Life in the Peloton, presented by MAAP

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP For 2025, I’m bringing back a fan favourite. That’s right, Talking Luft is BACK! When the mood is right, I’ll be dropping a classic Talking Luft episode a few days after the main Life In The Peloton pod drops, just to give you guys an extra bite of the cherry. This is where we try to find a bit more out about special guests though some short rapid fire questions. I’m kicking off with my first guest of the season; Lucy Bartholomew. We had a great day out going for a ride, a cheeky brew, and a bit of a run - just to really get to know more about her and what makes her tick.  Obviously Lucy’s best known for her running exploits, so this Talking Luft is going to have a bit of a trail running twist, but the old classic Talking Luft questions are in there too. Talking Luft is always great fun to record, and this ep with Lucy is no different. She won’t mind me saying, I had to explain what Luft even is, so if you’re new around here this is a great place to start. Have a listen to me and Lucy chatting all things Luft to kick off the 2025 season. Cheers! Mitch Chapters 00:01:17 - Introduction 00:02:40 - What is a luft? 00:04:46 - Cafe and coffee stop preferences 00:06:08 - Bunch direction dialect 00:06:57 - Running fashion 00:11:39 - Favourite training loop 00:12:37 - Mitch’s running scenario 00:15:25 - War story 00:16:52 - Why do you do it? ----more---- The Life in the Peloton book is OUT NOW! Get your copy now exclusively at maap.cc! Can’t wait for you to read it.

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP Happy New Year! Life In The Peloton is back, and I’m really excited to kick off 2025 with one of the brightest stars in the Ultrarunning world; Lucy Bartholomew. A Melbourne native, Lucy’s been competitively trail running since she was 16, when she lined up at a 100km race along the South Coast of Victoria with her old man. Since then, she’s gone on to win Ultra Trail Race Australia in 2022, set the FKT on the truly epic 231km Larapinta Trail up in Northern Territory, and competed over in Europe at Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. As if she wasn’t already hardcore enough, in 2024 just a few weeks after finishing UTMB, she jetted off to Nice to tackle IronMan World Champs…just for fun!  Ultrarunners are known for their resilience and determination, and Lucy completely epitomises that. I loved chatting to her about how she trains for 100km+ races, what it takes to make it in the ultrarunning world, some of her wild experiences out on the trail, how her parents - her dad, Ash, in particular - have helped drive her ultrarunning journey, and how she finds the mental strength to push through the tough moments. It was a really inspiring conversation that I think you’re going to love. I was super excited to record with Lucy in person back home around my old area. We actually kicked off the pod by heading for a bike ride up Kinglake, before ripping back down for a quick brew. Then, we laced up the runners and headed out for a little 10ker, and chatted along the way. Needless to say, I kept the questions short to save my breath for running next to one of the most experienced ultrarunners in the world. I want to continue to explore even more new Pelotons in 2025, and the Trail Running space feels like the perfect place to start. It’s a sport that’s fascinated me for a while, having dabbled in a few ultra runs myself, so I wanted to bring you all inside a discipline that may not be so familiar to the cycling fans amongst you but shares a deep sense of challenge, performance, and adventure. I was fascinated to learn more about the psychology of ultrarunning and find out how similar it is to cycling. Lucy’s been at the top of her game in the running space for the best part of a decade now, and it’s so cool that she’s now crossing over into our world and giving cycling a go. I hope you love listening to Lucy as much as I loved chatting with her. She’s an all round legend, and might just inspire you to give trail running, or even an ultrarun, a go if you haven’t before. We even recorded a cheeky ep of Talking Luft, so keep your ears peeled for that later this week! Chapters 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:08:08 - Part 1: Ride up Kinglake 00:34:15 - Part 2: Coffee shop chat 00:57:27 - Part 3: Running the trails 01:10:23 - Outro ----more---- This episode is also supported by our friends at JOIN. JOIN Cycling is the #1 cycling tool that sets you up with dynamic and flexible training plans based on your goal, availability and training history. Head over to join.cc/litp to get your 30-day free trial now! The Life in the Peloton book is OUT NOW! Get your copy now exclusively at maap.cc! Can’t wait for you to read it.

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP Well, this is it, guys. It's the end of the road season, and if you're a long-time listener, you'll know it's the end of the season for us here at Life on the Peloton. For the pro peloton, it's time to take a break from cycling. Just thinking of it takes me back to my racing days, as the 'offy' was always a bit of a special time, especially when you first arrive back in Australia. You’ve got time to rest, have a bit of a party, and reconnect with home before it's time to get back into training for the new season. Before we shut down for a little break, we've got a really special guest to close out not only our season but her career too. None other than the current Olympic and World T.T. Champion, Grace Brown! I've been holding off on chatting with Grace online this year because I wanted to have this conversation in person. Little did I know Grace was going to have the epic season she's had, capping it all off with the ultimate mic drop: calling it a day on professional racing while winning at the highest level. After all that amazing success through a season that saw her become Australia’s first female monument winner, I managed to catch up with her, still a little jet-lagged from the flight—or her career (we weren’t sure which was catching up with her!). Grace was kind enough to meet me for an afternoon coffee in her adopted hometown of Melbourne to have a good old-fashioned yarn for this pod. We talked about her career, the Olympic Games, her experiences there, retirement, relationships, and of course, how to bow out in style. For the final time this season, it’s time to sit back, relax, and enjoy. Cheers! Mitch ----more---- The Life in the Peloton book is OUT NOW! Get your copy now exclusively at maap.cc! Can’t wait for you to read it.

Life in the Peloton is proudly brought to you by MAAP The Race Communique is exclusively brought to you by The Escape Collective. Check out the new and improved BikeGrid which now goes all the way back to riders from 2001! Go and check it out and let me know how you get on. Hey everyone, just like that, the 2024 World Tour season has nearly wrapped up. Even though there's still racing happening in China, here at Life in the Peloton, we're calling it and diving straight into the final Race Communiqué of the season. I'm joined by Luke and Tom, just days into their offseasons, to unpack what has been one of the best seasons of racing I’ve ever seen. Not every year you get to witness a Grand Slam or experience the kind of non-stop action and long-range attacks we had in 2024. In this Race Communiqué, we’ve got much more than just a seasonal wrap-up. Tom jumps in early with his Talking Tactics segment, and then we settle into Luke's Pelo Chat, where he shares insights on the future of the U23 category and how the UCI might look to enhance youth racing moving forward. We’ve also highlighted some of our favourite rides, riders, races, and memorable moments from the year. With our different opinions, you'll hear some fantastic stories that emerged during our conversation. To top it all off, we have the end-of-season Communi-quiz, which is crucial for determining who will be shouting the beers during the offy! I really enjoy putting these Communiqués together, and this one was a blast to make. It’s a shame we can’t do more for now, but for 2024, this is your final episode of The Communiqué. We hope you've enjoyed listening along. We'll be back after a well-deserved break (with a few cold ones) for an even better 2025. So stay tuned, and for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy. Cheers, Mitch