King of the Ride

Episode 158: Roger Brown is Chasing UNBOUND Glory

Our most frequent guest is back! Roger Brown brought a new training technique to UNBOUND XL and that was a mix of training, not training, waffling on whether he would do the event or not, a trip to Europe, and ultimately a successful go at the 359 mile UNBOUND XL! 

We'll talk all the usual song and dance about his preparation, how it all shook out, how he bought a shirt (for free!) in the town of Alma, seeing things deep into sleep deprivation, GLP-1, and why we weren't at the Formula 1 race in Montreal this weekend.

• Thanks very much to UnTapped for supporting this episode. Get your hands on all new Mint UnTapped and use the code "RogerXL" for 20% savings on any mint product at untapped.cc.
• Visit join.whoop.com/ted to get a free one month of the new WHOOP 5.0 plus a free band.
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Episode 157: Rob Britton Just Won UNBOUND XL

Rob Britton stole the show Saturday morning at UNBOUND. He not only passed Lachlan Morton after a 200km chase, but he forced the UNBOUND organizers to rethink their morning strategy because he crossed the line just before 9am, when there's traditionally a 50 mile roll out. He rode the nearly 360 mile in smoking fast pace!

Rob is not new to racing, as he's won some of North America's biggest road races. With the switch to gravel in 2022, he's has big results in the LTGP and plenty of other big events. With success at Badlands, the BC Epic, and others, the ultra distance is nothing new to Rob either. Sit back and enjoy this fun conversation picking apart the very long day (and overnight, and the next day too).

• Pick up a Bolt Skin + Shave razor at boltshave.com and use the code king15 for some smooth savings.
• Give the newest edition of AG1 a try by visiting drinkAG1.com/tedking

 

Episode 156: Mads Würtz Schmidt -- On a Gravel TEAR

Mads Würtz Schmidt has national titles, world titles, and World Tour pro wins but going into 2025 he's taken his skillset to gravel off-road to gravel. He's already racking up wins taking two UCI wins, the prestigious Traka 200 title, and now he's here on North American soil to try his hand at Unbound. Mads and I met up two days shy of the boiling hot Gravel Locos for this face to face conversation.

Covering his time in rainbow stripes, his World Tour career, struggles with physical and mental setbacks, how therapy helped him rebound to the incredibly positive (and productive) place he is now.

• Follow Mads @madswurtzschmidt
• Change your shaving game entirely with Bolt Skin + Shave. Use the code KING15 for handy first time buyer savings! And give them a follow at @BOLTskinshave
• And give the newest generation of AG1 a try by trying out drinkAG1.com/tedking

Episode 155: Emily Newsom -- Professional Cyclist

Bike racers don't come much friendlier than Emily. They also don't come much more fierce, much more driven, they generally don't juggle as much, their palmares are usually shorter and they probably didn't have a first career as a professional pianist. But this professional athlete is all of those things which makes her an amazing podcast guest, which make for a really fun conversation!

Enjoy this conversation with Emily Newsom and follow her at @instagram.com/emilyjoynewsom

Get your hands on a Straz Components Sealant Funnel at www.StrazComponents.com and use the code king15 for some handy savings!

As always, boost your health with my favorite bit of greens, the newest generation of AG1. Visit drinkAG1.com/tedking for your welcome kit.

Episode 154: Levi Leipheimer on the Future of American Bike Racing

Fresh off hosting the 2nd annual Growler bike race and the 16th annual Levi's Gran Fondo, Levi sits down with Ted to talk about the state of cycling here in North America. The Growler has the crown of the highest purse of any one day race in the world... let that soak in for a second. Bigger than winning Paris-Roubaix or a Tour de France stage. $156,000 is up for grabs and the race draws road racers, the top gravel racers, mountain bikers, and more.

Ted and Levi raced Tours of California together, lived in Girona at the same time, and were members of the same peloton so there's some interesting overlap that they can discuss and dissect in today's episode.

Simplify your life by giving the Straz Sealant Funnel a try! Visit strazcomponents.com and using the code KING15

Try out AG1 by visiting drinkAG1.com/tedking

 

Episode 153: How To Ride Fast with Jan Heine

Ted sits down with a return guest, Jan Heine of Rene Herse Cycles and Bicycle Quarterly, to discuss how to be fast in the modern age of cycling. "Get low and pedal faster", right? Well... there's a lot of truth to that, but there's a lot more nuance to it. Tire widths, frontal exposure, riding with aero this and that, this dynamic duo talks through lots of the hot button issues on the tip of gravel racers tongues these days.

If you enjoy this episode, be sure to scroll back to episode 97 where we talk lots of other fun anecdotes from other the years together.

Save some money on your next bike light purchase! Visit ExposureLights.com and use the code KING10 to get your hands on the best lighting system on the planet.

As always, try out AG1 -- and earn a free gift with your first purchase -- by visiting drinkAG1.com/tedking

Episode 152: Quoc Pham — Designer, Entrepreneur

Quoc Pham has the work ethic of a World Tour pro cyclist, the design savvy to walk a Parisian runway, and an upbringing that’s extremely unique in the cycling world as a refugee from Vietnam. He launched his eponymous shoe company, Quoc, back in 2009 which has seen many iterations from a dapper commuter, to a fashionable boot, then with the release of the Grand Tourer he ventured into the backpacking and gravel space which has been his launch pad all the way to the feet of Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas.

Episode 151: Mega Midsouth FKT, Wildfires, and much more

Chase Wark and I set out on a pretty wild adventure on Sunday March 26, separately but for the same purpose. Purposes, rather. We were both seeking an FKT on the Mega Midsouth and in a much bigger picture, we were seeking to raise funds for the United Way of Payne County. 

This podcast is in conjunction with The Stable Cyclist and covers a lot from a very busy weekend in Oklahoma. Please enjoy.

I am continuing my fundraising through the end of March by sending money to my @iamtedking Venmo.

Get your Viair Recon Mini by visiting this website and using the code TEDKING10
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And get yourself some AG1! Just visit DrinkAG1.com/tedking to get yourself a free $76 value with your first purchase.

Episode 150: Maghalie Rochette -- Professional Cyclist (Semi-Pro Baker + Wood Worker)

Maghalie is a supremely successful professional cyclist with a lengthy list of palmares including nearly 50 UCI wins, World Cup podiums, and loads of national titles. She's in the midst of being a cyclocross racer with her heart and soul in the sport that is thriving in Belgium and is trying to find its legs elsewhere.

• You can find Maghalie and her Dirty Talks podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/0rtdEydjqc4E38onNx5Lql
• Watch her CX Fever show here: https://www.youtube.com/@maghalierochette
• Get your hands on a $76 value from AG1 at www.DrinkAG1.com/tedking
• Get a FREE UnTapped water bottle by using the code "bottle" when you spend $50 of UnTapped at www.untapped.cc

 

Episode 149: Race Around Rwanda Winning Recap!

Hello and welcome back to King of the Ride!

Today is a bit of cross-pollination. I am drawing from a recent Gravel Kings podcast, where Laura, Stu, and I sit down to dissect Race Around Rwanda in a two part recap. But here we've distilled it down into one episode.

So, please do yourself a favor and hit SUBSCRIBE on Gravel Kings. We're three hosts with radically different cycling backgrounds talking about what matters to you in the cycling world.

I'm excited to have created a vlog from my time in Rwanda. Please check that out here:

https://youtu.be/mKWJMqNM9lE

If you are a watch-a-podcast kind of person, then check out this exact show here:

https://youtu.be/2ax09zLeJMs