With Pace

Reilly Brennan is an early stage investor in the transportation industry and a lecturer at Stanford’s School of Engineering. As cofounder of Trucks, a venture capital group that funds the future of transportation, he has played a crucial role in the development of self driving car technology and other advances that will modernize the way we move from place to place. In this conversation, he explains to Payson how transportation touches every part of life, the thousands of decisions that go into evaluating young entrepreneurs, why he invests in the person over the idea, and how he uses the principles of cultural anthropology to assess the potential of the teams that pitch to him. As an avid sports fan, Reilly also has thoughts on the changing landscape of the industry, including the ways in which social media is making athletes more powerful than their sanctioning bodies, why young athletes shouldn’t wait to secure sponsors or results to start creating a personal brand, and what the NBA is doing right. Early in his career, Reilly was a member of the Le Mans-winning Corvette C5-R program, and watches car racing closely. He talks about why NASCAR isn’t what it used to be, why Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was the last of the great NASCAR drivers, and why the commoditization of the sport deliberately robs drivers of their personalities. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Angel Collinson is one of the most accomplished big mountain freestyle skiers in the world. Throughout her career, she's won two championship titles at the Freeskiing World Tour, and was the first woman to be awarded Best Line at the Powder Video Awards in 2016. Angel is perhaps best known for her many appearances in Teton Gravity Research’s (TGR) annual ski films, which have featured some of her most spectacular and daring runs. When Payson interviewed Angel last week at Red Bull headquarters, she was still recovering from a thousand foot tumble down an Alaskan mountain that led to a second knee surgery and extensive rehab. In this conversation, they discuss her injury, how she has maintained her legendary positivity throughout the lengthy recovery process, her close relationship with brother and fellow professional skier John Collinson, and how leaving a promising academic career in Environmental Law to pursue skiing gave her an even more powerful voice as a lobbyist for environmental change in Washington and beyond. They also go in depth on Angel’s complex feelings about the post-#MeToo era and how she thinks the pendulum might have swung too far. And just in case the conversation was in danger of getting a little too serious, Angel tells the story of when her dad lowered her headfirst into an outhouse toilet by the ankles. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Neal Rogers has been a cycling journalist for nearly twenty years, writing for publications such as VeloNews (where he was Editor in Chief), Global Cycling Network, and Cycling Tips. Throughout his career he’s covered some of the biggest races and interviewed some of the most famous riders in the world. In this conversation, he discusses his unusual path into cycling journalism, the riders he most enjoyed interviewing, tough decisions about picking truth over friendship, the journalistic intricacies of when NOT to go live with information, and why he’s feeling ready to move beyond cycling. Notably, he also shares a story of confronting the yellow jersey wearer at the 2007 Tour de France with a doping allegation, and how that question proved the beginning of the end for the rider. Lastly, Payson and Neal discuss how the efforts of journalists to expose the truth have helped today’s pros enjoy a cleaner sport. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Todd Wells is one of the most decorated mountain bikers in U.S. history. Across his more than 25 year career, he's won three Cyclocross National Championships, three consecutive Mountain Bike National Championships, and represented the USA at three Olympic games. In addition to UCI racing, he's won multiple stage races, including La Ruta de los Conquistadores, Breck Epic, and the Leadville 100 three times. Although he retired in 2017, he continues to race occasionally, and has won the Telluride 100 the last two years. In this conversation, Payson and Todd discuss his prolific career, why he continues to race after retirement, why his 25-year relationship with his wife has been crucial to his success, and his least favorite part of racing. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

For our final show of 2019, we’re bringing you a much requested Q&A episode. Payson sits down to answer some of your questions about training, motivation, diet, the kindness of strangers, off the bike hobbies, and much, much more. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Sepp Kuss is a World Tour road cyclist currently riding for Team Jumbo-Visma. He's raced the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, and was just named to his teams's 2020 Tour de France lineup. His major wins include stage 17 of the 2019 Vuelta a España, and three stages and the overall in the 2018 Tour of Utah. Sepp and Payson recorded this interview in front of a live audience at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic registration event in Durango, Colorado, Sepp's home town. They talk about his transition from mountain biking to road cycling, the pressures of being singled out as one of the most promising up-and-comers of the World Tour circuit, staying grounded in a new world of fame and success, and why he's not interested in being a leader at Grand Tours at this point. In the second half of the interview, the floor is opened up to audience questions. Some Durango's cycling icons such as Todd Wells and Ned Overend were in attendance and had questions for Sepp.Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Phil Gaimon is a former World Tour road cyclist who rode for Garmin-Sharp and Cannondale-Drapac among others. While racing, he blogged for VeloNews, Bicycling, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and wrote the popular book Pro Cycling on $10 a Day (2014).  He retired at age 30, expecting to hang up his race bike and put on some cookie-weight. He continued writing (Draft Animals (2017)), but through a series of unexpected twists, launched his wildly successful YouTube show “Worst Retirement Ever,” which follows his pursuit of breaking hill climb records all over the world. In this conversation, Phil and Payson discuss his decision to quit pro cycling early, how he got his start on YouTube after a marketing job fell through, stealing STRAVA KOM’s from dopers, racing Fabian Cancellara for charity after an internet spat, and how he became the final authority on cookie ratings on Instagram.  Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Christian Williams and Payson have been working together for over a decade, ever since Payson was a junior racing in local and state races in Texas. Over 20 years of coaching, Christian has led over a hundred riders to national podiums, and been the director of the Garmin development team and the USA Pan American Games team. In addition to his coaching, he's raced for over 35 years as well. In this conversation, he and Payson discuss why their relationship has lasted for so many years when most coach/athlete relationships last only months, the training methods Christian uses for pros and non-professional cyclists, doping, and why former pros don’t always make the best coaches. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Tiffany Cromwell is an Australian road cyclist who rides for Canyon-SRAM. Her many accomplishments include stage wins at the Gira d’Italia and victory in the Belgium Spring Classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. She and Payson caught up this summer at Steamboat Gravel (SBT GRVL) to talk about her early introduction to the world of professional cycling, starting her own fashion line, how she’s hoping to turn her passion for travel into a post-cycling career, and what she wants to see change in women’s road cycling. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc

Carson Storch is a freeride and slopestyle mountain biker, best known for his participation in the Mountain Bike Freeride World Tour and Red Bull Rampage. He and Payson caught up in L.A. only a few days after this year's Rampage to talk about the event and its challenges. They discuss the behind-the-scenes build process that can make or break a good run, and the alliances and politics involved with it. They talk about techniques Carson uses to keep his cool during such a high stakes competition, and why he keeps his gym regimen to a minimum. They also do a deep dive into Carson's experiences filming the 2018 film North of Nightfall in which he and three other big mountain freeriders were taken on a month-long filming expedition to Axel Heiberg, an uninhabited island in the High Arctic that is home to one of the world's largest glaciers and is experiencing some of the most rapid repercussions of climate change. Instagram: @withpacepodcastYouTube: Payson McElveenEmail: howdy@withpace.cc