In our Mid South recap, Payson sits down with Kerry Werner who finished in third place behind Payson and John Borstelmann in a sprint finish. They talk about his career on the road, in cyclocross, and his decision to participate in the Grand Prix this year. Payson also answers some of your questions about the Mid South and beyond, and chats to Marley Blonsky who got the loudest cheer of the weekend when she came across the finish line in last place for the 100-mile race.

Raylyn Nuss is a cyclocross racer who currently holds the Pan American Championship title. Before cycling, she was a basketball player who got a full ride to a Division I NAIA school and later juggled a full-time job as a chemist for Pfizer with triathlon racing. When she competed in her first cyclocross race, it was love at first sight, and she never looked back. These days, Raylyn is running her own team, Steve Tilford Foundation Racing, and is expanding her calendar to include the Lifetime Grand Prix.

Taylor Phinney was one of the brightest stars of American road racing in the 2010s. The son of professional cycling luminaries, he was a world champion by age 17 and became the first American to win Paris-Roubaix the following year as a U23. A year later, he won the race again for good measure. During his 10-year career on the WorldTour, Taylor raced for Trek-Livestrong, BMC, and EF Education First. When he announced his retirement in 2019 at age 29, it shook the sport, but according to Taylor, it had been a long time coming.

In preparation for the upcoming season of the Enduro World Series, Payson talks to the top three men of last year, Jesse Melamed, Richie Rude, and Martin Maes. They chat about how they got into Enduro, their favorite courses, and how they’re feeling about all the changes being implemented this year.

In preparation for the upcoming season of the Enduro World Series, Payson talks to the top three women of last year, Isabeau Courdurier, Morgane Charre, and Hattie Harnden. They chat about how they got into Enduro, their favorite courses, and how they’re feeling about all the changes being implemented this year.

Chad Haga spent eight years in the WorldTour on Team DSM (formerly known as Giant-Shimano and Sunweb). During that time, he raced in 12 Grand Tours including the Tour de France, six Giro d’Italias (where he won a stage in 2019), and four Vuelta a Españas. In 2022, he stepped back from the WorldTour to join the ProTeam Human Powered Health.

Shannon Vandivier is a filmmaker and photographer who directed the recently released YouTube series following the inaugural Life Time Grand Prix, Call of a Life Time. His production company, Cold Collaborative, has worked with brands like YETI, Smith Optics, and Orange Seal to create award-winning movies about the outdoor industry, including Payson’s 2019 White Rim FKT project, Standing Man.

With 2.5 million subscribers, Seth Alvo (founder of Berm Peak and Seth’s Bike Hacks) runs one of the most popular mountain biking channels on Youtube. Sharing hacks, reviews, and off-road adventures, he's built a passionate audience from a demographic that is largely ignored by the industry.

Griffin and Cullen Easter have been racing with and against each other since college. Their paths diverged when Griffin went to race overseas and Cullen pursued a nursing degree, but their careers have merged again in unexpected ways in recent years. While Griffin was winning a stage at the Vuelta a Colombia and pulling off impressive results in Europe, Cullen was working in Utah at a detox unit at a psychiatric hospital where many of his patients were recovering from opioid addiction. This experience, combined with a related family tragedy, led the brothers to found OpiCure, a non-profit organization focused on relieving opioid addiction.

Russell Finsterwald holds five national titles in mountain biking but stepped away from the World Cup relatively early in his career to pursue longer distance XC races in the US. When gravel became the dominant force in the off-road scene, he thought about retiring as soon as he finished the remainder of his contract. But in preparation for the Lifetime Grand Prix last year, he created a 350-mile route across southern Arizona that he dubbed the Spirit Tour.

In 2018, 2x cyclocross national champion Ellen Noble was coming off the best season in her life when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. After another season of racing, she went all-in on training in 2020 and was ready for her comeback, but a crash early in the season left her with a broken back and a resurgence in symptoms from her disease. Even under these circumstances, she never considered retirement until her coach, Allen Lim, told her that she didn’t have to be a professional athlete anymore. With this life-changing conversation, Ellen stepped back from racing and started a new chapter.

In the third installment of our series about pros in the off-season, Payson chats with two cyclists from different sides of the racing world: former WorldTour rider-turned-gravel racer Ruth Winder, and the 2022 EWS World Champion Jesse Melamed.

This week, Payson chats to some fellow pros about what they’ve been up to during the off-season. From snorkeling in Hawaii to meditation retreats, they’ve used their brief period of unstructured time to do the things they couldn’t do during their busy race season.

Hillary Allen was one of the top-ranking trail runners in the world in 2017 when a 150-foot fall off a mountain in Norway during a race nearly ended her life. She broke 14 bones, including both feet, both arms, her back, and five ribs. Despite being told she would never compete again, she slowly eased back into running and eventually went back to conquer the race that nearly took her life.

In this week’s episode, we’re closing out our series on Australia and New Zealand and kicking off a new series about what athletes are up to this off season. During their trip to the Southern Hemisphere this winter, Payson and Nichole traveled to the South Island of New Zealand to do a four-day bikepacking trip, linking the historic Paparoa and Old Ghost Road trails.

Payson and Nichole met Steve Bein earlier this week at a hotel in rural New Zealand while on a bikepacking trip. Steve is a Philosophy professor in Ohio who decided to use his sabbatical to cycle the 1,800 miles across New Zealand. Before starting the trip, the farthest he'd ever ridden was about 30 miles.

Payson answers listener questions about his 32 hour, 360 mile traverse across Tasmania earlier this month. He talks about gear, wildlife, why he's drawn to island crossings, and much more.

Emma Flukes is an adventure cyclist and bikepacker from Tasmania who was instrumental in developing the 360 mile route across the island that Payson undertook earlier this month. With her guidance, he ended up with a ride full of techy singletrack, gravel roads, river crossings, and lots of wildlife.

Less than a day after riding 360 miles from coast to coast across Tasmania in 32 hours, Payson sits down with the crew that made the ride (and the upcoming film about it) possible.

Veronica Ewers didn’t start riding a bike seriously until a few years ago when she joined a local cycling club. In 2019, she participated in her first race, and just over two years later, she came in 3rd at Nationals while still technically a Cat 2. Veronica’s rapid rise through the ranks of professional cycling has led her to the very top: a contract with the WorldTour team EF and a top 10 finish at the inaugural Tour de France Femmes. Earlier this month, she renewed her contract through 2025.