In our final Grand Prix recap of the season, Payson sits down with the winners of Big Sugar Gravel, Paige Onweller and Russell Finsterwald.

This weekend, 18 of the world's best freeride mountain bikers will compete at Red Bull Rampage, the legendary event held in the Utah desert. Each rider has four days to build the perfect line to showcase their skills and send it on the big day. In this episode, we hear from the riders taking on the event this year, from first-timers to 20-year Rampage veterans. We also hear from the behind-the-scenes people who make the event possible, including diggers, photographers, and the mechanic who makes sure four-time winner Brandon Semenuk's bike is up to the task. Payson also sits down for longer chats with two Rampage riders, Dylan Stark and Tyler McCaul.

Sarah Sturm returns to the show to talk about the inaugural UCI Gravel Worlds which took place in Italy last weekend. The event sparked controversy when it was announced, with fears that the UCI would tarnish the spirit of gravel. This, along with the fact that it wasn’t being held in the US where the discipline took root, and the fact that the women’s course was significantly shorter than the men’s, prompted many top racers to skip the race altogether.

Keegan Swenson returns to the show to talk about his experience racing the UCI Road World Championship in Australia at the end of September. Though he spent years racing on the mountain bike World Cup circuit, this was his first experience competing in a WorldTour level road race, and it came just a week after securing his win for the overall Lifetime Grand Prix title at Chequamegon.

Earlier this month, WorldTour racer turned “alternative” cycling adventure seeker Lachlan Morton returned to the Colorado Trail for the second time. His first experience in 2019 was harrowing mentally and physically and left him determined to go back someday to rewrite his relationship with the infamous 530-mile route. After the death of professional cyclist Sule Kangangi this summer, Lachlan returned to the CT in memory of his friend. This time, he completed it in three days and 10 hours, smashing the official record by over nine hours.

Payson sits down with the winners of Chequamegon, Savilia Blunk and Bradyn Lange. Savilia talks about her breakout World Cup season and navigating the unexpectedly muddy conditions of last weekend's race. Bradyn talks about his childhood motocross career, van life, and being caught off guard when he found himself in the lead at Chequamegon.
Payson also answers listener questions about the race, including power numbers, the surprise rain storm, and how he feels about the race culture in the Midwest.

When Meg Fisher went to college, she was a walk-on for the University of Montana's Division 1 tennis team, but was taken out of the sport and the life she knew when a catastrophic car accident left her in a coma. When her leg was amputated, it was the least of her doctors' worries. Most of them assumed that she would never be able to live independently, let alone walk, but Meg proved them (and herself) wrong, earning a Doctorate in Physical Therapy and becoming a 3x triathlon world champion and a multi-medal winning Paralympian at the 2012 and 2016 Games.

When Kiel Reijnen’s five-year-old daughter EmmyLou told him that she wanted to ride to Idaho (a 700+ mile trip), he suggested they compete in the 102-mile gravel stage of Rebecca’s Private Idaho instead. Kiel joins Payson to talk about how he brought this idea to fruition and got to witness Emmy’s grit, endurance, and competitiveness. EmmyLou joins the conversation as well to answer a few questions about snacks, sailing, and why she likes riding bikes with her dad.

Bjorn Riley is part of the wave of young US cross country mountain bike racers that’s been making a splash on the World Cup circuit over the past few years. Placing 5th at Worlds this year, 2nd at the Snowshoe World Cup in West Virginia, and landing at the top of the podium at Nationals, Bjorn is already making a name for himself on the international stage. After spending three years on the Bear Development Team, he recently joined European-based Trek Vaude and moved to Austria full-time.

South African cyclist Matt Beers has done a little bit of everything when it comes to racing on two wheels. Starting out in motocross, he turned to mountain biking after he was sidelined by an injury, going on to win the South African Marathon National Championships and the Cape Epic stage race in 2021. After an impressive but unlucky showing at Cape Epic in 2019, he was invited to guest ride on the WorldTour road team UAE Emirates. These days, he's spending more time state-side on the gravel circuit. At the beginning of the year, he placed second at Belgian Waffle Ride and elected to do the double-header, Leadboat, earlier this month.

Today on the show, we feature some of the experiences that riders in all categories had at Leadville and SBT GRVL last weekend. Payson answers listener questions about the races, including his training in the weeks leading up, using hydration packs instead of stopping at neutral aid stations, and his bike setup. He also chats with Keegan Swenson, the winner of Leadville, SBT, and the combination race ‘Leadboat’ about his dominance on the gravel circuit this season and a potential move to the road. Hannah Otto, the winner of Leadville, joins Payson as well to talk about how unexpected her win was after crashing and injuring her shoulder at Mont-Sainte-Anne the weekend before.

5x mountain bike Marathon National Champion Rose Grant joins Payson to talk about her recently announced retirement, how she hopes to finish out the season, and what she’s looking forward to post-professional cycling.

Sarah Sturm returns to the show for a wide-ranging conversation about the struggle to stay hungry in a profession full of uncontrollable inconsistency, Tour de France Femmes, and the anxieties about what life might look like after retiring from professional cycling. She and Payson also discuss the many ways that grief is shaping the gravel community this season and how their mental and emotional connection to racing has permanently changed. Sarah also talks about her work with Protect Our Winters, and the athlete who she thinks is the gold standard for maintaining their integrity.

Barry Wicks started racing professionally in 2002, competing on both the mountain bike and cyclocross world circuits. Last week, it was announced that he would be leading the new Bike Alliance with Protect Our Winters, a nonprofit that advocates for better climate legislation and large-scale measures for safeguarding the environment.

Sam Pickman returns to the show to talk about Allied's first ever mountain bike, the BC40.

Today on the show, we review the third race in the Lifetime Grand Prix, Crusher in the Tushar. Payson is joined by winner Haley Smith to discuss her emotional finish, her new position as a Grand Prix frontrunner, and the illness and self-doubt that made her path to this moment so uncertain.

Daniel Oss has raced the Tour de France ten times and has noticed many changes over the years, from equipment to rider mentality. This year, he’s racing for a new team, TotalEnergies, where he followed friend and long-time teammate, Peter Sagan.

Annijke Wade joins Payson again, nearly a year after the mountain bike crash that left her paralyzed.

Anton Krupicka fell in love with running at an early age. He competed in his first marathon when he was 12 and started running mountain ultras when he left college. He went on to win the Leadville 100 twice, and place second at the Western States 100 in 2010.

Gus Morton quit professional cycling at the age of 21 to pursue a career as a filmmaker. He was briefly pulled back into professional racing but left the sport for good in 2017, when he merged his two areas of expertise by creating the production company Thereabouts, which put an alternative lens on cycling that didn't revolve around competition or traditional, straightforward narratives of accomplishment.