Starla Teddergreen had an extensive professional cycling career behind her and a spot in the Life Time Grand Prix when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2022. Despite dropping out of the series due to the diagnosis, she reapplied in 2023 and completed the series.  Starla sat down with Payson this week to discuss the confusing mix of symptoms she began feeling during the pandemic and the skepticism and dismissal she received from doctors before finally receiving an MS diagnosis....

This week, photographer and adventurer Chris Burkard returns to the show to talk about moving to Iceland and his experience racing the Tour Divide this summer. Having spent the last decade exploring and documenting Iceland, Chris finally made the big move with his family. He tells Payson about why he decided the time was right, what it’s been like as a parent to watch his sons assimilate so quickly into the community, and how the current seismic activity has made him ponder the morality of...

For the past couple of weeks, Iceland has been shaking with earthquakes as an underground river of magma moves toward the surface. Over the weekend, more than 800 earthquakes were detected in 14 hours in the Reykjanes Peninsula in the southwest of the country, and nearly 4,000 people were evacuated from the small town of Grindavík. One of the people who has had a front-row seat to these events is Thrainn Kolbeinsson, a photographer who Payson worked with on both of his island crossing films....

If you haven’t already heard of Asa Vermette, chances are, that’s about to change in a big way this coming year. The 16-year-old Durango native has been making waves in the downhill scene since he was 14, showing up at pro races and beating some of the sport’s top riders for the podium. He won most of his races this year, including the Enduro National Championship where he beat 3x world champ Richie Rude. 2024 will be the first year that he can compete in World Cups, where he’ll be racing as...

It’s our final recap episode of the season, which means we’re not only looking back at the seventh and final round of the Grand Prix, but the 2023 Grand Prix as a whole. Payson first sits down with Velo Reporter Betsy Welch to talk about the dynamic race at Big Sugar. With podiums in both the men’s and women’s fields that looked significantly different from usual and plenty of on-course carnage, they break down the biggest stories of the weekend. They also look back on the series as a whole,...

Sofia Gomez Villafañe has many accolades to her name. Olympian, winner of the Cape Epic, winner of Unbound, and winner of Leadville are just a few of her claims to fame, and she also happens to be this year’s winner of the Life Time Grand Prix after clinching the overall victory in just five races. Payson caught up with Sofia a few days before the seventh and final round of the series in Bentonville, Arkansas for a wide-ranging and long overdue conversation.  In this episode, Sofia talks...

The second-ever Gravel World Championships took place in Veneto, Italy earlier this month, and we’re bringing you a full episode about it. Payson chats with Keegan Swenson about his fifth-place finish in a field dominated by Europeans who were well-versed in the kind of tight, twisty terrain that the course had to offer. They discuss road versus gravel tactics, the questionable start positions, and how his sprint with Alejandro Valverde played out. Payson also answers listener questions about...

As new addition to the Grand Prix series, the Rad Dirt Fest was an unknown quantity for many of the racers last weekend. Alexey Vermeulen and Lauren De Crescenzo came away with the wins, shaking up the standings and setting the stage for the final race in Bentonville at the end of the month. In this recap episode, Payson catches up with Velo reporter Betsy Welch to talk about the race. Did it resemble Steamboat as the rumors claimed? Was it techy enough? Was it strange to race without points...

Cole Paton returns to the show after a transformative year in his career. When this conversation was recorded earlier this week, he was sitting in second place in the Life Time Grand Prix and had just won the Marathon Mountain Bike National Championship the week before.  In this conversation, Cole tells Payson about the motivation and sense of community he's gained from becoming a privateer this season, and the mixed emotions of being in second place behind a nearly unbeatable opponent in...

In our latest recap of the Life Time Grand Prix series, we’re covering Chequamegon, the punchy, 40 mile mountain bike race in Northern Wisconsin. This year’s event saw new riders at the front of the pack and drama in the sprint finishes.  Payson talks to Velo reporter Betsy Welch to break down the men’s race and Alexy Vermeulen’s win. They discuss the 14-man sprint to the finish, the relief of a 40-mile race in the middle of a season dominated by 100+ mile events, and look at the current...

Last week, Lachlan Morton finished the 2,670-mile Tour Divide in just 12 days, 12 hours, and 21 minutes, more than a day faster than the officially recognized record. He also did it in the midst of the Life Time Grand Prix, between Leadville and Chequamegon. This weekend, Payson caught up with Lachlan in Wisconsin just hours after completing Chequamegon to talk about his experience. From being ready to throw in the towel to marveling at the breathtaking beauty around him, Lachlan discusses...

This week, Payson is joined by one of the Australian riders in this year’s Grand Prix, Brendan Johnston. Brendan dominated the marathon mountain biking scene in Australia for several years, winning the national title no fewer than four times and winning 19 consecutive races between 2015 and 2017. He’s also dabbled in road racing, finishing third at the 2022 National Championships in a stacked field. After juggling cycling alongside a full-time career, Brendan decided to focus on riding this...

This week, Payson catches up with one of the fastest racers in this year's Grand Prix, Zach Calton. So far this season, Zach has placed 6th at Leadville and 9th at Unbound, and is currently sitting 8th overall in the Grand Prix standings. He also happens to have a full-time job off the bike. In this conversation, Zach talks to Payson about what is shaping up to be a breakout season, why he still isn’t sure that making cycling a full-time gig is the goal, and his job at Specialized. He also...

Payson caught up with fellow Grand Prix racer Maude Farrell at Leadville a couple of weeks ago to talk about how her season is going, why she went to Leadville even though she chose to skip racing it, and how she juggles professional racing with a full-time career at the electric vehicle company Rivian. They discuss the challenges of trying to have it all—professionally, athletically, and personally—and do a deep dive into the state of the electric vehicle industry and why there’s no silver...

There was one story that dominated Leadville this year. Keegan Swenson smashed the course record by more than 15 minutes and finished nearly 25 minutes ahead of second place. On the women's side, Sofia Gómez Villafañe won a tight battle among the top five, followed closely by Ruth Winder. In our recap, Payson chats with Velo reporter Betsy Welch about how good both the men’s and women’s fields have gotten this year, and where Keegan’s dominance leaves the rest of the racers. For a...

The queen of ultra-endurance cycling returns to the show to talk about her punishing experience at this year’s Tour Divide, her upcoming stab at the Colorado Trail race, and her plan to race around the world, which she devised while riding several thousand miles to the start of the Tour Divide. After setting countless course records on bikepacking routes around the world, Lael is focusing all her energy on racing this year. Following her grueling experience on the Tour Divide that saw her...

Alexis Skarda - 6:24 Alexis has been climbing pro podiums for close to a decade. The multi-time collegiate national champ has won Marathon Nationals, the Whiskey 50, the Brek Epic, and holds the White Rim FKT. She’s in her second year racing the Grand Prix, and catches up with Payson to talk about coming back after a punishing experience at Unbound, what it’s like being teammates with Keegan Swenson and Tobin Ortenblad, and her secret musical side hustle. Stick around after the interview to...

This week, we’re bringing you the next installment of our series on the women racing in this year’s Life Time Grand Prix. Caroline Tory [3:56] Caroline Tory was an accomplished skier and runner when she was introduced to gravel in 2021. She’s performed consistently well in the Grand Prix this season, standing seventh overall in the points. Outside cycling, she lives in the literary world, working as the Managing Director of the Aspen Words writers program at the Aspen Institute. Becca...

Ellen Campbell has been riding bikes since she was a kid growing up in Durango, Colorado. She raced in college and on the national circuit, but it was only last year that she decided to step into professional gravel full-time. Joining Sarah Sturm’s privateer program, she competed in the Grand Prix in 2022 with the goal of finishing every race. This year, she’s racing in the Grand Prix again, but her perspective and goals are shifting. In this interview, Ellen tells Payson about why she made...

The third round of the Life Time Grand Prix is an Infamous gravel race in Southwest Utah with over 10,000 feet of climbing over a punchy 69-mile course. This year’s race was defined by a distinct lack of drama, but it was still historic. Keegan Swenson became the first (and only) rider in the event’s history to finish in under four hours, while Sofía Gómez Villafañe smashed the women’s record by more than six minutes. Payson and Velo reporter Betsy Welch talk about these wins as well as some...

This year’s Life Time Grand Prix brought a host of new contenders to the women’s roster along with some familiar faces from last year. With such a stacked field, we thought it was high time to get to know the individuals behind the results. To kick off our series, we have four racers whose vastly different paths have led them to the Grand Prix, Jenna Rinehart, Deanna Mayles, Iz King, and Leah Van der Linden. Among them, there’s a bike shop owner, a test engineer for world-class construction...

Sepp Kuss is a cyclist for WorldTour team Jumbo Visma. In 2021 he won a stage of the Tour de France, and last year helped secure the victory for his teammate Jonas Vingegaard. Last month, he helped Primož Roglič win the Giro d'Italia.  In this conversation, Sepp reflects on how he’s grown as a rider since his first Grand Tour in 2018. He talks about this year’s Giro, how the team is approaching the Tour this year as reigning champions, and whether he has personal ambitions outside his role...

Kristen Legan works in PR and Communications with some of the biggest cycling brands in the world, including Shimano and Mosaic Cycles. But on race weekends, you can find her battling for the podium. A couple of weeks ago, she walked away with the win after tearing through the mud-drenched 350 miles of the Unbound XL. In this conversation, Kristen talks to Payson about how surviving the infamous conditions at Unbound in 2015 prepared her for the miles of mud at this year’s event, her early...

Unbound is always full of adversity, perseverance, and unexpected triumphs, and this year was no different. With plenty of inclement weather, mud, upsets, and drama, the race has reignited long-standing debates in gravel and elevated a few riders to a new level of prominence. In this recap episode, we hear from many of the riders who braved this year’s uniquely challenging course. Payson chats with Velo reporter Betsy Welch about wheel sharing, whether the race organizers should have...

It’s raining in Emporia, Kansas and thousands of riders are about to head to the start line for this year’s Unbound Gravel. Payson caught up with Velo reporter Betsy Welch to talk about the emerging variables to look out for in the race, including the weather, a new format for the women’s start, a top contender lurking in the men's field, and spicy tactics. Plus, they take a stab at defining "gravel beef" and consider whether runners might have a leg up in this year's race.  Instagram:...