Episode 63: June 9, 2021: Armed Forces Recap

Céline Oberholzer, Wolfpack, and Kyle Tiesler, Support Clean Sport, help breakdown the action from the first big weekend of crit racing in 2021 at Armed Forces in Arlington, VA. It was a hot and humid couple of days with some familiar names like Kendall Ryan, L39ion, taking a win; but then some new names like Stephen Vogel, Project Echelon, make their appearance in emphatic style.

This show is brought to you by Source Endurance. Use the promo code "criteriumnation" at check out for $50 off your first month.

Episode 62: June 2, 2021: Stars and Stripes Part 2 with Emma White of Rally Cycling

2 episodes, 2 weeks in a row, 2 pro criterium national champs.

What happens when you are one of the most admired and respected bike racers in the American peloton...you win races. Emma White of Rally Cycling is the reigning criterium champion and she won it in Knoxville by racing hard and smart and with the help of her team. Now she has her eyes set on adding an Olympic gold medal to her World Champion jersey and national title. 

Episode 61: May 26, 2021: Stars and Stripes Part 1 with Travis McCabe of Best Buddies Racing

2 episodes, 2 weeks in a row, 2 pro criterium national champs. If you want more #critbeef it's inside. If you want insight into the mind of one of the best athletes in the US, it's inside. If you need more Danny Estevez content, it's inside. If you need more info about how this is going to be the hottest year on record for the crit circuit, it's inside. Travis McCabe of Best Buddies Racing is here and he's not holding back.

This show is brought to you by Source Endurance. Use "criteriumnation" at check for $50 off your first month of coaching with them.

Episode 60: May 19, 2021: The 2021 Preview Show

It's time to talk racing. This episode is jam packed with information previewing the 2021 USACRITS competition, the Pro Road Tour, Nationals, all of the best events in the country. Plus we reveal our first week of power rankings. Allan Schroeder, CS Velo, and Céline Oberholzer, Wolfpack, help break it all down.

We've got merch available, pick up your #critbeef shirt here.

This show is brought to you by Source Endurance. Use "criteriumnation" at check out for $50 off your first month.

Episode 59: May 12, 2021: It. Changes. Nothing.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

#critbeef is real. It has sharpened the focus of the upcoming crit season, and provided a reason to the top athletes to compete. It has also opened up an opportunity to look at why the US has an amateur and pro crit championship and whether that makes any sense any more. Adam Myerson joins us to provide context and historical perspective for how we've gotten here and what it all means going forward.

This show is brought to you by Source Endurance. Use "criteriumnation" at check out for $50 off your first month.

Episode 58: April 28, 2021: The Criterium Queries Vol. 1 with Zack Allison

Your subject matter expert, and guru, Zack Allison of Source Endurance stops by to answer our questions on a variety of different criterium related topics. 

We are brought to you by Source Endurance. Please use "criteriumnation" for $50 off your first month when you sign up with them. 

Episode 57: April 21, 2021: This Is, featuring Tiffany Thomas of Philly Bike Expo

Tiffany Thomas is a transgender woman, she's a bike racer, and a human. She is living in extraordinary times, right alongside all of us, and this is her story. Discovering and living her identity as a person and an athlete isn't easy; but it's her truth. We learn about that truth and what we as fellow members of the bike racing community can do to be there with her.

Episode 56: April 14, 2021: What We Pay Forward featuring Jed Schneider, a legend

The community we build is our legacy. The time we spend in this sport is only a part of the overall story of the sport; and what we do to make it better than it was when we started, stands as a testament to our character. Jed Schneider, multi-time awesomeness and dear friend, took some time to talk to me about the view from this side of 30 years in the sport, and what he hopes to do in the 30 more years that he has left to go.

We are brought to you by Source Endurance. Please use "criteriumnation" for $50 off your first month when you sign up with them. 

Episode 55: April 7, 2021: Vaccination First featuring Emma Bast and Dakota Topp of Levine Law Group Elite Cycling

The single biggest question facing a lot of us is when will it be safe to race. For Levine Law Group Elite Cycling that decision has a bright line-- when you are completely vaccinated. As a team, they have decided that it isn't right to race without being vaccinated amidst an historic epidemic which has now seen more than 550,000 deaths in just the United States. We are several months into the vaccine rollout; and it's not been even or smooth everywhere; but it's happening, with nearly 4 million people being vaccinated every day. Emma Bast and Dakota Topp tell us about this decision, how the team came to it, and why they felt it was important to speak out.

@llgwomenscycling

Episode 54: March 31, 2021: We Are Team CLIF Bar

CLIF Bar has been at the front, or more aptly put off the front, at many of the biggest USACRITS and domestic road events for the past couple year. In that time their roster, sponsors, and overall team ethos has remained largely unchanged. That level of consistency and stick-to-it-ness is commendable in sport. We sit down with four of the guys who have been a part of the organization to find out about how the team works, and how they've kept themselves focused during the down year.

@clifbarracing, @zacharylallison, @conormullervy, @kmullervy, @biker1stu

Episode 53: March 24, 2021: The Foodies with special guest co-hosts Matt "Little Guy" Allen and Micheal Boedigheimer

Matt Allen (The Slow Ride Podcast) and Micheal Boedigheimer (The Media Pit) help send our SEO into orbit with this discussion of food in bike racing. Topics: criteriums, cyclocross, Belgian cyclocross, Wout van Aert, egg sandwiches, breakfast, coffee, espresso, tea, gas station food, chicken-on-a-stick, Mpls, NOLA, DC, Giro (the ride in NOLA), Ant McCrossan, porridge, muesli, oatmeal, bad decisions, McDonald's, shame eating, beer, IPA, saison, Belgian country ale, pineapple, pizza, provel, Chicago, Ohio, topo chico, city museum, burritos, Chipotle, Pizza Hut, Mayor Pete, diplomacy, carrots, plums, light treason, handlebar bags, town line sprints, cafes.

Episode 52: March 17, 2021: Stare Decisis: The Pro Road Tour and American Cycling

Photo by Bruce Buckley

Seventeen days of criterium racing across some of the biggest and best events in the American calendar. We are one nation united by criteriums. Each event, as a standalone race makes perfect; but the union of events in a series or as part of a calendar is a touch lacking. Where is the story? Where is the drama? What links them all together? Right now it doesn't seem like too much.

Eric Hill of Project Echelon gives us his take as a racer and team director on what the PRT is, why his team does it, and what ways he thinks it can better serve our community.

Episode 51: March 10, 2021: Salaries in Women's Professional Cycling

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.

Episode 50: March 3, 2021: Racing in Florida featuring Conor Delanbanque of Good Guys Racing

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

Episode 49: January 27, 2021: The Future is Alright (part 4) featuring Owen Gillot of Team CLIF Bar

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.

Episode 48: January 20, 2021: The Future is Alright (part 3) featuring Céline Oberholzer of ATX Wolfpack p/b Jakroo

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

Episode 47: January 13, 2021: The Future is Alright (part 2) featuring Dalton Collins of Automatic Racing

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

Episode 46: January 6, 2021: The Future is Alright (part 1) featuring Tyler Reynolds of First Internet Bank Cycling Team

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

Episode 45: December 30, 2020: The Big Apple featuring Michael Tan of Good Guys Racing

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 

Episode 44: December 23, 2020: Christmas with Starla Teddergreen

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