The Lab – Page 4 – Rodeo Adventure Labs, LLC

The Rodeo Podcast: Jay Petervary’s Tour Divide

Photo credit Eddie Clark.

As bike enthusiasts or even, dare I say, bike nerds, we obsess over bikes, gear, weight, suspension (or lack thereof), geometry, and tires. We can’t help but keep track of what are the the latest trends and tech. So when bikepacking.com releases their the famous list of participants bikes and photos tackling an event, we can’t help but ogle at the myriad of choices. We are giddy with excitement for what is to come; often untold hardship and profound moments for the participants. On the other side dot watchers are all over checking in at various points throughout the day only imaging the vast terrain that yields slow, but steady progress.

Bikepacking Tour Divide

The Atlas Mountain Race miniseries

Much like a release of any thrilling docuseries on Netflix, the opening episode sets the stage– a cast of characters introduced, various pathways illuminated, but not yet explored. Similarities to the Netflix model diverge immediately. Unfortunately this miniseries will not be binge-able until much, much later… We are building the ship while sailing it, we don’t know if there is a satisfying conclusion to this story, the only way to find out is to press on!

Atlas Mountain Race

The Leadville 100 Podcast: TD3 vs LT100

The hosts of the Leadville 100 podcasts were super kind to invite Stephen Fitzgerald onto their show to discuss a question they’ve been hearing more and more from their audience: Can a gravel bike be raced successfully at the Leadville 100 mountain bike race? And even if it CAN be raced, SHOULD it?

Leadville 100 LT100 Podcast

“Where is my bike?” Rodeo Q1 2021 Production update

In what seems to have become a ritual around here it has come time to write a transparent and in-depth update on the status of our frames, forks, and complete bikes for 2021. I’ve penned updates like this regularly over the years as one challenge or another seems to regularly interfere with our best laid plans to get our bikes out the door at earlier and earlier dates every year. With each year that passes we get increasingly good at logistics here at Rodeo, but we also discover more things that can derail or delay our plans.

Bike Industry Traildnkey

The Rodeo Podcast: Bike Industry 2021 / Shortages and Opportunities

Across multiple industries, COVID-19 created an initial dip in demand as factories shut down, people quarantined. Global supply chains halted. Now supply while restarted cannot meet the demand. In the bicycle industry, COVID-19 is creating lasting changes and certainly repercussions to business operations. In the meantime, Stephen and I did not see a lot of discussion around what is happening. Some news articles discuss the limited supply of bicycles. As a result, we knew this would be the perfect topic for the podcast.

covid-19 industry Podcast

Rodeo Podcast EP10: Connor Ryan

On the same day that the capital was stormed while the House and Senate were certifying the 2020 election, Stephen and I were scheduled to link back up with Connor Ryan and hear about the Break The (BI)cycle ride. We were stunned. Wondering if we should we carry on with the podcast or reschedule? It is easy to freeze or doom scroll news and social media, but ultimately we want to put something positive into the world. So we sat down with Connor and and we are glad we did!

Podcast

Rodeo Podcast EP9: Tom (t-rex) Miller

Tom amused us all day long by attacking and winning pretty much every climb over 50ft tall, of which there were many.

On the ninth episode of the podcast, Nik and Stephen catch up with Denver local legend Tom Miller. Tom used to be quite the football quarterback. Tom puts out a max of 32,000 watts in short bursts. Tom has a Hemi. Tom is larger than life. Tom is a regular at Denver group rides and he has been rocking Rodeo colors since 1.0.

If Tom isn’t at a group ride, he is often found doing 200+ mile days with RMCC. So naturally we discuss what are the motivations behind these epic days and how did he even get started with cycling. 2020 threw a lot at Tom, including a pulmonary embolism scare. Tom has penned some words (found below), in the podcast we discuss how important it is to build friendships. Friends can motivate you, but they can also give perspective when you are too close to something. In this case, knowing when to reach out for help.

Rodeo Podcast EP8: Arkansas High Country Race

On the eighth episode of the podcast, Nik and Stephen virtually catch up with Ashley Carelock and Dr. Seth Wood. They both recently competed in the 2020 Arkansas High Country Race and both set Fastest Known Time(s) (FKT). Your hosts dig into the experience the only way they know how, excitedly asking questions about what happened, like gear choices, or in Seth’s case a single gear!

Bikepacking Race Report

Rodeo Podcast EP7: Mostapelli

On the seventh episode of the podcast, Nik and Stephen dig into which Star Wars movie was best. Just kidding! Rather they regale the trials and tribulations faced when attempting the iconic Kokopelli bike packing route from Fruita, CO to Moab, UT. We cover the motivations behind the trip, gear highlights as well as some choice meals. Most of the recap revolves around how to prep or not prep for a multi day bike pack.

Bikepacking Podcast

Rodeo Podcast EP6: Evan Christenson

On the sixth episode of the podcast, Nik and Stephen sit down with Evan Christenson. We talk about Evan’s multitude of bike touring trips, how he ended up getting his second choice pick of a custom bicycle–a Flaanimal 4.0– a bike he immediately took bike-packing in Morocco and Uganda. He seemingly hasn’t looked back, but if he isn’t out under the stars he has been at protests across the West photographing and taking part in the Black Lives Matter protests and handling customer service at Rodeo Adventure Labs.

Bikepacking Podcast