November 17, 2025 • 9 mins
We celebrate Christopher Blevins’ historic World Cup season and explore how he resets with mindfulness, play, and creative work. From Cal Poly roots to Stilspoke, he shares why slowing down builds a stronger racer and a fuller person.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:10):
Welcome to the Visit Bittenville Podcast, a new
American town.
I'm your host, Nat Ross, with ain-depth edition inside the head
and the brains and thewherewithal of Christopher
Blevins.
Christopher Blevins, you're inBittenville, Arkansas.
We're welcoming you home afterthe most incredible season on
the World Cup UCI mountain biketour ever.
(00:31):
So can't wait to see the medals,the stories, the globes, the
jerseys, all these pieces,because the community is here to
welcome you just like last yearwhen the entire U.S.
team came after wrapping uptheir season.
So I want to know, the communitywants to know, Visit Bittenville
wants to know.
Um, now that cycling's done, youcheck that box for the year.
(00:52):
Um what is motivating you?
Um, you've been storytelling theentire year, um, but what is
your element?
Because you're an incrediblestoryteller, by the way, that
resets you that uh Christophergets to be you without the bike
racing element on the forefrontand on your mind.
SPEAKER_01 (01:11):
Yeah.
Yeah, no, thank you.
Um great to be here.
Great to just have a week tochill.
And I'm gonna win dual slalomtonight at Thunderdome.
So gotta focus on my you know,biggest race of the year before
we wrap it up.
Um and uh yeah, what do I donow?
Um, I think typically inoffseason, I go into two modes.
I go either monk mode or monkeymode.
(01:31):
There's no in between at all.
So monkey mode means I'm gonnahit the pickup basketball court
at the Cal Poly Rec Center gymand run a bunch of uh Cal Poly
college kids off the court andget extremely sore when I play
basketball for a week.
I'm gonna go surf until I get Iget this elbow tendinitis from
paddling too hard when I surf.
(01:52):
But I had that last year becauseI surfed like 10 days in a row.
So I can't wait to just have funand do those things.
Um and then uh I'll probably doon the on the other side, I'll
probably do like a 10-day silentmeditation retreat.
Um so um, and then yeah, there Igot I have a lot of energy for
for projects.
Um, and and yeah, like you said,the storytelling this time of
(02:14):
year.
So this is for the next twomonths, is when I really get
inspired to think about videoprojects, poetry, just yeah,
talking about my season, butalso yeah, generally extending
it beyond the bike as well.
So I have a lot of things that Iwant to do, um, and also do a
whole lot of nothing at the sametime.
SPEAKER_00 (02:31):
That is music to our ears, and I think mindfulness is
a big element that you'veincorporated into part of the
success formula.
So that's not an easy piece touh focus on and and grasp and um
and nail like you have.
SPEAKER_01 (02:45):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's been huge.
Um and it is not just the timeon a meditation cushion and
using that to be a better bikeracer, or it but it's going the
other way for me now.
Like I'm realizing that my ex myrace mind, my experience, my
inner experience in a race canactually teach me a lot about
mindfulness outside of it and myyou know how to blend full
(03:08):
effort with calm and be and havepresence the whole time.
So that's been good.
But um yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (03:14):
Well, you mentioned Cal Poly, and that was uh you
were rooted there for quite sometime.
So it's gonna be nice to get alittle bit of a reprieve and uh
visit your uh old universitythere.
Um when you were at Cal Poly,what did you study?
And then what was um yourtrajectory in case the bike
racing thing didn't pay thebills?
SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
Yeah, well, I I did pick a degree that could work
with bike racing.
Um, a lot of people may knowLance Haydit, who also went to
Cal Poly.
He was a mechanical engineer.
So he had a lot harder time thanI did, to be honest.
But I picked uh I was I studiedbusiness, entrepreneurship, and
uh, and then a minor insociology, which kind of blended
quite a bit throughout it.
(03:53):
Um, it allowed me to take thespring quarters off every year.
So from March until September, Iwas free to race.
And then I'd I the first, Idon't know, month or two when I
wasn't training that hard, Icould have somewhat of a normal
college experience.
And then the winter quarterevery year in school, which was
yeah, start of the year inJanuary to March, was just like
(04:13):
zero gaps.
I was just studying, you know,which again wasn't as much as a
business major, um, andtraining.
And it was the perfectenvironment for me personally um
to be able to to yeah, get thatdegree.
Uh, it took me five years, um,but I'm really glad I did, and I
went to a place that I wouldhave liked to have gone to
(04:33):
otherwise.
And uh yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:36):
Um, and then somehow we always ended up talking about
racing, but we'll make this oneshort.
Um, you had to pay your dues,and it it's a long commitment
and long career.
You actually raced on the roadfor a while um to get to to pave
the way for where you're at now.
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Yeah, I did.
Um I think a lot of people, youknow, are in that position where
they they race mountain bikesand road and they and then end
up gravitating to the roadbecause there's more, frankly,
money.
Um, for me, it was the Olympics.
I wanted to get to Tokyo, and uhI was really fortunate to be
able to race both at a highlevel first two years of U23 and
(05:13):
then focus pretty exclusively onmountain bike for Tokyo and also
to finish my degree, likelooking back now in the world
tour on the road.
Yeah, there's kids that aregoing like you know, 100 plus
race days at 19 years old, and Idon't think they're really
developing you know as as aspeople as much, and they're put
in environments that are highlystressful with big contracts.
(05:34):
And I was really glad that I wasable to take my time more and
finish a degree, um, make it toTokyo.
And and at the end of the day, Ilove mountain biking.
So yeah, back to your roots.
Yeah, if just following myheart, really.
Dig it.
SPEAKER_00 (05:47):
Well, following your heart.
Um, some folks can get to watchum a little bit of the
storytelling that you do on theYouTube channel, and then
there's episodes, there'sdifferent elements that um speak
to what Still Spoke means toyou, or just um being able to do
that in a format where you'redoing your thing in the
background, but in in the end,it's about you.
SPEAKER_01 (06:06):
Yeah.
Well, Stillspoke was kind ofsenior project for me five, six
years ago now that has morphedto include some other friends
and and people and really belike a it's a creative studio
platform that essentially Ididn't want to have something
that was just for me, yeah, uhyeah, Christopher Blemon's
YouTube.
And I wanted to create somethingthat could be dedicated towards
(06:28):
uh yeah, storytelling,creativity in the world of
sports, and yeah, in this sport.
And it's been fluid, very loose,it's kind of hard to pin down
intentionally, but we've done alot of yeah, YouTube series and
content and uh differentprojects and written pieces and
books and stuff, not not notpublished books, but like you
(06:49):
know, creative books.
So um I'm hoping that can cangrow more and and it's just been
really fun for me to have thatother outlet.
And as I said earlier, there's alot of different ways to be a
part of the bike community, andI think this is just another way
for me that gives balance to thereally insular racing side.
SPEAKER_00 (07:07):
Yeah.
And then just to speak on thestorytelling element, but um the
way it works with you is you'rekind of a wordsmith and and in
my uh interpretation andwatching it, you're rapping,
you're feeling the flow, you'retying it into the moment.
And for you, like it correlatesall the way around.
But do we get to see more ofthis from you in the future?
SPEAKER_01 (07:28):
I mean, uh, we're we're in a recording studio, so
I need to ask if I can, youknow, record my album here over
the winter.
But no, but um yeah, it likeit's so cool for me to be able
to blend like directly thecreativity, which for me is
yeah, in in spoken word and rapand just yeah, music and yeah,
lyricism, I guess.
But uh to be able to blend thatwith the bike world in some of
(07:51):
these projects has just beenreally fun.
Like just yeah, uh, anddifferent and intentionally
different, you know, than someother ways of of doing content,
I guess.
But um, yeah, I like I said,this time of year, I I just
start tilting to just take onall this stuff and get really
excited, and then uh inevitablyI start you know having to train
(08:14):
again extremely hard and theworld gets gets narrow again,
which is also good.
But no, I'd like to keep beingcreative and work on I've got
some exciting stuff this offseason, I think.
SPEAKER_00 (08:24):
Well, you've got the audience, and the audience can't
wait.
So, Bentonville and thecommunity here in Northwest
Arkansas would like to thank youand the entire national team,
um, USA Cycling, for ending theseason here with us.
So, Christopher Blevins,spectacular that you got to
spend time with us in HaxtonRoad Studios, downtown
Bentonville.
Um, visit Bentonville and I anduh the entire community will see
(08:47):
you all week.
Yeah, let's do it.
It'll be really fun.
Uh, like I said, I got to win uhthe dual slalom tonight.
So let's get going.
Appreciate you, Christopher.
For everyone listening at home,thanks so much for joining us.
Visit Bittenville is here foryou to have a great time in
town.
Check out visitbittenville.comfor restaurant guides, places to
stay, and much more.
(09:07):
You can also follow us on socialmedia.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to the Visit Bittenville Podcast, a new
American town.
I'm your host, Nat Ross, with ain-depth edition inside the head
and the brains and thewherewithal of Christopher
Blevins.
Christopher Blevins, you're inBittenville, Arkansas.
We're welcoming you home afterthe most incredible season on
the World Cup UCI mountain biketour ever.
(00:31):
So can't wait to see the medals,the stories, the globes, the
jerseys, all these pieces,because the community is here to
welcome you just like last yearwhen the entire U.S.
team came after wrapping uptheir season.
So I want to know, the communitywants to know, Visit Bittenville
wants to know.
Um, now that cycling's done, youcheck that box for the year.
(00:52):
Um what is motivating you?
Um, you've been storytelling theentire year, um, but what is
your element?
Because you're an incrediblestoryteller, by the way, that
resets you that uh Christophergets to be you without the bike
racing element on the forefrontand on your mind.
SPEAKER_01 (01:11):
Yeah.
Yeah, no, thank you.
Um great to be here.
Great to just have a week tochill.
And I'm gonna win dual slalomtonight at Thunderdome.
So gotta focus on my you know,biggest race of the year before
we wrap it up.
Um and uh yeah, what do I donow?
Um, I think typically inoffseason, I go into two modes.
I go either monk mode or monkeymode.
(01:31):
There's no in between at all.
So monkey mode means I'm gonnahit the pickup basketball court
at the Cal Poly Rec Center gymand run a bunch of uh Cal Poly
college kids off the court andget extremely sore when I play
basketball for a week.
I'm gonna go surf until I get Iget this elbow tendinitis from
paddling too hard when I surf.
(01:52):
But I had that last year becauseI surfed like 10 days in a row.
So I can't wait to just have funand do those things.
Um and then uh I'll probably doon the on the other side, I'll
probably do like a 10-day silentmeditation retreat.
Um so um, and then yeah, there Igot I have a lot of energy for
for projects.
Um, and and yeah, like you said,the storytelling this time of
(02:14):
year.
So this is for the next twomonths, is when I really get
inspired to think about videoprojects, poetry, just yeah,
talking about my season, butalso yeah, generally extending
it beyond the bike as well.
So I have a lot of things that Iwant to do, um, and also do a
whole lot of nothing at the sametime.
SPEAKER_00 (02:31):
That is music to our ears, and I think mindfulness is
a big element that you'veincorporated into part of the
success formula.
So that's not an easy piece touh focus on and and grasp and um
and nail like you have.
SPEAKER_01 (02:45):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's been huge.
Um and it is not just the timeon a meditation cushion and
using that to be a better bikeracer, or it but it's going the
other way for me now.
Like I'm realizing that my ex myrace mind, my experience, my
inner experience in a race canactually teach me a lot about
mindfulness outside of it and myyou know how to blend full
(03:08):
effort with calm and be and havepresence the whole time.
So that's been good.
But um yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (03:14):
Well, you mentioned Cal Poly, and that was uh you
were rooted there for quite sometime.
So it's gonna be nice to get alittle bit of a reprieve and uh
visit your uh old universitythere.
Um when you were at Cal Poly,what did you study?
And then what was um yourtrajectory in case the bike
racing thing didn't pay thebills?
SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
Yeah, well, I I did pick a degree that could work
with bike racing.
Um, a lot of people may knowLance Haydit, who also went to
Cal Poly.
He was a mechanical engineer.
So he had a lot harder time thanI did, to be honest.
But I picked uh I was I studiedbusiness, entrepreneurship, and
uh, and then a minor insociology, which kind of blended
quite a bit throughout it.
(03:53):
Um, it allowed me to take thespring quarters off every year.
So from March until September, Iwas free to race.
And then I'd I the first, Idon't know, month or two when I
wasn't training that hard, Icould have somewhat of a normal
college experience.
And then the winter quarterevery year in school, which was
yeah, start of the year inJanuary to March, was just like
(04:13):
zero gaps.
I was just studying, you know,which again wasn't as much as a
business major, um, andtraining.
And it was the perfectenvironment for me personally um
to be able to to yeah, get thatdegree.
Uh, it took me five years, um,but I'm really glad I did, and I
went to a place that I wouldhave liked to have gone to
(04:33):
otherwise.
And uh yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:36):
Um, and then somehow we always ended up talking about
racing, but we'll make this oneshort.
Um, you had to pay your dues,and it it's a long commitment
and long career.
You actually raced on the roadfor a while um to get to to pave
the way for where you're at now.
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Yeah, I did.
Um I think a lot of people, youknow, are in that position where
they they race mountain bikesand road and they and then end
up gravitating to the roadbecause there's more, frankly,
money.
Um, for me, it was the Olympics.
I wanted to get to Tokyo, and uhI was really fortunate to be
able to race both at a highlevel first two years of U23 and
(05:13):
then focus pretty exclusively onmountain bike for Tokyo and also
to finish my degree, likelooking back now in the world
tour on the road.
Yeah, there's kids that aregoing like you know, 100 plus
race days at 19 years old, and Idon't think they're really
developing you know as as aspeople as much, and they're put
in environments that are highlystressful with big contracts.
(05:34):
And I was really glad that I wasable to take my time more and
finish a degree, um, make it toTokyo.
And and at the end of the day, Ilove mountain biking.
So yeah, back to your roots.
Yeah, if just following myheart, really.
Dig it.
SPEAKER_00 (05:47):
Well, following your heart.
Um, some folks can get to watchum a little bit of the
storytelling that you do on theYouTube channel, and then
there's episodes, there'sdifferent elements that um speak
to what Still Spoke means toyou, or just um being able to do
that in a format where you'redoing your thing in the
background, but in in the end,it's about you.
SPEAKER_01 (06:06):
Yeah.
Well, Stillspoke was kind ofsenior project for me five, six
years ago now that has morphedto include some other friends
and and people and really belike a it's a creative studio
platform that essentially Ididn't want to have something
that was just for me, yeah, uhyeah, Christopher Blemon's
YouTube.
And I wanted to create somethingthat could be dedicated towards
(06:28):
uh yeah, storytelling,creativity in the world of
sports, and yeah, in this sport.
And it's been fluid, very loose,it's kind of hard to pin down
intentionally, but we've done alot of yeah, YouTube series and
content and uh differentprojects and written pieces and
books and stuff, not not notpublished books, but like you
(06:49):
know, creative books.
So um I'm hoping that can cangrow more and and it's just been
really fun for me to have thatother outlet.
And as I said earlier, there's alot of different ways to be a
part of the bike community, andI think this is just another way
for me that gives balance to thereally insular racing side.
SPEAKER_00 (07:07):
Yeah.
And then just to speak on thestorytelling element, but um the
way it works with you is you'rekind of a wordsmith and and in
my uh interpretation andwatching it, you're rapping,
you're feeling the flow, you'retying it into the moment.
And for you, like it correlatesall the way around.
But do we get to see more ofthis from you in the future?
SPEAKER_01 (07:28):
I mean, uh, we're we're in a recording studio, so
I need to ask if I can, youknow, record my album here over
the winter.
But no, but um yeah, it likeit's so cool for me to be able
to blend like directly thecreativity, which for me is
yeah, in in spoken word and rapand just yeah, music and yeah,
lyricism, I guess.
But uh to be able to blend thatwith the bike world in some of
(07:51):
these projects has just beenreally fun.
Like just yeah, uh, anddifferent and intentionally
different, you know, than someother ways of of doing content,
I guess.
But um, yeah, I like I said,this time of year, I I just
start tilting to just take onall this stuff and get really
excited, and then uh inevitablyI start you know having to train
(08:14):
again extremely hard and theworld gets gets narrow again,
which is also good.
But no, I'd like to keep beingcreative and work on I've got
some exciting stuff this offseason, I think.
SPEAKER_00 (08:24):
Well, you've got the audience, and the audience can't
wait.
So, Bentonville and thecommunity here in Northwest
Arkansas would like to thank youand the entire national team,
um, USA Cycling, for ending theseason here with us.
So, Christopher Blevins,spectacular that you got to
spend time with us in HaxtonRoad Studios, downtown
Bentonville.
Um, visit Bentonville and I anduh the entire community will see
(08:47):
you all week.
Yeah, let's do it.
It'll be really fun.
Uh, like I said, I got to win uhthe dual slalom tonight.
So let's get going.
Appreciate you, Christopher.
For everyone listening at home,thanks so much for joining us.
Visit Bittenville is here foryou to have a great time in
town.
Check out visitbittenville.comfor restaurant guides, places to
stay, and much more.
(09:07):
You can also follow us on socialmedia.
Thanks for listening.
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