This year’s Unbound was humbling. Mud, thunder storms, and mechanicals galore plagued the racers and culled the pro field. To recap the carnage, Payson is joined by Danni Shrosbree, who battled multiple crises to grab a top 10 and secure a wildcard position in the Grand Prix. They discuss their top 5 “What the f*ck” moments from the race, their 5 silver linings, and the 5 most painful parts of their bodies when they crossed the finish line. Plus, we hear from listeners who participated in the...
Jun 3
1 hr 40 min
Dan Hughes is a certified Unbound legend, having won the very first edition way back in 2006 and another three times for good measure. He’s seen the race go from 34 people in a hotel parking lot in Emporia to the most prestigious gravel race in the world. An Emporia local, he now works for Life Time as a Content Specialist and has already spent hours doing recon in the Flint Hills. In other words, there is no better person to talk to about the course. Payson sits down with Dan this week...
May 24
1 hr 39 min
Sam Shaw isn’t your average FKT setter. The Kiwi rider has raced XC, gravel, and Enduro over the years (he was on the podium at XCO nationals just this year), but since getting married and starting a family, he’s worked full-time off the bike as an ecologist and carpenter. Last year, he set the fastest known time between Auckland and Wellington, beating Lachlan Morton’s record. Earlier this month, he set the FKT on the Great Tracks Traverse, a 240-mile route that covers New Zealand’s Paparoa ...
May 18
58 min
The first World Cup of the season took place in a new country (South Korea) and featured treacherously muddy conditions that forced riders to navigate large sections of the course on foot. 24-year-old Maddie Munro crossed the finish line in third, using her cyclocross background to propel herself to the best result she’s had since joining the Elite ranks last year. Payson caught up with Maddie to talk about starting the race on tires she’d never ridden, battling with the World Champion ...
May 6
59 min
This week, we continue our recap of Levi’s GranFondo with this year’s winner, Lauren Stephens, who checked in from the Tour of the Gila to talk about running her own team, the dismal state of road racing in the US, and her controversial use of race radios during the Sea Otter Classic last month. Then, Payson talks to Levi Leipheimer about why he decided to create Levi’s GranFondo back in 2009, why putting on road races is so much more expensive in the US than it is in Europe, and what g...
May 3
1 hr 11 min
Brennan Wertz wasn’t expecting much at Levi’s GranFondo last weekend. At 6’5” and over 200 pounds, he isn’t the type of rider who usually excels at races with nearly 14,000 feet of climbing, and, to use his own description, he'd “got his doors blown off” last year. But through savvy tactics and a sense of having nothing to lose, he managed to spend most of the six-hour race in two breakaways and landed in fifth after a bunch sprint for the win. On this episode, Brennan gives a play-by-play of...
Apr 29
1 hr 12 min
The 2026 Life Time Grand Prix is officially underway after an action-packed day at Sea Otter. In the injury-ridden men’s field, Bradyn Lange surged to victory in a sprint finish with Keegan Swenson. In the women’s field, Sofia Gomez-Villafañe took the win in a stacked field that battled headwinds and countless attacks throughout most of the day. Payson sat down with Sarah Sturm to recap the day’s events. Her pregnancy and deferred Grand Prix spot meant that she got to view the race from...
Apr 18
1 hr 3 min
It’s been more than two years since we last had Morgan Aguirre on the show, and since then, a lot has changed for her. After two strong seasons racing gravel mainly in Europe, she is headed for the Grand Prix this year for the first time. Payson caught up with Morgan in Northern California this week, where they are both preparing for Sea Otter. They discuss her suboptimal start to the season, how she’ll be blending European and American events this year for Pas Racing, and which Grand Prix ra...
Apr 12
44 min
Mike Woods' career in the WorldTour was practically a fluke. After earning a full ride to college for running, he quit the sport over a series of injuries and started riding his dad's bike on the weekends. Fast forward about a decade and he had won three stages of the Vuelta a España and one stage of the Tour de France. Last year, he announced his retirement after over 10 years in the WorldTour. Payson caught up with Mike last week in Andorra to talk about his Cinderella story in cyclin...
Apr 9
1 hr 4 min
During Payson’s trip to Italy last week to race The Hills, he stopped by the headquarters of his new tire sponsor, Pirelli, for a tour of the factory floor. Afterward, he sat down with Samuele Bressan, the company’s Head of Global Marketing for its cycling division. They discuss why Pirelli, which is primarily known for its high-performance tires for luxury sports cars and Formula 1 racing, decided to start making gravel tires back in 2018, and how their products in that area have evolved sin...
Apr 2
1 hr 1 min
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