Holy Spirit of Gravel

In this episode of the privateer deep dive series we bring in not one but two young gravel heads to find out what's going down in the world of gravel U23.

Are the kids indeed alright?

We talk to Mach1Devo team member Oskar Stack-Michasiw and substackian bike journalist Kyle Dawes about Unbound in particular but also what the general vibes of being a U23 athlete is all about and what the media landscape for this division is shaping up to be. Life Time is working towards legitimizing their league as a space for younger athletes but it is still a bit of a mystery for many of us normies what all is going on and it can look weird a bit weird if you ask about children-coded folks (they are all of draftable ages as far as I know). We also get into how we all know each other and bonus chat about the viral Canadian Gravel Nattys (Oskar is Canadian if it wasn't obvious from his accent).

Anyway it was fun to link with these guys again after the time we spent eating rural Kansas diner food (very good) and stacking bike cases into airport shuttles.

Read Kyle's great piece on Mach1Devo here!

who is the Wemby of gravel?

who is the Cape Verde goalkeeper of gravel?

do you not know what I am talking about because seemingly many cyclists do not know about other sports?

BWR Utah and a UCI gravel race in France happened and we might be one of the only gravel pods that mention it? Maybe not! But we drop some names regardless.

We talk some post-Unbound content and run a vibe check on the overall state of the sport. (As per usual some stuff in this sport doesn't make sense but if it's important enough to pod about it, that means its all good).

Is Team Specialized not going to the expo to chop it up with gravel dads the true death of the spirit of gravel or does no one care because they're winning and hop on pods after races?

Fan favorite Maddy Nutt explains ultra racing to me (someone who thinks 100 is a long ass ride) and I don't really get it but you can imagine me nodding along like you do when a crazy person is telling tall tales. Except the tales here are all real!! Maddy got second at Unbound XL just a month after winning Traka XL.

She tells me how to rode through thunder and lightning, walked for 5 (FIVE) hours in the mud and how the vibes are different from regular ol 200 mile distance racing. We also chat about Laufs because we both have one and they're fun to talk to about. I think you'll enjoy this one!!

Maddy Nutt on instagram and youtube

Use code HSOGSEAL for 15% off all Stans products!

I went to Unbound Gravel, the SUPER BOWL race formerly known as DeeKay 200 and I was there to WORK. It's not at the end of the season but it's still the most important race of the season. Even though I was kept busy the entire time, I still managed to have lots of fun. I work better after a few cold ones anyway.

But more important than myself, the race was really activated. Wheel swaps, sprint finishes and YOU, the normie, were there. Doing something. I'm sorry the live stream doesn't show you but it is what it is. You have a real life and real jobs, that's consolation.

Is gravel racing gaining fans or is the culture just deepening in a way that makes it feel more real? Wild Card list of dropped right before we recorded and we actually talk about it.

Topics include:

• the optics of finishing one two as a team
• knowing how to swap a wheel
• "cooldown"-coded pods as a genre
• watching Goodfellas
• rules of using Conti Bikes instagram
• using Speech To Text on a bike
• Bjork
• the race was hard
• Paige Onweller

Use code "HSOGSEAL" for 15% off Stans products

My Traka experience brought to you Girona sponsored by G-Town.

As always, vibes based analysis and deconstruction of a race, a sport and its place in hearts and minds.

The meme admin x privateer collab the world has been waiting for..... HSOG x SOFIA SCHUGAR. Yes, THE Sofia, as we call her.

The world of gravel has longing for this meet up and Traka 2026 in Girona it finally happened. If I am the meme admin who dreams of being a pro athlete, Sofia is like my counterpart, the pro athlete who dreams of memery.

And in this pod episode it shows. It's the nearly two hour long gravel equivalent of the convos girls have in the bathrooms at night clubs. We talk about ourselves, our friends, this deranged sport we love and gravel tires. I don't really understand how people can say the "spirit of gravel" is dead with homegirls like this are 'diplomats' for this sport.

Follow this crazy chick on da gram, you wont regret it: https://www.instagram.com/literallysofiaschugar/

The season is official underway! (even though marquee races and other leagues have been going on for weeks now)

But still, it was Sea Otter weekend!

A trade show-cum-influencer showcase, in case you hadn't heard of it. It was also the start of the Life Time Grand Prix. A series with consequences. Really good stuff for a meme sport!

My cohost watched 15 minutes of the Sea Otter Gravel Classic live stream and I caught pretty much all 6 hours of it. And with that we recorded a podcast episode for everyone with depressing work commutes and sad trainer rides.

Topics include:

• pedaling ebikes?
• name dropping
• Trey Sheppard
• doping should be required
• live stream politics
• BRUTAL sea other course
• sea otter course BRUTALITY
• name dropping Kate Courtney to children so they ride more
• Lebron
• gravel racing
• "best power numbers ever"
• which was better the OJ Simpson docudrama or the Menendez Brothers
• LTGP results by year
• Levi's grand fondo start list
• going to Girona and Traka
• joining Sarah Sturm's pregnancy pact
• and much more!
• oh and the Dyatlov Pass incident

or in other words, How My Podium at Rattlesnake Gravel Saved the Sport of Gravel Racing

topics include:

- the spirit of gravel

- gravel racing

- gravel bikes

- gravel cycling

- my life

- my rich aunt

- my podium

- rattlesnake gravel

- VCletsgetit being a good influence on young men

- Bridgerton

- being non-verbal

- new life time website

- life time grand prix pregnancy policy

Winner of the Men's Midsouth Elite/Pro/Friday racer/Privateer/normie XL race, we had Durango native Cobe Freeburn of Trek Driftless on the pod to chit chat about how he rode 28c tires to the win (maybe a bit wider) and how that finish went down, what exactly is the Cliff Family Foundation, why Fort Lewis college is cool and what his plans are for the rest of the year.

My audio is a bit glitched out but Cobe's is fine and that's the most important thing.

follow Cobe on instagram and comment to make him addicted to instagram since he currently is cool and definitely not a screen addict

Those vibe check snipers on the rooftop will make sure of it.