The Paceline Cycling Podcast

With Covid-19 still dominating life, Selene takes a look at how, despite the need for social distancing, having a workout buddy is more important now than ever before. She considers strategies for keeping the buddy system in place, even as we continue to respect the need for social distancing. Patrick has been scouting new routes in his neighborhood, working out hilly routes that will allow him to...

This week Selene explores what cycling means to her and how those rides that we don't want to do make the rides we want to do that much better. Patrick addresses the impact Covid-19 is having on life and how important riding remains in helping us all remain centered as we live through this extraordinary time. They also discuss Selene's piece regarding the Dutch research on how much space cyclists...

There's been a lot of talk about what constitutes an "essential business" as more and more communities are put on a diet of shelter in place. For many people, bike shops are an essential business due to riders' needs for tubes, tires, chain lube and service. We also take on some reader questions about metal water bottles and L'Eroica, the vintage bike event conducted over dirt roads. 

We're talking about Covid-19 this week. Kinda hard to do anything else, huh? First we look at riding outside and whether or not that's the right thing to do. By now it seems obvious that the Covid-19 pandemic will significantly alter the 2020 cycling calendar. In the wake of the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, we take a look at a few events and the challenges the promoters face with regar...

Selene is back from The Mid-South and managed to avoid getting sick and breaking her bike. Patrick is not so much back from spring break as still here; he canceled his trip with his boys. Selene talks about spending a day in red mud and what it was like traveling with a pandemic sweeping the globe. Shimano's GRX group is the first component group designed specifically around the needs of the grave...

This week we take on Daylight Saving Time and sleep. Selene talks about her coming trip to Oklahoma for The Mid-South (formerly Land Run), and a quote from her boss, Bill Strickland, about suffering. Patrick admits that what passes for winter in Northern California has exited stage left and spring jumped straight to the bit with wildflowers. He talks about the sights and smells of spring and how t...

Last weekend Selene rode her first Grasshopper, Super Sweetwater, so now she can report to everyone who isn't already in Northern California (most of the world, honestly), just what it is Patrick has been going on and on about. She says she had a good time, even if Patrick did get dropped. Patrick takes on how being a cycling and the time devoted to our sport can pose tension in a relationship. He...

This week Selene takes on a reader question on diet and how it squares with the Netflix film "Game Changers." Given how passionate people can be about their diet, this isn't an easy one to tackle, but she dives in. There was a time when a road bike was a road bike was a road bike. Fortunately, that's no more. Patrick takes a look at the differentiation in the market and the advice he gave some fri...

This week we begin with a bit of an update on Patrick's treatment with Ketamine. His in-office sessions have come to a close and he relates the magnitude of recovery he has experienced. Selene talks about her upcoming plans to head to Oklahoma for the Mid-South (formerly Land Run 100). She and Patrick talk tire choice, soil types, and tire pressure among other gravel ride concerns. Basal Metabolic...

Selene and Patrick are back after a week off. Selene has a cautionary tale sure to raise the hairs on your ... saddle. Patrick recounts his recent trip to Auburn for the fifth annual Tour de Placer Roubaix. He discusses why the event isn't just one of his favorite events, he thinks it is a great example of everything that a gravel event should be. 

Of the many builders I've met over the years, I don't think I've met any with a more unusual background. Bryan Hollingsworth is a New Englander who cut his teeth working for Seven Cycles. He may be the only builder I've ever met who has fabricated frames from carbon fiber, titanium and steel. I'm reasonably convinced I've not met another builder who has laid up an entire carbon fiber frame as well...

This week Selene takes on a listener question regarding some of the online training challenges that cause competitors to go into zone 5 with each installment. Is that a bad thing? How does it affect developing base miles? With so many new gravel events on the calendar, Patrick asks the question, how much is enough? Are organizers really doing themselves and their participants a service by offering...

It's a new year, and hopefully not a new you. You're fine. But what do you want to change from years past and how should you think about it? Selene takes on that question, suggesting maybe we think about intentions rather than resolutions. Patrick has been nerding out on mountain bike design. Again. He noticed that all his fastest times on descents were on a short travel bike, not some long-travel...

This week Selene looks back at the career of sports physiologist Andy Pruitt and his work with Specialized and his leadership in bicycle fit. Pruitt is retiring from his work with Specialized, and he has been a steady source of wisdom and insight for Selene over two decades. Patrick takes a look at Christmas. He gives a little thought to what he'd like for Christmas, but more to what he'd like to...

This week Selene takes on a bevvy of listener questions that were intriguing, but not quite meaty enough to carry a whole segment. She covers artificial joints, diabetes, gravel events and more. Patrick and some board members from the California Mountain Biking Coalition got to join mountain bike legend Mark Weir for an eMTB ride on a private ranch in Marin County where Weir and friends have been...

It's the time of the year for planning the next season and Selene has been marking up her calendar with her schedule. She shares where she's headed, along with a few whys. With Christmas around the corner, Patrick takes a look at gift giving ideas and suggests an approach that might give your year a different sort of spin. He also makes a pretty exciting announcement. 

Of the many frame builder who can capably be called masters of the craft, it is distinctly possible that no one has been at the bench longer than Mark Nobilette. His credentials are impeccable. He was trained by Albert Eisentraut in the first frame building class that Eisentraut taught, which was held in Chicago, before he moved to California, way back in 1973. Nobilette went to work for Eisentrau...

This week Selene and Patrick talk Thanksgiving. The talk turns from turkeys to the real occasion of the holiday, what we are grateful for and they run down some of the things for which they are grateful. And here's to hoping everyone got out for a fun ride before the feast. 

The end of the season is a great time to reboot the system. No, we're not talking your computer. Selene considers just what downtime should be at the end of the season and just what we are trying to accomplish when we take a rest at the end of the year. Working on bikes is hard. Patrick says he didn't think that in the past, but a lot has changed. He discusses just what it means to deal with bikes...

With the end of the season here (except for everyone racing cyclocross), Selene has taken a step back to think about what she did this year, what she achieved this year and what she wants to do next year. Underlying all this is a question of purpose, as in what is her purpose. To what end does cycling take any of us? It's a big question, and she ropes in an NFL quarterback, to come up with a clear...

Patrick is back from Costa Rica, so the show is back on schedule now. This week, Selene takes on a reader question about aging. Her answer is as much about psychology as it is about strength training and choosing what cycling will be in the latter half of your life. Of the many places cyclists go for bike tours, Costa Rica isn't a typical destination. Patrick's recent experience there included a t...

This week Selene discusses her experience with Iron Cross, the gravel/cyclocross/insanity event that takes place in Central Pennsylvania. This is her tenth anniversary of doing the race and she has won it four times previously. The event is so challenging the word "ludicrous" comes up, possibly more than once. Conditions that day were not the best and Selene said she wanted to just roll over and s...

In this second part of my interview with Toby Stanton, we discuss his team of juniors and what the ingredients are that has made the team so incredibly and consistently successful. Hot Tubes riders and stars and stripes jerseys are kinda like peanut butter and jelly. There are other things you can do with peanut butter, but peanut butter with jelly doesn't really surprise anyone. Stanton is incred...

After a week off due to a power outage in Northern California, the show is back. Last weekend unPAved, the event Selene's husband Dave promotes, took place and Selene rode it but did not race it. She explains why and it was the best way to do the race, at least, if you aren't Ted King, who slayed all. Selene managed to convince her friend on the Chaise with her not to quit. The weekend before Patr...

I first met Toby Stanton at a mountain bike race in 1991. He was coaching a team that included future cyclocross supahstah (this was in Massachusetts, mind you) Jonathan Page and their kits were white with red, yellow and blue dots, signifying their sponsorship by Wonder Bread. A year or two later I sent him my Canadian-built Miele frame to be repainted and to have a second set of bottle bosses ad...