Life Lived One Corner at a Time
Lily Williams of Rally Cycling and I discuss the recent survey on salaries in women's professional cycling published by the Cyclist's Alliance. More than that we confront a lot of issues in the women's peloton, including overcoming the taboo about talking about wages, the value of trade unions, and why having an attorney or someone with contract negotiations experience in your corner is a valuable asset when looking at offers.
A lot to unpack in this episode, Conor Delanbanque of Good Guys Racing talks about his youth growing up as a mixed race kid in England before coming to the US. He tells us about what it's like to race on the islands and helps convince us that we should all give it a shot. And he also helps start the conversation that will occupy so much of 2021, which is whether to race our bikes while Covid is still a huge threat to our society. He's made the decision to race and tells us about that thought process.
@conor_del & @goodguysnyc
In the final installment we speak with our eldest of the new generation of American/Aussie crit racers, Owen Gillot of Team CLIF Bar. At 25 years old he's reached a point in life where remaining at the top of the sport, and being a professional in the work force require compromise and balance. It's not impossible to do both; but it certainly requires making choices.
Follow on IG:
@owen_gillot & @clifbarracing
Pay no attention to how oddly similar or inspiring “United States of Criterium” and “Criterium Nation are as far as titles. They are in no way, shape, or form related at all.
All photos courtesy of Dylan Sequin.
For our third installment in this series we feature Céline Oberholzer of ATX Wolfpack p/b Jakroo. When life as a professional dancer became impossible because of a series of injuries, she was fortunate to find bike racing through the Little 500 at Indiana University. She quickly fell in love with the sport and her passion led her to chase racing all across the country.
The backstory of life before bike racing included struggles with an eating disorder. She talks about those struggles and her efforts at promoting social justice and equality. If you, someone you love, or simply someone you know is suffering with an eating disorder there are tons of resources for you. Kristen Arnold, MS, RD, CSSD, has been kind enough to provide us with a few resources like Eating Disorder Hope or the National Eating Disorders Association. There is hope and help.
Follow on IG: @celine_the_psychlist & @teamwolfpackracing
In part 2 we take a look at faith, the faith that a team and veteran riders place the future and the younger riders in whom they see potential. Dalton Collins, of Automatic Racing, is just 21 years old; but he has the faith of the 2019 USACRITS individual champ, Tom Gibbons and the full squad of veteran heavy hitters on team orange.
Follow them on IG:
@its_dalton_yoo & @automatic_racing
A new year brings with it promise and potential; and, that is what this four part series of episodes is all about. We've linked together stories from four of the best and brightest hopes for criterium racing's future and present them to you at the beginning of this year.
The first up is Tyler Reynolds of Pella, IA, and First Internet Bank Cycling Team. He's the 2017, 15-16 national road race champ, and is on year two of being on the verge of stepping up to the big leagues with his spot on a domestic elite team.
Follow them on IG: @tyler.reynolds20 and @firstibcycling
There's nothing quite like New York City. It's got lights, life, culture action, and plenty of crit racing. Yes, you don't have to have miles and miles of open farm roads to have crit racing. You can do it right in the heart of the biggest city in the United States. Michael Tan of Good Guys Racing p/b High Water Womenis here to tell us all about it.
Follow them on IG
@the_michaeltan
@goodguysnyc
Photo by SnowyMountain Photography
We all have our favorite holidays, and Starla Teddergreen's is Christmas. There is something about gift wrap and the joy of opening presents that fills her with joy. For us, the joy has been watching her race the best criteriums and road races in the country. She's set to take on the world now, with a new contract with a Team Illuminate she will be taking her show on the international road in the coming future. Fortunate for us, we got a chance to talk with her before she set out on this journey.
Follow:
Starla on IG @starlat; or her team @illuminatethebike
Abi and Angus
The Lioness has found her way back to the pack. Kendall Ryan, now of L39ion of Los Angeles is focused on earning her spot on the the US Olympic team for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the Team Pursuit and the Madison. However, that focus isn’t going to preclude her from pursuing her dreams of complete and total domination of the #critlife. The Crit Queen joins us to talk about how she’s taking the time to invest deeply in herself and preparing for the challenges that are going to face her in the coming year.
We also talk about her focus on recovery including the vital importance of sleep. She’s became an ambassador for ChiliSleep and cannot say enough good things about their product. And just for you she’s here to provide a promo code: Kendall22 to help save 22% off your purchase of a unit that she says has changed her sleep quality for the better.
Follow Kendall on IG @kendall_ryan92 or her team @l39ion.la
When you think of the geography of crit racing in the US, you don't often put Boise at the top of your list . . . but you should. The guest on today's episode Allan Schroeder of CS Velo tells us all about why the Treasure Valley should be on your list of places to go, ride, race, and live. Allan is fresh on the scene; but he's already making an impact. That sort of energy gets noticed, and that's why he's been picked up by Philadelphia-based CS Velo. So come on board this week and learn more about Idaho and tacos.
Follow Allan on IG: @schroeder_allan
CS Velo: @csveloracing
Order your very own papas godras from District Taco
From the Cycling New Zealand Vantage Criterium Championship (left-to-right) Ally Woolston, Olivia Ray, Katie Richards.
From the 2019 Scranton Electric City Criterium
Olivia Ray is back on the show after completing her journey across the international date line and over the equator. She returns just in time to tell how she won the 2021 New Zealand National Criterium Championship and sealed a deal with Rally Cycling on a contract to ride with them for the coming year. We are also joined by her new sporting director Joanne Kiesanowski who fills in the details on how Olivia caught the team's attention and what their plans are for her now that she's a part of the team.
Follow Olivia on IG: @oliviaraycycling
Rally: @rally_cycling
Cycling New Zealand: @cyclingnewzealand
From the 2020 Cambridge Three Day track event, Olivia is the wee one.
This week's episode is Avenger's Endgame worthy. In this episode we bring together the guests from 2020 to give you a show about finding happiness and giving thanks in a year that was not designed for either. To do this we enlist the help of guest co-host Lily Williams of Rally Cycling and the 2020 Team Pursuit World Champion. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the stars of this year in order of appearance:
Robin Meidhof
The guys from The Gravel Lot
Lindsay Goldman, Eliel Cycling Apparel
Dino Piskopanis, ButcherBox Cycling
Adam Mills, Source Endurance
Madison Kelly, CWA Racing
Adam Pulford, DC Velo
Ali Sheehan, Team Tekkerz
Christina Gokey Smith, Team Colavita
Olivia Ray, ButcherBox Cycling
Zach Gregg, Project Echelon
Maize Wimbush, Team Twenty24
Jason Meidhof, Monster Media
Eric Hill, Project Echelon
The guys from The Slow Ride Podcast
Amanda Nauman, SDG Factory Team / The Groadio
In summer 2016, the Meidhofs packed, 2 dogs, a cat, and their possessions into an RV and took off for California and a new adventure. Just a couple weeks after arriving, and without much in the way of a support system in LA, Jason was hit by a negligent driver and seriously injured.
In summer 2016, the Meidhofs packed, 2 dogs, a cat, and their possessions into an RV and took off for California and a new adventure. Just a couple weeks after arriving, and without much in the way of a support system in LA, Jason was hit by a negligent driver and seriously injured. This is the story of his recovery, and return to form. Previously a master's world champ on the track, he was forced to rebuild his fitness and reconnect parts of his brain that were injured.
Fortunately he wasn't alone, and neither was his wife Robin. The two of them came closer together than ever before; and thanks to that bond, and the countless hours of help from others, they were able to get back to normalcy. And when you suffer a traumatic brain injury, normal is such a beautiful word.
Experience is a great; yet brutal teacher. The lessons we learn from it can make us stronger; however, we don't need to suffer the most onerous lessons ourselves. Rather, we can learn from others. In this episode we share with you some of the important ones to know when you line up for your first big race.
Tyler Reynolds, now of First Internet Bank.
Madison Kelly, CWA Racing p/b Trek, Gateway Cup, 2019. Photo by Dan Signer
Experience is a great; yet brutal teacher. The lessons we learn from it can make us stronger; however, we don't need to suffer the most onerous lessons ourselves. Rather, we can learn from others. In this episode we share with you some of the important ones to know when you line up for your first big race. Our teachers are the best of them all...the real life pros that light up the world's biggest crit stages.
Sit back and listen as your instructors Tina Pic, Kristen LaSasso, Christina Gokey-Smith, Whitney Allison, Kristen Arnold, Tyler Reynolds, Eric Hill, Stephen Vogel, Ricky Arnopol, Evan Hartig, Natalia Franco Villegas, and Cesar Gallego share what it is they wish they had known before signing up to race the best of the best.
Clarendon Cup, Armed Forces Cycling Classic, 2019. Photo by Bruce Buckley.
Ata Marie, is good morning in Maori, the language of the native population of New Zealand, and the home of Olivia Ray. At just 22 years old, she already owns 16 U.S. and New Zealand national championships and a dominating crit racers.
Olivia Ray, Gateway Cup 2019, photo by Dan Singer Photography.
Photo by Patrick Daly Photography.
Ata Marie, is good morning in Maori, the language of the native population of New Zealand, and the home of Olivia Ray. At just 22 years old, she already owns 16 U.S. and New Zealand national championships and a dominating crit racers. We met her earlier this year at the ButcherBox team camp in Southern California and knew we had to have a sit down with her to talk bike racing, the Olympics, and so much more. But our timing took a huge turn when she said she was willing to fly 26 hours, and quarantine for 14 days just to get back to Auckland to try her hand at the Vantage New Zealand national criterium championship in Christchurch. Cleary, Covid was also discussed.
Follow Olivia on IG @oliviaraycycling or her team @butcherboxcycling.
Olivia Ray, ButcherBox Cycling, Spring 2020. Photo by Patrick Daly Photography.
It's been a rough year for us criterium racers. If some of us were lucky, we were able to sneak in a race in warmer climates or out west in March or February before the coronavirus hit our shores and shut everything down.
Cory and Justin Williams of L39ion of LA at the 2019 USA Cycling National Criterium Championship in Hagerstown, MD. Photo by Bruce Buckley.
Starla Teddergreen of Hagens Berman/Supermint at the 2019 Armed Forces Cycling Classic. Photo by Bruce Buckley.
It’s been a rough year for us criterium racers. If some of us were lucky, we were able to sneak in a race in warmer climates or out west in March or February before the coronavirus hit our shores and shut everything down. It’s left a lot of us trying to figure out how to keep training and riding; or looking at other priorities in our lives.
For some of us, it has led to some incredible creativity and new discoveries like baking sourdough bread or that long-lost talent for guitar. However, for most of us it has left us frankly wondering what if.
Tom Gibbons of Automatic Racing, Littleton 2019.
Well look no further than this episode to answer that question. What if the 2020 crit season had taken place? Who would have walked away with the biggest prizes in all the land, from winning the USA Cycling criterium championships to the vaunted USACRITS overall in both the team and individual competitions. We’ve got that covered.
In addition, you’ve probably been thinking to yourself; what are the criteriums that can make a cyclists career? Why don’t we have the monuments of crit racing like the World Tour has its 5 monuments? Again, we’ve got you covered. We draft the top 10 essential criteriums in the US and Canada and explain why they’ve made our list.
And you might be asking, “we” who is we? This episode features a very special guest co-host. If you like what he does here please let us know and we’ll keep him around. So much going on in this episode, you are definitely not going to want to miss it.
The women of USACRITS at Littleton in 2019.
Perseverance is far from easy. When you get tossed off your horse and break your back, or when a tragic crash shatters bones in your body, you could be forgiven for giving up. However, Christina Gokey-Smith of Team Colavita never got that memo about giving up.
Photo courtesy of USACRITS. Thechampions of the 2019 USACRITS Women’s team competition. (left-to-right) Tina Pic, Laurel Rathbun, Jolene Holland, Natalia Franco Villegas, Yussely Soto, and Christina Gokey-Smith.
Christina Gokey-Smith (center) at the Boise Twilight Criterium, 2019. Photo courtesy of USACRITS
Perseverance is far from easy. When you get tossed off your horse and break your back, or when a tragic crash shatters bones in your body, you could be forgiven for giving up. However, Christina Gokey-Smith of Team Colavita never got that memo about giving up. She’s battled hardship, injury, and adversity to get to where she is among the elite of crit racing in North America. As she has gotten older she hasn’t slowed down; but rather gotten better and stronger. Each year she dedicates herself to refining and developing new traits to improve her training and performance; including delving deep into meditation and mindfulness, two often overlooked elements of athletics.
In late 2017, long after most teams were formed and with full rosters, she and long-time friend Tina Pic, picked up the pieces of Team Colavita, a legendary women’s organization with a storied history. Through trial and error, and with some serious bumps along the way, they cobbled together a group of women who would in time become sisters and cement themselves as the best crit team in the United States. They have the hardware to prove it, with the overall women’s team title and best U25 racer jersey from the 2019 USACRITS competition. Listen to their story here.
The women of Team Colavita, Sun City Criterium, 2019. Photo Courtesy of USACRITS.
Follow the team on Instagram @colavitacavaliered_oro or Christina @gokeysmith.
And don’t forget to visit their website.
Everyday 22 veterans commit suicide in the United States. It's a sad reality that has plagued our nation for far too long. In the absence of comprehensive public assistance programs, private citizens and organizations have stepped up to provide much needed services to this community. Enter Eric Hill of Project Echelon.
The motto of Project Echelon. Photo by SnowyMountain Photography.
Zach Gregg in yellow at the Tour of Southern Highlands, pre-Covid 2020. Photo by SnowyMountain Photography.
Everyday 22 veterans commit suicide in the United States. It’s a sad reality that has plagued our nation for far too long. In the absence of comprehensive public assistance programs, private citizens and organizations have stepped up to provide much needed services to this community. Enter Eric Hill of Project Echelon. After a veteran friend of his made his third attempt at suicide Eric acted to create a program to help veterans confront the emotional and psychological struggles they face through physical activity. At the same time he created an elite cycling team to help spread the message beyond Wisconsin and the Midwest. Thus was born Project Echelon the team, and the foundation.
Move forward 5 years and that team is now one of the best in the country and poised to start European campaigns in addition to their domestic schedule. This is where Zach Gregg comes in, already a collegiate national champion, and at 27 years old, at the beginning of an incredible career in bike racing. Zach’s rise in the sport mirrored that of his new team, coming from obscurity in 2016 to winning the general classification this year at The Tour of the Southern Highlands, he has quickly become a leader on Project Echelon, by his actions.
But when Covid 19 brought the in-real life season to a halt. Eric, Zach and Project Echelon went online into virtual racing where they have fundamentally altered its development.
Eric Hill of Project Echelon. Photo by SnowyMountain Photography
Follow the team on Instagram @projectechelonracing follow Eric @erhill and Zach @zachgregg3.
And don’t forget to visit their website www.projectechelonracing.com.
Listen to this episode from No Training Wheels on Spotify. Reviresco is a latin word which translates multiple ways; but our favorite is "I shall rise again." Six months into the quarantine and amidst social turmoil we are confronted with unprecedented challenges to our cycling community.
The women of ButcherBox in the Eliel kit, photo by Patrick Daly Photography, San Diego 2020 (pre-covid).
Alex McLaughlin of ButhcerBox Cycling in his Eliel kit, photo by Patrick Daly, San Diego 2020.
Reviresco is a latin word which translates multiple ways; but our favorite is “I shall rise again.” Six months into the quarantine and amidst social turmoil we are confronted with unprecedented challenges to our cycling community. Those challenges face not just individual bike racers; but also the companies in the cycling industry. We are learning just how interconnected we all are, the lack of races means less marketing opportunities for clothing manufacturers, less bike racing means people are foregoing upgrading equipment and bike companies are struggling to keep up with a demand that went through the roof at the outset of the quarantine.
The events of 2020 have exposed the limits of our industry; but also they are creating new opportunities. In this episode we speak with 3 storytellers about the industry. First we speak with Ryan Cady of Eliel Cycling Apparel about creating a brand and what it takes to grow a company in the challenges of normal life. Then we speak with Simon Marks of Feature Story News about the macro impacts of the economy facing North America. We also talk to Spencer Haugh, the genius behind the Slow Ride Podcast and a life-long cycling insider about how 2020 is impacting our narrow part of the world.
Follow Eliel on IG @elielcycling. Follow Simon on Twitter @SimonMarksFSN. Follow Spencer on Twitter @spencerhaugh and The Slow Ride Podcast @TheSlowRidePod.
Harriet Owen, ButcherBox Cycling in Eliel at the Tour de Murietta, San Diego, CA 2020, photo by Patrick Daly Photography.
Listen to this episode from No Training Wheels on Spotify. With the stormy present surrounding us all the time, sometimes it's hard to remember that the future exists, and that the sun will rise tomorrow. Judging by the athletes who make up the juniors ranks, that future may be way brighter than we think.
With the stormy present surrounding us all the time, sometimes it’s hard to remember that the future exists, and that the sun will rise tomorrow. Judging by the athletes who make up the juniors ranks, that future may be way brighter than we think. Take Maize Wimbush of the Team Twenty20 Junior Team, and a 14-year old from southern Maryland. Maize is already a multi-time champion in the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association; but she’s set her sights on an even loftier goal— becoming the first African American woman to represent Team USA in cycling at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. We had the opportunity to sit down with Maize and her father Mark to talk about her growing up a bike racer and how she’s primed herself to be one of the next great ones. But beyond that, this episode explores the issue of diversity in bike racing and how it takes a whole community to raise a champion. This community must be strong and vibrant, because Maize’s future looks solid.
Follow Maize’s story on Instagram @amaizencyclist or her team, @teamtwenty20.
