With Pace

Alexey Vermeulen has a lot of thoughts on how US gravel can improve. A 100-mile Unbound. A U23 field. Fewer elite riders in the Grand Prix—the list goes on. Since leaving the WorldTour to join the American off-road scene, Alexey has become one of the most prominent racers in the sport, finishing second overall in the first two years of the Grand Prix and being a leading voice among his peers through a host of media projects. This year, he’s started a post-race debrief podcast with Keegan Swenson called The Cooldown.

Alexey caught up with Payson in Bentonville after placing second at Rule of Three for a wide-ranging conversation. They talk about the current state of the sport, what professional gravel racers get wrong about their jobs off the bike, and why he thinks beating Keegan is more important than ever this year. They also argue (at length) about tires and debate the best ways to bring younger talent into gravel.

Watch episode 2 of Ride With Pace here: https://youtu.be/3rMbJDoCxeQ?si=-gZU8TtFSrBa46PZ

Get tickets for the premiere of 'Crossing New Zealand' here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crossing-new-zealand-film-premier-and-social-ride-tickets-1350916600919?aff=oddtdtcreator

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]

When Iz King got pregnant six months ago, she wasn’t sure how it would affect her career as a gravel racer. Like many female athletes who want to start a family someday, she was all too aware that pregnancy, like being an elite-level competitor, is contingent on a finite biological window. She knew right away that she wanted to continue racing, but she also knew that her career was going to change significantly. This year, she’s continued to race, but she has no intention of being at the front of the pack. In fact, she found out pretty quickly that a new instinct had taken control of her brain that put her baby’s safety above her competitiveness. 

Payson sat down with Iz at her house in Los Angeles to talk about how her Garmin knew she was pregnant a full two weeks before a pregnancy test did, what her first race of the season was like, and how she broke the news of her pregnancy to her sponsors. She also talks about wanting to help other gravel racers navigate starting a family while maintaining their careers and where she’s hoping to take her career after her daughter arrives.

Get tickets for the premiere of 'Crossing New Zealand' here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crossing-new-zealand-film-premier-and-social-ride-tickets-1350916600919?aff=oddtdtcreator

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]

Chef Biju Thomas made a major impact on cycling when he helped co-found Skratch Labs with his friend Allen Lim, but these days, you're most likely to find him cooking for cyclists at large events. For example, he was part of the squad that fueled the US cycling team at the Paris Olympics last summer. More recently, he was busy making several thousand meals at Sea Otter. 

Biju sat down with Payson in Bentonville to chat about the logistics of cooking for Olympic athletes from such different disciplines of the sport, why meal times were so important for the riders to grow as a team, and what it was like watching them win so many medals. He also answers some listener questions, talks about his favorite moment at Sea Otter, and explains why he has Kasia Niewiadoma’s Little Sugar trophy on his windowsill.

Watch episode 2 of Ride With Pace here: https://youtu.be/3rMbJDoCxeQ?si=-gZU8TtFSrBa46PZ

Get tickets for the premiere of 'Crossing New Zealand' here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crossing-new-zealand-film-premier-and-social-ride-tickets-1350916600919?aff=oddtdtcreator

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]

Anneke Beerten was one of the top mountain bikers in the world for a decade, starting her career as a two-time BMX world champion before dominating the 4 cross circuit with three world titles. She’s gone through many career transitions over the years, embracing Enduro and Crankworx to earn even more accolades. In early 2020, just after finishing her best season in enduro racing, she was in a car accident that forced her to retire from racing. She spent years in rehab, moved states, and started over in Bentonville. Now, she’s one of the most sought-after skills coaches in the business. 

Anneke sat down with Payson this week to talk about the many disciplines she’s excelled at over the years, the car crash that ended her racing career just as she was at the top of her game, and how she transitioned into coaching some of the top mountain bikers in the world. She also gives a few tips on how everyone can work on their technical skills no matter where they live and discusses another new chapter in her career.

You can find out more about Anneke's skills coaching here: https://www.crankitupmtb.com

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]

The Life Time Grand Prix is back, which means we've got a whole new season of recap episodes on the way. To kick things off, we’ve got South African rider Hayley Preen and Swiss rider Simon Pellaud here to take us inside their races. Hayley just won the South African Gravel Nationals shortly after grabbing third place at the Cape Epic and is on her second go-round of the Grand Prix. Last year, she had to drop out after a broken wrist, but she’s started off this season strong with a fourth-place finish at round one last weekend. 

Simon is a Grand Prix newcomer but he’s been pretty busy over the past few years. He gives us a quick rundown of his career so far, which includes racing in the WorldTour for Trek, racing for a US Conti team, and breaking his WorldTour contract in order to join the Swiss ProTeam Tudor Pro. Now, he’s racing for the Chinese Conti team Li-Ning Star on the road while holding down a gravel career on the side. He talks about his days lining up for the Vuelta and the Giro, using his breakaway skills at Sea Otter, and how he’s planning to balance his globetrotting schedule this year. 

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]

Today, Allied Cycle Works released its long-awaited ABLE gravel bike. Payson has been test riding it for a year now and is pretty sure it's going to redefine gravel racing. He sits down with Allied CEO Drew Medlock and Director of Product and Engineering Sam Pickman to break down exactly what makes the bike so different, including that 57mm tire clearance, and how they developed it from idea to factory floor. They also talk about the input from Payson that was integrated into the final design, the ideas he had that he's glad they ultimately didn't include, and get nerdy about geometry. 

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]

Brayden Johnson landed his dream situation in 2024  when he signed a contract with a factory team. As a third-year U23 rider, it was a crucial opportunity on his way to the elite field. He had already shown his potential, winning National Champs and podiuming at World Cups. Soon after moving to Italy for the new team, however, Brayden started to notice some red flags. Before the end of the season, he was blacklisted from the team shortly before organization collapsed altogether. 

This year is his final year as a U23 and he’s taking it on as a privateer. He has a lot on the line. The opportunities for U23s to continue racing in the elite field are few and far between, but by accepting the odds and preparing himself for any outcome, Brayden has found the freedom to go all-in. Payson sat down with him in Bentonville this week to talk about the coming season, when he realized that things had gone too far with his previous team, his long-time friendship with Riley Amos, and how he's taking things into his own hands this season. 

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]

Gwen Gibson is one of the best World Cup XCO racers in the world, but she almost didn’t make it into the professional ranks. In college, she juggled racing with a full class schedule and held down three jobs to make ends meet. When she graduated, she thought it was probably time to quit her dreams of being a World Cup racer and find a ‘real’ career path. But then she started showing up to races and beating some of her idols, and in 2022, she had a breakout season, winning a World Cup short track race and nabbing third place at the World Championships after breaking her kneecap midseason. Now, she races for Trek Factory Racing and has scored eight top 10 World Cup finishes since joining the team. 

Gwen sat down with Payson in Girona to talk about battling her way into World Cup racing after years of determination, her continuing battles with self-doubt, what it was like winning her first World Cup race, and how she's building up her mental game after the disappointment of losing out on the Olympics last year with one heartbreaking race. She also talks about her friendship with teammates Evie Richards and Maddie Munro and how she still manages to win races despite shying away from confrontational tactics. 

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]

Reigning Queen of Gravel Rosa Klöser returns to the show to talk about some of the major developments in her career since we spoke with her after her surprise win at Unbound last year. That victory launched her into the spotlight as a major new player in the gravel scene, but her spur-of-the-moment decision to race German Road Nationals really brought her to the attention of the broader cycling world. After coming in 9th place in a stacked field, Rosa scored a contract with the WorldTour team and Tour de France Femmes champions Canyon-SRAM.

She sat down with Payson in Girona last week to talk about how a disorganised and last-minute stop at German Nationals set her on a new path in the sport, her first training camp with Canyon-SRAM, and how she’ll be managing a privateer program on gravel with a WorldTour team on the road. 

Instagram: @withpacepodcast
YouTube: Payson McElveen

Email: [email protected]