Episode 145: June 12, 2025: Popping Bubbly with Katherine Sarkisov of CCB/Levine Law Group

Katherine Sarkisov of CCB/Levine Law Group is a rising talent in women's bike racing. She's not new on the scene because she literally grew up riding and racing her bike; but she's definitely made some big steps and improvements in the last couple of years. After stints on LUX and Cynisca Cycling, Katia came home and joined CCB. Little did any of us know that in signing up to race US races, that we were about to see her light up the podium.

Episode 144: May 27, 2025: Taking on the World with Sidney Swierenga

Canadian Sidney Swierenga is having a season most racers can only dream of. At 17 years old she became the youngest rider to podium the GC with second overall at the Redlands Bicycle Classic and then repeated the feat at the Tour of the Gila a week later. The next youngest rider to pull off that double podium was Mara Abbott at 21-and she went onto win the Giro D'Italia twice in her career.

Sidney then won a major junior race in France, a result that made her the number one-ranked junior in the world. Sidney talks about beating pros in running races at 12 years old, drops hilarious hot takes on the World Tour, and what it means to take on the world and win. Don't miss this one.

Photo Credit: Brian Knox Tour of the Gila

Episode 143: May 14, 2025: Athens Twilight Recap with Clever Martinez and Will Hardin

Lights, Live stream, action. We are back. Criterium racing is back. It is time to get 2025 started in a huge way. For the first time ever we brought competitors together to talk about how the race happened. Ok, when it comes to Will Hardin and Clever Martinez, it is hard to call either of them competitors, they are more like friends who want to push each other's physical and mental limits to the max. Either way, it is great to get the inside view from the guys who won the race.

Episode 142: December 11, 2024: The Project Echelon Files: Where Eagles Dare with Tyler Stites

From the top of one of the tallest points in Arizona we join our hero, Tyler Stites, as he prepares to set out on a new journey across the ocean to a fulltime spot in the European peloton. For the last 3 seasons we've got to enjoy his racing on Project Echelon but now he's signed a two-year deal with Caja Rural and he's ready to spread his wings. Before he does, we got a chance to talk with him about where he's been and how he's enjoyed the ride along the way.

Episode 141: December 4, 2024: The Way Back with Alexis Magner

Alexis Magner 100% stands on her own when it comes to accomplishments. With a win at Acht van Westerveld, second at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Ronde van Drenthe in 2018; along with third at Dwars der Vlaanderen in 2021 while racing for Canyon-SRAM you may be wondering, how did she end up on the American criterium scene? We've got those answers for you in this episode. Plus we have the story of how she parlayed back-to-back wins at her hometown Athen's Twilight Criterium into a new opportunity with the UCI Contintental squad Cynisca Cycling. It's a lot to pack in, but our man Jordan Cheyne is on top of it.

Episode 140: November 13, 2024: Cowboy Featuring Lucas Bourgoyne

Seventy-five minutes of laughter, levity, cowboy hats, and some hot takes. It's Lucas Bourgoyne and he's 100% worth all of your time. 

Episode 139: October 30, 2024: Paul Abrahams Knows what he is Talking about

We are taking a step back in time to the original days of this podcast. Back in the heady days of 2018 and 2019, a team known as Elevate-KHS dominated the scene. Many of our guests, and even one host, came through that program, and even more were mentored and influenced by riders who had Paul Abrahams as their DS. Jordan talks with Paul all about that time and his experiences in the sport.

Episode 138: October 23, 2024: Have We Reached Peak Crit?

A discussion months in the making-- have we reached peak crit? The data has been compiled and the takes are all hot. It's time to give you the thesis and then let Allan Schroeder and Logan Jones Wilkins back it all up.

Episode 137: October 16, 2024: Living the Dream with Maggie Coles Lyster

One of our favorite Women's World Tour pros, and a true Canadian national treasure is back in the studio and ready to talk the Olympics, a full road and track season, and push-ups. So join Maggie Coles Lyster and Jordan Cheyne in this 100% pure maple syrup ride.

Episode 136: October 9, 2024: The Phoenix featuring Carlie Cooper and Ruth Allen of Work Hard Be Humble

Interview a classics PhD and another guest studying to get her PhD and you come up with intelligent titles with multi-tiers and meanings. The women of Work Hard Be Humble have risen, and turned what could have been the flaming wreck of a season into a meaningful quest and an opportunity to bond and grow. As a unit they have been born again, but born better.

Episode 135: September 25, 2024: Tolley Tolley Tolley

The beauty of long-form journalism is that the person and the story evolve. You get to see and learn so much more because the time is dedicated, and we all end up better for it. The story of Chris Tolley is evolving and changing. The version that we interviewed in 2022 has given way to this more distinguished thought provoking one (that's not to say the 2022 version lacked anything in those categories). However, with more time we have more to work with, and we hope you enjoy the result.

Episode 134: September 11, 2024: Changing the Game with Michael Garrison

Look up the road or at the front, that's where you'll find this week's guest Michael Garrison of NICH +SpeedClub. Singlehandly he animated, disrupted, and changed the outcome of races like Tulsa Tough this year. In a sport built around the best teams he has been a solo revelation and we are lucky enough to have him on the show.

Episode 133: August 28, 2024: What We've Learned: Taylor Swift Fixes All

5 years or 5 episodes, it's all about celebration and a learning curve. Jordan Cheyne and Rob Kelly sit down and talk about what they've respectively learned about podcasting and North American bike racing over their respective tenures hosting a podcast about it. And yes, Taylor Swift can fix all problems.

Episode 132: August 7, 2024: Mike Creed Tells it Like it is

As a rider, Mike Creed raced on some of the most storied teams in North American cycling history, from US Postal to Slipstream to Optum Kelly Benefits. As a director, he guided the Smartstop team to one of the great underdog seasons in recent memory, featuring a win at Nationals. He now leads the charge at Aevolo Cycling, the premier US based development squad which will be part of the EF Education First organization starting next season.

Mike has lived this sport for decades. Fortunately for us, he isn't afraid to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Tune in for insight, entertainment and some takes you won't hear anywhere else.

Episode 131: July 24, 2024: Potential with Joe Laverick

When have we lived up to our potential? A lot of us never really get to answer that question; but rather must deal with the pitfalls life throws in our way. Some of us are lucky, or stubborn enough, to push on beyond those pitfalls and create opportunities for themselves when none present. That is the story of Joe Laverick of Ribble Rebellion. When opportunities did not present themselves at the close of his U23 career Joe set out to make his own, and found a willing partner in Ribble. Together they've built an impressive bike racing team that has come to the US and taken the fight to all the best that we have here, and returned victorious. 

Episode 130: July 9, 2024: Coming to America with Cecile Lejeune of CCB

At a time when many American racers are taking to Europe to race, Cecile has done the opposite. Trading in Mt Ventoux and baguettes for Mt Lemmon and burritos, Cecile is making the bike racing dream work in North America from crits, to UCI podiums to gravel wins. Whether it is for the adventure, the laughs or the complimentary French lesson-you don't want to miss this one.

Episode 129: June 20, 2024: Into the Wild with Kimberly Lucie

New host, who dis?

Can our Criterium Nation survive a new host? And a Canadian one at that? We are about to find out as retired pro Jordan Cheyne takes the front. But what better guest than the lead out woman herself, Kimberly Lucie of DNA Pro Cycling. Kim is one of the few bike racers in the peloton who can actually say they are really, genuinely, 100% a Tucson, Arizona native.

Episode 128: May 7, 2024: Four Take Aways from Stage Race Season

We are now at the end of the beginning and poised for a new phase of the domestic racing scene. That means it is a perfect time for us to check in on what has happened, identify some solid trends and talk about all the takeaways that we can from the first part of 2024.

Episode 127: April 23, 2024: What Happened with the NCL

On April 15 the National Cycling League shuttered its doors for 2024, and announced that it will focus on 2025. That has left riders and teams in limbo, and a lot of confusion as to what is happening. We are joined by journalist Logan Jones-Wilkins to help provide context and build a historical picture for what has led up to this point. 

Episode 126: April 17, 2024: The Project Echelon Files: The Working Man Pro with Matt Zimmer

Job, wife, child, pro bike racer. That's a full day and for Matt Zimmer that's his reality. He's come a long way since being the high schooler in Iowa who just raced bikes, and he is here to share that journey with us along with tidbits about racing in Europe and how we can make racing here more inviting.