With Pace

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Heidi Franz on surviving the Zaaf debacle and returning to the pro peloton Feb 04, 2024

Show notes

In 2022, Heidi Franz was approached with an enticing offer: B&B Hotels-KTM, a revamped team with a sky-high budget and some of the biggest WorldTour riders set to sign on, wanted her on its roster. But after months of unfulfilled promises and extensive press coverage, the team collapsed, leaving Heidi and dozens of other riders without a team right before the 2023 season. When an unknown team called Zaaf approached her and several other would-be B&B team members, there was nowhere else to go. Soon, however, it became clear that Zaaf was neither prepared for the season nor capable of handling the fallout. With unpaid riders, dangerous working conditions, and swirling media speculation, the UCI revoked Zaaf’s license mid-season, leaving its riders floundering.
Less than a year later, Heidi is back in the WorldTour with team Lifeplus–Wahoo, and joins Payson just after placing fifth in a stage of the Tour Down Under. She tells him about surviving the dramatic, high-profile collapse of two teams in 2023 and how a traumatic event in her father’s life inspired her to keep going. She talks about racing Gravel Worlds, snagging her first European win in late 2023 after joining DNA Pro Cycling shortly after Zaaf went bust, and how she feels that she's just coming into her own as a professional cyclist.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Jack Thompson on resetting the boundaries of ultra cycling and recovering from addiction Jan 28, 2024

Show notes

Known to his fans as Jack Ultra Cyclist, Jack Thompson has been smashing world records left and right for close to a decade. Growing up in Perth, Australia, he struggled with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder as a teenager and eventually entered rehab for a drug addiction. Once he was able to channel his focus into cycling, however, he found his element. Quitting his construction job and moving across the world, he found a niche tackling seemingly impossible ultra challenges and raising money for mental health charities. In 2022, he broke multiple world records by climbing one million meters of elevation, Everesting once a week on a different climb each week, and raising $500k for mental health.
Payson sat down with Jack in Girona to discuss growing up in Perth, his struggles with addiction and mental health, and quitting his career in the construction industry to follow his dream of becoming a professional cyclist. Jack recounts his first major challenge in 2018 when he decided to do the Taiwan KOM climb, considered one of the hardest on earth, four times without stopping. He also reveals just how brutal it was to complete a million meters of elevation in a year, how under-eating led to chronic fatigue, and why surfing gives him a respite from the bike.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Sam Gaze on his mountain bike world titles, depression, and joining Alpecin-Deceuninck Jan 21, 2024

Show notes

In 2014, Sam Gaze was a privateering teenager from a rural farming town in New Zealand when he took the men's title in the opening round of an eliminator World Cup in Cairns, Australia. With this breakout ride, he caught the eye of Specialized Racing and relocated to Europe, where he went on to claim five world titles, including U23 World Champion and Elite Marathon and Short Track World Champion. He now races for UCI team Alpecin–Deceuninck where he competes in the WorldTour as well as the World Cup.
Payson sat down with Sam in Girona to talk about breaking Nino Schurter’s record-setting winning streak in the opening round of the 2018 World Cup, being mentored by Christoph Sauser, and how winning the World Championship in 2016 with his dad at the finish was the best day of his life. But they also discuss the low points, such as the infamous moment at the 2018 Commonwealth Games when his spur-of-the-moment reaction toward an opponent sparked a media frenzy. The experience intensified his ongoing struggle with depression and caused him to take a hiatus from cycling for much of 2019. In the end, it took medical advice and some encouragement from friend and former opponent, Mathieu van der Poel, to bring him back. Sam talks about his experience with depression, racing with Alpecin, and setting his sights on the Paris Olympics.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Petr Vakoč, off-road racer and former WorldTour rider Jan 14, 2024

Show notes

Before migrating to off-road racing last year, Czech cyclist Petr Vakoč spent nearly 10 years racing in the WorldTour, most notably as a member of team Quick-Step. During his road career, he made the start list of multiple Grand Tours, including the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, and won the Brabantse Pijl in Belgium in 2016 after years of focused preparation.
Payson sat down with Petr in Girona this week to talk about growing up in Prague and starting out mountain biking with his brother. They discuss Petr’s early dedication to turning pro, which included learning to speak French, and a two-month winning spree that finally caught the attention of Quick-Step team manager Patrick Lefevere and earned him a place within the legendary Wolf Pack. Petr also talks about his breakaway win at Brabantse and why he decided to retire from the road at 30 to focus on off-road racing.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Dennis van Winden, cycling coach and former WorldTour rider Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

Even by the standards of WorldTour racing, Dennis van Winden’s career has seen a lot of highs and lows. Starting out on the legendary Rabobank development team as a teenager, he landed a spot on the WorldTour team and was starting to distinguish himself as a promising new talent when a catastrophic health incident changed his trajectory. He returned to Rabobank (then LottoNL–Jumbo) through 2016, but eventually stepped away from road racing and began focusing on the U.S. gravel scene. Now, he coaches a long roster of American talents through Orange Seal Academy, including Cole Paton and World Cup rider Savilia Blunk.
Payson sat down with Dennis in Girona this week to talk about his 13 years in the pro peloton and his transition into coaching. Dennis discusses the mistakes he made as an overly-disciplined young racer, the surgery he had in his early 20s that was meant to improve his cycling career but nearly ended it, and how his “Dutch directness” ultimately led to his current role at Orange Seal Academy. He also reflects candidly on what it was like to enter road racing on the tail-end of the doping era, and how he’s coaching young cyclists to approach their training in exactly the opposite way that he did.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

End of year Q&A Jan 01, 2024

Show notes

In this final episode of the year, Payson answers your questions about training, the 2023 season, UCI points, mustaches, and much more.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Derek Teel on activation and double Everesting Dec 24, 2023

Show notes

This week, cycling trainer Derek Teel returns to answer more questions about strength training for endurance cyclists. He goes over the importance of mobility, how to do a proper push-up, and the equipment-free exercises everyone should be incorporating into their pre-ride routine. He also talks about some of his own endurance efforts, including double Everesting, in which he climbed over 58,000 feet in 27 hours, Everesting Roam, in which he climbed over 29,000 feet over 326 miles.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Derek Teel on strength training for cyclists Dec 17, 2023

Show notes

Derek Teel began his career as a downhill mountain biker, only to pivot toward personal training when he became fascinated with his team’s trainers and nutritionists. Over time, he found a way to combine his two passions, and his company, Dialed Health, was born, a strength training program geared specifically toward cyclists. In this episode, Derek joins Payson to talk about why cyclists require a different kind of strength training than other athletes, and how conversations with his fellow gravity racers inspired him to start his business. He dispels some long-held beliefs about cyclists and strength training, offers advice for those who are short on time, and discusses where cyclists should fit strength training into their schedules based on their racing goals. He also delves into his personal journey and how the difficult decision to go all-in on Dialed Health at a pivotal point in his life paid off.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Katie Burrell on ‘Weak Layers’ and finding comedy in the outdoor industry Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

Katie Burrell has been called the “action sports cult antihero” for her wildly popular videos satirizing the outdoor industry. Through YouTube videos and Instagram reels, the comedian has poked fun at everything from know-it-all mountain bikers to couples having relationship meltdowns in the middle of hiking expeditions. Now, she’s written, directed, and starred in her first feature-length film, ‘Weak Layers,’ which follows a woman in a ski town who tries to win a world-famous ski film competition. The movie was selected for the Whistler, Banff, and Kendal Mountain film festivals, and has been picked up for distribution by the same distributors that launched 'Free Solo' into theaters.
Katie sat down with Payson to talk about her roots in stand-up comedy in Canada, finding a comedy goldmine when she moved to Revelstoke to pursue skiing, and how the character she plays on social media accidentally became a real-life influencer. She also talks about leaving her 9 to 5 to pursue filmmaking just months before the pandemic hit, the steep learning curve of directing 'Weak Layers,' and the joke that inspired a proposal between two of her fans.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

Angus Neaves on bikepacking 9,000 miles from Mongolia to Scotland Dec 03, 2023

Show notes

After finishing high school in his native Australia, Angus Neaves devised the ultimate gap year plan: a 9,000-mile solo bikepacking trip from Mongolia to Scotland. After seven months and 16 countries, he finally completed the journey this week and joined Payson to talk about it. From the hospitality he found in Kazakstan to an impromptu trip to Gravel Worlds in Italy and a detour to Berlin for the museums, Angus found unexpected highlights along the way, in addition to some low points. He was held up at the border to Azerbaijan, had some run-ins with dogs in rural Turkey, and broke two phones, but throughout the ups and downs, he had plenty of time to reflect on friendship, connection, and his future. He tells Payson about why he decided to travel across the world for such an epic journey, what he’s learned from the experience, and why Albania was his favorite country to visit.
Tap here to donate to Angus's climate action fundraiser.

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: howdy@withpace.cc

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