Episode 41
“It was a big shock to us that we were going to get to go (to Worlds), and all of our hard work paid off”
Mia Deye has had a whirlwind couple of months in terms of cycling– tune into this week’s episode of the Talk of the T-Town to hear Joan and Mia Deye discuss Mia’s busy racing season at the track, going to Cairo for Junior Worlds, and balancing it all with heading off to college!
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
Joan Hanscom:
Welcome to the Talk of the T-Town podcast, where we discuss all things track cycling. Broadcasting from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. I’m your host and executive director, Joan Hanscom.
Joan Hanscom:
Welcome to the Talk of the T-Town podcast. I’m your host, Joan Hanscom. I’m joined this week by the lovely Mia Deye, who is joining us from Colorado Mesa University where she is a freshman. We were keen to have Mia on the show this week, because she’s been up to some good stuff lately. And so, we are excited to welcome Mia to the Talk of the T-Town pod. Mia, hello.
Mia Deye:
Hi, Joan. How are you?
Joan Hanscom:
I’m good. How is college?
Mia Deye:
Oh, it’s so fantastic here. I mean, Colorado Mesa is such a beautiful place in Colorado. It’s definitely off of the map a little bit, but I really do love being here.
Joan Hanscom:
For those who don’t know, where is Colorado Mesa?
Mia Deye:
It’s based in a little town of Grand Junction. It’s right on the border of Colorado, so we’re pretty close to Utah. Or about like an hour from Utah.
Joan Hanscom:
Right on. They have held Collegiate Road Nationals there before, I believe, if I’m not mistaken. Or at least Grand Junction has.
Mia Deye:
Yes, they have. I think it was … Well, they have the Maverick Classic here, which is a really big deal. And then, just in a few days, Collegiate Mountain Bike Nats are going to start down in Purgatory, near Durango.
Joan Hanscom:
Right on. Are you going to that event?
Mia Deye:
I am. I’m really excited to go. Actually, it’s going to be a lot of fun getting to watch collegiate racing. I’m really excited to not have to participate, but get to be like an outsider on the sidelines.
Joan Hanscom:
Let’s talk about that. When you’re not at college, you are a Star Track athlete. You’re part of the Star Track Elite program, which is exciting.
Mia Deye:
Yes.
Joan Hanscom:
You’ve done some cool stuff with Star Track that we will talk about later. But now, you are in your first year as a collegiate athlete. I did not race bikes in college, because the college I went to did not have a program for females when I was there. Because I’m old. But you are part of the collegiate program now at Colorado Mesa. What’s that like? What is collegiate cycling like versus your elite team?
Mia Deye:
It’s a lot of fun. There’s still the same level of commitment, because it is a varsity sport here. They still check your grades. They’re always making sure that your schoolwork is up to date, so you can keep participating with the team.
Mia Deye:
But it’s a lot of fun. It is one big happy family here, just like Star Track. We train together and we eat together. And it is a varsity sport. We’re all in this big little group, and it’s a lot of really nice teamwork. It keeps you really motivated through the winter season we’re about to get into.
Joan Hanscom:
When you chose Colorado Mesa … Did you know other people who were in the program already?
Mia Deye:
I knew a few here and there, but the school actually has a lot of really big names. Like Maddie Munro and Gwendalyn Gibson. Katie Clouse. Those are three really big, heavy hitter women that have all gone to world’s, that are really good athletes. I knew of them and that they had done really successful in the program. That motivated me to want to go to Colorado.
Joan Hanscom:
Nice. Nice. Nice. You are racing for Colorado Mesa. There’s not a velodrome near the school.
Mia Deye:
Unfortunately, not.
Joan Hanscom:
Closest velodrome for you is Colorado Springs or California?
Mia Deye:
Closest one is Colorado Springs. It’s only four hours away. It’s a little bit of a trek, but I don’t don’t mind making it.
Joan Hanscom:
Nice. So you’re going to race on the road?
Mia Deye:
Yes.
Joan Hanscom:
And that’s new for you?
Mia Deye:
It is very new. I’ve actually never done a road race at all. Even a mini Thursday night crit or anything. I’ve never been off of the track for a race.
Joan Hanscom:
Whoa. Our listeners can’t see, but we are doing this on Zoom. Hold up your paw. Yes. It’s a busted paw.
Mia Deye:
Yep.
Joan Hanscom:
We are looking at Mia with a busted paw right now. What happened?
Mia Deye:
Well, we had a little group ride on Saturday, and we were taking this pretty gnarly descent going pretty fast. And I bit it. I bit it pretty hard. I’ve got a nice patch of road rash on my booty, and I decided to punch the ground with my hand. Later today, I’m going to go see if it’s broken or not. Fingers crossed that everything’s okay.
Joan Hanscom:
You would cross your fingers if you could, but you can’t, because you’re in a splint.
Mia Deye:
If I could.
Joan Hanscom:
That sucks. We hope that you don’t have things broken, but you got to be careful about that. A little delay to the start of the road racing career, I think.
Mia Deye:
Just a tad, but it’s okay. We’ve got time. It starts in the spring. But I’m super excited to get back on the bike, and really start grinding out the miles for crit season.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s going to be fun. I imagine you guys have pretty good weather out there? You don’t get a lot of snow in that neck of the woods. It’s all high desert-y.
Mia Deye:
Yeah. Grand junction doesn’t get a lot of snow. It is pretty desert-y out here, but it does get cold. And it’s been raining quite a bit this season, which is very odd. That’s been a little bit of a hoop to jump through.
Joan Hanscom:
When I first moved to Colorado, I was like, “Oh, I’m moving to Colorado. There’s going to be snow everywhere.” I’m like, “Oh. Wait. No, that doesn’t happen.” I know it happens in the mountainous parts, but in the Springs it surely didn’t. And I was like, “Oh, okay.”
Joan Hanscom:
And then, when it does snow, it’s awesome. Because it goes away and you’re just like, “Oh, this is nice. It doesn’t stay.” That’s big upside, because you don’t have to worry about crashing on black ice in Colorado as much as you do here in Pennsylvania.
Mia Deye:
That’s very true. You get to pretty much train throughout the winter season here, which is really nice.
Joan Hanscom:
Speaking of training, you spent a big summer on the track training at T-Town. You had a very successful summer, and you went straight from a very successful summer at the track to the World Championships in Cairo. We haven’t talked to you since the day before you left. Why don’t you tell us about all that craziness that happened?
Mia Deye:
Oh, wow. Goodness. I was living at Pete Taylor’s house all summer. Honestly, blessed the Taylors. They’re the house for lost cyclists, and everybody kind of congregates there. But I lived there all summer. I had a big summer on the track, and did all of the racing that the velodrome put on, that you guys did.
Mia Deye:
It was really, really fantastic practice for everything of the upcoming season. Nationals rolled around. I walked away with three national titles and a brand new national record for-
Joan Hanscom:
Which is super cool.
Mia Deye:
… Team sprint, which is really awesome. It’s a little bit of names and history books.
Joan Hanscom:
And that was just certified, right? Just very recently certified as a national record. Correct?
Mia Deye:
It was. I think last week. That was a really big deal for the three of us girls.
Joan Hanscom:
For the listeners who don’t know, that’s because women’s team sprint is now three riders, not two. Welcome to the history books for being the first, which is super cool, and for winning that race. Being the first ones to do it with three. Super cool.
Mia Deye:
I know. I’m super … We’re all super stoked about it. It’s a really amazing opportunity.
Joan Hanscom:
Give a shout out to your teammates who helped in the effort.
Mia Deye:
Danny Shumskas and McKenna McKee. It was three amazing girls and a really fun team.
Joan Hanscom:
Poor McKenna, right? Because she had a pretty intense crash that week. She ate it real hard, early days in the week and still managed to … Man, she was tough. Because when she crashed, she was down on the track and she was still. She was not yelling, not crying.
Mia Deye:
It was a while.
Joan Hanscom:
Not yelling, not moving. One of the medics was bent over and whispered in her ear … Wanted to know how she was doing essentially. She was just like, “Just leave me alone for a second.” It was real quiet. “Just leave me alone for a second.” And then, she got up and she was fine. But you could tell she was lying there getting her shit together.
Joan Hanscom:
It was pretty impressive to watch, actually. Hard as nails. Right? Because it’s a gambit when people crash. Some people are far end of the spectrum. There’s yelling and crying. And then, there’s what she was, which is like, “Don’t talk to me. I am re-gathering myself, and I will get up when the time is right. But just give me my thing for a second.” She was impressive. Because then she got back up, and the next thing I know she was on her rollers. I was like, “Dang.”
Mia Deye:
No, I really admire McKenna. She’s been through a lot, and she’s a really strong girl and strong cyclist. So I admire her a lot.
Joan Hanscom:
She showed it, man.
Mia Deye:
For sure.
Joan Hanscom:
That was impressive, when she picked herself up. The three of you, all pretty tough ladies, I will say. That was cool. You were busy, right? You trained hard. You crushed it at nationals. Had some emotional days at nationals winning all those jerseys that you won. We were all celebrating with you. And then, it was like, “Oh. Hey, you’re selected for the World’s Team.”
Mia Deye:
I know.
Joan Hanscom:
“Hey. You’re leaving for college.”
Mia Deye:
It was such a shock. The night after … I think the Keirin. It was like, “Hey. Do you know that you have a possibility to go to World’s?” Danny and I had already had a crazy year. Because we moved out to California to train for World’s, which was originally supposed to be all the way back in April, which then got postponed to beginning of September.
Mia Deye:
It was a big shock to us that we were going to get to go, and all of our hard work paid off. And then, find out this. I leave, after nationals a week or two, to drive 2,000 miles to college. And then, a week later after being in college, I’m flying to Egypt to go race World’s.
Joan Hanscom:
Which is nuts for any first-year college student. There’s so much to process. There’s so much like, “Hey, I’m far away from home. And I’m making new friends. I got class, and I’m in a new place. By the way, I’m going to Egypt.”
Joan Hanscom:
A week into it, where everybody else is still getting their bearings, you’re like, “Bye-bye. Got to go to Egypt and race my bike on the world stage.”
Mia Deye:
Oh, yeah.
Joan Hanscom:
How was that? How has that been to you?
Mia Deye:
It was a lot to juggle. It was a lot to juggle. I had to still handle my classes while I was at World’s, and deal with my professors and everything. But it’s all about good communication. It was manageable. I got back. I still have all of my classes under control, so I’m super happy about that.
Joan Hanscom:
Talk a little bit about how that worked for you, from a support network standpoint. You were coached over the summer by Brian Abers and Star Track, if I’m not mistaken. Correct?
Mia Deye:
Yes.
Joan Hanscom:
And then, you go to Colorado Mesa and they have a coach who leads their program?
Mia Deye:
Yeah.
Joan Hanscom:
Then, you go to world’s with USA Cycling. How does one balance all the three inputs? How does one work with the team?
Mia Deye:
No, that’s a good question. The coaches here at CMU, Pat and Brian, were really respectful and understanding of my coach Brian Abers and the coach at USA Cycling. They kind of were hands-off and, “Whatever you need, we’ll help you with. Text us if you need anything while you’re away.”
Mia Deye:
But they were really supportive about that. And then, the coaches at USA Cycling and Brian went really well hand-in-hand, because it was Joanne Kiesanowski that ran the trip.
Joan Hanscom:
She’s awesome.
Mia Deye:
She was … I love her a lot.
Joan Hanscom:
She’s awesome.
Mia Deye:
She’s an amazing person. She was so supportive of everybody there, and she made the trip truly, truly memorable.
Joan Hanscom:
And she’s so smart. She’s just smart.
Mia Deye:
She has so much fantastic input. Really, not having my coach Brian with me, she filled that role better than anyone could have ever asked for.
Joan Hanscom:
Nice.
Mia Deye:
She was giving us feedback. She was timing us, holding us. We had boxes of food each day. It was really over the top and beyond anything we ever could have asked for. There was nothing that we needed that we didn’t have. Everything was provided for. It was like truly the perfect seamless trip.
Joan Hanscom:
Nice, nice, nice. And you were with some fellow team T-Town athletes. How was that?
Mia Deye:
I was. Oh, it was so nice to have some familiar faces there. I was there with Finn Kohler and Dakota Stein, and I’ve known them both for a while. It was nice to get to catch up with them again, and have a good two weeks with some friends.
Joan Hanscom:
Nice, nice, nice. And so, tell us about your racing. Tell us about how your experience went.
Mia Deye:
Oh, wow. I was so shocked going into the whole experience, because I never thought that I would get to go. And I was like, “Wow. Honestly, at the end of the day, if I do bad, I’m here to have fun. And it’s just going to be a good experience.” We’re here in Cairo, Egypt. This is out of this world.
Mia Deye:
Because why else would you have to go to Cairo, Egypt? It was wild. But racing the first day was super cool. Having a new PB, especially in training the days before, and then on race day …. That was super exciting. And then, getting seated forth. That was already a history book moment for me.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s huge, huge, huge.
Mia Deye:
It was really huge.
Joan Hanscom:
You came away feeling good about the track. Feeling good about continuing on with the track. Is that still in your plans?
Mia Deye:
Oh, 110%. I’ve got my eyes set on 2028 LA.
Joan Hanscom:
That’s awesome to hear. Why not 24? That’s so cool, and you’re in a great school to support that. And so, you’re in a good place for that. I know Mia misses you, for all the hanging out we did … Not Mia. God. Maura. Sorry. What’s happening over there, by the way? You’re …
Mia Deye:
My laptop’s going to die. I got to quickly grab the charger.
Joan Hanscom:
Uh-oh. I’m looking, I’m like … Now I get to see all this stuff in your room.
Mia Deye:
I’ve got some things we found.
Joan Hanscom:
I was going to say … Again, for our listeners who can’t see, Mia’s got some traffic cones.
Mia Deye:
Which my parents don’t need to know.
Joan Hanscom:
How’s your cat doing without you?
Mia Deye:
I think she’ll be all right. But I do. I miss her a lot. I can’t wait to get a house next year, and bring her out to Colorado with me.
Joan Hanscom:
I’m sure kitty is like, “Wait a second.” How are your parents handling your absence? Although, I guess they got used to it over the summer when you were at Pete’s.
Mia Deye:
They’re all right. I do miss them a little bit here and there. We call every week.
Joan Hanscom:
Nice.
Mia Deye:
I actually … I got some updates today. They’re taking their boat out in the water.
Joan Hanscom:
Well. See, they’re not missing you at all.
Mia Deye:
No, not at all.
Joan Hanscom:
Mia? Who?
Mia Deye:
She’s off at college. We’re having our own fun.
Joan Hanscom:
That’s amazing. That’s amazing. What else? What are you liking about school besides the team? What’s good at school? Class is good?
Mia Deye:
Food’s good. That’s important.
Joan Hanscom:
Food’s good?
Mia Deye:
Yeah. Food’s good.
Joan Hanscom:
Maura, food good at Ithaca?
Maura Beuttel:
No. No, it wasn’t good.
Mia Deye:
That’s why I switched to not having a meal plan after two years.
Joan Hanscom:
That’s funny. I don’t remember. School was so long ago for me. I don’t remember. I do remember where they would do things like have a legal seafood day at BU. You’d be like, “Yes. This is a good day to be in the meal hall,” because the food would be from the outside. But that’s all I remember. What are your classes, Mia? Tell us what you’re studying.
Mia Deye:
Right now. I have a pretty light first semester, just because of flying straight to world’s. And then, right after that, flying straight to Collegiate Nationals. So I have a little bit of a lighter schedule.
Mia Deye:
But right now, I’ve got mass media, computers in our society, which is more of a computer programming class, two-dimensional design, and then environmental science.
Maura Beuttel:
Are those still all online? Because I remember you telling me about scheduling being a nightmare with all of the exciting things going on.
Mia Deye:
It was a nightmare. Oh my gosh. All four of my classes are online right now, which it’s really nice with training. But it’s definitely been difficult, because I’ve had to really reach out if I want to meet new people off of the team.
Maura Beuttel:
Right.
Mia Deye:
Basically, my day is dorm room, library, cafe, and those are the three buildings I’m in each day.
Maura Beuttel:
Right.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s so weird to me that you’re back on campus, but your classes are still all online.
Mia Deye:
I know. I know.
Joan Hanscom:
In a way, it’s great. But it’s weird, right? You’re there, but it’s weird.
Mia Deye:
It is odd that I’m here and I’m not doing in-person classes. The school was really good about me going to world’s. But all of the professors felt that I would’ve had a more successful experience if I did do online, instead of missing a good month of school for racing.
Maura Beuttel:
That’s understandable.
Mia Deye:
But it’s been pretty good. The classes here are really nice, and the professors here are really nice with juggling your outside activities.
Joan Hanscom:
Well, that’s cool. Like you said, it’s a varsity sport there. That tends to ease things a little bit. Barring the broken paw … Are you going to get on the track in Colorado Springs? Are you going to be able to go and ride?
Mia Deye:
Well, we’re still waiting to see what its plans are for opening back up. I haven’t heard anything still. If you try and call their office, nobody answers, but it says they’re open.
Joan Hanscom:
There you go.
Mia Deye:
It’s a little complicated. But right now, we’re just focused on getting me back in the gym and getting good base miles in.
Joan Hanscom:
Nice, nice, nice. What is the collegiate track season? It’s really just nationals, right?
Mia Deye:
Yeah. I know that Colorado Mesa and another university would have little races over at the Springs. We’d have a week-long camp before nationals and everything, and we’d get to have a lot of training at the Springs.
Mia Deye:
But COVID has definitely made that hard to do so. The track season here would start a little earlier and be a little longer, but hopefully that’ll happen next year.
Joan Hanscom:
Are you planning to come back to T-Town for the summer next year and race?
Mia Deye:
I am. I am. The UCI racing and all of the Friday Nights are calling my name.
Maura Beuttel:
Well, now you can race the crit across the street too.
Mia Deye:
I can. I’m going to have the good crit experience. Everything’s there at T-Town. You have your crits, road racing, track, mountain biking, cycle cross. All you guys need is a BMX track, right?
Joan Hanscom:
You never know. You never know. Maura has been racing the crit across the street.
Maura Beuttel:
We can race together.
Mia Deye:
We got her into it, Joan. We got her in.
Joan Hanscom:
Sucked her in. Sucked her in. We’re going to be heading down … Maura’s diving into the deep end of the pool with me too, because next week … Next week?
Maura Beuttel:
Next week, already.
Joan Hanscom:
Next week, we’re driving down to do the Hincapie Grand Fondo. It’s in Greenville, South Carolina, because … Spoiler alert. The Hincapie Grand Fondo is also going to have an event next year at the velodrome, which is not actually a spoiler. Because they’re already taking registrations for it.
Joan Hanscom:
But it’s going to be a rad event at the track next June. And so, Maura and I are going down on a little research trip to see how they do all their ancillary events, and do all their ancillary rides. And then, see what their ride experience is like, and we’re going to do the ride. Maura is jumping into the big road event next week, which is going to be fun.
Mia Deye:
That’s awesome. Wow. I’m so jealous. That sounds like so much fun.
Maura Beuttel:
I think Pete Taylor’s going to be down there too. So we’ll get to say, “Hey.”
Mia Deye:
Oh, that’s nice. I know. Hincapies been a big help with Star Track. The Hincapies are super nice about that.
Joan Hanscom:
Well, they’re doing such cool things with junior racing. Particularly, around this Grand Fondo, where essentially they’ve turned … A part of the Fondo is actually a big junior race. It’s really cool what they’re doing. You have to give so much credit for supporting young bike racers.
Joan Hanscom:
They have this huge cool component of the Grand Fondo is also a junior road race. Big prize money. It’s pretty rad. For that reason, we’re very excited to have them come to T-Town next year. Part of what they’ll be doing is supporting our junior programs. I can’t say enough nice things about what they’re doing with their support.
Joan Hanscom:
Plus the event in … This is to convince you that you should do it, of course. The event at T-Town next year is actually going to be a classics-themed ride. It’s got some gravel sections, but it’s a road ride. But it’s got gravel sections. It’s got covered bridge sections. All sort of themed around a classic style race.
Joan Hanscom:
Because, of course, George Hincapie was one of the top American classics riders ever. Of course, his favorite race was Paris–Roubaix, which ends on a velodrome. We’re thematically making a cool thing happen. You’ll have to come out and ride the Fondo.
Mia Deye:
Oh, that’s so awesome. No, that sounds … I’m sold. You’re a good businesswoman. I already want to do it. I’m signing up right now.
Joan Hanscom:
Right now. Go online right now. Yeah, it should be good. It should be a very good thing. Yep. So Maura’s jumping into the deep end of the pool with the big road ride next week, which is going to be fun.
Mia Deye:
That’s awesome. Oh, that’s so exciting. That makes me so happy, being a junior and hearing about more junior racing. Because juniors are the future elites. And it’s like, how are we supposed to get to the elite level without all of the racing? And of course the prize money.
Joan Hanscom:
Well, I think it’s just … It’s so nice to hear a business that’s got the focus. Look, I mean obviously Rich and George were junior racers at one point their own lives. They obviously have created a life around the sport.
Joan Hanscom:
And so, it’s nice to see them giving back to try to help the next generation of bike racers and aspiring bike racers move through the ranks. It’s super cool. But then, athletes like you will benefit from that.
Mia Deye:
Of course.
Joan Hanscom:
We’re thrilled about that, so very cool. What else is exciting? Are you coming home? Are you coming home for Christmas? Are you staying out there? Do you have any other travel planned for yourself?
Mia Deye:
Well, Thanksgiving’s coming up, and we’re still trying to see what’s going on. I might come home. I might stay here with family. But Christmas … I don’t even know either. They might come out here, because Colorado Christmas is certainly beautiful. Pennsylvania has gotten so rainy around the Christmas season. I don’t know. We’ll see.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s been gray here for two weeks straight. Am I right?
Mia Deye:
Gosh.
Joan Hanscom:
Maura have you seen sun?
Maura Beuttel:
It’s been a little depressing. No.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s super gray out, which is weird. You know that PA gray that they always talk about?
Mia Deye:
Oh, yeah.
Joan Hanscom:
It started real early this year. It is hardcore PA gray right here. You are not missing anything.
Mia Deye:
The more you talk about it …
Joan Hanscom:
But the track resurfacing is starting. You’re going to come back to a beautiful, smooth track to ride on next year. It’s going to be like butt-up.
Mia Deye:
Oh, my gosh. That’s right. How is the resurfacing going?
Joan Hanscom:
They’re starting a big demo tomorrow.
Mia Deye:
Wow.
Joan Hanscom:
The big grinding off of the surface is starting tomorrow. They’ve been doing a little work, prep work for a while now. But the big work starts tomorrow. You won’t have to go over that whoopty and turn three anymore. I was talking to Kim Zubris last night. She’s like, “They’re fixing the whoopty and turn three.” I was like, “Yes, they are.”
Mia Deye:
I know the exact little hump you’re talking about. At least T-Town is no casino, right?
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. It’s nice that it’ll be nice and resurfaced though, for your return next year. You’ll be racing on a nice, beautiful smooth thing.
Mia Deye:
Hey, that’s good. Looking forward to a lot of PBs then. Right?
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. You better bring some teammates with you. How many of your teammates race track? Let’s hear about that. Teammates racing track.
Mia Deye:
We actually … We got a lot of the people here on the team that don’t race track. Two race track and they did really well. Two of the guys I know are really into it, and they want to make a trip out to California soon. So that’s going to be really exciting for them.
Mia Deye:
We even got Alexis Bobbit, who’s a mountain biker, to switch to the dark side. She had a fantastic week, but at the end there was a big crash. You can probably find the video somewhere. It was a pretty gnarly crash.
Joan Hanscom:
We’ll skip the gnarly crash. They make me sad.
Mia Deye:
She likes it and she’s kind of hooked, but … We had a decent size team. It is unfortunate, because we lost Romina, which is on the Mexican National Team. She was down at the World Cup at that time. Or it’s called Nation’s Cup now, right?
Joan Hanscom:
Yep. Nations Cup now.
Mia Deye:
Right, so she was down at the Nation’s Cup in Cali, Columbia. And then, Olivia Cummins and Cassidy were over in Europe for World’s. So we lost three really strong riders, but next year we have a good feeling that CMU will be taking home the gold.
Joan Hanscom:
There you go. All right, Marian. The challenge has been issued.
Mia Deye:
That’s right. Marian, you’re going down.
Joan Hanscom:
You heard it here on the Talk of the T-Town pod. Mia is taking you down.
Mia Deye:
Oh, yeah. I’ve fully immersed in the college spirit. We’re going to win. I have a strong feeling.
Joan Hanscom:
Nice. Nice. I like it. I like it. That’s good. Maura, what do you have to say to your friend Mia here today?
Maura Beuttel:
How is … You’re rooming with another cyclist on the team, right?
Joan Hanscom:
Yes. Olivia Cummins.
Maura Beuttel:
How is that?
Mia Deye:
Honestly, it’s so nice. Other than having six bikes in our room. Our small, tiny dorm room, we have managed to fit an abundant amount of bikes.
Maura Beuttel:
And traffic cones.
Mia Deye:
Oh, it’s tight.
Joan Hanscom:
That’s funny.
Mia Deye:
But it’s been really nice, because we have the same schedule. We go to bed at like 9:30, 10 o’clock. We wake up at like 7:30 in the morning. We start school … We would ride if I wasn’t broken right now, but we ride. And then, she definitely has harder rides than I do. I’m doing my best to keep up. We eat together … But it’s really nice rooming with another athlete, because it keeps you focused and on track.
Maura Beuttel:
I definitely feel that.
Mia Deye:
Oh, yeah. But it’s funny. We actually chose the one dorm on campus that has been labeled the party dorm, and we had no idea. That’s been definitely a new experience to have to deal with in the college lifestyle.
Joan Hanscom:
Oh, that’s funny. That’s good. I’m so old. I’m old. Are you going to stay on campus? What’s campus life there? Do they have off-campus housing? Or is it all student housing?
Joan Hanscom:
How does that work there? At BU, you were … As soon as you were out of the dorms, you were in nice apartments that normal people would live in or whatever. So it was …
Mia Deye:
Right. I think they have some off-campus housing, but everybody on the team … After freshman year, they pretty much get a house and live in it. I want to say there’s like four or five houses that the cyclists live in, and everybody lives together.
Joan Hanscom:
How nice.
Mia Deye:
It is really nice. Probably, Olivia and I are going to start looking for a house next year to live in. That’s going to be really exciting.
Maura Beuttel:
It’s definitely the way to go. That’s what our team did up at school …
Mia Deye:
Yeah. The only bad thing is the more people you have in a house means the more bikes you somehow have to fit in that house.
Joan Hanscom:
You also have cleaning, right? You always have a neat person and you always have a super messy person that you want to vote off the island, because they’re super messy.
Mia Deye:
Vote off the island. That’s funny. Joan, I see your bikes in the background there. Think of that times 10.
Joan Hanscom:
No. Been there, done that. Not for a while, but … Yes. It gets to be crowded.
Mia Deye:
A little bit.
Joan Hanscom:
But you need a house with a basement with an outdoor entrance or something. Although that’s, I think, not done out there. Basements so much.
Mia Deye:
I don’t think basements are a common thing out here, but we’ll get something in the works. We’ll make a little shack out in our yard and that’s where the bikes go.
Joan Hanscom:
There we go. Safe and clean. Right? Don’t let anything else happen.
Mia Deye:
That’s been another challenge from here to Pennsylvania. It’s so dusty here. I feel like I have to clean my bike so often.
Joan Hanscom:
All the time. And then, it’s like your bottom bracket hates you. This was a thing that I learned when I … I was living in Colorado and I came back. I used to do a cross race right here. But I first made a stop at Bicycling Magazine, actually, when they were based in the Easton area for work. And I went on the bicycling lunch ride, and my bike was making this ungodly noise.
Joan Hanscom:
And I was like, “Oh my God. What is this?” I was afraid that it was just going to like explode, because it was just this unbelievable noise. It was very nerve-wracking to ride it. And then, I went up to the cross race in New York. It’s still making this noise.
Joan Hanscom:
My coach was there and I was like, “Check my bike. What is this noise?” And he’s like, “I don’t know.” And then, there was one bike shop in the area open. I took my bike there, and they took the cranks off. They were like, “There’s about 10 pounds of sand in your bottom bracket.”
Mia Deye:
My gosh.
Joan Hanscom:
I was like, “Oh.” Yes, “Your bottom bracket will hate you,” is the rule or the story about bikes in Colorado.
Mia Deye:
I just went through the same thing last week. It was making this horrible noise. We took … I’ve been doing so much camping here. We were out in Moab, and my bike was making this horrible noise. I was like, “Oh my gosh, I’m going to die. We’re going to die. We’re all going to die. My bike’s going to take everybody out.” But yep. Just the dust is crazy alone.
Joan Hanscom:
Moab is cool. Moab is mountain biking. You actually came to bike racing from mountain biking. Correct?
Mia Deye:
I did.
Joan Hanscom:
For our listeners’ sake.
Mia Deye:
My roots are in NICA.
Joan Hanscom:
That’s super cool. Are you going to a mountain bike too? Mountain bike race?
Mia Deye:
I did not bring my mountain bike out here. And I wasn’t really planning on it, but time will tell. We’ll see. I don’t think so, but never say never.
Joan Hanscom:
Right. How was Moab?
Mia Deye:
It was really beautiful. I really liked it.
Joan Hanscom:
Other than your bike exploding.
Mia Deye:
Other than the exploding bike. But Moab was really beautiful. We didn’t get to go see Arches, because it was closed. Because of the amount of people.
Joan Hanscom:
Oh, boo. Wow. It’s beautiful there.
Mia Deye:
I’ll have to go back and see Arches, but we got to go to Canyonlands, which was really cool. It had some cool views. We rode all throughout Canyonlands, and then camped the night, and then made our trek home.
Joan Hanscom:
That’s so cool. It’s beautiful there. It looks like you’re on another planet. If you’re an east coaster … The first time you go, you’re just like, “Wait a second. This is another planet.”
Mia Deye:
I know.
Joan Hanscom:
Have you been Maura?
Maura Beuttel:
No. I haven’t.
Joan Hanscom:
You got to go. You better go, because it’s like being on Mars. The colors and everything. You’re just like, “Oh. This is what Mars must be like.” Super cool. But when you go to Arches and they have all the … They’re not hieroglyphs, but there’s something pronounced similar to that, that were drawn on the rocks by earlier people. And it’s super cool. It’s super cool. Highly recommend.
Mia Deye:
No, I’m super excited to go back out. But I know what you mean about being in east coaster and seeing all of the pretty colors other than green.
Joan Hanscom:
And then, when you come back though, the green is shocking.
Mia Deye:
Really?
Joan Hanscom:
My first spring here in Pennsylvania after being in Colorado … I was out for a ride in May, and everything was bright green and bright pink. And that is just something you will not see in Colorado. And then, I was like, “Whoa, it’s so green.” And it was just … Everywhere I went, I felt like I was inside an Easter basket, because it was all greens and pinks.
Joan Hanscom:
Because everything was blooming and flowers. After just the colors of Colorado, you come back here to see all the greens and the pinks and the bright whites. You’re just like, “Huh. This is very different.” It’s sort of striking. This past weekend, I did the unpaved gravel race here.
Joan Hanscom:
And the green here still shocking to me. I’m riding along, and it’s like foggy and rainy and gray and muddy and sloppy. All of a sudden, you come on this farm, and it’s just this hillside of like 10 different greens.
Mia Deye:
Wow.
Joan Hanscom:
You’re like, “Whoa, it’s really green here.” It’s super cool. It’s just different colors. And then, you got the reds and the browns and stuff out in Moab. And it’s just so strikingly different. It’s cool.
Mia Deye:
It is. They are definitely a different kind of beauty, each of them … Everyone here thinks I’m crazy, because I’ll geek out at a mountain. And they’re like, “Dude. It’s just a mountain.” I’m like, “No, but it’s a mountain.”
Joan Hanscom:
Right. We don’t have those back home.
Mia Deye:
My camera roll on my phone is out of storage, because I take so many photos of just mountain, tree, aspen. Oh. The aspens here are changing, and it is the most beautiful yellow I have ever seen. But definitely different kinds of beauty.
Joan Hanscom:
Fun fact about the aspens. They’re all one living organism. Did you know that? That’s super cool.
Mia Deye:
Yeah. They’re connected by their roots. It’s cool.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s super cool. Another Colorado thing I highly recommend, if you have a chance to do a longer road trip … The Great Sand Dunes National Park is bananas. If you ever want to do something incredibly weird and rad, they only do maybe 15 back country permits a night. You can hike all your shit into the sand dunes … You have to hike in really far.
Joan Hanscom:
You have to hike in over the big first dune, and then you have to camp in a place that’s not visible to the visitors center essentially. So it is work getting in, because you’re knee-deep in sand at some points. So it is crazy, and the dunes are really steep. But then, you camp out in the middle of the dunes and it’s just crazy.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s just crazy. The wind and the sunset. It is like being on another planet. And then, at night the stars and the sky are amazing. Put the Great Sand Dunes National Park on your list, and try to get a back country permit. It’s super cool.
Mia Deye:
That’s amazing. That’s definitely going to go on my list. That sounds really wild.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s like another planet.
Maura Beuttel:
One of my former teammates from college just went and did that and posted pictures. And I was like, “Wait. You’re in Colorado? What?”
Joan Hanscom:
It’s just so different. During the day, you can do … I didn’t, because it didn’t seem super fun to me. But they have it. You can surf down the sand dunes.
Mia Deye:
No way.
Joan Hanscom:
You can essentially rent a sand surf board and surf down the sand dunes. People do it, but you have to keep in mind the sand is really hot. But it’s really cool. You can surf the sand dunes. This is your homework after our pod is over. Google the Great Sand Dunes. And it’s just nuts. Highly recommend. Have you done any Fourteeners yet?
Mia Deye:
No, not yet.
Joan Hanscom:
I’m giving you the laundry list of all the cliche Colorado things to do.
Mia Deye:
I feel so lame for not doing all these crazy things yet, but the winter season is upon us.
Joan Hanscom:
You’ve been there for a month.
Mia Deye:
I know. I’ve only been here for a little bit, but trust me. When spring comes, I’ll be doing … You guys will get to see all of this stuff. I’m going to send you guys little photos here and there of all the Fourteeners I’m going to hike.
Joan Hanscom:
There you go. There you go. Go to Breckenridge and do two in a day. Super cool. All the things you can do.
Mia Deye:
Colorado has everything.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s amazing. It’s amazing. What else do you want to tell us? Mia?
Mia Deye:
Hmm. Oh, that was another thing about world’s. I got to talk to Joanne a bit about it, but it’s like all the places that you travel for cycling and the different cultures have … It’s just so shocking to me. I can’t get over it. It’s a month later, and I still can’t get over how shocking the whole experience was of being in Egypt.
Mia Deye:
The people there were really accommodating. They brought us gifts afterwards, the US team. I came home with a suitcase full of crazy gifts from Egypt and the pyramids. But different cultures and different people. It’s really opened my eyes. I feel like this has really motivated me to travel for the future. And it’s got me really excited for all the places that my bike can take me.
Joan Hanscom:
That’s so cool. So you did get to do things other than be at the velodrome then?
Mia Deye:
We did. We got to go and see the pyramids, which was mind blowing.
Joan Hanscom:
I can’t imagine. When you stand next to that, and you think, “People built these.”
Mia Deye:
I know. And I couldn’t stop thinking about all the conspiracy theories of aliens, because it’s unreal. It’s like one of those bricks is like five times the size that you think it actually is.
Joan Hanscom:
Without all the heavy machinery, how that got done …
Mia Deye:
I don’t know. I’m a history major, so I know a little bit about it. But it’s still … When you really think about it, it’s unreal. It really is gnarly. I can’t put it into words.
Joan Hanscom:
What else did you see besides the pyramids?
Mia Deye:
That was pretty much all we had time for was the pyramids. And then, that was it. We didn’t really get to see the Nile. We got to see the city of Cairo by driving through it. But they don’t have driving laws there. We were asking them, we were like, “How do you get your driving license?”
Mia Deye:
He’s like, “Oh. Well, there is a test you can take. But usually you know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy and you don’t have to take it.” That was like, “Oh, wow.” There’s no traffic lights, stop signs. None of that. There’s no laws. No signs.
Joan Hanscom:
Wow.
Mia Deye:
It was really crazy.
Joan Hanscom:
Go back? No, go back? You’d go back? Yes. The look on your face says, “Yes. I would go back.”
Mia Deye:
I really would love to go back and get to explore more, but … Cairo is one of the most liberal places in Egypt, but even then for women, it was really interesting to get to see. Because they thought that my dad was my husband. I was like, “No, he’s not my husband.”
Joan Hanscom:
Wow. Oh, that just means you look old. Yep. Sorry. That’s funny. Wow. It’s cool that your dad got to go with you. And so, what is your status now with USA Cycling? Is there a program that you’re in? Yes or no? What’s that all happening with?
Mia Deye:
Well, Erin Hartwell, the new sprint coach, he is trying to make up a new set of plans. That is currently going into action for bringing development athletes into the national program, and really get sprinting in America back on track and back where it should be. Right now, I’m just focused on training and riding. And that’s where I’m at right now.
Joan Hanscom:
Well, that’s a cool thing. That’s actually … That’s a great place to leave this conversation, I think. You’re training and getting ready to race, and being a college kid. And that’s awesome. We’re so happy we got to catch up with you, after all your whirlwind of adventures, and properly congratulate you for crushing it at nationals.
Joan Hanscom:
For setting your women’s team sprint record and doing super well in Cairo. We’re all following along and proud of you. Can’t wait to see what comes next. You never know, maybe we’ll get to see you at Collegiate next-next year. One never knows.
Mia Deye:
Okay.
Joan Hanscom:
But we’ll see you for sure at T-Town in the summer. Are you going to coach in the programs again?
Mia Deye:
Yes, I hope so. That’s my radar. Coaching all of the youth at T-Town again was honestly my highlight. So I’m excited do that again.
Joan Hanscom:
You’ve got a summer job waiting for you. Lining that up already. Well, very cool. Maura, any more questions for Mia before we let her resume her student life?
Maura Beuttel:
I don’t think so.
Joan Hanscom:
All right. Well, thank you Mia for making time. I know it sounds like you’re super busy. Hope things go well with the x-rays later today and the busted paw isn’t too busted. Try not to deck it anymore. Stay off the floor.
Mia Deye:
I’m definitely going to … Two wheels up. Or two wheels down, right?
Joan Hanscom:
Two wheels down. You don’t want the wheels up. Right. Try not to do that anymore. We will look forward to seeing you when you’re back here and following along. Mia, what’s your social media account for folks who want to follow along with you?
Mia Deye:
For Instagram, it’s @M.iadeye. For Facebook, it’s Mia Deye.
Joan Hanscom:
All right. So if you want to follow along with Mia’s adventures in collegiate racing, please do. We’ll put that in the show notes. We’ll hope that the USA Cycling gets their Devo Sprint program up and running off the ground, and you’re part of it. We will follow along with the great adventures of Mia moving forward.
Joan Hanscom:
Thanks again for listening. This has been the Talk of the T-Town podcast. I’m your host, Joan Hanscom. And if you like what you heard, please give us the stars, the thumbs, the hearts, the likes on your podcast channel of choice. Help us grow the pod moving forward. Thanks so much. Bye-bye.
Joan Hanscom:
Thank you for listening. This has been the Talk of the T-Town podcast. I’m your host, Joan Hanscom. Thank you for joining us for this week’s episode. Head over to our website at thevelodrome.com, where you can check out the show and subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode.