until gravel racing? Yeah. I didn't get into bikes till the end of college. My senior year of college, I needed a sport that, of like to fulfill the void of growing up, playing soccer and not really having anything. And I found triathlon and did triathlon for a year in college at UC Santa Barbara. And it was really fun at his background as a swimmer, but the only thing I really liked about it was the bike. So I started racing on the road instead, and then went immediately to grad school and walked into a shop in Eugene, Oregon. When I first got up to a university of Oregon for grad school and the guys in the shop were like, have you heard of cyclocross? And I was like, no, they're like, great. You should come out to a race tonight and borrow a bike and like try it out. And I was, so I got out there, crashed over every barrier I encountered but was immediately hooked. And so I started racing off-road and cyclocross, and then racing in the Bay for team Mike's bikes. I decided to start racing mountain bikes and really enjoyed it. And then it's just kind of like taken off from there. I think my first gravel race per se was the nog girl grind Duro. I think that was 2015. And I raised my rock lobster cyclocross bike and won it, won the pro women's category and it was kind of hooked on this like long distance gravel writing, something that I always do with my friends, but like, it was kind of fun to have this new format that, you know, normally my races are 45 minutes around a very small, you know, two mile a track for cyclocross. And so it's kinda cool now having this like adventure thing that is competitive, but more just hanging out with friends and going on a cool adventure. Yeah, it's interesting. I was talking to Amanda Naaman a few weeks back and she had mentioned she had the similar progression from triathlon to cyclocross. What do you think it is about the sport of cyclocross that kind of was attractive to you at the time? For me, it was in Oregon. The cross crusade series is so incredible. It's just like this huge series. Like you go to these events and there's a thousand, 2000 and the women's fields are 50 plus deep and just, you know, amazing talent like Beth and Orton. When I first started racing was like my idol. She was just like this, this amazing. I mean, I love Beth. She's still a really good friend, but she was just like this amazing person. And it was something that I hadn't experienced. And I think, you know, even though you're, you're doing these small circles and cross it's no two races are the same. I mean, you know, there's races. I go back to year after year after year and every year, the conditions are different. The weather's different, you know, the competition is different and it's exciting and it's challenging. And it's even though like, it's, you know, you can race with a team or race, you know, you're racing with a bunch of really strong competitors. You're really racing yourself. You're, you're challenging yourself and you know, the other people in the race really don't matter. There aren't very many, there are some cross races where you do find road tactics in play. You are in a small group and you are attacking each other, but I'll often, you know, in, in muddy races, it's just, you're fighting yourself and trying to figure out how to do it yourself. And so at the end of the day, you know, you all hug and smile and laugh and high five each other. And like most of my best friends now I've met through racing cyclocross. Awesome. And cyclocross, obviously being traditionally a winter sport, although it kicks off pretty early here in Northern California. What type of writing were you doing in the off season from cyclocross the last few years that kind of set the stage for you to kind of jump full force and the gravel racing? I mean, quite honestly it was, it was adventure riding. It was going out on long rides on my cross bikes. I really like riding my cross bikes on single track and on technical trail and kind of challenging my skills in that way. So it was going on these long adventure rides. I, I'm a total math geek. I love making routes. I love finding new routes and challenging myself with like these new places I haven't been. So a lot has bee

This week Randall and Craig discuss new bikes from Ride Farr and 3T. Two dramatically different bikes on differing ends of the gravel bike spectrum. We also talk 'mullet' tire set up and the possibility of a San Francisco to Los Angeles gravel route. Support the Podcast. Ride Farr GMX 3T Exploro Race Max SF to LA Gravel Route As always, we'd love your feedback and thoughts on future topics!

Ever wonder what happens if you dent, ding or crack your fancy carbon frame? I did, so I asked the experts at Ruckus Composites. Shawn and Dan walked us through what can be done to salvage a damaged frame or component. This week's sponsor is you. See how. Ruckus Composite Website. Ruckus Composite Instagram. Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos. All right, welcome. Everybody. We're live from the gravel ride podcast. And today we've got some guests from, from Ruckus talking about carbon warfare. It's actually quite timely for me as a couple of friends that asked me about some carbon repair work they wanted to have done, and I had no idea how to approach it. So gentlemen, welcome to the show. Thanks for, thanks for having us. Can you guys start by introducing yourself? Take away. All right. Yeah. As Dan said, I'm Shawn and the owner and founder, and I started ruckus over 12 and a half years ago. Yeah. My name is Dan and I am our repair strategist and customer success person Right on Shawn. What was the impetus behind starting Ruckus? Okay. Is kind of a long rambling story of, I was 24 at the time, fresh out of engineering school and really liked bikes. And didn't really fit the traditional mold of being an engineer. I'm not an office guy per se. Um, I can't spend all my day on a computer, so I would like working with my hands a lot, really wanted to create a business where I could work with my hands, but also kind of create the ideas that were locked up in my crazy head Right on. And were you, did you start it off as sort of a one man show? Oh yeah. Robot or two. I probably had a Roomba at the time that Rubin's ever around, but I always try to keep a balance of one human and one robot at every time. There you go. That's the engineering year. Right? Exactly. So I was excited to talk to you guys about carbon bike repair, cause it is a little bit of a mystery to me, how it all works. And you know, you think about cracking a carbon frame or at least I did prior to this conversation that, you know, the thing's hosed it's, you know, I'm never going to be able to ride it again. Can you talk about the types of repairs that are possible for carbon frames? Did Dan you're good at this one? Yeah. I mean, it's, for us, it's kind of the circumstance of we can repair almost anything, but it's only really, we take it to the point where we think it's safe to do so. A lot of times, you know, things that will decline, for example, our car and bike situations where a rider will get into an accident and, you know, bikes that have four or five visible damages. Um, technically we could repair something like that, but we don't really deem it safe to do so. Um, that's like the extent of things that we won't do. Um, but for the most part, you know, we do basic tube repairs. We do dropout replacements. Uh, we can do full bottom bracket, repairs and replacements as well. Um, you know, we, we will, a lot of things that we've been seeing recently, uh, our tire rubbed damages on gravel bikes, for example, people, the combination of too wide of tires in a given condition that isn't suitable, um, front derailer mounts have been coming off. Boy, am I missing anything? Sean? There's a lot. We do. We do a, we do a lot, a lot, a lot of different types of repairs on a very regular basis. Yeah, it's pretty, very, but you know, at the same point, it's just, we see the same bike over and over or same bikes over and over and over again. So it's some days it feels a little bit not honest. And you kind of forget that. We see some of the most interesting things on the bike side. Like we already got a brand new specialized 20, 20 Shivan and it's like, I haven't even seen this bike online. It's got this kind of cool, uh, course of the camera. Cool. Like vertical cross cross fork, and you look at it and you're like, okay, bikes are getting crazy again. It looks just like that. It looks just like the Lotus track bike fork. Oh yeah, Yeah. It's that dual, that dual bladed thing. So yeah, we do. Um, it's, it's again, it's like we can, we can repair almost anything, but we choose, you know, specifically based on whether it's safe or not to do Right. What did that poor individual with the brand new Shiv do to his bike to put it in your hands Shipping damage hasn't even been built for assembly yet. And it's just getting shipped across the country. And I don't know a lot of shipping companies that are generally fine, but you know, you throw enough probability into it and you know, there may be 10%, 5% of scenarios and you're going to be on the losing end every now and then. So shipping insurance is always good. So what does that process look like on your end? So let's just say I've cracked my chain stay and maybe, you know, I see some damage, but I don't see a hole. Do I send it up to you? And do I get some sort of analysis back for me to consider if the repair is something I want to move forward with? Yeah. Where we usually start with something like t