With Pace

Payson answers listener questions about his upcoming 2022 season, including new and returning sponsors, his race schedule, and a few personal developments as well. He also shares some thoughts on the privateering model in gravel, and addresses what mountain bike he'll be riding this year. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

For over two decades, Molly Cameron has been advocating for LGBTQ+ rights within cycling. In her career as a racer, she was banned early on from racing in the women's category, and was forced to race with the men. In 2015, she was briefly banned from racing in the men's cyclocross national championship when the rules were changed to require a person's gender to correlate with the gender on their driver's license. In this interview, she talks with Payson about being thrown into the spotlight after the outdoor community's reckoning with social justice issues in 2020 and 2021, after decades of advocating in relative anonymity. She talks about why she continues to fight for trans rights after so many years, what brings her hope, and how she plans to focus her mission in the coming years through her organization, Riders Inspiring Diversity and Equality (RIDE). She and Payson also talk about the controversy surrounding USA Cycling's decision not to remove anti-trans protestors as Cyclocross Nationals last month, and why the conversation surrounding trans women in sport cannot be limited to scientific data points.Link to International Olympic Committee guidelines on transgender athletes: https://olympics.com/ioc/documents/athletes/ioc-framework-on-fairness-inclusion-and-non-discrimination-on-the-basis-of-gender-identity-and-sex-variationsInstagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Jack Aitken has been pursuing a career as a Formula One driver since he was seven years old. He's raced in both Formula Three and Formula Two, and was signed as a reserve driver for Williams Racing in 2020. Later that year at the Sakhir Grand Prix, he made his F1 debut when another racer tested positive for coronavirus. In this conversation, Jack talks about his love of cycling, the cutthroat path to securing a seat in F1, and how he prepares physically and mentally for the demands of the job. He also talks about racing Lamborghinis on the GT racing circuit, going head to head with the sport's greatest stars at the Sakhir Grand Prix, and the crash he sustained at the famed Spa 24 Hours race in July that left him with a fractured vertebra and a broken collarbone. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Lizzie Deignan has held just about every title available to road racers. She was the 2015 World Champion, won silver medal at the 2012 Olympics in London, and is a four time British national champion. She has also won the prestigious trio of races consisting of the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the inaugural women's Paris-Rubaix earlier this year. In this conversation, Lizzie recounts her experience at Rubaix, including what it was like encountering the infamous cobbles for the first time, being pursued by Marianne Vos, and vomiting in the final miles of the race. She also talks about how becoming a mother midway through her career was a liberating experience. At a time when cycling wasn’t bringing her joy, she says that she “wanted to do something that was just an emotional, non-logical decision.” She talks about balancing family life with racing, and why having a child has actually extended rather than shortened her career.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

In his role as President of Events and Media at Life Time, Kimo Seymour has been instrumental in the acquisition and shaping of mass participation off-road events such as Unbound Gravel and Leadville.  Last week, Life Time announced a first-of-its-kind gravel series, where 40 professional riders (20 male and 20 female) will vie for $250,000 in prize money over the course of six races. The series, known as the Grand Prix, is comprised of three gravel races and three cross country races, including the Sea Otter Classic, Unbound Gravel, the Leadville 100, and Big Sugar. Kimo talks to Payson about why they decided to create the Grand Prix, how they think it will benefit the non-professional racers, and some of the criticism that the series has received since being announced. They also talk about Life Time’s surprise acquisition of the Sea Otter Classic, and where Kimo hopes mass participation off-road events are headed. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Riley Amos became the breakout star of cross country racing earlier this year when he became the first American male to win a U23 World Cup . At just 19 and in his first year out of the junior ranks, he also snagged the podium at two other World Cup races in Albstadt, Germany and Nové Město, Czech Republic. He entered the 2021 season with uncertainty about his prospects as a professional rider, only to leave the season with offers from every factory team on the circuit. Last week, it was announced that he would be joining Trek Factory Racing for the 2022 season.Riley tells Payson about getting to grips with his success, learning to negotiate contract terms, and the agonizing decision between two of the industry's most celebrated teams. He also talks about balancing college finals while racing World Cups in Europe, why he's already thinking about paying it forward by mentoring young riders, and what it's like becoming teammates with your heroes. He also tells the story of his final race of the season, OZ Trails, when he bonked so hard that he started riding the course backward when he was less than half a mile from winning the race. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

For over 20 years, Jamie Bestwick reigned as one of BMX's most decorated athletes in the history of the sport. Since competing in his first X Games in 1996, he's won 14 gold medals at the event, including in nine consecutive years. In 2005, he won every single event in which he competed. Now he's found a new outlet: gravel racing. In this conversation, Jamie tells Payson about his harrowing experience racing at Unbound Gravel earlier this year, including what made him complete the 206 miles in spite of nearly quitting halfway through, and why he can't wait to do it again next year. They also talk about his BMX career and the tradeoffs he had to make to be the best in the world. They discuss the dark side of achieving athletic greatness, and the tragic passing of his friend and competitor, Dave Mirra. Jamie also tells Payson about coaching Team GB BMX rider Charlotte Worthington to victory at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year, and explains why her surprise upset of American superstar Hannah Roberts was actually the result of a carefully calculated strategy.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Matt Phillips has ridden more bikes than perhaps anyone else in the world. And over the last 30 years reviewing cycling gear, he's tried just about everything the industry has to offer. But his job is not always the dream career that cycling enthusiasts might imagine. In this conversation, Matt opens up about the unsettled relationship between his work as a tech journalist and his struggles with mental health. While much of his job involves riding new bikes and testing cutting edge equipment, it also includes criticism from readers and brands, and the pressure to maintain quality content and adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of media and journalism.He talks about why he pushes himself to be a technically skilled rider, what he wishes the industry would focus on more,  the death of print media, why gravel is the answer to road's innovation problem, and why he doesn't see athletes creating their own media as a threat to his own work. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Reed Boggs is a freeride mountain biker who placed third at this year’s Red Bull Rampage. The event is known for pushing the boundaries of freeriding and has seen its fair share of groundbreaking runs. Reed has competed in three Rampages, and explains why, in his case, experience was the only way to success. He also talks about how he got into freeriding as a teenager from suburban Ohio, why he wasn't sure that he'd even get to ride in this year's Rampage, and why he's outspoken about riding responsibly on public and private land.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Joe Cruz has been bikepacking since the 80s, when a college trip introduced him to the excitement and challenge of multi-day cycling adventures. Since then, he's raced and bikepacked his way across the world, including journeys through Ethiopia, Patagonia, Pakistan, and Tibet. When he's not riding his bike, he is Professor of Philosophy at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he also chairs the Cognitive Science Program. In this interview, Joe talks about how the physicality and adventure of bikepacking complements his academic work, why the pace of cycling invites a unique form of philosophical thinking, and how he works to avoid entitlement or expectation when encountering new cultures on his bikepacking trips. He also talks about being held captive for almost an hour in a village in Ethiopia, and the trip he took through Pakistan during the height of the War on Terror. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc