King of the Ride

Laurens is a vibe. His Live Slow, Ride Fast mantra is a media company and it's a way of life! He has very big plans for 2024, so listen in as we talk the Portugal N2 trip, his target of Tour Divide, how he stays fit at 43, and what it takes to compete at the pointy end of World Tour bike races in this modern age. N2 trip in summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7I4RBIlp9c Follow Laurens at: @l...

The multi-disciplined Tobin Ortenblad joins us on the podcast today. The former u23 national champion in cyclocross, the recently tattooed SSCXWC victor, the often bearded and fun loving Tobin Ortenblad, that is! We talk all facets of cycling from his early days right up through the present at Levi's Gran Fondo. The state of road cycling, his favorite genre of cyclocross, gravel, and everything in...

This conversation started with a social media post. Namely, this one: https://www.instagram.com/p/C40wy-_Oh5Z/?img_index=1 You could argue that Noah is not your average MidSouth competitor, unless it's argued that he's the exact, prototypical MidSouth competitor. On a lark, Noah hatched the idea of doing MidSouth on a $2 per day beach cruiser rental bike and then he went ahead with the idea. Follo...

Our guest today is Michael van den Ham. Michael is a long time staple to the North American cyclocross circuit, he’s a four time Canadian national champion, he’s tallied 6 UCI cyclocross race wins, he’s raced the world championships on an impressive seven different occasions, and he's supremely handy on a gravel bike. Not only that, he's recently retired from the professional 'cross circuit to foc...

Derek Teel is on the podcast today. His strength training platform, Dialed Health, has become the gold standard among amateurs and pro cyclists alike. His following is prolific at @DialedHealth which perhaps has helped echo the story he's going to tell on today's episode of being hit by a car at 65mph and left for dead. This is a heart-wrenching story of challenges and overcoming obstacles, no mat...

Neilson Powless is just getting warmed up. His rise through the sport starts decades ago, when he and his sister Shayna were playing games secretly engineered by their parents to help encourage their endurance engines. Winning the XTerra World Championships in 2012, for example, indirectly shuttled him to picking up wins in the World Tour today. Recently becoming a father, Neilson reflects on the...

Ben Hoffman is an amazing athlete. This born Coloradan, now Arizonan, is an 8 time Ironman champion, 7 time Ironman 70.3 champ, has finished as high as second at the hallowed Kona Ironman World Championships, as well as 4th place twice. He's a monster on the bike, duking it out on what's dubbed the fastest group ride in the country, there in Tucson, Arizona, and has toed the line at gravel races a...

Matteo Jorgenson is a young, powerhouse professional road cyclist. Born in Idaho, he's made his way all over the world racing his bike, and ultimately onto arguably the best team in modern day cycling, Visma-Lease A Bike. At just 24 years old, he's quickly and stealthfully tallied one of the strongest list of palmares American cycling has ever seen. With a focus and results already rolling in duri...

Special ASK ME ANYTHING episode! You sent questions in, we answered. From van life to real life to gravel in the casual sense to gravel in the hellbent racing sense, lots of UCI questions, and everything in between. Please visit www.drinkAG1.com/tedking to get those five free travel packs and a year's supply of vitamin D. To submit more questions, visit www.iamtedking.com/contact  

Tanner Putt has spent the majority of his life spent in cycling. I’ve known him as a bike racer — a very successful one in the u23 and domestic scene, especially. But it was when I was reading a recent Outside magazine article about Americans racing the Tour de France and in particular the atypical pathway that seemingly every American has to travel to make it from here in the states to the start...

There's rumor of someone coming out of South Africa who's an absolute machine in off-road racing. He's cleaned up in his home country and now he's on the move to North America. That person is the very affable Matt Beers. On the heels of his recent sprint to second place at the inaugural Little Sugar in Arkansas, Matt is lining up for the season finale Big Sugar this weekend. Between these big late...

Ben Delany has a career in cycling media to his name. He's seen the sport soar, he's been there during troubled times, and he's excited to break out on his own and expand what cycling media is. As gravel has taken off, he's now a bit of a cycling media privateer himself with the advent of his YouTube channel and the ways he interacts with brands. Join me on this conversation with someone who share...

Dave Wiens is a Coloradan. He's an outdoorsman. He's a mountain biker and skier. He's a father, husband, and hall of famer. He carries the torch of the International Mountain Bicycling Association as their executive director and has a vision for cycling, hiking, and just being outside that makes people want to be part of this vision.  This is a very fun one and I know you'll enjoy it. Don't forget...

Not all professional athletes are one dimensional and Alexey is proof of that. This busy body has a lot going on, both on and off the bike. After an impressive 2nd at Leadville and 3rd at SBT, he's only whet his appetite for an action packed end of the year.  We caught up on the eve of SBTGRVL and had this terrific conversation about the state of the (gravel) cycling world and where he's placing h...

Anna Greetis is always on her toes. She looks after seemingly anything resembling a road bike, gravel bike, or cyclocross bike here in America for SRAM athletes, and then still has time to head off to Europe for some of the biggest bike races in the world. Anna is an all-star as she's helped keep my fleet of bikes in tip top shape for years now and does it all with a genuine smile and easy convers...

There are many chapters to Ryan Standish's path through cycling, but beginning in Australia at the age of two straight up through the present, there are a book full of anecdotes along the way. From the pursuit of Olympic mountain bike dreams to a shot at the World Tour to the current ambiguous endurance off-road scene, Ryan mixes his passion for cycling with close-to-the-heart interest in giving b...

Roger Brown has four bike races under his belt. He's raced Unbound 200 twice, some random race in college that he discusses today, and now the Unbound XL! Admittedly, neither Roger nor Ted finished the XL, but that doesn't mean it doesn't come without stories. Drop in on these two friends catching up on an epic overnight in Kansas. Use code "podcast" at untapped.cc to get some handy savings on all...

The Tour Divide didn't go my way, but that doesn't mean I didn't learn anything. I had hours and HOURS of alone time to ponder everything under the sun -- before, during, and after my race -- and it was fun to condense it and talk about it here with the one and only Rebecca Rusch. If you're curious about my packing list, please check that out here, www.iamtedking.com/blog/td-packing   And don't fo...

On the eve of Tour Divide, I thought it would be wise to talk to the friendliest character in bikepacking, Lael Wilcox. We caught up with Lael on her ride TO THE START of the Tour Divide, as she rides from Tucson, Arizona to Banff, Alberta, Canada. There are loads of questions on my mind as it seems like this event is intentionally cryptic. For example, the Tour Divide is a ride along the Continen...

Paige Onweller stamped her name as a contender in the gravel scene by winning Big Sugar 2022. Lots of podiums and top 10 results also live on her palmares, despite a very short list of total races that she's ever done. Given her greater life story of selling her house, buying a van, and pressing pause on her career as a PA makes her transition to gravel all the more impressive.  Visit www.athletic...

What's path to victory look like in the hotly contested 2022 Unbound 200? That's what I set out to find out with our guest Ivar Slik. Ivar is a member of the Dutch Mafia, as amalgamated by Laurens Ten Dam and his introduction to his Dutch countrymen (and women) to the American gravel scene. Although Ivar's name is forever tagged to the win in the most storied gravel race of them all, he's been dab...

Cole Paton is one of the good guys. He happens to be one of the good guys who's off to a screaming start to 2023. With international wins to his name this spring, second at Whiskey Offroad, and sitting third overall at the Life Time Grand Prix, we're hearing his name a lot and should expect to see him near or at the top of the podium for many years to come. Follow Cole at @colepaton And give yours...

Russell Finsterwald is our guest today. Professional mountain biker, crusher on a gravel bike, Russell wrapped up 2022 in third place in the Life Time Grand Prix and is looking for more this season. With a big year ahead, I wanted to check in to hear more from Russell, his background and history, plus his goals and ambitions for 2023 and more. Don't forget to get your FREE flask at www.untapped.cc...

Nicolas Roche is a pro's pro. This long time Irish born, French raised, global savvy individual has a lengthy list of impressive results. Twice finishing in the top ten of the Vuelta a España, Nico is a two time Irish national champion, and represented Ireland at the UCI road world championships seven times, the Olympics once, and just recently at the inaugural UCI gravel world champs.  He's got a...

Heather Jackson is putting up smashing results as she just now enters the worlds of gravel and ultrarunning. Which is as much a surprise that a "neo" pro would be able to accomplish these things as much as it's totally expected as she's been a triathlete for 15 years, expertly honing her 10-plus hour endurance. But let's talk about her time in Thailand! Or her medals from the US track national cha...