This is not going to be popular but now that it has been brought to my attention and Ive really had some time to think about it I agree. Also as a customer who gives a crap about this company and product I think I need to share my opinion.
I was at my physiotherapist appointment yesterday morning. He is also a cyclist and triathlon coach as well as the person that put me on to trainer road. He mentioned that he was taking a break from the podcasts and I asked why. He mentioned that he was sick of the Nate show. Seems we always here all these stories from Nate about what he is doing. Most I find interesting to be honest and the ones that I donāt I am sure others find interesting. We discussed it a bit more, and then i dismissed it and went home, hopped on the trainer and started listening to podcast 196.
I couldnāt believe it when I heard Nateās special snowflake comment. I then started thinking about all the questions Nate has asked guests on the show. One podcast that really sticks out was the questions he had for the specialized crew on aerodynamics for himself and HIS position. There are probably not a lot of 6ā 6" riders on a specialized venge with enve wheels and a stem thats xx and size 14 feet with yellow aero socks andā¦ Those seem like really specific snowflake questions! Really not going to help the majority of your users! I do not fit into your body type.
Lately, the podcasts with amber where heās asking questions about what HE should do with XX and XX. How many people actually eat 5 bowls of sugary cereal in the morning and are trying to ram down x 100 grams of gels per hour on the bike? I mean you have time with these people off the āairā. Maybe you could ask your special snowflake comments outside the podcast and maybe answer a few more user āsnowflakeā questions?
I like your stories and tips Nate, but your specific questions about you might be better asked to your guests and Coach Chad off the air. But then its your company and your podcast. But if your going to call a snowflake a snowflake thenā¦
Ill keep listening either way but I donāt know if my PT will be back.
Sometimes those who are learning are the best to learn from as they work through their own questions. Nate asking questions about himself I think he exposes problems in a way the average joe can relate to. I think the balance is healthy.
Perfectly natural to feel angst at this sort of thing. It can become a focus point once brought to your attention and a bit of a bugbear.
Thatās fine, everyoneās entitled to their likes and dislikes. I just posted to really say that the snowflake thing says a lot about who you are and where you are mentally in the world today, and itās really not pretty. Unless you want to align yourself with the far-right and incels etc then Iād probably find another way of expressing myself.
Ridiculous thread.
Itās a podcast - you can skip over any parts you want.
There are tons of cycling podcasts, just listen to something else if youāve got an issue with this one
I learned an enormous amount from the Amber podcasts. Even when it was relating to a particular person, there were clear principles being explained that underpinned the specific examples.
Also, it was very clear that the TR crew meant āspecial snowflakeā in the original sense of āuniqueā rather than the more loaded term suggesting over-sensitivity.
Ive listened to every podcast and for me its part of the āshowā hes the the typical TR rider desperately trying to overcome his average cycling genetics seeking every bit of advice and help he can get. Iām sure many listeners appreciate and relate to that even if they sometimes the questions are a bit specific to him, I know I have learned plenty
I believe in the podcast Chad said āDonāt get too special snowflakeā, then I said āYou can be a little special snow flake, then we can take one step back and pull a wider principal from it.ā. Or something like that.
The other thing we talked about is that we need detail.
I watched part of the specialized win tunnel episode again and Iām trying to find things that are directly related to me and not applicable to other people. Can you point some out?
I had one question about my head being above other riders, and I wanted to know if the wake from the people in front of me was big enough that having a higher head position didnāt matter (it did matter).
This might sound like itās only for tall riders, but itās really for anyone who has ever been behind someone who is shorter/folded over more than them. I think thatās everyone.
Amber is a big proponent of having people do maximum carb intake on the bike (as long as it doesnāt cause gastric distress). Iāve done this and noticed a huge improvement. I share this because I think people donāt realize they can take in more than they should and it can lead to performance improvements. Jonathan has also shared this recently.
Carb intake before a hard workout has huge science around it, the timing, the amount and the composition of it (fiber/complex/simple/fat content, etc).
I list this stuff because this is what Iām thinking when Iām sharing. Iām sure there are some personal anecdotes that have nothing to do with cycling, but I honestly try to think of things that will be widely applicable to cyclists.
Sure. And even if it was only for tall people, thatās still a common enough thing to warrant being on the podcast. The expectation that everything applies to everyone is ridiculous. So keep doing what youāre doing, it looks like the majority here enjoy it!
Being 100% honest, sometimes I donāt have too much time to listen to the podcast on my commute, so Iāll skip through the chat about your races (especially when itās about a discipline I donāt compete in) and get straight to the questions. But when I do have time, Iāll listen to those too as there may still be takeaways in there.
@FatBoySlim Iām able to glean info from @Nate_Pearson and I am a VERY average cyclist - I donāt race but I do the work for endurance efforts. Itās good informationā¦if you allow yourself to learn and not take offense.
I love the way Nate, Jonathan and Chad talks in the podcast. Everything must not be superserious all the time imo. Please keep being yourselfs, podcast is awesome! Love it.
@Nate_Pearson, Iāve gotta say, I have an extreme aversion to the term āsnowflakeā because of the way itās thrown around in American politics lately.
But when I was listening to the podcast it was obvious that the intent from the comments from Coach Chad and you were addressing what types of questions were considered āgoodā and therefore answerable by you guys on the Podcast.
They are questions that can be applied to many people rather than addressing a single, specific, unique concern that wouldnāt translate well to the general TR population.
I guess in short, I just want to let you know that I took no offense.
Iām 5 foot 11 and still glean valuable information from the questions you ask regarding your 6ā6"frame.
I tend to ride pretty upright, so know all too well about being above the draft, haha.
Keep doing what youāre doing and thanks for a great product. Itās transformed my riding!
I agree. I donāt like re-hashing races, I think itās boring. I like it when we take out principals from the race and talk about those. Sorry for the Leadville episode!
Weāre about to release some go pro footage with in race commentary with Pete analyzing riders. I think you can get some learnings if youāre watching the race footage.
This would be great. Iāve been enjoying the analysis on the NorCal channel so more of that kind of thing out there would be great, especially looking at races at not quite such a high level.
We did three episodes at once. The first one is a little long, but the end analysis by Pete is amazing!
The other two are shorter and have really good takeaways. He points out a ton of bad things Iām doing and I know Iām not the only one doing these, so hopefully you can get some take aways!
We are using NorCal cyclist as a template for this, we actually had dinner with him last week. He puts out 8-16 minutes of high quality race videos per week. I think weād all like 2 hours a day of footage like this!
So I hope more people jump on the band wagon and make videos in NorCalās style.
@Nate_Pearson I donāt entirely agree, I think its good to know you guys actually do race on the weekend and that analysing a race is good practice, a lot of your listeners Iām sure donāt have years of experiance like some of us
