If you're listening to this, there's a pretty good chance that you love to ride your bike. That can manifest itself in all sorts of different ways. Some of you like to do shuttle runs with your buddies on the weekend or go to the bike park. Some of you like to pedal up the hill. Some of you like to go down the hill. Some of you like to race your bike for a few hours. And some of you… Well, some of you like to race your bike for over 4,000 kilometers through sand, snow, hopefully, more than a little bit of sun, and everything else in between.

Today, Mike Levy talks to Meaghan Hackinen. Meaghan won the 2024 Tour Divide, and she's also a two-time 24-hour world time trial champion, which sounds absolutely insane. We're going to talk about those things, and we're also going to get to sleeping alone in grizzly country, waking up to a scorpion, strategies for doing these ultra-distance events by yourself, and I might have even slipped in a UFO question or two.

Meaghan Hackinen isn't just an adventure seeker; she's a heck of a writer, too. Find her latest work here: meaghanhackinen.com

Read an abbreviated transcript and see a whole bunch of photos here: velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-culture/velo-podcast-meaghan-hackinen/

See more on Velo: velo.outsideonline.com/featured

In this latest podcast, we're talking about winter riding from two different perspectives: the tips and tricks we’ve learned to stay warm during those cold rides, but also how to make your indoor riding suck the least amount possible on those days when you say, “Nah, I’ll just stay inside.”

Besides that, we also get into the news. We dive into the latest 2024 UCI Crash Statistics report and some low-hanging fruit solutions to make road racing safer. Alvin talks about why CES 2025 matters if you're a bike nerd, even if they call it 'personal transportation.' Then there's a breakdown of what the latest SRAM Force AXS leak could mean in the near future, and all of our latest gear on test.

Stories we reference:

‘35% Rider Error’: UCI Issues Intriguing Crash Statistics, Presses Pause on Gear Restrictions, Airbags - https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/35-rider-error-uci-issues-intriguing-crash-statistics/

Vaporware or Gamechanger? The Bike Tech from the CES Show 2025 - https://velo.outsideonline.com/news/vaporware-or-gamechanger-the-bike-tech-from-the-ces-show-2025/

Spotted: Is an Updated SRAM Force AXS Groupset Coming Soon? - https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-gear/spotted-updated-sram-force-axs-groupset/

See the latest from Velo: https://velo.outsideonline.com/featured

Will checks in from Australia at the Tour Down Under to fill us in on what has been going on in the women's race as well as the latest tech.

Will is on a plane going to the Tour Down Under, so it makes perfect sense that we have Senior Tech Editor Josh Ross in to talk all about marsupial pouches on bikes... right?

Today's conversation was all about our worst rides of 2024. Alvin got a series of unfortunate flat tires. Josh went to bonktown and back. And Levy? He had some serious GI issues that forced him into a hotel room.

We also talk about the untimely death of the NCL (National Cycling League), our experiences with AI coaching on the bike, a new carbon adventure gravel fork from No. 6, and a whole lot more. This one's a bit longer than normal, but we had a lot of fun with it, and we hope you will too!

Visit Velo here - https://velo.outsideonline.com/featured

How a LinkedIn post spelled demise for the NCL - https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/the-national-cycling-league-is-officially-dead/

Our experiences with an AI coach - https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-gear/review-coachcat-ai-cycling-coach/

All about that new carbon gravel fork - https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-gear/no-6s-new-carbon-adventure-fork-hits-the-sweet-spot/

This week on the Velo Podcast, host Mike Levy is back with Alvin Holbrook and Will Tracy for the first official video podcast of 2025, and this week it’s all about reflecting on our favorite rides of the past year. 

A favorite ride doesn’t have to be the longest, hardest, or have any certain superlative attached to it — it just has to be memorable in one way or another. But before recounting our favorite rides, which range from dream routes in far-flung locations to an overnight solo expedition, we discuss some news.

Are AI coaching tools coming for the jobs of cycling coaches? We discuss Jim Cotton’s story about Team UAE's new AI tool called Anna, and the implications it may have on training and race strategies. 

In the world of cyclocross racing, the defending world champion Mathieu van der Poel is still out with a bruised rib, while Wout van Aert is back to his winning ways. How are things shaping up weeks out from the world championship?

And Betsy Welch has a story about politics in bike lanes in Toronto. A premier wants to take away bike lanes — but a video game designer is fighting back.

Alvin also fills us in on what’s in the test pipeline for him: including an inflatable helmet and a gravel Brompton.

This week on the Velo Podcast, we have something a little different for you as former Pinkbike editor extraordinaire Mike Levy joins the show to talk gravel and road bikes.

Some of you are no doubt asking yourself right now: “Wait, isn’t he the mountain bike guy?”

Right you are. He’s a multi-faceted person though who has spent the last year exclusively riding road and gravel bikes and has fallen in love with the drop-bar world, taking on some monster rides along the way and learning what a carb is.

In this special episode of the podcast, Levy is joined by yours truly Will Tracy, and tech editor Alvin Holbrook to discuss the pressing issues of our times in gravel and road biking.

We start out with a discussion of some of the latest news, including what a possible SRAM smart trainer means for the market, the transition of Astana to Chinese manufacturer XDS bikes, and Alvin's review of the Factor Ostro VAM.

Other topics include the emergence of carbon spokes and their impact on performance, as well as the unique features of the Kona Ouroboros and Santa Cruz Stigmata gravel bikes that the team has been riding recently.

Finally, we get to the main segment: reflections on personal cycling experiences and the lessons learned throughout the year. We learned a lot on the bike in 2024 (or so we like to think) including knowing when to quit or solider on and how to maintain and in some cases rekindle the joy of cycling, as well as the importance of proper nutrition and fueling and the supportive community found in cycling.

Colnago has unveiled its first aero model in a long time, and it's turning heads. Called the Y1Rs, it's claimed to be the fastest bike in the pro peloton in part due to taking advantage of recently relaxed UCI rules on bike design. It's sure to provide an advantage to the likes of Tadej Pogačar this upcoming road season.

Our tech team talked to Colnago about the new design and is here to break down this futuristic, and polarizing, design.

Later on the episode, Alvin Holbrook shares his thoughts on a road bike he just reviewed that he describes as the antithesis of Colnago's new aero bike, and our tech editors preview their upcoming articles.

This week on the Velo Podcast, host Will Tracy is joined by European correspondent Andrew Hood and retired pro Bobby Julich to discuss the best races, athletes, and moments of the 2024 pro road cycling season.

What were the best grand tours and classics? Who had a standout year or reached that next level? Who had the grittiest performance? And of course, who were the best riders of the year? We bring our top picks as we look back on another great season of road cycling. Then, we cap things off with a discussion of our favorite heavy handed UCI moments of the year.

We also start with a discussion of some top news stories of the week, including Tadej Pogačar’s record setting new contract and the rider setting Strava KOMs who’s searching for a pro contract.

 Samuele Bressan might be the global marketing manager for Pirelli’s cycling division, but his experience goes beyond that, as product manager for the likes of Pirelli, Bianchi, Vittoria, and others. While we could go in a number of directions with regard to road and gravel bike tires with a brand as storied and prominent as Pirelli, we focused on what seems to be on everyone's minds: tubeless tire safety, security, and testing.

Among other things, Bressan seems confident in a future where setting up a tubeless road tire is never a question of whether or not it is compatible with your chosen wheelset, much less a question of whether you should even be running tubeless road tires. The same goes for gravel tires, as he calls the gravel tire segment slightly behind that of road and gravel.

Tires are often more complicated than they appear to be, so we sat down with Bressan to take a peek into what makes a safe but high-performance tire. There are a lot of interesting tidbits here–including the potential for a future Pirelli aero-focused tire–in here.

See more here: https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-gear/interview-pirelli-tubeless-tire-safety-future

Timestamps:

0:01 Intro

3:01 What does Pirelli’s testing tire and rim compatibility testing look like?

10:12 Car tires have virtually zero errors. Why don’t bicycle tires do the same? For road and gravel alike

21:48 Could cyber tires come to your next bike tire?

25:55 Rim deflection, testing within ETRTO and ISO, and what parts are still undefined

36:15 Is Pirelli developing tires in conjunction with other brands? It's complicated

42:46 Samuele’s personal wheel and tire buying recommendations. Hooked vs hookless?

Ahead of Big Sugar Gravel, Betsy Welch sat down with Keegan Swenson to reflect on his season in the Life Time Grand Prix, his world championship aspirations, his affinity for going to metal and punk concerts when possible, and maybe most importantly, when the wedding is.