Show Notes
This week on the show, Payson sits down with Sarah Sturm to talk about the roster for 2026’s Life Time Grand Prix, which was released last week and contained more surprises than all the previous years combined. Payson and Sarah chat about the lengthy list of brand-new riders, the heartbreak and shock of seeing one of the most promising young racers of the past few years shut out of the series completely, and what they think about the controversial changes to the prize money. But first, they t...
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Cole Paton’s win at Little Sugar last week was just the latest in a series of big events that have shaped his life on and off the bike this year. Over the winter, he got a new coach, bought a log cabin on 40 acres in central Washington, and started adding mountain bike races to his schedule. Despite taking a wrong turn at Little Sugar, he won handily, without another rider in sight. In this conversation, Cole talks about the tough season of racing that led up to his first Grand Prix win...
Sepp Kuss is back on the pod after yet another historic season racing all three Grand Tours, and after his stage 19 win at the Giro d'Italia this year, he is now one of the few riders to have won a stage in each. Sepp caught up with Payson during a break in racing to talk about his infamous crash while leading stage 20 of the Tour de France this year, whether he actually enjoys doing all three Grand Tours in a season, and how his life has changed since becoming a dad. Instagram: @withpa...
Most high schoolers spend their time hanging out with friends and worrying about college applications. Jacob Hora spent his time getting trench foot in Central Asia and riding solo across 800 miles of Armenia. At 15, he tackled the notorious Iditarod Trail Invitational with his mentor, Jay Petervary. The following year, he did the 1,200-mile Silk Road Mountain race in Kyrgyzstan. Now a senior at Fort Lewis College, he juggles classes with ultra endurance events like the Tour Divide and the Co...
Fans of XCO World Cup racing might have been surprised to learn at the beginning of the year that Mārtiņš Blūms was headed for the Grand Prix. The Latvian rider has been a mainstay on the World Cup circuit for a decade, racking up podiums and even winning the 2017 overall as a U23. But as he tells Payson in this conversation, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for cross country riders these days, and he was ready to try something new. Last month, he had a standout race at Chequamegon, wh...
One month after giving birth to her daughter, Sarah Sturm is back in the studio with Payson to talk about what has changed and what has stayed the same in these past few transformational weeks. After a relatively smooth pregnancy and birth, she’s already been able to ride again, and she’s found that her relationship with the bike has been permanently altered. In this episode, Sarah discusses the day-to-day realities of raising an infant and how she sees her future in the sport, including her ...