Welcome back to another episode of OffRoad InRoads. Today's episode is a little different as we shift from our typical guests, to bring on photographer/filmmaker and budding recreational gravel racer Nicole McFadden.

Nicole filmed and produced the recently released Fast and Slow Presented by Stan's. Here's the brief, go have a watch. 

Travel alongside pro off-road bike racers, Haley Smith and Andrew L’Esperance, to Canada’s rugged north as they chase twin titles for men and women’s National XC Marathon MTB Championships and get to the heart of what makes the Yukon a special place to ride.

We off course wanted to record this episode to share the film, but also to get to know Nicole. Nicole is new to cycling and works in film for her full-time job with Parks Canada. She has an interesting set of intersecting skills and interests that led her to this project and we dive into them on the show. We get to recall our experiencing making this film together, along with Drew and Haley, on our trip to Whitehorse, Yukon.

Thanks to everyone that helped make this film happen, particularly Stan's No Tubes and Maxxis Factory Racing. 

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy
Joined by:  Nicole @nicolemcfadds
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs

Welcome back to OffRoad InRoads and to the episode following The RAD in Trinidad, Colorado. This was the 6th and penultimate stop on the LTGP tour and a new-to-the-series event.

Maxxis Factory Racing was split this weekend with Haley competing in the MTB Marathon World Cup in Snowshoe, West Virgina and myself in Southern Colorado on the gravel bike. I did this trip with Kerry Werner who races for Bike Flights and Kona. We both share many sponsors, including Bike Flights and Maxxis and he's a cool guy, so we did the trip together. We recorded a conversation afterwards.

Kerry is coming at this off-road racing scene via XC and endurance MTB along with CX. The biggest rides of his career have been in cyclocross and I think its fair to say he has the eastern-US MTB stage racing scene pretty locked down. Kerry is also a YT guy, check out his VLOG The Rad LifeTime Grand Prix | Race 6 | Vlog following this round of the LTGP. 

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy
Joined by: Kerry Werner @kerryw24
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs

Welcome back to OffRoad InRoads and to the episode following Canadian XCM National Championships. We are back from an impromptu summer break for the podcast and we have a busy fall of racing ahead. 

To kick September off Haley and Lespy traveled to Whitehorse, Yukon to race at the Canadian XCM National Championships. It was an incredible opportunity to visit the Canadian North and to compete for a maple leaf jersey. It was a great weekend for the team with both Haley and Lespy earning their first Elite National titles.

Today’s guests also made the trip up to Whitehorse and the both share a similar story, it was an incredible experience and I need to go back! 

First up on the show we have Ruby West who is an athlete that takes multi-discipline to the next level. XCM Nationals was Ruby’s 4th National Championship event of the season, having competed in Road, Track, and Gravel Nationals already this season. Ruby finished up 2nd on the day to go with several other National Champs podiums this season. Ruby grew up racing off-road, with the early part of her career spent on the mountain bike and ‘cross bike. She returns to off-road racing to create the balance that she needs to perform her best on the track. We chat about her experience in the Yukon, how she balances pursuing Olympic dreams on the track with her love of many different kinds of bike racing and what the future may hold for her. 

Next up, we have Carter Nieuwesteeg on the show, a professional off-road and founder of Anything Goes Event Series (AGES), the company that produces the Fernie Gravel Grind. Carter had this event on his radar for a while and although the day didn’t play out as he had hoped, he really enjoyed the experience in the Yukon and is counting the days until he gets back there. We hear about what happened in the race and how he turned it around the next week to finish the season up on a high note at the Revy Fifty. Carter essentially holds two full-time jobs, one being an athlete and the other running events for AGES. Between BWRs, MTB Stage Race double-headers and everything that goes into running AGES, it was a full-on summer for Carter but he wouldn’t have it any other way. We chat about that and his thoughts on the off-road scene from the dual-perspective of an athlete and an event organizer. Hardtail's are the next big thing, you heard it here first.

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy
Joined by:  Ruby @ruby__west and Carter @carternieuwesteeg
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs

Note: Due to technical challenges, this episodes audio quality is not at our typical level, we apologize and will ensure it is improved for upcoming episode. Thanks!

We are here on Vancouver Island for BC Bike Race and going to bring you inside the Ultimate Singletrack experience.

This is the final episode of our BCBR series. Lespy is joined by producer Bill Schieken to break down the final days of racing and the whole experience at BC Bike Race.

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy
Joined by:  Bill Schieken @cxhairs
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs

We are here on Vancouver Island for BC Bike Race and going to bring you inside the Ultimate Singletrack experience.

Today's guest is someone you may not be familiar with, but you should keep an eye out. Eva Poidevin is a XCO racer from Canada that has been throwing her hand in the off-road endurance space this season. She has had a strong run at BCBR this year with several days on the podium, holding steady in 3rd overall with one-to-go and a stage win on Stage 6 in Campbell River. We chat about her season this year,  what it's like racing at BCBR with a deep field of women and how she got her start in the sport. Enjoy the conversation. 

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy
Joined by:  @e_poidev
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs

We are here on Vancouver Island for BC Bike Race and going to bring you inside the Ultimate Singletrack experience.

Today's guest is Maxxis Factory Racing OG and Canadian MTB legend Geoff Kabush. Geoff is bringing his experience and skill to one of the deepest BCBR Pro Men's fields in recent history. We chat about his background at this event, his bike setup that is maximized for the downs and his strategy for managing these heavy racing efforts. Enjoy the conversation.

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy
Joined by:  @geoffkabush
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs

We are here on Vancouver Island for BC Bike Race and going to bring you inside the Ultimate Singletrack experience.

What does a guy that started a bike company 42 years ago do for fun? Ride bikes of course! Lucky to have the founder of Ibis Bicycles, Scot Nicol on the show for a chat. Scot is mixing it up in the 60+ category at BCBR and enjoying the sweet singletrack that the island offers. Enjoy the conversation.

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy
Joined by:  @scotnicol
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs

We are here on Vancouver Island for BC Bike Race and going to bring you inside the Ultimate Singletrack experience.

Enjoy the conversation with Katerina  Nash chatting about the good times racing at BCBR, 20 years on Maxxis Tires and gravel bikes vs. MTBs on singletrack. Lets go!

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy
Joined by:  @katkanash
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs

We are here on Vancouver Island for BC Bike Race and going to bring you inside the Ultimate Singletrack experience.

Enjoy the conversation with Andreas 'Dre' Hestler chatting about the history of this event, the challenges the past few years and what this event is all about. Lets go!

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy
Joined by:  @ahestler
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs

We are back for part 2 of the Unbound show for OffRoad InRoads. The mud is most certainly cleaned up by now and athletes are coming out of the hole that they dug for themselves at Unbound. We are very lucky to be joined by Sarah Sturm, the thoughtful, energetic and fierce competitor in the North American off-road scene

Unbound is THE gravel race in the North America, a 200 mile beast on the rough and rugged roads of Kansas. The 2023 edition was one to remember with rain, mud, heat and mechanicals along with notable changes to the racing rules. These changes include aerobars not being allowed in the pro race, and separated, amateur, pro women's and pro men's starts.

In the episode, Haley and Lespy chat about the challenges they experienced in the race including the endless mechanical fixes that Lespy pursued to attempt to keep moving forward. They chat about the first mud section and weigh-in on both sides of the conversation. Lespy and Sarah chat about a broad range of topics including her impressive start to the season and the consistency she is demonstrating across many different types of off-road racing. Sarah finished 3rd at Unbound this year and she shares her experience on the day, her opinion on the first mud section and insights into her mental approach to the racing. We had a great conversation, enjoy. 

Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.

Enjoy the show.

Hosted by: @andrewlespy and @haleyhuntersmith
Joined by:  @sarahsturmy
Produced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairs