The Rodeo Labs Podcast

Welcome to the Rodeo Labs Race Director Round Up! Over the next few weeks, as the gravel race “season” gets underway, we have decided to take on a mini-series focusing on gravel racing through the collective eyes of gravel race directors from across the country. Race directors are both the tastemakers and the police of the nebulous concept of “the spirit of gravel.” While race directors have a fantastic platform to voice their perspective for their own races, that voice is often limited to those narrow confines. The goal here is to use our podcast, as a small journalistically minded outlet with no skin in the game, to give them a collective platform to share their interpretations of the state of the sport. In part one, Logan introduces the series through a field dispatch from the Gravel Worlds gravel race in Nebraska last summer and the dialogue that followed. The first conversation was with Andy Jones-Wilkins, who is not only Logan's father, but also an accomplished ultra-runner and pundit. Using the conversation with Andy as a framework, Logan sat down with Jason Strohbehn, the race director of Gravel Worlds and the co-host of the Gravel Family Podcast, to learn more about the race and start at the question that is guiding the whole series: what is the state of gravel bike racing? Thanks to Jason and Andy for the conversations and follow the Rodeo Labs Podcast on your favorite podcast player for the rest of the series! Thank you to Drew Van Kampen for the transition tunes and thank you to Pure Gravel for the cover photo! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adventuring on dirt is what brings everyone to Rodeo Labs. Yes, there are other contributing factors, but if your intention is not to adventure on bikes, on dirt, you might want to find a different bike company. With that ethos at our core, Logan wanted to do a bit of a deep dive into a fellow dirt adventure based cycling company: The Gravel Adventure Field Guides. Nonetheless, while reporting on the guides themselves, Logan found the project was a gateway into a discussion about adventure on bikes, on dirt, in the 21st century. So, in hopes of not ignoring those other voices, the podcast grew into something different from the standard Rodeo Labs production. In this episode you will hear from Juan de la Roca and Stephen Beneski from Gravel Adventure Field Guide, but you will also hear from Wally Wallace from the economic development office in Trinidad, Colorado; Kevin Prentice from Ride With GPS; and Gordon Wadsworth and Emily Hairfield who are cyclists from Roanoke, Virginia, and helped builds routes for the recent guidebook there. We hope you enjoy it.As always, thanks to Q for the theme song and thank you Drew for the exit strums. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this season of the Rodeo Adventure Labs Podcast, we are doing a little bit of ‘one for you, one for us’ action. But, actually, it is really one about the world, and one about our world. Today, Logan talks to the Cerakoter In Chief, Ryan McMahon, to understand a little more about the painting operation in house in Denver, his journey to finding himself in the Rodeo Labs Cerakote booth, and what his hopes are for developing more tools of the trade. Then, in part two, we bring on a special guest to talk more about design philosophy, the power of color, and how Rodeo has grown around a design philosophy that centers around tinkering differently. You never (and by never, we mean almost certainly) will guess who it is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Atlas Mountain Race sets off for its third edition next week. In anticipation of the bikepacking race, we brought in Ashley Carelock to look back at her Moroccan experiences in last year's October edition of the race, while Stephen Fitzgerald dropped into the chat to add his own perspective from his outing to Africa in 2020. If you are interested in following along to the 2023 Atlas Mountain Race, be sure to check out the race website, here. Additionally, back in the depth of the pandemic, Stephen posted this expansive write up about what that race was like. You can find that here. Lastly, Ashley eloquently wrote more about her race on her blog, which you can access here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is 2023 and we have a little New Year’s resolution. With more folks on Rodeo bikes than ever and the possibilities of the adventure cycling world growing all the time, we felt like it was time to make a concerted effort to tell more of our story — beyond the Instagram-able moments that are not going anywhere — on the platforms of the journal and the podcast. The goal is to both look internal and external, with more Rodeo rider features, more connectivity with the events and adventures, and journalistic storytelling of the world around us.  For the first episode, we turned the mic inward. Logan Jones-Wilkins, who is now the host of the Rodeo Podcasts, sat down with Drew Van Kampen, Rodeo’s Director of Product Development, to discuss the development of the brand-new iteration of Trail Donkey. Then, Stephen Fitzgerald dropped by to share a little bit about the context of the bike in the overall story of the company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of the Rodeo Podcast we gather up all of the main contributors to the Ascend Armenia bikepacking race that is set to debut June 25, 2023. We talk about the background of the event and what it inspired it. We talk to Tom, Tatev, Jay, and Stephen about the country, conditions, course, and culture. Have you ever considered trying a bikepacking event and wonder where they come from? As it turns out, they come from a lot of hard work and are almost always labors of love. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A two-part episode. Part one is a review of a field recording Logan Jones-Wilkins shared with HQ on an engaging discussion with Bobby Wintle, The Mid South Race Director, on what the event means to Bobby, the community, and the land. Part two is a sit down with Drew Van Kampen of Rodeo Labs to learn more about what it takes to bring the Show Pony to market. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A discussion with Ben Delaney on how the cycling media pays its bills– advertising versus memberships and journalism versus marketing. Be sure to check out Ben's new YouTube channel The Ride With Ben Delaney or on Instagram, @ben_delaney. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Connell recounts his experiences racing the 2022 Tour Divide and how his passion for bicycles began with a six month tour to Columbia. Be sure to check out Daniel on instagram, @drdcon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scottie Lechuga talks about her shift to ultra-enduring racing in 2019 beginning with the Silk Road Mountain Race to 2022 and setting the FKT at Stagecoach 400. Be sure to check out Scottie's website, scottilechuga.com and instagram, @scottilechuga. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam takes on the Tour Divide aboard a demo Trail Donkey. He leverages his backpacking experience from his 2018 Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike. Be sure to check out Sam's website, spmartin.com and instagram, @spmartin_ for more photography from the ride. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul and Mark reflect on the Paper Trail Bike Cafe's expansion of Gravel Travel and Gravel Espresso, a boutique service course and group ride. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three months until Atlas Mountain Race starts, we needed an update from the crew going to Morocco. The road is not linear and being human means ups and downs are expected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay Petervary in lockstep with Brendan Heinig for ten days made us wonder how was the race won and reflect on gear, mindset, and preparation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A cast of characters introduced who are going to the 2021 Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco. We are building the ship while sailing it, we don't know if there is a satisfying conclusion to this story, the only way to find out is to press on! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The industry at large is seeing increased shipping times and subsequently costs. Overnight changes to business practices have been implemented. Is there a silver lining to be found? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Break The (BI)cycle ride is not just a month-long ride, it is a movement towards supporting Black and Indigenous men’s mental health. Connor and Nanggaahlaangstangs are invigorated and have formalized a non-profit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friends can motivate you, but they can also give perspective when you are too close to something. In this case, knowing when to reach out for help regarding a pulmonary embolism scare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The High Country Race is a unique format where the racers can pick the direction to tackle the course, Ashley and Seth break down the importance of this and how they handled gauging their own effort around the racers who went the opposite direction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The trials and tribulations faced when attempting the iconic Kokopelli bike packing route from Fruita, CO to Moab, UT. Breaking down the motivations, gear, and the favorite meals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.