I had cause today to hark back to the 2019/2020 Ask A Cycling Coach Podcast with @Jonathan @NateP Chad (RIP, can’t tag anymore) and @ambermalika. Those were some great times. Anyone else get occasionally those nostalgic feels?
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Yeah, they had great chemistry.
@Jonathan does a great job with the podcast, but it’s usually just him with one guest or @Nate_Pearson, which is good, but it doesn’t have the sense of wonder from Nate going and doing something dumb, Chad verbally rolling his eyes and Amber advising him to be generous with himself (and also maybe do something more productive).
(OTOH, Nate seems to spend less time injured these days, so that’s good)
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For the record I am not the CEO lol. That is @Nate_Pearson
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Has that ever happened before 
? Until @Nate_Pearson replies you can take credit if you want @NateP
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I’ve said before on the forum that during weird COVID times the podcast was a huge highlight of my week and I stayed up way later than I should have with European time zones for Beers with Chad. Personally the most relevant manifestation of how a podcast can feel like a community aside from Lanterne Rouge Cycling Podcast.
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A few years ago I started listening from the beginning and then when the new ones would come out I’d listen to that one. After a few of the post Chad new ones I stopped listening to the new and just kept going on the old because they were so much better. Unfortunately now I’m back to the ones after Chad. Definitely a big drop off, especially when Nate isn’t on. I guess I’ll keep going though, kind of like an interval, hard at the time, but feels so good when it’s over.
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There’s definitely been a change. What I perceive is that the single, expert guest format goes hand in hand with the click-bait titles. Chad used to pull from meta analysis or compare multiple studies from a seemingly unbiased perspective, while most experts on the podcast circuit only present their point of view. Sometimes that’s still broadly applicable, but other times it tends to ignore the fact that most listeners are recreational athletes, not pros or clinic participants.
They seem to have lost the plot with the format, too, and it tends to vary episode by episode. The recent Pete episode was a great example of this; there are enough of podcast/youtube channels talking about race news well. If you want to make another one, that’s fine, but make it a different podcast and do something unique to not add to the noise. We also didn’t need the advertorial on Pete’s bike shop. A 90 minute podcast that covered the titular topic for less than 10 minutes is unnecessary—just don’t put out an episode if you don’t have the content.
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It used to be that everybody on the podcast was training/racing and trying to get faster (apart from Chad of course!).
I think this helped connect them to their audience.
Ivy helped fill the gap for a bit, but then left. I remember her saying something along the lines of “i don’t earn enough to be able to do that” on one of the podcasts, and thought she was making a point.
John is great, does a really good job and was unlucky to get injured, but even he seems more interested in learning to swim, than he does being competitive on a bike.
I’m still watching and enjoying them, but more to pick up technical knowledge, where before, I was much more invested in the people and how they were doing.
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My issue lately has been the title of the podcast is either misleading, or mentions a topic that they spend about 5 minutes on. I understand they want more views, but I’d almost prefer going back to a numbered podcast approach. Now, I feel like I have to analyze the title closely and stuff to see if it’s clickbait or something I really want to listen to. For instance, that last sweat testing one had many other topics covered, but the title indicates that’s the only thing.
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I’ve got one thing to say.
BRING.BACK.CHAD.
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I miss Chad on the podcast, but I don’t so much want to turn back the clock as want the team to find a new chemistry that works.
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I have switched to watching the podcast on YouTube so that I can see the timestamps and just watch the parts I am interested in.
For me, the part that I actually miss the most is the part that was cut first. The comeraderie. I loved the first 20 minutes being updates on whatever the team was up to (racing, bike tech, dexa scans, whatever) and the associated ribbing that came with it that made me feel like a part of the group. Once it just went to “all business”, I started to just pick and choose. That kind of makes me the opposite of the person above. I loved hearing what Pete has been up to.
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what did Chad do?
I don’t think we get to know that or, indeed, if he did anything at all and just decided to do something else.
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He clearly did something. Nate posted that much. But, we were not privy to details. Chad retired to Spokane and, last we heard, was still an owner of TR.
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Haven’t listened since Chad left, personally. Don’t enjoy the direction it’s gone.
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Yeah I think that’s a hard no in case the Forum Police get a call.
The podcast seems to have gone from primarily a brand awareness tool to a YouTube ad revenue generator. They do the clickbait titles and thumbnails for clicks and then pad out the content with fluff to get more viewing time (and therefore more ad revenue).
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Yup, stopped watching it ages ago and have no desire to start again with all the clickbait and garbage ai generated thumbnails.
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I suppose the thing I don’t get about it is why it’s such a big overhead to run a decent podcast. Sure it’s people hours, but there was a winning formula. @IvyAudrain was great but who knows where she has gone after taking a front row place for while. I stopped subscribing to the podcast and then unsubscribed to the YouTube content too. Such a shame. My heart was warmed for a long while.