Talking Luft is back for another week & I’m chatting with British pro Hannah Barnes, who rides for Canyon-SRAM. In true Talking Luft style we chat a bit of life outside of the peloton & the good things in life. As you can see, Hannah runs some sensational Luft in her cap so I was […]

Talking Luft! with Hannah Barnes. S2.E16.

Ever wondered what life is like as a professional cyclist?

Australian ex-professional cyclist Mitch Docker takes you inside the world of Professional Cycling. 
Bringing you the stories behind the individuals in the sport - from the pros in the peloton to staff behind the teams - to commentators & legends, plus training insights & debriefs on major races throughout the year. It’s all here!
Newly retired from the professional peloton, Mitch is exploring his new pelotons - all the pelotons that exist outside of the world tour - bringing you new stories from within the cycling community. 

His spin off series, Talking Luft - a bit like the DVD Extras - is where cycling style & culture takes centre stage. Talking cycling caps, bikes, kit, coffee stops, training loops and all the best things about riding a bike.
 
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After a short pause, this week we’re back with another episode of The Race Communiqué!
 
We’ve had an absolutely bumper month of racing with the first Grand Tour of the year, the Giro d’Italia, wrapping up in Rome just a few days ago.
 
Racing is what this pod is all about and we are going to be driving right into the heart of all the recent action with current pro Luke Durbridge and sports director Tom Southam helping me pick apart a brilliant few weeks of cycling.
 
Before we get into the action on the road though, the big news is the results of our first attempts at our sponsor - The Escape Collective’s, brilliant fantasy league game are in! We all had a bit of fun with this one here at the pod, and I’ll let you have a listen to see how we went. I would say though, that given the experience and knowledge on this podcast panel, you may be surprised by some of the performances in the league!
 
As well as covering the big stories at the Giro we each nominate our revelations of the race. As ever, a lot of the best bits of the race were the stories behind the headlines, and there were some cracking sub-plots going on with revelations like Georg Steinhauser and Guilio Pellizzari turning a few heads.
 
There has been plenty going on in the peloton outside the Giro as well. Luke gives us some insight into how the UCI points ranking is already a huge topic for riders and teams at the mid-point of the three-year cycle. Tom looks at the complications of even just getting into the breakaway these days before the super teams hoover up all the wins on the road, and why that will be a big influence on the way the racing goes in the rest of the season.
 
It’s great to get back to chatting about what is happening in the pro peloton and really get behind the scenes with a lot of the stuff that is new to me these days. I hope you guys enjoy this one.
 
Cheers,
 
Mitch

The Race Communiqué - Episode 5

This is a short excerpt from the longer episode. To listen to the whole thing and future episodes become a member of The Pelo.
In this month’s Chronicles Sveino and I have gone for probably our deepest dive yet - back to where we first got to know each other, taking a look at the formation of Australia’s first ever World Tour cycling team, GreenEDGE. 
Most of you will know the team - which is now known as Jayco Alula, already, and many of you may remember those first few years and big wins. These days it’s easy to take it for granted but when this team arrived in Europe it was fresh and very new, and it delivered right from the start - taking out thirty races, including Milan San Remo with Simon Gerrans in its first year of existence! 
As well as performing on the road the team had an amazing presence with guys like Dan Jones working to create the image of a real Australian team, and having a lot of fun along the way with a few unconventional ideas - like that infamous ‘Call Me Maybe’ video from 2012. 
For myself as an Australian being part of a team like GreenEdge was huge. It was as close as you could come outside of the World Championships to racing for Australia. The team represented a country and a culture, and for the international riders on the team like Sveino it was a chance to be brought in to the Aussie way and to be a part of a really special team. 
As riders we had both experienced the team from the inside, and it played a huge role in our careers, so for this episode we wanted to really get behind the scenes and understand how the team was built, what was the idea behind it, and how and why it worked the way it did. We wanted to cover all angles and hear about the parts that even we didn’t see or understand at the time. 
We were lucky to get hold of the son of the founder and the man who helped make it all work, Andrew Ryan, as well as head DS Matt White, star riders Simon Gerrans and Daryl Impey and our good mate Luke Durbridge who is now in his thirteenth pro season with the team. On top of all of that we spoke to the man behind bringing a lot of that fun hardworking (occasionally pie-eating) Australian culture videographer Dan Jones. 
Of course, Sveino and I also chip in with our own stories and experiences riding for and being a part of the team. 
This is a really special episode for myself and for Sveino. GreenEDGE formed a huge part of our racing career and there are so many memories there that this was a real gift to be able to record. We both really hope that it comes through to you guys and you take the time to give it a listen, it’s a big one but it’s a good one! 
Cheers!
Mitch

Life in the Peloton Chronicles: The story of GreenEDGE

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This week on Life in the Peloton we have a rider who really is one of a kind - possibly the first person to combine Enduro MTB racing and bike packing; Matthew Fairbrother.
For those of you that don’t know, as an 18 year-old Matt headed over to Europe to race in the Enduro World Series (now EDR), and ended up on an unplanned bike-packing adventure, riding between rounds as far apart as Scotland and Slovenia. 
Like a lot of people, I can remember hearing about Matt at the time - this crazy kid who was riding a massive Enduro MTB between races - and then still competing for results in a competition as difficult as Enduro, which (as I’ve learned) requires some amazing technical skills on the MTB. His adventures really caught on, and since then he has managed to travel the world with the support of the MTB community, making his a really incredible and unique journey with the bike. 
As I’ve gotten to know Matt, I thought it was the perfect time to dive in to his story and to understand how this concept of mixing bike-packing and Enduro MTB came to be, and, interestingly for me, what it was like to be totally alone with just a bike and a few dollars in Europe. For many of us roadies who think that travelling to Europe to race for a team is a lonely experience - you really have to check this pod out and hear how tough things can really be! 
Above all else Matt has a really cool outlook on life, and I’ve had such a great time learning from him, and of course having the chance to make this pod!
Cheers!
Mitch

Matt Fairbrother

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What else could we be talking about on Talking Luft Top 6 this week other than the Giro d’Italia!
My guest on this episode of the pod is one of the many people who keep the sport looking and sounding so cool from the other side of the lens, film producer and director, Harry Dowdney.
Harry has been behind the camera in some of the most memorable cycling films of the past few years - on more than one occasion he had me dressed in retro gear retracing the steps of riders from some insane ride from another era.
More than that though, Harry is an expert cycling fan who loves the Giro – if you ever needed any proof of that go and check out who is currently leading the Escape Collective Fantasy Giro competition!
The Giro is a race that people love, it sums up the feel of racing in Italy; the style, the passion, the food, the mountains, and the people – it all adds up to being a special race and it made choosing our own personal top 6 most influential things a lot of fun.
This week we had some great picks, we go through some classic editions of the race and get to discuss some of those iconic Italian mountains that we love (or hate - depending on if you’re riding). Of course, any Giro chat wouldn’t be complete without throwing in some of those larger-than-life icons of Italian cycling too. We had so much to work with – I could have done a whole pod just on our favourite Cipollini looks to be honest!
I was so happy to have Harry on for this pod – he clearly loves the race and his knowledge of the details of so many Giri is incredible. I was buzzing after making this one, so chuck it on when you settle down for one of those sprint stages and enjoy!
Cheers!
Mitch
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This episode is supported by our friends at Pillar Performance.

Talking Luft Top 6's! Giro d'Italia's Most Influential with Harry Dowdney

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After dipping my toes into MTB Enduro on the pod a few weeks back, in this episode of Life in the Peloton I dive right in, at one of the best Enduro events in the world, the NZ MTB Rally.
The NZ MTB Rally is a six-day Enduro event that takes place around Nelson on the South Island of New Zealand. Nelson is the place to head to for a lot of the Kiwi Enduro riders, and each day promised some absolutely incredible trails, as well as amazing scenery (even if I didn’t have much time for that). 
As much as the NZ MTB Rally is a race - the overall feel was that the organisers had gone out of their way to fit as much of the best stuff they could into every day, so every competitor would get the most out of their experience.  
As is the format of Enduro racing each day was broken down into four to seven timed downhill stages, and the nights were a chance to kick back and catch up with everyone over a few beers.
For someone who was very new to the sport it really was a challenge to take part in an event like this. There is nothing quite like waking up and seeing you’ve yet another double black ++ trail ahead of you… but I really wanted to discover what it was about this intimidating area of the sport that makes it so addictive to the people who take part in it. 
While I was there, I spoke to a huge cast of riders and racers from all over the world, as well as many of the locals who know and love these trails, in order to get the best possible idea of what it was all about. 
After my lessons from Paul Van Der Ploeg back in Australia, and thanks again to some help on the road from Matt Fairbrother, I was able to not only enjoy the riding but also to become part of the community that makes the sport what it is. 
It is one thing to learn to ride some DH but to actually be a part of the event, taking the helicopter rides up the mountain, committing to dropping in (and trying to work out why downhill mountain bikers wear their helmets at dinner) was really a fantastic experience. 
If you’re curious about what these events are all about, or even if you just fancy following along on my journey way out of my element, then give this a listen. It opened my eyes and I hope that it’ll do the same for you - and maybe make sliding off the side of a mountain something you give a go for yourself! 
Cheers!
Mitch
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Talking Luft! with Hannah Barnes. S2.E16.

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