The Paceline Cycling Podcast

We can laugh at ourselves, yes? Robot takes aim at cycling costumes, our seriousness, ridiculousness and functionality all being poked, prodded and panned. And maybe justified, too. This week Padraig takes on helmet mirrors. Are they a good idea? What does brain science have to say about them? He digs into that and discusses what we can do to increase the odds that a driver won't go thump-thump ov...

This week John takes a look at a watershed event in Shimano's history. They have discontinued mechanically operated drivetrains on their Dura-Ace and Ultegra groups. The new versions of these groups we should see before the end of the year will be electronic-only. One of the biggest retailers in the country recently announced their sale to a Dutch holding company. As a result, Specialized severed...

John is just back from vacation in New Hampshire's White Mountains. He went glamping with the fam and says it was better than staying in a hotel. Patrick takes on a listener question about strategies to fit more training time in preparation for some long gravel events that he hopes take place next year.

Just what is humidity? For a cyclist, relative humidity can make the difference between a lovely day on the bike and a session of abject suffering. But what does that number really mean and how should we interpret it. Our man Robot goes full nerd. It wasn't too long ago that most roadies were decrying the advent of disc brakes on road bikes as unnecessary technology and a cynical effort to make us...

In this episode of the Paceline Tandem, we speak with Phil Cavell, author of The MidLife Cyclist, a book that shows the way forward for middle-aged riders (and athletes). Cavell is co-director of Cyclefit, an internationally known fit studio in Central London. With co-founder Julian Wall, Cavell has fit Pro Tour riders, Olympians and legions of aspiring middle-aged cyclists. The MidLife Cyclist is...

This week John considers his diet. He likes eating all the things, including kale. But is that really good for the environment, he asks. Patrick wonders what the delta variant means for doing bike events and travel. Is buying a hazmat suit the answer?

John is thinking about cycling culture and just how it manifests, like who's responsible? Is it influencers? Patrick got a question about cycling heroes and who his are (hint: it's not who you think). 

John has been giving some thought to the brouhaha over gymnast Simone Biles' withdrawal from the Olympic Games and how none of us really knows what is going on in her head and how, maybe, we could cut her some slack. In response to a listener question, Patrick takes a look at what we get out of doing really hard things, like maybe a 200-mile gravel race and how a day that doesn't go to plan can be...

Our guest for this installment of The Paceline Tandem is Mark Peterman, the CEO and founder of AirFom, a new foam insert that replaces inner tubes (and air) in bicycle tires. Peterman is an industry veteran who has done it all: He was an elite level racer in Colorado where he raced against the best of the best in the 1980s. He was a race promoter, a bike shop manager, a regional sales rep. He join...

Our man John is considering his good fortune. He has a home and nice bikes and friends who think he's awesome. He also has someone who depends on him who is in a fix. What's on his mind is how cycling teaches us to help when you can. Patrick spoke with bike industry veteran Mark Peterman about the supply chain issues that have seen very few bikes arrive in shops. Peterman has deep experience and i...

A new shop has opened up near John, and he's hopeful that they can make a go of it. His question is why it's so hard to pay and keep good mechanics and why bicycle retailing isn't a more profitable endeavor. After some soul-searching in the wake of the end of a relationship, Patrick asks what it means to give. As is his way, he looks to cycling for his answer. 

Where are the bikes? Not the ones in your garage or your friend's garage, but the ones that should be appearing on the floors of bike shops around the country. Demand has fallen off, possibly because non-bike-owning types are tired of waiting for bikes to show up from the factories. Robot digs into this question with unsurprising results.  A listener wrote to Patrick to comment on the stance the s...

Why is riding bikes with friends so good? We know it's true, but can anyone really explain why? Our man John takes on the question. Did you pick up Covid pounds? Patrick did and now he's trying to figure out how much discipline he's willing to live by, how much of his diet he's willing to give up.

The show is back now that Patrick has returned from his visit to Memphis. John takes on the subject of gravel riding and where it may go next. Could Redbull get interested in gravel racing? Should there be some sort of Protour? Patrick had the opportunity to ride some mountain bike trails he last rolled in the early 1990s. Thirty years later, there have been some changes and additions and it got h...

This week Robot follows up on threads from several previous episodes. He'd like us to believe he's a short, bad human. We know that's not true; he's a robot. Patrick takes on a listener question in the form of what kind of mountain bike to buy. This isn't a brand question, it's a type question. And he admits that the answer is somewhat location dependent. 

This week our man about the gravel town, John Emlyn "Robot" Lewis, gives us an inside look at what happens when ego overrides good decision-making. For some it makes for comedy. For our hero, less so. Patrick received a listener question about when the best time is to visit California for a summer mountain biking trip. His answer is less about summer heat than its effects.

John has a gravel event coming up this weekend, and he was wishing for something that would give him instant base miles, which he's lacking. Instead, he managed to find a way to make the coming weekend more challenging, not less so. It's not uncommon for our non-cycling friends to come to us for advice on bike purchases. Patrick recently got a question from a buddy about what sort of bike to recom...

John may have talked his wife into another bike for their household. He's not sure he's at Wizard Level 10 yet, but she seems to agree with him. Tandems are back into Patrick's rotation of riding, or at least one tandem is back in rotation. He looks at why a bicycle built for two is so much fun and how it can be a constructive way to teach a novice cyclist about road riding. Our apologies for the...

This week John talks about beginning to put together a calendar of events that he will enter. He'll be fully vaccinated soon and the upshot is that he may actually have to get in shape. Patrick has been thinking about the letdown that can come at the end of a crisis. Once the danger is in the rear view mirror, it's not uncommon to have everything we didn't permit ourselves to feel to come crashing...

This week John "Robot" Lewis returns as guest host and he talks about what it means to have less than stellar fitness and to be the weakest link on a ride. He's made his peace and is still having fun he says. Patrick says that Sonoma County is into the part of spring where everything is blooming and the air is full of pollen. He's got a fair number of allergies and talks antihistamines and why the...

This week we've got another guest host on deck. Mike "Cush" Cushiobury, TCI's editor-in-chief steps up to the mic (literally, right?) to talk trail etiquette. Padraig is back from his trip to gold country and the Tour de Placer Roubaix. Holding the event in April made for a significantly different day. And there were other changes due to pandemic protocols, of course. 

Guests: Tim Jackson; Max Pratt This week’s show started out a lot differently from the way it has ended up. We do have a fabulous conversation with Max Pratt, a young and very talented frame designer/builder from Providence, RI. And, I think you’ll find his perspective about frame building and the other projects he supports […]

This week the Paceline welcome a guest host. John "Robot" Lewis joins the podcast for the first time and discusses the phenomenon known as spring in the Boston area. Patrick is just back from two days of riding in Mendocino County and in addition to talking about the riding he did, he discusses what it's like to visit coastal redwood forest in Northern California. 

This week we say goodbye to Patrick's cohost, Patria. Unfortunately, things have gotten so busy at Ride Studio and Ride Headquarters that she has to devote herself fully to the business and bid us syonara. We devote this week's show to many of Patria's passions and favorites within cycling.

We all know we need to have our bike serviced, right? But sometimes we don't do it as frequently as we'd like. But everything seems to work out, right? What happens if we wait longer than we should, though? How bad can it really get? Patria explains. Patrick looks at bike fit and how nerve pain and numbness can be an indicator that you need to have your bike fit checked.