Posted on

A Podcast Season in Review

Talk of the T-Town Podcast

Episode 72

Each of these guests offer their own story in a way that, again, like Andrew said earlier, pulls back the curtain on experiences that we necessarily don’t get to hear about or see in everyday track news or just conversations with people. Everyone has their own story, their own insights, and that informs who they are as a person and how they race.”

For the final episode of the ’22-’23 Talk of the T-Town season, Andrew and Maura sit down and recap their favorite episodes. Through their conversation, they discover a common thread running through: each of these guests gives us and you insight into something we traditionally don’t hear about in every day news; pulling back the curtain, if you will.

The Talk of the T-Town will resume with the ’23-’24 season this fall. We’ll be hard at work with events and racing this season, and working to get you the best interviews with those who come visit us this summer!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_velodrome/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thevelodrome


Talk of the T-Town Podcast
Talk of the T-Town Podcast


Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Andrew Paradowski:

Hello everyone, it’s me, Andrew Paradowski here along with my co-host Maura Beuttel.

Maura Beuttel:

Hi.

Andrew Paradowski:

For this episode, which will be the last one of the ’22-23 podcast season we thought we’d do something a little special. Over the last year, we’ve had some extraordinary guests with compelling stories to tell. Here are a few of our favorite moments. So sit back, grab a post ride coffee, and enjoy the show

Maura Beuttel:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, this is the Talk of the T-Town podcast where we discuss all things track cycling.

All right, so one of our first recaps of our podcast season this year is our podcast with Joe Truman. He is from Team GB on the sprint squad. They joined us for our block of UCI racing. And Joe was kind enough to come sit down and chat with us for a little bit. One of the things that jumped out to us about Joe specifically, is he has some really interesting experience that only a handful of riders get to have. He was invited to go to the Japanese Keirin school or Keirin school, whatever the official pronunciation is for it. Apologies for butchering it, if anyone gets super upset about that. But I just thought it was a great insight to have because Japan is such a closed off country to begin with and the fact that we had someone here that got to experience it firsthand, and what it was like, and just how different it is from the traditional Keirin in racing and the races that we put on here. So we’ll let you listen to Joe talk about what his experience was like here.

Joe Truman:

That’s just like the most opposite you can imagine to any UCI racing. You’re on steel bikes, you’re racing outdoors, you’re in colorful kit, like horse racing sort of kit, big mushroom helmets. You’re allowed to hook up to other riders and like head butt and shoulder barging, and that’s the reason people wear sort of American football armor almost on their shoulders. A lot of crashing. You race in all weathers. I remember one of our first races, I was in the start gate looking up to term one and you’ve got a waterfall coming down. Term one, and you race in all weathers because obviously the people are betting on it and they can’t cancel those bets.

Maura Beuttel:

So one of the crowd favorite races here at T-Town is the Keirin. And personally, I really enjoy watching it. Who doesn’t like seeing a motorcycle go around the track pacing these riders. Personally, it’s a little bit of an inside joke with the track that we always root for Bob Bice who is motor pacing it. We want Bob to win, but he always pulls off and if he just stayed on a little longer he’d make it. But the other reason that the Keirin necessarily isn’t my favorite is that it’s kind of scary to watch. These riders are going so fast. Traditionally it’s one of the crashiest races that we have here in T-Town, right Andrew?

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, that’s true. You’ve got six riders a lot different than let’s say a match sprint where you only have to worry about where the other person is on the track. There’s certainly a lot more potential for something to go wrong, but a lot of these guys and women that race here are pretty experienced and they do a pretty good job of recovering quickly from bumps and stuff like that. So we never want to see it. It does happen sometimes, but certainly the experience that Joe talked about having gone to Japan and learn how to race with the big athletes there with all the jostling and bumping I’m sure goes a long way to preventing that for him.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, we were very lucky to not have any keirin crashes this summer. Knock on wood, we won’t have any again this summer. I think Joe attributes a lot of the psychology and how he races the Keirin, he took a lot from his experience in Japan. And in the podcast he talks about how there’s two or three ideologies of how you can race it and that’s pretty much what you stick with and what they bet on in Japan. But yeah, it definitely simplified things a lot for him and you can check it out here.

Andrew Paradowski:

So how would you say that experience in training informed your Keirin racing under the UCI style of racing?

Joe Truman:

Yeah, I think for me it simplified it a lot. I always went into UCI races with a million ideas and obviously, you can’t really do that because anything can happen when the bike pulls off. And out in Japan, it really is simplified, there’s three main tactics. You’ve got Sanko, Macari, and Oicami. Sanko is basically you’re going to do a long sprint, you’re going to go off at least 400 meters to go, you’re going to be on the front and hit it pretty hard. Macari is when you’re going to leave it to about 200 meters to go and you’re going to do a bit of swinging and try to protect any riders in front of you and hold off riders behind. And Oicami is basically you’re going to have a last ditch fight for the line. And the other guys usually that wear all the body armor because they’re the ones going for your guts and doing little dangerous moves. I just think for me it’s simplified a bit because I can look at it as am I going to sit unaware or am I going to go early.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well that certainly was a great way to start the show, Maura. Thanks for introducing Joe as our first recap of the season. It’s always great to have someone like him to come on the show with a great story, great fish out of water story, going to Japan and learning all he can there, even though he was the only one from I guess his team or his group going there, and then being able to parlay that experience into a great season for him.

Maura Beuttel:

The accent doesn’t hurt either.

Andrew Paradowski:

The accent does not hurt. No, certainly. And you’ll see as we go through today’s episode that he won’t be the only one with a non North American accent on the show. Our listeners tend to enjoy those episodes a bit more and it, of course, is nice to hear that sing song accent on the radio.

Maura Beuttel:

Yes, certainly. And if you liked what you heard from Joe and anyone else that we’re going to recap on the show, you can find all of our episodes on any streaming platform that you like as well as on our website.

Andrew Paradowski:

Moving on to our next recap for this episode, I want to introduce someone who was probably my favorite podcast to have hosted here, Kaio Lart from New Zealand. Probably one of the most personable, affable young gentlemen you’d ever get a chance to meet. For those of you who were able to make some of the races this summer, you’ll know that he was a crowd favorite, and just an all around great person, good to talk to. You could sit there for 30 seconds and feel like you’ve been best mates for years having just talked to him only for 30 seconds. And the kind of guy that likes to get involved with almost everything you listen to his podcast. And you’ll hear stories about ballroom dancing, and chasing down transit buses, and all this kind of stuff. So he really does to experience the world and will never miss a chance to jump at trying something new.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, certainly it was great. The one C1 that we were running last summer, Kaio raced in the morning, put up a really great show, unfortunately wasn’t quite fast enough to make it back for the evening races. But I’m sitting down there watching racing, getting the checks ready to go, getting all the ducks in the row for the evening and Kaio rocks up to the officials and I’m like, Oh no, riders walking up to the officials what’s going to happen? And so polite, so kind, so genuine and he was like, “Hey, I’ve really taken an interest in officiating at home and this is a great event for me to be at. I’d love to see how things operate on an international level. Would it be okay if I shadowed you for the night?” And they were like, “Oh my god, a rider’s like being nice and wanting to see how things work.” And it’s great to see that he’s interested in that side of the sport and not necessarily just like, I’m going to race my bike and that’s what I’m here to do. It’s the whole big picture side of it.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right and it certainly shows that if you do step into someone else’s shoes, you get to see how much effort and work it puts into what it takes to put on this whole event. Not just the racers, but the organizers, the officials and the sponsors and everybody, there’s so much that goes into it and certainly does eliminate that. Let’s take a listen to Kyo talk about it.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, it goes without saying that most people respect the work that the volunteers and commissars do, but until you sit with them and actually realize how stressful it gets sometimes, you don’t really realize it. Like us riders, we just try to pin our numbers in the most arrow trendy position possible. Turns out you can’t say that if you’re a comm. What other things, there was trying to get start sheets out, trying to get result list out, or points races in the middle of a points race, things that you, as a rider, you just expect to happen immediately. “Why isn’t there numbers on the lap border? Why can’t we see it straight away?” And there’s a whole load of decisions that have to be made behind that.

And it’s obvious when you think about it, but when you’re in the middle of the heat of a race, you don’t really have that obvious thought pattern. And to have actually have some evidence behind it yourself, to make you process those decisions whilst you’re racing is good. And I guess being able to deem also, where am I making a dodgy decision, am I going to send it under this rider, and is it going to get me disqualified, or is this thing going to slip? You get to learn where those boundaries are in racing.

Andrew Paradowski:

See now Maura, wouldn’t it be great if we could get every rider to sit down and just spend an afternoon with the officials to really understand what goes into making those decisions, so that sometimes maybe they might step back and be like, “Oh, maybe I won’t be so upset about that decision because it kind of makes sense.”

Maura Beuttel:

As much as I would love that, and you would love that, and it would benefit us, I don’t think the riders realize how much it would benefit them too.

Andrew Paradowski:

Absolutely, for sure. The other thing that I liked about the interview with Kaio is that it went into off into some weird directions and some interesting places. And, of course, as we mentioned with Joe’s podcast, Joe Truman, Kaio does have a kiwi accent and it’s interesting to listen to. And listening to this one quote that we’re going to pull out for you later, it’s got a real flow and a real New Zealand casual flow to it. So it’s certainly an interesting part to listen to, but it also highlights what you hear from a lot of the athletes here, not just Joe or Kaio, but even athletes that travel from outside of town, even from the west coast or the east coast of the US but from different countries, they have different experiences. And that culture shock that you get from going to a new place and not having the things that you’re used to and all that kind of stuff. Let’s let Kaio tell it.

What would you say is your biggest challenge or possibly a culture shock or something that you found interesting and unique when you came here to the US?

Kaio Lart:

Everyone says, yes, when you say thank you or something like rather than you’re welcome. That’s the one that gets me the most. Driving on the wrong side of the road, that’s always a laugh. The amount of times we’ve pulled out of the car park here and just ridden straight down the wrong side of the road and then everyone looks at you funny. I don’t know, I guess the language a wee bit as well, talking to the kids out there coaching today, I’m calling them mate, and you’re a good bro, and things like that and they just look at me blankly. And I’ll be, “Oh, all right. Yeah, I guess just couple of things like that. Maybe we are a bit casual, but yeah, it’s a bit different but similar, in a lot of ways, I guess. You can see where everything’s built its own little ways of going around.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah. For sure. Is there anything that you missed from back home?

Kaio Lart:

Oh, a pie. There’s no pies here.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right.

Kaio Lart:

No mince pie.

Andrew Paradowski:

What’s a pie to you?

Kaio Lart:

Well, I don’t know. You got some pastry and then you got some mince inside of it.

Andrew Paradowski:

So you mean meat?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, yeah. So most people here when you think pie, they think like apple pie, cherry pie, right.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah. Yeah. The amount of times we’ve asked for pies and people have pointed us to sweet stuff, we’re like, “No, no, we want a mince pie.

Andrew Paradowski:

You want a meat pie.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Nothing like listening to some kiwi banter like that. Although I do have to counter that we had an even more kiwi banter moment post recording of that podcast, don’t you agree?

That’s right. Yeah. For those of you at home, you get to listen to our finished, polish edited version of this show, but sometimes after we meet with our guests and the mics are turned off, we just continue chatting for a bit. And there’s a couple of times where we wish we hadn’t turned off the recording button because we get some real golden juicy stuff. With Kaio, it was interesting because even had we recorded it, we probably wouldn’t have been able to broadcast it. Isn’t that right, Maura?

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, some of the language was certainly more colorful than us Americans like to use. But it’s just funny that the culture shock goes both ways with Kaio and the Kiwis and the Aussies coming here, that obviously, coming here is completely different than what they’re used to at home. But also they’re living up in Kutztown and they’re going out, they’re getting ice cream after a long ride, they’re just hanging out having a good time and there’s also that culture shock for the people here, having this group of boisterous boys saying lots of fun, colorful things that you’re not necessarily used to and they don’t necessarily mean the same things here as they do there.

Andrew Paradowski:

Using words that would be just casual slang in New Zealand would be super offensive in this part of the world. So for those of you who know Commonwealth languages, you might be able to guess what some of those words were. Yes, we can’t share them with you here.

Maura Beuttel:

No.

Andrew Paradowski:

But just know that-

Maura Beuttel:

We’re a family show.

Andrew Paradowski:

We’re a family show, but just know that as much as we try to capture all the interesting things, sometimes they happen after we turn the recording button off.

Maura Beuttel:

Yes.

Andrew Paradowski:

Moving on to our third guest for today’s episode, we’re going to talk about Maggie Coles-Lyster from Canada. It was a great podcast to be the host on because, for me especially, she was one of the few riders that came here this summer from Canada. And everyone knows I’m where I’m from.

Maura Beuttel:

No.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yes. Eh?

Maura Beuttel:

About.

Andrew Paradowski:

About. And having watched these kids grow up, they were kids when I first saw them racing, young teens, and getting better, improving and now they’re here at the pro level racing here in T-Town, but also at the Track Champions League and at World Championships and stuff. So it certainly is exciting for me to having watched their careers and then getting a chance to sit down with them and talk to them. Maggie was a great interviewee. I know this pod did pretty well on our charts, so here she is talking about some of her experiences now as an elite racer at the Track Champions League.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

And everyone who was there just wanted to win and wanted to do well and so we had a super motivated group. But during the week we’d go hang out with Jene Polente and Grant Koontz and go adventure around the different cities we were in and go for dinners. And so outside of the racing, the whole vibe of just going hotel to hotel with all these international riders, just getting to spend time with them outside of national team cliques and all that kind of show and just asking each other questions.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s one of the great things about doing a show like this because it allows us to pull back the curtain and see what it’s like within the lives of these racers when they’re not out competing on the track and what’s some of the things that they go through and both positive and negative. And Maggie had a really great story, positive outlook on all this kind of stuff, wouldn’t you say?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Mm-hmm.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yep. And it was interesting because, I actually can’t recall if we did mention it on the show, but she was phoning in from Europe and she was there doing some training for some of the road teams. So not only she a track cyclist, but she’s a road cyclist, and she gave us a little bit of insight into what was happening with that, and how some of the finances and the politics of being a professional cyclist can be certainly difficult. But she really is there just to race her bike and-

Maura Beuttel:

Bikes. And she was over there for road and she races in Europe on track.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yep, there you go.

Maura Beuttel:

That’s two kinds of bikes.

Andrew Paradowski:

That is two kinds of bikes. But at the end of the day that’s what it all comes down to, is just there can be all this stuff going on in the background and it could be a big production like the Track Champions League. But at the end of the day it’s just another race and like every other racer, she’s just there to race her bike.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

In Track League, there is a lot on the line, there’s a lot of money, there’s a lot of people watching it. But at the same time it’s really just a bunch of people out there wanting to race their bikes and try different things and just try to win a race. Which that sounds very trivial, but I feel like that’s a rare thing, there’s always something bigger at play than just going out and just trying to win a race.

Andrew Paradowski:

There you have a folks, Maggie Coles-Lyster, a wonderful young woman from Canada talking about some of her experiences racing and what it’s like to be a professional. Hopefully, we can get her back on the show one day to recap after she’s had a chance to add to all of her palmaris.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, we’d certainly love that. That goes for anyone that we’ve had on the podcast, we’d certainly love to have returns and updates on how things are going. But I think Maggie’s podcast and the quotes that we pulled transition quite nicely into the next one that we’re going to recap and Maggie even kind of introduced him for us already. So the next person that we’re going to recap that I was lucky enough to host this podcast was with Grant Koontz of Team USA. He also races for Star Track. It’s been really cool getting to know Grant personally over the last two, two and a half, three years that I’ve been working at T-Town now, and just to see how much he’s improved. And Grant’s big goal here, like most athletes in the sport from when you’re a young age and people ask you, “Hey, what do you want to do? What you want to be when you grow up?”

And the big answer with that shining gleaming look in their eyes, “I want to be an Olympic gold medalist. I want to represent my country on the world stage, bring home some nice shiny gold hardware.” And that’s the ultimate end goal, right? And Grant is on his way to get there. And I think it’s a great progression story, talking to Grant, and knowing that he started out as a roadie, and not necessarily as much potential to reach Olympic grounds that way, but there is in track. And just the hard work and perseverance that he’s put in going there. He used to live in his car and now he’s able to wear that Team USA kit and get to represent his country at Nations Cups and whatnot. But yeah, listen to Grant talk about it a little bit here.

Grant Koontz:

My plan was always to shoot for the Olympics and that starts with aiming for UCI results, basically. So we started the season back in February and I went to Switzerland and got to race in Europe and had some ups and downs there. And it’s been a long season of ups and downs, but it definitely climaxed, I guess at T-Town this summer. And I was able to come out and … there’s so much UCI racing on home soil and that’s such a huge blessing for the whole UCI track scene and much less the Americans that are trying to chase it. It gets really expensive to go to Europe over and over and over again. And so to have so much UCI racing here is very, very helpful.

Maura Beuttel:

In this next clip that we have from Grant, he shed some light on what it’s racing over in Europe after his successful summer here in T-Town and highlighting differences between what it’s like over there and what it’s like here. And T-Town offers that summer camp, you get to make friends, fun summer of training and racing under the lights, in front of a crowd. And you have the beautiful sunset in the background and the warm, humid air on your skin and it’s a good time. And getting to see, even posting on social media of all the athletes of Maggie, and Grant, and all of them traveling over Europe for the Track Champions League and getting to see them hang out, it’s like, “Oh look, they really are still friends outside of this concrete oval that we have here.” But yeah, highlighting the differences between what it’s like to race in T-Town, but also what it’s like to race in the Champions League and how you can’t necessarily compare the two.

Grant Koontz:

It’s not any better or worse, it’s just different. And I think a lot of times we get in these ideas in our head that Europe is where all the real bike racing is. And I don’t think that’s necessarily true. I do think they have the resources and they have the public, I guess, persona of being a bigger show because there are more people who care about it over there. But what we have in the T-Town area is a little pocket of American track cycling that’s sustained our country for years and years and years and I don’t think that can be understated either. So yeah, it’s not better or worse, it’s just different.

Andrew Paradowski:

You know, Maura, it’s great to hear that even though some of these riders have moved their careers on to the big show in Europe and racing things like Track Champions League, that they still have a little place in their heart from where it all began here in T-Town and these little tracks that help US riders train and race and grow to the level that they need to race in Europe.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, we’re certainly happy to consider everyone that races here a part of the family. And we’re always super excited to see what they have going on, but knowing that eventually maybe, hopefully, fingers crossed that they’ll always come back home to us.

Andrew Paradowski:

Absolutely. For our next guest, I thought we would change it up a little bit. So far we’ve heard mostly from athletes, well entirely from athletes, but that hasn’t been the case for the entire run of the pod. We’ve had track directors on, we’ve had members of our own staff on, and we’ve had a third party organizer who comes to the track to put on the Lehigh Valley Hincapie Gran Fondo. We started that this past year and we were hoping to continue working with this group for many years to come. But let’s hear from Joe Cottington, a fellow organizer as I’ve been for many years, so it was certainly a pleasure to talk to him for a bit. And there was a nice little clip in there about talking about what it was like coming to the Lehigh Valley and what makes doing the Grand Fondo here so specialist. Let’s take a listen.

Joe Cottington:

One thing we do that’s a little different is we look for world class unique. Using Lehigh Valley as an example, it’s the finish on the velodrome. That was what we wanted, then we built the course from there going backwards. Then we wanted to try and incorporate some of the uniqueness of the area with all the covered bridges. And then we started riding around and noticing all these little great chamine or pava sections, which are little dirt sections, gravel sections to give that feel of what a [inaudible 00:23:23] cobbled section would be, or [inaudible 00:23:25] when they say a chamiine, which literally means a goat path.

So we created these segments that are dirt and that to give that experience of what a Perry Rabe would feel like riding the cobbles. In other areas, we just try to find unique spots in the community and then figure out how to make a route work to where we can get to those locations and make something really awesome for them to do that they don’t get to do any other day. In Merced, we found three roads that no one’s allowed to ride, but we got permission for our riders to ride on them this day, on the event day. So little things like that, that we try to make it very unique and very exciting.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, Andrew, I think I can certainly speak from experiences to the caliber and quality of events that Hincapie puts on. As a year, two years ago now, I had the chance to go down to Greenville and Ride, I think it was their 10th anniversary Fondo that they put on. And just the roads that they chose and the entertainment that they had afterwards and the food, it was just such a great experience and made it worth traveling to go to. And even if it was right in my backyard, the Lehigh Valley is, it’s something that I’d certainly want to participate in.

And I think the neat thread that ties Greenville and the Lehigh Valley together is it’s the whole Hincapie brand, George Hincapie, that’s what it’s built upon. Is that the roads that we rode down in Greenville were the roads that George rode to train for the tour. And then what the Lehigh Valley has to offer is that classics style feel like George is so well known for. And we have those pava roads and the little hills to climb, and then we have that classic Perry Rabe finish on our track.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, I can’t forget about that velodrome finish. And that certainly was one of the highlights for a lot of the riders to do that and make it feel like they are doing that classics ride. One of the things that we do, as many of you know, on the podcast is we’ll do a rapid fire question just to get some interesting facts out about the people. And there’s one question that I like ask asking a lot, and it’s about “what’s your favorite quote,” expecting somebody to answer with a quote from a movie star or an athlete or some well known quote. But Joe spun it in a different direction for us, which was interesting and it’s something I can relate to as a fellow organizer, but he used a quote from one of the participants from the Lehigh Valley event last year. Let’s take a listen.

Joe Cottington:

My favorite quote from Lehigh Valley, Simmons was like, “You can’t come up with a course that I haven’t written already.” And we come up with this and they come back with, “I didn’t know half these roads existed.” So it’s just a very unique experience at Lehigh.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, that’s a very good tagline for sure. All right, Joe, so thank you very much for coming on the show today. I know you said it a few times already, but one more time for the folks at home, where do they go to find out more about the upcoming Lehigh Valley Hincapie Gran Fondo?

Joe Cottington:

It is Hincapie.com and then you can click on the Grand Fondo Hincapie link and believe it or not, Lehigh Valley is front and center once that page comes up. So you can go right there, click the register, find out about all the events going on that week. And June 3, 2023 we look forward to seeing you there.

Andrew Paradowski:

So there you have it folks. Joe and the team at the Hincapie Gran Fondo series are always working really, really hard to make sure that they’re putting on a great event for you, even if you are a local rider. And even if you did ride it last year, come again this year because there’s going to be a brand new set of roads for you to try out. And as a special deal to our listeners, there’s going to be a code when you log into that website that Joe just gave you, type in LHV23, LHV23 to get 20% off on your entry.

Maura Beuttel:

All right, folks, we’ve made it to our last recap to cap off this episode as well as our 2022-2023 podcast season. This episode was probably my favorite one of the season so far. And it was great to just sit down and have a conversation with a friend. So this was with Emily Schelberg. She is pretty new to the sport of cycling within the last two or three years, and it seemed like she lived about nine different lives before coming to track cycling between being in the Marines and being on the US skeleton team. She’s a full-time nurse and CrossFit and all sorts of other wonderful accolades. She’s a strong lady.

But yeah, so coming into track cycling as a lot of you know, it’s a very niche sport. There’s lots of different terminology and all of the rules that you could ever imagine and all the different equipment and bikes and whatnot. And within the last two years, she’s really been killing it. She was at Master’s World’s and has a couple gold medals to her name and some rainbow jerseys, which is always fun. But listening to her talk about what it’s been like to get into track cycling, she used probably one of the best analogies that you could to get into track cycling in general. So give it a listen.

Emily Schelberg:

I knew nothing. I didn’t know what I was doing, literally. The first time I came out on the track, I was terrified to even get up on the curb and Missy was like, “You’re not going to slide. I swear you’re not going to slide.” And I’m like, “I don’t believe you.”

Maura Beuttel:

Right.

Emily Schelberg:

So yeah, it’s just been like that fire hose, it’s just been trying to get comfortable with something new all the time. And every single time I touch my bike, every single time I come to the track there’s something new I have to learn. And case in point, I was out training with the US team and I showed up with wheels that had the wrong tires on it and I was like, I didn’t know there was-

Maura Beuttel:

Oh no.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah. I’m like, “Oh no.” Right. So there’s definitely a steep learning curve, but it’s just so fun and addictive and the effort pays off and you, it’s tangible. And so it’s exciting to continue to learn new things and to get better and to be part of it. I’ve really enjoyed it so far.

Andrew Paradowski:

You know, Maura, listening to Emily talk about what it’s like to learn all that information in such a short time as like trying to drink from a fire hose certainly painted a vivid picture in my mind of what that would look like.

Maura Beuttel:

Honestly, with all of the information that you have to learn, I don’t know which one’s easier, but with learning all of that information and traveling around the world, getting to do all of this really cool stuff, you get to meet a lot of really cool people. And I think the really lucky thing about the sport of track cycling is that because it is such a niche sport, there is such a tight knit community, family mindset to it. And Emily has been very vocal when talking to me about the family that she’s found and the village that is surrounding her. So listen to her talk about it here.

Emily Schelberg:

I haven’t met anyone in the community who hasn’t been completely welcoming and smiles on their faces. And you can tell too, the attitude around being at T-Town, you can see that these athletes are truly enjoying their experience at T-Town. Yeah, there’s pressure for sure with competition, but outside of your actual race, they’re all smiles and they want to help, and they’re really engaging. The community really is a special thing, I think.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, it was really great getting to talk to Emily and have her sum up her experience in the sport as a whole and what her experience has been like here at T-Town. Even me coming into this job and the sport, everyone’s been super welcoming and trying to help me learn stuff. I ask questions when they come up and I’m super great to have you, Andrew, with your wealth of knowledge, be able to answer all of my somewhat silly questions.

Andrew Paradowski:

Anytime. And like you say, it is a community, like Emily says, it’s a community and we’ve had a great community of guests on this show over the past season. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of time to have everyone reappear on this clip show, which is why we put out the six that we had on the show today. But they’ve all been great guests, part of the community, great to listen to. And if you know had missed any of these shows before, please feel free to go back and check them out. But the six that we chose, they certainly do have a thread. And Maura, I think you put it succinctly earlier when we were chatting about it.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, on the pun note, I think it wraps up rather nicely. But I think each of these guests offer their own story in a way that, again, like Andrew said earlier, pulls back the curtain on experiences that we necessarily don’t get to hear about or see in everyday track news or just conversations with people. Everyone has their own story, their own insights, and that informs who they are as a person and how they race. And I just love getting to see the why behind what they do.

Andrew Paradowski:

Absolutely. Well folks, that about wraps it up for this episode and this season of Talk of the T-Town. We’re going to be taking a little bit of a hiatus over the summer, only from the show, not from the racing and the activities that happen here at the track. It’s going to be a busy one. We’ve got a lot of great racing coming up and we’re going to spend some of that time pulling racers and coaches and other people that come by that have interesting stories into the studio to make a bunch of recordings this summer, so that we can play them back for you in the fall when we start back up in September with the talk of the T-Town ’23-24 season. So with that, on behalf of myself, Andrew Paradowski.

Maura Beuttel:

And on behalf of myself, Maura Beuttel, we’ll certainly miss you. But until next time, when we catch you in the fall, when we pick back up with the new season of the Talk of T-Town.

Andrew Paradowski:

Take care and enjoy your summer.

Maura Beuttel:

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of The Talk of the T-Town Podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcasts. To find out more on this week’s cast, head on over to our website, the velodrome.com to check out the show notes and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Kaio Lart:

It’s been interesting, you’ve seen four Kiwi boys off into the distance and see what happens, and it’s a bit of a laugh, but no, it’s been awesome.

Posted on

2023 Season Teaser

Episode 71

“We’ve spent a lot of time working with a lot of the prices and we’ve actually in a lot of ways made things more affordable for those users who do use the track a lot.”

Wondering what T-Town has in store for the 2023 season? This episode has you covered as Maura and Andrew sit down to discuss all T-Town has to offer this year! From programming to training to bierfests to international racing, there’s something for everyone! As always, more information is available on our website, thevelodrome.com!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_velodrome/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thevelodrome



Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Maura:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, this is the Talk of the T-Town podcast where we discuss all things track cycling. Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week’s episode of Talk of the T-Town. Both hosts are here, Maura and Andrew, and we have a nice little season preview for you. So hi Andrew!

Andrew:

Hey Maura. How’s it going?

Maura:

Good, how are you?

Andrew:

Not too bad, not too bad. It’s nice to have a little conversation here between the two of us and a little bit of a different pace than our usual list of guests.

Maura:

Yeah. Yeah, it’s nice to actually have both people in the studio for once.

Andrew:

There we go.

Maura:

Yeah, so we’ve got a lot of exciting things coming up for this season.

Andrew:

We sure do.

Maura:

Super excited that we’ve had a pretty mild winter, which is good for the track after the resurfacing last summer. So no snow, no ice, no edge cycling, shoveling out feet of snow.

Andrew:

I was actually looking forward to seeing that, so I guess I was robbed of that privilege this year. But-

Maura:

Yeah, I know-

Andrew:

… it was nice to have a mild winter.

Maura:

Yeah, barely any snow, but that’s okay. It’s good for us. So it’s beautiful outside today. We’ve seen people here utilizing the track already on the nice days, which is good to see the community out, but it is the end of March and April’s coming and April means that the track is going to be open for programming.

Andrew:

That’s right.

Maura:

So we have programming officially starting on April 3rd between training and then we have some community programs starting later in the month. If you do recall, we had our community programs manager, Dave Underhill back on the podcast in January talking about some of the changes that we have made to programming and the fee structure and whatnot. So if you want to go into more detail on that, you can head back and listen to that pod or check out the page on the website. But we’ve been starting to field some questions about how things have changed. So the big thing is that we now have a membership.

Andrew:

That’s right. Yeah. So basically everybody who want to take part in the activity on the track will buy a membership to the VPCC Developed Preferred Cycling Center. It’s a low amount, it’s going to be $40, and that covers you for the entire season. And what that gets you is access to our training programs, both ones that are guided by our coaches and ones that are self-guided. And it also allows you to come to what we are now dubbing open member time. So if you go to the calendar and you see something called Open Member, that’s basically unprogrammed time that’s restricted to our membership. So it’s not open to the public, you have to be a member, but it’s basically open time for you to come and do pretty much whatever you want. So these are the kinds of things that you would’ve seen in the past, like let’s say between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM on the afternoons or on the weekends.

So when you see open member, you’ll still have to sign in to that particular class, but it is available to members and that’s free of charge, basically just the one membership. So if that’s the kind of thing that you want to do and you want to drop in once a week or so, it’s become really affordable by saying, “Okay, it’s just $40 for you to come in and ride during those times.” Now if you want to do the other programs that are available from open training, open coach motor, and then you’ll see some things called structured training, different levels and whatnot, those will have an additional cost to it, and there’s multiple ways that you can go about paying for those things. We do offer them as an a la carte feature where you can just come and sign up for the one class and pay the one fee for that, or we do have different plans where you could pay basically for an unlimited access to all of these activities on either a 30 day basis, a monthly basis, or for the entire season.

So we’ve spent a lot of time working with a lot of the prices and we’ve actually in a lot of ways made things more affordable for those users who do use the track a lot. It might initially seem like the one-off fees have gone up a little bit, and that’s true they have, but a lot of that is actually to get to the lowest cost where we’re not actually losing money. Last year when we were charging $5 per session, it actually cost us $10 to take that $5. So we were losing money and that’s something that we don’t want to do anymore. So we have adjusted the prices a little bit, but if you are going to be a habitual user of the track, then we do absolutely recommend going for one of the monthly or season long packages that’s your best value.

Maura:

Well, that’s good to hear. I know certainly change is a lot and it’s overwhelming, but it does work out better in the long run. It’s more sustainable for us, it’s more sustainable for everyone coming and hey, we want to be here for a long time. We’re coming up on 50 years and we want to be here for another 50.

Andrew:

Mm-hmm. No, that’s for sure. And actually probably my favorite part, and I think Dave would agree with me on this one, is that we worked really hard to make the kids programs really accessible as well. So we think overall they have become sort of less expensive for the kids to go, especially when they’re entering into the system because that is one of our goals is really to sort of increase the number of kids who are coming to the track and falling in love with cycling and especially track cycling and staying with us for many years to come.

Maura:

Yeah, no, we certainly love to see that. And we have been getting out into some of the schools and we’re going to do some bike rodeos with the schools and the local townships. So I think it’s just going to be great to see lots of kids rolling around here this summer.

Andrew:

Absolutely.

Maura:

Going back to the membership question, because I’m sure we’re going to get a bunch of international athletes asking as we’re having a large international block in June, if I’m coming from outside the country and I’m mostly focusing on racing, do I have to buy membership?

Andrew:

So the short answer for that is no, if you’re not going to do anything other than the racing and then maybe the few times that we open the track up for training prior to a UCI race, let’s say for example, you could avoid that entirely. So you don’t need a membership to race. That whole system is completely separate and actually it’ll be on separate systems. As Maura mentioned, as you mentioned earlier in the episode that we are now live for taking our registration for the programs that’s on a new website. So we’re not doing that on BikeReg anymore. Racing will still take place on BikeReg, but all of the training programs and the membership stuff will be on a different website. So check out our website, thevelodrome.com and head over to community programs. And there you’ll find a link where you’ll be able to sign up for the membership, but more to your question, you could just come and just raise and not have a membership to the BPCC.

Now, if you wanted to ride throughout the week on the track through some of these open member sessions that we talked about or take part in any of the structured training or open training, then yes, you would need the membership. And that’s where that season’s pass or monthly pass comes into effect. So if you’re an international rider coming for let’s say just the month of June, then your best value there is to get the membership and then the $100 monthly pass. So for $140, you can basically ride the track whenever you want and join any of the programs for that month that you’re here.

Maura:

And just to clarify, racing and programs are on separate platforms, therefore your monthly pass theoretically, if that’s the option you decide to go for, does not include any of your racing fees.

Andrew:

That’s absolutely right. Racing fees are completely separate and unfortunately, I know in previous years I think there was the ability to purchase different Velo cards and whatnot to apply towards racing, that won’t be there this year. So in lieu of racing, racing prices, we wanted to keep racing prices the same, but we won’t be offering any special cards for that. So it’ll just be the same price for racing, say for one group, I can’t remember which one it is, but I think there might be a one $5 increase there. But overall the whole thing is the same, but there’s no special card for racing. It’s just a la carte for each race.

Maura:

Right. Yeah. So lots of new changes to how things are being run, and if this doesn’t clear up any questions for you, if our website doesn’t clear them up, feel free to reach out. We’re always happy to answer and talk to the community and explain things.

Andrew:

Absolutely. And the best way to do that is on the website, on the various pages you’ll see different contact forms, but of course hit the contact button and you’ll find a form where you can send a question and it’s usually fielded by one of us within a day or so.

Maura:

That pretty much covers the month of April, which I can’t believe it’s already April, but rolling into May, we have another busy month ahead of us. Of course we have Spring Velo Fest, which is on May 13th, and you can find more information about that on our website. If you have been a vendor in the past and you want to be a vendor, again, we’d love to have you. The Eventbrite registration link is open, so head on over there. And then of course for patrons that want to come by, just look around, have a great day outside, you can purchase tickets at the gate. And then the following weekend after that, we have our inaugural Breakaway Beer fest. So Andrew, if you want to tell us a little bit more about that.

Andrew:

Absolutely. We’re hoping that this is going to be sort of the crown jewel in the season. So it’s a great start off our season preview with this item I think. So it’s a beer festival, obviously in the name, we’re spelling it a bit differently. We’re giving it a bit of that European flair, so it’s B-I-E-R, but don’t worry if you’re typing in the website name we also registered the other one just in case you misspell it with the two E’s. But yeah, so we basically wanted to have our own kind of spring classic here in one way or another and we thought this would be a good way to do it. And beer and cycling go hand in hand. It’s not uncommon for group rides to end at a local coffee shop that has some beer or pub or whatnot, and there’s always chats about different Belgian beers and what’s great post ride and all this kind of stuff.

So we thought cycling and beer go hand in hand. Why don’t, we’ve got a great facility here, why don’t we have a beer festival? And we took the opportunity to partner with one of our sponsors, ese the Beer Authority. They’ve been helping us with the handle bar over the last number of years and we thought, hey, this would be a great opportunity to get up there and highlight some of the excellent beers that they carry at Shanghai’s, but not just the local beers, but also some of the national international beers that are available. So that’s one of the things that we’re hoping to set aside from your standard beer festival, which was usually made up of just sort of local craft companies. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We’re going to have quite a few of our favorite local crafts here as well, but we want it to have that really that big international feel.

Just like we bring international cyclists here and it’s an international velodrome, we want it to have an international beer festival. So that’s happening as you said on May 20th. And we’ve got tickets are open. You can find the link on our website under events, or you can go to Eventbrite and search for the Breakaway Beer Fest. And there’s two types of tickets. You can either go with general admission and there are for $50?

Maura:

$55.

Andrew:

$55 on the general admission. And then we have VIP tickets, which are $75.

Maura:

$75, yeah.

Andrew:

And that gets you some early access and there’ll be some special things that we’re still working on. There might be some exclusive beers that you’ll be able to try that no one else will. And also some things that will go in a grab bag to go away with. So there’s only a few of those left or not left, but only a few of those available.

So if you want to get the VIP experience head over there sooner rather than later because we’re only about 50 days away or so from the event and-

Maura:

Something like that. Yeah.

Andrew:

… we’re hoping to get quite a few people to come out to this. And really the other major reason for doing this is to expose more and different people to the velodrome. We’re hoping to bring in a lot of the different groups from the community that have never been here before and didn’t even know about the place and expose them to it and say, “Hey, this might be a great place to come and try to do some cycling at.”

Maura:

Right. One thing that we also are going to have tickets open for Bier Fest is our designated drivers, because that’s important. We want to make sure that everyone has a safe way to get to the venue and get home from the venue. So those tickets are going to be $5. You can come hang out. We’ve got a great list of food trucks coming. We have some other non-alcoholic craft vendors coming, so there will be stuff for you guys to do too.

Andrew:

On top of that, with the live music and some Plaza games and just really a great afternoon to come out at the end of May and start the season off.

Maura:

Yeah. And then the following week, we do have Tuesdays, super Tuesdays start up again on the 23rd, which is a great way to kick off the season. Saturdays are not starting until later in June just because we have the holiday weekend and then June the first three weeks were just one after the other, other of lots of big exciting things.

Andrew:

That’s right. It was a little unfortunate with that. I think there might have been one Saturday that we could have earlier in May, but then it would’ve been a large gap between them and we thought about maybe doing Sundays, but then it might’ve thrown things off a little bit. So the Saturday won’t start until June 10th, I believe that is. And we are starting off with a bang. It’ll be the time trial day, the timed event day. So that is happening there, but all the other Saturdays are booked with other cycling events or some other events. So for those of you looking for those Saturday morning races, unfortunately we’re not starting as early as we normally did. But of course we do have our Tuesdays, which are starting the last two Tuesdays in May, so that’s available.

Maura:

Right. So rolling into June and fresh off of the spring classic bier fest. We have a similar in Nature Spring Classic event with hosting the Hincapie Gran Fondo again, we’re super excited to welcome them back. And so that kicks off on our opening weekend, which opening night of Friday night racing is June 2nd, so you can come sign up for hin, copy, pick up your packet, head into the venue. We’re going to have a great night of racing because we first time in a couple years we’re kicking off with a UCI event again, UCI calendar changed a little bit, so we had to change our dates and we have a banger of an opening season with a C2 on opening night. The following Friday is another C2, and then the week after that, which starts on the 14th, we’re going to be running a giant C1 of a super week. So if you want to explain that a little bit, Andrew.

Andrew:

For sure. So there’s a lot to unpack there, Maura. So right, the opening night is going to be a bit of a banger, a lot going on with Hincapie there. Opening night. Of course, we have our normal fireworks happening at the end of the night and then it is going to be a C2, which is the sort of entry level international race that you had put on for the UCI and it will be running all day. So it will be starting in the morning on Friday, which is not normal for an opening night, at least for the last couple of years anyways, so there is racing available in the morning in case anybody’s off and they want to come by and watch some internationals, do some of the qualifying rounds for the events that will be happening later that evening. And then of course our standard ticketed opening night is available.

Normally we start racing at about 7:00. I don’t know how the schedule is going to look. Some of it might be affected by the number of athletes that show up, but we may have to start a bit earlier with the racing, which is good for some of the Hincapie folk as well, because we discovered last year that they were pretty serious about the ride they wanted to do the next morning and a lot of them headed off to bed fairly early while there were still some racing going on.

Maura:

Got to get a good night of sleep.

Andrew:

That’s right. Yeah. If you’re going to ride 80 miles out there, it’s going to be tough. So you better make sure you got your full eight hours there. So starting a bit earlier, for those that know that we normally start at 7:00. With the UCI races, I would say check the schedule, check the website if you want to make sure that you catch all the racing because sometimes just to do the way the schedule has to work, we’ll have to start a bit earlier so that we can make our 10:00 PM curfew that evening and make sure that we’re not blasting the sound and turning the lights off for the local area around here.

Maura:

We like to be good neighbors.

Andrew:

We like to be good neighbors. So the opening weekend will be pretty intense with the Hincapie Grand Fondo, if you haven’t tried it before, I recommend trying it this year. I know these are roads that you might may or may not have been on before if you’re a local resident, but they do put on a pretty good show and a lot of it has to do with the before and after activities that happen at the track. And you do get that kind of Paris-Roubaix experience where you get to finish on the track. So you get to say, I just like those big pro athletes. I finished my Fondo on the track, so-

Maura:

Heck yeah.

Andrew:

So it is a lot of fun. So with the rest of the UCI racing, normally we have done this on Friday nights over period of three to four weeks, and it’s usually either just the one night or we might do a two day event Friday, Saturday to accommodate our sort of standard Friday night schedule with that being the big night where everybody comes in to watch racing.

Unfortunately, well, I mean it’s not unfortunate, but it does create an interest interesting situation for us. The UCI has decided to run all their world championships in one place at one time this year as a trial run. They’ve already planned it for 2027 as well, but this is the first year it’s happening to see what… Normally all these different events or championships run in different locations at different times of the year for each of the different disciplines like road, mountain bike, track, cross and all that kind of stuff. This time in 2023, it’s going to be held in the first three weeks of August in Glasgow and it’s save for three of the championships, I don’t recall which ones all of them will take place at the same time. So how that affects us is normally one of the reasons that we have international riders come here is because UCI races offer points for them to qualify for certain things like different championships in the Olympics and all that kind of stuff.

So normally when they run world championships, they have to cut off a certain date, only your points up until this date will matter, and it’s usually six weeks before the championship. Now track championships is usually in the fall, September, October, and that’s normally fine for us. Well now that it’s in August, if you count back six weeks, the cutoff date is June 20th.

Maura:

Yeah. Oh crap.

Andrew:

Yeah. So if we had done the same thing we did last year, both of our C1 events would’ve been after that cutoff and there would’ve been less incentive for the international athletes to come here. So in an effort to accommodate for that and to make it still interesting to come to T-Town for this summer in June, and also to create kind of maybe a points of Palooza type of event where you might have some athletes who are just a little bit shy of the points they might need to enter into the championships this year, they can certainly come here and they’ll have plenty of opportunities to try their events, even more than once in some cases, as well as some timed events that aren’t normally offered on main calendar.

So if you’re an international athlete and you’re looking to get some last minute points, T-Town is the place to be this June.

Maura:

Yeah, I know we’re super excited to have everyone, and if you’re an international athlete listening to this or coach, we do have housing options, which is great. So all of that information is on our website under the rider forms and waivers, under the visiting athlete information. So we’ve had some interest already from Australia, Ireland, Egypt and South Africa I think are the four that are coming to mind.

Andrew:

And New Zealand just recently reached out as well. So yeah, a lot of the big teams are going to be coming out and bringing athletes. And I think it’s also, I forgot to mention earlier, it’s probably more attractive than it was in the past because from the second, so the C1, that big event will run from the 14th to the 19th, technically the 18th, the 19th is a rain day. We are an outdoor facility after all.? But from the second to the 19th, that’s that’s just shy of three weeks and there’s four races in those three weeks. Right. So in terms of international travel and planning and the cost, it is likely to be more cost effective for these teams to come because now they don’t have to stay here for five weeks or longer depending on the schedule. So I think this concentrated period will be really attractive for the teams to come and try that.

Maura:

And then things kind of work out the same way that they did last year with the Nation’s Cup being in Milton. And then we are not too long after that with our racing, right?

Andrew:

Yeah, it’s a bit further away than it was last year, but I guess it does offer the advantage for some teams if they want to come to the Nation’s Cup and then stay in North America after that. So that’s happening. This is being recorded on, what day is it today? March-

Maura:

27th.

Andrew:

March 27th. So I think this should be going live shortly so it’ll be fairly relevant, but the 2023 Nation’s Cup in Milton is in the middle of the month, the 14th, 16th area. So that’s a good six weeks away from our racing, so it’ll really depend on other teams. But yeah, last year that was really interesting how we had the Nation’s Cup in Cali, like basically-

Maura:

Yeah, the flow just worked out really nicely. You went Canada, T-Town, Cali. Yeah. So we already touched on the fact that our normal masters and rookies Saturdays begin on the 10th and that pretty much covers June

Andrew:

Even though the UCI racing does stop after I think the Friday there is the 16th, we basically roll back into our standard Friday night under the lights programming on Friday nights. So national racing, national level racing with hopefully still some of these internationals that might want to stick around for the rest of the summer and our local pros as well. So that’s available. So if you haven’t gotten your season ticket yet for that, they are available coming up soon on our website. So you’ll be able to buy those again and tickets are available there or at the door on any given Friday night. So we’ll be rounding out the rest of June with that. And of course our grassroots track programming on Tuesdays and Saturdays as well. Just one note for your Tuesday fans, the Tuesday of that C1 week, so I think it’s the 14th-

Maura:

13th.

Andrew:

13th?

Maura:

13th.

Andrew:

That will be the one we’re going to skip on the Tuesday nights because that’ll be prep for the UCI races there.

Maura:

Rider confirmation.

Andrew:

That’s right. So that’s that that’s going to be off, but then it will be racing for the rest of the month there. Yeah,

Maura:

Yeah. Good stuff. And then we roll into a pretty chill July compared to what we’ve had in the past with nationals, upon nationals, upon nationals. So we’ll just have our normal slate of Tuesday, Fridays and Saturdays as well as we are hosting regionals track regionals on the 15th and 16th of July.

Andrew:

Yeah, so we’re pretty excited about that. As you mentioned, we used to have a lot of nationals in July, so this year the Elite National Championships, elite and juniors are going to be heading back to the West coast. They’re going to be hosted in Carson in the indoor velodrome there. So that’s taking place in the early July.

We might see a bit of a dip in some of our pros that weekend as they head off to nationals, but we’re not hosting it there, as I’m sure we’ll talk about later in the episode. We still are hosting a national championships, but that’s later in the season. So yeah, it’s just our sort of standard programming standard Friday nights. And then as you mentioned, regional championships. So we didn’t run that last year.

Maura:

Correct.

Andrew:

But after chatting with Andy Taus, who’s been the gentleman who’s run it in the past here at the track, we’re going to try to put it together again this time the track will be responsible for running the event and we’re going to be reaching out to all the different local associations to see what kind of involvement they may or may not want to have in this.

So basically just another opportunity for local riders to get some prep, especially masters because we’re lining that up in the middle of June, so it’s a few weeks before Masters Nationals that I believe is taking place down in Rocky Hill, South Carolina at the beginning of August. So that’ll give you an opportunity to practice before you get there. Plus that’ll be our second timed event day. They’re basically going to be sort of mixed. So if you want, same as it was a few years ago, where if you just want to come in and do the timed events and not have any part in the regionals championship, then that’s fine, you can still do that. But then there’ll be athletes who are participating in that, and this will be available for masters and juniors. So if you’re just sort of regular Cat 1 or Cat 2 athlete, that won’t be available for you. But we do have to spread the love a little bit and give some events for other participants as well.

Maura:

Right. Yeah, going off of the whole category thing, that’s another little tidbit of a change that we made with we’re no longer having Cat 5 for racing.

Andrew:

That’s right. Yeah. So I think Dave mentioned it in his podcast and there’s probably some information on it on the website about it as well. But just for the listeners here today, we used to have Cat 4, 5 racing here at the track. Category 5 is really your novice entry level racing. This is the category you enter when you’ve never really done it before and you can get a few races under your belt or some courses are training and then you move up to Cat 4, and that should be the progression. I don’t think we’ve, in the last few years, held a separate Cat 5 field. It’s always been Cat 5 and 4, so you’re still racing with Cat 4s, right? So we made the decision to, from a, I guess a admin level to get rid of Cat 5 and encourage everybody to move into Cat 4 as soon as possible.

So if you’re still a Cat 5 and you want to race, reach out to Dave Underhill and talk to him. He’s basically got the ability to recommend upgrades to USAC from 5 to 4. And if you’ve got the experience and you’ve been here for a while, we can make that happen pretty quickly. Otherwise, for new participants, people who are coming into the track this year that we’re hoping to really get a lot of new faces out there, basically you would have to go through basically try the track program, which we’ve modified a bit this year as well.

We’ve added a third level to it. So it used to be two, two hour courses, now it’s three two hour courses and the back two, the ride the track and race, the track are, if you take part in those and successfully the program, you can get a recommendation to Cat 4 through that. It’s not a barrier per se to entry, it’s just a way to make things a lot more smooth. So again, if you’re a Cat 5 in the past, we’ll get you upgraded to Cat 4 if you’ve been around for a bit, and if not, then simply take the two courses. That will be one way to get into Cat 4 very quickly.

Maura:

Right. So I think that kind of covers it for, I don’t want to say older, but older people compared to our little juniors that come and race on Saturdays. If I’m a junior and I’m a Cat 5, can I still race?

Andrew:

No, you’d have to do the same thing and upgrade to Cat 4, but it’s no different than let’s say an adult would do it. But generally if you want to race on the Saturdays, we do have our junior racing, our sort of 10 to 15 age group kind of thing. And you would still race there-

Maura:

Right, yeah. So under that junior category, if I’m a Cat 5, theoretically I can still race under the junior category,

Andrew:

Just under the junior category. That’s right.

Maura:

Yes.

Andrew:

But if you wanted to race with the adults, then you’d have to be a Cat 4.

Maura:

Right. Because I know sometimes we have overlap of kids that race the junior category as well as wanting to race the four five. So if you’re a junior and you’re a Cat 5, you can only race in the junior category if you want to stay a Cat 5. But if you want to upgrade to a Cat 4, then you can again race both.

Andrew:

And that would be recommended for riders like 16 to 18. So that the true UCI junior group kind of thing.

Maura:

Yes. Good to clarify.

Andrew:

Absolutely.

Maura:

Yeah. So then after July comes August and standard Friday night, same as July with Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Our closing night will be on August 18th, so that we will have fireworks again.

Andrew:

Yeah, having fireworks open and close the two nights I think is a good way to punctuate the season of racing. And it is exciting because you do draw in some folks who are outside of the normal racing bubble or spectator bubble I suppose. So it does sort of change the crowd a little bit, does make it a bit larger. So it’s always exciting. But yeah, it does cap off a great season. We’ve a lot of the standard theme nights returning from previous years, you’re going to see the corporate challenge night again. So if anybody who works for a company that wants to field a corporate challenge team, by all means get in contact with us. We’re looking to get quite a few more teams than we’ve had in the past to make this made this an exciting night.

Maura:

Yeah Valley Preferred an LVHN needs some competition. They come out full force every year.

Andrew:

That’s right.

Maura:

And kick everybody’s butt.

Andrew:

Yep. And then you’re going to see things like the Nicole Reinhardt Open and the Madison Cup, Kirin Cup, Artie Greenberg Memorial, so all those races are coming back. So check the calendar for those dates and you’ll see them finishing up throughout August. Some of the other interesting things that are going to happen in August, well actually the big one for me is we’re going to be running a fairly large charity event on the first weekend in August. So basically we’re going to be running a 24 hour charity ride on the track and it’s going to be team based. And the idea is that you would find a team of any number of riders, it could be a team of one if you’re willing to ride your bike for 24 hours on the track.

Maura:

Hey, we had that last summer.

Andrew:

We had that last year. Yep. They were trying to set a record there. But the goal here isn’t to set a record, the goal is to raise money for the track and in support of helping improve this place and finding some really good opportunities, like possibly raising money for a new scoreboard or start gates or something that would be a nice to improve the facility on. So if you’re looking to come out and support a good, cause, you put together a team and over 24 hours from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, you would have one of your teammates on the track at all times doing laps and will have timing sort of recording the number of laps. And we’ll have prizes for teams that have done the most number of lap or teamwork where they have the highest average number of laps per teammates kind of thing to encourage all your team to ride and stuff like that.

And then we would encourage you to go out just like any other sort of charity event, if it was a running charity event where you would go and raise donations to support the cause as your team, we would have some options where you could raise flat donations or you could go out and say, “Hey, sponsor me for a penny of lap or sponsor me for a nickle lap.” Because we figure even an average team could essentially do over 3000 laps in 24 hours at a moderate or even slow pace. And at a penny that’s $30, at a nickel, that’s $150 and that’s a reasonable thing for somebody to donate for a charity.

And of course we are a 501(c)(3), so we can offer those kinds of tax receipts as well for for those kinds of donations. And essentially we just want it to be this kind of mid-summer or end of summer party, 24 hour experience where you can come, we’ll let you set up tents in the infield and we’ll have music whenever we’re allowed to. Obviously at 3:00 in the morning we’re not going to be blasting music, but it’ll be an opportunity and you know, can sleep while one of your teammates are riding or everybody stays up or it’s a lot of fun. They do this lot in mountain biking and I thought we could move this over to the track and see if we can make some good out of it and raise some money for the track.

Maura:

Yeah, no, I think it’s great. Excited to see how that goes. Yeah, and then that kind of closes things up for August in September. Like Andrew mentioned, we are still hosting a national championship. It’s one I don’t believe we’ve hosted before

Andrew:

Maybe, but quite a long time ago. You’d have to ask the historians to find out when the last time was.

Maura:

Right. Back in my day. But we are very excited to host Collegiate Track Nationals from September 14th through the 17th. It’s definitely a more low-key event than elite junior para masters nationals all mashed together. We’re excited to have the kids out and just have a great time.

Andrew:

Absolutely. Yeah, that’s probably the big national event, but it is a fairly busy September, I think every weekend something is going on and it is the sort of last main month of the season. So it is exciting that we’re sort of filling it with a lot of activity. That’s one of them for sure that’s happening. I believe it’s the 14th to the 17th of September, and we’re hoping to see over 100 kids from different universities and colleges from around the nation come in and attempt to win some championships at the collegiate level. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a laid back atmosphere. I know last year the folks at USAC decided to have a little fun and they started this duck hunt kind of thing where they got these little-

Maura:

Rubber ducks.

Andrew:

… yellow rubber ducks and then hid them throughout the velodrome and the kids loved it.

Maura:

I love that.

Andrew:

The students were when they weren’t racing or warming up, they were running around looking for these things to win a small prize. That’s amazing. So I hope we can recreate that kind of atmosphere and looking forward to working with USAC on that event. But for the rest of the month, a lot of activities happening. We start the Labor Day weekend off with the annual donut derby presented by the Lehigh Wilman Association. That’s always a great event. If you haven’t done it before, you should check it out. Basically it’s a nice little kind of Fondo like group ride. It is a race, it will be timed, but it’s not that far. I believe the loops are pretty light, but what makes it unique is that they have obviously donuts there because it’s a donut derby and at the donut stations, for every donut that you eat, I think you lose something like three minutes or something like that.

Maura:

Time gets taken off from your [inaudible 00:33:56].

Andrew:

Time gets taken off. So if you think you can eat a lot of donuts, you could potentially finish the race in negative time if-

Maura:

I don’t know how great you’d be feeling after that though.

Andrew:

No, no, for sure. I’m not sure what the times are, I’d have to look at them, but if you could do a 30 or 40 minute time and then eat 15 donuts, you would certainly be in negative territory there, but-

Maura:

My stomach hurts just thinking about that.

Andrew:

Yeah, yeah. It’s not an easy task, but certainly it’s a lot of fun. They draw hundreds of riders out to this and it’s a great event for them to put on. We’re happy to have them here and also be a part of the group here at the VPCC. So following that, the next weekend we’re partnering with Upper Macungie to do a movie night. Just like last year we had our movie night. This time we partnered with Upper Macungie. They moved their movie night around different parks in the area. So the last one is going to be here at the Velodrome, and I believe the movie is going to be Turning Red. So if you have a lot of young kids and you want to come out to a great movie night in the park or in the Velodrome, come on out, bring your chairs, blankets, we’ll have full service concessions running and the movie will run as soon as it gets dark that time of year.

So that’ll be a fun opportunity. Also that’s in partnership with the local fire hall. So the firetrucks will be out for the kids to take a look at and that’s always fun. Kids love firetrucks and-

Maura:

That’s always a crowd favorite.

Andrew:

That’s the whole theme, firetruck red, firetruck turning red, that sort of thing. That’s where they were going with that. So we’re happy to host Upper Macungie’s movie, movie in the park here on the Friday eighth or 9th of September. I’m terrible with dates. And then of course, as we already mentioned, we have our collegiate championship happen in the following weekend and then the weekend after that be-

Maura:

The fall Fondo.

Andrew:

The fall Fondo. So this will be the second year that we’re running a Fondo like style ride here out of the Velodrome run by the Velodrome. And this is kind of like a year end nice ride where we’re basically coordinating a bunch of group rides where we start from the Velodrome, we’ll have rest stops and come back to the Velodrome for a nice meal and sit around and chat about how great the season was and some good memories and whatnot as we’re closing the month of September down.

Speaking of closing the month of September, the final thing of course is our Fall Velo Fest. So if you didn’t find anything that you wanted to buy in the spring one or you didn’t sell everything you wanted to sell the spring one, by all means please sign up for the Fall Velo Fest and come out and give it another shot for the year.

Maura:

So we’ll work on getting a date for that and then we will have that posted after we finish Spring Velo Fest of course, one before the other.

Andrew:

Right. No, for sure. Yeah, of course the date may or may not change depending on how things work out so that the Fall Fondo on the Velo Fest might flip on a weekend, or it might be a weekend later, but that’ll come shortly. So always check back to the website. The website’s, the velodrome.com, and usually all of our events and updates are posted there. If you haven’t joined any of our social media yet, please do so. We’re available on Facebook, on Instagram, I believe we even have a TikTok account.

Maura:

We do have a TikTok. We haven’t been super active because we’ve been in off season and there’s not really much to make content out in our lovely office trailer.

Andrew:

But that’ll change when the season starts and-

Maura:

That will most certainly change.

Andrew:

And I’m looking forward to more elimination game videos. So that’ll be fun. So if you’re into TikTok, be sure to check this out there. And of course the best way to stay in touch with us in terms of what’s happening at the track is to sign up with our newsletter that goes out on average about twice a month, and we try to include the sort of most pertinent items in there so you can follow along and find out what’s happening.

Maura:

Yes. So that just about wraps it up for the season, of course, through out the fall, as long as weather permits and hopefully it’s a nice mild warm, sunny fall. We’ll keep the track open and programming as long as possible.

Andrew:

Absolutely. Yeah, if we have a repeat of this past winter, then we may not even stop. We’ll just keep the track open for everyone to ride on as much as they want. But yeah, you’re right. So we stop programming in sort of early to mid, mid-October. And then it reverts back to sort of a public park where you can just come and ride your bikes and as weather permits of course, that kind of thing. So hopefully this has been informative and given you guys a nice preview of the season and answered some of the questions that have come through about some of the new changes we’ve made.

Of course, if you have any other questions, always feel free to come by the office anytime. Shoot us an email through the website on the contact form, or we are looking to possibly do kind of like an open house thing later this spring with the board when the board of the VPCC meets. Then we will turn around and maybe have like an open house town hall kind of meet and greet and mixer date TBC. So if you’re interested in coming to that and you have any questions lingering after having heard this podcast and then over the website, please feel free to come out to that. So check the website or the newsletter as we mentioned for dates on that, and hopefully we’ll see you there.

Maura:

Yeah, all the places for all of the information.

Andrew:

That’s right.

Maura:

Yeah. Well, thanks so much for listening and we will catch you on next week’s episode of The Talk of the T-Town. Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of the Talk the T-Town Podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcasts. To find out more on this week’s guest, head on over to our website, the velodrome.com to check out the show notes and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Posted on

Emily Schelberg: Drinking from a Firehose

Episode 70

“Getting into the sport itself was like I keep telling everybody it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. There’s just so much information and so much to learn. Even though I’m an athlete and I know how to train, it’s a whole new skillset.”

This week’s guest has had a whirlwind of a start into the world of track cycling– she raced her first UCI season with us, podiumed at Elite and Master’s Track Nationals, and went on to race at Master’s Track Worlds. Maura sits down with Emily Schelberg and they discuss everything from Emily’s history with the US Skeleton team to navigating the track cycling world as well as what her support system looks like and what athlete she looks up to.

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/etschelly/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emily.schelly



Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Maura Beuttel:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. This is the Talk of the T-Town podcast where we discuss all things track cycling.

Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week’s episode of Talk of the T-Town. I am your host Maura Beuttel and super excited to have our guest on this week. She’s a pretty cool lady. She hasn’t been in the sport for super long, but she’s accomplished a hell of a lot. So this week’s guest is Emily Schelberg. Hi Emily. How are you?

Emily Schelberg:

Hey. How’s it going? I’m doing great. How are things with you?

Maura Beuttel:

Good. Good. We’ve been busy getting things ready for the upcoming season.

Emily Schelberg:

Can’t wait. I’m so excited.

Maura Beuttel:

Lots of exciting things coming at T-Town, I promise. Yeah, so I just thought it’d be great to have you come on the pod because you’ve kind of done a little bit of everything in your life so far, which is really cool. So if you want to give us a little bit of background and tell our listeners who you are.

Emily Schelberg:

Sure. Yeah. So I am a lifelong athlete. I started back in high school with track and field and did a little bit of swimming. I got my degree in sports in kinesiology from Penn State University. That’s really right after is where I kind of really dug in and realized sports is kind of where I belong.

So I started out with coaching and learning CrossFit. I did some minor competitions with CrossFit. And then on a dare one of the CrossFit instructors saw an ad on Facebook for a combine, which is like they bring all these athletes from all over the area and you test out for a combine for US skeleton program.

Maura Beuttel:

Okay.

Emily Schelberg:

So I did that and through that one of the athletes on the skeleton program was or had done some track cycling and that’s how I kind of got introduced to track cycling.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Yeah, I was going to ask because track cycling is just such a super niche sport that nobody knows about.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah. So Mandy Marquardt actually raced with one of the women on the team and she had raced for an off season. She decided not to race and had done track cycling in the summertime with her and that’s how I found out about it. So I kind of finished my season, really my career with skeleton, from a pretty rough crash up at Lake Placid, and I basically ruined all my gear and realized I just couldn’t, yeah.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, it was not good.

Emily Schelberg:

[inaudible 00:02:36]. Yeah, I think it was just time to call it. And so I had a huge gap in terms of my sports career. And I think a lot of athletes realize you identify yourself as an athlete. You got to find some way to let that energy out. And so I kind of found my way into cycling a few months after. So that’s how I got here.

Maura Beuttel:

Nice. Well, yeah, you’re so used to the structure of going to practice and having a coach and doing things. So you get into track cycling and you’re like, “Hey, this thing’s really cool. I like going fast.” How did you go about finding a coach and figuring out what you wanted to do and how you were going to fit into this world?

Emily Schelberg:

So I googled. Google is really the only way, right?

Maura Beuttel:

Lots of Google.

Emily Schelberg:

Lots of Google. And I reached out to a few teams. And at first it was big picture cycling and I got hooked up with Missy that way. So Missy Erickson is my coach, obviously. So that’s how I found her. Yeah, so that’s kind of how I got involved with her as a coach.

But getting into the sport itself was like I keep telling everybody it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. There’s just so much information and so much to learn. Even though I’m an athlete and I know how to train, it’s a whole new skillset.

I mean, I kind of knew I wanted to do sprinting because, I mean, I’ve been a sprinter since I was 11, 12 years old. I have no endurance or aerobic capacity. You can ask my husband. I can’t. He’s dragged me on plenty of distance runs and I’ve had to just turn around and go home. Yeah. Yeah, it was rough.

Maura Beuttel:

ahhhhhhh gasping for air?

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, I’m definitely built for something and it’s short distances and really fast and lots of rest and lazy behavior in between.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Well, track sprinting is perfect for that.

Emily Schelberg:

It was perfect. And as much as Missy would like me to branch out into the Omnium, I don’t have any interest in that right now. So I’ll pass.

Maura Beuttel:

I really don’t blame you.

Emily Schelberg:

[inaudible 00:04:35] all the way, yeah.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah. I mean that fits in well with your CrossFit and weightlifting background, because I know that’s a super important component to track sprinting-

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, with the weightlifting.

Maura Beuttel:

… especially seeing all of the lifting the Dutchies here this summer. You see videos of them weightlifting online and I’m like, “Oh, wow.”

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, they’re massive. Yeah. I really have to say that was part of my early success is just or current success is really just crossing. I’m very good in the weight room. I know how to lift. I’m very comfortable with Olympic lifting and power lifting and I’ve coached it for a while. And so having females get comfortable with lifting heavy weights, I think that kind of just naturally translates into being a more powerful human, and then you just have to work on the speed from there. So it worked well to translate from the weight room to the track.

Maura Beuttel:

What do you think is the most unexpected thing that you’ve learned in track cycling so far? How things work?

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah. Most unexpected thing? That the size of the human really has nothing to do with their speed or their power or their capacity, right? McKenna who I got to train with a couple weeks ago is half my size. She’s tall, but she’s much thinner and more spindly than I am. And her speed is incredible.

So you can’t necessarily just look at an athlete and say, “Oh yeah, that’s a power athlete. That’s a speed athlete. That’s a sprinter.” You really have no idea. So skill, technique, and time on the track really, really pay off. And her depth in terms of being a cyclist has really gotten her to where she is. So never underestimate anybody you get to the line with because you have no idea what they’re capable of. So that was pretty surprising and I think having to get used to the way you turn.

So in skeleton, when you’re coming through on a curve, and this is something that Missy and I are having to work on now is, it’s kind of when you’re driving on a sled, on a skeleton, you’re driving with the opposite weight to slow down on one side to turn you into another direction. And so with cycling obviously you’re trying to lean into the curve and use that centrifugal force to pull you across. And so for a long time when I first started and even now I have difficulty with trying to untrain that kind of mental response when I go through a curve. So totally unexpected for sure.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah. Okay. Well, so that’s a difference between skeleton and cycling. What are some similarities? Are there similarities that you’ve noticed?

Emily Schelberg:

Oh, there’s definitely similarities, yeah. So maintaining being quiet on the sled is what we used to say. So being quiet on your bike. Everything about your efficiency on the bike has to deal with where that energy is being placed. And so maintaining this kind of stillness in your body except for what’s actually working. You’re trying to stay as aerial as possible. And that quietness on the sled really translates well to maintaining a good aerial position on the bike.

And just being low and down to your center of gravity and being close to where the speed is really helps to keep your center of balance and translates well from the sled to the bike. I find that it’s been very useful, especially going through curves and feeling pressure. When you’re on a sled the G-Force are far more than you would feel on a track even on a 250, but the way it feels on the bike is kind of comparable to that.

Maura Beuttel:

Well, that’s good. I mean, it’s certainly helped you within. So you’ve been in the sport a little over two years now?

Emily Schelberg:

It’ll be two years in April.

Maura Beuttel:

Okay.

Emily Schelberg:

So just hit the two-year mark, yeah.

Maura Beuttel:

Wow. That goes fast, doesn’t it?

Emily Schelberg:

Doesn’t it? Yeah.

Maura Beuttel:

I mean, just this last year alone, I mean, you were on the podium at Elite Track Nats, you raced your first UCI season, which is big in and of itself, you’ve gotten gold at Masters Track Nationals, and you were just at UCI Masters World Nats and medaled there too. That’s insane.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, it’s been a meteoric rise for sure. Definitely unexpected. I give all the credit to Missy. I mean, when I showed up, I had one of the women’s introductions with Kim Geist’s group introduction to the track on a Wednesday, April of last year, two years ago. And we were still wearing masks. I mean, that was still, COVID was just coming around the corner there, and I knew nothing.

I didn’t know what I was doing what I was doing on the bike. The first time I came out on the track, I was terrified to even get up on the curb and Missy’s like, “You’re not going to slide. I swear you’re not going to slide.” And I’m like, “I don’t believe you.”

So yeah, the fire hose has just been trying to get comfortable with something new all the time. And there is something every single time I touch my bike or every single time I come to the track there’s something new I have to learn. And case in point, I was out training with the US team, and I showed up with wheels that had the wrong tires on it, and I was like, “I didn’t know there was…”

Maura Beuttel:

Oh no

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah. I’m like, “Oh no.” So there’s definitely a steep learning curve, but it’s just so fun and addictive. And the effort pays off and it’s tangible. And so it’s exciting to continue to learn new things and to get better and to be part of it. I’ve really enjoyed it so far.

Maura Beuttel:

I mean, hey, who doesn’t like to go fast, right?

Emily Schelberg:

Right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, the UCI definitely stepping from your masters races or your Tuesday night races or things like that and having to gain your points in order to be able to race UCI and then coming up against UCI women and you just realize the level that they’re at.

And you can be a big fish in a small pond and then you step out and you’re racing the Belgian team or the New Zealand team and you’re like, “Holy cow, this is a whole different world.” But also just, I mean, what an experience to race against Olympians. In your second year to just show up and be like, “Oh my gosh, she’s had a medal.” It’s pretty cool.

Every situation’s been a win-win and it’s been an incredible learning experience thus far. So it’s been great.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Yeah, I think that’s the super cool thing about this sport. And it’s something like, I’ve been working here a little over two years now, and I mean, hey, I’m still learning things and there’s tons more that I’m looking forward to learning and getting to see this summer.

But something I still brag about to my friends is, okay, in this tiny little nowhere town in Pennsylvania is this place where athletes know from all around the world and they come here and they train. It was like the people that we had here this summer and getting to watch it. And it’s so cool because getting to see you all interact down on the infield, you all get to make new friends and learn new…

Emily Schelberg:

Oh yeah.

Maura Beuttel:

It’s like summer camp.

Emily Schelberg:

It really is. I mean, I haven’t met anyone in the community who hasn’t been completely welcoming and smiles on their faces. And you can tell too, the attitude around being at T-Town, you can see that these athletes are truly enjoying their experience at T-Town some reason. Yeah, there’s pressure for sure with competition, but outside of your actual race, they’re all smiles and they want to help. And they’re really engaging and everyone wants to… The community really is kind of a special thing, I think.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Yeah. No, super lucky to have that here.

So you mentioned that you just finished up training with the US team out for a sprint camp in Carson. We just actually had Travis come on the pod from Carson.

Emily Schelberg:

Oh, cool. Yeah, awesome.

Maura Beuttel:

So how was that training out there with the team and what was that like?

Emily Schelberg:

More fire hose drinking for sure. But definitely, I mean, anytime you get the opportunity to train with other people, whoever it is, right, you’re going to become a better athlete because training naturally by yourself is so difficult to keep the energy up and to find your limits because other people are going to be the ones that push you beyond what you think you’re capable of.

So being invited was incredibly gracious and I was so excited to come. And the other athletes really are… So there was two groups. There was prospects, which I’m on the prospects side, and then there’s the targeted athletes, which who are the athletes who they’re really looking to see if they’re going to bring them to what they call the campaign, which is Jakarta and then Egypt and then Milton.

And so it was enlightening to see how they kind of work through their daily training environment and what that intensity is like, and how much of their lives are sacrificing for it, and how much passion they have for it. And to be a part of that and to share that passion and to be able to dive in and try to chase someone you know is way faster than you or to try to elevate your ability to be part of that team is a great challenge. And I was super excited to be there. And I had nothing but a blast while I was out there.

Maura Beuttel:

Oh, good.

Emily Schelberg:

So it was really, really fun.

Maura Beuttel:

I mean, it helps because that’s where master’s world was. So it wasn’t the first time that you’re out there on that track.

Emily Schelberg:

Correct.

Maura Beuttel:

Because obviously it’s an indoor 250. It’s much different than our outdoor concrete 333 here.

Emily Schelberg:

Oh yeah. I mean, completely different world. And I was lucky. Last year? Yeah. Last year I went to Portugal for a week to do a training camp with Blackline. So I had a little experience on a wood track. But even when I showed up at Worlds for Master’s Worlds, I think my first 200 that, because there were so many people warming up and I’m still trying to get comfortable with working around athletes and being safe and all those major important things that you do on a track. And so I’d never really gotten a chance to do a flying two before my flying two.

Maura Beuttel:

Oh no. Ripping the Band-Aid off.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, it was. Who knew, man? Yeah. So it’s that part of it where you’re trying to just maintain some stoicism in the face of your emotions and try to overcome the task when you just don’t have any experiences. It’s a very different training environment, different competing environment than I would’ve been used to.

But I mean similar in that with skeleton sometimes, I mean, most of the time you’ll come to a track that you’ve been on maybe once and it was last year and you did it like three times. And so having to learn it and having to respond immediately to the situation and answer those questions for yourself is a little bit transferable, but still scary. A new experience is always scary.

Maura Beuttel:

It’s a good thing though. It’s a good thing. So you’ve gone through all of these different steps from Women’s Wednesdays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays, and racing UCI and Nationals and Worlds. Big picture ideally where would you like to end up in track cycling? What’s the end goal for you?

Emily Schelberg:

End goal? I used to approach sports and competition with this is my goal and this is the goal up here. And for sure everyone’s goal, right? So if you’re in sports everyone’s goal is to wear that USA across their chest and to represent their country and race for their country. That’s the biggest goal you can have.

And for sure that’s out there. I’m not going to say that that’s not out there for me. I would love for that to happen, but I having been so fresh in this sport my goal is to get as fast as possible in my ability. And if as fast as I could possibly be is equivalent to how US could use that talent to win medals across the world, great. That’s great. But my focus is to be the best athlete I possibly can.

And so for this year, really that means stepping away from the master’s category and starting to push into UCI athlete or at UCI races that are outside the country. And so we’re trying to find two, three, maybe four races where I can go and get my butt kicked honestly and learn from that experience and try to elevate my abilities in comparison to those that are competing around the world.

So it’s definitely not going to be as fun as last year. Going out and racing and winning medals is great. It’s fantastic. It’s a lot of fun. But at some point, if you’re the number one in the room, you got to move on to the next room, right?

Maura Beuttel:

Right.

Emily Schelberg:

So that’s my goal is to find competitions where I can really be pushed and I can progress as an athlete. And we’ll see where it goes from there. But I think point one for a lot of athletes is really just focus on getting better yourself and then everything else will take care of itself.

Maura Beuttel:

No, I think that’s great. Very refreshing to hear, I guess, instead of like, “I’m going to be top level of the sport.” It’s all about the process getting there.

Emily Schelberg:

It is. And, I mean, I’ve got experience to look back on and I’ve been obviously part of different teams that I’ve seen what can happen and really you can’t control outside factors. All I can control is myself. And I feel like at least for me, my career should be focused on what can I do? And if I can get all those factors to be at a 100%, then I can’t control anything outside of that. So it makes for a better personal satisfaction for the sport, right?

Maura Beuttel:

Right.

Emily Schelberg:

Because if you’re trying to always chase these goals that are outside of yourself that you can’t control, you might get disappointed and you might get disappointed to a point where sports isn’t fun anymore. And so if I focus on pushing myself and getting faster, it’s always fun. It’s always fun. It’s always a good time.

Maura Beuttel:

We had a sports psychologist come on the podcast a while ago while Joan was still here and hosting, and it was Dr. Kristin Keim and the title of her episode and her big philosophy is that happy racers go faster.

Emily Schelberg:

It’s true. I think it’s very true, yeah. I mean, there’s tons of times if you put so much pressure on yourself to achieve a certain goal, that really, if you can’t control all the factors that go into that goal and you’re trying to either please someone else or please another team or please another a coach or athlete, those things are you… You’re bound to be disappointed because you can’t control those outside factors.

So yeah, racing happy is definitely when you can go in and you’re having a good time for sure, you’re going to go faster. If you’re stressed out and trying to force the issue and force the speed, that’s not going to work out.

Maura Beuttel:

I mean, what’s the point of coming into a track, coming into a race, and you have two categories of things that you can worry about. You have your controllables, the equipment you have, your emotions going into the race, what you ate the night before, what you ate the morning of, how you slept, whatever, totally under your control. Whereas you walk into a track and you’re like, “Oh my God, I’ve never raced here.” Something you can’t control. What is the point of stressing over something that you physically cannot change?

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, absolutely. Totally agree, yeah. There’s no reason of wasting energy on that. And I mean, these races can go on for hours or days with things that you can’t control, the riding-

Maura Beuttel:

The weather.

Emily Schelberg:

… the weather, the weather, the weather. I mean, there are so many things. And you learn from it. You learn from every one of those moments. If the race is being delayed because of weather, then you’ve got to control how you’re going to meter out your energy. What are you going to eat? Are you going to rest now? When’s warm up? And focusing on that rather, rather than, when’s this rain going to end? That’s kind of ridiculous.

Maura Beuttel:

Nationals this summer.

Emily Schelberg:

[inaudible 00:20:19]. Right, the entire summer.

Maura Beuttel:

Oh, not starting racing until 11 o’clock at night.

Emily Schelberg:

Oh boy. Yeah, that was entertaining.

Maura Beuttel:

It was a long week, but… Yeah, so in our talk of the T-Town tradition, we’ll take a little pause from the serious questions and we have some fun lightning round lighthearted questions. What’s your favorite music to listen to while training?

Emily Schelberg:

Oh man, depends on… So I really use music as a way to affect my mood, which sounds crazy. But if I need high energy and I need to be up and amped, I’m listening to Pandora’s Beyonce station.

Maura Beuttel:

Nice.

Emily Schelberg:

Love it. So I need that aggression. I need that kind of fire. And it definitely helps to kind of amp up the energy. If I’m trying to stay focused and really in between I’ve got some time to relax and turn off my brain, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats radio is a good one.

Maura Beuttel:

Nice.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah. So I think it just matters on the mood and what I’m trying to accomplish with listening to music in that moment.

Maura Beuttel:

Nice. Favorite post training snack?

Emily Schelberg:

Oh my gosh, my go-tos were always like I have Fuel for Fire, which is a protein squeeze pouch.

Maura Beuttel:

Okay.

Emily Schelberg:

It’s blended fruit with caffeine and protein in it. And it’s really just to get something in my stomach until I can get to either Chipotle or home and cook. My favorite food is steak, so if I can get home and cook a steak, that’s my jam for sure.

Maura Beuttel:

Nothing better than a good steak.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, so satisfying. And it’s like a reward after your race too, for sure.

Maura Beuttel:

Oh, 100%.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah.

Maura Beuttel:

Who is an athlete, either currently in the sport, not in the sport, that you look up to?

Emily Schelberg:

Nicky Degrendele from Belgium. She’s an incredible human and she’s my idol in the gym. Watching her workouts on Instagram, I’m like, “I just want to be you. You’re so good.”

Maura Beuttel:

That’s how I feel watching your workouts.

Emily Schelberg:

I mean, she’s great, dude. She’s so powerful and she’s so strong. And she is such a positive light and attitude on the track. And she’s got so many talents outside of cycling, so I think she’s probably up there for me.

Maura Beuttel:

Nice. Favorite track race?

Emily Schelberg:

As in event or any races that I’ve done in the past?

Maura Beuttel:

Yes.

Emily Schelberg:

Yes. I love the match sprint. I mean, the match sprint right now is… There’s so many factors to think about in terms of tactics and I am at the base level of understanding those. I mean, all last year my only tactic was just go really, really fast.

Maura Beuttel:

Just go fast.

Emily Schelberg:

That was not really a tactic. And it literally blew up on me at Elite Nationals when I just blasted myself against Jen Wagner. So getting to watch video and learning the tactics for Sprint match has been fun and exciting. So we’ll try to see if we can apply those this year.

Maura Beuttel:

Good things. Favorite bike race to watch professional or here at the track or anywhere?

Emily Schelberg:

The Sprint match will be up there. I mean, watching people try to cat and mouse their way through a race. But the Keirin for sure, I mean, sadly because some of the wipeouts are pretty fantastic.

Maura Beuttel:

It’s always so scary.

Emily Schelberg:

I mean, it’s the one that I really enjoy the skill involved. And it’s one of the races where I feel like if you want to get into racing other people on the track besides one other person, it’s your entryway. It’s your gateway. And also just learning tactics from how you race from the back of the pack or the front of the pack or when do you put on the pressure and how do you meter that pressure? It’s a interesting race to watch, especially at the UCI level.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, I always get really nervous watching everyone come around turn four going into the last lap, biting my nails. I’m like, Please, please, everybody stay upright on two wheels.”

Emily Schelberg:

Nail biter for sure, yeah, but a fun one. It’s a great one.

Maura Beuttel:

Yes, yes, very entertaining to watch.

If you could go back and give advice to younger Emily from where you are now, what would you say?

Emily Schelberg:

What would I say? Get into track cycling earlier because it’s a lot of fun. Try not to focus on what you think you should be doing and focus on what makes you happy.

I think that a lot of times we have these presumed ideas of what we should be as an athlete and it can really get in the way of who we are as an athlete. And I think that when you focus on I need to be this or I need to be that, or I want to look like this or I want to feel like that, it gets away from what actually is. And so focusing on what makes you happy? Is it the gym? Is it one specific lift? Is it the race? Is it the time? Whatever it is that makes you happy, I think focusing on that. Just do what makes you happy.

Maura Beuttel:

Good life advice.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Maura Beuttel:

Speaking of life, my next question for you more back into the more serious questions.

Emily Schelberg:

Sure.

Maura Beuttel:

So you are a mom, you are full-time medical professional, and somehow you still manage to throw this sport and training in there. How do you balance everything?

Emily Schelberg:

I don’t. Balance, yeah. So I would say that getting into cycling, it really has been a very aggressive hobby. And so that means hobbies are things that you invest your free time in. And for me, finding free time to do those things is really important.

I think that when we focus on our job and our family and our child, if you have a child, the assumption is that you have to give up what sets your soul on fire in order to be the responsible adult. And I’ve always felt like my argument is that if my soul’s on fire and I’m passionate about what I’m doing, my son sees that. And he absolutely does. And he enjoys seeing that.

And I want him to learn from that experience that life is not just about your job. It’s not just about being solely focused on your responsibilities, but it’s also about finding what makes you tick and what’s your purpose and what makes you happy. And I think he gets that too.

In terms of balancing all of it, I will say that I actually just dropped down to work part-time at my job in healthcare primarily because I really want to turn this hobby into something a little more. And so I think by doing that, I know what makes me happy. I know what I can safely afford to keep the lifestyle going. We make those trade-offs and it really is a time trade-off.

It’s a balance times August. You’ve seen him. I bring him to the track. [inaudible 00:27:24]

Maura Beuttel:

He’s so cute.

Emily Schelberg:

We’ll bring his bike sometimes to practice and we find time together to spend. And quite honestly, when I was on the skeleton team and even through track cycling, the irony is people sometimes assume because you’re doing track cycling you’re taking away from time with your kid. And in reality, if I wasn’t track cycling or being on the skeleton team, I’d be at work full-time and I wouldn’t have that time with August.

And so there have been times where my job graciously has allowed me unpaid leave for three or four months to go up to Lake Placid to slide. And because of that, the training environment is three, four maybe, five hours total of training in a day at the most, right? With meetings and whatever.

Maura Beuttel:

Right.

Emily Schelberg:

And so I actually have more time to spend with my kid because I’m doing that. And so I think it’s just a matter of how you perceive the world and how you want to interact with it and what you want out of a life.

And Matt and I have figured out how to make it work and he’s just as passionate about supporting me as I am about supporting his ideas outside of his job and being a parent too. So I’d say one, find a spouse that’s going to support you in your dreams and your goals. And so you don’t ever give up on them just because you’re older. Age doesn’t matter, right?

Maura Beuttel:

Right.

Emily Schelberg:

If you have a passion and it sets your soul on fire, go do it. Go do it for sure. But balance, every day it’s a different challenge, but you get done once you get done. And Missy knows. I mean, she’ll tell you, I don’t always get the workouts done. That’s just life, right?

Maura Beuttel:

Right.

Emily Schelberg:

So that’s definitely something we all work on, but it’s worth it in the end.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. 100%. And I think you touched on something really important there is having such a concrete support system like you have with your wonderful husband and your beautiful son. And who else is a part of your support outside of your family?

Emily Schelberg:

There’s an army of people behind. There’s literally an army with people behind me. Missy from being a coach to being a friend to supporting everything. She knows she’s everything, right? She’s literally everything when it comes to track. If I have a question, I’m calling Missy, right?

Maura Beuttel:

Right.

Emily Schelberg:

She knows everything for me.

Emily Schelberg:

My work. I mean, honestly I have a job where I’m honest about what I’m looking for in the world and they’ve been incredibly gracious about allowing me to continue to pursue those goals. And so there’s Karen Pipkin. There’s tons of people back at work that I work with that support that goal and they fight for me when it becomes an issue.

My mother-in-law watches August often. Of course, my dad watches August often for us. So having a close network of family that kind of supports that too. But really it comes down to Matt, honestly. If as a partnership this didn’t work out and this was becoming too stressful, we rely on each other to be like, “Hey man, we got to reevaluate.” So I would say that at the pinnacle of that support network is my husband for sure.

Maura Beuttel

Nice. Yes. Well it’s good to hear that you are well supported from all angles. And I think in any relationship, work, personal, whatever, transparency is important and communication.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I would say too finding a team that really is kind of in line with your values. I work with [inaudible 00:30:40] and Christine D’Ercole and her team and because they’re mostly masters, they really do understand what it means in terms of what kind of support you need as a, I won’t say older athlete, but as an athlete that has other things going on outside of the sport. So finding a good team is very helpful.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah. It’s funny because coming into this job and looking at track cycling as a whole, sort of as an outsider, because I have a swimming background and there are some similarities between the sports, but both sports I never really assumed teams to really be that big of a thing. Sure you’re a part of a team, but ultimately you’re racing as yourself and it’s you against your time or you against a handful of other people. But I mean, seeing I am, I can, I will, I do at the track and how you support each other and other star track and edge and all of these other teams here-

Emily Schelberg:

It’s huge, yeah.

Maura Beuttel:

… it’s completely changed my mindset on that.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, I think from an emotional standpoint, literally everybody on the track has been there longer than I have. So being able to go up to Christine and go, “I don’t know what’s happening. This is stressing me out,” whatever. She’s like, “Girl, chill. This is not the end, whatever. She’s so seasoned when it comes to this stuff.

And having that experience to be able to draw from other people on your team who have that experience, but also because they’re adults and they have jobs and they have kids and they have other experience outside of that can affect. I can talk to Christine about the fact like, “Dude, I did not get a single workout done in the last four days. What am I going to do?” And she’s like, “You’re going to be fine. It’s not the end of the world.”

So yeah, I mean the team’s vital. It’s absolutely vital. And even from outside, even the technical support kits and current costs for races and things like that is phenomenal. I mean, just because you’re an older athlete with some financial stability doesn’t mean that this isn’t an incredibly expensive sport and I would say the barrier to entry for this sport. That’s one of the huge barriers to entry is cost. And so when you’re able to find support in that way, especially from such a strong team, it’s very helpful.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. 100%. Last question for you. So we’re now in February of 2023. I’m sure you’ve got big things planned for the upcoming season. So what is next for you this year?

Emily Schelberg:

So finding those UCI races that I can attend, afford, and do well at is kind of big on the list. Lots of time at T-Town. I mean, I’ve cleared my schedule. Like I said, I’ve kind of reorganized my life in a way where I can get down to T-Town, even though it’s a two and a half hour drive to just be on the track. Because that’s what I need now is that.

And I think the bigger hurdle is finding other athletes who are willing and interested in training with me to be able to get faster. So yeah, really just more time, more time, more time and more exposure and more races and more and more and more. So taking that big step forward and trying to see where I can go on the elite UCI side is kind of where we’re at.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Heck yeah. Putting in the work.

Emily Schelberg:

Get that track open. Let’s go. I want to do this.

Maura Beuttel:

Hey, we’re super excited to actually open on time this year and not have track resurfacing.

Emily Schelberg:

I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Maura Beuttel:

Yes, lots of exciting things in the pipeline for T-Town this summer.

Emily Schelberg:

So can’t wait.

Maura Beuttel:

Yes. Well, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to sit down and chat.

Emily Schelberg:

Yeah, thanks for inviting me. I appreciate it. It’s been a lot of fun.

Maura Beuttel:

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Looking forward to having you here this season.

Emily Schelberg:

Thank you.

Maura Beuttel:

And that has been this week’s episode of Talk of the T- Town. Please give us like, comment, help us grow the pod and stay tuned to see who we have on next time.

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcast. To find out more on this week’s guest, head on over to our website the velodrome.com to check out the show notes and subscribe, so you never miss an episode.

Posted on

Joe Coddington: Gran Fondo Hincapie Lehigh Valley

Episode 69

“My favorite quote from Lehigh Valley, someone was like, ‘You can’t come up with a course that I haven’t ridden already.’ And we come up with this and they come back with, ‘I didn’t know half these roads existed.'”

If you missed it last year, this year is your chance– the Gran Fondo Hincapie returns to the Lehigh Valley on June 3rd! This week Andrew sits down with Joe Coddington, the technical director of the Hincapie Group. The guys discuss what a fondo is, the flare that Hincapie brings, Joe’s background in cycling and his passions, and much more. Be sure to listen to get the scoop on all of the upcoming Hincapie Gran Fondos!

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/hincapiesports/ https://www.instagram.com/joe.coddington/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GranFondoHincapie https://www.facebook.com/joe.coddington.9

Website: https://hincapie.com/granfondo/lehigh-valley/ https://weareprojecthero.org/



Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Maura:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. This is The Talk of the T-Town podcast where we discuss all things track cycling.

Andrew Paradowski:

Welcome back to another episode of Talk of the T-Town here at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center in the beautiful Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. I’m today’s host, Andrew Paradowski, and sitting with me today in our studio’s virtually via Zoom is Joe Coddington from the Hincapie Group. Joe is the technical director for Hincapie Gran Fondo series. Last year was the inaugural Lehigh Valley Hincapie Gran Fondo. I just love saying Fondo. And we’re here today to talk about all things Fondo. Welcome to the show, Joe, how you doing?

Joe Coddington:

I’m doing great. I’m a very excited to talk about big ride or as Gran Fondo means an Italian, so let’s get at it.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. Well, then off the top, tell us what exactly is a big ride or as you say in Italian, Fondo?

Joe Coddington:

Well, the Gran Fondo Hincapie Lehigh Valley, or we have other cities as well. If you do every one, you get to ride Greenville as a Gold VIP for free. But it is a very unique experience. We like to create world-class unique courses. One of the big goals of Lehigh Valley is to create a classic feel. So, you feel like when you pull into that velodrome that you had a little mini version of Paris-Roubaix, or Strade Bianche, like that.

Andrew Paradowski:

Joe, before you get into your specific Fondo, for the listeners who don’t know what a Gran Fondo is, can you explain the basics of it?

Joe Coddington:

Oh, for sure. A Gran Fondo, I mean, literally just means big ride, or it’s sometimes translated to fun ride, and you get to come out and do a ride in the community with a bunch of your friends, 2,000 of your closest friends or so, you have SAG support or vehicles that follow with tubes and stuff like that. You have rest stops that have all kinds of unique foods and things to help you along the way. It’s just a unique experience to ride in something other than a true bike race. It has a little bit of that feel to it, but it is not a bike race at all. It’s just a fun way to come out and do a good ride. And it’s just a little bit fancier way of doing it than the old cookie rides of the ’80s and ’90s. It’s a nice, exciting twist on making it a little bit more fun.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, there’s no racing involved?

Joe Coddington:

Well, there are time segments. It’s a big difference with Fondos, where you get to ride a portion of the course that is safe for a time and those all get added up and that determines who’s going to get some prizes at the end as well, some raffle prizes and other exciting stuff.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay, so a little bit for everybody. A casual rider who just wants to cover a distance and have some fun with their friends all the way up to somebody who might be interested in setting some PBs or winning some prizes.

Joe Coddington:

Absolutely.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay. All right. Then how does the Hincapie flavor come to bear here?

Joe Coddington:

Well, at Hincapie, what we do is we really focus on the off-the-bike elements. Like our rest stops will have a live band, we’ll have some unique food, you’ll pull into a rest stop and there’s fresh chicken fingers, for example, or something like that. We had lobster gummies at all the rest stops at our one up in Bangor, Maine. Your entry fee does include all your food and beverage for you and your family, which is something else that’s unique. I know that all the times I spent racing, everybody would come to support me and there’d be nothing for them to do when I’d be out on some road race for four and a half, five hours. So, at Hincapie, we correct that by having unique food, bouncy castles, all kinds of things for the kids, and it’s all included. So, you get your finished beer and your finished burger and you bought all that with your entry fee. So, it’s a very unique approach in Hincapie.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, that’s really cool. Is it just one kind of experience or do you have different experiences for sort of different levels of entry fee, I suppose?

Joe Coddington:

Yeah, we have three different courses. We have a Piccolo, a Medio, and a Gran, to focus on the excitement of keeping those Italian words going. We made some changes this year to the courses, but our Piccolo is going to be about right at 15 miles. We have our Medio is at 52, almost 53, and our Gran is going to be right at 79 this year. We try to focus on 15, 50, 80 as their experience. And one of the reasons for that is we know that the experienced guy can ride 100 miles and we’re really proud of that, but we also want that guy to get back and experience the festival in a way that he doesn’t get to at other races. So, we come up with a very challenging 80-mile course, so that they can get back and enjoy that festival fun.

Andrew Paradowski:

You mentioned that you’ve got several of these on the go across the United States. How many of them are you running right now?

Joe Coddington:

We have five coming next year. We have actually coming up on March 18th, our first ever gravel Fondo in Merced, California. For those of you that want to hop on your private jet or just go on a road trip in your sprinter van, come on out and you can do that ride. It’s going to be a gravel ride. Really cool. Chattanooga is in our sixth year, and that’s coming up in the first weekend of May. And then Lehigh Valley, which is June 4th this year. Bangor, Maine on June 23rd. And then the granddaddy of them all, what got it all started as that retirement party for George Hincapie, the Greenville Fondo in its 12th year. Also, Merced will be our 20th Fondo ride we’ve ever done, and it’s also Hincapie’s 20th anniversary as a company. So, it’s going to be a lot of unique twists on some things going on in Merced for those that want to make it out.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, quite a bit of history there. For our listeners, for anybody involved in the cycling world, would probably have to be living under a rock to not know who George Hincapie is. But do you want to give a little bit of history for our listeners there?

Joe Coddington:

Oh, for sure. George is one of the most successful American cyclists. He was very famous for being a lieutenant. The term super domestique was born around George. He is also one of our famous, our most successful Classics riders, really loved riding the Classics, but it’s very rare that you can have a rider fighting for the podium at Paris-Roubaix and then turn around and be leading out the tempo every climb in the Tour de France, just an all-around consummate professional. He also had the record with one other person for the most tours ever run, which was 17, that got broke this year by, I can’t remember what the gentleman’s name was that did it, but he cranked off the 18th one. So, very elite company there. I think the next one [inaudible 00:07:14] is like 12. So, be able to ride that many Tour de France just shows a perseverance and a strength. That’s kind of what we try to create with these Fondos is these unique experiences like Lehigh Valley bringing out that classic flare, which is something that George had a great passion for.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. I’m a casual rider and I want to take part in my first ever Gran Fondo. Is there anything I need to know, to do, prepare, before plunking my cash down and heading out to the Lehigh Valley Gran Fondo next year?

Joe Coddington:

You can go to our website, hincapie.com, and there’s some training programs coming up and things like that, or you can go to the velodrome as a great place to start, especially, you guys have such an amazing asset and so many talented riders there to get help with training and practice. You should probably be riding a bike two, three times a week just, as a casual rider, to be ready for what this course brings. We’re here to give you advice on equipment choices and all of that stuff for you to make sure your experience is enjoyable. But I would start with a little bit of training, a little bit of practice, and make sure your bike’s in great working order when you show up on June 4th.

Andrew Paradowski:

Great advice. Also thanks for the plug there. We really appreciate it. Anyone who’s looking to check out what’s out being offered at the velodrome, come see us at thevelodrome.com website there. I’m sure you’ve all discovered it coming to see this podcast anyways, but it never hurts to put that out there. You mentioned at the start of the podcast, too, that one of the unique things about the Lehigh Valley version of the George Hincapie Gran Fondo is that it ends on the velodrome, much like the Paris-Roubaix Classic does. That’s unique amongst all your velodromes, excuse me, all of your Fondos and probably most Fondos out there, is that correct?

Joe Coddington:

Oh yeah. I think we’re the only one that does. And that was part of what attracted us here to this facility is it’s just such an amazing experience to having ridden Lehigh Valley and T-Town and all the other names that it’s gone on throughout the years. It’s been a staple in cycling and American history. And to be able to finish a velodrome event or finish a Fondo on the velodrome is really great. I do need to make one correction. I said June 4th, I meant June 3rd. It’s very important. Don’t show up on June 4th unless you want to help me pack up and clean up the velodrome. It’s June 3rd for this year’s event. We were June 4th last year. That’s why it’s stuck in my head. It was such an incredible experience. I don’t want to forget it. So, it’s really important to know that you can register on Friday, June 2nd, onsite or pick up your packet, and you also get a ticket to come watch the racing, because we want to promote the sport of cycling. Then the event is on June 3rd, Saturday.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right. And it’s not just a single-day event, as you mentioned there, it’s a multi-day event, where there’s an opportunity to come watch some racing on a Friday night here at the velodrome, as well as I believe when you sign up for different packages like the VIP package, there’s other events happening earlier in the week to make it sort of a real destination.

Joe Coddington:

There’s all kinds of things going on, and as you go to the website, hincapie.com, you can look and see what you want to select and be a part of. But absolutely, it would be a shame to not have people come to the velodrome and not watch the racing on Friday night. I think there might be a surprise this year, because I think it’s going to be a different style of racing than what a typical Friday night is. As a little birdie told me that it might be some big names coming, because of the nature of the event, but I’ll don’t want to spoil the surprise, I’ll let you do that, Andrew.

Andrew Paradowski:

For sure. For sure. We’ll update our listeners with that in the coming weeks for sure. So, turning the tide a little bit, as a race organizer myself, I know there’s a lot that goes into planning and logistics to put on these sorts of things, and course design is quite often on the forefront of your mind. What goes into putting together a Fondo like this? Especially, what do you look for when you’re designing courses for those to come out and ride?

Joe Coddington:

One thing we do, and that’s a little different, is we look for world-class unique. Using Lehigh Valley as an example, it’s the finish on the velodrome. That was what we wanted. Then we built the course from there, going backwards. Then we wanted to try and incorporate some of the uniqueness of the area with all the covered bridges. Then we started riding around and noticing all these little great [French 00:11:46] or pavé sections, which are little dirt sections, graveled sections, to give that feel of what a Paris-Roubaix cobbled section would be. Or in Strade Bianche when they say a [French 00:11:59], which literally means like a goat path. So, we created these segments that are dirt and to give that experience of what a Paris-Roubaix would feel like riding the cobbles.

In other areas, we just try to find a unique spot to the community and then figure out how to make a route work to where we can get to those locations and make something really awesome for them to do that they don’t get to do any other day. Like in Merced, we found three roads that no one’s allowed to ride, but we got permission for our riders to ride on them, this day, on the event day. So, little things like that, that we try to make it very unique and very exciting.

Maybe in Greenville we find some of George’s favorite training roads, so that you can get a taste of what it was like when he was training for the tour. Cycling is the most unique sport in the world as it is the only sport that you can directly participate and relate to what the athlete is going through, because riding up a hill is the same whether you’re doing it at a tour level or you’re doing it as a casual rider, you’ve got to get up that hill. Yes, the speeds might be different, but no other sport can you get that direct experience that you’re on the actual course with the actual equipment that they’re using. You can’t do that with football, you can’t do that with soccer, basketball, baseball. Not everybody can see what it’s like to have 100-mile an hour pitch thrown at them. But everybody can go ride these 17 bergs that we found in Lehigh Valley and know what it feels like. The same for George, Bobby, or any other pro riders that show up to participate.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. All right, let’s turn around and talk a little bit about the man, Joe, himself. And we’ll start off with a couple of rapid fire questions. A small tradition here at Talk of the T-Town. Quick answers. What’s your favorite track cycling event?

Joe Coddington:

Oh, it’s got to be the miss and out.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very nice.

Joe Coddington:

Miss and out and points racing, that’s my two. That’s what I loved doing. The miss and out’s definitely the favorite.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. What would be your favorite professional race to watch?

Joe Coddington:

Oh, it’s got to be Paris-Roubaix.

Andrew Paradowski:

A classic and it matches what we’re doing here, too, with the velodrome finish, for sure.

Joe Coddington:

Absolutely.

Andrew Paradowski:

What is your favorite bike, bike brand?

Joe Coddington:

Ooh, that’s a tough one. Ventum’s making some really nice stuff now, they’re new. They’re really impressing me. I’ve ridden almost everything, but I got to say, they’re making some cool stuff. It might be Ventum right now.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. Most people who work in cycling tend to have some sort of background with it, even if it’s just as simple as they liked just riding their bike when they were growing up kind of thing. Tell us about your history with cycling. Did you have anything big? Were you a racer? Did you just like riding your bike? Tell us a bit more about that.

Joe Coddington:

Well, I’ll tell you, my first pair of cycling shoes were wood soled and you nailed the cleats to them. That’s how old I am. I actually started velodrome racing in Germany when I was six or seven. They had a little program out there that I got to do. Then I came back. To be honest, it was the only sport that made any sense to me, because it didn’t have that many rules. I didn’t like the organized sports, because it had too many rules. Had I realized how many rules cycling actually had, I probably wouldn’t have done it either, but instantly fell in love with the sport. I raced from about six, seven years old to 38, lots small-time regional pro stuff, elite amateur, had a lot of fun, raced a little bit everywhere. It was very unique.

Then I left racing and worked for the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling team for a while, and then I left that and I had my own youth cycling nonprofit that I started, that I ran. Then I worked with a veteran service organization called Weareprojecthero.org, and we use cycling as a therapy for PTSD and other injuries. We will take 200 vets from San Francisco to LA over eight days and ride with them and do a lot of really unique things. So, I’ve had a very diverse cycling background. I can say that I have raced at T-Town several times and enjoyed myself. I think I’ve ridden almost every velodrome in the United States. I did not get to ride The Superdrome down in Frisco, but I’ve ridden almost all the other ones. And T-Town is definitely my favorite place to race at. Atlanta is my favorite track to ride, because it’s just really crazy, that is built on the mile and not metric, and the turns are different. It’s a very unique experience, but still, if you’re going to hand me a track back, I’m running to T-Town right away.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, that’s awesome. A couple of things came out of that, that I want to explore a bit further. What brought you to Germany when you were that young?

Joe Coddington:

I was an Army brat, so my dad served in the Army and we were stationed near Munich. That’s how that started. Then because of that, I was a United States Marine. I am a Marine Corps national cycling champion, but it’s not the same kind of accomplishment as other things, but it was definitely fun to do.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. Well, thank you for your service, for sure. That leads me to, I guess, my next question. You mentioned that you do some rides that work with veterans, especially this big one down in California. Do you want to talk a bit about that?

Joe Coddington:

Oh yeah, weareprojecthero.org is a great organization. They do rides all over the country. They have hubs that serve as local riding communities. I think there’s one in Pennsylvania, but they do a big ride in Texas in April, and then they do honor rides, the little one-day rides similar to what our Fondos are, not the same kind of level, and they do them all over the country. So, it’s a really great spot to go. You can go to weareprojecthero.org to check it out. But it really, again, because cycling’s this unique sport, it’s something that you can do together at all levels and what makes it really unique for working with veterans, because it’s also something that they can ride this trip, but then on Monday they go home and they still have a bike and they can ride and it really helps them process the injuries that aren’t so obvious to see, having served and gone through unique experiences. The decompression time when you fly from a combat zone back home isn’t the same. It’s really hard to process that for a lot of our veterans. So, having organizations like weareprojecthero.org really help.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, no, that’s great to be involved in that. Couple of years ago, I was the lead on the road cycling events for the Invictus Games in Toronto in 2017, and we had quite a few Americans up and you could see how it really helped and there was an impact on just being there and being able to compete in that race. That certainly helped with a lot of the morale and the wellbeing for those veterans. So, it was certainly an experience to watch.

Joe Coddington:

Well, thank you for that service, Andrew. That’s the kind of stuff that’s really important for veterans is that when you get wounded, you lose that sense of mission and purpose. So, having something like the Invictus Games or these challenges that weareprojecthero.org really restores that mental aspect of being what it is to be in the military. So, I greatly appreciate your work with that organization. It’s very important.

Andrew Paradowski:

Sure, thank you. The last thing I wanted to ask about in your short little history there was about your time on the UnitedHealthcare Pro Team there. They were quite the Conti team for quite a while, and I remember seeing their results and their exploits. Do you have any interesting stories that you might want to share with our listeners about your time on that team?

Joe Coddington:

Oh yeah. I wasn’t a rider, but I did all the events and VIP stuff and helped out with the crit squad some. It was a very unique environment. It was probably one of the greatest family experiences of a team. Everybody really, really got along. It was just, what an awesome time to have been in the sport and really to be involved with an organization like that with Rory Sutherland, Hilton Clarke, Johnny Clarke. Just really great riders that knew how to, I mean, Karl Menzies, Adrian Hegyvary, I mean, there’s so many great guys. The Keoughs from up there. Jorge Romero was a mechanic actually, he does a lot at the velodrome. So, it’s really an awesome time to be involved. I will say that every time the the crit squad won, they’d all go get Pad Thai. So, we had to adjust that, because they were winning so much. But it was really a great organization to be involved with.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. All right, let’s do a few more rapid fire questions. What is your favorite movie?

Joe Coddington:

Favorite movie. Probably Top Gun.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right.

Joe Coddington:

Breaking Away is a close second.

Andrew Paradowski:

Top Gun seems to be a favorite here. I think it was Kaio Lart who said Top Gun was his favorite movie as well. So there we go. We’ll have to start keeping a track of this and then do a post.

Maura:

It was the new Top Gun though, the one that came out this summer.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right. And I put-

Maura:

So, have you seen it? Do you like the original one better?

Joe Coddington:

Oh yeah, I’ve seen it. It’s hilarious, but it’s actually some great cinematics, but there’s some things they do in that movie the F-18s can’t do, but don’t let the facts get in the way of the story. But no, I mean, I was in the Marine Corps when the original came out, so we used to watch it every day. That’s why it sticks all time. But then American Flyers is another one for a cycling-related movie. You can’t kick that one to the curb either.

Andrew Paradowski:

I thought you were going to keep going on the cycling movie line there. What’s the other one that people keep talking about? The really horrible one that came out recently, Premium Rush?

Joe Coddington:

Oh, I haven’t seen that one.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah. Well, never have I. So, really shouldn’t be commenting on how good or bad it is, but I hear it didn’t get great reviews. All right, let’s move on. How about music? What’s your favorite music, let’s say, training or just relaxing, too?

Joe Coddington:

I like punk music a lot. I mean, Kiss is probably one of my favorite bands. But I listen to the blues, believe it or not.

Andrew Paradowski:

Love the blues.

Joe Coddington:

They can really help you, especially when you’re doing that long training ride, because you just get into the jams.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. What is your favorite pos-ride snack?

Joe Coddington:

Favorite post ride snack. I got to go with a bologna and cheese and sandwich.

Andrew Paradowski:

With cheese?

Joe Coddington:

Yes. I mean, I’m a cheese snob. I love all kinds of cheeses. I will tell you the weirdest thing, we used to play a game when we’d have somebody new on the ride, we’d go to a gas station in the south and try to buy the weirdest thing to freak people out to eat in the middle of a ride just to gross people out. And I used to always buy Vienna sausages. It was pretty good. But then we had a rider who will remain unnamed, came out with pork brains and milk gravy one time, and he is forever the winner of grossing people out for mid-ride food. I can’t believe he actually ate it. I thought it was going to be 100% a joke, but it was a fun game to play in your 20s. I can’t do that in my 50s, because if I eat that kind of stuff now, I’ll get bigger.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, after a long ride, you can pretty much eat anything as long as it’s moderately edible, because you’re just starving.

Joe Coddington:

Yeah, exactly. I don’t think that’s edible.

Andrew Paradowski:

I’m not a huge fan of fish, but I remember coming back from this century ride and we stopped at a place and literally the only thing on the menu was fish tacos. And I was like, “All right, fish tacos it is.” So yeah, got to replace the energy. Last one for you, what is, if you have one, your favorite inspirational quote?

Joe Coddington:

“Do or do not, there is not try,” by Master Yoda.

Andrew Paradowski:

Excellent. I love it.

Joe Coddington:

It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to fail, but if you don’t try… if you go with, “I’ll try,” you’re inviting failure right from the beginning, so just do it.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right. Yeah. The Canadian version of that is, “You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take on that.”

Joe Coddington:

Yeah, that’s another great one.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Joe Coddington:

It’s another great one.

Andrew Paradowski:

Before we head out, just a couple more questions here for you, just about the future of the Fondo scene, and in particular the Hincapie Gran Fondo. Is there anything that our listeners can look forward to? I know you’ve mentioned a lot already about some stuff coming up this year, but do you have any big plans for Lehigh Valley or the Fondo series in general?

Joe Coddington:

Well, we’ve made some changes to the Lehigh course to impact the traffic a little bit less, so it’s going to be a little bit more exciting. We found another awesome little section of pavé that’s right near the velodrome, so you get to experience that for sure. Also, this year, like I said, you get the Gold VIP upgrade if you ride all four. So, starting March 18th in Merced, California is your first chance to do that. And then we go to Chattanooga, Tennessee for May 6th, then the Lehigh Valley on June 3rd. It’s very important that June 3rd is the date. Then we finish up the season with Greenville. Oh, I’m sorry, I left out Bangor, my second favorite Fondo is June 24th. Then we finish up the season with Greenville on its anchor weekend, which is October 21st. That’s a great experience, just an amazing spot there at Hotel Domestique and you can see all of it, and you can find out all the information you need on hincapie.com.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very nice. Maura, you went to the one down in Greenville, last year, right? This is ’22, so ’21.

Maura:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

I keep saying last year for this year, because we’re so far into it.

Maura:

Right. I don’t know what year it is, COVID really messed me up. But yes, I was down in Greenville in ’21 and it was amazing. It was the longest ride I ever did, the most climbing I ever did. It was very grateful for the sticky buns at the rest stop at the top of that first climb. But yeah, it was a great time. I’d love to get down there again.

Andrew Paradowski:

And you’d call yourself-

Joe Coddington:

Oh, come on down.

Andrew Paradowski:

You’d call yourself sort of a entry level cyclist. So, did you find it to be too difficult or was it just right?

Maura:

I thought it was just right. Certainly had to do some prep rides with the climbing that was on the course. Certainly that’s not something I’m used to, so I had to get some mileage in my legs for that. But other than that, it was a great experience.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool.

Joe Coddington:

It is, definitely, Greenville’s an awesome one. I mean, it’s just the venue itself and the ability… Once you’re riding and once you’re past the first, I mean, you’re always in the middle of nowhere instantly. It’s really cool.

Maura:

Right. It’s just like the Lehigh Valley.

Joe Coddington:

Exactly. It is. It’s just a little bit less climbing in Lehigh Valley, so we had to make up with it with these little pavé sections, which I think is awesome. I mean, my favorite quote from Lehigh Valley, someone was like, “You can’t come up with a course that I haven’t ridden already.” And we come up with this and they come back with, “I didn’t know half these roads existed.” So, it’s just a very unique experience at Lehigh.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, that’s a very good tagline, for sure. All right, Joe, thank you very much for coming on the show today. I know you said it a few times already, but one more time, for the folks at home, where do they go to find out more about the upcoming Lehigh Valley Hincapie Gran Fondo?

Joe Coddington:

It is hincapie.com, and then you can click on the Gran Fondo Hincapie link. Believe it or not, Lehigh Valley is front and center once that page comes up. So, you can go right there, click the register, find out about all the events going on that week, and June 3rd, 2023. We look forward to seeing you there.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very good. All right. Thank you, Joe.

Joe Coddington:

Thank you.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay, that wraps up another episode of Talk of the T-Town. Check us out in the coming week for more episodes and, of course, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite streaming service. From all of us here at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, remember to keep the rubber side down and ride safe out there. See you next time.

Maura:

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of The Talk of the T-Town Podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcasts. To find out more on this week’s guest, head on over to our website, thevelodrome.com, to check out the show notes and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Posted on

Travis Smith: We Need You

Episode 68

“There’s opportunities for everyone from Olympic gold medalists to brand new athletes coming from other sports. It’s really fun.”

This week’s guest is similar to host Andrew Paradowski– Canadian and a Velodrome director! Andrew is joined by VELO Sports Center’s very own Travis Smith. The two talk a little bit of velodrome history, the benefits of having an indoor 250, what the VELO Sports Center has to offer, and much more (including Travis’s favorite movie and music to train to)

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/velosportsctr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/velosportscenter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/velosportsctr

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/VeloSportsCenter?reload=9

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/velosportscenter

Website: https://www.dignityhealthsportspark.com/velo


Travis Smith


Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Maura Beuttel:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. This is the Talk the T-Town podcast where we discuss all things track cycling.

Andrew Paradowski:

Welcome back to another episode of Talk of the T-Town. I’m your host, Andrew Paradowski, and we’re here to talk about all things T- Town and all things cycling. Today our guest is Travis Smith from Los Angeles. He is the director of the VELO Sports Center, the only indoor, fully permanent walled ceilinged 250 in the United States, and he is here to talk to us about life in LA at that track and all the other things that go with being a track director. Hi Travis. How’s it going?

Travis Smith:

Good. Good. Thank you for having me on your show today.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, we certainly enjoy having you here as well. It’s a treat for me as well to sit down and talk with a fellow track director here. It’s a small community and it’s good that we’re able to do things like this. So we certainly do appreciate you coming out here today. So why don’t we just dive right into it and tell us a little bit about the VELO Sports Center?

Travis Smith:

Yeah, you kind of hit it on the intro, but yeah, we’re the only permanent UCI 250 velodrome in North, sorry… In the United States. We were the first 250 indoor velodrome in North America back in 2004. So obviously you know that Milton in Canada and one in Bromont Quebec, and now one is being built in Edmonton. So they’re popping up kind of everywhere right now in Canada, and the United States, and Mexico. So it’s good for us. Good for you as well. But yeah, we are the only velodrome that has hosted currently, every event that you can host up until the Olympics, and that’s slated for 2028. It’s pretty exciting.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right. So we mentioned that the velodrome is in Los Angeles, but that’s a pretty big place where exactly would one find the VELO Sports Center.

Travis Smith:

Avalon and Carson? No, literally it’s in Carson, California. So we’re attached to the Dignity Health Sports Park, which is the home of the Galaxy Soccer team. So we are owned by AEG, which is Anschutz Entertainment Group. It’s the world, one of the world’s largest entertainment groups, and they also own a Velodrome. So, which makes it exciting because we have a good backend that can support us with anything that we want to do over here. So-

Andrew Paradowski:

No, very cool. You also briefly mentioned the Canadian velodromes and how they’re starting to grow like weeds up there. You have a Canadian connection as well?

Travis Smith:

Yeah, I’m Canadian. I raced for the Canadian team, national team from 2003 to 2012 when I retired. That was on the national team. It’s kind of hard to remember all of this. It’s been over a decade almost. But those were good times of my life. Got to travel around the world, got to spend my summers in T-Town racing, been, it was pretty fun. It was a good time in my life. So-

Andrew Paradowski:

It kind of looks like we’re starting a trend here. Canadians coming down here to help out with the track program.

Travis Smith:

Yeah, I think, what do they say? We’re humble. We like to have everybody, we include everybody. And what better way to welcome people into our venues.

Andrew Paradowski:

There we go. So let’s talk a bit about the history of track cycling in Los Angeles. So you mentioned earlier that the track was built in 2004, but track cycling goes back a little further than that. So can you talk to us a bit about the history?

Travis Smith:

Yeah, so in Los Angeles, actually pretty much on this site where we’re at right now, the old 1984 Olympic velodrome was sitting where the soccer stadium is. I know Andrew you know where it is because you’ve been here, but most don’t. So it’s like 500 meters away from here. The story as I know it from my supervisor is Mr. Anschutz, who’s the owner of AEG, wanted to build a soccer stadium. And when they were flying around in a helicopter, they saw the location where the 84 Olympic velodrome was, and he said, “That’s where I want my soccer stadium.” Big open fields, there was not much around at that point. It’s very much developed over the years since I’ve moved here.

So they picked that location and they had to tear down the velodrome, which was Olympic legacy. And Mr. A was, and as long as I’ve known a big supporter of cycling, decided that he wanted to build a velodrome to honor the Olympic legacy. And people were saying, “No, no, no, don’t build a indoor velodrome.” But he wanted to have a world-class velodrome on his land, on his property during that time. So they built the velodrome and the VELO Sports Center was created, and that’s what we have today still. So I thank him because I have a job, I had a place to train and it was awesome. So I moved from cold Calgary, Canada to warm Los Angeles.

Andrew Paradowski:

There you go. And I think the whole cycling community has thanks for him as well. I mean, like we said, it’s up until, I guess they put a cover on the track in Colorado Springs and the Lexus Velodrome was built in Detroit. It was the only covered indoor track in the USA and up until, well, I guess Forest City Velodrome was built around the same time. It was oh five I think it came out. And then Burnaby been around for a while, so we’re talking less than a handful of indoor tracks, only one in the US. So it certainly did help both the US team and the Canadian team who I know came down to Los Angeles in the winters prior to the Milton Track being built in 2015. So it certainly did help track cycling in the Americas.

Travis Smith:

Yeah, we were actually based out out of here. I mean I moved in 2004, but Canada decided to, this was their home base from probably 2007 all the way till 2015 or just before when Milton opened. So this was a home for US national team and the Canadian national team for many years, which was nice. We had good racing because of that. It’s been hard to match.

Andrew Paradowski:

So you had mentioned that the proprietor of AEG sorry, Mr. Anschutz, is that right?

Travis Smith:

Yeah, Anschutz. We call him Mr. A.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yep. So he wanted to build an indoor track. When was that decision made? Do you know what year sort of?

Travis Smith:

I would, no, I don’t know exactly. But before 2003.

Andrew Paradowski:

So I’m curious because it feels kind of prescient, right? Because I’d have to go back and look at my Olympic history. I’m not that sharp on it, but I believe Atlanta was the last time it was held outdoors, track cycling. I think Sydney was indoors and then after that it was-

Travis Smith:

So Sydney was Dunc Gray Velodrome. Then he went to Athens, which was kind of 50/50. It had a roof, but open walls.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right. Much some of the sort of northern end of the South American velodromes, like Cali and stuff, right?

Travis Smith:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Or Egypt and Tel Aviv nowadays. So-

Travis Smith:

Then he went out to Beijing and then London, Rio, Tokyo, and they’re all indoors. So yeah, I mean there’s not much many races that are outdoors anymore at UCI level. That’s why for me it was really nice to come spend our summers in T-Town or other velodromes that were around at that time like Portland and San Jose and they had good race scenes as well. So it just changed it up. It was good for the mind.

Andrew Paradowski:

So just touching back on the sort of pressence of it now, like you said, there aren’t too many races that are held on outdoor velodromes. I mean we do class one events here in T-Town and it’s probably the highest we can go. Maybe we could do continental championships if nobody else bid on it and Copacy was interested in doing that, but for sure we’re not doing nations cups or junior worlds or anything that high level anymore. So having the indoor Velodrome for sure before or on or about the same time that it looked like they were shifting from being an outdoor sport to an indoor sport, certainly did help.

Travis Smith:

Yeah, and it’s been nice. Having an indoor velodrome in LA is always difficult at itself. I mean, that’s our number one battle asking people to come indoors, pay money to ride a bike when you can ride outside along the beach pretty much every day of the year. That’s a little bit of a battle.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s a good segue, actually. I’ve got that as a question. So why don’t we jump into what you guys are doing now at the VELO Sports Center. So let’s talk about programming. We have a lot of listeners here who have been there for different events. Either they’ve been high performance athletes, masters because you guys just recently hosted Masters Worlds or someone looking to go on vacation and trying a different track, different reasons. But we also have a good host of our listeners and folks here in Lehigh Valley who’ve never been to Carson. So I fly out there, what’s on offer?

Travis Smith:

Yeah, well you come out here, you get to ride a 250 world-class indoor velodrome. So that’s nice. And a lot of people when they first walk in, our velodrome is much different than other velodromes that you might have been to because I think Milton’s a pretty easy drive from you guys. But when you walk into our velodrome, it’s much smaller. We have a world-class velodrome with a brick building just built around it. We don’t have all the amenities and unused space that is seen in a lot of velodromes, which at the same time is a good thing. I believe being a track manager and seeing how it runs, it’s a good thing to have everything being used.

So when you first walk in, you are right at the track surface. Yeah, the first thing that you see is flags from around the world hanging from our roof, and then you just look over and you see a 44.7 degree banking and you can’t escape that because that’s the first thing that you see when you walk through our lobby.

Most people walk in and say some choice words, “Like no way, I’m never going to make it around that velodrome.” But they do. So the very first, to answer your question, the very first thing that we try to offer people if they’ve not been on our track is a sample session. A sample session is just a very easy one hour coached session to expose yourself to it, feel what a board feels like, feel what a track bike feels like. We don’t really go higher than above the sprinter’s lane, it’s just getting them around the track. So, that’s our first step here. After that, we require everybody to be certified very much like a driver’s license to drive a car. You have to go through our certification, which is three classes. Once you’re certified, then you have your driver’s license and you can ride in any of our sessions, which range from open training, all the way to coach sessions in the evenings, which are more like a organized spin class.

So a lot of the people don’t like to race, they just like to come out and get a very good hard workout. We call that the VELO Jam. So it’s music loud, people ride hard and they just have a good time. So that’s fun. And then as you said before, we have the national team based here. The National Sprint Team is based here now. I coach, I’d say it’s an elite group that ranges anywhere from young riders all the way up to 83 years old is my oldest rider, but they’re retired, they can trade midday or they’re professionals, they can train midday. And it makes it a little bit easier and it fills our track time when there’s kind of some dead space.

Andrew Paradowski:

What about racing? Do you have a regularly scheduled racing program? Grassroots, pro, anything?

Travis Smith:

Yeah, we don’t have as good of a racing scene as you, that’s for sure. Racing is more of… Our time trial scene here is bigger than our mass start racing.

Andrew Paradowski:

Really?

Travis Smith:

Yeah, it’s weird. A lot of our members just like to race against themselves. They don’t want to put themselves into these groups where some people view it as world championships or whatever, but-

Andrew Paradowski:

It’s not as crazy as it sounds. We run time trial events here on Saturdays once a month. And I wouldn’t say they sell out, but they certainly sell really well. There’s just as high, if not maybe even slightly higher attendance at those events as a standard sort of mass start Saturday morning kind of race.

Travis Smith:

Which is good because we were shot, I mean LA was one of the first places to really shut down and one of the last to open back up. So we weren’t doing anything for a good year. We were shot. It’s been tough to get back to pre-pandemic numbers. People have either moved on, or stopped racing, or went to the road, I don’t know. But it’s been a little bit difficult to get back to pre-pandemic numbers. But to answer your question about racing, LAVRA is LA’s Race Organization, they’re pretty good. We’ve struggled maintaining race directors over the years, but it’s been pretty consistent with guys step or girls stepping up to take on that volunteer role and get some good racing going. And just recently a new group has come out called Skunk Works Racing. We’re implementing just Wednesday night races once a month, one or might even be twice a month they’re doing now.

And it’s just practice racing. USAC permitted, but it is just for fun. Results aren’t being posted. We come out, we race. It’s just more of a training race session. After the races, the coaches that we have here at the velodrome, which I hope you ask me about, because I love to poke, give them some props, they’ve all volunteered some of their time to come in and help people after the race. They sit down and they give advice and it’s really good. It’s a good plan they’ve put into play. And our first night of racing happened last Wednesday and there’s over 30 people that showed up. So it’s great. Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well that is certainly the benefit of having the indoor track indoors during the winter when… I mean the weather is pretty much nice all year round in Los Angeles. What’s the worst it could get? Maybe high fifties, low sixties.

Travis Smith:

It’s been pretty cold right now, like forties.

Andrew Paradowski:

But as you said earlier, you’ve got this… It’s generally nice all year round. So I mean, what is your season like? Do you actually have participation all year round, or is it kind of seasonal like we are in the sense that we can really only run programming from April to October?

Travis Smith:

No, I mean we have programming all year round. We’ve played over the years with different timeframes to see when it’s more popular with our racing because a lot in the years past, we’ve started early in the year when people start racing like January through April. And then a lot of people will go out to T-Town and stuff through the summer months or other velodromes and then nationals finish and it kind of, the track scene as a whole kind of slows down at that point. Or for us, we’ve had the Masters World Championships the last three times in the last four years. So that finished in October, which helped us actually, it’s good to have people go longer into the year, but post October, we have some blues over here. It’s pretty quiet.

Andrew Paradowski:

Which is generally surprising because you would think, again, if the weather is dipping down to those sort of fifties, forties even that people would be more enticed to go ride indoors.

Travis Smith:

And I think they are, it was us just trying to find ways to get them coming back here. And Skunk Works has shown us that people want to come and race on a December, Wednesday night. So this is something that I’m glad they implemented and we’re seeing people interested in it.

Andrew Paradowski:

Some of our keener listeners who like to read all the blogs and the websites will know that on Monday, USA Cycling announced the national championship calendar for next year. And those who do are aware that Elite and Junior Nationals will be in Carson next year. So you guys must be pretty excited about that?

Travis Smith:

It’s nice. I’m glad it’s coming back here. I think it’s very important, especially as an elite rider, that they race on the velodromes, that one, it’s very predictable. We don’t have weather delays. There’s no wind affecting one side versus the other. I know that it can be a little bit stagnant for some people, but I think as a coach or a national federation, it’s important to see head to head on it equal terms. So that’s good. I’m excited.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, we don’t take any offense to that by the way. We like the outdoors in the summer.

Travis Smith:

I do too. Like I said earlier, I like the change. Change is good, it’s good for the mind, it’s good to just be in a different environment. It helps keep your body accelerating forward, moving forward instead of just being stuck in a rut. And again, I know that a lot of people feel like we have tried to crush other velodromes being an indoor 250 and putting on these races, and I’m like, that is not what I want. I would love for every velodrome in this country to be thriving because it helps you, helps me, it helps Seattle, it helps San Diego, San Jose because if the scene is growing it helps everybody all around.

Andrew Paradowski:

Absolutely. Yeah, we’re the same way. We feel that the more tracks we have, it’s like the rising tide raises all boats kind of thing, more people participating in that kind of thing. Actually it’s interesting because I’ve used to say that Milton is a good example in why we need to have more tracks. So you look at the scene in Ontario and prior to that it was you had that Forest City Velodrome that 138 inside of a hockey arena in 2005. And prior to that there was an outdoor asphalt 250 in sort of southwestern Ontario, but basically only one operating track up until 2015. And then luckily Forest City is still running and I hope that they can solve their sort of tenant, landlord issues that they’ve got going on right now. They’re trying to raise some money to overcome that, but it would be a shame to lose them from the scene because if you only have the one velodrome and it’s a beautiful velodrome, I mean it’s a great legacy from the Pan Am. games.

And like you said, it was purpose built as opposed to just being bricked around. You suggested that LA was. But the thing is, when you start a sport, you don’t go start playing at the cathedral, you know, start playing baseball, you don’t start playing in Fenway Park or one of the other big pro leagues. You play on a diamond in a park in your township, in your county kind of thing. You started in some… Just, this is my opinion, then maybe you share it as well, but if we had more grassroots tracks around the country, it would benefit the more sort of established ones like Carson and T-Town because now that’s the place where kids can go and learn. Kassena Velodrome in New York is a good example of that where it’s a outdoor 400 asphalt track that kids can go and have fun on. So we need more of that.

Travis Smith:

Oh for sure.

Andrew Paradowski:

To support-

Travis Smith:

And it’s easier to learn on. And I mean Kissena with Star Track and Pete and Dave, they’re doing a great job. And same with Seattle and Amara with their junior programs. I want to emulate them, which is tough to do because they do such a good job you guys as well. But no, you’re right. With the velodromes having easier velodromes for kids to get access to, more of them, it just takes away those limitations. Because right now, like you said, if anyone wants to go ride Milton, they either have to drive hours or they don’t ride it at, all or they ride a outdoor easy one that would help them. Luckily for us here in LA there’s just people everywhere. We really only need to target a five-mile radius around this place and we would have way too many people. So we just have to figure out how to get them here. That’s the problem

Andrew Paradowski:

For sure. All right, one of the minor traditions here at Talk of the T-Town is our rapid fire questions set.

Travis Smith:

Okay.

Andrew Paradowski:

So I got a couple questions here. So just first thing that comes to mind, we’ll just give you a couple now and we’ll do a couple later. So I’ll start off with what’s your favorite track event?

Travis Smith:

Keren.

Andrew Paradowski:

Keren. Nice. What is your favorite pro race or competition to watch?

Travis Smith:

I really have enjoyed the new Champions League.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very nice. Do you have a pro racer current or former that you admire?

Travis Smith:

Yeah, Jamie Staff.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay. And what’s your favorite bike like bike brand?

Travis Smith:

Felt right now was my sponsor.

Andrew Paradowski:

It’s always good to represent the sponsors for sure. All right, so let’s move on to a couple more. I got a couple more questions here for you. And actually you asked earlier if I was going to ask about coaches. So why don’t we do that? Tell me about the coaching scene down there in LA.

Travis Smith:

Yeah, I think, I feel like we have a little bit of a different scene because we offer these coach sessions down here. Then I don’t know if… That are open to any member. So we have some really good coaches that have changed over the years and that’s why I would like to talk about them. One is BJ Olson, he runs our VELO Jam sessions, which is Tuesday and Thursday night. These are the organized group training that I talked about. That’s quite hard, but it’s catered towards every level. So we’d have the beginner riders working hard down at the bottom, medium level riders, middle of the track, and then our experts or really fit athletes riding at the top. So we accommodate everyone and doesn’t matter how fit or how unfit you, are or how experienced or new, there’s a spot for you everywhere, which is great.

So we also have Pete Colson who runs a bunch of our sessions here through helping out in the open training sessions because that’s a lot of times he utilizes those times. So he helps other riders when they’re here. But also he has a program on Wednesday night called The Power of Our, and it’s pretty hard. People come off there and say they’re smashed and Pete does a good job with that and he’s one of the founders of Skunk Works racing, so he’s implemented that for us, which has been so far really good. Then obviously we have Erin Hartwell as the national team coach here for sprint. Myself. Yeah, so it’s good. And being this location with these people, it makes us a little bit of a tourist destination as well. We have a bunch of riders from Canada down here escaping the minus 40 weather.

Andrew Paradowski:

Hey, now it’s not that bad. Well actually maybe in Western Canada.

Travis Smith:

I heard Edmonton was minus 40. And yeah, it wasn’t very nice, but Kelsey’s down here right now, Kelsey Mitchell training with me and the national team. As we talked about just that mental break is really good just to change things up and keeps things going forward. Yeah, we have an NFL football player that won a Super Bowl here training with me right now. So like you said there’s opportunities for everyone from Olympic gold medalists to brand new athletes coming from other sports. It’s really fun.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. Why don’t we talk about track in general. Do you have any thoughts on the current scene in the US, how things are going, where you think things could go, or should be going or any sort of general concepts about it?

Travis Smith:

I mean of course I always have opinions, it’s implementing them. It’s tough. And I do come from Canada where there is a little bit more support in amateur sport versus down in the United States where amateur sport is different, it’s different on how… You have to do it for the love of what you do here, which is a shame because being a coach down here and working with athletes and seeing how hard they struggle over the last many years is kind of draining and tough. But saying that, today where we’re at, I think we’re seeing great things. We are seeing programs being implemented through USA cycling, we’re seeing a new TalentID program based out of LA here being implemented. And I can’t say anything about it yet because I don’t know how… It’s brand new, but at least it’s something. I’m very, very excited to see what comes from it.

And I’m super excited that Aaron Hartwell is kind of overseeing it. I have a lot of respect for him and feel like he’s very smart. So if it’s going to succeed, I think he’s a good guy to have as the leader, but as all velodromes know, we need more riders and that’s going to drive the national team and that’s going to grow the sport. Starts with TalentID and it starts with us, the velodromes and if we have good junior programs, good learn to ride programs, which all the velodromes I talked about earlier do. That’s just a funnel system into this TalentID and that’s going to make the job of USA cycling and Aaron Hartwell and Gary much easier. But yeah, I mean over the years what? We’ve won many medals at the Olympics from Team Pursuit, Jen Valente won the Omnium. We now need to see the sprint side growing. So I hope it does. My fingers are crossed, but I think we’re in a good spot. So-

Andrew Paradowski:

Tell us a bit more about Travis Smith. You know mentioned a few times, you’re from Canada, you used to race a bit. Why don’t you tell us about your history in cycling and you mentioned earlier before we started the show, that you don’t ride much anymore and I’m interested to find out how that happened and if it’s likely this, it could be the same reason that I don’t ride as much anymore. Because when you start getting involved in the production of the sport, then it kind of provides less time to actually do it. But we’ll leave it with you. Where does Travis Smith the cyclist come from and where is he today?

Travis Smith:

Yeah, well I mean it came through many sports that got me to cycling, which is weird in Canada as you know to be a cyclist, but I started as a swimmer from a young age, was enjoyed it a lot. Kind of burned out as I got better at it because they jumped in, you had much more workouts happening a day and someone said to me, “You should do triathlon.” Through that time. So I did triathlon, made the national team, went to the world championships in triathlon, represented Canada in 1995. A long time ago, but I think in ’96 or ’97 the ITU made drafting part of triathlon and I was not a good runner, I was a good swimmer, and I was a strong cyclist, but I was an okay runner and it made it tougher. It became a running race.

And someone said to me at that point, “Have you ever tried track or you already ride a bike?” And I’m like, “What is track? What’s track cycling? I’ve never heard of it.” Didn’t even know Calgary had a velodrome and it’s a 400 meter outdoor concrete track. And I say, “Yeah, I’ll try it.” Got certified, raced the Canadian National Championships that weekend, like three days after getting certified. And I won two bronze medals and that was it for me. I loved it. It was a lot like swimming, kind of just following a black line around the track.

And then in 2003 I qualified for National Team, went to my first World Cups and from there it was kind of all over the world. Went to Commonwealth Games. I won two medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2006. I’ve been Pan American Champion, 30 time Canadian champion on the velodrome. I hold a track record at your velodrome still. I think it’s the only one I have left. I might still have one in Calgary actually. So it was fun. But when I retired in 2012, it was right after all the Olympic qualifying and all that, and qualified for the Olympics and I retired. I was just done. I was ready to be done. You’re always chasing money, you’re always trying to eat properly and it’s really hard when you’re not making a ton and living in LA. So I was just ready. And now fast-forward 10 years, as you said, it’s harder to have the time when you’re trying to put on the races and be at the track for hundreds of hours during those events. I also have two little kids, a six-year-old and a three-year old that make it pretty difficult to just hop on my bike and go away for four hours.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’ll do it.

Travis Smith:

But that said, I started running, as much as I hate it, but it is easier. It’s the time to go for a 30-minute run and feel like you did something, has helped me and just getting back in shape a little bit feels good again. And I do get on the mountain bike probably once a week. I go out Sundays, but track once I’m done here, I’m out.

Andrew Paradowski:

You’re out. So I want to put an asterisk on something you said earlier. I do want to remind listeners, those who are interested in starting to race track that Travis was already a professional athlete before he started track. So going from trying the track to three days later, going to national championships is not a recommended path for most. I always encourage everyone to try the smaller races first because I have seen it where a novice has done that, where this is my first race, what do I do? And this is national championships, so it’s a bit of a jump to do. Yeah. But I’m sure-

Travis Smith:

But there are those people and I, there’s so many stories you hear over the time, obviously the history at our sport. There’s a coach here, Roger Young, probably not another cycling person in this country, knows as much as Roger. He’s got stories, on stories, on stories and I love to hear them. And he talks about Erin Hartwell, kind of this kid in Indiana. Someone gave, he had a neighbor had a track bike and he hopped on and rode a 107 kilo and that was it. Guy wins two Olympic medals, and it does happen.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, maybe we can get Roger to come on the podcast and talk about those stories.

Travis Smith:

You should. It would probably be one of your most entertaining ones. He’s very good at all of this and he knows everything about the sport.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. So great. All right, so I got a couple more questions for you before we end the show today. Earlier on you had mentioned that you liked watching the TCL, the new Track Champions League that started last year. Yeah, we just had Maggie Coles-Lyster on the show. We also had Dylan Bibic on the show earlier this year. We’re hoping to get Grant Koontz on the show, see if we can nail him down to come and talk about his experiences at the TCL. Tell us what you think about that race. What makes it exciting for you?

Travis Smith:

Well, obviously having the velodromes, being able to have all the light shows and the music and the entertainment adds value to just the racing. I mean, anyone listening to us talk today already loves the sport. They know how exciting the sport can be. But we need to, as we’ve talked about, and every velodrome knows, we need more people. And I think what UCI is trying to do here by making it bright, loud, fun, quick racing, it’s over a few weekends so people can pick who they like and follow them. I just feel like all of it just creates a little bit more of a fan following, which with fan following comes new riders. So I would love to put on one of those races one day just because I like how exciting it is, but I don’t think we could afford it. I think it’s quite expensive. Looks-

Andrew Paradowski:

It sure is. There’s a lot of tech there, but who knows, maybe someone from the UCI is listening to this podcast and will give you a call after this saying, “Oh really you want to host? Okay, let’s talk.” Right?

Travis Smith:

Yeah. And I talked to them quite a bit, so I did mention that to them one day that I would be willing if it made sense. So-

Andrew Paradowski:

For sure. I mean the scene is different in Europe for sure. They certainly do have the fan base. I mean was at Worlds in Paris back in October, and I was just blown away by the immense amount of volume that was created by the crowd in there. It was almost deafening. You’re sitting there, especially when there was a French rider who was doing well, or on the podium, or something like that. It was tore the roof off coming. So to have that here in North America would be great.

Travis Smith:

I know actually where the best place is, and I’ve raced in Paris and Cali, Colombia. Man, it is nothing like racing in Cali, Colombia. It is loud, they cheer for everybody, but if a Colombian’s doing well, man, like you said it’s a good thing there’s no walls because they, they’d be blown out. It is fun. It’s a lot of fun. It’s different for sure.

Andrew Paradowski:

What do you think about, so coming up this August, we’ve got Super Worlds in Glasgow. Yeah. Where for the listeners who don’t know, the UCI decided that they want to, every four years take every single world championships in the sport of cycling, every discipline and have them located in one area, one town, one region. So that it’s this one big event, much like the World Cup of soccer. It happens every four years. Something to look forward to. It’s in Glasgow this year and they’ve already settled on, I believe it’s in France, I can’t remember which city it’s in. So they want keep doing this and try to attract, make a spectacle of it. So what are your thoughts on the Super World’s idea?

Travis Smith:

I’m glad I’m not running. It sounds miserable there, but as a fan, I think it’s kind of, it’s cool. It’s kind of like a mini Olympics or a Pan Am. Championships or any of that stuff. Like you said, it’s all happening over a certain amount of days and you can make a vacation out of it and you could catch everything from BMX to Mountain Bike. I mean, it’s cool. I think it’s cool. It’ll be neat to see how it works out, but I do feel like people will back it and it’ll be a fun thing to see. But yeah, I don’t want to organize it.

Andrew Paradowski:

Just doing one major event is certainly enough. And I’ve got another series of rapid fire questions to end off this interview. Before we do that, I guess my final question, we’re talking about major events is what are the plans for the future for you in the VELO Sports Center? Anything big coming up that our listeners would be keen to know about?

Travis Smith:

Well, obviously we have the national championships coming up next year. The last time it was held here was 2019. So I think just trying to get that going and having good people racing, a good show within what we can do. But just welcoming the Junior and Elite and I’m a big fan that the Juniors are part of this Elite nationals. You need to… As a young kid, I remember looking up to these elite riders, the Jen Valente, the Chloes, and trying to be like them. That was my goal as my whole life. So I want them to be here. I want lots of Juniors to be here and have that. But yeah, there’s some stuff in the works. Can’t really speak about them, but fingers crossed they come out.

Andrew Paradowski:

Oh, come on, you can share on this. We’ll keep your secret. All 300 of us.

Travis Smith:

Yeah, yeah. Fingers crossed they come to fruition.

Andrew Paradowski:

So I guess where I was trying to go with this as well, and you touched on it briefly at the start of the podcast, is the ’28 Olympics.

Travis Smith:

Yep.

Andrew Paradowski:

So that’s coming. It’s a freight train on its way. So what’s, I mean, I guess the publicly available plan for what’s happening with track, is it going to be at the VELO Sports Center? Is it going to be somewhere else?

Travis Smith:

I think you probably know as much as me. Honestly. What I do know is it’s going to be this location. I don’t know the amount of construction that’s going to need. I do know the minimums. We have to add some restrooms, and change rooms, and anti-doping rooms downstairs somehow. But we’re going to try to have the velodrome stay, the VELO Sports Center as much as possible, within the IOC and UCI, whatever they allow us to do. So, but I don’t know that much, honestly. All I know is it’s coming here and like you said, real quick, before we know it’s going to be here. So-

Andrew Paradowski:

Absolutely. Very cool. All right, let’s do some more rapid fire questions then to cap off this podcast. What’s your favorite movie?

Travis Smith:

Oh, Elf.

Andrew Paradowski:

What is the best music to train to?

Travis Smith:

Rap.

Andrew Paradowski:

Any specific types or?

Travis Smith:

I liked the ’90s, 2000s. I don’t like the new stuff as much.

Andrew Paradowski:

What is your favorite post-race or ride snack?

Travis Smith:

A Coke. I like a Coke.

Andrew Paradowski:

No food, it’s just a Coke?

Travis Smith:

No, just I’m a sprinter. I could go off without. No, no. It’s mostly if I was in Canada, I would go for a Coke and a Donair. It’s my two favorite things.

Andrew Paradowski:

Nice. And do you have a favorite inspirational quote?

Travis Smith:

Yes. What would it be though? And I haven’t had to think of a quote for 10 years. And now I used to tell myself one all the time and I can’t remember.

Speaker 3:

He’s putting you on the spot.

Travis Smith:

He is. Yep. But there’s one that was said. “Sometimes you have to remind people why you’re the lion.” Why you’re the best. I like that one.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. All right, Travis, thank you so much for coming out today and speaking with us. We were certainly glad to have you on talk of the Talk of the T-Town.

Travis Smith:

Thanks Andrew, and good luck for you guys this coming year.

Andrew Paradowski:

Thank you very much. And yourself as well.

Travis Smith:

Thanks.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right, so that wraps up another episode of Talk of the T-Town. Be sure to check us out in the coming weeks for more episodes and of course, sign up for us on your favorite streaming app or service where you can find podcasts like Spotify and all the like. And we’re looking forward to you listening to us next time.

Maura Beuttel:

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of the Talk the T-Town Town podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcasts. To find out more on this week’s cast, head on over to our website, the velodrome.com to check out the show notes and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Posted on

Grant Koontz: Raising the Level

Grant Koontz

Episode 67

“The whole level is being raised by a specific few individuals, and I hope to be one of them, that kind of helps raise the level of all of North American track cycling.”

This week’s guest is another that joined us for a large block of racing in T-Town this summer, and he’s another athlete with a great haircut. This week, Maura sits down with Grant Koontz and talks how Grant found cycling, his aspirations to represent Team USA on the Olympic level, racing at the UCI Track Champions League, what’s next, and much more!

Instagram: @rakoooontz/

Website: https://findtheroadlesstraveled.wordpress.com/


Grant Koontz
Grant Koontz with Pete Taylor – Star Track

Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Maura Beuttel:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, this is the Talk of the T-Town podcast where we discuss all things track cycling. Hi everybody. Welcome back to this week’s episode of Talk of the T-Town. I’m your host Maura Beuttel, and our guest this week is someone that I am lucky enough to consider a friend, have gotten to know this past summer. He spent a large time of it racing here with us before heading out and racing across the world, and I’m sure he is very happy to tell us about his experience with that while he’s on the pod. So without further ado, our guest this week is Grant Koontz. Thanks for coming on the pod, Grant.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah, appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

Maura Beuttel:

Oh yeah, anytime. So we’re doing this over Zoom, and Grant is out in Colorado and I’m here in our lovely studio in Trexler Town. So it’s a little colder and snowier out there. I imagine you’re spending lots of hours inside on the trainer and not out in the snow.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah. I’ve ridden probably six times on the trainer this week, and it’s been just really cold and now it actually wasn’t that snowy until last night and now it’s like 10 below zero and eight inches of snow. So yeah, more trainer time coming.

Maura Beuttel:

Yay. I know we love that. But yeah, so thanks for taking time out of your busy training schedule to come on the pod and sit down and chat. So I know from getting to know you over the summer and whatnot, you didn’t necessarily start out with cycling. You started out doing a couple other things. So if you kind of want to give us a little bit of background about yourself and how you found yourself to be in the sport that you are now.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah, so I grew up in Texas, so I wasn’t super familiar with cycling. I’m not from a cycling family or anything, so I just grew up playing ball sports, soccer, baseball, basketball, football. I was a swimmer and then eventually… I basically didn’t hit puberty until I was probably 16. So I quit football and all the sports that required height and all the sports that I actually loved and decided to try to find some sports that small people could play because I was convinced that I was just going to stay small my whole life.

So yeah, basically I quit all the ball sports, I quit football, I started diving and I started cycling. So those were the two sports that I kind of picked up. And it was also not a coincidence that both of those were Olympic sports. The Olympics has always been an allure for me, and that was my opportunity, kind of a breaking point to pursue that dream, or at least get it started.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. So now obviously you’re pursuing that Olympic dream in track cycling, but you didn’t start out on the track, right?

Grant Koontz:

No, no. I started out on the road and we actually did have a track, but I’m from Houston, so we have Alkek there, and I rode that track one time when I was kind of coming up just for fun, and I have a mostly road centered background. When I went to college, I tried to make it my goal actually to race every discipline at the national level. And so I went to Mountain Bike Nationals and got my butt kicked and I went to Cycle Cross Nationals and got my butt kicked. And Road Nationals was a little different and I won my first national title in a collegiate race in Road Nationals in 2015 I think. And so that was kind of what made me realize that I could potentially have a future in the sport.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Then you eventually made your way over to riding around in circles.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah, yeah. It actually didn’t happen until 2019, and I had just done pretty well at the Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas. And Clay, the old national team coach had me into one of the talent ID camps in April. Honestly it’s kind of serendipitous because I was on probably the best form I’ve ever been on, and I came into the camp and looked special. So the rest is history, basically. I started training with the national team shortly after that and at the time I didn’t have a road contract, so it all fell into place. I’ve kind of been pursuing track cycling ever since then. But I raced probably half of the 2019 season and trained at the national team and then Covid hit, and so I didn’t race for almost two years and then had my comeback at nationals last year.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, no, certainly. You had a great season with us this summer racing UCI and racing nationals here. I mean, I know we were all certainly cheering for you down on the infield. So I know you had some pretty big wins this summer, if you want to expand upon those a little bit.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah, so it all kind of culminated. My season actually started back in February and thanks to Pete and Star Track, really Pete and Mike and Dave, all the guys over there, they really believed in me from the start. Just a little bit of background, that first talent ID camp that I went to in April of 2019, one of the Star Track coaches, Dave was there. So that was kind of my introduction to the whole program.

And then later that summer I ended up staying with Pete for a week at his house in the dorm room style. So it ended up just that relationship with Star Track started back then. And then it culminated last year when I wanted to come race nationals, and Pete again was like, yeah, I didn’t have a team or any support or anything, any guidance. So Pete took me under his wing and allowed me to come out and stay at his place and stay with the team. And that became a lot more of an official relationship this year.

So that all culminated with UCI ambitions. And so my plan was always to shoot for the Olympics, and that starts with aiming for UCI results basically. So we started the season back in February and I went to Switzerland and got to race in Europe and had some ups and downs there. It’s been a long season of ups and downs, but it definitely climaxed I guess at T-Town this summer. And I was able to come out, I mean there’s so much UCI racing on home soil and that’s such a huge blessing for the whole UCI track scene. And much less the Americans that are trying to chase it, it gets really expensive to go to Europe over and over and over again. And so to have so much UCI racing here is very, very helpful. So that’s where it all started and got some good UCI results starting with the C2s and then going into the C1s. Got a few UCI Omnium podiums, and that again was confidence inspiring.

So then I decided with that momentum to go to Columbia to go to the World Cup in Columbia and continue a bit of form there, and then came back for nationals and won three national titles at nationals. So it’s definitely been a crescendo over the whole year, and it definitely started with a rocky first week at T-Town, and then a little bit better the second week. And then I started to come into my own and it all kind of started at T-Town. Yeah.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Yeah, no, I think that’s something that we hear from a lot of people that it starts here. But just to touch on the relationship with Star Track, they’re a super integral part of our track community here with the amount of kids that they bring and getting kids on bikes. And having that elite team now with you on it and all of the other kids, it was great to see on Saturday’s Masters and Rookies to see you guys come out and help coach the kids and give back to the sport a little bit. So do you want to talk about that?

Grant Koontz:

Yeah, that was super fun. Of course the program is mostly based in New York and I live in Colorado, so I don’t get to interact with the kids as much as I would like to. So any chance I get, it’s really cool actually, because Pete doesn’t really require us to do any of that and leaves it on us. And I really appreciate that freedom. It allows us to, I don’t know, have our own incentives to come out and help with the kids. And so it was just an off Saturday I think, or maybe a Sunday that we had some racing out in T-Town for all the kids, and a bunch of them came out from New York and it’s like herding cats sometimes, but there’s also some kids that are actually really passionate and really talented and have the pieces in place to go as far as they want to in the sport really.

So it’s fun to be able to show them what’s possible, and that T-Town is a great place to start and a great place to finish too. It has everything from racing with 10 year olds to racing at the elite UCI level and chasing UCI points for Olympic qualification and everything. So it’s really, really special for that whole program to have T-Town so close to be able to chase those results.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. And I think expanding off of that goes well into one of the next topics I wanted to talk about, is that your support system is so integral in getting you to where you want to go and where you need to be. So it’s really cool to see that you get to be a part of that support system for the next class of athletes that are coming up. And so you have your support system of all of the fellow athletes that you race with, you have Pete, and you have everybody else in your life. So who would you consider to be, I don’t know, the top two or three people in your support system, and how has that helped you get to where you are today and who you are as an athlete?

Grant Koontz:

I mean, it’s hard to narrow it down to just two or three. It’s really taken a village to make it all come this far. And I think in recent years and especially since the track transition, probably the top three are my partner Daphne. She’s been super supportive and has helped me a ton just be able to, I guess, stabilize my life and encouraged me behind the scenes. And I think that’s been hugely important.

And then the one two punch behind the scenes of my coach, Mike Norton and Pete Taylor, I think all three of those people have been hugely important to, I mean, it sounds cliche to say that I wouldn’t be here without them, but I really wouldn’t be. There’s not a whole lot of support, especially in the track scene, even worldwide. It’s not just here, it’s mostly national federations. And if you’re not good enough for the national team, then good luck.

Luckily Pete has seen that as an opportunity for not only the Star Track program and helping mentor the youth, but also to help the top end of the sport. And when I first connected with Pete, I wasn’t really good enough to really make the national team and to really race at that level. And so Pete and Mike together helped me I guess go from just above average to actually being able to compete with Team USA. And that’s been hugely important and obviously critical to chasing that Olympic dream. And yeah, it’s been super special.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, no, that’s [inaudible 00:12:31]-

Grant Koontz:

Lucky to have all of them.

Maura Beuttel:

… Super great to hear it. I mean, hey, sayings are there for a reason. It’s not cliche to say because obviously it’s true, and someone out there said it and it just is very applicable. So going to talk about the national team, what’s your experience been like with them and traveling and going to the Champions League and all of the different Nations cups? How was that?

Grant Koontz:

It’s definitely been a step up. And like I said, T-Town, it’s been a hugely confidence inspiring experience to go out and race there. I mean, the guy that I was racing against all summer, Dylan, ended up being World Champion at the end of the year. So the whole level is being raised by a specific few individuals, and I hope to be one of them, that kind of helps raise the level of all of North American track cycling.

But yeah, the first Nations Cup that I ever went to, again thanks to Pete, we have UCI status as a team so I can go and compete without the national team. I don’t think it can be understated that that was hugely important. Because again, I wasn’t quite up to snuff to race with the national team. I went to the first Nations Cup this year in Milton, and it was an eye-opening experience to say the least, and I felt confident going in, but then I didn’t even make it through the qualifying rounds to make it into the Omnium. That was obviously hugely disappointing and I was sad and I had all the feels, but it basically ended up being a huge motivator for me. And coming back to T-Town, that was all before T-Town, actually, the Milton Nations Cup.

I kind of came into that pretty fresh and I came into it fresh off of some pretty good training, but not the consistent racing that I felt like I needed. So fast forward and I went basically a month in T-Town racing, the UCI stuff there, and I went to the next Nations Cup in Cali Columbia and I ended up sixth in the Omnium and I won the first scratch race of the event and it was a hugely different experience. There was a little bit of a disparity I guess in the level of talent that went to Columbia versus Milton, but it was still a massive leap forward.

I raced for Star Track in Columbia as well, and I also stayed in the same hotel as Team USA and Gary Sutton was down there with us and had offered basically Team USA support for me while I was there. So that was my first little introduction. It was again hugely beneficial to have dual support. So I had Pete watching me from the back and then Team USA pioneering from the front. That essentially was a tryout it felt like for the national team. And then I raced the national team for the rest of the year after that. So that was again the UCI status and the trade team status that we had with Star Track. And that was really the gateway for me to be able to make it onto the national team and then compete at that same level even before I was ready. I think that was, again, super motivating, super encouraging, and crushing at times. But in the grand scheme, it pushed the level up just higher than it needed or higher than it was before. And then I ended up going to Pan Ams with the national team and won the scratch race there.

To go from not even on the team to winning a Continental Championship in a few weeks, that was a big leap forward for me. And then again, snowballed to go all the way to the World Championships and got six at the points race there. And again, Team USA support has been, I was always critical of it when I didn’t have it, and it’s easy to be critical of things from the outside and just being essentially jealous or envious of what you don’t have and what you could have and what everyone else is getting. And it’s easy to just play that game in your head, especially. And I think now that I have boots on the ground and I’m involved with the team and involved with all the staff, and everyone just wants what’s best for us and everyone is totally on board with trying to make us as best as we can be and trying to get us to the Olympics. So everything’s kind of snowballing basically and it’s really inspiring.

Maura Beuttel:

Right, exactly. Just one step in front of the other, all the puzzle pieces come together in front of this beautiful picture, and I can’t even imagine how great it felt to put that USA kit on and be able to represent your country. I’m sure that’s just a top tier moment.

Grant Koontz:

It’s been a long time coming. Yeah, I actually was doing some math just a few days ago, and I’ve been trying to get on the national team on the road side especially since 2014, since I was racing U 23s and I had won that National Collegiate title. And I immediately thought, oh, I deserve a spot on the national team now. So I’ve really been trying to push that envelope for years and years and years. And then when Clay opened the door for me at the national team in 2019, I jumped at the opportunity and I just still wasn’t good enough. I was able to go train with them and I was able to get my foot in the door, basically, but I wasn’t good enough to earn the kit. And so finally this year again I started out not good enough, and it was again super motivating and hard, challenging to make it all come together. But then once you do finally earn the kit and you’re part of the team, it feels like a huge accomplishment. And even though the Olympics are the end goal, I feel like I can’t lose at this point.

Maura Beuttel:

No, that’s certainly a great attitude to have. But knowing everything that you do now and all of the work that you’ve put in, what advice would you give to younger Grant?

Grant Koontz:

I always played the game of I came into the sport pretty late, and I didn’t even start, I got my first road bike at 16, which it felt late at the time because by the time I was even remotely decent at racing my junior and national team opportunities were gone. And it felt like if I wasn’t on some elite junior team or the junior national team or the U23 national team, it felt like those were the steps I needed to make to be successful. And I think I would just remind myself that success, it comes with time and it doesn’t necessarily come on a strict timeline like I thought it did. Not making the junior national team or not making the U23 national team or not even going to Europe, honestly, this was my first season that I ever raced in Europe and I raced over there a lot.

Europe has always been a goal of mine, and I never thought it would be on the track, if I’m honest. I thought it would be on the road. So I think just being open-minded about what success is and I guess what your goals are and just being fluid with what your abilities are and how that lines up with what you want to do and who you want to be. You just have to be open about it. If you get super close minded and you’re like, “This is what I have to do, this is when I have to do it, and if I don’t, then I fail.” And that’s how a lot of kids burn out. And I think just my ability to float through different disciplines and different circumstances and different setbacks, I think just keep plugging away, I would say is the biggest motivator.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. I mean, hey, thinking about that, yeah, coming into the sport late, you missed those early opportunities that you thought that that’s the pathway that you needed. But the other side of it is you’re not burnt out because you’re just coming into it and you’re fresh and you’re like, this is new and exciting and I have all of these big plans and this is what I have to do to achieve them. And I’m not going to put myself in a box because if I put myself in a box I’m only limiting myself to what fits in these four walls, and you don’t have that so that’s great.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah. Yeah, it’s been super fun and I think it’s just super easy to get caught up with this is what has to happen, and if it doesn’t happen then it’s all a wash. And I don’t think that’s ever really true in anything in life, if you try something and fail, it’s not a wash. You still tried. And so that’s what I’ve tried to keep the attitude as. Is even if I go through all this and if I don’t win any more national titles or I don’t win another Pan Am Championship, or I don’t win worlds or I don’t go to the Olympics, it’s all still worth it. The life experience that I’ve had and the people that I’ve met and the places that I’ve been, it’s all the life that I want to be living and that’s I guess the bigger picture of it all.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Well, you’ve had a pretty busy year and you said first time racing in Europe this year on the track. What is the atmosphere and general attitude towards track over there compared to over here? We like to get opinions from people because obviously it’s a very different experience in Europe than it is in America.

Grant Koontz:

It is. I think coming from a ball sport background, playing football and being in stadiums and stuff, I actually really like racing outdoors. And I know that’s not a very popular thing with most track riders. They really like racing indoors, 250, keep it contained, but racing outside and racing under the lights in T-Town is honestly one of the most fun experiences even compared to Europe. Europe is very clean and very contained and all the tracks are a little bit different, but you’re still on 250s. And I actually love the variability that T-Town kind of allows. Both physiologically and with the weather and with the wind and all, and even the temperature, you kind of get into these routines in Europe where you just do this and then you do this and you do this. But when you have these outside factors that are out of your control, I think it actually really opens up again that open-mindedness of if we’re delayed two hours, I still have to compete. It doesn’t matter [inaudible 00:23:16]-

Maura Beuttel:

Hey, if it’s nationals and it rains all day, and we’re not starting racing until 10 o’clock at night.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah.

Maura Beuttel:

That’s how it has to be.

Grant Koontz:

Exactly. And then I won that night, I didn’t race until 11:00 PM and I honestly was on the fence if I was even going to start because the Omnium was the next day and I wanted to focus on that one. But at the end of the day, that mental resilience of being able to be adaptable is I think hugely important as an athlete and as a person. And I think in Europe everything’s a lot more strict and everything’s on time. Everything’s temperature controlled, everything’s climate controlled, everything’s just bang, bang, bang. And I actually appreciate the nuances of variability that US track racing has to offer.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, I think you’re definitely in the minority compared to everybody else on that. So if you had to say compared to racing under the lights in the Track Champions League for UCI or racing under the lights on Friday nights at T-Town, which do you prefer?

Grant Koontz:

Honestly, they’re so different. I wouldn’t say I prefer one over the other, which is again probably an unpopular opinion. I really appreciate that kind of Friday night football type vibe that T-Town has to offer. And it’s very different than basically going to a German techno club and racing in between the songs. It’s really cool both ways, but honestly T-Town feels like home and the whole Champions League experience was hugely beneficial, and that level of competition just week in and week out was, I can’t even stress how much that helps people develop, myself in particular. And I think honestly having UCI races in T-Town week after week, that consistent racing, it’s just so important. I think the party atmosphere of the Champions League was definitely a unique experience and it was super fun, but I don’t think it’s any better or worse than what we have in T-Town, which is pretty special.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Yeah, no, that’s cool. And you can totally tell me if I’m wrong, but the comparison that popped into my brain with you calling T-Town home with racing is that the UCI racing that we have in T-Town and then the UCI racing that went on with the Track Champions League, it’s like, okay, UCI racing in T-Town is like you’re at home, and then going over to Europe, it’s like going to college, you’re going and it’s this big party. And yeah, there’s still some of the same people from home and there’s new people that you’re getting to meet, but it’s just a whole different experience.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah, very much so. And again, it’s not any better or worse, it’s just different. And I think a lot of times we get these ideas in our head that Europe is where all the real bike racing is. And I don’t think that’s necessarily true, I do think they have the resources and they have the public, I guess, persona of being a bigger show because there are more people who care about it over there. But what we have in the T-Town area is a little pocket of American track cycling that’s sustained our country for years and years and years, and I don’t think that can be understated either. So yeah, it’s not better or worse, it’s just different.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Interesting. I like it. So we’ll take a little break from those kinds of questions and we’ll go into a little bit more off the fly. So what is your favorite track race?

Grant Koontz:

I actually really like the Team Pursuit. Okay. I like the bunch racing and stuff. I would say my favorite to watch is the Madison. My favorite to be in is the Team Pursuit because of that team atmosphere. I think it’s pretty unique in cycling and it’s not like the whole team’s working for one, the whole team’s working for each other, and I think that’s pretty special.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, no, definitely not something you see all the time in track cycling. What is your favorite race to watch? Any discipline exactly.

Grant Koontz:

Probably on the road it would be Strade Bianche. I think that’s one of the coolest races in the spring. And it’s cool that it’s a World Tour Race now and it’s a big deal. So I think it’s always variable and hopefully will be officially a spring classic soon.

Maura Beuttel:

Who is an athlete that you look up to in the sport? Again any discipline.

Grant Koontz:

There’s a lot. Let’s see. That’s a really tough one actually. I think Jen Valente is one of the big ones for me, and I think it’s because she is American and she’s done it her way and she hasn’t necessarily gone that route of everything has to be in Europe and we have to move to Europe and we have to do it their way. She’s very much kind of done it her way, and I think that’s actually really special and unique, and she’s found success at every level doing it. I mean, in the last year and a half she’s won Olympic Gold, World Championship and Champions League, so that’s like the trifecta of track cycling. And she did it all in the same go. So I think it’s been really cool to see that you don’t have to fit that mold again. And she didn’t, she made her own mold, which is cool.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. And it’s cool to see that you look up to her and you watched her do all this stuff, and now you’re on the national team with her, so you get to know her on a personal level too, which a lot of people don’t get to do that.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah, we get to hang out question a lot of Champions League. Hanging out with her in Europe was super fun and we really did get to bond over that experience. It was super cool to just get to pick her brain day in and day out and figure out what makes her tick and what pushes her and what challenges her. Yeah, it’s cool.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah. Two more. What is your favorite pre-training snack and post-training snack?

Grant Koontz:

Pre-training, it’s usually something sugary. Daphne really likes to bake, so she has all these really good banana, almond, walnut, chocolate bread things.

Maura Beuttel:

Sounds lovely.

Grant Koontz:

Just all sorts of different baked goods. So I think usually I’ll have breakfast and then a coffee with some baked goods that Daff made, and not much can beat that. And then after I’m very much a smoothie person. I love smoothies. In the summer I probably have two smoothies a day, and then the winter I back it down to one. But I really love all kinds of fruit smoothies and chocolate, peanut butter, banana smoothie, everything, anything that makes it taste like ice cream.

Maura Beuttel:

There you go. Enlighten us, what is the go-to smoothie? The top tier?

Grant Koontz:

My go-to is actually, I have a pretty… It’s just a convenient I guess ingredient list, but I do like a mixed berry with banana and milk and a scoop of protein powder, a scoop of creatine. Lately I’ve been lifting in the gym and so I’ve been doing some collagen in there as well. And then frozen spinach and frozen kale.

Maura Beuttel:

Nice.

Grant Koontz:

Mix all that together. It’s healthy, but it taste like ice cream.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, we’ll throw the recipe together in the show notes so if people want to eat the Grant Koontz smoothie there it is.

Grant Koontz:

For sure. I usually eat about a liter and a half a smoothie when I do it, so maybe tone down the recipe for everyone else, but.

Maura Beuttel:

Oh, and what is your favorite music to listen to while you train?

Grant Koontz:

That definitely varies a lot. It literally varies from classical piano to rap, but.

Maura Beuttel:

Quite the range.

Grant Koontz:

For the most part… Yeah, last night I did two and a half hours or three hours on the trainer actually, and I was really feeling The War on Drugs. It’s one of my favorite bands and it’s kind of an eighties vibe alternative band, but they’re modern, they make music today. I almost got to go see them live but I was at a training camp at the Olympic Training Center, so I had to miss their concert this year. But yeah, they’re definitely one of my favorite bands and have a good vibe, both fast paced and slow paced depending on how I’m feeling, they got a lot of different stuff going, so.

Maura Beuttel:

Very nice. Very nice. And we’ll end it out with this question. Where would you like to see yourself in 10 years? What would you like to accomplish? No limits.

Grant Koontz:

I was actually thinking about this a little bit on the trainer yesterday about how lately it’s kind of felt like we’re all hands on deck just to qualify for the Olympics. And I think that’s cool because we haven’t done that in years past, in recent memory. I actually have been meaning to look up when the last time a men’s team pursuit qualified for the Olympics, but it’s been a while, so that’s always been on front of mind. But then I kind of felt like I was aiming too low and I felt like just because I’ve never seen an American male specifically medal at the Olympics, or I’ve never seen a men’s endurance rider really dominate at the highest level, Gavin’s as close as we’ve got and he’s definitely an inspiration to me as well.

I really think shooting for an Olympic medal is not out of the question. And I think if push comes to shove, I’d love to again make the Paris Olympics, have the experience and then really aim to win an Olympic gold medal at the LA Olympics, I think would be super special. And I don’t have a preference on which event, whichever event allows itself, but yeah, definitely I think an Olympic medal at the Olympic or at the LA home games and then maybe retire after that. Have a family. The whole bit. So we’ll see. That’s the dream.

Maura Beuttel:

I think the sky’s the limit for you, and I think gold is a good color for you, Grant.

Grant Koontz:

I hope so.

Maura Beuttel:

Well, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the pod today and answer our questions and have our little population of people that listen to this get to know you a little bit better.

Grant Koontz:

Yeah, it’s been a pleasure. And again, I can’t wait to come out to T-Town again this summer. It was a little bit of a bummer actually when I found out that Nationals was in Carson, but still got the UCI racing out in T-Town, and I look forward to spending some summer nights in Pennsylvania.

Maura Beuttel:

Heck yeah. Well, we can’t wait to have you back.

Grant Koontz:

Going to be good.

Maura Beuttel:

Yes. All right, everybody. Well, this has been this week’s episode of the Talk of the T-Town. You can find some more information about Grant in the show notes, and please be sure to like, subscribe, leave a comment to help us grow the pod on whatever platform you use to listen. Thanks for listening and we’ll catch you next time.

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of the Talk the T-Town Podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcasts. To find out more on this week’s guest, head on over to our website, thevelodrome.com to check out the show notes and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Posted on

Maggie Coles-Lyster: A Track Champion in the Making

Maggie Coles-Lyster, Professional Cyclist

Episode 66

“It was just always a part of my life and just grew up around bikes and just fell in love with it that way. No pressure, never being pushed, just my own gravitation towards bikes”

You’ll recognize this week’s guest from many places: her block of racing in T-Town, killing it on the road, racing on track up in Canada, or in the TCL! This week, Andrew sits down with Maggie Coles-Lyster and talks how she got into the sport, her experiences racing, what the TCL was like, where she’s headed on the road next, and much more– including her favorite post training snack!

Instagram: @maggiecoleslyster

Website: maggiecoleslyster.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007288036250


Maggie Coles-Lyster, Professional Cyclist
Maggie Coles-Lyster

Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Maura Beuttel:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. This is the Talk of the T-Town Podcast where we discuss all things track cycling.

Andrew Paradowski:

Welcome back to another episode of Talk of the T-Town. I’m your host Andrew Paradowski, and we’re here to talk about all things T-Town and all things cycling. Today, our guest is another rising star from the cycling world. It’s Maggie Coles-Lyster from Canada. She is currently living in Girona, Spain, joining us live on Zoom today to talk to us about her love for the sport and all other neat things surrounding her career. How’s it going, Maggie?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

It’s going well. Happy to be on this.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, I’m sure our listeners are super keen to hear about how you’ve been doing in the cycling world recently. Before we get underway with this thing, I did mention earlier that, like yourself, you’re a fellow Canadian. Whereabouts in Canada are you from?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

So I’m from just outside of Vancouver in a place called Maple Ridge, BC. And yeah, I mean, just being born there and from there is really what made me fall in love with cycling and probably stay in cycling, because there’s such good riding. And my dad was from there, and he owned a bike store out there. And yeah, it’s just such a cycling community and was such a great place to grow up.

Andrew Paradowski:

Sure. So you are one of the younger cyclists on the elite scene right now, but you’ve been cycling for quite a long time. How long have you been in the sport for?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Well, that’s a good question. I mean, I’ve been racing track since I was 12, but definitely did road and cyclo-cross and all that since I was much younger. So pretty much my whole life. My parents owned an adventure tour business and took people on mountain bike tours down to places like Moab. And like I said, my dad owned a bike store, so it was just always a part of my life and just grew up around bikes and just fell in love with it that way. No pressure, never being pushed, just my own gravitation towards bikes. So yeah, definitely one of the younger people, although the whole team as a whole on the Canadian track scene is getting quite young. So I was one of the oldest at World’s this year, which is kind of wild.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right. That is true. And it’s interesting. So for myself, I’ve actually had a chance to watch two riders grow up from being a young kid on a bike, starting racing, all the way till the world championships. So earlier this year, we had on the show…. We had Dylan Bibic on the show, and he was here, like yourself, this past summer in T-Town, and like yourself was at World Championships this year, did really well, and at the Track Champions League. So I had a chance to watch Dylan grow up from when he first started in the cycling in Ontario.

And as it happens, I think I had a chance to watch you grow up from your early beginnings in BC. You probably don’t remember me, but I think I was a commissare at one of the BC cyclo-cross races back in 2010. And I remember watching this young girl, Maggie Coles-Lyster, just on the cross bike, beating adults twice her age, even though she wasn’t in the category. But you were on the same course at the same time, and then you’d finish first in front of quite a few of the master and elite women. So I remember thinking to myself, “There’s a young woman who’s going to grow up to be a star.” And of course, look what happened. You’re out there, and you’re racing with the pros now. So congratulations on that.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah, thanks. It’s pretty cool to watch me and Dylan go through it.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah. So tell us a bit more about that history. So you’re riding cross bikes when you’re, I guess, 10, 12 years old. What progressed from there? What got you into the position where you are today?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. So I was riding cross bikes at that point. I was on the track as soon as I could fit one of the track bikes that we had at Burnaby Velodrome. So that was when I was 12. And then just… I really credit if anybody is from Canada and knows of BC Superweek. So when I was, I think, 14, I think I was the youngest person to have ever raced the elite race at BC Superweek. And I think that was the pinnacle of just really getting me into racing and loving it and realizing how well I could do, because I could race it every year, and the best riders in North America and many international riders too would come over. And then every year… The first year, I didn’t finish a single one of the Crits. But then the next year, I finished three of them. And then the next year, I was top tens, and then on the podium. So just seeing my progression through the sport using like BC Superweek as an example, yeah, I think that was huge for me just growing up.

And then when I was 16 I did… Or as a first year junior, I did cross track and Road Worlds in the same year. And that was pretty epic, although definitely finished the year exhausted and had to take quite a bit of time off the bike. And that’s when I realized, yeah, out of those three, definitely road and track are more well suited for me, my skills. I say on the cross bike, I was pretty good at crashing, getting up, and going again, and just doing that on replay for an hour. So my skills were never fantastic, and I definitely was a little more well suited towards road and track. So still race cross for fun, but those two became the focus moving forward. And yeah, just going through Worlds and winning a Junior World Championship. And then… Yeah. You know how careers in sports go up and down, crashes, pandemic, all that. But yeah, it’s kind of where we started.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, It’s an interesting comment you made about your cross riding or cross racing situation, where it’s a repeat of crash, get up, go, crash, get up, go. And that seems to be a positive theme, I think, in your career as well, where you have that determination, yeah, you get set back, that’s fine, you go and do it again, and then you do better and then better and better. So it’s almost as if… I mean, nothing comes easy to anyone, for sure, but you certainly make a go of it with that kind of determination, and you can see it in your results. So you mentioned you were a Junior World Champion, and then that was in the points race?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

You’ve gotten several medals in a lot of high level competitions. I believe in those same championships, you were there twice, right? You medaled in the Omnium twice, I think, in the two years.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

You medaled in the Elite Team Pursuit, you’ve done quite well in several road races as well. I think Gila was one of them.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. Yes.

Andrew Paradowski:

Races in BC. So yeah, you’ve got quite a history. And then now, here you had, I don’t want to call it a breakout year, because obviously, you do have a solid pass so far, but you did really, really well in World Championships this year, and as well as the Track Champions League that just finished a few weeks ago. So why don’t you talk about that to our listeners? I’m sure they’d like to know what it was like for you to be at Elite Worlds and do as well as you did.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. So as I said like breakout, or breakthrough year, I think really the past two years have been that for me. But I felt like after Junior, I had some really bad crashes and concussions, and that took me quite a few steps back. And then the pandemic was upon us, and through my younger years, I’d never really had a training long block of time where I could just train and get stronger. So I think that was a huge blessing in disguise for me, because I could just ride my bike and build that engine. And I think I’ve really seen that pay off and the effects of that the past couple of years.

So yeah, then we bring it into last year, fourth in the Scratch race at Worlds, and got into Track Champions League, and then this year, fourth in the Omnium, which was both something that… Okay. Honestly, I think I went into Worlds thinking, “Yes, a top five is possible. I definitely know I can do top eight.” But then to be fourth and two points off of the podium was just mind-blowing for me and just really showed that, in my own head, I think sometimes I sell myself a bit short. No, no, I’m not quite there yet. But no, I’m there now. I know what I’m capable of, and I’ve been able to show it and been able to back it up then with results in Champions League.

I mean, I had a bit of a slow start there after some medical stuff after Worlds when I got home and procedures that just didn’t quite go very well. So I came into Champions League with no training for three weeks since Worlds and courses of antibiotics and all that fun stuff. So it was kind of a training through the month, but even just coming in with that kind of form, and that happening and still crawling my way back to third place overall, yeah, again, another, know I’m capable of that, but kind of shocked myself. So both were pretty cool experiences, and I think just really set me up to get in the mindset of, “Hey, we have the Olympics two years away from now, and I could actually… I could win there.”

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, absolutely. I would definitely say some of those results would lead everyone to believe that you are a contender. I mean, finishing fourth and third at no small feat, and you talked a bit about how it might have been disappointing to come in forth when maybe you could have been third. You were off by two points there in the World Championships. Tell me what you think about this. I’ve heard quite a few people say that finishing fourth is better than finishing second. If you finish second, you’re sort of like you missed the top spot, but finishing fourth, you’re out of the metals, but it was still a top performance. So would you rather finish second or fourth?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Well, I think it completely depends on the person. Obviously, I would rather have a medal around my neck than be finishing fourth. I think that is pretty cool. But you know what? Obviously, I wasn’t crying over fourth place. I was pretty stoked, and it’s totally how you raced it. I knew I gave my all and knew I needed those two points and fought as hard as I could. And Maria was just stronger on the day, and I just couldn’t get that. So yeah, I wasn’t disappointed with it. It was a little bittersweet, but I think fourth is arguably worse unless you can spin it into a positive.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, I think you certainly have, again, with your performance there at the TCL. But just going back to that, that World’s performance, was there a moment somewhere in the race, whether it was in any one of the earlier stages or in the final points race where you realized that, “Hey, I’ve got a shot at this. I’ve got a shot at the podium”? Was there one moment in the race that stood out to you as like, “This is where I have to go”? And if there was, can you talk a bit about it?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. I think what… Well, after the elimination, I definitely knew I was close, and that’s when that flip kind of switched like, “Hey, I… The podium’s within grasp” And then I think at some point in the points race, I fell into the third place. I was watching the points board. So there I was, I had it, and then unfortunately, I lost it. But that mindset, I don’t know, you really just fight for every point. And it’s tough when you have it and then you lose it. You think back to the Omnium. It’s a game of points and consistency. People have been just consistent top fives in every event and have won through that way, not necessarily won a single event.

So just to think back, and you’re like, “Man, could I have done one place better in the scratch race,” or, “Could I have done one place better?” Or, “Could I have just fought a little bit harder to get one point?” Especially when it’s down to that close. But I think that’s when I sit back and look at it, those are the biggest lessons I take away from it, that it can come down to just a couple of points. So hey, in the points race, if there’s a fourth place points up for grabs, just going for it and putting a little bit more energy into that is better than finishing two points out of a metal position. I know I kind of answered your question, but didn’t really. It was such a blur of a week at World’s. I’m not going to lie, I think I raced… I did race every day. And that was a lot of racing, and the whole thing is just one jumble in my head.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah. It certainly did go really fast as well. And the French put on a great show there in Paris at St Quentin, and it was really great to have that large crowd there cheering everybody on. Sometimes, especially when there was a French rider in contention for some sort of place, the roof was getting torn off by the cheering of the crowd. So certainly something we don’t hear quite often on this side of the pond at our races. So it’s certainly was a different atmosphere.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

No, a really cool atmosphere, really cool track, and really special that we got to race it at Worlds and Track League, and that’s the track we’ll be doing the Olympics on. So maybe we’re going to get into this, but it’s a very different track than any other track I’ve ridden. And just being able to race it as many times as possible and really learn it, I think, is a huge leg up leading into the games in two years.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, tell us about that.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. So it’s massive. It’s like a sea of track. It’s an extra, I think, meter or meter and a half tall. So you can stack up so many more riders, and makes it harder to come around on the outside through a corner, because the corners are longer as well. So just riding it feels a lot different. You get so much speed coming down from the rail. So if you’re able to get up and over, you gained a ton of momentum, but it’s a lot harder to do that. So there’s just all these little things that the same moves that would work on tracks like Berlin and London that are, I wouldn’t say they’re not special, they’re cool tracks, but this one just feels so different to ride than those two. So just doing it and learning these little things, yeah, it’s a cool opportunity. I’m trying to think if there’s other special stuff about it. But yeah, that place gets loud when those stands are full. So even just experiencing that and just knowing the building is things that people don’t really think about, but make a huge difference going into a big competition.

Andrew Paradowski:

So tell us about the atmosphere of the track cycling league. This is your second go at it, and I guess you were one of the more senior riders on the team, along with Kelsey Mitchell, but I think everybody else was… That was their first year, is that correct?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. Yeah. We had… No, yeah, Kelsey and I were the only two returning from last year, and we had such a cool little group, like Sarah Van Dam, Mathias Guillemette, and Dylan Bibic, and then Kelsey and I. And everyone who was there just wanted to win and wanted to do well, so we had a super motivated group. But during the week, we’d go hang out with Jen Valente and Grant Koontz and go adventure around the different cities we were in and go for dinners. So outside of the racing, the whole vibe of just going hotel to hotel with all these international riders, just getting to spend time with them outside of national team cliques and all that kind of show and just asking each other questions.

I mean, Track League, there is a lot on the line, there’s a lot of money, there’s a lot of people watching it. But at the same time, it’s really just a bunch of people out there wanting to race their bikes and try different things and just try to win a race, which that sounds very trivial, but I feel like that’s kind of a rare thing. There’s always something bigger at play than just going out and just trying to win a race. So that’s really cool.

But then also, people are really open to building friendships and even just sharing, “Hey, I was riding this size gear,” or, “I tried this, and it didn’t work, so I know for next time.” Or just talking, just being normal people outside of the track racing. So that was really cool, and I think all five of us Canadians really benefited from that and had a really good experience with that.

And then, yeah, I mean, we can get into the race weekends are just absolutely chaotic and busy. And it’s nice, because as international riders, we had a full week in each place beforehand. So we could have our feet on the ground, get our bearings, and figure out the track, and build bikes and all that way before all the track league festivities started. But as soon as your Thursday or Friday dinners with Track Leagues start, and then you have media, and you’re back and forth from hotel to track and doing interviews and doing TikToks and calls with media sources back home. It’s just craziness. And then just try to get through the beginning part of the day.

And this year was new, we had a points race in the afternoon. So that kind of broke up the day. But otherwise, you’re just hanging out in your hotel room, trying to stay off your legs, which is sometimes really hard in these fun places, and then get as caffeinated as possible to make it from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, or even later. Most times, we weren’t having dinner, or back at the hotel till almost one. So the night just is like… It’s the longest day you’ve ever experienced. And then sometimes you have a very early flight out, so you don’t get a lot of sleep. So it’s like race one evening, race for three hours, spend the next two or three days recovering.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, it does sound like a lot. So a lot of the people who listen to the podcast do ride and race on the track, and many of them have also been to sort of, we’ll call them, I guess, mid-level races, national championships, or some of the stuff that happens here at T-Town in the summer on Friday nights or whatnot. But racing over there in Europe is different. And you already talked a bit about the racing side of things, but I want to know about what it’s like, just from your perspective, if you go to a race here in North America, whether it’s in Carson, or T-Town, or Milton, or wherever, sitting in the infield, it feels like just a regular sort of sporting event, at any other sporting event and national championships with some other sport. Nothing, no real hype, no fun, no music. I mean, sometimes music, but it doesn’t have the same kind of energy that we see on the TV. So we can see that it looks really, really crazy.

What does it feel like to be an athlete who comes from a place where the sport isn’t as celebrated, to go to the Track Champions League and sit in the infield? Tell our listeners what it feels like to be sitting there with the intensity, the lights off, the screens everywhere, and the whole coordinator of the orchestra of the Track Champions League.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Oh, you feel like a celebrity. So I feel like in North America, people go out to watch racing, because they either know somebody racing, or they, I don’t know, have nothing better to do but know nothing about track cycling. Everybody there wants to be there is there to watch these people who… They’re fans, they’re actual true fans. So yeah, you’re sitting on the infield, and this Track Champions League is such a unique event, because it feels like a club in there. It’s so loud, you can’t hear yourself talk, you can’t hear yourself think between rounds. The lights, you can’t see anything, you’re constantly out with your phone lights trying to search for your gears and search for stuff.

So you can just imagine, it’s wild on the infield. There’s cameras everywhere, so watch your back. Don’t do anything dumb, because cameras are on you constantly, catching everything. There’s news reporters walking around, so watch what you say. I don’t know. These are all thoughts that just go through your head as you’re sitting there between races. Or you’re really upset when you come off, because you raced bad. But again, cameras, people, people listen, it’s watch what you do.

And then during London, I went up, I had a couple family members come to watch race, and I just went up to the stands. And that was the first time I’d really ventured up into the stands throughout the league. And right away, there was a couple people, and I was just in street clothes, and a couple people recognized me as one of the riders and came over and asked me to sign their book. And I was always walking around, searching for my relatives. That happened a couple more times. And my mom was with me, she was like, “Oh my gosh, what is this?” And she was just wow, bewildered, what was happening, and how people just knew me and just wanted my autograph, just little Canadian me, who nobody in Canada really knows. But over here in Europe, people just fan girl or fanboy over all these riders. And it’s such a cool feeling, and yeah, you really do feel like, I don’t know, the hockey player or the football players you watch on TV back home.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s very cool. Before we continue on, we do a little tradition here on the Talk of the T-Town, rapid fire questions, simple question and answer stuff. So don’t think too hard about it. Throw out the first answer that comes to your head. We’ll do a couple of these throughout the interview. The first one here I got for you is, since we’re talking about track, what’s your favorite track event?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Omnium.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, that, obviously, shows with how well you do at it. It’s good. What is your favorite pro race slash competition to watch or race?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Ah, that’s a tough one. Can I confess something?

Andrew Paradowski:

Sure. And if you don’t want it afterwards, we can just edit it out.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

No, it’s okay, because it’s a weird fact about me, but I don’t really like watching bikers, unless I know someone in it, which sounds terrible.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s okay.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

But that’s a really weird thing about me. So I guess… Okay, okay. The classics that the women had been racing these past couple of years, and the actual TV coverage of those. I like those. That’s sweet.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, it’s definitely good to see a lot of that improve over the last couple of years.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Do you have a pro racer, current or former, that you admire?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Laura Kenny, which I’d say current and former, pretty surreal racing with her now. Sorry, I’m turning this into non rapid fire.

Andrew Paradowski:

It’s okay. What is your favorite bike? And if you have to say your sponsor, that’s okay.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Well, favorite bike. Yeah, I mean, my Cannondale Road bike, I have loved, and I’ve been on that for three years with DNA.

Andrew Paradowski:

So Maggie, that’s a great segue. We spent a little while here talking about your track career, and this is a podcast primarily about track, but all things cycling as well. So you are not just a star on the track, but you’re star on the road. You’ve been doing road cycling for quite a bit, and you’ve been on a professional team for a while. So let’s talk a bit about what’s happening with you on the road.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. So been on DNA Pro Cycling for three years now, and they have been the most incredible people and family and teammates. I think you can ask any rider who’s been on that team, that it’s just wild how well everyone gels and how much of a family it’s become. And I think it’s a really special thing that you don’t find often amongst teams.

But sadly and excitingly at the same time, I’m making the jump over to Europe next year. So yeah, 2023, I’ll be back over here, and this is why I’m living in Girona now, and it’s been… 2017 was the last time I raced on the Belgian team, so it’s been quite a while since I’ve actually raced over in Europe. But I’ve definitely felt that I’m now at the point that I want to get into that world tour scene and start doing the bigger races and try my hand in it. I think I’ll be really good. It’s going to be definitely a bit of a learning curve for a point. But I’m with a really good program that has some incredible mentors on it, so yeah, excited to learn and figure it out.

Andrew Paradowski:

What do you find is the major difference for you between racing on the road and racing on the track?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

The length of the race. Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely… I feel like the road scene and atmosphere is more serious in the track. Not how they take racing, I feel like the racing is taken seriously in both, just the atmosphere and the vibes around it. Track seems to be a little more just fun and goofy, and roads a little bit more serious, which I kind of like the two, the contrast in the two in the season. That’s why I’ve kept up doing both, because too much of one can just get boring.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s fair. Do you find though… You mentioned earlier in the podcast that the one year as a junior when you did three World Championships afterwards, you felt like you know were pretty much done and didn’t have much energy left in you. Do you not find that to be part of the struggle then between doing road and tracks since they sort of span different seasons, and then you’re kind of riding all year? Or have you been able to figure out how to manage that piece?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

I mean, ask me again at this time next year when I have a whole new kind of race calendar and races I’ll be doing. But over the past three years, up to this point, I found a really good balance of just taking a couple, not necessarily months off, but just a couple rest periods throughout the year, so I never just get too fatigued. And I think we’ve nailed that formula of what works for me and what’s kept me just going through the season. I mean, like I said, there’s sacrifices that you sometimes have to make. So coming into Track League this year, I didn’t ride my bike for three weeks after Worlds, and that was kind of my off season. So yeah, you got to sacrifice a bit to benefit the rest of the season and some of the bigger goals you have, but it definitely is a puzzle and a balancing game and something that, I think, each person needs to figure out what works for them.

Andrew Paradowski:

Do you have any races coming up in ’23 that you’re looking forward to?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yes. Well, I mean, it’s all going to depend on roster. I don’t know my specific calendar yet, but I really hope to do some races like Tour Down Under, and some of the classics, and possibly Tour de France. I mean, all to be determined, so not sure, but hopefully, fingers crossed.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, even if you don’t get onto those squads, at least it lets us know which ones you’d love to be in anyways. So hopefully that works out well for you.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yes, yes, exactly. So yeah, thanks.

Andrew Paradowski:

Moving to Europe and getting on a pro team, that means a whole new sort of scene for you, because I know for quite a while, your dad’s been involved in your career, has been a good coach to you, and I’ve known your dad probably for as long as I’ve known you. We worked together a bit in BC when I was there, and it’s nice seeing him at the events every once in a while. So tell us about what that was like, the part your dad played in your role… Or what role he played in your rise in cycling and how he helped you along the way or anything, any other things that you want to say about how great he was for you?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. So obviously, he’s the reason I got into it. So I worked with this coach named Jeremy Storie, who, unfortunately, passed away. He was my first coach. And after that, my dad took over. So that was when I was 14, I think. So he’s been my coach ever since, and he still is to this day. So it has worked way better than I think anybody would’ve thought it would, or when I tell them thinks it works. I mean, obviously, results wise, it’s working, but also just personality and just dynamic and father-daughter duo, we’ve had to navigate a lot and just figure out how to make it work for both of us in the best way possible. But I think we’ve kind of nailed that.

I mean, yeah, so basically, my whole career, I can owe to my dad to where I am today. And I think the biggest part for him was that never once did he push me. This was always off my own motivation and my own desire to do well. And being an Olympic gold medalist, this is still what motivates me. And he was just there to help guide me and point me in the right direction along the way. And I think that was the biggest role outside of now his day-to-day coaching, but that’s kind of the biggest impact that he has had on me getting to where I am. He’s always emphasized that, “You know what? If you’re not having fun and you don’t like it, why are you doing it? Seriously? There’s too much else you can do with your life to waste it on not loving what you’re doing.” So yeah, I’ve always loved this and still do, and hence why I’m still here, and he’s still my coach. So yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s a great attitude to have, of course, and we should always be having fun riding your bikes. Let’s forget about riding bikes, go play bikes. It should be something that’s enjoyable, not a chore.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

And I guess if it feels like a chore, then maybe it’s time for a career change. So obviously, it looks like you won’t be needing one of those anytime soon. So why don’t we finish up here, just a few more questions. So we talked a bit about your dad and what kind of impact he had on you. Is there anyone else that you want to talk about that might have had an impact on your cycling career history?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. I mean, I have a pretty massive and supportive family, extended family, and everybody has played a huge role and been super supportive. And I feel really grateful to come from a family where my mom, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, nobody has questioned, “What are you doing? Why aren’t you just doing the normal school path? Why aren’t you going and getting a normal desk job?” No one, even if they might not understand it in their head, no one has said that to my face, which I think is what kills a lot of people in the sport, just the pressure of external pressure. So yeah, really grateful for the people around me who have never done that.

I mean, yeah, I did mention Jeremy Storie, and he was a massive impact on my career as a young rider. Even when I was 13, 14, just the belief he had in me and what I could do is still something that hangs with me, is very powerful with me today. So yeah, he was a huge component to me just, yeah, I guess, loving the process and just wanting to be an Olympic gold medalist. Yeah, too bad I only got to work with him for maybe a year, but he also got me onto the track. So yeah, owe a lot to him for that.

I mean, there’s, obviously, been countless other people. As I mentioned DNA has been a family, and Kathy, Alex and Lee, who, on the team, have literally became my family over the past three years. And yeah, it’s tough leaving teams, but they just are there to support my journey. They supported me throughout Track League as sponsors with that, and they are just the people with the biggest hearts. And just once you’re theirs, they want to see you do well, and they want to see you succeed. Yeah, those are three other huge impacts on my career. Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

So you said you are leaving DNA. Can you tell us a little bit about what’s coming next for you in that regard?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah. So I’ll be racing on a Spanish team called Zaaf Cycling Team. And so they will… They’re a conti team, which, I mean, for women, that’s the second highest level you can get. So hopefully, crossing fingers for lots of invites to the World Tour stuff and the bigger races next year. And I already know some of my teammates, so that’s going to be really cool, and some really strong riders on the team.

I mean, getting over here and getting on a European team has been some of the biggest learning lessons and most stressful, complicated times of my life, especially all the whole contract and signing process going on through Track League. I was supposed to be on the B&B Hotels Team. And if any of the listeners follow the media, you can go and see what has happened there. But that all kind of just went up in flames, and, yeah, really grateful Zaaf still had an open spot to take me. So here I am, and I am excited. I mean, this podcast will be out after I meet all my teammates, but I’ll be meeting my teammates over the next week. So excited to do that and just settle in. Settle in. It’s been a lot of question marks over the past couple of months, I’d say. So yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

So if you were to talk to another up-and-coming rider like yourself who’s going to have to face the same situation as you, what one thing would you tell them about your journey in trying to move to Europe? So when I say up-and-coming cyclist, obviously, I mean, a North American one who hasn’t had the benefit of racing in Europe since they were a young rider. What one thing would you tell them to as your experience that you learned like, “Oh, I’m not going to do that again”?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Okay. Yeah. Because I’ve had two polar opposite experiences. So when I came over here as a second year junior in 2017, I lived in a team house, didn’t speak the language. I was in Belgium, didn’t know anybody, weather was terrible. It was definitely an experience, but it was one that almost broke me. So a young rider coming over to Europe, some find somewhere over here. I mean, probably Girona seems to be the place where everyone comes. But find somewhere where other people, ideally get an apartment. I mean, obviously, living in a team house has its own benefits, so if that works for you, great. But otherwise finding an apartment with maybe other people you know or know of, I think those are a couple things that if I would’ve done that first time around, it would’ve completely changed the experience for me.

And it’s tough coming from North America over to Europe, you’re far from home, the culture is different, there’s so many changes. Yeah, they say it either makes or breaks you as a North American cyclist. So I think just learning the culture, learning the language is important, but if you can find that person who speaks English and slash that person you know and just have them nearby or have them as a point of contact over here, I think that’s really beneficial, especially for your first year over. So that would be my recommendations.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. All right. Why don’t we end off with another round of rapid fire questions, just to lighten everything up here before we get going? So what is your favorite movie?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Favorite movie? Oh, I’m so bad at rapid fire. What is my favorite movie? Lion King. Lion King.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very nice. What is the best music to train to?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Rap, I would say

Andrew Paradowski:

Any specific kind, or artists?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Artists… I’m going to say somebody that’s not going to be rap, I’m sure.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. Let’s put it this way. What’s on your training iPod right now? It’s not… I dated myself. I said iPod.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

iPod. Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

That plays music.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

I can’t think of words, you’re saying iPod. The thing that plays music. Okay, I lied. It’s kind of rap, some rap. I listen to any early 2000s pop. So like early Lady Gaga, you got Katy Perry in there, you have Chris Brown, all that, Usher. I don’t know. All that gets me through training, and I will be heavily judged for it, but that’s okay.

Andrew Paradowski:

What is your favorite post race snack?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Ooh, post race, post long ride, nachos.

Andrew Paradowski:

Nachos, with or without cheese?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yes. With cheese.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

My stomach doesn’t like it, but I love it.

Andrew Paradowski:

Last one, what is your favorite inspirational quote?

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Don’t wait for the storm to pass, but learn to dance in the rain.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very nice. I like that one. I’ll have to write that one down. All right, folks.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah, that’s a good one.

Andrew Paradowski:

This has been Maggie Coles-Lyster here on Talk of the T-Town, telling us all about what it’s like growing up in the cycling world and finding herself at the top and moving up even more as the future rolls out. So I just want to thank you, Maggie, for coming out. It’s been great having you on the show, even though it’s pretty late there in Girona. We’re probably coming up towards 10:00 PM in Europe. But thanks for phoning in, or Zooming in on the internet to talk to us today, and I’m sure our listeners had a lot of enjoyment listening to what you had to say.

Maggie Coles-Lyster:

Yeah, thanks for having me on. This was fun.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. That wraps up another episode of Talk of the T-Town. Be sure to check us out in the coming weeks for more episodes. And of course, check us out on Spotify and all the other streaming channels. And we’re looking forward to you listening to us next time.

Maura Beuttel:

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of the Talk the T-Town Podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcasts. To find out more on this week’s guest, head on over to our website, thevelodrome.com to check out the show notes and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Posted on

Dave Underhill: New Year, New Programs

Dave Underhill - Community Programs Manager

Episode 65

Join us for the very first podcast of 2023 as we invite our very own Community Programs Manager, Dave Underhill, into the Studio. Dave is excited to tell us and the Valley Preferred Cycling Center Community all about the new additions and changes to the current program offerings, as well as sharing a little bit about his history in the sport. As a bonus, listen all the way till the end to hear about the nuances of officiating an Elimination race. It’s a great way to start off the year.


Dave Underhill - Community Programs Manager
Dave Underhill – Community Programs Manager

Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Maura Beuttel:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. This is the Talk of the T-Town podcast where we discuss all things track cycling. Hello everybody and welcome back to this week’s Talk of the T-Town episode. I am this week’s host, Maura Beuttel stepping in for Andrew. And our guest this week is someone that if you’ve raced here, if you’ve come and done programs here, you’ve definitely seen him around the track. He’s raised here himself, he’s been an official, and now he is our community programs manager. And without further ado, our guest, Dave Underhill.

Dave Underhill:

Ah, good morning. Good morning.

Maura Beuttel:

Thanks for coming on the pod, Dave. So we wanted to bring you on the pod to talk about the community programs for people that don’t necessarily know what they are, if they have kids, and want to get them into the programs here at the track. And I also understand that we have some changes coming to what those look like this year.

Dave Underhill:

Oh, yeah. 2023 is going to be a big year. Our community programs have a long history at the track. I’ve just started last year and had a quick trial by fire and I’ve learned a lot during last year’s programs and we’ve taken what I’ve learned and what Andrew and I have discussed and learned. And we’re going to create a much fuller program for this summer. A lot more opportunities to get kids on bikes.

Maura Beuttel:

Yeah, I know we’re definitely looking forward to it. Starting to climb back out of the hole that was COVID and seeing more kids on the track and getting them through the programs and seeing that filter into racing as well.

Dave Underhill:

I’ll just jump in and talk about some of the programs, some of the things we’re doing. So for our youngest folks, the Squirts & Wee Wobbles and the Pee Wee Pedalers, not much is changing their. Last year, we got feedback from new parents and we’ve extended, we went through September. We will do that again this year and give more opportunities for the little ones that maybe don’t have a great sense of balance yet.

Get them off their training wheels and then as they get a little more skilled and little more independent, get them on our track. We also teach them basic bike rodeo skills, stopping, starting and ensuring that they fully understand how to use their brakes and ride their bike safely. Even drills such as turning back and looking, that they’ll know to look for cars and things like that. Once they’re old enough and ready to venture on roads, it should be second nature.

Our big change for this year is our youth cycling the eight to 16 year olds. We have our traditional Monday, Wednesday mornings in the summers from 08:10 to 10:00, but we’re also adding weekends. So we’ll have a Saturday series that runs from May through September. And then we’ll actually have two Sunday series.

We’ll split them up. And again, it’s the May through September, we’ll just have a divider line in the middle of the season. So [inaudible 00:03:22] more opportunities to get kids out there. And that’s the real fun group with that eight to 16 year olds. And then we also have our BRL changes. Which, last year we did the spring BRL. And in talking with the kids, the parents, we said, okay, we’re going to try to do a fall BLR. That was quite successful and we had a lot of fun.

We had a lot of kids. Again, I’ve learned some lessons and so we’ll change the format a little bit. But in realizing these opportunities, what we’re going to do this year is add a summer BRL. And this way we’ll have more opportunities during the summers. It’ll be in the evenings. And also listening to feedback from parents, we’re going to shift the hours a little bit. 5:30 to 7:30 to help folks to get off from work, be able to bring their kids to the velodrome.

And we’re going to change the format a little bit. Each BRL, spring, summer and fall, we’re going to have our individual competitions, but we’re going to have a season long competition.

Maura Beuttel:

I like that.

Dave Underhill:

And so when you join one team, whether you’re here just for one season, one session, or if you participate in all three, we’re going to keep scores throughout the season and we’re going to have winners for the overall season, whether the Bolts or the Flames. We will have the award ceremony.

And what we’re going to do is for each session, spring, summer, and fall, we’re going to have special activities for the last day. So the spring and summer will have their big races on Friday Night Under the Lights. In the fall, we don’t have any more Friday Night Under the Lights, but we’re going to have a season end picnic. It’s something we want to do for our community and we want to bring in our volunteers and the people that worked with the track, worked for the track and have a big year end picnic. And that’s where we want to showcase our BRL. For the final races. And that’s where we’ll have our season championships and ceremonies and it’ll be in front of the velodrome community.

Maura Beuttel:

Very nice. Always good to foster a little bit of friendly competition and have that in front of the whole community, cheering them on. That’s great. So going back to the Air Products, youth cycling changes for having those Saturday and Sunday extra sessions in there running from May through August. We have racing on Saturday. So is that going to be after racing then or?

Dave Underhill:

Yes. So we actually will have very full weekend schedules in 2023. So after Masters and Rookies, our traditional Saturday offering, what actually we’ll have next is part of our new try the track program. And that will run for four hours total on Saturdays. And then we will have our youth cycling after that.

Maura Beuttel:

Very nice.

Dave Underhill:

So I guess since I mentioned it, our try the track is going to be changing. So we traditionally had a single four hour class and some folks thought it was kind of long, so it was split up a couple of years.

Maura Beuttel:

A lot of information all at once.

Dave Underhill:

Yeah, yeah. I’m going to get this all done in 10 minutes and then you’re going to say, “Okay, what are we going to talk about?” You’ll have to listen to me a reminisce about the old days or something. But we had split it to one and two, whereas one was kind of focused on getting on the track and two was kind of focused on getting you ready to race. And the reason it’s always been a four hour session was to meet a requirement from USA Cycling to be upgraded from category five or what’s now called a novice racer to category four.

And in looking at the past couple of years, we really haven’t raced category five separately. We’ve been combining them with the fours. And it’s been four, five racing. So we started looking at, okay, how can we make try the track program one a little more informative, a little more open to casual riders potentially. Because folks may want few hours of lessons and education but not necessarily have to feel obligated to have to jump into racing.

And so we decided to make it a six hours series total, two hours each. We’re going to call them, try, ride and race the track. And the try will be, hey, this is what a velodrome is, some interesting factoids, some history. And get folks on a track bike. Get them to see what it’s like to ride a fixed gear bike with no brakes. And then get on a track and get a feel for it. And see if it’s something they like or not. And without any need to push people and say, okay, we’re going to pair you up and race against this person.

It’s going to be just kind of a casual, hey, this is what it feels like to ride the bike. And anyone that has a minimum amount of balance should be able to do try the track and have some fun. So that’s a two hours session that we’re going to have separately for the try system. And then the ride and race are the two classes that we’re going to use to qualify people to become category four racers. And those two classes, well, the ride the track, we’re going to basically give you orientation onto riding a track, doing pace lines. How to maneuver on the track, how to react to different speeds. Proper etiquette while riding on the track.

They don’t have to scream rail half a lap away, but if you hear the word rail, know what it means and be prepared.

Maura Beuttel:

And act accordingly.

Dave Underhill:

What’s coming from behind you. And then the race the track that will be dedicated to learning different types of race formats and practicing them and doing them and getting firsthand experience. One of the key things that anyone who’s doing the try the track with me is, we’ll also teach you how to keep pedaling after you sprint. Because after you sprint, you’re done and you want to stop. And on a track bike you got to keep pedaling. And I will go pedal, pedal, pedal until my throat is course. But it’s a new opportunity to maybe encourage more people to try the track.

And then a certification program will help make our cat four or five type racing safer. Because we’re looking at having everyone to be cat fours to race with us on Saturdays. And so in order to accomplish this, these programs are being offered very frequently. In the beginning of the season it’s going to be every weekend starting in April. And it’ll taper off just so that in September, we’ll probably only have one complete series. But we always have people that are always, “Oh, yeah. I want to become a cat four.” And it’s September and it’s [inaudible 00:10:38].

Maura Beuttel:

We’re like, we’re not having racing until next May.

Dave Underhill:

Well, so we don’t normally offer it that late, but we are trying to have a full season to maximize the use of the track during the warm weather. We might start off chilly in April, but we’re going to get out there and try out. Get folks out there that want to do it because I’m coming here to the velodrome, 30 degrees outside and I see people riding their bikes leaving [inaudible 00:11:04] velodrome. So if it’s only 55 in April, it’s still good to ride the bike.

Maura Beuttel:

Hey, as long as the sun is out and there’s no rain or snow, have at it.

Dave Underhill:

I mean, we do have some of our enthusiastic riders here that will shovel snow off the track in order to get their training going. Which is, when you’re actually shoveling snow off the track, my first hand experience, it is quite slippery. So I don’t recommend that for the faint of heart and I now have my lesson. I know [inaudible 00:11:41] when it’s snowy. Maybe I’ll supervise or something like that.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Yeah, I think the try the track program is probably the most well-rounded thing we can offer to the community in really getting people in here and understanding that we’re not just a place for elite athletes to come and watch racing. And I think a lot of people don’t necessarily understand that. So breaking it down into smaller, more bite sized chunks and having that first class being like, “Okay. Well, this is what the place actually is and what it actually does.”

And then filtering into the next section of it and teaching them how to train on the track and what all of the etiquette is and what the words mean. That I think filters into the next area, not necessarily… Well, yes. Going into the next racing part of try the track to get that certification, but also into the next change that we have coming for this season, which is switching to more of a membership based model. So getting those people knowing how to train so then they can actually use the facility and come get a good workout in.

Dave Underhill:

Yes. Let me think. I’ll say that mid-January probably we’ll have most of this finalized and on our website. So this is basically a preview. But yeah, we’re looking at having a low cost membership for riders. It’ll be in tens of dollars that will basically give you an opportunity to be able to ride on the track. And we have some confidence. We’re still going to have some public hours if people just want to come by themselves, but they’re going to be limited because we will have a lot of programming. And we will have basically members only time for people to ride on the track.

And then we’ll actually have different types of times, we’ll have training times, we’ll have motor times and we’ll also have structured training classes. Which will be led by coaches and we’ll have exercises and drills or lessons for folks. And they’re not necessarily only for racers.

So we’ll have three levels of structured training classes. The highest level will be motor pacing and it’ll be a motor pacing coach that will run the class. It’s open to basically the membership and the folks that are part of that class structure. And it will be an opportunity to also learn how to be motor paced. And of course not anyone coming off the street could jump into motor pacing right away. So that’s why we have three levels.

And so the level one could be basically the non-racers, an exercise class. Kind of more fitness oriented. We’ll have some drills, you’ll be able to apply some of the skills that you may learn in ride the track, in those types of classes. So that when you’re doing pace lines and things, you’ll be able to do them properly and safely. And we’ll also have some drills that get you comfortable riding with other people and close to other folks.

And the level two would be more of a training specific, hard efforts, sprint type things. Be good training exercises. And level two is kind of the cross between, okay, we got some racers that are getting in training, and maybe we have some advance folks from the area. Lehigh Wheelmen and different organizations that, hey, they want to ride 25, 30 miles per hour for a few laps and if they’re going to ride, if they could ride safely.

And we’ll work on making sure that all that does happen safely and be able to have more opportunities to ride the track and enjoy themselves and have fun. So that maybe the Derby isn’t the only place where people go out and go hard.

And then I guess we’ll jump back to the try, ride and race is I’m actually going to open up the age groups a little more. Bring it down to nine years old because part of what we want to do for BLR, which is nine to 16, is have an introductory session that’s equivalent to try, ride and race in the evenings for BRL kids. Well, I want to open up our [inaudible 00:16:04] try, ride, and race so that they could also, if they’re only available on the weekends, be able to basically qualify for BRL. And then the last way is if you do youth cycling in the summer, you could qualify for the fall BRL after that because BRL is kind of community racing. It’s not hardcore. You have to have a license. You’re in training and you’re going for the BRL National Championships.

But we also want folks to have plenty of opportunity to be smart, be able to ride a bike, be able to react when you’re maybe going fast and people are going slow in front of you. And we want to be able to use the dynamics of the track and expectations, other riders so that you can come up on a group of folks that are going slower than you and properly react to the situation. So we’re going to have a lot of opportunities for kids to get smart enough and qualify for BRL. And part of that is rather than going from 12 to adult, we’ll drop it down to nine to adult.

And the question I got asked most last year was, wherever we put an age limit, “My son or my daughter is one year younger, two years younger.” And, “Can I get them in? Can I get my child into this program?” And that’s been a question over and over again. So I do want to make it more feasible, more possible to have more kids in the programs, but we also want them to be old enough and mature enough to ride safely on our track.

Maura Beuttel:

That’s definitely the most important thing is safety. And then it’s just, it’ll be nice to see this summer having a full track. Seeing people here all the time utilizing the facility and just having those opportunities available for everybody.

Dave Underhill:

And also part of the new format of what we’re doing with membership is that… I don’t know if either of you know that my nickname… But most people called me the tax collector this past summer. Because whenever I showed up they knew that they were supposed to pay their $5, but there’s a number of folks that did their best not to pay their $5. And when I showed up they knew the tax collector was there and they’d have to pay their $5. So hopefully I won’t be doing that too much this year. So you can just call me Dave. Rather than being the tax collector. The tax man. Different variations to that.

Maura Beuttel:

Oh, no. Dave is here I have to get… The Bike Reg page didn’t load for me. Oh, I forgot.

Dave Underhill:

And I got very handy at working on Bike Reg on my mobile phone because at first I was like, oh, boy, I got to go back to home to get on my desktop and figure out how to do this. And it’s like, okay, now I can figure out all these different dropdowns. The app is always different than the web version and it was just like, okay, I know I could change this. How can I change this? Because for some reason it might have closed the hour that the training started and it’s like, ah, no, no, I got to move it and open it back up.

And then I also, what I had to figure out is an IOU system that worked. If you couldn’t get your Bike Reg to work and I still got you to sign the waivers, but then your waivers sat at my desk until I got the $5. And my memory isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but when I have a piece of paper and I have someone’s name on it, waiver and their name on it, I know that they owe me money. But so hopefully most of membership and the way we’re going to price things out, that $5 per session is a thing of history. We won’t be doing it.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Yeah, I think the listeners will definitely be happy to hear that and see that we’re making that change.

Dave Underhill:

So part of the reason, being able to drop the $5 is we’ll have the track membership. And then we’ll actually have base… I don’t know our final terminology, but training passes. And for the structured training we’ll have costs per course. So the training passes, it’ll be a monthly pass that gets you into the open training. The motor sessions and structured training classes. And we’ll offer a discounted annual pass.

And then the structured sessions, you could pay for those individually. But ideally if I was donning my cleats and racing again, I would definitely be all over the annual pass. It is a pretty good deal. And that’s what we’re also doing with the youth programs. We’ll have the session fee, but if you want to sign up for everything, if you want to sign up for the complete season of BRL, there’s a hefty discount for that. Complete season and youth. And if you’re in that kind of nine to 16, eight to 16 range, you want to sign up for everything.

There’s an incredible deal on that and you could be on the track all the time. And so the track will be programmed from early morning to a little bit later at night, 10:00, 10:30.

Maura Beuttel:

Hey, that’s what we have the lights for.

Dave Underhill:

Yes. We’ll turn off the music at nine so we’re quiet but we’ll have lights on and I don’t think we’ll hurt [inaudible 00:21:43] light pollution because we have plenty of that here. But it is an opportunity that we will have coaches on hand and we will update our coaches page. There’s some changes coming to that. We’re going to get a small raise and we’re going to change the credit system that is basically something you earn per hour rather than having to reach certain thresholds. And so that makes things a little more straightforward and more easy and more predictable.

And we will expand our training beyond just CPR and AED to basic first aid. So coaches always had the first aid kit, but maybe we haven’t been using them the most effective manner. And so that’s some first aid training that we’ll receive from the EMTs that support the track and be able to help our head coaches better address the minor wounds and more quickly assess anything. So that if help is needed, we know we could act very quickly on that.

So we’ll have the new coaches page up, we’ll have the credit program explained and I think it’s still an attractive program. And then for our assistant coaches, generally the folks who are under 18, don’t have a USAC coaching license, we’ll have a enhanced credit program for them. And then those that are looking for community service time, we’re more than happy to sign off on that. And so it’s an opportunity, even for the younger folks to give back and contribute to the track that they’re actively participating in very frequently.

Maura Beuttel:

I think that’s one of the coolest things is that a lot of the coaches here, assisting coaches, a lot of them are either athletes that race here or they’re people that have gone through the programs themselves and getting back into coaching. It is a great way to give back.

Dave Underhill:

And I’m enjoying it. I mean, when I hung up my cleats for the second time in my life, I got into officiating. And since I’ve basically retired and moved here, I got into coaching. And it is a lot of fun. It’s very rewarding to see kids on bikes and have kids pretty excited and want to tell me that they got their first track bike. And I was like, oh, this is great. Or even some of the declarations like, “I’m going to be doing this the rest of my life.” I was like, oh.

Maura Beuttel:

Yes, you are.

Dave Underhill:

And there are some folks that have done that. So it’s interesting. It’s a lot of fun I think. And there’s a lot of enthusiasm. And sometimes there’s some chaos. Like BRL, one third of the kids were on the track racing, two thirds of the kids were running around like they’ve had too much sugar, too much caffeine. And so that’s part of the little bit of the structural changes that we’ll do also to BRL is that we’ll have a race director, dedicated race director to run the races. Whereas then each team will have a dedicated head coach and then hopefully we’ll have an assistant coach or two of each team.

And we’ll also kind of formalize a little more. We’ll have race numbers, we’ll do some officiating. Not necessarily USAC officials. Maybe parent volunteers. Hint, hint.

We’ll get out the mics and the PA system and have a pretty good race environment for the kids. And you mentioned Air Products but also Schearers, sales and service that our BRL sponsor… We’re very thankful for them helping us out on this and basically make it, I don’t want to say the premier kids racing program. It will be a lot of opportunities and hopefully the BRL in itself is a great program. They have a lot of fun.

But hopefully number of kids will say, “Yeah, okay. I want to take it up to the next level. I’m going to become a junior racer and race elites and race in national championships.” And as our history of the track is showing you, Pan American Championships, World Championships, Olympics, the things start in our community programs. And so that’s a lot of opportunities and it’s a great path to take.

Maura Beuttel:

And speaking of that pathway, this is a perfect segue into the one program that we haven’t necessarily talked about yet, but I understand that there are some changes coming is Team T-Town. Because naturally you finish BRL and you’re like, “Okay, I love the sport. This thing is really great. Where do I go next?”

Dave Underhill:

So yeah, as a person who was kind of away for a long time and Team T-Town came back to here and it’s a junior team and someone mentioned a rider aging out. I was like, what do you mean aging out? “Well, he’s turning 18. So he’s got to leave T-Town.” I’m like, what? And that kind of chuck me aback a bit. Because I’m definitely a club oriented person. I’ve been a member of Somerset. We won for decades. And now I started asking the question, why is Team T-Town limited to juniors?

And so Andrew and I spent a good amount of time talking and I’ve talked with some of our community leaders, longtime cyclists and folks that are coaching and leading teams and saying, hey, what does your club do? How do you support folks and what are the benefits of being in your club versus something else? And do you think there’s a benefit for another club or something? And so based on that feedback and discussions we’ve decided what we’re going to do is Team T-Town is going to become a more traditional club.

It’s going to be a natural place for kids coming from BRL that if they don’t necessarily say, “Okay, my goal is to become an Olympic champion right away.” Is kind of make that transition into a community supported club. And so we’re going to heavily recruit some of our mentors, people in the community here and see if we can get them to join Team T-Town with us. The club basically will be sponsored by the the Valley Preferred Cycling Center and we will basically have club like structure. We’ll try to have race support, food, drinks, things like that for different races.

The heart of it is track racing, but that doesn’t mean we won’t go to some crits, won’t do some cyclo-cross. If someone could point me to a mountain bike race, I might try to find one to see what that’s all about. Sorry, I’ve never been to a mountain bike race.

Maura Beuttel:

Me either.

Dave Underhill:

It’s something new to me.

Maura Beuttel:

Oh, just kidding. No, I have been.

Dave Underhill:

But we want to open it up. There’s a lot of folks here that race all the time. I think they have a lot they can contribute on an informal basis and/or potentially a more formal basis. And so I still want to support junior riders and have them grow and fulfill their cycling dreams as best they can. But Team T-Town, a lot of Ts, is a good place for folks to start and basically grow themselves as a bike racer. And we’ve been talking with Lehigh Wheelmen. We’re looking at partnership with that group. It’s a very longstanding club in the area and also I am a member of Lehigh Wheelmen.

Maura Beuttel:

Shameless plug.

Dave Underhill:

And we’ll look at some collaboration that make their rides available for our folks and some of our rides could be available to them. It seems like half the rides in Lehigh Valley leave from the velodrome anyway, so why don’t we all ride together and there’s some insurance benefits to be riding in formal club rides. And so we’ll be looking at that for Team T-Town. Trying to set that up so that we’ll have additional coverage when we’re out there on the roads. Once we leave the concrete crater we don’t want people necessarily be only on their own.

So there are some benefits to having that. So we’ll look at Team T-Town, it won’t be very expensive to join. It’ll be on par with other club like structures. It’s not Olympic training, not dedicated professional coaching 40 hours a week, but it is a good opportunity to transition and be part of a community. And as the community programs guy, I definitely want the velodrome community to be together and have a welcoming environment that folks could come, they could race, they could ride, they could spectate, they could coach, they could share wisdom.

And then we have a lot of track racing experience here at this velodrome. And we have just a depth of knowledge we could tap into just walking across the street. We don’t have to go far.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Yeah, I just think again, the whole thread that ties this episode together is highlighting that sense of community because in the grand scheme of things, if you think in the entire world and all the different sports that there are, cycling is pretty niche. And I think playing into the fact that the name of the place here is the Valley Preferred Cycling Center is making it that cycling center, not just necessarily having everything be super track focused. So welcoming those folks with different backgrounds, mountain biking, cycle-cross, all that sort of different stuff and just kind of being a melting pot of things here is cool.

Let’s just ask Dave some personal questions because he’s just been a pillar in the cycling community here for very long. When did you start racing here? Not to date you or anything.

Dave Underhill:

I think my track racing started in ’80 or ’81.

Maura Beuttel:

Okay. And how different are things now compared to when you were racing?

Dave Underhill:

Well, it wasn’t so bad on Tuesdays as a junior, but when I got to Fridays I definitely learned it was a contact sport. And there may have been some initiation that happened when, “Hey, there’s a junior in our field now. Let’s go see how he feels up on the wall.” But I stayed upright every Friday I raced.

Maura Beuttel:

There you go. That’s the goal.

Dave Underhill:

But yeah, the gears were a lot smaller too and it was all about spinning rather than pushing. And so we had astronomical leg speed then, but our legs were much spindlier and smaller back then too. So when I watched some of the young juniors wind out their junior years, I was like, oh, yeah, that looks familiar. That’s the way racing used to look. Rather than pushing these 120 inch gears and just massively pounding away.

Yeah. So raced here in early ’80s. Went into the Navy afterwards and started getting that adult figure. I started growing that adult figure that I have now and no longer looking like a bike racer. And then basically it came back in the 2000 teens, and wanted to get back into bike racing. And in the ’80s, okay, I raced track twice a week. But I raced, rode in crit three, four times a week.

And so bike racing was pretty big and you could race some almost every day of the week. Monday was usually the only real dead day of the week. You could find two races on Saturdays and then you had training races Wednesdays and Thursdays. And so I was like a full-time bike racer back then. And so as an old guy, I started losing weight and I said, I’m going to get back into bike racing. And I was like, yeah, I’m going to start with the track. I really loved the track [inaudible 00:35:16] racing. And in three years of riding as an older guy, I only did two crits.

And one was actually a Virginia… It was International Raceway automobile racetrack, which was to me in my head kind of like track racing until they got to the final sprint. I had never seen such chaos and I placed at a decent spot in that, but I was dodging people left and right because they had leadout trains and guys were sitting up in the middle of the field because they were done and. It was like, oh, my God, this is crazy.

And then I did a proper four corner criterion. And for the life of me, I could not understand why I was hearing squealing brakes in every turn. I was just like, go around the turn. You could just put your right leg down, left leg up, go for the turn. There’s no need to hit your brakes.

Maura Beuttel:

You’re like, “There’s four turns. You think you would’ve figured it out by now.”

Dave Underhill:

And it was just like… And road racing or crits, I just… It’s crazy. So when people come to the track and they’re like, “There’s no brakes. I can’t do that.” I’m like, oh, my God, this is so much safer than riding on the road, riding a competitive road event. Because there aren’t unpredictable people hitting the brakes. There aren’t. And the track racing rules are pretty clear, pretty specific. You always have officials looking at you. It’s not like a road race where maybe the motor ref won’t catch me crossing the center lane.

Most of the officials don’t see you, most of the race. Crits, the same way. You have most that officials sitting on the home straight and you’re hoping that motor might catch something. But track racing, it’s much more discipline, it’s much more predictable. Sprints, almost might want to say they’re boring because people do the same thing. You don’t have to decide whether you want to dive to the left or the right of a rider that decided to stand up. [inaudible 00:37:22] stood up.

So it’s much more predictable and I’m like, oh, my God, it’s so much safer. So after those two crits I’m like, I’m not doing this anymore. And so all I did was race track. And felt much more safe pursuing. So as older guy, we don’t bounce so well anymore. And so stayed upright for three years without any concerns. The only time it scared me were those two crits.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Well, now that you’ve been on both sides of the coin as a track racer and now you officiate track, what was your favorite track race to race and what is your favorite track race to officiate?

Dave Underhill:

I always like the elimination. It was a race that you could sit there and play the devil. The person that sits in the back of the field and just tries to pick off people. And it’s usually reserved for sprinters. But you could play the devil or I was able to get on the front and hammer along and try to get in that number two spot. And just sit there and just have a long, long enduro pursuit type event where you’re just going hard the whole time and you’re listening and counting the laps down to see how many people you’re losing until [inaudible 00:38:43] is like, okay, at some point the surge is going to happen.

And if you’re the guy sitting in the number two spot, you’re part of that surge. You’re in the number one spot, it’s like, “Okay, I’m getting fifth.” So that’s always been the most fun of race because there’s a lot of tactics and there’s just a lot of different ways to do it and it’s a very different type of workout if you try to play the devil versus if you want to hammer at the front. And one thing I never like to do is just sit in the field and get picked off when getting stuck in traffic. So I had a tendency never to be there.

Maura Beuttel:

That’s always been one of my favorites to watch and sit underneath the judges’ stand right at the line and be like, okay, can I call the right person that’s gotten out before the officials call it? But it’s a fun little game. Both for racing and officiating for you, the elimination?

Dave Underhill:

Well, elimination is a little bit more scary as an official. Because on a Saturday, Masters and Rookies, I’m afraid if you don’t quite get it right, the consequences aren’t big. But if you’re doing a national championship or something like that, the consequences are very high. And you want to absolutely make sure you want to get that. And so one of our visiting commissaires basically said, “Dave, you’ve got the call. But if I hear a moment of hesitation in you saying that call, I’m calling for the camera.” And that’s if I said four or 104. Yeah, he was fine. Happy with it. If [inaudible 00:40:25], “Camera.”

Maura Beuttel:

Camera.

Dave Underhill:

And we want to be able to make that call quickly and get it out…

Maura Beuttel:

Whatever did we do before cameras?

Dave Underhill:

We made the call and sometimes it was a committee. Basically, ultimately depending on the level of the racing, who has that call responsibility. And if it’s the commissaire or president of the commissaire’s panel, they’d pass it on to the chief judge perhaps, or perhaps they’d want to make that call.

Or if you’re no camera like, “104.” Your assistant judge says, “Well, no. It was like 103.” “[inaudible 00:41:10] 103. Okay, 103.”

Maura Beuttel:

103 it is.

Dave Underhill:

Two out of three [inaudible 00:41:13]. But we don’t want to do that for national championships and things like that.

Maura Beuttel:

No, certainly not.

Dave Underhill:

And it’s a race that’s happening real time and you can’t go back. So if you accidentally call a wrong number, you have, at least on a 333, one lap to figure out how you’re going to correct that. Because you may have just cost someone a medal or a place. How do you fix that? And you need to fix it within 25 seconds or so because they’re going to be there. And at a 250 you have a little bit more time but not a lot. So some of those decisions have to be made and whether you’re the chief judge or the starter, because you may fire the gun, if you fire the gun, you started a cascade of events that not everyone may agree with. And so I was like, I stopped the race. Then you might have someone going crazy. I’m sorry I’m doing hand motions here.

Reacting very quickly and passionately as to why did you do what you just did and you shouldn’t have done that. And so there are some split second decisions and the elimination is the one that really, really requires it. A points race, okay. Cam review, we got second and third wrong in the sprint. We correct it. Race goes on.

Maura Beuttel:

Right.

Dave Underhill:

[inaudible 00:42:47] elimination, you just can’t correct something. You pulled the wrong person out or there’s some confusion in the number. You read the number wrong. How do you react and how do you react quickly that you just don’t basically throw off the results of the race?

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Yeah. The elimination is not something that you can stop the play, stop the race, review the footage, and then just click resume like you can with a lot of other sports.

Dave Underhill:

So I’ll say for the Nationals we had a couple years ago, the chief judge spent an hour with the photo finish people because there was a disagreement on how many laps down the person was. In post processing you could always figure out what that result is in something like a points race. And figure out, “Okay, why did commissaire two thought this person went down but others didn’t?” And you could actually lap by lap do a replay and figure out what happened. It’s not the quickest thing to do. But it’s something that if you’re a national championship, then you want to make sure that result is right.

Maura Beuttel:

You take the time and you do it.

Dave Underhill:

You take the time to do it. And other formats have that ability to do that. Elimination, no.

Maura Beuttel:

What would you say that as an official is the biggest faux paw, I guess you see riders or athletes make?

Dave Underhill:

That they don’t know the rules. So the riders, with coaches are pretty much coached that the coach will come talk to me. Riders who don’t want to come up on their own. And I’ve had riders tell me that’s not a rule and that they’re allowed to do this. And I’m like, okay, I’m the official. And by the way, I do work at the nationals. And if I see you doing that in the nationals, I’m going to call it because you’re violating this particular rule. And if I have to pull out the phone and get the rule number for them, so they can go back and read, I usually do.

Maura Beuttel:

Oh, it’s not a rule? You mean this rule, right here? On my phone?

Dave Underhill:

And part of the challenge, and it’s been learning experience for Andrew of the USA Cycling rules versus UCI rules that they don’t match. And there’s slight differences and that’s a challenge. And it’s good that our national championships, the elite are UCI rules. So we bring in the most senior officials. Everything is by UCI rules, everyone has a common playing field. But if you’re doing a different level event, a Masters Nationals potentially, or Friday Under Lights, technically we’re under UCI rules only for the UCI weekends. And then we switch the USA Cycling rules when we’re not, because why should we enforce UCI rules? Technically that’s not a rule set.

So that was always… My example is in sprint races that the UCI walking pace for the slow part of the sprint is not in the USA cycling book. And USA Cycling is, you shall not stop.

So you could go pretty darn slow and not stop. And then there’s actually another rule book for American Track Racing Association, which actually says you shall not go backwards. So technically you could stop, but you can’t go backwards. And if you do a track stand, you roll half an inch backwards, then you’re going backwards, I assume. But there are nuances on rules and officials spend a lot of time, especially in the spring, dusting off and reading the rules and then officiating at T-Town with our international racing here.

Okay, I’ve done a couple of Masters and Rookies, I’ve refreshed myself on all the rule changes for USA cycling, now I have to shift to the UCI rule book and look for the rule changes there and refresh my memory. And it’s actually a very common thing is that before an event, I’m going for the rule book. One, looking for changes. And two, refreshing my memory so that I don’t have two events mixed up. We want to make sure we get it right. The riders put a lot of time, a lot investment into racing. So as officials, we want to respect that investment and make sure that we’re doing the right calls. Not making up rules or misremembering rules. So we spend time, want to make sure we have them right.

Maura Beuttel:

So you could say there’s a lot to keep track of.

Dave Underhill:

Yes. She’s been holding that one for a while.

Maura Beuttel:

I had to.

Dave Underhill:

But that said, the more stressful parts are kind of falling onto the senior officials. So I don’t want to scare away potential officials out there. Junior parents, racers, former racers as an assistant it’s basically, “What did you see?” And you are slowly learning the rules, but when you’re the starter chief ref, the judge referee, that’s when you really have to have the rules down because you’re the person making the decision.

And I was just going through some pictures. And I saw the one from a couple of years ago, it was a picture taken from the judge’s stand and it was a circle of the officials, the race director, track director, the photo folks, all in a circle. Because something had happened and that we were trying to figure out, “Okay, how are we going to rule on it?” And it was okay, everyone had their perspective. And basically how were we going to rule in a situation. That turned out to be kind of a sprint situation where folks were catching the field as the field was crossing the finish line.

And I was like, “Okay, how do we want to interpret this?” And it’s a nuanced thing. Well, a new official doesn’t have to make that decision. But I was surprised that as a new official working at one of my first UCI races, I was on the back straight and the international commissaire called me up on the radio and said, “Dave, what did you think about that sprint?” Because we had two riders riding up on the rail and wanted my input as to whether there was enough room. And I was like, you’re asking me?

I’m just out here hanging out in the grass in the back straight. You want me to help you make that call? But I had the angle, because the commissaire was on the other side of the track and they’re relatively perpendicular. Whereas I was able to see that, yeah, they were both close to the wall. But the rider left enough room. So it was a case of whether he was impeding or not. So I was like, oh. That was a big day.

Maura Beuttel:

Right. Oh, I get to give my input.

Dave Underhill:

So that was something, and that’s one thing that here at T-Town is, we do have the international racing. And so there is a high level of racing that new officials get exposed to very quickly. We have tremendous depth of experience. Andy, Ellen, Sally that have all mentored me, helped me out quite a bit to get me up to speed. But most officials, as a new official, you don’t get exposed to international racing. That’s something that potentially you might be able to do an apprenticeship with and travel across the country to come to T-Town to kind of witness an international race.

But here it’s kind of a little bit unique in the US. So we’re the only track in the country that has a consistent international racing schedule. The only other one is LA. We will have Masters Worlds from time to time. We’re going back to the UK this year. So we’re it. But it’s incredible experience and it’s incredible racing to watch. So when we have a good international field and they’re strung out, and you have 30 riders in a single pace line going as hard as they can. It’s a sight to see.

It’s like, wow, they’re just flying. And then people in the back are holding on for dear life. Trying to stay with this line because it is just going so fast that it has just stretched out everything. And that’s something that, it’s kind of rare. And being able to witness that here at T-Town is just incredible.

Maura Beuttel:

It still blows my mind after working here for however long that out of all of the places in the world, people come to this small town in Pennsylvania of all places and it’s known across the world. And I tell all my friends that and they’re like, “What?” I’m like, yeah, exactly. All of these really cool, talented, fast people come here.

Dave Underhill:

Well, we do kind of have a legend status.

Maura Beuttel:

But going off of that, just to wrap things up, Dave, I think you probably have sort of a legend status here too. Going from racer to coach to someone who officiates racing here. You’ve kind of run the gamut of it all. And I think we’re very lucky to have you here as a part of our community kind of heading that area of the track here. So thank you for taking the time to come on today and explain the list of changes that we’re making here in our programs for this upcoming season.

Dave Underhill:

Oh, thanks. It’s been a lot of fun. And anyone that’s seen me track side knows as I like to talk. So don’t be afraid if you see the big guy. Come up, ask me any questions, anything you want, and we’ll see how we can help you. Whether you want to ride the track, try the track, race the track. Just, hey. If you just want to ask me when this place was built, I’ll answer those questions.

Maura Beuttel:

You’ve got all the answers.

Dave Underhill:

What are all those little lines painted on the track for? So yeah, I’m looking forward to 2023. I feel like I’m a little more knowledgeable and a little more prep time. And we’ve got a lot on our calendar and so it’s going to be a pretty good year. We just get everyone out there and get them on their bikes.

Maura Beuttel:

So we will have all of this information updated on our website under the community programs pages as well as you can see all of the changes reflected on the calendar when that goes live. So be sure to keep posted for when that goes live. But this has been another episode of The Talk of the T-Town. We hope you enjoyed it and please subscribe, give us a like, give us comments. Any sort of feedback to help us grow the podcast on your favorite podcasting platform. Thanks so much for listening and we’ll check in next time.

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of the Talk of the T-Town podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcasts. To find out more on this week’s guest, head on over to our website, the velodrome.com to check out the show notes and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Posted on

Kaio Lart: A Kiwi Summer in T-Town

Kaio Lart

Episode 64

“You send four Kiwi boys off into the distance and see what happens and it’s a bit of a laugh”

Can you place the accent of this week’s podcast guest? He’s been a crowd favorite all summer, and we were certainly sad to see him leave. Andrew is joined this week by Kaio Lart, a cyclist from New Zealand. Kaio ventured out to T-Town this summer with a group of mates to get a solid block of training and racing done, as well as pick up some valued UCI points. Listen to learn how Kaio got his start in cycling, what it’s been like racing here in T-Town, and much more.


Kaio Lart
Kaio Lart


Instagram:
@kaio_fart


Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Voice Over:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. This is Talk of the T-Town Podcast, where we discuss all things, track cycling.

Andrew Paradowski:

Welcome back to another episode of Talk of the T-Town. I’m your host, Andrew Paradowski. And we’re here to talk about all things T-Town, and all things cycling. Today, our guest is Kaio Lart, from New Zealand. One of the young riders who has joined us for the prior UCI Racing Block that we had here in June. Kaio, how are you doing?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, I’m good, thank you. And thanks for having me. It’s been pretty cool here so far. So, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, we’re glad to have you and all of your other Kiwi teammates, you certainly have come in full force. I do realize that a lot of the team have left to other events and races. I know there’s a big push to the Commi games, but you and a few of your brethren have stuck around to continue racing here in T-Town. So, we appreciate you for being here as well. And also, for being on this podcast, this show with us today here. We’ve had a chance to get to know you over the last couple of weeks, watch you race and learn a bit more about you. And you’re a young racer, you’re just getting into school now and you’re doing quite well in the racing scene, but that’s not who you are only.

You’re not just Kaio, the racer. I found out that you are also Kaio the coach, Kaio the commissar and Kaio the volunteer and all things cycling. So, you’ve got all your bases covered. So, let’s talk a little bit about that. You don’t see that very often in young racers. It’s usually just, hyper focused on cycling and maybe after the career winds down a little bit, then they move into something else to stay in the sport, like coaching in cycling. So, what has given you the spark to stay, or sorry, to get involved in all these things so early?

Kaio Lart:

I’m not really too sure, to be honest. Normal thing, is I’d probably just blame my dad for it, but I guess, it felt like the right thing to do. I guess, I’ve been around the sport, since I was eight, nine, so that’s a good part of my life. Feel like I owe something back to the sport. And now, I’ve finished school, I’m first year at university, I can’t do schools racing at home anymore. And it seemed like a really cool opportunity to then go back and be a commissar, help out and get to punish all the kids I don’t like. But nah, just, it seemed like a cool opportunity. And I guess, when I moved up to Cambridge at home this year, where our home of cycling is, I had a couple of plans that I’d become a coach at the track.

It would give me access to track time. And then, if I became a commissar, or got my technical license, I could just help out and try and learn how to run our timing system. Because, there’s only a few people who could do it. It’s just, gaps that need filled. So, I just thought, “Why not?” And then, yeah, I’ve done a couple of shadow commissar work through our junior track nationals and criterium nationals at home. And then, when I was knocked out the first weekend here in T-Town, early on in the sprints, I was like, “Oh, well I’ve got nothing to do this evening. So, I’ll just go ask if I can bum around and watch it. And yeah, ended up being pretty cool.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, how would you say that affects your outlook on cycling in general and racing in general? Having seen it from different angles. Commissaring, timing, as you said, sitting out there at the table trying to get results for people, helping out, volunteering. How has that affected your racing style and your attitude towards cycling?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, I mean, it goes without saying, that most people respect the work that the volunteers and commissars do, but until you sit with them and actually realize how stressful it gets sometimes, you don’t really realize it. Us riders, we just try to pin our numbers in the most aero, trendy position possible. Turns out you can’t see that if you’re a comm. What other things there was, trying to get start sheets out, trying to get result list out, or points races in the middle of a points race, things that, as a rider, you just expect to happen immediately. Like, why isn’t there numbers on the lapboard? Or, why can’t we see it straight away? And there’s a whole load of decisions that have to be made behind that.

And it’s obvious when you think about it, but when you’re in the middle of the heat of a race, you don’t really have that obvious thought pattern and to actually have some evidence behind it yourself, to make you process those decisions whilst you’re racing, is good. And I guess, being able to deem, also where am I making a dodgy decision? Am I going to send it under this rider? And is it going to get me disqualified? Or, is this thing going to slip? You get to learn where those boundaries are in racing. And I’ve noticed myself, watching my own racing, watching my friends race, where I think decisions will be made, or what might happen. But yeah, I guess, you learn a lot of the rules as well, as a rider. And I guess, as it should, it should carry over, there should be a pretty close comparison between the two of them.

Andrew Paradowski:

It’s interesting. So, it sounds like it affects your strategy as well, a little bit. Before you actually started doing a little bit of officiating, would you say that you had a good command of the rules and regulations? Or, was it only afterwards, when you sat down and read the book for doing that thing, that you discovered the full, broad scope of the rules?

Kaio Lart:

Mm, I’d like to think, I’ve always known the rule book reasonably well. Just through, I guess, trying to push the limits like everyone else is trying to get as close to as possible. And everyone’s always asking, “Is my bike legal?” Or, “Is this right? What’s the rules here?” And I guess, you just go to learn the quick fire really and-

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, you mentioned earlier that you were blaming your dad for getting involved into cycling. Is that your cycling origin story? Was he the one who got you into cycling and racing, or?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, sort of. So, he doesn’t really ride, himself. Well, he likes to think he does. But, I was at the age eight, nine years old, just every sport in the back of the school newsletter, dad was like, “Right, you’re going to do that, you’re going to do that.” Was going everywhere, left, right and center. And I guess, cycling’s the one that stuck. I mean, from the first day I went to school, I rode my bike. I think, pretty much, from year seven onwards. So, the last seven years I was in school, I missed one day riding to school and it’s something I’ve done my whole life. It’s just what happens.

Andrew Paradowski:

How far from school is your home?

Kaio Lart:

Ah, about 10K.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

So-

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s a pretty good ride.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, it’s good. I love the morning commute.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

Especially, going home after school. All my mates would always hop on the bus. It’s always a race home, because I can beat them out of town real quick. But then, once we hit the highway, it gets a bit more even. So, there was a consistent period where, when I was older, I was always beating the bus. But, in that, I guess, 14 to 15 year old age gap, every day it would change, who would win, me, or the bus?

Andrew Paradowski:

Did you ever get in behind the bus and just draft the bus all the way?

Kaio Lart:

Oh, definitely. I love a good bit of car surfing. Definitely, illegal and I do not recommend it. But, heck yeah, I love it.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s a good disclaimer. I like that. And I-

Kaio Lart:

They’ve got this awesome hill, outside the school I went to, and it’s just one straight big run down into town, and then you get traffic lights. I know the entire Nelson traffic light system off by heart.

Andrew Paradowski:

And the timing as well?

Kaio Lart:

Yup.

Andrew Paradowski:

Nice.

Kaio Lart:

I can get through that… I reckon, I can get through town in about a minute and a half.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, at least after all that too, you’ll also have a good story for your grandkids to be like, “I rode to school, both ways, uphill, for 10 kilometers.”

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, exactly. So-

Andrew Paradowski:

And then, you just continued on through high school. And then, at what point did you get into formalized racing?

Kaio Lart:

Oh, I reckon I would’ve been first year, under 15. I think, it was probably when I started traveling around the country, racing, for… Yeah, that would’ve been when I did my first track nationals. And then, yeah, I just kept going. From then, done track nationals most years. I think, my first win came in second year, under 17. I won the 500 and the sprint event. Nearly broke the national record that time. And then, I got pretty annoyed that I didn’t. I was out by maybe, 400th of a second. So, came back half a year later and smashed it, which I was pretty stoked on.

Andrew Paradowski:

Nice.

Kaio Lart:

And that record, it stood for a while. Everyone knew about it. And then, that was just before Oceania Champs in 2019. And then, we went on to win the team sprint with Sebastian Lipp, who’s here with us. And one of my mates, Hamish Coltman, who’s now at university. And then, that was it, before the world wrapped up for a wee-bit. And oh, we got to Bundaberg in Australia. That was my first overseas, international competition. And that was pretty cool to be invited to that.

Andrew Paradowski:

You made an interesting statement there, you said before the world wrapped up a little bit. I guess, you’re referring to COVID?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah. That’s probably, the politest way I’ve ever heard of it either on this podcast, or elsewhere. “The world wrapped up for a little bit.” Yeah, it shut the doors and-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Hid for a year and a half.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah. So, I was supposed to go to both, Junior Worlds, as I got selected for both of them as a junior. But, obviously that was 2020 and 2021. So, that didn’t happen. At the time, bit of a shame. It wasn’t great, I wasn’t stoked on it. But, in hindsight, it was probably one of the best things that happened to me. It meant, I knuckled down a wee-bit more at school. I focused, achieved the academic goals that I had set out. And to be fair, my dad probably pushed me pretty hard as well, but I ended up being the head boy of the school I went to and getting the highest level that New Zealand recognizes, academically.

Andrew Paradowski:

For our listeners at home, head boy would mean, I guess, the top scholar.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah. Class president, top of the school, basically.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

So yeah, that was a pretty cool opportunity. It ended up being quite a rough year for other reasons as well, but we won’t go into that.

And so, yeah. And then, that, along with all my cycling results, worked out pretty well and got me an awesome scholarship at the University of Waikato, where I am now. So, yeah, had COVID not had happened, I would’ve gone to Junior Worlds, probably wouldn’t have got the academic results and the leadership results that I did otherwise. And now, I think about it, it was a good opportunity to step away from the sport a wee-bit, just have a wee-break, it’s all I’d done for the past 10 years. So, to have that wee-break and reset-

Andrew Paradowski:

Reflect?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

About the future.

Kaio Lart:

Definitely.

Andrew Paradowski:

Mmm-hmm.

Kaio Lart:

And yeah, like my dad said during that first initial lockdown period, it was some of the best conversations we’ve ever had, because I wasn’t coming home tired and just burnt out every day from training and whatever. I just had a chance to relax. And I think, I actually grew a lot, as a person in that period.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, it’s always super interesting to learn about the silver linings that everybody seemed to have discovered over that period, when the world shut down for a little bit. But, we’re back open now and you’re here racing and you’ve had some pretty good results in some of your sprinting, so we’ve been certainly impressed with that. Is this your first, big block of racing that you’ve done outside of New Zealand? I know, you mentioned that you went to the Oceania Championship, so maybe an event here, or there, but-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, yeah. So, we did Ocies, which was at home, in Waikato. And then, we did Bundaberg, which was just a week in Australia. But yeah, this was the first, big, overseas campaign we’ve done.

Andrew Paradowski:

Mmm-hmm.

Kaio Lart:

So, I’m here for a month and a half. So, start of June to mid-July. And then, a couple of the others staying here for maybe another three weeks afterwards. But yeah, this is our first big time away. And basically, for all of us, this is our first big international trip. And-

Andrew Paradowski:

So, how’s that going for you?

Kaio Lart:

It’s been interesting. You send four Kiwi boys off into the distance and see what happens and it’s a bit of a laugh. But, nah it’s been awesome. So, you got the four of us, and then we’ve met this other fellow, Dalton, who’s rooming with us. He’s Australian, gets on real well. We’ll just Dodge past the Australian bit. But nah, it’s been awesome. There’s been ups and downs, we’re all racing each other. So, we’re in the head space to get racing, but then it’s also like we’re here on a cool trip. It’s-

Andrew Paradowski:

Can you think of… So, this being your first, large trip away for cycling, or in general as well? You haven’t spent this much time outside of-

Kaio Lart:

Not by myself.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, okay.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, what would you say, is your biggest challenge? Or, possibly a culture shock? Or, something that you found interesting and unique when you came here to the US?

Kaio Lart:

Everyone says, “Yes.” When you say thank you, or something, rather than, “You’re welcome.” That’s the one that gets me the most.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

Driving on the wrong side of the road, that’s always a laugh. The amount of times we’ve pulled out the car park here and just ridden straight down the wrong side of the road. And then, everyone looks at you funny. I don’t know. I guess, the language a wee-bit as well. Talking to the kids out there, coaching today, I’m calling them mate and, “You’re all good bro,” and things like that. And they just look at me blankly and go, “All right, then.” Yeah. I guess, just a couple of things like that. Maybe, we are a bit casual, but yeah, it’s a bit different, but similar in a lot of ways, I guess, you can see where everything’s built its own little ways of going around.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Is there anything that you miss from back home?

Kaio Lart:

Oh, a pie. There’s no pies here.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right now-

Kaio Lart:

Mince pie.

Andrew Paradowski:

What’s a pie to you?

Kaio Lart:

Well, I don’t know. You got some pastry, and then you’ve got some mince inside of it. And-

Andrew Paradowski:

So, you mean meat?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, most people here, when you think pie, they think apple pie, cherry pie.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right?

Kaio Lart:

The amount of times we’ve asked for pies and people pointed us to sweet stuff, we’re like-

Andrew Paradowski:

Right.

Kaio Lart:

“No, no we want a mince pie.

Andrew Paradowski:

You want a meat pie?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

They’re actually pretty popular up in Canada. You might have to take a trip to Quebec to get-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yourself a meat pie.

Kaio Lart:

No, I would be keen actually.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

But yeah, we’d have them at, say, gas stations, not servos, but anyway…It turns-

Andrew Paradowski:

Is that what the gas stations are called in New Zealand?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, we just call them servos, yeah. And they’re like, “Oh, we’re off to the servo”. And everyone’s like, “Oh, you’re going where?” But, yeah. And you can’t-

Andrew Paradowski:

We could sit here and probably, talk for half an hour-. All the slang-

Kaio Lart:

Definitely.

Andrew Paradowski:

What’s that?

Kaio Lart:

But, yeah. And we go to the hot cabinet expecting to find some pies and oh, well there’s nothing there. So, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Just hot dogs.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

I mean, we’ve succumbed to eating them, it’s not the end of the world.

Andrew Paradowski:

Have you been to a Wawa yet?

Kaio Lart:

A what?

Andrew Paradowski:

Wawa.

Kaio Lart:

Nah.

Andrew Paradowski:

It’s the big servo here. There’s two competing gas stations, Wawa and Sheetz. I think, there’s even a cross-Pennsylvania, the fight over which one’s better. But, full-service gas station, with a convenient store. And then, they’re serving food as well. And you can get hamburgers and-

Voice Over:

And milkshakes.

Andrew Paradowski:

Milkshakes.

Kaio Lart:

Maybe, we have. I mean, we don’t have a car with us, we’re riding our bikes everywhere. So, there’s that slight thing.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah. And you’ve got the school in Kutztown.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah. Oh, we were-

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

We just moved to Bob’s house, but-

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, no, we’ve been at the university as well.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right.

Kaio Lart:

But yeah, for a bunch of sprinters who normally, are pretty lazy. Drive to the track, track’s indoors at home, it’s a bit cozy-

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

To having a ride back and forth every day. I think, all of us have easily doubled our K’s for the year, while we’ve been here.

Andrew Paradowski:

There you go. And that must be tough for a sprinter, huh?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, yeah. Hard life. Yup, real tough.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right, let’s do some rapid fire questions.

Kaio Lart:

Okay.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, you’re mostly a track racer. So, what’s your favorite track event?

Kaio Lart:

Madison.

Andrew Paradowski:

Why

Kaio Lart:

Love getting slung into the middle of a race. That’s just wicked.

Andrew Paradowski:

Even though, you’re a sprinter, that’s your-

Kaio Lart:

Yup.

Andrew Paradowski:

Favorite race? All right, cool. What would be your favorite pro race around the world? Any discipline. Road, track, stuff that you like to watch, or that’s just, your big favorite?

Kaio Lart:

Probably, saying UCI Track League. I really enjoyed that last year.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

To see that the sport developing in that way, going more to the performance side of things. Yeah, probably something like that. Just any short, hard and fast, that gets crowd involved, or a six-day, that style, party event.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Favorite bike? And it’s okay, if you have to say your sponsor’s name. We understand.

Kaio Lart:

Oh, I don’t. I can say whatever I want here. Favorite bike? I mean, I’m quite a big fan of The Hope. I know a lot of people aren’t, I reckon it looks wicked. The Avantis that we all ride, as a country, they’ve been pretty awesome. They’ve obviously stopped now, but I love mine. It’s stiff. It handles well. But yeah, there’s a lot, I’ve worked in a bike shop, so I’ve got a chance to ride a lot of bikes and try a lot of things. But, there’s still a rather large list I’d quite be keen-

Andrew Paradowski:

All right.

Kaio Lart:

To try a Titanium, hand-built, or something like that.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, we spent a lot of time talking about the past. Let’s talk about the future. You’re young, you’re at the top of the sport at this point, going around doing international events. You see yourself continuing on for the next number of years? Maybe, trying to get up in bigger events? Nations cups? World championships? That thing. What’s-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, definitely.

Andrew Paradowski:

What’s the plan?

Kaio Lart:

I mean, I think the dream of any young kid, is to make it to the top, right? And in our case, that’s the Olympics. So, being, I guess, back here, in LA for 2028, that’s the main game for my age group and that’d be a dream come true. Like I said, the aim is to make it to the top. So, yeah, the world champs along the way, nations cups, things like that. And I guess, yeah, this is the starting point for it. But, I guess, it always comes back to, I guess, why I’m still here? Is because, I love the sport. And so, as long as it’s fun and I’m enjoying it, then that’s wicked.

Andrew Paradowski:

And then, what about afterwards? At some point the cycling career gets a bit tougher, you’re older, and then maybe, not as fast anymore. So, how do you see yourself? I mean, we talked about it a bit earlier, but how do you see yourself evolving out of the racing side of the sport, but staying in cycling?

Kaio Lart:

Oh, I don’t have a clue really.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah?

Kaio Lart:

But, I guess, I’ll probably always be part of it. I guess, either through coaching and commissaring, like all the other, I would say, old buggers, but I probably can’t. And yeah, I guess, just staying a part of it. There’s always going to be someone to help, someone to get involved, inspire some kids. Yeah, I had never really thought about it. I guess, I’d just always ride my bike. So, it’s pretty easy. But, I’m doing engineering at university, so people often ask me, “Oh, why’d you choose engineering?” I was like, “I know dad did it. It’s got some maths, seems fun.” But, probably something to do with that. Maybe, something to do with performance hardware, or software, or something in the sport. Helping the team that helped me, I guess.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah. I guess, I feel like I haven’t been here in the sport long, compared to some other athletes. But, I still feel like I owe this world a lot.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, you led into my next question there. I was going to ask you about what you’re studying at university.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, engineering… I mean, that’s a broad subject. Are you-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, so I’m-

Andrew Paradowski:

Specializing at this point?

Kaio Lart:

Doing Mechatronics Engineering.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

Which, is a cross between mechanical and electrical. Once again, 100% my dad’s fault. He did mechanical engineering at school-

Andrew Paradowski:

Mmm-hmm.

Kaio Lart:

Been an engineer his whole life. And I guess, as a kid, that’s just how you get brought up. Everything’s math and logic based.

Andrew Paradowski:

Mmm-hmm.

Kaio Lart:

So yeah, dad, that’s 100% your fault. But, he knows it and yeah, just, I guess, it seems like a bit of fun. I was good at maths at school and I just enjoy that problem solving side of things.

Andrew Paradowski:

Hmm.

Kaio Lart:

So yeah. And then, the opportunity, being able to test things about bikes, where are we going faster? Where are we not? It’s just, that seems obvious, so yeah-

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s very neat. Yeah, it’s always good to have a plan for-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, definitely.

Andrew Paradowski:

After-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah. The scholarship really helped me set that up. So yeah, I’m full time this year and I’ll slow things down next year, but this is just to make the most of the scholarship in the first year. Thanks to some of the rules.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, what are your plans for making sure that you can still train, while going to school? I know, it’s a challenge. And I’ve seen a lot of professional cyclists do it. I even know one young woman who managed to become a doctor while she was still racing and aiming for the Olympics. So, it’s possible, but you have to have a good focus. So, what’s your goal for this coming semester?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, probably try slow things down a wee-bit. I was pretty, flat out before I left to come here. I was working at the track, I was training, and then I had full time at uni. So, basically, I’d be up at 5:00, I’d be at the track until 8:30, then back to uni for 9:00 until 3:00. And then, come straight back to the track, go coaching, and then train afterwards.

Andrew Paradowski:

Mm.

Kaio Lart:

And I wouldn’t get home until 10:00. And there was maybe, three days a week, I was doing that and I was getting pretty burnt out. So, definitely for the first wee-bit of the semester, just slow things down, I probably won’t train as much, just because I need a wee-bit of a break after this. And then, just ramp back into it. I don’t really have much of a choice for this semester. I have to stay at full time, but definitely next year I’ll slow things down to probably just two papers a semester and allow myself to really hit training a bit harder. But, if I drop too much on the work side of things, I’ll end up with free time throughout the day and I’d prefer not to. I perform better when I’ve got more going on than less.

Andrew Paradowski:

Good. Very good. So, tell us a bit more about Kaio, the guy. Not Kaio, the racer. What do you like to do at home? What’s your favorite hobby in your spare time?

Kaio Lart:

I ride bikes, really.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

That it’s-

Andrew Paradowski:

You’re not the first person who said that. It’s bikes.

Kaio Lart:

Funny that.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

No. So, where I grew up in New Zealand, a place called Nelson, it’s quite a mountain bike area. So, I did what every other kid who rides bikes, just pull up at the local bike shop. “Well, can I have a job please?”

Andrew Paradowski:

Does that work?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, it did actually.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

I claimed I could make coffee, because coffee is part of our business. Turns out I actually could. And so, I made the boss a coffee and he was like, “Oh, it’s not bad. Come see me in a week and you got a job.” So, sure enough, five years later, just left the job after moving up North. But yeah, at home we all ride mountain bikes. The shop has a huge array of bikes. So, after work all of us hop on our bikes and go for a ride. And eventually, got my work mate to all ride mountain bikes down to the track. They all binned it on their first attempt, but they deserved it, to be fair. So yeah, I guess I just rode bikes really.

It sounds bad, but yeah, it is pretty much my whole life. I played guitar a wee-bit as a kid. I probably still could, hopefully. And what else do I do? Oh, yeah. So, this is a bit of an odd one, but after COVID, like I said, I had that wee reset period. I was like, “Right, I’m going to learn how to dance.” So, dad had been to some dance class maybe a couple of years before I think, to meet partners. So, after my parents split up. Being successful, apparently. But, anyway, and then, so I was like, “Oh dad, those dance classes you went to, can I go to them?” He’s like, “Yeah, all right. I don’t know if they’re still running, but okay.” And sure enough, I turned up and it was a relaxed ballroom set up. And I did that for the past year and a half, until I left home, which was wicked. I mean, you turn up to school balls and formals and you blow the socks off everyone.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, we’re talking about pure ballroom dancing?

Kaio Lart:

Nah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Tango? Waltz?

Kaio Lart:

Sort of.

Andrew Paradowski:

Paso Doble?

Kaio Lart:

Bit more relaxed, but yeah. Not all the stringent rules of it, but yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

The Foxtrot?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, I’d give it crack.

Andrew Paradowski:

You keen?

Kaio Lart:

But yeah, my mum’s Brazilian, so there’s some bit of natural ability to dance. And when you grow up with a mum who’s in samba her whole life, you get used to it. But yeah, no, I don’t keep it on the down low intentionally, but it just doesn’t come out a lot. So yeah, that’s probably one of the other cool bits that I get up to.

Andrew Paradowski:

That is really neat. And to tie that back into cycling, would you say that learning to be nimble on your feet, has sort of helped you navigate the chaos, that is the Peloton?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, a wee-bit. I like to think I’m one with a bike, it might sound a bit cheesy, but I like the feeling of being able to just lean your bike over and just send it around someone, or leaning on someone and being able to pull away from it, knowing you’ve got all your own weight, feeling. I guess, yeah, really connected with the bike. You can control it really well. You can quite happily, ride into someone, or the fence, or just do something. I’ve got this challenge for when I get home, that I want to be able to ride basically, directly up the track and do a u-ey and come back down the other direction. I started it and I got closer and closer, but I haven’t quite got to the corner yet. So yeah, this is on an indoor 250 as well, so…

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, if you ever get video of that, you’ll just send it our way.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, definitely. I’ll give it a crack, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Even, riding backwards on the track, is unnerving to a lot of people. Just…

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, to be honest, I’m still scared by that one.

Andrew Paradowski:

Mm.

Kaio Lart:

It really does feel like you’re going the wrong way.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

But, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Just like the roads here, right?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, yeah. Exactly, the same actually. Yeah, you feel like you’re going to slip off. The hard one with the roads here, is looking the right way.

Andrew Paradowski:

Mm.

Kaio Lart:

You pull up to an intersection, look, oh, wait, I’m supposed to look that way. And by the time you’ve realized which way you’re supposed to be looking, you’re too late.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

Or, coming into the track here, all of us go into the middle lane, and then look left behind us, and then realize that the cars are coming from forwards. Consistently, the whole group of us will do it.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, I’m glad that you’re still safe.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah. We were still when none of us have crashed yet, or caused any accidents-

Andrew Paradowski:

Just look both ways. And then-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, we-

Andrew Paradowski:

All right, let’s do another rapid fire. Get to know you a bit better. What’s your favorite movie?

Kaio Lart:

Ooh, well right now, it’s probably the new Top Gun. We watched it right at the start of this trip and it’s become quite a theme around the house. Dalton’s tried to grow a mo, we’ve been playing it.

Andrew Paradowski:

We’ve seen it.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, yeah. It’s… Yeah. We’ve been playing the playlist quite a bit. It’s become a bit of a hype song really. So, we’ll probably go with that for the moment.

Andrew Paradowski:

Right on. What about music? What’s your favorite music? Whether, just relaxing, or training to, or whatever?

Kaio Lart:

Dire Straits, U2. I guess, once again, blame my dad.

Andrew Paradowski:

80’s fan, very cool.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, Elton John, Snow patrol-

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

Midnight Oil. Yeah, wee-bit, not so much.

Andrew Paradowski:

Men at work?

Kaio Lart:

Oh yeah, of course. Down under, I mean, it’s not quite New Zealand, but it’s close enough.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Kaio Lart:

So, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

I actually don’t know any New Zealand artists that I could name.

Kaio Lart:

Six60.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Kaio Lart:

Stan Walker.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah. It’s the same thing-

Kaio Lart:

Lorde.

Andrew Paradowski:

From Canada, right?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Oh, Lorde. That’s right, yeah.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Lorde is from New Zealand. Same thing from Canada. I mean, we had rules for the radio for the longest time, where a third of the music had to be Canadian content-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

So, we have all this music that we listen to, and then we come down here and we’ll say some name and we’re just next door. And they’re like, “Who? What?”

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Couple of big hits, but yeah. I know what that’s like.

Voice Over:

Justin Bieber?

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, I mean… Drake.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

What about food? What’s your favorite snack in general? Or, maybe even after riding the bike?

Kaio Lart:

Go-to, is definitely sushi. There was a joint just across the road from where we worked and it was quite a common lunch stop.

Andrew Paradowski:

Have you found good sushi here?

Kaio Lart:

No, actually, I haven’t had sushi while I’m here.

Andrew Paradowski:

We’ve been more-

Kaio Lart:

Is there a sushi place here?

Voice Over:

Yeah, yeah. I could recommend one.

Andrew Paradowski:

Oh, yeah.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, right. I mean, not, we’ve been tight on what we’ve tried to spend, but we’ve been pretty lazy. We try to avoid just getting by with the food-

Andrew Paradowski:

Mm.

Kaio Lart:

So, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah, it’s not cheap to do a big project like this-

Kaio Lart:

No, no, it’s-

Andrew Paradowski:

Over here.

Kaio Lart:

Definitely, it’s been a big cost, but it’s cool, so…

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. Well, let’s wrap this up maybe, with one last question here. What do you think is the big difference between racing in New Zealand, and then racing here in the Americas?

Kaio Lart:

I’m not sure. So, racing here… Well, racing at home rather, it’s me, Dylan, Sebastian, Ruben. We all race each other, all the time. So, to come here and race other people, I guess, it’s foreign really. It’s a bit odd. We’re so used to how each other race and how each other ride. But, definitely, on a track like this, there’s a lot of running from the back. I can’t remember many races that have been run one from the front, versus at home, the track we have, it’s got quite a short, straight for an indoor. So, the runs from the back don’t always work as well, versus the one in Waikato, at home. It has quite a bit of a longer straight. So, the runs normally win. So, I guess, yeah. And that’s the other thing, we grow up, we’re used to riding on an indoor track. Just, we always ride indoor, it’s just what we do. And so, having to deal with the weather here is a bit odd, things like that.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s interesting, because up until I think, Atlanta ’96 was the last time the Olympics were held outdoors.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

And prior to that, it was really an outdoor sport and of course, there were odd, indoor tracks around the world and stuff being run there and stuff. But, now it’s exclusive, especially for the Olympic-bound of world championships, it’s all-

Kaio Lart:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Indoor thing. So… But, would you say that the indoor culture is a bit different from the outdoor culture?

Kaio Lart:

Yeah. I mean, and with the indoor track at home, it’s definitely, it’s a business it’s called the Grassroots Trust Velodrome. I guess, it’s similar to this, in a way that we have programs that we run to get people involved, corporate challenges, things like that. But, definitely, it feels like maybe, it’s a bit more relaxed here, the gates always open, we can just rock up and ride, which is awesome. And where I originally grew up in Nelson, that’s what I’m used to. In fact, our track’s actually modeled off this, Jason Craig, who’s the man of the town in Nelson. He raced here in his youth and loved it. And ever since then, he is been pushing to get a track like that, built at home.

But yeah, I guess, it’s just that bit nicer, relaxed feel. But somehow, with the grandstands, you still get that big party atmosphere, that first Friday night, or the first UCI class one, we had. Having a grand stand full of people, like the Beer Garden, that’s awesome. The only time we see crowds like that at home, was at the world cups and stuff like that. And you got 5,000 people in there, stomping for their home country, man that got rowdy, but I bet it’s cool to see that thing existing elsewhere, and especially on an outdoor track and yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Cool. Well, we’re glad to have you. You think you’ll be back next year?

Kaio Lart:

Oh, definitely. But yeah, without a doubt, it’s been awesome. We’re already talking about how we can do things better, where else can we link stuff up?

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool.

Kaio Lart:

So yeah, no, it’s been awesome to hear and thank you very much for having me.

Andrew Paradowski:

We’ll have to sit you down next year again, to see how Kaio Lart has advanced in one year and all that stuff. So anyways, thank you very much for coming in today. I really appreciate having you and I’m sure our listeners learned a lot about you and what it’s like to do a big trip from New Zealand all the way up here to the USA. So thanks for sitting down with us and we’re looking forward to seeing you continue race here and what the future holds for you.

Kaio Lart:

Yeah, no, it’s all good, hey bro.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right.

Kaio Lart:

Thank you.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. All right, that wraps up another episode of Talk of the T-Town. Be sure to check us out in the coming weeks for more episodes. And of course, check us out on Spotify and all the other streaming channels. And we’re looking forward to you listening to us next time.

Voice Over:

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of The Talk of the T-Town Podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcast. To find out more on this week’s guest, head on over to our website, thevelodrome.com, to check out the show notes and subscribe, so you never miss an episode.

Posted on

Joe Truman: British Racing Green

Joe Truman - British Track Cyclist and World, Euro, Commonwealth Medalist

Episode 63

“Racing riders quicker than you is always [good], you’re going to learn something”

If you joined us for racing over the summer, chances are you saw some dark green kit go by in a blur. One of those belongs to this week’s guest, British Sprinter Joe Truman. Joe and his teammates joined us for a two week block this summer. **As a disclaimer, this episode was recorded in June 2022– Joe went on to compete at the Commonwealth Games where he went down in a crash in the Keirin Semis. He is on the mend, and we wish him continued recovery.** Andrew and Joe discuss how Joe came into cycling, what it’s like being coached by a former teammate, racing Japanese Keirin compared to Keirin, and much more.


Joe Truman - British Track Cyclist and World, Euro, Commonwealth Medalist
Joe Truman – British Track Cyclist and World, Euro, Commonwealth Medalist


Instagram:
@joetruman1


Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.

Transcript

Maura Beuttel:

Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. This is the Talk of the T-Town Podcast, where we discuss all things track cycling.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of Talk of the T-Town here at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. I’m today’s host, Andrew Paradowski and sitting with me today in our studios is Joe Truman from Great Britain. Joe’s one of the racers who’s here today, or this month, for our UCI racing block here at T-Town. He’s come with a bunch of his teammates and his coach to show the rest of the world how sprinting is done in Britain.

Joe Truman:

Try to.

Andrew Paradowski:

There you go. So thanks for being on the show with us today, Joe. How are you doing?

Joe Truman:

Sure. Thanks for having me. Yeah, it’s great to be in T-Town for my second time. Always a lot more sunnier than back home, so it’s good to be here in the summer.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, that’s true. And the weather has been really good for us so far. Let’s hope that we can keep that going and that you haven’t brought any of that famous British weather with you.

Joe Truman:

We bring it everywhere we go, but not here yet.

Andrew Paradowski:

So you said this is your second time here in T-Town. When was the first?

Joe Truman:

Came in 2019, same time of year, I think, just for another two weeks. And yeah, it was a really good experience. We came there, different coach and different team last time. And this time, we got a couple new riders, new coach, but still a really good experience. So yeah, I’ve really enjoyed it so far.

Andrew Paradowski:

That’s right. So your new coach is Jason Kenny.

Joe Truman:

Yes. Sir Jason Kenny.

Andrew Paradowski:

Sir Jason Kenny, so someone that you used to ride with.

Joe Truman:

Yes.

Andrew Paradowski:

And now is a coach. How is that working out the dynamic with a former rider now being in charge of the program?

Joe Truman:

Yeah, really good. He’s just like, I couldn’t really imagine him not being part of the team and he still is part of the team, so it’s really good. He knows the system, so it was a pretty seamless transition for us and he’s just a really good guy to have on the squad, obviously. A lot of history in the squad. Well, Britain’s most successful Olympian, so he’s a good guy to have on your side at races and he’s been and done everything in the sport, so I think he knows what it takes to win really.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. Well, we’re here today to talk about you. So how did you get into the sport? What gave you the cycling bug and brought you into it and brought you here today?

Joe Truman:

So I was a footballer as a kid. Well, soccer player as a kid up until I was like 15 or 16. I just started cycling the summer really for fitness. I just got into it from there really. There was a local outdoor track 550 meters down in Portsmouth, South Coast of England where I’m from and yeah, hired a bike there for a bit, enjoyed it and it went from there really. I was lucky to get on the under 16 British team after a few years of riding. And I think when you’re in the squad, you’re then looked after quite well and you progress through the levels. So for me, it’s been quite a natural progression through the British squad and I went full time in 2015 and have been riding for the squad since then.

Andrew Paradowski:

So how did that happen? I mean, how do you go from picking up a bike and just riding around the local country roads to getting on the team? Were you scouted or did you have to prove yourself on the races? How did that come to be?

Joe Truman:

Well, I was always pretty shocking at the road races. I think I did a few national series races, didn’t finish any of them. But if I was there in the bunch, I’d always be decent in the sprint so it’s pretty natural for me to then try the track, because a lot of people just stick with the road because they’re naturally good at it, but I was naturally awful. Yeah, as I said, I’d never really finished any of the circuit races as a kid, but I enjoyed the sprinting so I focused on that at quite an early age and it went from there really.

But I think we’re quite lucky in Britain. It’s quite obviously a small country. There’s quite a few different cycling hubs around. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t really have any indoor tracks anywhere near me, really, so all my training as a junior and as a youth was on the rollers or the turbo and I probably got on track once every six weeks or something crazy. And I think that’s why I was able to make really big jumps in progress when I did go full time, because I was on the track four times a week.

Andrew Paradowski:

That was in Manchester?

Joe Truman:

So I moved to, so as I said, I’m from Portsmouth, South Coast of England. I’m actually the other end of the, I mean, for us, it’s a long way, like a five hour drive for you guys is probably not too much, but yeah, that was a big transition. 17, 18 moved there straight after school and yeah, I went full time. And then since then, I’ve been up there with the team going for the Olympics.

Andrew Paradowski:

Well, you certainly had some success ever since then taking a look at some of your palmares here and you’ve certainly done well at the World Cup. You’ve gotten a couple of gold in the team sprint, once in Glasgow, once in Apeldoorn and you’ve done well at the European Track Championships and got a few more here as well. But why don’t you tell me about some of the more exciting moments where you’ve done really well?

Joe Truman:

Yeah. So I think for us our first big win was in 2016 when we got double World Cup champs. Yeah, Glasgow and Apeldoorn, that was crazy. 12 months really went from me, Jack Carlin and Ryan Owens, we went from kids really, and then straight into full time training for 12 months and end up with a couple of World Cup wins, which was pretty crazy. And then from there, it’s World Champs and things like that. And I think a couple of years later, we got silver at the World Champs. Just another one win with the Commonwealth Games for us as Commonwealth Games is pretty big for the Aussies, the Kiwis, the Canadians. That’s quite a big competition for us. I’ve got one in a month actually.

And we picked up a silver there a few years ago, but for us, it’s been trying to beat the Dutch really in the team sprint. That’s been our biggest challenge in the last five years and it’s still one we’re going for. Hopefully over the next two years, we’ll get even closer. But yeah, it’s always been we’ve been there or thereabouts in the team sprint, especially, but hoping to get a couple better in Paris.

Andrew Paradowski:

So you mentioned the battle between the Netherlands and British cycling here in T-Town. You guys have been going head to head at the Keirin and the sprint tournaments here. You’ve done really well I’ve seen. So I think last week you finished fifth in the Keirin and you went home with a podium finish in the sprint tournament last weekend.

Joe Truman:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

What’s it like competing against the Dutch powerhouse team?

Joe Truman:

Yeah, as I say, they’ve been setting the gold standard for the last few years and it’s just a good experience. Racing riders quicker than you is always, you’re going to learn something. You might got less chance of winning, but you’re going to come away with a learning point and I think that’s where it is at the minute. Harry took me 2 and 0 in the semi-final last week, so hopefully, I’ll get one closer this week. But I think, yeah, as I say, that’s setting the benchmark in terms of team sprint times. And obviously, they’re super strong and Harry’s a nine time world champion so if you’re running close to him, you’re in good form. So that’s given me some confidence, I think, going into the rest of the season.

Andrew Paradowski:

You also mentioned the Commonwealth Games. What are your goals for the upcoming event that’s coming down in next month and where is that again?

Joe Truman:

Yeah, so it’s Birmingham is holding the event, but we’re using the track cycles in London, because it’s a bigger facility.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay.

Joe Truman:

I’m just buzzing for it. It’s going to be great. London, it’s got to be the best velodrome in the world. You’ve got 9,000 seats. It’s pretty much going to be packed out. It’s two tiers of seating. It feels like you’re at a football match, so that’s going to be great. I think, yeah, I hope to come away with a few medals. I’d like to get the final in the Keirin, get a ride off in the team sprint would be really nice. I think if we came away with that, it’d be a pretty positive experience.

Andrew Paradowski:

For sure. And with the hometown crowd there cheering you on-

Joe Truman:

Yeah, exactly.

Andrew Paradowski:

… It’ll be exciting.

Joe Truman:

It is odd for us though, because obviously, we’re Great Britain and for Commonwealth Games, we get split into England, Scotland, Wales. So we spend all this time training for the team sprint in a real dialed trio and then Jack Carlin, who’s our man too, he then goes to Scotland and we all split up. So we end up coming together in a new team and it’s a new challenge to learn how each person rides again. But it’s great fun, because I think I feel a lot more patriotic I think when we get split into teams. We get a lot more competitive with our teammates, because obviously we’re racing against them this time. So yeah, no, I was buzzing for the experience. I think always games format like that is always good fun, because you’ve got all the branding, you got all the media and attention on that, TV attention, so I know I’m excited.

Andrew Paradowski:

For sure. It does sound really exciting. All right, let’s break it up a little bit. Let me throw some rapid fire questions at you. What’s your favorite track event?

Joe Truman:

Track event, I have to say probably Keirin for the adrenaline, but we focus mostly on team sprint for obvious reasons.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay. What’s your favorite professional race out there to watch or ride or anything?

Joe Truman:

Track cycling?

Andrew Paradowski:

Anything really? Anything?

Joe Truman:

I like Paris-Roubaix if it’s on the road, but for track it’s just yeah, World Champs.

Andrew Paradowski:

Is there a pro racer or a former racer that you look up to, a hero?

Joe Truman:

Well, we got two in the British team. We’ve got Jason Kenny, Chris Hoy, and I think they’re both on similar level of how I look up to them, yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

What is your favorite bike that you’ve ever ridden? And if you have to say your current sponsor one, that’s okay.

Joe Truman:

No, it’s not. My favorite bike’s a, I raced out in Japan and I got a custom steel bike and it’s a Bridgestone British Racing Green. It’s pretty cool. So I got it made to custom colors, custom sizing and everything so it’s got to be that. It’s still in Japan unfortunately. I haven’t bought it home yet, so I have to get that at some point.

Andrew Paradowski:

So that’s actually a good turning point there. You brought up Japan. I understand that you spent a little time racing in the Japan Keirin Association.

Joe Truman:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

I’ve got a ton of questions about that, but I think it would just be best to leave it to you to tell us about what that was like racing in Japan in a place where it’s completely different from the UCI and there’s betting involved and you’re wearing outfits-

Joe Truman:

Yeah, it’s great.

Andrew Paradowski:

… Stuff that would help you if you got into a crash. Yeah, so tell me about that time of your life. And I think our listeners would love to hear about it.

Joe Truman:

Yeah, it’s too much to go into really, but it’s like, I was there for two seasons. I got a two year contract, 2018 and 2019. It’s just the most opposite you can imagine to any UCI Racing. You’re on steel bikes. You’re racing outdoors. You’re in colorful kit, like horse racing sort of kit, big mushroom helmets. You’re allowed to throw hit. You’re allowed to hook up to other riders and head butt and shoulder barging and that’s the reason people wear American football armor almost on their shoulders. A lot of crashing. You’re racing in all weathers. I remember one of our first races I was in the start gate looking up to turn one and you’ve got a waterfall coming down turn one and you race in all weathers because obviously, the people are betting on it and they can’t cancel those bets. It’s just crazy. Probably the biggest thing for me was that when you’re at races, you’re in complete isolation.

So you come in on the first day, which is called Zenken Day, which translates to that inspection day. And on that day, you’ve got a eight point inspection, all your frames, all your kit, your shoes. You declare your tactics to the media on TV. You form lines with your opponents like small allegiances in your races, a form based on how you declare your tactics. And then you’ve got three days of racing. You’ve got one race a day for the next three days and your results in that determine what final you’re in on the last day so if you’re going to be in the big money one, or you’re going to be in one of the lower ones. And as I say, you’re in isolation so you got no contact with the outside world. All I had was a little iPod Nano with about three movies on it on a one inch screen that I was watching and a book.

And that’s pretty much all I had for four days. It’s a pretty crazy experience, especially that we spend three weeks at the Keirin school to start with, to get qualified, which is nothing compared to the Japanese students because they’re there for 11 months. So we get a short tracked course, learn all the rules and what you can do, what you can’t do, things like that. And it’s just a bit of a little culture shock to start with, but you get used to it and then it ends up just racing your bike. It’s great fun.

Andrew Paradowski:

What would you say would’ve been the biggest culture shock for you spending time in Japan? Not necessarily in cycling, but just in general in the culture?

Joe Truman:

Not sure really. I think the polite, I really like the politeness, so yeah, queuing for the train and things like that was quite… I’d always walk straight to the door then I’d realized there’s a queue of 20 people waiting to go. Things like that took take a bit getting used to.

Andrew Paradowski:

You mean they were better at queuing than the British?

Joe Truman:

Is that what we’re like? I don’t know. I don’t think we’re that great, but yeah, even better than that I guess. But yeah, really polite. Everyone’s really, when someone has a job, they do it amazingly. So at the races, you’ve got someone that sweeps the track and it’s like, they’re so detailed and they really take pride in all their work. It rubbed off on me quite a lot I think. I got some really good training efforts out there and I think really nice lifestyle for training, living at the Keirin School for six months each of the years or just down the hill from the Keirin school, but training there every day. Yeah, I got some really nice routines and probably some of the best training blocks I’ve had was out there.

Andrew Paradowski:

So how would you say that experience in training informed your Keirin racing under the UCI style of racing?

Joe Truman:

I think for me it simplified it a lot. I always went into UCI races with a million ideas. And obviously, you can’t really do that, because anything can happen when the bike pulls off. And out in Japan, it really is simplified. There’s three main tactics. You’ve got senko, makuri and oikomi. Senko is basically, you’re going to do a long sprint. You’re going to go off at least 400 meters to go. You’re going to be on the front and hit it pretty hard. Makuri is when you’re going to leave it to about 200 meters to go and you’re going to do a bit of swinging and try to protect any riders in front of you, hold off riders behind.

And oikomi is basically going to have a last ditch fight for the line. And they are the guys that usually wear all the body armor because they’re the ones going through gaps and doing little dangerous moves. I think for me, it’s simplified a bit, because I can look at it as am I going to sit unaware or am I going to go early and now that’s pretty much how I look at it. Yeah, I think, yeah, it was definitely a positive experience in terms of tactics.

Andrew Paradowski:

Very cool. So this is a question that we’ve been asking a lot of our guests recently and it’s pretty pertinent to recent history. Obviously, the world has gone through a massive shift with the pandemic having occurred over the last couple of years and it’s certainly affected a lot of people’s racing careers, some positive, some negative. I understand that you actually had to go through some surgery during the pandemic and for good or bad, that might have been a good time for that to happen because with less racing around, then you get more recovery time. So do you mind talking a bit about that with us?

Joe Truman:

Yeah, I think for me, it probably made it worse because there was less physio time and because we were in complete isolation I had no access to a physio or a doctor for quite a few months. So when England first went into lockdown, I think it was it April, 2020, that’s when my back was really bad. So yeah, we had a gym at home and I pretty much, I didn’t touch the bike for four months pretty much. I barely trained and then yeah, it got worse and worse and worse, progressively worse. I went to a rehab center for my back down south of England for a month. That did nothing. Helped a little bit, but then as soon as I started training, it went back again. And the Olympics got delayed and it got to the point where even if I fought through the pain any longer, I wasn’t going to make the games anyway because I missed that much training and Jason was doing amazingly in P3.

So yeah, we just took the decision to have surgery after about 18 months of struggling with it. So in hindsight, yeah, I wish I did it straight away when the injury happened, but I was looking at it and I was seeing I’ve got a year until the games, I can probably get through it and if I get to the games and then I can sort my back out after. But in the end, it got delayed and then it was too long to struggle on with a back problem. So yeah, I was at a point where I literally couldn’t put my socks on, so I was still training or I was still trying to train, but I couldn’t bend down to put my socks on and I took a step back and I was like, this is ridiculous, long term health is more important.

So yeah, I had lumbar surgery I think in November of 2020 and then it was like a six or seven month rehab from there really. So it was almost like getting on for two years without proper fully training. But weirdly, six months after my surgery, I started banging out personal bests again, so it was almost like, yeah, hindsight’s a great thing, isn’t it? I should have done it earlier, but yeah, now I’m pretty much pain free from it. I still get a little bit here and there like long plane journeys aren’t the best because I sat for a while and static nerve gets a bit sticky. But yeah, I’m in a position I can fully train and I can fully race and I don’t really have to, there’s no lifestyle changes I have to make, so that’s good.

Andrew Paradowski:

That is really good. And you can get your socks on now.

Joe Truman:

Yeah. It’d be nice if someone else did it.

Andrew Paradowski:

There’s a lot of buzz about the British team green socks. Everyone loves them.

Joe Truman:

Oh really?

Andrew Paradowski:

Yeah.

Joe Truman:

Well at least someone does. I’m not sure on them.

Andrew Paradowski:

The kids in cycling today, they’re all about the socks.

Joe Truman:

Really?

Andrew Paradowski:

So we had our local Tuesday night grassroots racing last night here.

Joe Truman:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was watching.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay, that’s right. You had the team there and cheering on Sophie Capewell while she was there and we have our kids on team T-Town, but a bunch of young kids mid teenage range and the coach went out and they had a little contest on best socks and they were crazy the different types of prints and animation and stuff like that. So when the kids say they like your socks, they truly mean it.

Joe Truman:

The green kits are all right. It’s obviously, that’s our trade team so we still race in the red, white, and blue for international races, world cups and stuff. But yeah, the greens are still a little bit British because it’s British racing green. Yeah, it divides opinion. I think it’s okay. Some people really don’t like it, but I’m glad some other people do.

Andrew Paradowski:

Let me do a few more rapid fire questions for you.

Joe Truman:

Yeah.

Andrew Paradowski:

Do you have a favorite movie?

Joe Truman:

Saving Private Ryan.

Andrew Paradowski:

What is the best music to train to?

Joe Truman:

Train to, I mean, I got into it last time I was out here, but I got into country when I was out here last time and now I’m fond of country rocks on Spotify, which I really like. But Oasis is a big band in the UK. I don’t know if you know them over here, but-

Andrew Paradowski:

Oh yeah.

Joe Truman:

… Yeah, they’re always really good for getting motivated.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. Post race snack?

Joe Truman:

Protein shake straight away and maybe a banana if it’s been a big session.

Andrew Paradowski:

You mean you actually like the protein shakes?

Joe Truman:

Oh, they’re great. Yeah, we’re sponsored by Healthspan Elite and they’re really, really nice actually. Yeah, no, I love them.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. So Joe, it’s been great having you here. I got a couple more questions just to finish off, just some personal stuff. When you’re not racing or training, what do you do in your spare time? Tell our folks about Joe in his off hours.

Joe Truman:

So I play guitar, play a lot of guitar. So I do that. I probably play every day, varying length of times. That’s good to take your mind off it. I had to play a bit less when I had my back problem. I couldn’t sit down for very long so I had to play it lying on my back, which wasn’t so good. And then also, bought a drum kit when I was injured as something else to do. But again, I sat down, bad posture, so that wasn’t the best. Yeah in the summer, I go surfing a bit. I’m from the south coast so I like to go surfing in the UK and I’m learning Japanese as well. So they’re the three things I do. I’m also part-time at university.

Andrew Paradowski:

Okay. What are you studying?

Joe Truman:

Sport science in Loughborough in the UK.

Andrew Paradowski:

Anything in particular in sport science?

Joe Truman:

I’m still pretty early in the… But I’m interested in, yeah, I’ve got a few interests, but I quite like biomechanics and human movement and things like that.

Andrew Paradowski:

So you’re looking for a career in sports after the racing portion of it’s done?

Joe Truman:

I’m just looking for options really. That’s why I’m keeping options open. Not sure how long. Hopefully, I got a few more years yet before I need to make a valid transition, but I think it’s always, have some options. Do a degree, do a few other things up my sleeve and see what happens.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right. Well that’s great, Joe. Thank you so much for coming out and sitting here with us today. It’s been great getting to know you. We’re looking forward to seeing you tear it up this weekend at our final race at the T-Town Summer Games at Discover Lehigh Valley UCI Race, and then watching your career as it unfolds in the future. So thank you very much for coming out.

Joe Truman:

Thanks for having me guys. Cheers.

Andrew Paradowski:

Cheers.

Joe Truman:

Thank you.

Andrew Paradowski:

All right everyone, so that’s it for Talk of the T-Town. We’re looking forward to having you join us next time as we continue interviewing different riders and personalities that come here and visit us in T-Town. Talk to you all soon.

Maura Beuttel:

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcasts. To find out more on this week’s guest, head on over to our website, thevelodrome.com to check out the show notes and subscribe so you never miss an episode.