Cyclist Magazine Podcast

This week, James is joined by Quoc Pham, founder and designer of the eponymous cycling shoe brand. Before cycling, Quoc worked in fashion, running his own label, but turned his attention to making shoes in that classic way people do when they turn inventor: he found himself commuting around London in shoes that just weren’t up to it, they were either functionally great but ugly, or nice looking but out of their depth in toeclips on a fixie – so he set about making his own. His first, a beautiful leather shoe with smooth, contoured sole called the Fixed, quickly developed a cult following in the Eroica scene, and fast forward 17 years Quoc has expanded into road and gravel, even sponsoring Geraint Thomas along the way. In this episode we chat about how that deal came about thanks in part to a personal message from Quoc; the incredibly steep learning curve that was making a pair of shoes from scratch; and how the brand-factory partnership works and how that most crucial relationship affects what kit you wear and what bike you ride, just as much as any technology advance, design team, or economic fluctuation. Chat begins at 7.52----------------This episode is brought to you by Rouvy, the indoor riding platform that makes indoor rides look and feel real, from smashing up the Sa Calobra to group rides around Vietnam to Rouvy Fest, which this year takes place between 12th and 25th October and will include a host of special group rides including tackling Mount Teide in Tenerife, riding the shores and hill of Lake Garda in Italy and puffing up dust on the Strade Bianche chalky road of Tuscany. All this plus special ride guests telling stories and answering questions as they pedal, challenges, rewards and giveaways, and the Rouvy Fest Race, a huge single race where the competitive spirit meets fun and inclusive vibes. See Rouvy.com for more details, including how to sign up for a free month using the code KEEPITREALCYCLIST------------------Did you know Cyclist is also a stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorWe're also a really lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Will (and a bit of James, but mostly Will), is joined by recording-breaking ultra-cyclists and wife and husband, Amy Hudson and Kyle Hudson. The pair have just completed the fastest ever round-the-World cycle for a couple, pedalling nearly 30,000km around the globe in just 123 days with no outside support. A whole 82 days faster than the previous record and 27 days faster than their initial target.Amy’s journey into cycling started in 2021 when husband Kyle bought her a bike from Halfords to help her through some mental health struggles, and four years later Amy was soloing the men’s 2025 Tour de France route including all the stage transfers, shadowing the race as it was happening to ride over 6,500km in 29 days.In this episode, Amy and Kyle chat about just how to plan such an epic journey, what to eat when you’re cycling for hours on end every day, how to adapt to burning sun and freezing temperatures, the impact of such on a challenge on their relationship, and how just two weeks before they were due to finish, Kyle broke his shoulder in a crash.The couple’s recent endeavours have raised a staggering £70,000 for mental health charities Shout and the Mix, and you can add to that tally here.Chat begins at 8m36s------------------This episode is brought to you by the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorWe're also a really lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week James (and Will at the beginning) is joined by Hunter Allen, co-founder of Training Peaks, long-time elite level cycling coach to pros and US national teams, and the man who literally wrote the book on power meters back when torque measurement was just a twinkle in an SRM engineer's eye. That book was, prosaically enough, called Training + Racing With A Power Meter, and it put Hunter at the pioneering frontier of what would become the gold standard in cycling metrics: watts.Last year Hunter was back with his new book Training + Competing With A Continuous Glucose Monitor, and in this episode we discuss why continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are set to become the new power meter and how they and the sports science involved are already behind the uptick in speeds in the pro peloton. In short, CGMs can help a rider and coach work out precisely when to fuel, and to what extent, for maximum performance, and that means Pogačar and co are breaking more records.Hunter also talks about how to understand training data, the relationship between heart rate and power, managing training loads and fatigue, and how to develop better nutrition strategies to ride faster. It's a get the kettle on kind of pod, plus maybe fetch a pen and paper, because Hunter knows his stuff and he goes pretty deep.Find out more about Training + Competing With A Continuous Glucose Monitor hereInterview begins at 9.59------------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout)------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your doorAnd it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, James and Will are joined by Dr Hutch, the legendary British time-trial rider (second only to Beryl Burton in national wins) turned Cambridge-educated doctor turned journalist. Dr Hutch is a longstanding columnist in Cycling Weekly (other cycling magazines are available, see our link to Cyclist below y'know), commentator, pundit, voice of cycling authority and author of several books including the critically acclaimed The Hour, a warts-and-all account of his ill-fated attempt at the Hour record, Faster: The obsession, science and luck behind the world's fastest cyclists, and most recently, Further: Seeking the distant limits of cycling endurance (Atlantic).In this episode, Dr Hutch explains the moment he 'cried for seven hours on a bike', how Haribo jelly-snakes saved his bacon, the mental madness and fortitude of endurance racing from national 24hr TTs to the Transcon, what makes a endurance specialist special, and why failing to take the Hour was exactly what it says: a failure, but one that rewarded him with lifelong lessons that have shaped his cycling ever since.The interview begins at 9.26This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------This episode is also brought to you by Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride, am epic, four day, 250-mile trip around Belgium and Northern France that raises money for Armed Forces veterans and their families. See helpforheroes.org.uk for moreDid you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Robyn and Will are joined by Emma Pooley, Tour de France women's winner in 2009 (or the Grande Boucle Féminine as it was then), Olympic medallist, UCI world time-trial winner, multiple national road and time-trial champion and triathlon and duathlon champ, plus a first class honours student at Cambridge and University Challenge contestant to boot. Oh, and Emma also won the Brompton bike racing world championships and held the Everesting record in 2020 - 8,848m climbed in 8h 53m 36s, or ten loops of a 6.8km, 13% climb back-to-back plus descents. Incredible.In this episode, Emma talks about the psychological difficulties inherent in being a pro; the pressure of conforming to ideals like weight for riders; her highs and lows throughout her career; plus her new book, Oat to Joy, in which she explains the role of the humble grain in a cyclist's diet, along with recipes and stories about her life on a bike.Interview begins at 5.16Emma Pooley's Oat to Joy, a recipe book plus stories of her cycling life, is available now at emmapooley.net-----------------This episode is brought to you by the Hammerhead Karoo GPS bike computer. Visit hammerhead.io and use the code CYCLIST to get a free HR strap with every purchase (just be sure to add the strap to your cart then apply the code at checkout).------------------Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly print magazine?Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door.And it's also a rather lovely website about everything road cycling and gravel. Check us out at cyclist.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.