Girls Gone Gravel podcast

This week we have another special episode for you with two Life Time Grand Prix athletes, who, off the bike, are experts in sports nutrition. Sarah Lange is a registered dietician, and Anna Hicks is a certified nutritionist. The pair discuss how mindset and diet culture can play into our fueling decisions as athletes, and why it is important for us to challenge those thoughts when they come up. Th...

Like many of our guests, Justine Barrow found her way to cycling after an injury sidelined her from running. What make’s Justine’s story so unique was that it was at age 35, and almost 10 years later she still feels like a relative “newbie” in the gravel racing scene. Her results however would suggest that she is far from that; as the 2023 Australian National Gravel Champion, Justine has also grab...

If you’ve been lucky enough to cross paths with Peta Mullens, you will undoubtedly notice her positive energy and enthusiasm for cycling. With over 20 years in the sport, Peta has raced almost every discipline, from criterium to mountain biking, and also has more than 20 national titles in her home country of Australia. This year, Peta has made the trip to America from down under to compete in the...

Paige Onweller recently finished 3rd place at Unbound Gravel in that iconic nine woman sprint finish in the 200 mile race. This impressive finish gained her some key points in the Life Time Grand Prix. What makes this finish even more impressive, is that it was just 12 weeks after Paige underwent surgery on her right ankle to repair a torn ligament. In this episode, Kathryn and Kristi are chatting...

Geerike “Gee” Schruers was a soigneur on the women’s pro tour for over 10 years, taking care of some of the best riders in the world to help them perform at their best. However, last year she was tempted by the growing gravel scene, and made the jump to professional racing herself. Gee joined up with Specialized and is the only Specialized/SD Worx rider that focuses solely on gravel. She tells us...

What a race it was at the 2024 edition of Unbound Gravel! This year the women had their very own start, and they put on an amazing show. On this week’s episode, Kathryn is on the ground in Emporia with interviews from the race expo before race day. Kathryn also linked up with women’s 200 mile winner, Rosa Klöser, after the race, as well as Geerike Schruers and Hannah Otto to get their scoop on how...

It is almost time for Unbound Gravel 2024! On this episode of the show, Kathryn and Kristi are joined by Life Time Grand Prix commentators Janel Spilker and Lauren Hall to dive into all of their race-day predictions. The course is heading north this year, and Kristi gives us her insider’s scoop on what riders can expect from the infamous North Route, as well as a few changes to the start procedure...

This week Kathryn and Kristi welcome back 2022 Lifetime Grand Prix Champion Haley Smith. Haley recently completed her Masters of Science in Sport Psychology, and in this episode she takes a deep dive into how we can all work towards keeping our mindset positive during races and training rides. As both an academic and an accomplished athlete Haley knows the importance of keeping her mental game str...

If you’ve ever thought about taking on a long gravel adventure but don’t know where to start or even if you are familiar with longer gravel events but want to sharpen up your training, this episode is for you! Kathryn and Kristi are joined this week by professional cyclist and cycling coach Scotti Moody. Scotti has taken on (and won) many ultra-endurance cycling events, which gives her the unique...

This week we get the chance to hear from off-road cycling legend Rebecca Rusch. A lifelong athlete, Rebecca started her professional athletic career in adventure racing, running and rock climbing, and didn’t start racing bikes until she was 38. She describes the events that lead her to pursue professional mountain biking (even though she wasn’t the best rider at the time), and why it is so importa...

This week Kathryn and Kristi are catching up with Life Time Grand Prix athlete Caroline Tory from Aspen, Colorado. Caroline grew up in downtown Toronto but was always drawn to the mountains, and after attending college in Maine she moved to Colorado and dove head first into the outdoor lifestyle spending her time skiing and mountain biking. A collegiate runner, Caroline was no stranger to competit...

The Life Time Grand Prix has officially kicked off for the 2024 season, and this week we are bringing you the show live from The Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL. Tune in to get all of the pre- and post race highlights live from the Laguna Seca Raceway in the heart of the action, including Janelle Spilker’s perspective of watching the women’s race unfold from the helicopter and interviews with Hannah Ot...

We are just days away from the start of the third season of the Lift Time Grand Prix, which kicks off at the Sea Otter Fuego XL in Monterey California. On today’s show Kathryn and Kristi welcome former pro cyclist, and current Life Time Grand Prix commentator Janel Spilker. The three discuss how this season could play out, and talk about some of the racers to watch this year on the women’s field....

Rachael Burnside didn’t grow up as a cyclist, but she has found her passion working in the cycling industry as the head of marketing at Shift Active Media. After a few years in the role, Rachael saw the need for women in the industry to have other women to guide them along in their careers. To fill this need Rachael started Uplift, a mentoring program that matches female leaders in the cycling ind...

This week we welcome Hannah Otto and Kristen Legan for the first episode in a special series on the Life Time Grand Prix. Throughout the series we will be hearing from athletes in the Grand Prix to get the inside scoop on their preparation for the events, how they train, and what we can learn from their expertise to put towards our own training and racing. Kristen and Hannah are both cycling coach...

We all love a great comeback story, and that is what our guest this week brings us. Cecily Decker was an alpine ski racer from the age of six, and spent a stint on the US National team in her teenage years, before a horrific crash and knee injury altered her path. A fierce competitor, Cecily recovered from her injury and returned to ski racing getting a scholarship at Montana State University. But...

Helena Gilbert-Snyder is here to remind us not to underestimate the impact that you can have on the world. As a high school mountain bike coach, Helena noticed that the girls that she coaches lacked the confidence in themselves to get out and try new things outside of their comfort zone so she decided to take matters into her own hands and start a program to help them. Joining with the Low Gap Gra...

This week on the show we are chatting with two members of team Four the Record, Dani Overbaugh and Vicki Anstey. The pair make up half of a team of four women who are attempting to break the women’s team record at the Race Across America (RAAM). Starting in Oceanside, California, the race covers over 3000 miles and 11 states across the US and finishes in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Together with th...

If you’ve ever seen Kate Courtney ride a bike, you know that she sends it. Growing up in Marin County, Kate rode a mountain bike from a young age, and rose through the ranks of US mountain biking to race on the UCI Elite World Cup circuit. She talks about the changes and growth that she has seen in US mountain biking, and where she sees the future of the sport heading. Kate’s success in cross-coun...

After a career as a professional racer in the women's road peloton, Abby Mickey was ready to walk away form the sport entirely; she was burnt out and frustrated by the treatment that she and her colleagues received as professional athletes trying to make a living racing bikes. But, Abby also knew that the women that she had raced alongside had incredible stories that weren't being told. So she and...

This week on the show, Kathryn chats with our producer, and triathlete-turned off-road racer Lindsay Glassford to get the scoop on gravel riding in the Canadian Rockies. Lindsay finished third in the elite women’s field at the inaugural TransRockies Gravel Royale in 2022, and the two chat about Lindsay’s experience at the race, and why you should be excited to take part in this event in 2024. Alon...

As a 4-time world champion in 4 different distances in triathlon, including winning the both Ironman and 70.3 World Championships in 2012 it would be reasonable to assume that Leanda Cave is riding off into the sunset of a successful career as a professional triathlete. But that’s just not her style. Leanda has recently found her way into mountain biking and gravel, and has embraced the challenge...

If you’ve ever thought about taking on a long gravel adventure but don’t know where to start or even if you are familiar with longer gravel events but want to sharpen up your training, this episode is for you! Kathryn and Kristi are joined this week by professional cyclist and cycling coach Scotti Moody. Scotti has taken on (and won) many ultra-endurance cycling events, which gives her the unique...

This week we get the chance to hear from off-road cycling legend Rebecca Rusch. A lifelong athlete, Rebecca started her professional athletic career in adventure racing, running and rock climbing, and didn’t start racing bikes until she was 38. She describes the events that lead her to pursue professional mountain biking (even though she wasn’t the best rider at the time), and why it is so importa...

This week we welcome back US gravel juggernaut Lauren De Crescenzo. We hear what Lauren has been up to since her last appearance on the show in 2021 (including winning Unbound), and Lauren opens up about recovering from a traumatic brain injury after a crash on the road in 2016. She talks about how that recovery process has given her the mindset to take on hard days on the race course. With a back...