I think most of those videos will hit well over 100k but you are right that none of these people or events have a significant following. I assume that is what lifetime is trying to change with these events and videos. Whether it’s 50k additional eyes or 150k additional eyes, more is more and the entire industry (and the racers) need more. We have a long way to go before US cycling has the following of red necks destroying stuff on youtube
I was actually wondering if the sponsors are paying for the privilege. They seem to have lots of Specialized athletes, for example, and barely talk about others.
The athletes surely aren’t helping themselves. Stetina was the spirit of gravel complainer in the first season and now he’s tired from having two kids.
They should really resist the urge to complain on camera and get some media training.
The things Sophia says are eye rolling at times - like ‘this is a job for me, I can’t believe people pay to ride this (wet Unbound)’. She’s said more than once that cycling isn’t the love of her life. She just found that she was really good at it and could make it her job.
And she probably doesn’t mean it to sound like it does. She must have some passion for it as she’s been doing it since high school.
I think a lot of what Sofia says and does is to protect herself from any insecurities. Like dropping out of Big Sugar after being dropped by Kasia. She laid out a plan to say she wasn’t going to compete. Much safer than putting it out there against the World Champ for the gravel world to see.
I think it’s a sensible mindset in terms of getting the most out of herself, and I dig a lot of what she does, that’s just my take on how she presents herself in these situations.
Anybody else met Pete Stetina in real life? It’s so weird, he’s such a cool dude in person, but I absolutely can’t stand his media presence lol. Raced with him a handful of times and hes not whiny at all. Pretty free spirited dude.
We all know lots of cyclists with lots of excuses. That doesn’t mean none of them are valid. There’s no doubt it is harder to train and race if married with little kids. That is a competitive disadvantage. You can see that Pete is very competitive and he just wants to perform. Yes, sometimes his comments rub me the wrong way too, but I’m pulling for him. He is working with a coach again this year so hopefully next time we see Call of a Lifetime Season 3, he will be saying, “I got a little more serious this year, worked with a coach, and the work paid off. I’m just glad to go to these races and be able to push the way I knew I was capable of.”
Exactly my take, as well. I think the interviews are structured, and the answers selectively edited, in such a way to create a Reality TV flavor. It’s a disservice to the racers and the audience that the producers felt this need to manufacture such drama when the overall audience for this is so tiny, and we just want to watch bike racing and hear the stories behind it.
I’m glad we have it, but it would be better without all the dumb drama shit.
At least they have us talking about it. I never even heard about it till a week or so ago when youtube suggested it. Its been really solid endurance day watching. I need to find more stuff like the lachlan documentaries but way longer.
I watched it last year and enjoyed it but am struggling this year.
I made it through the first few episodes recently but between the manufactured drama and constant ads, it’s a little much. I wish they’d focus on the racing and less on the people. There’s too many athlete comments that are presented without context and are clearly there to cause tension or build drama. Any time I try to chill and just watch it for what it is, a commercial comes on. They’ve also been spending a ton of time justifying the mud at Unbound instead of owning it and moving on.
I’ll stop ranting now but get off my lawn 
I literally stopped watching YouTube because of all the ads. I get that the platform and content creators should get paid. But I’d rather not watch than be forced to watch two ads every 3-5 minutes.
I say this as someone who watches an unhealthy amount of bike racing: the fundamental problem is that the racing isn’t that interesting months after the fact (or even in the moment if we’re being honest). A 9+ hour gravel drag race that ends in a sprint or a 6 hour MTB race that has a guy soloing off the front for 50+ miles doesn’t have a lot of intrigue to it.
Honestly, all I want decent coverage of, you know, the actual racing.
It’s kind of crazy that they want to bill this series as the pinnacle of US racing and the best they can produce is glorified BTS.
I enjoyed the series as something watch on the trainer, but as person that took part in the mudfest of Unbound 200 last year. It really pissed me off how they tried to spin the whole “It’s not road racing” B.S. Destroying bikes and a 5 mile hike a bike at the start of mass start event is not ok in my book. If they want say it is OK for the pros, then that is another thing. You can make a race tough without involving long sections of mud that bottlenecks people right at the start. They real spirit of gravel is 900+ not finishing, I guess.
The real issues they have is Keegan is dominating, and Sofia had it wrapped up early. You can only rehash the same storylines so often. They might be smarter to cover the races right away, and then leave the drama to the average Joe or Jane trying to ride their first grave event, first century, or turn pro off these events.
I love the footage of the venues and the landscape. I like seeing how the race plays out. The dramatization soap opera stuff is annoying but tolerable for the fact it does give a good feel for what the races are like while riding the trainer
Ublock Origin works well for me. FreeTube is also a great ad-free youtube player.
When blockers stop working I’ll just pay for youtube. 
I agree with this, any other race format would take a section like that and delete it for the good of the whole group.
They’ve stopped Tour stages for mudslides before…obviously this isn’t the tour, but if I would have paid for that event and then got to this, I’d be pissed.
I more prefer watching the EF videos about Lachlan than I do about the soap opera Lifetime created…
My wife literally asked if I was watching a soap opera based simply off the commentary and music and the only reply I could honestly state was, “well…yeah, pretty much haha”.
What more dishonest is they didn’t show footage of the race director saying their was a rerouted which happens during that riders meeting, and that they rerouted the year before in the same section.
I would also be pissed if I was a road rider, because it is not like their are extremely harder road rides. Like road riders are soft. I can tackle Unbound but Tour des Stations, I’m not quite so sure.
I finally gave up and now pay for YouTube premium. $15 a month is worth it for Ad Free watching. Lots of POV riding and racing for the trainer.
The spirit of gravel compels them to embellish things, but only when it’s in their favor
Was there a reason that certain athletes were never mentioned at all? Dylan Johnson comes to mind - they didn’t mention his name in two seasons. Now he didn’t do much in 2023 but it just seems weird that they would interview another racer’s sister but make no mention of some of the other riders as if they didn’t exist.
What really bugged me with the editing was how briefly and infrequently they would show people’s names.