Episode 123: December 19, 2023: The World Tour with Maggie Coles-Lyster

It's amazing to watch people grow and excel. This podcast has been fortunate enough to have had a myriad of incredible guests who have achieved tremendous levels of success. Now, for the first time, we have a World Tour Pro on the show in Maggie Coles-Lyster of Isreal Premier Tech Roland. One of our favorite alums is back to tell us about her adventures in Europe and the somewhat rocky road she had to take this year. However, it's not all rough because it ended with her solidly and comfortably going pedal-for-pedal with the best sprinters in the world.

Episode 122: November 29, 2023: Who Comes Next: A Cross Over with The Call Up

We are fortunate to occupy this stage for only a brief period of time. What happens after we leave? How do we maintain the progress we've made and ensure that others can stand on our shoulders? It's a question that we must grapple with in criterium racing. We've made a ton of progress over the past couple years but when our current leaders have moved on who comes next is unclear because it is our obligation to train our replacements. Gabe Lloyd and Daniel Holloway from The Call Up just us for a discussion on this very topic. 

Episode 121: November 9, 2023: Autumn in Connecticut with Will Gleason

"To thine ownself be true"-- Billy Shakespeare, Hamlet.

Will Gleason of CS Velo and I went for a long bike ride among the crisp leaves of autumn in western Connecticut. We didn't do much leaf peeping but we did a whole lot of talking, reminiscing, theorizing, a touch of gossiping. Then we had a lobster roll, ice cream, and a beer before sitting down and pressing record on the microphone. This episode is what happened next.

Episode 120: October 4, 2023: What's Happened Lately with Bill Schieken

A lot has happened since our last recap episode following Intelli. Good thing we've got fellow Wide Angle Podium contributor Bill Schieken to help us delve through the details of Littleton, the NCL, Momentum Indy, Gateway Cup and Bucks County. Yep, it's a lot.

Episode 119: September 13, 2023: Live from the Gateway Cup with Melanie Wong and Will Hardin

Things may sound just a bit different because we are 100% live from Gateway Cup with Will Hardin from Project Echelon and Melanie Wong from ButcherBox. Our good friends from Urban Chestnut brewery in the heart of the Grove were gratious hosts and the environment was perfectly cozy. So join the audience, grab your favorite Zwickel, Schnickelfritz, or Dorfbier and get ready for some good times. 

Episode 118: August 23, 2023: So You Want to Promote a Race, Part 4 with Graham Costa

Race promotion is a learned trade. There is a guide, but the real lessons are learned through trial and error, and with a lot of help and experience. Without good events our community is nothing but solo training and group rides. A great event can make someone's year and can become a focal point of a summer. In today's episode we talk with Graham Costa on how he and his team have brought together local interests and created a legitimate community event and bike race.

Episode 117: August 9, 2023: Oh Canada, O'Krafka with Logan O'Krafka of UNC Lotto Max

We go north of the border for this week's episode to meet with the captain of the new squad UNC Lotto Max-- Logan O'Krafka. Despite their youth and newness to the scene, they really stamped their authority on Intelligentsia Cup. Logan gives us the scoop on the team and its mission, and also how one of the premier criterium series played out over 10 days of intense racing.

Episode 116: July 26, 2023: Two things can be true at the same time with Allan Schroeder

Nationals, ACC, Boise, NCL, Salt Lake City, UCI Transgender Ban, and so much more. We cover a lot of ground in this episode.

Episode 115: July 12, 2023: Why We Stage Race with Eric Hill

At its core the popular image of cycling in the United States is stage racing. Fortunate for us, every major American stage race comes complete with its own demanding and technical criterium. Meaning, when we talk stage racing we remain very much on brand. That being said, stage racing, as a whole, is still a fundamentally critical part of road racing. Now that we are beyond the pandemic, stage racing is seeing a resurgence in popularity. It is time for the media to get back behind it, and in today's show we discuss why we love it and what it'll take to push stage racing even further forward.

Episode 114: June 28, 2023: From the City of Mountains with Katia Martinez

We are going back to the original format-- bringing you a story about a rider you may not know much about, yet. For this story we go all the way down to the mountains of northern Mexico and the city of Monterey. It's there we meet the 22-year old Katia Martinez who races for Goldman Sachs ETFs. Now in her second year of criterium racing in the US, she's had a growing impact but still is trying to find her legs in the argie-bargie final laps. So come along and meet Katia.

Episode 113: June 21, 2023: Tulsa Tough 2023 Recap Show

It's the longest day of the year and time for the biggest party of the American cycling season, that's right it's time for Tulsa Tough. We are joined by Adam Mills of Source Endurance once again to break down all the action, startegy, and meaning.

Episode 112: June 14, 2023: You do You with Ricky Arnopol

Do what you need to, to stay in the sport as long as it brings you happiness. That may not mean the same thing for you as it does everyone else. What motivates different people is not a single universal truth. Rick Arnopol joins us to talk about the importance of letting people be themselves and to take joy from this sport in the ways that each individual sees fit.

Episode 111: June 7, 2023: Behind the Lens with Bruce Buckley

This episode was first aired on March 3, 2020, but when it comes to the central place that photography plays in criterium racing we believed that it was time to share it again. Photography remains the primary means by which the story of criterium racing is told. The photographers we have worked with over the past 3 years have helped us grow this show and tell these stories. Without them this sport would not be as inspiring or newsworthy. Bruce Buckley helped us launch this effort and we want to make sure everyone gets to hear what he has to say.

Episode 110: May 24, 2023: Team Building with Brandon Feehery

Every year we put together groups of men and women from all over the country, and with potentially little connection to each other, on teams and expect them to go out and race together with a unified purpose and vision. How that is actually accomplished can be a mystery but when done right it is a thing of beauty. After years of being on a team with a consistent roster and a singular goal, Brandon Feehery has shifted to a new squad this offseason. Now he, and his teammates need to work some magic, and turn a disparate group of riders into a squad.

Episode 109: May 17, 2023: The Project Echelon Files: The Flow with Cade Bickmore

There are a lot of things Project Echelon does very well that they are not supposed to be good at doing. They weren't supposed to be an elite team. They weren't supposed to win big races. They weren't supposed to win stage races. And, lately they weren't supposed to win a field sprint. Sorry to disappoint but these are all things they are doing...frequently. It seems Project Echelon is really just good at proving their critics wrong. This week we have Cade Bickmore, the sprinter, on to talk about doing what his team is not supposed to do...win by using his talents and his team's total committment.

Episode 108: May 10, 2023: Reverse Mentorship with Kim Stoveld

Kim Stoveld of Automatic Racing is new to road racing but she's already made an impact with her power and results. As her experience and skill continues to improve so will her spot on the podium. She's received a ton of advice from some very well meaning individuals; but sometimes that advice could be better timed and directed. In our effort to figure out how to encourage people into the sport and keep them in it, we look to the way we mentor inexperienced riders, and how that effort can be done better. Kim is our guide.

Episode 107: May 3, 2023: What's Happened Lately

We've been gone for a little while, sorry. While we've been out a lot has happened and we need to talk about it with you. The NCL had its first race. The ACC is starting going. And CRIT was announced with zero details. On top of that race tactics, good and bad, were on full display at Spartanburg. Bill Schieken from Cyclocross Radio joins me to talk about what's been going on and what it means for criterium racing.

Episode 106: April 12, 2023: The Art of Cornering

How do we talk about ourselves to others? How do we brand the sport? And what is the messaging that we choose to use? These are all critical questions and ones that we should look at as criterium racing angles to grow and attract fans and participants. So let's get some help and to do that we can turn to our friends in gravel racing to see how they have encouraged people to do insanely challenging races and have fun at the same time. We are joined this week by Michael Marckx, one of the creators of the Belgian Waffle Ride series of races. He and his team are looking at expanding into criterium racing and bringing the skils they have developed from unroad racing into this market. We should listen and learn because they are doing something right.

Episode 105: March 24, 2023: What Do We Know about the NCL

Hopefully when you get to the end of this episode you know more than you do now. We are joined this week by Jonathan Crain to help crack the enigma that is the NCL. Information has slowly dribble out but our goal is to collect everything we've seen plus a bit more that we have been able to compile and present it to you in one place, so you can be educated fans.

Episode 103: March 1, 2023: The Fourth Estate Featuring Brad Sohner

Let's start 2023 the right way by talking about how criterium racing can learn from other sports to make its media experience better and more comprehensive. When criterium racing's fans are more educated they are more engaged. When they are more engaged they are more likely to become hooked and follow the events, teams, and riders. Hooked fans are more likely to stir all the watercooler #critbeef on their own. No single person in criterium racing is more aptly placed than Brad Sohner, the broadcast voice of the sport, to talk us through how media is critical to developing the sport, what a mature media looks like, and where we are right now in that process.

We are brought to you by Source Endurance the premier provider of endurance coaching. Use the promo code "criteriumnation" for $50 off your first month of coaching.