Girls Gone Gravel podcast

On our episode this week Kathryn and Kristi welcome gravel new-comer Lizzie Hermolle. Hailing from the UK, Lizzie won the British gravel national championship in 2025 in just her second season racing gravel. Lizzie was a soccer player growing up. She started cycling in her late 20’s during the COVID lockdown and was hooked. She raced on a continental road team in 2025, but after claiming the grave...

This week on the show we have a special two-part episode with professional cyclist Maddy Nutt. We first hear from Maddy live from Emporia in the days leading into her Unbound XL race. Maddy talks about her win at the Traka 560, and why she was drawn to gravel to begin with. She also goes through a few pre-race details for Unbound, including her bike setup and the recipe for her favorite race day b...

In this bonus episode, Selene welcomes longtime friend, cyclist, and women’s sports powerhouse Kate Veronneau to the show for a preview of the first-ever FeistyFest in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. For Kate, the location is personal. The Valley Preferred Cycling Center is where she first fell in love with bike racing, found her cycling community, and eventually launched a career in the sport. S...

Wow, what an incredible week being immersed in the gravel community in Emporia, KS! Unbound 2026 sure was a memorable one, from mud to heat to hail storms, this race had it all. On our episode this week Kristi and Kathryn caught up with a few of the female pros before and after the race to hear how they were preparing, as well as how their race day unfolded. Tune in to get all of the nitty gritty...

Unbound Gravel 2026 is almost here! Kathryn and Kristi are joined this week by Lauren Hall and Sarah Sturm who will both be part of the Life Time media team at Unbound this year covering the 200 mile race. First up, Kristi gives a quick course preview and talks through some of the changes for 2026. Then they take a deep dive into race tactics, possible team dynamics, and how the European women are...

On this week’s episode Kathryn and Kristi are joined by 3-time gravel national champion Lauren Stephens. Lauren has been lighting up the road and gravel scene for years, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the show. She tells us about how a second-hand bike from her sister got her started in cycling, and how she went from bike commuter to racing on the women’s world tour. Last year, Lauren and h...

This week on the show Kathryn welcomes back professional cyclist and coach Hannah Otto. Last fall after finishing in a tie for 7th p[lace overall in the Life Time Grand Prix, Hannah went to the Big Island of Hawai’i to attempt a Fastest Known Time (FKT) on the Mauna Kea climb. This was not Hannah’s first time attempting an FKT, and she talks about what drives her to take on these epic endurance ev...

If you follow gravel racing, you probably have seen Iz King with her infectious smile and bright orange kit around gravel events. In the last year, Iz’s life has looked a little different; in August 2025 she gave birth to a baby girl and this week she joins us to discuss what that transition has been like for her and her family. She opens up about the challenges and rewards of getting back to trai...

This week Kathryn and Kristi welcome back our friend Meredith Root. Meredith is the co-founder of Team Tactic, a nutrition and training coaching company, with her wife Alex Parker. Meredith will be racing the Unbound 200 this year for the second time. She is here to talk about the lessons she learned last year during the race, and how she has changed her training this year compared to last year. M...

On this episode Kathryn and Kristi are joined by our friend, and frequent flier on the podcast, Alison Tetrick. Ali will be leading our More Women More Miles 100 mile group at Unbound 2026, and she is here this week to give us all of her best tips on how to make the most of your race day - whether it is Unbound or any other gravel adventure you might be taking on. She covers everything from wind m...

On this week’s episode Kathryn and Kristi are joined by co-founder of the Mid South Gravel Crystal Wintle. After getting a taste of gravel while attending Emporia State University, Crystal moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma and started a bike shop with her husband. That same year they started the Mid South Gravel race, and what began as a gathering of a few of their friends has grown into one of the be...

This week, we welcome guest Kristen Owenreay, a participant at fall gravel camp and recent DFL from Mid South 2026. Kristen shares her experience at MidSouth, where she decided to take on her first century ride. She opens up about losing her mom at age 23, and how that motivates her to ride her bike purely for the joy of it. Kristen also discusses her involvement with All Bodies on Bikes, which st...

We’ve all been there; you are 90 minutes into your long ride and you just cannot get comfortable on your saddle no matter what you do. There’s nothing that kills the fun of a ride quite like saddle pain. Lucky for us, we are joined this week by Chloe Murdock, a physical therapist, pelvic health specialist and bike fitter to help solve your saddle pain. Chloe’s extensive background in these three a...

On our episode this week Kristi catches up with our friend Sarah Sturm at the finish line of Mid South Gravel where she raced the 50 Mile event. Sarah recently announced her pregnancy, and she and Kristi dive into Sarah’s pregnancy journey so far and how she is learning to find her own path through it. At Mid South this year Sarah raced with the masses, and she talks about what that experience was...

Jill Nazeer is the Brand Manager for Salsa Cycles, and this week she joins Kathryn and Kristi to talk about the brand’s mission to build communities in the world of cycling. Salsa is out to remind folks that every rider at every event is valued, and deserves to be celebrated as such. As a beacon of this mission, you can find the famous Salsa Chaise at many gravel events across the country. Jill fi...

This week Kathryn catches up with cycling coach Serena Bishop Gordon. Serena has been coaching for many years, and this year she is the head coach for the Feisty Winter Cycling program. She first dives into explaining the difference between training vs exercising, and the importance of building progressive load into a training program, and reminds us that rest and recovery are key parts of the tra...

On this week’s show, Kathryn caught up with Paige Onweller and Cécile Lejeune from Cécile’s home in Tucson. The pair are teammates on the Trek Driftless team this year. Paige has been with the team for a few years, but this is a new setup for Cécile, so they chat about how this came about, what pro contracts on a team typically look like, and the benefits of being part of a team. Paige is in Tucso...

On this episode, Kathryn and Kristi catch up with Melisa Rollins and Kate Courtney from Kate’s house in California where they were based for a training camp. This cycling power duo has teamed up to race Cape Epic this year, an eight-day stage race in South Africa. Kate and Melisa battled it out last year in Leadville at both the three day stage race, which Melisa won by less than 30 seconds over K...

On our live episode this week, Kathryn and Kristi get to talk with USA Cycling’s Lauren Hall, and Kate Veronneau who is the Director of Women’s Strategy at Zwift. Lauren and Kate give their take on the state of women’s road cycling leading into the 2026 season and also looking ahead to the 2028 Olympic Games in LA. In this temperature check they chat about the landscape of women’s cycling in the U...

On this episode, Kathryn and Kristi get to chat with the “most famous memer in gravel” who is known widely for her Instagram account Holy Spirit of Gravel. They chat about her perspective of cycling as an “online space” and how she is helping to remind cyclists that the spirit of gravel is still very much alive. We hear how she decided to start up the Instagram account, and also how it has helped...

In this special episode, your Feisty Women's Performance podcast host Dr. Erin Ayala brings together a group of experts on mental health to talk about the science and psychology of stress and collective trauma. Along with being a sports psychologist & therapist in her own right, Erin also lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota — which has been at the center of the news over the last month since it be...

This week we bring you another live episode with the one and only Alison Tetrick, who was our first podcast guest way back in 2020. Ali is a former world tour pro-turned gravel racer, and winner of events like Unbound 200 and Gravel Worlds. Recently, Ali has taken to the trails in a new form, taking up ultra running as well as ultra distance cycling. She talks about how her passions have evolved o...

Welcome to our 6th year of the podcast! Our first guest of 2026 is friend of the podcast, and professional cyclist Sarah Sturm. Sarah joined us live to answer all of our burning questions about her life as a professional off-road cyclist. She talks about managing stress and disappointment, learning from mistakes, navigating her own expectations, and why she loves strength training. Sarah also expl...

This week on the show Kathryn and Kristi are chatting with French cyclist, Cécile Lejeune. Cécile grew up in the suburbs of Paris, and got her start in endurance sport in triathlon at age 12. She had quick success in the sport winning national titles in both triathlon and running. This success earned her a running scholarship at Arizona State University. But behind the scenes Cécile was struggling...

On this week’s episode Kathryn welcomes back Jill Martindale, who was last on the show in 2021 after she won the 2020 Iditarod Trail 1000 Invitational. Recently, Jill set the FKT on the 300 mile Mega Midsouth route in November of 2025 despite chilly weather, lack of sleep, and being chased by guard dogs. Jill lives in western Michigan, and spends her winters outside on her fat bike in all kinds of...