Off The Back Podcast

The cross season continues with Dutch riders MVDP and Annemarie Worst asserting their dominance on this weekend's racing. They both won at the World Cup in Tabor in the Czech Republic and DVV Trofee's Flandriencross. We dig into why we love watching cross and how they won their races.

We have some competition from local, 13 year old vlogger Finn Westover, who's US Nats walk-through got shared by Cyclocross Magazine! We're not threatened though, with our stranglehold on the PNW podcasting world, we're not going anywhere.

When it came to creating our custom Off the Back Podcast kit, Rapha became a natural choice in launching their Custom Kit designer last year. Danny put a design together and just in time for the Tour of California (RIP) we had our sweet sweet kits. We talk about why Rapha revolutionized cycling apparel and created a market for niche cycle-wear products.

Finally, World Champion MVDP won the European Championships in Italy, meaning that we won't see the jersey for a little while. The Netherlands retain the jersey with Lara Kastelijn leading from lap one with a solid battle to get back by Italian Eva Lechner. Check out the Italian kit if you want to see a national kit done right.

Last week AEG Sports, organizers of the AMGEN Tour of California announced a one year hiatus after 14 successful editions. For Danny and Matt, who look forward to their yearly lycra-spotting trip to NorCal this is a huge disappointment. What does this mean for bicycle racing in the US and how it will impact the next generation of riders?

This weekend hosted two of the most excited cross races of the season, DVV's Koppenbergcross and Superprestige Dumbledore. Iserbyt and Pidcock battled it out over the multiple climbs up the cobbles and rutted descents, and MVDP asserted his dominance as the worlds number 1 cyclist in all disciplines by taking victory in his first race back. In the women's 777 team took the podium on Friday and Alverado lead from the start with dominance, with strong performances from Cant, Compton, and Keough.

Danny and Matt dig into what chips away at their love of cycling and demotivates them to go out and ride. It's not all doom and gloom though, because they also discuss what gets them back in the mood and gets them to put on tight spandex and get out there.

We continue our series of Things We Use But Aren't Sponsoring Us (TWUBASU)and look at Saddles, Bartape, and Pedals. What attracted us to the brands we've grown to love and what did we try on the way?

2019 has been a threshold year as cycling enters a new era. We talk about 2 cyclists that are retiring, 3 legends who have recently been hospitalized, and reflect on the changing peloton.

The 2019 Cycling World Championships wrapped up this week and Matt and Danny take a look at each of the races. Surprise winner, Denmark's Mads Pedersen, won after 7 hours of cold and rain on Sunday while the Netherland's Annemiek Van Vleuten dominated Saturday's Women's race with a 100km solo attack that kept the world's top talent at bay.

They also talk through their usual week recap. Danny has his own MVDP moment and Matt's second cross race fell apart.

A special week recap that includes Matt's first cross race of the season #crossishere. It was a wet and muddy affair where Matt was handily defeated by a 14 year old. Danny updates us on the whoop and tells us that he's never slept long enough. We dive into some news around Strava's new Fitness and Freshness features, and we quickly recap some racing with the Vuelta wrapping up and the first Cross World Cup of the season.

This week we look at a few different Things We Use But Aren’t Sponsoring Us. Danny has received and set up his Whoop Band. It wasn’t a great experience. Matt raves about his new Walker Goods States Duffel bag that he got for a race kit bag. Our main TWUBASU this week is the ELEMNT cycle computer from Wahoo Fitness. We've been huge fans of Wahoo for a long time and have used their ELEMNT GPS computer and other Heart-rate and Speed sensors for many years now.

Whoop.com

Walkergoods.com

WahooFitness.com

We listen to a lot of cycling media and have heard many podcasts talk about products they've been sponsored to promote. We don't have any sponsors, but use products that we love and want to talk about. In this episode we start a series we've called TWUBASU (Things We Use But Aren't Sponsoring Us). Listen to what makes Strava, the GPS tracking and social network app a well deserved first Twubasu of this series.

The 75th Vuelta a Espana is underway and Matt hasn't watched any of it. Danny catches us all up. Thanks Danny. Matt shares his initial impressions of the WTB Venture 40 Gravel Tire and look at the new 3D printing tech Specialized are using to make the most comfortable saddle ever, the Mirror 3D.

https://www.wtb.com/products/venture?variant=28317932650573

https://www.carbon3d.com/specialized/