Ryan Drummond Update = UCI Podiums

Ryan Drummond takes us from Tulsa Tuff breakthroughs to a Pan Ams podium, shares how team support sharpened his race craft, and lays out the plan for Fayetteville and a two‑month European block. We ask for help funding the campaign so he can test himself against the world’s best.

• Tulsa Tuff tactics, solo bridge, omnium jersey
• Marathon Nationals result and shifting failure
• Comp Edge team camp, routines and pro habits
• Green Mountain Stage Race leadouts for GC
• Early USCX top tens and U23 podiums
• Trek Cup U23 win and confidence shift
• First elite CX podiums in mud and fast tracks
• Northampton teamwork and role reversals
• Pan Ams nerves, crash, and last-lap surge to third
• U23 UCI ranking rise 
• Nationals goal in Fayetteville, Europe schedule
• Funding needs for travel and World Cups

There is a link in the show notes if you want to help donate, if it's $10, $20, $100, $1,000, whatever you can to help him fulfill his dream and represent us as a state, our country, and racing in Europe where he's getting ready to head off to

DONATE HERE!!!!!!!

https://gofund.me/41f14dab8

Instagram @ryan_drummond

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
What is up, Cycling Oklahoma?
This is going to be super shortand sweet.
I just want to say thank you somuch for tuning in and
listening.
This episode is a reallyfabulous update on the life of
Ryan Drummond and his racing.
He had a huge result this summerin Tulsa Tuff.
We kind of go over that, howsome of the race unfolded, but
really get into the details ofhow his cyclocross season has

(00:24):
gone.
The dude has exploded this yearin the U23 and on the UCI
rankings.
And everything about this isamazing.
He's one of our locals.
He's one of our own.
Everyone should listen to thisand get behind him.
There is a link in the shownotes if you want to help
donate, if it's$10,$20,$100,$1,000, whatever you can to help

(00:46):
him fulfill his dream andrepresent uh us uh as a state,
our country, and racing inEurope where he's getting ready
to head off to.
He's gonna race the nationalchampionships in Arkansas uh in
the middle of December and thenheads off to Europe for a few
months to go bar to bar withsome of the greatest cyclocross
and bike racers in the world.

(01:07):
So get behind him, supportingseriously, if even if it's$10,
every single little bit helps.
Uh he's trying to make somedreams come true and he
represents Oklahoma racing insuch a fabulous way.
This episode, of course, isbrought to you by More Overhead
Door.
They're the best sponsors thattake care of us and help us and
are behind cycling in the stateof Oklahoma.
They've been behind everythingthat you can imagine.

(01:30):
And sometimes you don't evenknow that they're behind it.
So More Overhead Door does somuch for the cycling community
in Oklahoma.
So go support them.
If you need anything, uhanything at all, repairs, new
garage door, building a newhouse.
Just want to talk ideas, reachout to them.
More overhead door.
Um just Google them.
Phone number's 405-799-9214.
And of course, now you can hearmy dog barking in the

(01:52):
background.
RideOMBA.org.
RideOMBA takes care of so manytrails in our community and in
our cross our wonderful state.
They do so many amazing thingsfor us.
So it's$55,$50.
I think it's$50.
Sign up.
I have to renew my membership.
So this is a call to action forme, a call to action for you.
The next episode we get intorideomba.org's uh or OMBA their

(02:16):
uh basically how it works.
So then tune in for the nextepisode coming out on the first.
It is a home run.
You cannot miss the nextepisode.
There's a lot of beer drinking,a lot of laughs, a lot of really
good information, and a lot ofpot stirring and more to come on
that.
Enjoy this episode of Mr.
Drummond, and I really thinkyou're gonna enjoy it, but also

(02:38):
please support him in anypossible way you can.
Thanks for listening.
All right, I'm I'm gonna say Mr.
Drummond, but uh we're gonna I'mgonna record a podcast in like
an hour and a half, and it'sgonna be another Mr.
Drummond.
So would you be the uh the Mr.

(03:00):
Drummond?
I guess it depends on who you'retalking to.
Talking to you.
No.
Okay, good answer because youknow he's gonna listen to this.
No, no.

SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
I don't think I've taken over that yet.

SPEAKER_01 (03:11):
Mr.
Drummond Jr.
Yeah.
Okay.
Uh so last time we talked was wecaught everybody up on what
you've been doing in thespringtime, which kind of led up
through um Tulsa stuff, right?
Mm-hmm.
And then No, we didn't talkabout Tulsa Duff.
No.
You talked uh about that with mydad.
Okay.
Is there anything you want totalk about about Tulsa stuff?

(03:31):
Because this is like a recapepisode for people who have been
following along your journey orpeople who don't really know a
lot at this point.
Um yeah, we can.
Okay, well, let's start withthere because we're gonna just
kind of go like a little bit ofrace highlights and kind of
stuff, but mainly I want to talkabout cross so far because it's
been pretty amazing andoutstanding.

(03:53):
Okay.
You're kind of a big deal now,at least in your own mind.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Or at least in my own.
I gotta be in my own mind.
There you go.
I like it.
You're not gonna make it ifyou're not in your own mind.
That's 100% true.
Uh uh, all right.
So Tulsa Tuff.
Let's let's jump in there.
What was uh kind of like whatwas the expectations and like
thoughts going into it?
Like, did you have big goals anddreams and plans, or was it just

(04:14):
like let's just get some goodexperience and see what happens?

SPEAKER_00 (04:17):
Um well, I kind of it was a rush to get my cat to
upgrade.
Um, I was trying to get my catto upgrade for Green Mountain
Stage or my cat one upgrade forGreen Mountain Stage Race to
guest ride with um Comp edge.
But Tulsa Tuff, I got it likeright before then, and we
decided like last minute to doit because I was doing marathon

(04:39):
mats like two weeks later, so wewere like didn't know if I
should do it.
No, it was after.
Okay, yeah, yeah.
So I was like, I was a fourstill going into the summer
road.
So I kind of went to the Tulsaor um to Texas a few times, and
then I got to my two upgrade,and then uh Ryan Brantley was
selling his entries for cheap,so we like just grabbed those.

(05:03):
I mean, kind of the whole goalwas to win crybaby.
I didn't really know what Icould do other than that.
Um, I mean, I've never racedthat was my first like big crit
experience other than likeMaverick crit, which is just
racing the local guys, really.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (05:18):
What did you think going into it as far as because
I mean most people listening tothis know what Tulsa Tuff is,
but like the fields are massive,yeah, and really fast and really
competitive.
Yeah.
So what were your thoughts goinginto it as far as like what that
was gonna look like compared towhat actually did happen?

SPEAKER_00 (05:35):
I mean, I've been around Tulsa Tuf so long, like
it doesn't feel I mean, it'sstill a big deal, like but I'm
used to it, like I'm used to theenvironment and the the
experience of Tulsa Tuf becauseI've been going since I was
seven years old.
Yeah.
But um, to actually be in it wasa lot different feeling.
Um Friday, like I kind of juststayed up in the front of the

(05:58):
race because I really didn'tknow what it was gonna be like,
and I think I kind of miss likeled my fitness a little bit,
like I was a lot better than Ithought I was gonna be.
Like, I thought the races weregonna be like a struggle for me
to be up there, but really likeI could hold my end in it
perfectly fine.
Because you're in the P12 race,yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (06:16):
Yeah, um because you can always roll around that
Friday night, which is under thelights and super cool if
nobody's ever seen it.
I mean, what do you guys averagethat race?

SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
Um it was probably between 25 and 30.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, but yeah, it was just it wasjust staying in the front end or
else you get like spit to theback and then chase back up.
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, I really had noidea how it was gonna go.
And then I just stayed in thefront the whole race, and then
last lap I got pinched reallybad, and I pretty much started

(06:46):
my sprint halfway through thelap and I got back to the front,
I think I got eight that nightsomewhere somewhere around the
big race.
Yeah, it was my first like realone-two crit.
Yeah, so I mean, I was like, Iwas pretty bummed with it
because I was like in perfectposition to do well, and like
Isaiah beat me and stuff, and Imean Isaiah's really good, but I

(07:08):
was like, I was right there withhim, so I was like, what could
it have been?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (07:12):
Um what did you learn from that?
Was it was it like bumping elbowelbows and kind of being a
little bit more aggressive up inthe front was like maybe more
than you thought or less thanyou thought, or taking those
corners like legitimately, likewith you know, two or three wide
was a little bit more than youthought, or less than you
thought.
Like, what was those kinds ofexperiences like?

SPEAKER_00 (07:31):
I mean, it was about like what I would expect.
Like when it comes to situationslike that, I'm pretty
comfortable just because I knowI can ride a bike and I've been
in like cross, like yeah, you'rebumping elbows with people all
the time.
But um, I don't really feel likeI did anything wrong.
It was just like that's just howcrit racing is.
Like that could have been anyoneand that would have happened.
Um, I could have maybe tried tobe a little further up, but you

(07:54):
can't really predict that.
The flyers for that race?
Um, no, I was in DNA.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
Um, but yeah, I mean, my dad waslike, well, you just got eighth
and tulsa stuff.
Like, that's pretty good.
And I was like, Yeah, I guess.
I mean, it's pretty great forthe first experience, but yeah.
Yeah, after that's good.
After the fact, I was I washappy about it.

SPEAKER_01 (08:14):
Yeah.
Which is good.
I mean, that's kind of thefeeling you should organically
and naturally have.

SPEAKER_00 (08:19):
Yeah.
It was just like one of thosesituations I'm like, I feel like
I can do more, and I didn'treally get to show it because
someone else hit me, but it wasgood thing.
Still a good ride.

SPEAKER_01 (08:29):
Good thing about crit racing, there's always
another one tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 (08:32):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (08:33):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (08:34):
So how did your uh your next day go, your Saturday
go?
Um, well, most people haveprobably heard this, but I mean,
Saturday was really a bigbreakout ride for me.
Um, it was pretty similarsituation.
I actually started in the backthat day because I didn't want
to sit in the staging for anhour and a half.
But I started in the back andthen I actually moved my way

(08:54):
almost to the front and then wegot um neutralized.
So then we started sat on thestart line for like 10 minutes.
Um but after that we got movingand then I moved up same spot
like front five to ten wheelsand just sat there.
A break went with like 15 lapsto go, maybe, maybe a little

(09:15):
more than that.
And I was like trying not to gettoo antsy because I've never
been like in that situation.
But with eight or nine laps togo, I went up Soundpony Hill.
I attacked, and no one went withme.
And I actually like bridged thewhole gap.
It was maybe 15 seconds, likethey weren't that far up there,
but they were just like nobodywanted to chase it down.

(09:37):
So I bridged the gap um in onelap.
And then how hard was thateffort?
The effort it really wasn't thatbad because I jumped, like it
was really just like normallyyou see people bridge and it's
like multiple laps, but I justlike I just nuked it up sound
pony in one lap, and then at thetop I was there.
Like I just drove, like I hit iton the downhill and I was with

(09:58):
them halfway down the downhill.
Okay.
And then they were all like kindof sitting up when I got there
because I think they justthought I was like bringing the
whole field.
And I was like, I guess I'mgoing to the front.
And then from there, I just likeI would take like maybe a little
bit, like half a lap, um,sitting on, but I was really
just sitting on the front, justdrilling it because I'm like, at

(10:21):
this point, if I get broughtback, like trying to sprint's
gonna be really hard.
And there was a couple times thegap got pretty small, and then I
just I just kept the power on.
Like I had Jason Waddellscreaming at me like everything,
like he's like, This is yourchance.
So I just kept the power on andI was we held it to the line.
When'd you finish?

(10:41):
Second, yeah.
Um, Stefan Roth, there was alike a$500 premium going into
one to go, and I had done a tonof work.
I mean, I was on the front forlike five laps, and he attacked
for that, and him and um theLegion guy, I don't remember his
name, but they got a little bitof a gap, and then we closed it
back down on the last lap up,Crybaby again, and I attacked on

(11:03):
the downhill because I was like,I know the Legion guy was fresh
because he was told not to work.
So I was like, I want to leadinto the last turn and then see
what I got, and he came aroundme, but I was still stoked with
second.
That's pretty awesome.
And then then you're the daythat you that you went for.
Um, yeah, I mean, I felt reallycomfortable that day.

(11:23):
Like, I think a lot of my crossfitness and just like the way I
race is really good for thatcourse.
And I pretty much sat first orsecond wheel the entire race,
and I could tell I had thefitness to push it.
So every lap I just I would hitthe front on the on crybaby, and
I would just I would push what Iwas comfortable with, and every

(11:44):
time I would see people danglingoff the back, and I just I did
that the entire race, and peoplejust slowly kept falling off.
And then uh it's gotta be a funfeeling.
Yeah, I mean it's really andit's like especially when you're
so many capabilities.
Yeah, and there's so many peopleI know at that race watching,
like everybody that watched megrow up.
Yeah.
Which that was one thing thatwas really cool about Saturday,

(12:04):
too, is like after I did the lapafter the race, and it was like
I just saw like everybody thatwatched me grow up that are like
they're like cheering me on.
They were probably more excitedthan you were.
Yeah, it it was really cool.

SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
That is really cool.
Um I talk about this often, likewith my buddies, and I'm just
like, man, because you go toraces and you see somebody like
and you know they're going to bethe winner, like pretty much,
you know.
I'm like, it must be like so funto know like I'm gonna go out
here and ride my bike, andwhenever I'm done with
everybody, I'm just gonna rideoff.
I've never had that feeling, I'mnever gonna have that feeling.

(12:35):
But like, it's gotta be a coolfeeling, it's gotta be like
enjoyable and make the racereally enjoyable.
I don't know, is it?
I mean, yeah.
Yeah.
And then even when you're in therace and you're having a day
like that where you're just atthe front and you're like, I'm
riding and it's hard, but it'snot impossible, but I just see
people getting shelled one afteranother.
It's gotta be like a boost ofconfidence and like this is fun.

SPEAKER_00 (12:56):
Yeah, like Sunday.
I mean, I still didn't reallyknow like how it was gonna be.
I like knew I could win, but itwas gonna be hard in that field
no matter what.
I mean, now I've learned myselfas a rider much more, and like I
could go into that race and havea completely different mindset,
but then I was like, I was justlosing my mind, like I just I

(13:17):
gotta go.
But um, yeah, I just I pushedthe pace the whole race and then
attacked up crybaby the lastlap, and the same Legion guy
that won the day before, he wasthe only one that went with me
and he got me in the sprint.
But yeah, he's I got theoverall.

SPEAKER_01 (13:33):
You say you won the overall omnium.

SPEAKER_00 (13:35):
Yeah.
After Saturday, the guy that wasin second, he came up to me and
was like, Are you Ryan?
I was like, Yeah.
And he's like, You're in firstin the overall right now, one
point behind you.
And I was like, I'm in thefirst.
Like, I had no idea.
Yeah.
And um, yeah, that was a prettygood feeling.

SPEAKER_01 (13:50):
So what'd you get for winning the omnium?
Um jersey or anything, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (13:54):
Oh, that's I got a Tulsa Tuff, like the pink
jersey.

SPEAKER_01 (13:57):
Yeah, yeah, nice.
Good paycheck.
Yep.
Is that your first big pay?
Is that your first, like yourbiggest check to that point?
Um probably.
Yeah.
Especially for the weekend,count counting your two podiums
plus the omnium.
Yeah, that's probably thebiggest paycheck I've gotten.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Cool.

(14:17):
Um so leaving that, did it makeyou because I know cross is like
kind of the mission and goal,like yeah, it has been.

SPEAKER_00 (14:25):
I mean, now cross is definitely still the big goal,
but roads right there too now.

SPEAKER_01 (14:31):
So I'm gonna say, did that open your eyes to be
like, hmm, maybe I should be acrit racer?

SPEAKER_00 (14:35):
Yeah, I mean, I've I've always liked it.
Like my dad always gives me crapsaying I'm a roadie now.
I mean, he rides his road bikejust as much as I do, but um
yeah, I really enjoy riding mymountain bike, but racing it
isn't my favorite.
Um marathon stuff I like, butright now, like local XE stuff's
fun, but that UCI level, it'sit's really hard.

(14:57):
And if you don't have UCIpoints, like it's not that fun
because you're starting so farback.
Right.
So yeah, right now, like roadand cross are the main focus.

SPEAKER_01 (15:06):
Um, so then after that, kind of fast forwarding
into well, you then you becauseI know Marathon Nats was kind of
a goal for the year.

SPEAKER_00 (15:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (15:15):
I mean, leading up to that point, yeah.
For like an early season goal.
So where was that at and how'dthat go?

SPEAKER_00 (15:20):
That was in Roanoke, Virginia.
For people that don't know,that's mountain bike.
Yes, like long course mountainbike, essentially.
It was, I don't remember themileage, it ended up being like
three and a half hours, but um,it went good.
I mean, it was a goal for minebecause I got eighth in the
junior race the year before.
Um, but it was really like itwas important to me, but it was

(15:43):
also like just something for meto train through through the
summer because like I wasn'tplanning on doing any road until
Comp Edge asked me to guest rideat a couple races, and that kind
of opened my eyes to the roadseason a lot more.
Like Tulsa Tuff was alast-minute decision, like Green
Mountain, where they asked me toguest ride.
Like, I wasn't playing on any ofthat, so marathon mats was kind

(16:04):
of just to like keep memotivated through the through
the summer, but it ended upgoing really well.
They don't have a like an actualU23 category there, so it was
like 19 to 29.
That's basically the U23 riders.
Um, but yeah, it went good.
Um it was like five or sixthousand feet of elevation.

(16:26):
Nice.
And I want to say it was like 45miles.
Okay.
It's a tough day.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
They and it was all really justone climb.
There was one climb abouthalfway in, and it was it was
like two or three miles.
It was it was a lot of singlewas it mainly single track or is
it kind of yeah, it was prettymuch all like half of that climb
was like kind of like side byside road.

(16:47):
Okay, but other than that, itwas all single track.
Okay.
How'd you end up finishingthere?
I got fifth.
Um I had third place locked in,but probably a K from the
finish, uh, my Durellier juststopped working.
You are a roadie a K from thefinish.
Listen to you.
Well, it wasn't a mile.
What do you half a mile?

(17:08):
Something like that.
Um yeah, my I was havingDurellier problems.
I was with second place actuallywhen it started, and I got stuck
in one of my hardest gears likethree miles from the finish.
Electronic or cabled?
It was electronic, it was umtransmission.
Yeah, and they don't they don'treally know what happened to it.
It just it just failed.

(17:28):
Bad mechanic problems.
We think actually, I'm not gonnasay that.
Um yeah, it just stuck it'smessed up.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um so you were just stuck inyour hard gear?
I got stuck in my hardest gear,and then there was one final
like big climb before thefinish, and I was like, just
kept pressing the button.
I probably pressed that button20,000 times.

(17:49):
Finally get it to shift, and ofcourse it shifts all the way.
Because it I think I was liketwo from my easiest gear.
Oh man.
And on a mountain bike, that'slike spinning.
Yeah.
So I get into a good gear forthe climb, but then you descend
from the climb, and it's like Iwas stuck in that gear?
Yeah.
Oh, and it was like I don'tknow, half a mile from the

(18:10):
finish, but it was all flat.
Like it was like a gravel road,like completely flat, and then
you hit like a little climb upto the finish line, but um
spinning like 150 cadence andgoing nowhere.

SPEAKER_01 (18:20):
Yeah, yeah, that sucks.
And yeah, um I will say that'sthat's the one of the awesome
things about mountain biking andterrible things about mountain
biking.
It is never over until you'redone.
Yeah, because anything canhappen at any given time.
Yeah, which is great, exceptwhen it happens to you.

SPEAKER_00 (18:37):
Like 800 meters from the finish line, uh, fourth
place came past me, or um thirdor whatever, and then I could
pretty much see the finish lineand scuff.
Fifth place came past me.
That sucks.
I mean, I was on the podiumstill, but yeah, it was like I'm
not a huge believer in wideangle podiums.
It was cool, but it's it's adifferent feeling being in the
top three.

(18:58):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (18:58):
Did that give you kind of some motivation, like
going for you?
Like, man, I can do this.
I I know I can be here, I shouldhave been here, or was it like
such a bummer you're just likescrew off, I'm done.

SPEAKER_00 (19:09):
Yeah, it was kind of just I mean, I was I was happy
with fifth, like it's still agood result, but it was kind of
one I just like I just want toforget it because I was like, I
was so close to like a topthree.
That would have been way cooler.
Does that make you want to goback and do it next year?
Um or is it just depend on whatyeah, I mean I won't be able to
because I'm gonna be travelingall summer for record.

(19:29):
But gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 (19:30):
Um yeah, I don't know.
So your mountain biking is kindof on hold now, huh?

SPEAKER_00 (19:35):
Yeah, I mean, I'll do stuff here and there, but no
like big goals, yeah.
Yeah, makes sense.
My dad um winterized my mountainbike yesterday, is what he
called it.
So put put the antifreeze in itand hang it on the wall.

SPEAKER_01 (19:49):
Yeah, that's exactly.
Yeah.
So that leads to all the amazingthings that I'm excited to talk
about.
Uh-huh.
Uh, which is you got on a you'reyou're on a team.
Well, after that was so we didteam camp.

SPEAKER_00 (20:06):
So I was what team you're on telling that.
Yeah, so um after Saturday atTulsa Tuff, Tyler, who runs um
comp edge racing, which I guessrode for them at Batonkill and
Aubrey's on the team, and heasked me if I wanted to come for
team camp, cross team camp, andthen race Green Mountain Stage
Race at the end of it, which atthat point he hadn't really like

(20:28):
offered me anything on the team.
Um, and I was like kind oftrying to figure it out because
I'm like, if you give me a spoton the team, then it'll it would
be worth it.
But that's like a lot of moneyin flight just to go to team
camp, and then I also have tofigure like two weeks worth of
people to cover for my yardsthat I was mowing at the time.
But I figured it all out and Iended up going, which I'm super

(20:50):
glad I did, and like a week ortwo before team camp, he offered
me a spot on like their localelite team because well, I
didn't really have anything onmy resume at that point.
Like he really had no reason tosign me for the elite team on
cross.
Right.
And he offered me a spot onthat, which um he was pretty
much like you can travel withus, and if there's a spot in the

(21:14):
house you can stay, it might beair mattress.
If we stay at a hotel, you canget a room with us, like
whatever.
Um, but I ended up going to teamcamp with them, and Aubrey is on
the same, like the local eliteteam.
And that was like it was a superfun experience.
I mean, Andrew, Stromeyer, andEric Bruner were there, so the
two like best in the country,which at that point I didn't

(21:36):
really know them.
So I was like still like, oh,this is really cool.
Now I'm pretty close friendswith both of them.
Um, but yeah, I got to spend aweek and a half training with
them.

SPEAKER_01 (21:47):
Um what was the kind of a big takeaway that you had
there as far as like your skillset compared to their skill set,
their professionalism of howthey do things compared to how
you've been doing things?
Like what was it that you tookaway from that camp that you're
like, uh, either I'm on theright track or I picked up these
these things and I need to likecontinue to improve?

SPEAKER_00 (22:06):
Um during camp, like I really didn't like as far as
that, I didn't learn a wholelot.
Um during the race season,staying with like Eric and
stuff, I learned a lot though.
Like we can get in that later,but um during team camp though,
I was didn't really know wheremy fitness was.
Like I was expecting some bigstuff in the cross, but I didn't

(22:29):
like really know anything.
And then we did some likepractice races and stuff, and
there was like the this was themoment I was like, oh man, the
season might be good.
There was a five-minute likepractice race we did, and I mean
we were all in it, like Eric, umAndrew, Dylan, Cody, like all
the elite team, and it we werelike, we were all just having

(22:49):
fun, but I I won it.
And I was like, inside, I wasreally stoked because I'm like,
I just beat the national champand the pan champ in this
practice race.
Yeah, which it was like it wasjust a five-minute like thing
for fun.
But you saw that you belong thatyou be there.
I was like, my coach is there,and I like told him he's like,
Well, you I mean, it might takea bit to figure out the whole 60

(23:10):
minutes, but like you have whatit takes to be there.
And then we just had like a fewother stuff like that, and all
of it, like I was right there inthe mix, like knew you could
hang.
Yeah, like back then, likementally, I was like still like
freaking out.
Like, I'm like, oh my god, I'mhere.

SPEAKER_02 (23:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (23:26):
And it took me like a ways through the season.
Like now, like my mindset andeverything is much different.
Like, I feel like I belong, likeI'm calm in that lead group now.
Right.
Where like then I was like justfreaking out just to be there.
Yeah, experiences.
And then um, yeah, we had a lotof fun at team camp.
We went went and raced go-karts.
Um, we have a go-kart sponsorfor the team.
So we got two free races andyeah, it we it was a good time.

(23:50):
That is awesome.
Yeah.
Um so after that, that kind ofthe team is like, oh, all right.
Yeah, I think it's somethinghere.
I think it opened their eyes abit.
Um I still hadn't proved a wholelot, but right.
We had a there was like a localrace that the team put on at the
um at the end of the camp.
Okay.
And um one of the camp at it wasum like Connecticut or somewhere

(24:14):
up there.
I was staying in Connecticut,the pl same place I was staying
all across season.
Gotcha.
But it was like East LongMeadow, Massachusetts, like that
area.
Northeast, yeah.
Yeah.
Um, but it was just a localcross race that we helped put
on, like set up the course andeverything.
But I got second in it.
Uh Eric won.
He pretty much attacked us atthe beginning and just dropped

(24:34):
us.
But me and Cody like went backand forth the whole race, and
then he actually had gap me onthe last lap, and then he
snapped his chain like right infront of me on like a couple
turns to go, and I was like,that sucks.
I'm gonna I'm gonna go though.
And um, I won like a hundredbucks, which I was excited
about.
Awesome.
But yeah, that mechanicalshappen to other people too.

(24:55):
Yeah.
But that race, like, I mean, itwas just a local race, but I
feel like I kind of likesomewhat proved where I belong.

SPEAKER_01 (25:03):
And then after that, we're locals.

SPEAKER_00 (25:07):
Yeah, it was it was a stacked local race.
I mean, yeah, Andrew raced, hewas I don't really know what he
was, he was just messing around.
He was on like these slickgravel tires, so he was all over
the place.

SPEAKER_01 (25:16):
But but can you imagine showing up to like a
local Oklahoma City race andyou're just like a guy that just
wants to race on the weekendsand you have like all these pros
and you're like, oh come on.

SPEAKER_00 (25:25):
Yeah, the whole front row was all like UCI level
pros.
It was funny.
Like there was um there was acouple people there, and they're
like, I didn't know I signed upfor a World Cup today.
Yeah, that sucks for the Yeah.
Um, but after that, um, GreenMountain was after, which is a
four-day stage race.

(25:45):
It was in Vermont, so we headedup there pretty much right after
team camp and uh went and racedthat.
Okay.
And that was another goodshowing.
Yeah.
Um that was like my first stagerace, so I didn't really know
how that would go either.
Right.
Um there's a lot of summer foryou.
Yeah, there's a lot of unknowns.
Yeah.

(26:06):
But um started off with a TT,which I had no TT gear.
Like the team had some like deepwheels and stuff, but I was on
tram at that point.
So I was just my road bike,normal helmet, everything.
So the TT you couldn't have anactual time trial bike, but you
could have the helmet.
Was it an uphill time trial?
The first like half mile isuphill, and then it was flat.

(26:29):
It was K.
Yeah.
First K.
It ended up being like a13-minute.
It was it was pretty fast, butthe aero wheels would have
helped a lot.
Massive.
Yeah, but I didn't do terrible,I think I got like 34th or
something.
I mean, it is what it is, yeah.
I wasn't really like planning todo good in it, right?
But I mean, I did pretty goodfor the circumstances I had.

(26:51):
Like I didn't have any, I hadarrow socks, most out of it.
Yeah.
Um, but after that, I don'treally know why they based off
of this, but they're decidingbetween me and Cody for the
sprinter for the weekend, and Ibeat him in the TT, and I guess
they based off of that.
I don't know.
Um team dynamics, the thingsjust happen.
Yeah, they change, yeah.

(27:12):
Um, so that was a surprise.
I was excited to go for it, butI was like, I've never sprinted
at this level.
Yeah.
Um I wouldn't say I'm the bestsprinter, but I'm really good at
positioning myself, so I canmanage pretty well and against
those guys.
But day two, stage two was a115-mile race that we did in sub

(27:36):
four hours.
We average like 28, like 28miles an hour or something like
that.
It was stupid fast.
Was it just awful?
No, it was fun.
I had a great time, huh?
Um sounds terrible.
So it was a three-lap circuittype race, and there was two
sprint points every lap, andthen the finish.

(27:58):
A lot of sprint points, yeah.
So I think the first one I gotsecond in.
So Cody, so it was still kind ofme and Cody going for it.
He was like my final leado.
So it was actually pretty fun.
Like me and him had just we hada blast.
Like it was basically like yougo, and if I can come around
you, I can come around you.
Right.
And me and him took one, two,and like I would say half of

(28:21):
them for the entire, like, theentire stage.
That's fun.
It was awesome.
And um, that day was super fun.
Like it was just hauling ass andjust ripping.
Yeah.
Times.
Um, but I think I finished thatday.
I was in like fifth for thesprint points because I got like
top three in all of them.
Besides the last lap, a breakwent, which I had no idea a

(28:44):
break went.
I didn't see it go.
Cody saw it go and he was gonnajump in it, but he didn't think
it would go any, because we hadlike um Quinn, our GC writer,
had us like write down a list ofnumbers, and none of those guys
were in the break, so we weren'tworried about it.
But the break went and it reallywent, so I didn't know it had
gone.

(29:05):
So I thought we were still goingfor sprint points, and then
Quinn comes up and is like,there's a break up the road,
like you guys need to like startpulling, and I'm like, I didn't
know that, and they tell me thatlike halfway through the last
lap.
Oh goodness, okay.
So I'm like, Cody, we need to gopull.
So me and Cody go to the front,and I mean we pulled back like a
minute on it, but we me and himwere just sitting up there like

(29:26):
35 miles an hour, just like justlike going so hard.
Cameron, which if we would haveknown earlier on, because we
sprinted twice and the sprintpoints only go five deep, and
there's like eight riders in thebreak.
So I'm like, nobody told usthis.
So me and him are sprinting forlike no reason.
Yeah.
So we finally go start working,and I mean, if we would have
known when we needed to know, weprobably would have brought that

(29:47):
break back.
Right.
But Quinn ended up losing quitea bit of time on that.
And the guy that ended upwinning the sprint jersey was
also in that break, and hewasn't a very good sprinter.
But he got um points.
Yeah.
And then there's not really anyclimbing on that stage, but
stage three, I think it wascalled the Queen stage.

(30:07):
It had a big climb.
It had a couple big climbs, butApp Gap was the final climb.
That was the picture I saw, andit was just like a CU guys
coming over the top of it.
Yeah, it was three miles and itwas it was hard.
5k.
Yeah.
Yeah, 5K.
I don't have my Wahoo and K's.
Everybody else does.
And I'm like, come on, guys.
Thank you.
I don't know what I'm fromOklahoma.

(30:29):
I don't know what kilometer is.
Nobody else does either.
Um, yeah, Cody's from Canada,and he's always saying that.
And I'm like, I don't know whatyou're talking about.
Tell me he's not in Canadaanymore.
Yeah, they all like make theirlike their little like cheat
sheets of like where all thesprint points and stuff are, and
they're like making theirs inKs.
I'm like, come on, guys, can youdo it in miles?

SPEAKER_01 (30:47):
You're gonna have to learn now that when you if you
go to Europe and you're gonnahave to learn.
That was one weird thingwhenever we were whenever we did
a race and everything was inK's, and it's like 20k to go,
and I'm like, okay, so 10k issix miles, another 10k is six
miles, six point, okay, so 12and a half miles, but then it
gets to like the weird numberswhen it's like 30, you know,
like 28k to go, and you're like,oh she's okay.

(31:09):
So then you have to like justlook, it's um yeah, it takes a
while to figure out, it's notnatural.

SPEAKER_00 (31:14):
Uh-huh.
And then um, yeah, stage threewas a lot of climbing, and I'm
from here, I don't really knowhow I'm gonna do in the
climbing.
Yeah.
There was one sprint point like20 miles in.
Okay.
And the stage was 75 miles.

SPEAKER_01 (31:30):
And there was like how'd you recover after 113
miles at that speed?
Um, a lot of chocolate milk andcarbs.

SPEAKER_00 (31:39):
Oh, to be 18 again.

SPEAKER_01 (31:42):
But your legs felt okay the next day?

SPEAKER_00 (31:44):
Um, I mean, as good as they were going to recovery
boots, stretch, like as muchrecovery as you.
But not doing that.

SPEAKER_01 (31:50):
Did you feel not ever doing that before?
Did you feel know kind of whatwas coming, or were you like,
man, this is weird.
I don't know how this is gonnago today.
Because it is, I've done I likethe stage race thing, but it is
weird.
Your first couple times, you'relike, you get on the leg bike
and you're like, my legs feellike crap, but when you start
pushing power, it's still there.
Yeah, it's weird.

SPEAKER_00 (32:10):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't feel that bad that I mean
the first day, like it wasreally a lot of sitting in for
me.
Like, I didn't put that muchpower in until I mean the
sprints in the last hour when wewere trying to bring that brake
back.
Okay.
So I didn't feel that bad, butum that day started like pretty
much right off the start.

(32:30):
There's a decent climb and itwas hard.
I don't know why everyone wasgoing so hard up it, but there
was really no point, like therewas no break that went or
anything, because it was like abig climb and then it was flat,
and then the final climb.
And um, yeah, that first sprintpoint, there was like five guys
up the road going into it, andit was the only one for the day,

(32:51):
so I had to get points on it,and I was like, I'm not gonna
make it because we were maybe 3kout from it and they were still
up there, and I was like, thisdoesn't look good.
No, and then Dylan, luckily,comes flying past me and he's
like, jump on.
Oh gosh.
And then he just nukes it andwe're going like 40 miles an

(33:13):
hour on this flat road.
He gets me within like 200meters of this break, and we're
hitting like the like 300 metersign for the sprint.
And then Aiden, another one thatwas guest writing, I hear him
scream, go! And then he he comesby me, I jump on his wheel, he
pulls me to the brake, and wewe're coming up on the brake
like 10 miles an hour fasterthan they are.

(33:34):
And there was a guy that was asprinter in that, and I'm I
launch and I'm coming aroundthis break like I'm gonna win
this sprint.
This guy decides to like lookback and then he swerves in
front of me, and I'm like,really?
So I have to brake check, I loselike three bike links on him, I
get sprinting again, but I gotsecond in it.
So I was happy with it.
Yeah.
And then after that, it waspretty much just leading Quinn

(33:57):
and Andrew out for the for thefinal climb.
There was one climb.
It's gotta be fun to be doingreal racing.

SPEAKER_01 (34:05):
Yeah.
Like real tactics, real thingshappening.
Everybody around you has theability to do the things that we
talked about.
Like, yeah, that's gotta be likereally fun.

SPEAKER_00 (34:12):
Yeah, it is really cool.
Like this next part, I'm gonnasay it was it was the bet, it
was probably one of the bestexperiences of the race for me.
Um, so I mean, it was kind ofjust riding to that last climb.
Like, everybody knew that wasgonna be the hard point.
I got in like a break at onepoint, and I I just had to make
sure it didn't go anywhere.
Like I was in it and I wasn'tpulling through and everyone's
screaming at me.
I'm like, sorry you can screamat you all all you want.

(34:34):
Like, my job is to not let youguys get away.

SPEAKER_01 (34:36):
But okay, so this is one of the things that as a
watcher of the sport, I see thathappen.
You see it happen in like theworld tour stuff, but like you
know that if that never is goingto make that guy start working,
like yeah, so what like theseguys like you're mad?
I understand that, like, I getit.
Because without that person,it's not like I understand why

(34:57):
they're mad, but like you wouldbe doing the same thing, yeah.
But it's never going to likeconvince that person, like,
you're right, I'm gonna throw,I'm not gonna help my team, I'm
gonna start writing for you.

SPEAKER_00 (35:08):
Like, yeah, it's not like I wasn't like going to the
front and sitting up, I was justsitting on the back of it,
right?
And I was like, if it gets toofar, I'm gonna slow it down.
Like, I was just sitting thereand they're screaming at me.
I'm like, I'm not slowing youguys down at all.
No, I I just smiled and I'mlike, I was just like, I think
that was making it even more madthat I wasn't like keeping it,
like I wasn't yelling back atthem.

(35:28):
The most enjoyable thing.
Yeah, I love doing that forpeople.
They were so mad, and I was justlike sitting there just like
laughing at them.
Ammo, it's even more fun.

SPEAKER_02 (35:36):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (35:37):
And then um, it got brought back, and then we sat
in, and then we were maybe fivemiles out from the final climb.
And like literally, we were justwe were supposed to just string
the field out.
That was all we were supposed todo.
It was me, Dylan, and Cody, anduh the rest of our team had got
dropped besides Andrew andQuinn, our GC writers.

(35:58):
And there's one big climb likehalfway through, and I guess
Quinn and Andrew thought me andCody had gotten dropped on it
because we were like a littlefurther back, so they were like,
they thought we were screwed,like they thought they just had
Dylan, and then five miles outwhen we planned to go to the
front and hit it.
What all three of us roll uppast Quinn and Andrew, and
they're like, Oh hell yeah, likeeverybody's stoked because like

(36:20):
our whole team just comes to thefront and just starts like
mobbing.
That's fun, and yeah, it waspretty cool.
That was really fun, and thenlike five miles out, it was just
kind of like rolling hills, andwe were just taking like 500
watt pools.
Like the three of us were justsitting on the front rotating,
and at the moment, what wedidn't know is like we had the
field like strung out, likethere was a picture and it was

(36:42):
single file, like as far as youcould see.
Like it was we were going reallyhard, but so I ended up me and
Cody took the last two pools.
I took, we was like a dip, andthen you like start the climb
and I just have Quinn likescreaming at me, like, go
harder, because there wasanother train coming up next to
us, and I just keep nuking it,and then I look over my

(37:02):
shoulder, and that train likeblew up, and I'm like, okay, I
did what I needed to, uh-huh.
And then we hit the base of theclimb, and Cody comes around me,
and then I was gonna try to takeone more pull, but I just
couldn't.
Right.
And then we see Quinn andAndrew, they attack together and
like take off, and it's likejust like how you see like Taddy
Pagaccha attack after histeammate pulls off.
Like it was the exact feeling,and then they both went, it was

(37:25):
a really cool experience.
And then me, Cody, and Dylan alljust rolled in together, and
then we found out that Quinn andAndrew went one-two on the
stage.
Oh, which was like way cooler.
Yeah, like they went one-two,and then the three of us roll in
together, and it was it wasreally like it was a cool
experience.
Every it was like couldn't havegone more perfect, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (37:42):
Which it was so cool, never happens, but it did.
Yeah, it went pretty muchexactly how we needed it to.
As being the three guys thatkind of like orchestrated it
all, like, was that so muchsatisfaction knowing?
Yeah, it was it was really cool.
That you're a piece of that,yeah.
Yeah, it's awesome.
Like they were both like, wewouldn't have done it without
you guys like thank you.
And sounds like you guys have agood like team, yeah, a good

(38:03):
like friendships and like goodrelationships, and it's not a
bunch of roadie assholes.
Yeah, everybody's super nice,and I mean Cody and Dylan.
What a first two of my bestfriends.
What a great first experience.
I know, like it was been better.
It was awesome.
Wow.
And then so then so that wrappedthat up.
How did you finish in thesprint?
Well, there's a crit.

SPEAKER_00 (38:21):
Oh gosh, okay.
I was second in sprint, and itwas like a 45-minute crit.
It was super fast.
There's three sprints and thenthe finish.
What a brutal race.
And um, my team kind of blew up.
That's all I'm gonna say aboutthat.
Um, I was kind of on my own.
But I think going into like thesprint, like the actual finish

(38:43):
of the race, I would have beenleading the sprint jersey, but I
had no leado, and the team thatwon the sprint jersey had a full
team leadout, and I I got likeseventh in the actual sprint,
but I got like first or secondin all the other ones.
Um but I think I finished insecond or third for the sprint
GC, which for my first stagerace was pretty good.

(39:05):
Great experience.

SPEAKER_01 (39:06):
Learned a lot, yeah, had a lot of fun, yeah, a lot of
a lot of bro time.
Uh-huh.
It was cool.
Yeah, yeah.
Um so fast forwarding.
I mean, we we still have plentyof time, but just fast
forwarding to cross because thisis wild.
It's pretty freaking cool.
As someone watching is prettyfreaking cool.

(39:26):
So you go up to the northeast,you left what, like September,
middle of September.
Yep.
We started racing go cross isthe first week in a September in
Okay, and you traveled a lot.
I mean, you went a lot ofplaces.
You because you went over overto Wisconsin for trek.
Uh-huh.
Like you've been everywhere.
Yeah.
Right, like legit racing.

(39:46):
Yeah.
And in the past, you've donethis chasing UCI points just to
get a point.
And your dad did this, andBrandon did this, uh-huh, trying
to get a point to just like moveup in the start position.
Cause was it last year that youwent and did these races and you
were starting in the back andwould crush it, but I was like
30th.
Yeah, I finished last year withlike 28 points.
Yeah.
And you were starting in like70th, uh-huh.

(40:07):
Moving up to 30th, and that wasa great race, but you're
starting in 70th.

SPEAKER_00 (40:10):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (40:11):
So this year, life has been different, which is
pretty freaking cool.
Yeah.
So we don't have to go throughevery single race and everything
single result, but like let'stalk about how those first
couple of races went and likehow you've seen the season
progress and just kind of like alike a overall story of like
what the heck is going on sopeople can have a clue of how

(40:33):
badass this fall has been sofar.

SPEAKER_00 (40:36):
Okay.
Um, so Go Cross, Rochester, andCharm were the first three
rounds of the USCX.
And I mean, I got my first topten day two of Go Cross, and I
got second and U20 or third andU23, which those are both two
big check marks for the year.
Like top 10, which I expected toget that this year, and then

(40:58):
U-23 podium, I expected that,but it was like I hadn't done it
before.

SPEAKER_02 (41:01):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (41:02):
Um day one of Go Cross, I had some bike issues
and ended up it just wasn't agood race.

SPEAKER_01 (41:07):
But um because there's different levels to the
UCI races, which is kind ofconfusing for someone who's not
like super into the sport.
Uh-huh.
Right.
So kind of explain that like wasit C1 and C2 and all this stuff?
And you have your U-23s, likethere's divisions of the races.

SPEAKER_00 (41:24):
Yeah.
So pretty much the first day ofevery race is a C1, which is
like a higher category of UCIracing, which there's more money
on the line and more points.
And then the day um Sunday, thesecond day, is normally a C2,
which is less money and lesspoints, but everybody races
them.
So yeah, to get like a C1 topten or C one top five, you get a

(41:47):
lot more money, a lot morepoints.
And I mean, it's just a biggercheck mark.
Right.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (41:52):
Yeah.
Um and then inside of that race,there's a U23 race going on.

SPEAKER_00 (41:56):
Right.
Yes.
Okay.
So they just they do a U23podium.
They don't like really separateit, but they do a separate
podium for it.
But you guys are all racingtogether.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So after Go Cross, I wasn't offa single U-23 podium for the
rest of the year.
Um wild.
Like, did you have a clue thatthat was even like possible?

(42:18):
I expected that.
You expected the U-23 podium, Iexpected.
And why did you expect that?
I just, I mean, I was likehovering around it.
Like I was like fourth or fifthevery race last year.
Okay.
And like fitness wise, likementally wise, like I was in a
much different place this year.
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (42:32):
And it's kind of the same guys that you know.
Like you know everybody, andwe're because you guys have kind
of raced together for years.
Uh-huh.
Know of each other.
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (42:40):
Um, but yeah, like at the beginning of the season,
I was still like my mindset'sjust a lot different now and
everything.
Like, I feel like I belong,where then I was still just like
I was felt like I was justtrying to survive.
But so the first three rounds, Igot like eighth and ninth at
Charm in Rochester, likesomething like that.
Overall.
Um, yeah.

(43:01):
Yeah.
And then I think I was secondboth days in the U23 at both of
those races.
Same guy beat you both times?
Yeah.
Okay.
Um, and I was really just likefiguring out the racing, like,
like slowly, like what I wassaying earlier is um once a
season started, like I stayedwith Eric.
Eric was at the house with usfor the first two rounds, and

(43:21):
like just seeing like the way hedoes things and like the way he
thinks for races, like a lot ofthat I just like it rubbed off
on me.

SPEAKER_01 (43:26):
And in what kind of way, like what and you don't
have to give specifics becausethat's you know, private to
everybody wants to keep.
But like what were you seeing ina nonspecific way that was like
different than what you had beendoing, or different than like I
never even thought of that?

SPEAKER_00 (43:41):
Yeah, it's just nothing like major, just like
your pre-race routine, like whenyou eat, what you eat, like
stuff like that, like the nightbefore, like what you should do
to recover best, like justlittle things that add up.

SPEAKER_01 (43:56):
Um but did you change the way that you ate and
change the way that you werelike thinking about that
nutrition and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_00 (44:04):
Yeah, I mean, not like a whole lot, but there's
just little things I added onthere, like nothing really
interesting, just personal stuffthat works better for me.

SPEAKER_01 (44:13):
But do you start to see like where like, man, we're
getting into the nitty-grittywhere like every tiny little
detail Yeah.
Like the one percent Yeah, a lotof people.
Somebody like me, you're like,oh, I got this one percent.
For me, a one percent gain islike, um, how about don't eat
ice cream and drink beer thisweekend?
Right.
Yeah.
But when you get to like acertain level, like finding a 1%
is like almost impossible.

SPEAKER_00 (44:33):
Uh-huh.
So it's and that's kind of whereyou're at.
Yeah, a lot of people like justlike, oh, you guys are just
picky, but it's like, no, likethat stuff matters.
Like it doesn't, you don't thinkit matters, but when you add 10
of those little things up, thenit makes it makes or breaks your
race.

SPEAKER_01 (44:47):
Well, and the best in the world are doing X, Y, and
Z.
So you're not gonna catch them.
If they're naturally more giftedand you're not doing what
they're doing or doing more thanthey're doing, you're never
gonna get there.
Yeah, which is a hard thing forsome people to do for some
reason.
I don't know, I've neverunderstood that.
But yeah, in any sport, not justcycling.

SPEAKER_00 (45:07):
Yeah.
Like I was kind of just like,honestly, the first two races I
was just like copying whateverEric did.
Yeah, and uh now I'm kind oflike I found out like who I am
as a racer more, and I have somestuff I do different, and like
what I what works better for me.
But yeah, those first threeraces, I like really was just
figuring out how to do thoseraces and finding my spot in the

(45:27):
field.
And I think like Trek, which wasthe fourth round of USCX, that
was really like where I likebroke through and like realized
what I was capable of.
It's a good place to do it.
Yeah.
Um especially since you guys aresponsored with them, right?
Yeah, yeah.
That and also I had a good crowdof Oklahoma people there.

(45:47):
Oh, that's cool, stuff likethat.
But um, I think like physicallyI was pretty much there all
year.
I think I've definitely gottenstronger throughout the year,
but I think like mentally Irealized like, oh, I can do a
lot more than I thought I could.
And that weekend, I um day one Igot eighth, but I was in the

(46:08):
group for fifth, and I was like,I was charging that group.
Like I attacked out of thatgroup, I think, twice, and like
we were all going back andforth, and then I actually got a
flat on with two to go, which isI got dropped out, and that's
why I got eighth.
But the day after I got sixth,which I was in that same group,
but I beat like half of it, andthen I finally got the U-23 win,

(46:31):
which I had been chasing allyear, and I mean everybody was
at that race, like it was it wasdefinitely a stacked race.

SPEAKER_01 (46:37):
Yeah.
So how's that?
Did you know you were in first?
Because since you're racing arace within a race, do you know
where you stay in the U-23?

SPEAKER_00 (46:45):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I know who's in front of me.
Okay, everything.
Like it's it's pretty easy totell.

SPEAKER_01 (46:50):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (46:50):
So um, I was one of the riders was in that group
with me.
Okay, and then I hopped thebarriers and attacked him on the
last lap.
Did are you one of the only onesthat hops barriers?
Um, at that race, pretty mucheveryone was.
Okay.
There's a few races I was one ofthe only ones hopping them.
Yeah.
Um, I can definitely hop fasterthan most people, which helps me
a lot.

(47:10):
Gotcha.
Um, but that day, I mean, I gotsix, which right now I would be
a little bummed with a six.
So then it shows my improvement.
But I mean, that race I wasreally stoked with.
And to get the U-23 win, I wasthat was a big goal for the
year.
Yeah.
Um, so after that, I was like, Ibeat people like that I didn't

(47:31):
expect to beat this year.
Right.
Um, I beat the elite teambesides Eric and like people I
like Carrie Warner.
Like I've been looking up to himmy whole, like, my whole life.
Like, I've been watching hisvlog since I can remember, and I
beat him and I was like, it wasa good feeling.
That's pretty cool.
And after that, I was like,well, what else can I do?
Because like I think mentally Ilike opened my eyes a lot.

(47:54):
It's just a confidence thing, ordid it was it like a race tactic
thing?
I think it was just like one,like realizing how strong I am.
Like, I don't think I fully wasusing all my power.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And also, like, I think it justclicked like how to make it that
full 60 minutes.
Um, but the next race was Kings,and not everybody was there, but

(48:17):
a good handful.
And day one, I went, I was inthe lead group, and this was
like my first time like actuallyin the lead group, but uh I
crashed on the barriers with twoto go, which my hand just
slipped off on the first one,and then I went to pool and I
pulled my hands off the bar andjust ran into it.
Gosh, and then I rode around forfifth, which still best result

(48:41):
ever.
So I was stoked with that.
Then it rained super hard thatnight, and it got muddy the next
day.
And lap one, me and Dylan, helike went super hard on lap one,
and it was just me and him offthe front, and then we got
caught by a few people, and itwas just like it was like going

(49:02):
back and forth in the mud, andit came down to a last lap
battle for the final spot on thepodium, and I got my first elite
podium.
Pretty wild, yeah.
It was it was really cool.
That is really cool.
Um, I'm glad my my parents werethere and everything.
That's even cooler, it made it areally yeah good experience.
That's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 (49:18):
And um did you have a did you even consider that
that was a possibility thisyear?
I mean, going in the season, no.

SPEAKER_00 (49:25):
Going into that race, yes.
Okay, but yeah, they likeactually get the podium.
It was it it opened my eyes evenmore.
I was like, I didn't think thiswas possible, right?
And um I it was a C2 podium,which isn't as big of a deal,
but I mean it's still there,yeah.
Um, and after that, I think uhflip switched with the team too.

(49:45):
Like I got the team carbonwheels where I was riding up
like aluminum wheels they justhad gave me before, and the I
got a little like the next levelof support.
Right.
And then weird how resultsmatter.

SPEAKER_02 (49:58):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (49:59):
And then after that was really rad, which um that
was my first time doing thatrace.
And it was pretty cool.
Dylan had a really good racethere too.
Um, so me and him, we were kindof going back and forth.
Andrew was there, which is thecurrent national champion, if
you don't know.
And um see the little guy?

(50:19):
Yeah, he is the little guy.
Um, we went back and forth withhim both days, uh, which was
super cool.
Like, I never expected this yearto be able to like stay with him
in a race.
And day one, I don't think heexpected it either.
And he attacked, and then westayed with him, and then he got
like a little gap on the lastlap, and I think I was like

(50:41):
seven seconds behind him.
But that was my best result.
I got second, which um that wasa C1.
I got a good pay good paycheckfor that one.
Yeah.
And then day two ended upplaying out the same.
Um, Andrew, me, then Dylan.
So two seconds in a row waswild.
It was that was like I thinkthat was where stuff started

(51:03):
rolling.
Um, I mean, the podium at King'shelp, but like doing it with
Andrew's.

SPEAKER_01 (51:08):
Did they pay for you 23?

SPEAKER_00 (51:09):
No.
Okay.
But doing it with Andrew in therace was it was a little
different.
Um day two, he attacked reallyhard once, and I dragged him
back like a lap and a halflater, which he mumbled some
stuff under his breath.
I don't think I don't think hewas too happy about that.
Yeah.
And then he went again.
I just couldn't, I couldn't ringwith him.
But um Does he have just morepower, more punch?

SPEAKER_01 (51:31):
Yeah, I mean handling skills, what is it
that's different?

SPEAKER_00 (51:34):
I mean, everything.
Like he has really good handlingskills, but he's also been
racing at the front of theseraces for five, six years now.
Yeah.
Just something everything's justa little bit better.
And I mean, he's been trainingat this level for five or six
years, where I have for twoyears.
Right.
So, yeah, he's he's just astronger rider.
Yeah.
But I mean, I didn't expect tobeat him, but to bring him back

(51:55):
after he attacked, like kind ofcool.

SPEAKER_01 (51:57):
Yeah.
It's gotta be like a while, likeyou're like, I cannot believe
it.
I cannot believe it.
I am like here doing thesethings.

SPEAKER_00 (52:03):
After that weekend, I mean, I gained a lot of
followers and uh I mean a lot,like 50 or 60, but um, yeah, and
I got another level of supportwith the team.
Like cool.
I think I was just kind ofchecking boxes off with them,
like proving my place.
And after that, like Tylerbasically is like, we can't
technically put you on the eliteteam because we're midseason and

(52:26):
we can't you can't sign acontract, but like you're gonna
get as much support as we cangive you.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (52:31):
So that takes pressure off mentally for you as
well.

SPEAKER_00 (52:34):
Yeah, like I wasn't like proving my plays anymore.
I was just there to race.
Yeah.
Now you're now you're in nowyou're in the team.
Yeah.
Instead of just like trying tobe with the team.
Yeah.
And then after that wasNorthampton, which was pretty
much a hometown race for theteam.
It was like an hour and a halffrom where we were staying.
Okay.
And it was a double C2 weekend,so not as big of a deal.

(52:55):
Um day one, Dylan got the winand I got third.
He he went pretty early on, andthen um my job was kind of to
play the teammate role that dayand just let the gap go.
And then I was with um, it wasHenry Q, the U-23 current
national champion.
He that was his first timeracing, and then um one of the

(53:18):
other U-23 riders I've beengoing back and forth with, and
they were getting frustratedwith me, but I'm like, I was
told not to bring it back, whichlike kind of sucked because I'm
like, I felt like I could havewon that day, but I also have to
play the teammate role.
And that's right.
I think that gained anotherrespect level with Tyler and 10.
Yeah, I think I think theresults like proved a lot to

(53:40):
them, but I think that like thefact that I'll listen and do
what they want me to do, I thinkthat proved a lot.
You hope someday some of yourteammates do the same to support
you.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (53:49):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (53:49):
Which is kind of the goal from the next day.
Right.
Um, I ended up getting thirdthat day, which was that was my
third or fourth podium, elite,like overall podium in a row.
Crazy.
And then the next day, the goalwas kind of like the unwritten
goal was we reverse the roles,and I go and he stays in the

(54:11):
group.
Which I um the plan was for meto hop the barriers because it
was a really fast section intohim.
I was hopping them faster thananyone.
Then it was a U-turn, and thenyou go into the woods.
I hop the barriers and attack,and I get like 10 seconds, and
you hop the barriers and youflip back, but you're going the
opposite direction, but you cansee the barriers.
I heard someone crash, and Ilook over and it's Dylan on the

(54:32):
ground.
I was like, nah crap.
Oh no.
So um it ended up like Henrycaught up to me, and I just I
didn't have it to stay with himthat day.
He he I stayed with him for liketwo laps and then he got a
little gap on me, and then hewent and I just I couldn't
respond.
And then at that point I wasblown.
Like the first two laps I wentsuper deep to try to like get a

(54:55):
gap.
And um Tofik, the other U-23rider, he caught me with like a
lap and a half to go, and thenhim same thing, I just couldn't
hold his wheel.
But yeah, another podium, whichwas cool.

SPEAKER_01 (55:06):
Crazy.

SPEAKER_00 (55:06):
Like that was is it pretty much the same guy's race
in every race.
Yeah, okay.
Which guy's gotta be exhausted.
At this point, we were gettingpretty tired.
Yeah.
Um that was my sixth podium in arow, which ridiculous.
Yeah, that was that was the coolpart, is like I kept staying on
the podium.

SPEAKER_01 (55:24):
Were you were you thinking like, yeah, this is how
it is, or you're still justlike, I cannot believe this.

SPEAKER_00 (55:28):
At that point, like I mean, I wasn't like used to
it, but like I was likeexpecting it?
Yeah.
Okay.
Like really rad.
I had beat some people I hadn'tbeat yet.
So that one was like, that was areally cool weekend.
Northampton, I was kind ofexpecting podium.
Um but then after that was PanAm's, which was the my last race
of the block.

(55:50):
And I kind of fumbled under thepressure.
Um I had never been in likegoing into a championship race,
like thinking I can actually winit.
Like you always have to thinkyou can, but this time I was
like, I could actually win this.
And I was first call up.
So there was the nerves just gotthe best of me.

(56:10):
Right.
Um, it's part of learning.
Henry and one other rider wentearly, and I just like my body
just couldn't do anything.
Like I was just so nervous andmy legs were so tense, like I
just couldn't put any powerdown.
Right.
And I pretty much uh MarcusSheldon, he's a last year, you
23, so he's a bit older, but herode through our group and Henry

(56:30):
and him were pretty, they werethey had first and second locked
in.
And I was in a group, likethere's four of us for the last
spot.
Okay.
And um last lap over thebarriers, one of the other
riders um decided to just runacross him to try to block me, I
guess.
And I went to hop the secondone, and he just like ran

(56:52):
straight in front of me and Icrashed.
Last lap, we're like halfwaythrough the lap.
And I'm like, well crap, I guessI gotta go hard.
Yeah.
And that was the only time inthe entire race my legs like I
just like could actually go.
Like I wasn't nervous, like Ijust I knew I had to go.
Right.
And if I would have finishedwhere I was, I would have
finished like seventh.
Okay.
But I caught the group, theylike messed this off camber up,

(57:15):
and I was like three bike linksoff of them.
Like I was gonna catch them, butthen I got stuck behind them,
and like two of them went down,but it was like a narrow spot of
the course, so like I just gotstuck behind them, like I
couldn't go around or anything.
Yeah.
And they were getting up, and Ilike kind of pushed my way
through to second wheel, andlike there's a zigzag right
before the finish.
Like that you hop on thepavement, and I made like a last

(57:37):
second move onto it, and then Igot the sprint for for third on
the day, which pretty wildthinking that you got third when
you had a crash, you didn't feelgood.

SPEAKER_01 (57:47):
Yeah, kind of feel like you kind of choked a little
bit, yeah, and you learned aton, and you still finished on
the podium.

SPEAKER_00 (57:52):
Yeah, like that was going into the season, me and my
grant or me and my coach Grantwere talking, and like put Pan
Am's podium was a like one ofthe big goals.
And and you didn't even have agreat race.
Yeah, I was like bombed, but I'malso like, this was one of the
big goals for the year, so Igotta be happy with it.
But because that's racing, yeah,especially when you're doing
racing dirt, you know?
Like yeah, stuff's always gonnahappen.

(58:14):
Yeah, so um I was stoked withit.
Like it took me a bit toappreciate it, but um, once I
didn't be happy with it.

SPEAKER_01 (58:22):
But that's the way I mean like taking the golf back
to this whole thing was likethat.
And I mean it's the greatestever.
And it's like he was like whenhe won, he was like, Okay, I was
supposed to win.
Like it's yeah, it's cool.
I'm glad I won.
I was supposed to win.
I came here to win.
He was more pissed when hedidn't than he was excited when

(58:42):
he did.
So I mean you gotta have thatmentality to be great.

SPEAKER_00 (58:45):
Yeah, I mean that's what my dad was like.
He was like trying to tell melike this was the big goal, but
he's also like, that's whyyou're probably gonna make it
because like you got third atPan Ams and you're not happy
about it.

SPEAKER_01 (58:56):
So you have to use that as like, yeah, okay, I
there's so much more left.

SPEAKER_00 (58:59):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (59:00):
Um that's not the end and not the end goal, which
is good.
Yeah, yeah.
That's a good mindset.
Through all of that, which isthis is the part that I think is
incredibly wild.
Now, what is your UCI U23 worldranking?
I was 11th, I'm 12th now.
Okay.
And as far as Amer as Americagoes, um, I'm first in U-23.

(59:23):
Which is crazy.
Yeah.
I mean I mean, it wasn't verylong ago.
You were riding WashtawChallenge and like and a cat
four on the road.
Yeah.
This year.
Yeah.
And now you're the highestranked U-23 cross racer in the
world.
In the nation.
In the n I mean, yeah, nationfor America.
Yeah.
Yeah.
World.
Yeah.
That's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 (59:45):
Like, did you even like fathom that that was a
possibility?
I mean, no, not really.
Like I was last year I finisheda she's in with twenty eight UCI
points, and I have two hundredand seventy one right now.

SPEAKER_01 (59:57):
And you're like not done with the season.
Yeah.
Which is crazy.
Uh-huh.
And super cool.
Yeah.
So I guess um kind of wrappingthis up with cross and kind of
that stuff, like you have acouple races left, but like the
big one is about a month awayfrom when we're recording this,
uh-huh.
Which is in Fayetteville onwhat's the date on that?

(01:00:17):
Like the 13th of December.
In Fayetteville.
Um that's the big goal.
Uh-huh.
Like, in all honesty, I mean,kind of expecting this point,
like kind of things to continueto progress to the way that
they've done.
Yeah, I mean you don't have tothrow it out there, but might as
well.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00:34):
Yeah, I mean, like, the goal is podium, of course,
but I think I'm capable ofwinning it.
There's a realistic chance.
The goal really was to podiumthis year and win next year, but
my I progressed a lot more thanreally I don't think anyone
expected.
Um I think a win is possible.
I think it's would be reallyhard, but I also think that's a

(01:00:54):
pretty decent course for me.
So and then when that's over,you jump on a plane.
Yep.
Um, we leave the Monday afterand um head to Europe.
And you'll be in Europe for howlong?
Um two months is what we'replanning on.
Okay.
That's with worlds included.
Okay.
Um worlds.

(01:01:15):
Um do you know?
I don't know.
It's in the Netherlands.
Okay.
It's uh are you going with yourteam or with USA?
So I'm going with my team forthe curse period.
Okay.
And then if I get selected forworlds, it'll be with USA.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:26):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:26):
Gotcha.
But um, I mean, yeah, I feellike there's a really good
chance of me getting selectedfor worlds this year.
Like you don't really know untilI think it's like Justin.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:39):
Yeah.
It's kind of like a it's kind oflike it would be a something is
terribly wrong if you don't.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So um, I mean, I haven'ttechnically made selection for
any World Cups, but um, I'mgoing over and I mean, I'm just
gonna race World Cups, I think.
Like last year I got selectedfor three, and then I just raced
some like super prestige and umlike other series over there,
but those ones you can just signup for.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:03):
Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:04):
So getting some some with the big boys.
Yeah.
Um, yeah, the plan is just WorldCups this year and see what I
can do.
Um I would really like to get atop 15 in the U-23 this year.
Okay.
I think I can.
Um next year would be a top 10goal.
But um starting second or thirdrow, probably in that category,

(01:02:26):
I think I could.
Yeah, last year I was startinglike eighth row.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:29):
So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:30):
Um yeah, I'm excited to see what I can do in the U23.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:33):
When you get done with Europe, we gotta do another
podcast to catch everybody up onthat.
Yeah.
And I will shamelessly plugthis.
Um there is a GoFundMe to helppay for these expenses because
it's not cheap and it's not freeand it's not paid for by your
team to go to Europe to do allthis stuff.
Yeah, it costs a lot of money tochase this dream.
And like any young professionalathlete in an individual sport,

(01:02:55):
it takes support and fundingfrom the group.
So we will put a link uh in theshow notes for the GoFundMe
page.
Um, even if it's 10 bucks, 20bucks, 50 bucks, whatever it is.
Yeah, everything helps.
Thousand bucks, whatever.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:08):
Yeah, just shoot a couple thousand over.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:10):
That'll that would that really make things a lot
easier.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:12):
Yeah.
Um, but the trip from right now,what I'm planning is I'll go
over the uh 15th and then I'lldo curse period.
I don't know what my exactschedule looks like right now,
just because they can'ttechnically tell you what world
cup you're selected for untiltwo weeks before.
Gotcha.
But um I'm pretty sure I'll beable to just like select what I
want to do.

(01:03:33):
Be cool.
Um, and then I'll do curseperiod, and then after that, I
go to Spain for two weeks.
Um there's one World Cup inSpain, but mainly we're just
going over there to train andit's warm and it'll be a great
experience.
I'm really looking forward tothat.
Life you're living at an18-year-old.
I know.
You 18 or 19 now?
19.
19.
I turned 19 in this October.
I'm getting old.

(01:03:54):
Um, and then planning to makeworld selection.
I'll go back to Sitterd,Netherlands, and I'll be in the
USAC house for two weeks andthen worlds.
Life is changing quickly, kid.
Yeah, it's awesome.
Yeah, it's so fun to watch.
It's like I was talking withpeople this year, and it's like
not many people get to live outtheir dreams, but I'm doing that

(01:04:16):
right now.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:16):
Really, I mean, you probably don't, I mean, outside
of your racing buddies, youdon't know anybody, maybe like
one or two that ever get to liveout their dream.

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:23):
Yeah, yeah.
And this is I mean, I've beentelling my parents since I was
eight years old, this is what Iwant to do, and I want to live
in Massachusetts and ride whereJeremy Powers rode and all that
stuff.
And I mean, I got to do that allseason.
It's happened quickly.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:37):
Yeah.
Because I mean, even when I rodewith you and I came out, me and
Sax came out and did that liketraining with your dad that
weekend, and you rode with us alittle bit.
Yeah.
You were like 16, 15, 16.
Yeah.
And we talked, you're like, I'mgonna be a pro like cross guy.
But at that point, you weren'treally like focused on your
training, you're just likeenjoying riding and hanging out.

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:53):
Yeah, I mean, I had that was two years ago, and I
had just gotten training.
Like, right, that's one thing.
Like, I'm really like, I thinkeveryone was surprised about is
like everyone I'm racing is Imean, besides the other U23s,
but they still all have at leastfour years of training and
racing at the top of the race.
Where the I mean your first thisis my first year like really

(01:05:15):
hitting the training.
Like, I would say this is myfirst time year having like a
professional training load.
And like this is my first timebeing at the front of these
races.
So it's like I feel like I'mjust now figuring out what I'm
doing.
It's pretty wild.
Yeah, it's pretty fun.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05:28):
Uh huh.
I can't imagine how fun it is tobe in it because it's super fun
to watch it.
Yeah.
So and we'll keep people updatedon the Instagram.
I mean, your mom does theInstagram, so we know that she
has full reign to like share allyour highlights.
So everybody can stay in touchwith with uh your progress while
you're in Europe and stuff likethat.
Yeah, I'll try to pose as muchon my hands.
So, you can see it on there.
Yeah, so everybody, you need allthe followers you can get

(01:05:49):
because that helps all thethings too.
Uh-huh.
All the next steps in this gig.
Yeah.
So cool.
Is there anything you want towrap up with besides hey,
support me?
I'll say it.
You don't have to say it becauseI know it's kind of a weird and
awkward thing, but you needsupport, financial support.
Uh-huh.
Like big time to make thesedreams come through.
So hopefully people will donateand do that.
Yeah.
So anything helps.

(01:06:11):
Sorry, I was late.
No, that's fine.
But uh, thanks for doing this.
I'm excited for you.
I'm like so pumped that my yardguy is ranked top 10 in the
world or top in the world in theUS and the UCI rankings.
I don't think many people cansay that.
I might not be your yard guyanymore.
Sounds like it.

SPEAKER_00 (01:06:29):
Because I have a big road season plan.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:31):
Damn.
I gotta find somebody else.
I know.
I guess it's worth it.

SPEAKER_00 (01:06:35):
Hey, you're the first client I've told, so.
Oh, thanks.
When Peter finds out, he'llprobably yell at me.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah, he'll fire you.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:43):
But then you maybe ask him if you can get uh like
an employment.
Yeah.
Can I get two weeks paid?
I agree.
At least.
Here I'll send you a link.
Yeah.
All right, Ryan.
I appreciate it.
This is awesome.
I'm super excited for you andcongrats on all the stuff so
far.
Thank you.
Awesome.