When Payson hobbled his way into the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center in May with a broken hip, he wasn’t expecting to be off crutches anytime soon, but thanks to the work of coaches like Will Gilmore, he not only managed to leave the facility without crutches, but also to jump back into racing a full month and a half before he’d planned. 

Mountain bike racing is hard. Ultrarunning is hard. So why did Maude Farrell decide to make things extra brutal for herself this season by combining them? Earlier this month, she won the Lead Challenge, a multi-month series comprised of five trail running and mountain bike races at over 10,000 feet. The final week of the series involved racing the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, running the Leadville 10k the next day, and running the Leadville Trail 100 race six days later. 

The day after placing top 10 at the Leadville 100, Zach Calton joined Payson on a ride to talk about returning to form after the toughest season of his career. They discuss how it all started a year ago at the Breck Epic, his disastrous experience at the Cape Epic, and how he’s slowly found his footing again this season. 

Barely half an hour after crossing the finish line at the Leadville 100, Bradyn Lange joined Payson for a painful cooldown ride at 10,000 ft. They debrief about the race, talk about Bradyn’s last-minute set-up change, and debate whether Leadville is harder than Unbound. 

In this packed Leadville 100 recap, Payson chats with 4th-place finisher Torbjørn Røed, current Grand Prix leader Cecily Decker, and Emily Fagan, a middle school math and English teacher from North Carolina who took home the “Last Ass Over the Pass” trophy. But first, Payson delves into the points standings and discusses some of his main takeaways from this year’s event.

Cam Jones has had a pretty memorable 2025 season, rocketing from Grand Prix wild card to winner of Unbound. And yet, that dramatic turn of events pales in comparison to his 2022 season. For his final year as a U23, Cam planned to race every World Cup in the hope that it might secure him a team for the start of his Elite career. After a promising start to the season, things went downhill fast. Kidney failure, Covid, and a five-day stint in a Belgian detention center followed, and somehow, that barely scratches the surface.

Robin Gemperle defied all previous Tour Divide records earlier this year when he finished the notorious 2,700-mile race in less than 12 days, more than 300 miles ahead of second place. Formerly a junior member of the Scott-SRAM cross country team, he felt that there was untapped potential in maximising how fast the route could be ridden, not just how efficiently riders could sleep and refuel. Bringing all of his racing skills to the table, he set a blistering new standard that got people debating the future of the race. 

Kate Courtney returns to the show the day after completing the Leadville Stage Race. Just a few months ago, it was barely on her radar, but after a broken wrist took her out of the World Cup circuit, she decided to look for a new way to challenge herself before the season starts up again at the end of August. In a couple of weeks, she’ll be lining up for her first Leadville 100. 

Cécile Lejeune started racing triathlons in her native France at 12 years old and quickly began picking up national titles. After gaining the attention of international recruiters, she moved to the US to race track in college. Soon, however, a chronic series of stress fractures took her out of competition and forced her into early retirement. Now, after just one year racing gravel, she’s become a top contender in the Grand Prix. 

With six mountain bike world championships, a Leadville win, six World Cups, and six Cape Epic victories under her belt, Annika Langvad is one of the most decorated off road cyclists of all time. She retired in 2020 and began working as a dentist, but after the birth of her daughter 10 months ago, she realised that she was ready to jump back into competitive cycling, this time to gravel. 

Payson and Sarah made it back to Bend. They may be a bit more haggard than they were at the beginning of the race, but that hasn’t dampened their enthusiasm. They sit down to talk about how the final stage played out, bring in Sarah’s husband Dylan to talk about his week, which involved a lot of mountain biking and car maintenance, and talk to Nichole about winning the women’s open category and learning about road tactics the hard way.

Payson and Sarah had two very different experiences on day four of the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder. They recap their respective miseries and triumphs on this second-to-last day, discuss how things are shaping up in the overall standings, and talk about the literal run-in with wildlife that left the racers shaken. They also talk about Dylan’s victory at the hot dog eating contest, the greatest gift Sarah ever received (an ice skating costume), liquified shower curtains, and, just in case you thought this wasn’t an educational program, they offer their top tips on recovering during stage races. 

Stage 3 saw the riders heading out for an enduro day that turned out to be very heavy on the climbing. Skyler Taylor, who won the men’s stage, joins Payson and Sarah to talk about how he managed to reel in Cam Jones who has so far dominated the race with his power and descending skills. He also talks about deciding to leave his full-time job to focus on gravel this year, which he quickly followed through on by winning a wild card spot in the Grand Prix. Plus, Sarah talks about why time has never been her strong suit.

After the punishing 94.7 miles of stage two, Payson and Sarah sit down with Cécile Lejeune, who is currently duking it out for first place in the overall despite having raced fewer than 10 gravel races in her entire career. They recap the day, which included multiple crashes, plenty of interpersonal drama, and a few good samaritans.

As the dust settles on stage one of the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, Payson and Sarah sit down to talk about the punishing 80 miles from Bend to Gilchrist. They discuss how things played out in the men’s and women’s fields, how Sarah’s new haircut might have taken her out of contention, Evel Knievel’s leap across the Snake River, and her husband Dylan’s run-in with a skunk that has followed them to the race. 

In this final episode on this year’s Unbound, we’re bringing you two interviews that Payson recorded while on the ground in Emporia. The first took place with Sarah Sturm the night before the race in which she discusses the limitations of team tactics in the women’s field. The second is with Taylor Lideen, who Payson caught up with the day after the race.

Going into Unbound this year as the defending champion, Rosa Klöser knew she was a marked woman. What she didn’t expect was that the usual crashes and chaos of gravel’s biggest event would start as soon as the first handful of miles. After a fall, a flat, and a wrong turn in the finish shoot, Rosa managed to walk away with fourth place. 

In the second part of our Unbound recap, Payson chats with Karo Migón about her dominant win. After initiating an early breakaway with two other riders, she went solo with nearly 50 miles to go, finishing all on her own despite having a slow rear puncture.

In the first half of our Unbound recap, Payson sits down with men's 200 winner Cam Jones to talk about his stunning breakaway with TudorPro rider Simon Pellaud that stuck from mile 50 all the way through to a massive course record. Cam went into the race hoping to earn a wild card slot in the Grand Prix and left the race as a favorite for the series overall. 

It’s Unbound week and Payson sat down with fellow sidelined-by-injury Grand Prix rider Dylan Johnson to set the scene and make some predictions. They talk about how last year’s race played out, what the weather is shaping up to be like and how it could impact the race, and why they think the team tactics will be completely different this year. They also have the obligatory conversation about tire choice, explain why the aid stations might be the most important selection points, and pick the riders they think have a shot at the win.