With Pace

Ian Boswell is gravel racer who formerly raced for WorldTour teams such as Bissell, Trek-Livestrong and Team Sky. During his road career, he raced in the Vuelta a Espana, Giro d’Italia, and Tour de France. Following a series of traumatic head injuries, he stepped away from the sport in 2019 at the peak of his career. Now a year and a half later, he is back to racing, but this time on the gravel scene. Last weekend he placed second at the Rule of Three, his first race since he suffered a concussion at the end of 2019. In this conversation, he and Payson discuss racing each other at the Rule of Three, what he loves about gravel, and why Payson thinks Ian is a contender for winning Unbound next month. Ian also talks about his decision to leave pro road racing, why concussion awareness in sports is so important, and his new life working full-time at a ‘normal’ job and living on a farm in Vermont.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Darian Harvey is the service manager of Mountain Bike Specialists in Durango, CO and a former downhill National Champion. The list of pro cyclists who entrust her with their bikes include Ned Overend, Sepp Kuss, Riley Amos, Ruthie Mathis, and Todd and Troy Wells. Payson has also relied on her expertise ever since he moved to Durango over ten years ago. In this conversation, she tells Payson about how the bike shop has adapted to the pandemic and the current boom in the cycling industry that has caused component shortages and months’ long delays from manufacturers and suppliers. She talks about her early career as a professional downhill racer, where she won back-to-back national championship titles in 2008 and 2009. They also talk about how she stays on top of rapidly evolving cycling technology which now requires her and her coworkers to be electricians and tech experts as well as mechanics, and she also talks about the head injuries she suffered during her racing career and the consequences she’s experiencing decades later. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Today on the show, Payson talks to two influential behind-the-scenes figures in gravel racing. Michelle Duffy is Associate Marketing Director for Life Time, and oversees its  off-road events such as the Leadville 100 and Unbound (formerly Dirty Kanza). She came to cycling after spending years as a marketing manager for the New York City Marathon. Amy Charity is the owner and co-founder of SBT GRVL. She raced professionally as a road cyclist and spent 15 years in the financial sector before founding SBT GRVL. In this interview, they talk about how they turned a major scheduling conflict between two of gravel’s biggest races into a collaborative opportunity. When it became clear that Leadville and SBT GRVL fell on consecutive days, they created LeadBoat, a 250 mile stage race combining the two events which is set to take place later this year. They also talk about expanding the gravel community, and what it’s like being women in a sport which is still dominated by men. They also share their uniquely difficult experiences during 2020, when Amy lost her business partner and Michelle suffered from a life threatening health event. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas are the stars of HGTV’s home renovation show, Bargain Block, which premiered last month. In it, they buy, transform, and resell properties that have fallen into disrepair in Detroit. Evan comes from a science background and carries the technical aspects of their projects, and Keith is the artistic mastermind, tailoring each home to his specific creative vision, all on a tight budget. In this conversation, they talk about how the ongoing history of redlining and bankruptcy in the city has shaped their work there, how they’ve navigated the stress of being business and life partners during the intense pressure of filming, and why they do a lot more of the actual hands-on work than audiences might think. They also talk about why they chose to move to Detroit from their previous home in Denver, DIY tricks for improving the style and value of your home with minimal time and cost, and how Keith incorporates his love of Surrealist painting into his work. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Payson and Nichole answer your questions about their recent trip to Uganda to work for her non-profit, Path of Logic. They answer questions about Nichole’s career, how she came to work with pathologists in Uganda looking to expand the country’s cancer diagnostics facilities, and how she avoids the “white savior” problem. They also talk about Payson’s epic gravel ride through the rift valley, their favorite monkey encounters, and marriage proposals. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Maghalie Rochette is a three-time Canadian Cyclocross Champion, three-time Pan American Cyclocross Champion and Cyclocross World Cup winner. After racing for the Clif Pro team for six years, she decided to strike out on her own as a privateer in 2018. In this interview, she and Payson talk about what prompted her decision to leave her position on such a legendary team, how she learned the hard way to negotiate sponsorship contracts and advocate for herself, and where she hopes to expand her career outside of racing. They also talk about the exhaustion that comes with running your own program and why she makes sure to set aside time to do nothing. She talks about the difficulties of racing in Europe that go beyond jet lag and the language barrier, how she wants to bring cyclocross into the mainstream in Canada, and why she’s grateful to be racing as a woman at this point in cycling. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Today on the show, Payson is joined by photographer/adventurer Chris Burkard, “Queen of Pain” Rebecca Rusch, and adventure filmmaker Gus Morton to discuss their recent fat bike expedition across Iceland’s interior to forge a new route from North to South. The journey lasted six days and involved -23ºC temperatures and punishing  wind and snow. In their first interview after the journey, they talk about how they prepared for conditions which are impossible to replicate outside of Iceland, and the gear, sunscreen, water bottles, and deck screws that got them through it. They talk about the unique skills that each brought to the team, and how they worked together to get through the most challenging and dangerous moments, such as the night that Gus got frostbite in his fingers during a mechanical fix. They also talk about the profound interactions that are a feature of adventures like these, and which are lost in race settings, and why sports remain such an effective way to communicate stories of the human experience.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Brad Copeland is Kate Courtney’s mechanic of over seven years. But while “mechanic” may be his official title, he is so much more. Bodyguard, grocery shopper, and fan favorite are just a few of the many other roles he plays when he’s with her on the race circuit. Kate even wrote a song about him. He’s also one of the most experienced and respected mechanics on the World Cup circuit. In today’s episode, recorded before the pandemic, Payson and Brad discuss the unique position he holds in Kate’s racing life and within the bike mechanic field more broadly. He talks about why their working relationship has lasted so long, why it’s important to make friends with everyone at races, and his worst experience working with Kate so far. He also talks about his wife, Sarah (guest on episode 54 of the show), a leading expert in nuclear nonproliferation, and why her career is not so dissimilar from Kate’s as it might appear. He ranks his three favorite tools (he has over 85), talks about the time he got food poisoning in South Africa during the Cape Epic, and tells an epic story of a prank gone wrong which led to a prank gone very right, featuring World Champion Nino Schurter, the White House, and an FBI agent. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

In this final installment of our Cape Epic series, Payson is joined by Trinity Racing teammates Chris Blevins and Cameron Mason. Chris won the U23 cross country Pan American Championships in 2019 and placed second at the UCI U23 World Championships last year. Cam is a cyclocross racer from Scotland who placed third in the U23 European Championships last year. Both of them are at the forefront of the new generation of multi-disciplinary pro cyclists, which their team, Trinity Racing, as made its hallmark. In this interview, they talk about the prospect of racing as a team in the Cape Epic even though, due to the unusual racing conditions brought on by the pandemic, they have yet to meet in person. Chris talks about why he chose to join Trinity this year, and how he’s finally finding the right balance between college and professional racing. He also talks about his latest creative side projects including poetry and music, and being a member of the advisory board of Silver Stallion, a non-profit in Gallup, New Mexico that provides bikes to Native American reservations in the area. Cam talks about the ups and downs of his 2020 season which was cut short by a broken collarbone in November, but which has allowed him to dedicate more time to creating videos for his popular Youtube channel. He also talks about stepping outside his usual cyclocross training by dipping a toe into ultra distance bikepacking over the summer. And both talk about why having creative outlets makes them better racers. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Alex Howes and Lachlan Morton are teammates on the UCI WorldTeam EF Education-Nippo. Alex is the reigning American road National Champion, and Lachlan has won stages at the Tour of Utah and the Tour of the Gila, among others. In addition to their road credentials, they’ve been making a name for themselves doing off-road races including Dirty Kanza (now Unbound) and the Leadville 100. They’ve been teammates off and on for over ten years, and have raced together on six continents. Last year they were slated to race the Cape Epic, but had to postpone when the event was cancelled. In this interview, they talk about their long friendship, how they've managed to incorporate off road racing into the historically regimented world of professional road racing, and how they think they might conquer the Cape Epic. Lachlan also talks about some of his ultra-endurance experiences from the past year including doing the 500+ miles of the Colorado Trail in four days, and what bikepacking challenges that are still on his bucket list. And Alex talks about recently becoming a father, and whether “dad watts” are a real phenomenon. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc