Riders Ready: Recent Episodes
Jamie Smith
A podcast for cyclists of all sorts presented by Jamie Smith, the author of Roadie - The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer. Each episode includes info to help you have your best day in the saddle! Each episode begins with a tip to help you understand the world of cycling a little better. Then comes the main event: an interview with a notable cyclist sharing their "Best Day in the Saddle" followed by their favorite place to ride. At the end, Jamie gives his own ride recommendation in a segment called: "Ride of the Week".
There are a few riders without whom this podcast would be incomplete. Rob is one of them. (I'm working on capturing the rest.) He was young and fast and had a quick ascent to the elite of Michigan racers. I hate this cliche, but I truly think he was made for bike racing. He sells his story a little short here, so I'll provide you with a little more detail: the race he highlights as one of his best had almost every great American male cyclist in attendance. Not just one or two stars of the sport, but all of the US-based hitters of the day. He left that part out. I think knowing who was there will help you appreciate the story even more.
Chris is a bit of a unicorn among bike racers. He has all of the credentials to be a tech-obsessed racer (an advanced engineering degree in aerodynamics), yet his riding is based in passion and desire. I was able to get him to spend a few minutes discussing the technical side, but his race stories are rooted in reality. You'll hear of his world championship (note the use of lower case) title that he still holds. You'll also get a peek into his two years riding as a pro, including a year on the Astellas team made famous in my book, "American Pro".
Go inside the Tour de France caravan with this free and easy audio from LeTour. Live audio from Radio Tour is available on every stage, and it makes the viewing experience just a little more REAL. This short episode of Riders Ready explains what Radio Tour is and why you should have it running during each stage.
What you hear here has been edited to remove long periods of nothing. Dead air. They don't give a constant chatter commentary. Just info as needed. So when you tune in, you may hear nothing for several minutes. But when there's something going on, you'll know it. It's in French and English by - usually - the same guy: Seb Piquet. Sometimes another voice steps in. I'm not sure who that is. But you get the idea. It's Radio Tour's show. Enjoy!
This week's guest had a very successful career as a breakaway specialist. I'm not going to reveal their name here. Let's see if you can guess who it is in the opening monologue. But trust me: they've got great stories, and I promise you're going to learn something about how a pro bike race works as told by someone who has been in the trenches.
Obviously, I reveal the name somewhere in the episode. But I thought it might be fun to give you a chance to test your cycling knowledge. Good luck! And thanks for listening.
What does Rob Foshag have in common with Elvis? A couple of things, really. Both are identified by a single name. Both were at the race discussed here. And both are rock stars. In a career that spans 40 years, Foshag was all about "the experience". That's why his most memorable day in the saddle isn't about winning. It's about being there. There are also great stories about Cedar Point tickets, E-Bikes, and supportive parents etched into this episode!
Here's a true roadie conversation for you featuring a true roadie. Jason has been racing since the mid-1980s and has a masterful understanding of the physiology, the tactics, and the mental aspects of the rolling chess game that is road cycling. And he's able to articulate it in a way that makes it easy to listen to. My apologies in advance to my non-cycling listeners; we use a liberal amount of lingo and slang in this conversation, but I think you'll still be able to understand what we're talking about. If nothing else, you'll be able to hear the familiar themes of family support, good friends, hard efforts, and road trips. And even the famous Mustard Primes of Elk Rapids.
One of the things that makes Jef a successful cartoonist is the amount of living he crams into the time he isn't cartooning. Drawing on a variety of experiences, he breathes life into Frazz, Caulfield, Mrs. Olsen, and the full cast of characters who reside in his nationally syndicated comic strip. He also breathed a lot of life into Roadie - The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer by supplying all of the illustrations. He's quite an accomplished athlete with a handful of Ironman triathlons, marathon swims, and some criteriums, too! He had plenty of days to choose from to pick his best day in the saddle. He picked a long one!
You may not know him, but there's a good chance you've seen him. John Despres has been a fixture at races for about 10 years. He came to the sport later in life and found his place in a community of solitude riding long distance winter adventure rides. A chance encounter with a bunch of lycra-clad cyclists made him tack hard to starboard, (You were probably there.) and his life has been the better for it ever since.
If you've been in the sport a while and have maybe become a bit humdrum about cycling, hearing a newbie's stories might be a good way to get re-energized. John has that energy.
One of the coolest things about the sport of road cycling is the almost indistinguishable line between the different levels of the sport. A rider who raced in the Tour de France last week can find themselves racing against top level amateur racers the next weekend, and a top level amateur can be racing against regular schmucks like us the following weekend. Nathan Williams enjoyed a nice career right in the sweet spot in the middle. He raced against the best. And also the rest of us. He gives us two stories of differing closeness, and he offers his musical choices as well. You'll feel all the highs and lows of this sport in the next 43 minutes.
Mackenzie had a reserved parking spot on the top step of the podium in Michigan for many years, so she has many days from which to choose as her best day in the saddle. She picked one that went by in the blink of an eye but is loaded with great memories.
We race for medals and trophies, primes and prize money, but sometimes it's the simplest of gestures that we will remember forever.
Todd Scott has raced in some extreme conditions including a bunch of Leadville 100's and Iditasport - a 350-mile romp across Alaska. But he's leaving an indelible mark on cycling right here in SE Lower Michigan through his work with the Detroit Greenways Coalition. Today, we invite you to listen to one of the key people at the forefront of the cycling movement who is working to give you more places to ride.
Leave your preconceived notions of Detroit at the door. This is not your granddad's Motor City.
Through the last five decades, Michigan's cycling scene has been blessed with a handful of dedicated and enthusiastic mentors, supporters, and leaders. We include Paul Alman in that august group. He truly loves the sport from all angles and worked tirelessly to make sure that bike racers had a place to play. He also did a little racing of his own.
In this episode, you'll get a peek into what inspired him to work to make sure the sport continues to roll along. And we really want you to hear the most valuable lesson he shares with us: find something good about every day on the bike.
How many of us could load up a few bags onto the bike and spend 5 weeks on the road? Well, more and more people are discovering the absolute freedom of bikepacking, so we invited experienced traveler, Paul Rytlewski, to share stories and tips of his 2700-mile trek down the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Warning: this episode may inspire you to jump into the wilderness with bike and pack.
In our Ride of the Week segment, we'll fully endorse the plan of hitting the road by laying out a nice test route for when you're ready to make that jump.
We also discuss the intricacies of The Bonk and how your body protects itself when you forget to eat.
This is a fun episode that covers a lot of ground. Enjoy!
They were the Partridge Family of cycling. Each summer, Skip and Diane Obermeyer would pack up the car and take their kids on a cross-country bike race adventure. By the end of this episode, you will wish you had grown up as an Obermeyer.
Bryan O describes what it's like to grow up in a cycling household. He also tells of well-timed attacks, summer nights at Grattan, and a story of a sporting gesture from a stranger that put $250 in his pocket and kept his road trip on the road.
Ah, the bike racer's life!
Sometimes, just seeing the right thing at the right time in your life propels you into a direction that never changes. That 'right thing' was a bike race that left quite an impression on then 10-year-old Bernie Clinke. And for him, it was as magical and memorable as seeing the vastness of Tiger Stadium for the first time. We can totally relate.
As a grown-up, Bernie spent $20M on a Celine Dion concert. Just wait until you hear how that story relates to cycling.
We also talk about how much planning goes (or doesn't go) into our solo training rides.
And our Ride of the Week takes us to the old Tour de Georgia stomping grounds and a doll hospital. Proving once and for all that we will go to great lengths in order to give you new places to ride.
Here comes Bernie's Episode of the Riders Ready Podcast!
A chance visit to the Bloomer Park Velodrome sparked a fire that's still burning for Kacey Manderfield Lloyd. She's a great example of what happens when opportunity meets competitive spirit. We love her story of her Best Day In the Saddle because it's exactly what we'd expect; an elbow-bumping good time. And she offered up TWO Rides of the Week; one that will require a passport!
We also talk about the risk that a rider assumes when entering and unsanctioned event. We've done it. And we'll probably do it again. But... caveat emptor!
Our ride of the week is almost the geographic center of The Mitten, and it takes you past one of the best donut shops in the state of Michigan. You're welcome!
Get on your bike and ride!
You're in for a treat now. We have The Red Rocket, Christy Keely, as our guest today!! She is a natural story-teller and a bundle of positive energy, and she'll inspire you to get on a bike and ride farther than you ever have before.
In Segment 1, we give unsolicited advice on giving unsolicited advice.
In Segment 3, we flash back to a topic that Christy bravely broached for us - because we didn't have the nerve. It's one that affects us all on every ride we do.
And we'll revisit an old race in Michigan's Thumb for our Ride of the Week.
Get ready to learn some fun lessons about bike racing from a fun teacher!
Find the Riders Ready Podcast on Facebook where we post pictures and videos pertaining to our guest's stories!
Before he went all California on us, Super Dave made his mark in Michigan as a self-proclaimed "wheelsucking, soft-pedaling, wait-for-the-final-200-meters sprinter" (his words, not ours). And a good one at that! But he could also win in other ways. And today, we have the proof!
Follow along as Dave recounts - with great clarity, humility, and humor - a race that happened years ago in a land far away: Canada.
He also offers up our first exotic Ride of the Week recommendation.
And we reach back into the Amgen Tour of California archives for our own RotW. Both rides are worth packing up the bike and hopping on a plane... you know, when it's OK to do so.
Enjoy this Michigan-centric episode of a California kid in Canada on Riders Ready!
We may have a bias toward former Astellas team riders. Jamie wrote about their adventures in "American Pro", so we make no apologies! Jake had one of their first podium results at the old Tour of Battenkill in 2012, but remarkably, that wasn't his "Best Day in the Saddle". Hit 'play' to find out what was!
With Tony called away this week, Jamie is left to answer the questions:
1. When is it time to replace your cycling helmet?
2. Where's a good place to ride?
It's Episode 5! Enjoy!
You never have to twist our arm to get us to go to the U.P. So imagine how happy we were to hear where Fred Anderson's "Best Day..." took place!
Fred is an old friend and old school cyclist who once lived in Gwinn, MI for a while in his previous life and later had the opportunity to race on the roads in his old stomping ground. And he made the most of it.
It was good to rub elbows with Fred again since that's what we've done for most of the last 20 years, but usually at 25mph. Some interesting revelations and introspections in here. Listen close, all you sprinters.
Fred also sends us to Suttons Bay for his favorite ride.
To end it on a Yooper note, Jamie takes us on a magical history tour of Marquette County in his Ride of the Week.
Europe has some famous bike races that we refer to as "Monuments". Cool. Cool cool. But the USA has some equally amazing races that could be considered Monuments in our own cycling world. And Iceman - a point-to-point mountain bike race that takes place in northern Michigan in November - is one of them. The weather can be unpredictable. Sometimes it's a true Ice-man. And sometimes it's a Nice-man. But the winner is always a deserving rider who found a way to ride the course faster than the rest.
This episode, we visit the Iceman race through the eyes of the 2006 winner, Mike Simonson. He has been a fixture on mountain bike race podiums for a long long time. And now you get to hear his story.
We start with a short gab session about early- and late-adopters of the latest cycling technology. Tony and Jamie are in agreement on this one.
And we'll show you a history-packed fun place to ride your mountain bike in metro-Detroit in our segment called: Ride of the Week.
Enjoy!
We chose one of the most respected riders in Michigan to be the first guest in Episode One of our Riders Ready Podcast. Brian is one of the nicest, fastest, and smartest racers you'll ever meet and has been a consistent and dominant force in the midwest for a long time. He is now an expert in the field of sports medicine and will be called upon to make several more appearances on this podcast.
He still loves to ride and still knows where to find the best pastries and waffles.
We also discuss the notion of N+1, which is a complex formula that cyclists have devised to determine the ideal number of bikes to own.
And we will also recommend our own Ride of the Week because we know you're always ready to explore new routes.
That's all in Episode One.
Enjoy!
Episode #4 features one of our favorite Detroit-based riders: Scott Kroske. First, we talk about the indelible impression a race course makes on your mind and how you can often remember each turn, manhole cover, and pothole on a course you rode 20 years earlier. Then we pull Kroske's cord and let him run. There's a valuable lesson in his story about overcoming negative thoughts and seeing things through to the end. We like that! And finally, Scott points us north to one of his favorite places to ride including an iconic Michigan road: M-22. Not to be outdone, Tony and I go a little further north with two great rides of our own.
Mark Wolowiec has earned more state championship titles in the state of Michigan than any other rider. Criterium, Road Race, Time Trials, and Cyclocross. So when we asked him to tell us about his Best Day in the Saddle, he had plenty of options to choose from.
And when we asked him to give us a "Ride of the Week", he broke wide and gave us a Lemon.
Tony and Jamie also discuss what the best cycling discipline might be if you wanted to get a young rider hooked on the sport.
We've known Mark Cahn since the 1990s, and we had never heard this particular story. We're sure he has more stories just like it, and we'll pull them out of him on future rides. But for now, this gem is enough to keep you busy for a while. It's his best day in the saddle
If you've ever wondered what it's like to race in Europe, this is a great place to start.
We also talk about bike inspections and avoiding catastrophic failures out on the road. Tony is a stickler for inspecting his bike after every ride. Jamie would rather be surprised by mechanical issues.
And we highlight our Ride of the Week - Metamora; Michigan's Horse Country, home of the Cadieux Bike Club's annual "Exhale Ride" benefiting the JDRF.