Life Lived One Corner at a Time
Photo by Ron Short from Wilmington Grand Prix
We are going on a West Coast swing for this week's episode with the Bay area's very own Dani Morshead of LA Sweat. Non-spoiler alert...she loves In-N-Out Burger's fries.
She also loves bikes and especially crits. We talk about her fixie-crit background and then go in deep on her recent success at the Wilmington Grand Prix.
Photo of Ricky Arnopol from Redlands by SnowyMountain PhotographyThe story gets deeper and the questions get harder. Your protagnists confront new challenges from coast-to-coast and then across the ocean as well. Join us in chapter 2 as we get back in the saddle with Project Echelon's Ricky, Monk and Ethan as bones break, teeth are extracted, and jerseys are won.
A lot of bike racing just happened- Sunny King, Redlands, Gila, Spartanburg, Athens, all of Speed Week. It's a lot. We unpack a the themes and storylines from this huge block of racing.
The U23 Class of 2019 was insanely talented, and it included our guest this week Michael Hernandez of Best Buddies Racing. This week we talk inclusivity, we talk elite bike racing, and we talk about a love story.
Photo by Snowy Mountain Photography
The most ambitious effort we have yet undertaken, a show literally 30 hours and 500 miles of bike riding in the making. We proudly present the first chapter of our ongoing series following the men of Project Echelon through the 2022 season.
We are brought to you by Manscaped, the creators of the Lawn Mower 4.0 and the Ultra Premium Collection. Pick up your own today, and use the promo code "criteriumnation" for 20% off plus free shipping.
We are also brought to you by Hammerhead and the Karoo 2. Use the promo code "CRITNATION" for your very own free custom color kit and a premium water bottle.
Inspired equally by The Slow Ride Podcast and the epic movie 1917, here is a one take episode of our show. It's a bit more raw than normal, filled with all our hot takes, a game with ill-defined rules, and a few inside jokes that long-term fans of the show will surely enjoy.
Photo by Patrick Daly
What is your mantra? What are your centering words? Paige Kostanecki of ButcherBox Cycling joins us to talk about how she has battled negative self talk and invasive thoughts to turn defeat into victory.
Collegiate cycling has expanded greatly in the United States in the last 30 years. It has slowly become a pipeline for riders from high school to college and then on to greater successes. What has helped spur that growth, along with the successes of these athletes, is the hard work and inspiration of coaches like our guest this week-- Tim Hall of Lees-McRae College. Coach Hall joins us to help explain the structure of collegiate cycling and how he helps the next generation advance and harness the power of motivation.
Photo by Patrick Daly with Harriet Owen in the middle, Rachel Langdon on the left, and Makalaya McPherson at right.
Athletes want to compete and will compete even when hurt. It is their very nature that injury is ignored, often times until it becomes detrimental to a career. Harriet Owen suffered a serious concussion in March of 2021 at a training camp; but kept trying to compete and push herself. She paid a price for it, and eventually had to end her season early and suffered with post-concussion syndrome long after she stopped racing. Now, months later she is putting everything back together and hoping that 2022 will be the year that she can return, injury free, to the top of the podium.
Danny Estevez of Best Buddies Racing launches the 2022 season for us. He's an athlete who made the choice to leave the sport as a junior and then, when he was ready, to come back and drive for the top step on the podium. In 2021 he achieved that goal, winning the amateur national title in the road race and the crit. Now he's setting his sights on even bigger prizes.
The final episode of the season has arrived. Céline, Allan, and I breakdown, hopefully in a lighthearted fashion, what we liked about 2021.
We are brought to you by the Echelon Racing League, a unique racing experience on RGT that brings together in real life racers and races on a virtual platform.
It's retrospection time and we've got our professor, Adam Mills, from Source Endurance here to breakdown the lessons that we all should have learned this year. We've have four lessons in today's class, and we are sure you'll enjoy.
We are brought to you this week by the Echelon Racing League platform. The league is pairing with in-real life events this year and races are currently ongoing.
Photo by Bruce Buckley
Our guest this week, Julie Kuliecza, has made it to the end of her professional racing career. We are here to celebrate that milestone with her; but also to learn from her wisdom and experiences. We all stand on the shoulders of giants, that's how we learn.
We are brought to you by Manscaped, your home for men's grooming solutions. By using "criteriumnation" at checkout you will save 20% and get free shipping.
Photo by Bruce Buckley
In road racing, the autumn is the time of expectations and fresh starts. It's when we get to dial in where we want to go in the future. The future for Scott McGill is bright with a new contract with Wildlife Generation and bigger opportunities in Europe and beyond. We talk about that; but also about this past year, including what happened in those final corners at Pro Crit Championships.
Photo by Pat Daly
In this week's episode we provide you with just the inspiration you need to get through the shorter days and cool temps. Allan and Céline cover for me in my absence with this great conversation with Ama Nsek of L39ion of LA.
Photo by Patrick Daly
A lot has happened in our criterium nation in the past couple of weeks. There will be good that comes from some terrible news. We will be here to convey that good news and explain it when the time comes. For now we need to talk about what we know about the recent controversy and start to take those next steps forward. This week we present our interview with Spencer Moavenzadeh of ButcherBox, one of those people who is working to make not just bike racing, but the entire world a better place.
We are brought to you by Source Endurance. Use the promo code "criteriumnation" for $50 off your first month of coaching.
We are also brought to you by Manscaped, your home for men's grooming solutions. By using "criteriumnation" at checkout you will save 20% and get free shipping.
Photo by Patrick Daly
We are getting ready for a couple week break here; but before we do it, Boedi, Céline, Allan and I need to fill you in on all the details from the big weekend in Winston-Salem and two days of phenomenal racing.
Photo by Bruce Buckley
Coming from Maple Ridge, BC, Canada, Maggie Coles-Lyster of DNA Pro Cycling has been a force in the criterium peloton this year. We got a chance to sit down with her and hear about that whirlwind of success. We also discussed the very sad; but very real fact that sexual assault, abuse, and harassment takes place all too often in our sport. Maggie is the victim of sexual assault stemming from events in 2017 when racing in Europe and she was brave enough to speak with us about it here.
If you have been a victim of any type of abuse in our sport there are resources, like SafeSport here in the US, or International Safe Sport abroad. In addition The Cyclists' Alliance is also there to provide guidance and help for its members and supporters.
We are brought to you by Source Endurance. Use the promo code "criteriumnation" at checkout for $50 off your first month.
The criterium season is winding down, which means more time for lazy Sunday mornings brunching with the cats outside. But before we pack up the Zipp 808s for the winter there is a veritable buffet of racing to cover including the Momentum Indy weekend, the Sun City Crit and Bucks County. With all that racing we need a full crew to help break it all down, fortunately we've got the best of the best here to do it.
Photo by Bruce Buckley
Kerry Werner, a double threat with Project Echelon and Kona Maxxis Shimano, joins us for the hour from the most unique host housing situation in the history of domestic bike racing to talk about CX, crits, and what it will take to make a purely American version of an very international sport.