I really enjoyed hearing from average folks who have had some athletic successs. Please bring it back
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I would love to see some variation of this come back. It was my favorite segment/side quest from the pod. I know @Jonathan said (sort of) on a recent podcast that he hears all the time that a lot of listeners donât relate to the stories about the 1% of cyclists at the top of the game. Might be time to bring this back!
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I was just thinking this myself today. I actually considered doing a podcast myself with this type of format. Stuck on voice v video and how to do it logistically as I am in Sothern Hem
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I thought that was just me! I honestly more or less stopped listening to the podcast in recent month for that very reason.
It felt like race preparation and race takes of the top 1% (preferably gravel or xc) alternated with some nutrition talk on every single podcast. As an average roadie whoâs interested in the âAsk a cycling coachâ part I just started drifting to other podcasts. It really feels like none of the TR crew is really invested in road cycling, which is a change from the era of Cat 2 Nat, crushing Jon, legendary Chad, Thor and Amber 
I do hope the podcast increases in variety sometime in the future, just to engage a bit more with the roadie base 
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No plans to bring it back in the same way we did before (a lot of work with a questionable ROI for us, a bootstrapped company 
), but we do intend to work them into the main podcast feed occasionally.
Bummed to hear this. 
We make a concerted effort to not discuss how to pace and strategize like the top 1%.
We focus on nutrition because over the last couple years it has become the most common theme for athlete questions. This podcast is driven by what athletes ask about.
And on that note, thatâs why there is less focus on road racing. It seemed the pandemic really took the wind out of road racingâs sails. Statistically speaking, prior to 2020 road racing was the context for most of the questions submitted by listeners (quick look shows over 20 per week for an average). Fast forward to now and after a quick search we have only received 5 questions about road racing in the six months!
In terms of our personal interests, I have raced 13 times this year, will be racing SBT next weekend, and 4 other smaller races. Out of all of those, 4 are road races. So yes, itâs not predominantly road racing and, no, itâs not 30-40 days of racing like I used to do, but Iâm sure as any working parent can attest to, 30-40 is not sustainable, haha.
I donât often talk about my personal racing as I think people are interested in hearing from guest researchers, athletes, and authorities on topics that more directly apply to them. I also get a fair amount of negative feedback when I talk about myself on the podcast, so I avoid doing that to make our listeners happy.
I hope this gives you context for how the podcast evolves. Itâs based on what the majority of our listeners are interested in, and it is always subject to change.
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Thanks for the thoughtful reply Jonathan! I do appreciate your work and passion, and I honestly believe you get plenty of negative feedback whichever way you go! I personally always loved the personal anecdotes and your road racing stories, but I can see how you refrain from touching on that if the negative feedback gets too loud.
Although I stand by what I said, I know things change and evolve and you canât keep the exact same content for 500 episodes and more. I am sure that somewhere the focus will shift again and might be closer to my own, personal and selfish interests 
Since the negatives always get highlighted too much please let me balance things out: I am very grateful for the value the podcast has brought to my life over those countless episodes. The efforts and knowledge of the various hosts are unvaluable, but above all you are clearly the driving force behind the journey. For this, thank you!
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Thanks for the response Jonathan. I will chime in and say that I also appreciate the personal annectodes you and your fellow hosts bring to the podcast. Be they about road, gravel, MTB, Tri, or the struggles and joys of parenting. Keep up the good work!
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I donât often talk about my personal racing as I think people are interested in hearing from guest researchers, athletes, and authorities on topics that more directly apply to them. I also get a fair amount of negative feedback when I talk about myself on the podcast, so I avoid doing that to make our listeners happy.
Dang! To contribute another data point: I would LOVE to hear (lots and lots) more personal race experiences from you and the TR team. I find myself caring less and less about about guest researchers, (pro) athletes, authorities, and nutrition.
Keep up the awesome work
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Perhaps there is nuance in âroad cyclingâ referred to by @dmalanda as opposed to âroad racingâ that could still be explored and be popular hopefully?
For what itâs worth, I enjoyed some of the episodes of successful athletes - I think by nature they will appeal to certain demographics more than others - I liked the triathletes, for example.
Triathlon participation may have taken a hit through the pandemic, but the recent multisport advances by TR could make it a good subject still. Pacing, training, techniques are all still subjects worthy of discussion even if you have done them in the past.
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Bring back the mountain bike podcast!!!
Sorry, had to.
Donât underestimate how very interested listeners were in the original podcast episodes when you, Nate and Chad (Pete, Amber, etc) were trying new things and sharing your own journeys and discovery of different things in the cycling world.
Of course times change and you guys are creating a training platform and ecosystem not driving âour adventuresâ type content. But interjecting a bit of the personal training and racing is not something to shy away from in my opinion.
All the best,
Darth
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I definitely miss the âgood old daysâ of 24 hour racing, Chad eating hot sauce/pickle juice/mustard, Nate consuming the entire cereal aisle, personal goal challenges, wind tunnels and dexa scans. That was amazing content. As we all say, I understand people, companies, and times, changeâŚbut man, those were podcasts that made me laugh out loud and re-listen to actually take notes. Some of the best podcasts Iâve ever listened to by any presenter. 
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You should definitely do something on SBT and one of my favourite episodes recently was the episode where you discussed Downieville so there is definitely still space to get some personal racing content on the podcast.
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Thanks for all of the feedback, yâall! We consider ourselves quite lucky to be able to hear and engage with our audience, and very grateful all of you care enough to share your feedback (good and bad)!
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+1.
My favorite podcast of late was hearing about @Jonathan âs Downieville race. Wish we would have heard more about the lead up, training and the aftermath. Maybe next year get Pete to do it too? 
I am a bit burnt out on the nutrition talk as well. I understand it is driven by the questions so am probably in the minority here but I just miss talking about bikes.
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Things have evolved, but I still like the podcast. It is probably 50% or more of the reason I subscribe to TR. An accidental series of circumstances led me to coaching a kids team in spite of becoming a cyclist late in life. I am good at organizing things and encouraging kids. I rely on podcasts like this to help form the training/nutrition guidance I offer because my background is not in endurance sports or cycling in general.
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+1 on this. I really enjoy the race recaps along with the prep, equipment, nutrition, pacing, etc. Nothing stays the same, but I definitely miss the days where members of the TR team would sign up for a big event (cape epic, leadville, etc.) and kind of walk through the entire prep and execution. And I enjoyed the successful athlete content also because it would often include how they approached an event.
Honestly, I usually enjoy listening to anyoneâs story about how they approach events. Sometimes itâs about learning and sometimes itâs just interesting and/or inspiring. I listed to a podcast recently about an ex pro who convinced her mother to do Unbound and they talked through the prep and how it went. I enjoy hearing the stories whether itâs Keegan crushing leadville or someoneâs beginner cyclist mom doing the Unbound 50.
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Agreed, loved it. On a similar note, Iâd like to know more about how the rest of us should ride. Specifically, there is a lot of info/podcasts on what to do if you are in (ex:) the top 10 or going for the win⌠Well, there can only be 10 top 10âs. What are the rest of us supposed to do? How to move through a pack, how to pace for long races, short races, crits, gravel, MTB,⌠Hope this makes sense.
Personally, I would much rather hear about your training and the training of other people who donât get paid to race. Keegan and Sophia (amongst others) are great, but they also have different training time parameters than many of us do. That makes their experiences a bit less useful (not unappreciated!) than someone working 50 hours a week and pulling out a national podium on med to low volume. That stuff helps me.
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Nor are all of us interested in a steady diet of exploits of mountain bikers. How about more road or cyclocross, (which is my interest).
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My favorite podcast was the interview with 75+ CX Nat. Champ Jim Mueller. That one I can relate to. A senior cyclocrosser who used TrainerRoad to win Nats! Jim is a beast and a very nice guy. I had the privilege of meeting him at a cyclocross race where he just throttled me. I got on the podium as a distant 3rd.
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