King of the Ride

Episode 85: Alison Jackson — Canadian National Champion, Olympian, Dance Superstar

I'm excited introduce Olympian, current double national champion in both the road race and time trial, World Tour race winner, dancing queen and internet sensation Alison Jackson!

I caught up with Alison Jackson while she was home in Canada before making her late winter pilgrimage to Europe and the traditional bike racing scene. We chatted shop that spans her careers, the highs and lows, the trajectory her career has taken, and the interesting trends the entire sport is taking.

Be sure to follow @aliactionjackson to up your social media game.

Episode 84: Tejay van Garderen — Professional Cyclist, Retiree, Director Sportif

Tejay van Garderen is one of the best cyclists America has ever produced. With stage wins in the Giro, the Tour de Suisse, Volta Catalunya, and plenty more, overall wins at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and the Tour of California, plus best young rider and 5th place (twice) at the Tour de France, Tejay's palmares are lengthy.

He's also a fascinating conversationalist, is knowledgeable about wine, introduced me to burrata, knows his NFL, is a father to two girls, and husband to Jessica.

Tejay has lots of knowledge and experience to share and we do so over this conversation. 

Like, comment, share. Thanks for listening!

-Ted

Episode 83: Mike Cohen — Leukemia and Heart Transplant Survivor

This is one for the ages. Every guest on this podcast has the thread of the bicycle woven through their lives and Mike Cohen is no different. He's just had a much different life unfold than perhaps he was expecting as a 17 year old.

Mike is as upbeat as they come and as both a leukemia survivor and recipient of a heart transplant, he's got some very wild stories to tell. Mike is a cyclist, he now works in the industry from his home in San Diego, and among other adventures, he's ridden across the country. Twice.

If you want to watch this podcast, you can do so on YouTube or with this link: https://youtu.be/qOaW1ju1-18

Don't forget to join the 12 Days of DIYgravel between now and January 2, 2022: www.iamtedking.com/diygravel

You can follow Mike's adventures on his instagram: @MrMikeCohen or his website has all kinds of impressive material, www.mrmikecohen.com.

Episode 82: Mitch Docker — World Tour Veteran

The world of professional cycling is full of characters and they don't get much more interesting than Mitch Docker. Between his many iterations of mullets and mustaches, he was a standout, but it's his hard work and talent that made him a stalwart member of the pro peloton.

This Australian made his way to Europe in 2006 to start his pro cycling career which has extended right up until the present, although Mitch is retiring from pro cycling here at the end of the 2021 season.

Mitch and Ted will talk shop about the state of cycling, the changes over the years, the good, the bad, and the ugly at the top echelon of cycling, being a parent in the pro ranks, plus plenty more.

Be sure to follow Mitch on social media, @MitchBowen, and definitely check out his podcast, Life in the Peloton.

Episode 81: Haley Batten — Professional Mountain Biker

Haley Batten stormed onto the professional scene in 2021. She earned a spot on the podium in her first ever World Cup race, won a short track World Cup soon thereafter, and had a red hot streak all through the rest of the calendar year. She is America's top finisher at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and she's just getting warmed up!

It's fun to catch up with Haley who you'll soon realize has one of the most energetic, curious personalities out there. She took a quick break from academia, where's she's studying at Quest University in British Columbia for this conversation. Enjoy!

Episode 80: Dr. Kevin Sprouse (is back!) — Talking All Things Athletic Recovery

Let's welcome back Dr. Kevin Sprouse!

It's no coincidence that the bigger issue topic Dr. Sprouse and Ted discuss here is recovery, as Ted is two weeks into healing from a surgically repaired elbow.

What all goes into repairing a broken bone? Why is sleep disrupted, why is sleep a hot sweaty mess (literally), why do resting heart rates skyrocket, what the heck is HRV, and how are they all tied together during injury? This duo will discuss these topics as well as the bigger picture of recovery with the perspective of athletic performance, independent of injury.

Whether you as a person or athlete has suffered an injury or not, this is a fascinating dive into absorbable information that will help improve your day to day performance.

With a trained background in Emergency and Sports Medicine, Dr. Sprouse is the team physician of EF Education First-Nippo as well as leading Podium Sports Medicine in Knoxville, TN.

Ted is very excited to announce his partnership with Ride with GPS. This is the only mapping software Ted uses, moreover, it's the only software he's used for the past ten years or more. It's terrifically simple and user friendly, but offers plenty of opportunity for a deeper dive into analytics, compare surface types on particular routes, and combine multiple routes into one with very simple editing tools among plenty of other features.

If you want to save 25% off either monthly or yearly subscriptions, just visit the link http://ridewithgps.com/dc/iamtedking

If you'd like to give WHOOP a try, just visit join.whoop.com/ted to get a brand new WHOOP 4.0 for free, that's a $30 savings.

Episode 79: Ryan Cochran-Siegle — World Cup Winning Skier

Ryan Cochran-Siegle is one of America's best alpine skiers and on his day, he's one of the World's very best. Ryan is a Vermonter and learned to ski just down the road in at the community centric and petite Cochran Ski Area. He's a junior world champion in both the downhill and combined. He's steadily moved up the ranks, enjoying high highs and dealing with the lows that come with any professional sport. Ryan has speed in his genes; 2022 marks the 50th anniversary since his mother, Barbara Ann Cochran, won an Olympic gold medal in skiing.

Be sure to follow Ryan at @rc.s

Don't forget to try out WHOOP for free just by visiting join.whoop.com/ted

Episode 78: Jered and Ashley Gruber — Cycling‘s Power Couple of Photography

Buckle up folks, because this is a good'n!

Ashley and Jered Gruber are a husband and wife team of cycling photographers with a fascinating story to tell. Especially if you ask them! We sat down in Italy for this hour long conversation covering their genesis through the sport, the business model of photography, and the philosophy of how their work fits into the bigger picture among other things.

This being 2021, you can find them on instagram:

@JeredGuber - https://www.instagram.com/jeredgruber
@AshleyGruber - https://www.instagram.com/ashleygruber

Episode 77: Sarah Sturm — All Things Two-Wheeled Ripper

Sarah Sturm is a verb. She's a rider, a racer, a mentor, a coach, a happy bundle of energy. She's the inaugural 2021 Leadboat champion, then the very next week won the Last Best Ride in Whitefish, MT which is where this podcast was recorded just a few short hours after she won.

Covering all aspects of a busy race season, how she got into the sport, the development and direction of gravel, plus plenty of other hilarious tidbits this conversation doesn't quite cover it all, but it comes mighty darn close.

Follow Sarah on instagram at: @Sarah_Sturmy

Photo: @roszko

Episode 76: Emma Langley — Pro Road Cyclist & Winner of Rooted Vermont

Congratulations to Emma Langley, the winner of the 2021 Rooted Vermont p/b UnTapped! Not a bad result for her third ever gravel race. She's picking the big ones as her team, Tibco-SVB, has seen her line up at Unbound, BWR, and now Rooted Vermont this year. We're thrilled to have hosted Emma and her teammates, plus ALL riders at the 2021 race.

Emma shares her perspective on the state of cycling. This neo-pro has a refreshing view of things as pro road racing comes out of a bit of a funk and now can dabble in some off-road events.

You can find and follow Emma on Instagram at @elangs1