This week we've got a freewheelin discussion of all things SPEEDWEEK 2023. What teams showed up, who surprised us, and of course the crash that took Legion of LA out of contention. We also talk about Justin Williams recently announced C.R.I.T. series and the controversy around it, as well as Tour of the Gila.

The First NCL Race is this weekend, so we spend most of the episode talking all things NCL. We know a little more now than we did last episode, and I dug up an NCL race from the 90's. Before all of that we talk about the smaller races that have happened around the nation recently and who's looking sharp in The American Peloton

Catching up on lots of racing after our Gabe Mendez interview last time. Goin all over the country to talk big teams at small races, whos gearing up, and what they're gearing up for.

*Jonathan here, sorry my audio comes in a little hot and Gabe was on a phone. I did my best to tame it all in post production, but I did make sure the episode is all audible and intelligible. There was too much wild stuff in here not to use it. Hopefully first of many guests for us, so I'll keep improving for sure.*

We've talked a lot about what NCL could look like. When rosters were announced, Ben actually grew up with one of the riders so we got him on the show and he did not disappoint! We've got several exclusives in here, and the NCL race format is WILD. Gabe Mendez has ridden for Hincappe, NGCA Elite, and Foundation CCB over the last few seasons. This year he's bringing his talents to the NCL Miami Nights along with big guns like Frank Travieso, Clever Martinez, and Alfredo Rodriguez.

We've goot one more CBR to talk about before we get into the meager US stage race season kickoff at Valley of the Sun. Justin Williams appears to be back on form, and several of our dark horse picks crack the top10. Matteo Jorgensons sbig win at Oman leads us to the topic the day. Are American races TOO EASY? This week on The American Peloton.

This week we're looking at another CBR with Legion back on top, ACC and NCL news, one of our underrated rider picks scores a big win. We then have a lengthy discussion about the Legion/Best Buddies fight in Salt Lake between Justin Williams and Michael Hernandez, the climate that led up to it, and the state of racing in its wake. Also, I drove a pace car!

Find Ben's coaching company here: https://www.instagram.com/skywaycycling/ We'll start this week's show by going over some rumors that came our way after we speculated about Legion of LA's relationship to the NCL on the last show. We'll also talk about a few high profile transfers. The meat of this episode will be a discussion of America's veteran crit series (that's one year old) The American Criterium Cup. We'll look back at the 2022 ACC season, changes for 2023, and maybe go a little deeper on season opener the Sunny King Crit aka Tha Alabama Cycling Classic (aka the race where I broke my hand last year).   You can subscribe to The American Peloton on podcast platforms. Check it out here https://anchor.fm/jonathan-crain Order coffee from Domestique here: https://www.domestiquecoffee.com/collections/order-coffee-online

Welcome to The American Peloton! J Crain and Coach Ben are going to be talking about bike racing in America on this show. For episode 1 we're diving into the sparse and frankly bizarre media around the new National Cycling League, a new crit series for 2023 that is promising some MASSIVE swings. They've raised 7.5 million dollars in investor capital, they've attracted a couple world tour riders, and they're promising some sort of interactive metaverse coverage. Are we all going to be strapping on an occulus to ride along with Frank Travieso Fulgaz style? Find out on EP1 of The American Peloton.