The Specialized Podcast
Going behind the curtain to talk to the riders and creators working hard to make your ride better.
The Specialized Podcast
Christopher Blevins - Presence & Performance
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You likely know Christopher Blevins from his celebrated career in cross-country racing that culminated in a record-breaking 2025 season, where he finished #1 in UCI XC points and claimed both the overall XCO and XCC titles. What you may not know is the process behind that success, the mindset that shaped it, and the deeper ‘why’ that keeps driving him forward.
In this episode of the Specialized Bicycles Podcast, Ben Capron sits down with Christopher for an open conversation about the season that changed everything, the inner work that made it possible, and his goals for the future.
His story moves from growing up in Durango and racing BMX as a kid, to finding his way through doubt and reconnecting with his purpose, to becoming one of the most thoughtful and dynamic riders in any sport. Along the way, he reflects on the part he plays in R&D at Specialized, creativity, community, and the role mindfulness plays in helping him perform at his best. The conversation also looks ahead to what’s next, including his goals for 2026, and the 2028 Olympics.
This episode goes further than race results, covering:
• What stood out most from his landmark 2025 season
• How process, presence, and adaptability shaped his success
• The role of mindfulness in racing and daily life
• How BMX, road, and XC each helped form him as a rider
• His goals for 2026 and the road to the 2028 Olympics
• Why community, creativity, and service matter beyond competition
It is a conversation about flow, focus, and the deeper purpose behind one of the most compelling and inspirational riders in sport.
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Welcome, I'm Ben Capron, and this is the specialized podcast where we go behind the curtain to talk to the riders and the creators who are working hard to make your ride better. Today we've got Christopher Blevins, one of the most authentic and inspirational athletes on the planet today. We're going to talk to Chris about obviously his breakthrough 2025 season where he won everything under the sun, as well as some of the challenges on his road to get there, the fact that he loves poetry, service to others in the community, and his mindfulness practice and what role that plays in who he is and how he races his bike. Chris, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show today. Let's just jump right into it.
SPEAKER_00Great to be here, Ben. Great to just chat and uh, you know, yeah, to do the podcast to have the excuse to. But it yeah, no, thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01I want to start with what's probably on a lot of people's minds right now, which is this absolutely unprecedented season that you're coming off of, 2025. Yeah. So many firsts. I mean, your neighbor growing up, Net Overend, won uh the overall cross country in 1991, I think. And it's been ever since then that an American won the UCI cross country overall, and that's you. So congratulations on that. But as far as I can tell, no rider ever has won the overall for short track and cross country in the same year. So that's incredible. And then also, you won the first four races in the UCI season this year. And there's so many other things that we could talk about about this season, but just a huge, heartfelt congratulations. And just opening it with a question, you know, what sticks out most to you from this 2025 season?
SPEAKER_00There's a lot, you know, and uh I think a huge part is the way we did it, like how we did it. And I say we because it really is the team more than ever. It's felt like specialized factory racing is a true unit across the board, you know, and even beyond the core team, you know, how we work with product, everything else. But and the and the teammates, like you know, so much has been said about our one, two, threes or one, two, fours, and but I think we were one in two in eight out of eleven short tracks, if you include worlds in there, amazing, which is incredible. And um, it felt so organic uh from a team standpoint, like the way that we were, you know, outside of the course tape is the same way we were, you know, in years before, and maybe when we were struggling, like Martin and I, you know, he's one of my best friends, and we've been through a lot together in these three, four years. But uh, to be one and two in the world at the end, he's a second in the overall is incredible. So there's the team element and the fact that we can battle each other, work together when we can, really help each other outside of the racing more. In the racing, there's not too much, you know, team tactics that we can do. And uh, you know, we all want to win. But um, that's been really special. So that sticks out more than anything. And then from a personal level, it's the same thing. It's really felt organic, um, just an extension of my process. What I've had to come back to again and again, like what I can kind of rest on, which is the process in my way of just you know, showing up fresh every race. Um, I really learned what it's like to be the guy to beat with the white number one on my back, you know, and and that's really an external thing. Internally, if I just come back to the same kind of core confidence, and you know, every race is so new, and there you have to win in such a different way, and it requires everything, you know. That's really what I've learned is if you want to win, especially these short tracks where you know 18 minutes in you're gonna give absolutely everything a keel over at the end, like you have to be really surrendering to that. Yeah, the two things personal and team, it's just how organic it's all felt this year. Amazing, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, organic, and I heard you talking about your process and returning to the process. Is it part of that that the process, like what you actually do, is the part that's in your control? Is that a part of it? And yeah, what comes from that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a good question. I think we as high performance athletes or high performing people in general, you're always looking what you can control, you know, and I think a lot of that has been maximized with the relationship with the team. Um, my coach, Mike, you know, who's a performance director, product, like our preparation in general, but then there's so much you can't control. Um, and the times when I've you know tripped over myself have been when I tried to control too much, right? So it is that balance, and I think that um that awareness is important for athletes. An example that maybe is the most uh I don't know when I look back on the season, like how did I do that moment was in the short track in Novo Mesto when I dropped my chain. I was in perfect position. Victor and I were there. We knew we were gonna fight for another one, too. Well, we you know, we knew that in the back of our heads. We're looking at each other probably. And then I dropped my chain and go from second to like tenth, I think, with uh a minute left in the race. Right. And then I stayed on my bike and scooped my chain back on, and that was an example of just I couldn't control that, had to respond and adapt. Um, and I think I'm yeah, I'm proud of myself for the moments that I met what I couldn't control with what I could, so to speak, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. This is what's happening, this is what's so what's the best move from here? Yeah, exactly. But to be able to say here in a chill room is one thing, yeah. But to be on the track and you lose your you lose your chain and have the presence to be able to do it does speak to some things we'll get into later around what your process is, but great example of that. Yeah. And I think something that carries, you know, well beyond the race course. We all have that, where we're going through life, there's things that we want, but then to focus on what is it I can control and do that and maybe not be as attached to the outcome and just trust that the right fruits will come. Totally. Yeah. Amazing. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00I will say, like, I absolutely had moments in the year where even though I won like nine World Cups and it was smooth sailing, I had some races I wasn't proud of, and you know that I like it still makes me excited, like what I can work for. And uh at a certain point, the overall became something kind of not to lose versus to win, which is an interesting shift. And um, the sport is really hard. I think I said that in my last interview after winning Lake Blasted, like you can't discount that. So I had you know, just as many challenges as years passed, but uh, I guess my level was it was just a little higher.
SPEAKER_01Cool. When did you know that your level was higher? When did you know you were on to a different kind of season, a different kind of level of of performance, of fitness, of whatever, however you would say it. When did you know?
SPEAKER_00Honestly, the first rate, first real race. We we raced in Benioles, which is a classic, like mini World Cup in February in Spain. This one was a mini track meet with a 50-pound bike. You're lugging around. It was just one of those horrible mud races. So forget about that race. My first non-World Cup in uh in Vale Lake to Mecula, one of the US Cup rounds. I just felt different this year. I feel like I had like a positive anger that I was able to channel on the bike and just like fire to me and confidence. And then I think, yeah, I knew you know it was maybe time this year, and I could uh yeah, just like I'm doing it this year. So you knew it early on, yeah. And I I think I, you know, you don't really know what it's gonna look like, but I knew the kind of athlete I wanted to be when I lined up in Brazil, which was like don't want to cuss on this podcast, but like I'm here, you know? I'm here, I'm right here. Yeah, and uh yeah, really that like I think it's come through experience, and now that I'm stepping into the fourth, or this is my fourth year in elite, so a little bit more experience under my belt and that confidence that came with it. So very cool, yeah, very cool.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for that. Hey, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the role of equipment. You know, our sport's an interesting one because it's definitely the rider, it's the human being, but you're riding a machine and you're hooked onto the machine with shoes that clip in, and it's like the whole thing has to work and tire choice and pressure and whatnot. Like, when you think of the combination of you and your complete kit, what comes to mind for you? I got more specific questions, but I won't leave it broad in the beginning.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean, I I think that's the way I want to speak about it is the integration of everything. And you know, from the rider to the bike is the most obvious one, integrating those two. But within the equipment, like where we're so fortunate and where I've seen so much, so much progress through the years and within our team, within me as an individual, and within the brand, is like everything speaks to each other. Everything is integrated. When you talk about the Epic Eight, you talk about like the bikes we're racing, you have to, you can't speak about it without the whole picture, without the ways that the new World Cup, you know, revolve wheels work with the tires and suspension. Like there is this synchronicity between the bike and the equipment that I think is unparalleled. I know it's unparalleled with other brands. Um, like again, and it goes all the way to the points of contact, your grips, your shoes, you know, your saddle. Um, and I feel so fortunate that we have the ability to push the needle on all of these fronts, but to do that within the context of making a complete bike, you know, and and to understand how the other equipment fill fills in from that. So that has been, without a doubt, I think the biggest small tick over the years that has added up. And I think uh it the proof is in the pudding, you know, so to speak, right? Yeah, I could I could break down like why the tires are so good, why the saddle I love this year, obviously the Epic Eight and the World Cup. But uh I think I could also just speak about the whole package, and that's what matters the most. Right. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, we can deconstruct it and we can talk about everything that's going on to prevent flats between the tire and all the technical details, and all those are sweat, sweated. Yeah, but the reality is it's bike and rider together in that moment on the trail that either works or doesn't. What does that feel like when everything's working just right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I mean, that's what I do a sport for. It's it feels you find a lot of words for it, right? If it feels like just simple fun, you know, the same feeling you have when you're a kid and you're ripping around on like 20-inch wheels, even before it was a BMX racer. Maybe they were like 10-inch wheels at that point. But but it's that to the nth degree where you're on the best equipment in the world and you're trained to be able to do this one thing so extremely well. And what a beautiful feeling. And it's just it's flow, it's naturalness, and it is fun, you know, and all it's and that's something everyone can appeal to. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Like you don't exactly was going through my mind. Like, that's universal. Like, you may be able to touch that place of flow more consistently because of your practice. But I think everybody who rides a bike relates to that feeling as a kid of freedom, of flow. And as we proceed in riding, like that's the elusive quality we're looking for. Yeah, yeah. We get it for where we can just get out of our own way.
SPEAKER_00You get out of your head and you and you get into the experience. And there's so many different dimensions and sort of styles of flow, right? There's the, oh man, it's the last lap of a short track. I'm completely pinned, and I have to go all out on this kick, and I know I'm gonna, you know, destroy myself. There's that flow state, and then there's like the mellow adventure ride or the flow, you know, this the perfect hero dirt ride with your friends. And I think I've always appreciated the most of the sport is how those different dimensions are part of the experience. And uh, I absolutely like we could we'll maybe talk about this more, but I mean, my philosophy as a racer is I will be a and I grew up with this in Durango Devo, it's how to be a bike rider for life, you know? Yeah, so whether it's uh World Cup, you know, finals or uh my dad, you know, at some uh Wednesday night short track in Durango, like it is the same experience. Same thing. But to tie that back, like I think uh the way that we've been able to refine that and to form a closer relationship to the product, to the equipment over the years, like now, more than ever, been with the team for almost a decade. But the way that we're helping to inform product decisions and like I really see our input when I look at the bike and when I look at the wheels, and I feel so grateful that we're a part of that process with the team, and then that their feedback and all the smart people on the equipment side are able to funnel that back to us. So, like it's there's so many little details, right? But we're thinking of it once again within that context of the whole picture.
SPEAKER_01We're gonna go into product because you primed the pump there so perfectly, but I just want to say it's so rewarding to hear that that's how it feels for you. And this integral approach, this integrated approach, integrated around the rider, is something that we've been working at and towards for a long time. You know, we with body geometry said be one with the bike, or sometimes we say, you know, it's engineered to disappear, right? If the product team does everything that they're doing perfectly, you don't even notice it. Yeah. Which is kind of like the ultimate compliment.
SPEAKER_00No, that's actually, I love that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we thought of we thought of everything, so you don't have to think about anything.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. 100%.
SPEAKER_01Engineered to disappear. I like that. Yeah, yeah. It's kind of an interesting tech uh tension there. Yeah. But I love that that comes through for you. And um, I would go further to say that it's not only when you or another rider's on the bike, you touched on the next element of integration, which is the relationship and the ability to ask and listen, the call and response of hey, what's working, what's not, and how does that show up in product? Yeah, that helps you guys on race day, but also goes out to help all the riders around the world who can ride their bikes and and benefit from what we create as well. So that's really part and parcel of what we do. But I wanted to hear your perspective on that. You mentioned a couple things, tires, wheels, but what are from the 2025 setup you were riding, what involvement did you have in development that stands out the most to you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And how what did that look like?
SPEAKER_00No, totally. I think to frame it, there's so many in cross-country racing, there are inherent contradictions that you have to solve for. Like you want light, you know, product, but you need stiffness, you know? You want suppleness, but you need support with suspension, right? Um and how that actually translates into the race experience, yeah. I sort of don't know where to start. It's kind of overwhelming. But I mean, to speak about suspension and the geometry of the bike, um I think that the tweaks that uh that we feel, just to speak about how we feel on a cross-country World Cup course, is like it the Epic Eight climbs where you're over the top of the pedals, you know, and yet I think that doesn't compromise any of the top-level compliance support and then we're clearly able to like you know send it to the moon. And uh maybe you know, Martin more than me. Sometimes I'm like, okay, kid, let's but like um again, those contradictions, tires are a big one. Yeah, um, the new air tracks. This is our first year like fully on them, yeah. And they're the best tires I've had from by far. Yeah, because like you need them to be fast rolling, but you also gotta hook up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then knock on wood, like no flats this year, right? You know, which is huge.
SPEAKER_01So you said the F-word. Yeah, yeah. I said the F word. I cussed on the buttons. Yeah. Uh well let's talk about Epic Eight and um, you know, how did that development work? I mean, it's this last season, the winningest, you know, cross-country bike ever. People have been enjoying it. The team worked hard to bring capability into the picture more, yeah, right, with the way that the tracks have been evolving and the way that riders are riding.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But when did you first get engaged with that Epic Gate project? And I know you ride with Brian Gordon, the product manager, quite a bit, who's got the chops for sure. But what was that interplay? Like, how did you first experience it? What was some of your feedback? Did you notice things that changed?
SPEAKER_00And yeah, totally. I mean, really from the inception with the initial ideas, like dating back two editions of the epic, I think Brian was imagining some of what the the eight is now. Um, and as far as the process, I was living in Santa Cruz, you know, in the couple of years before, so being able to really help, you know, test some early, yeah, uh prototypes. And then I think the feedback that they get from coming out to the World Cups, Brian and Jack are incredible riders, and like there's so much that they naturally know from almost, yeah, well, more than us, they can send it and they refine every detail. But being able to understand, okay, how does that show up in a race course and maybe what feels like fun and capability on a trail ride, which like the Epic Eight, if I was just riding for fun, like without a doubt, I wouldn't pick a better bike, you know, because I like doing like long 50 mile rides, and you can do around here, especially like in Santa Cruz, like perfect, yeah, the steeps, like you don't need more suspension, especially if you if you had a 130 on the front, but it doesn't really matter. Um, so what feels like that in fun feels like more recovery in a race, being able to relax more in the descents so that you can attack the climbs more, and understanding like, okay, that feeling feels like this in a riding situation.
SPEAKER_01It feels like it's it's but the meaning is different in competition, totally it kind of becomes weaponized in a way. Like, here's the technical section. Your competition's gonna be hurting to get through. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you can even maybe recover beats per minute down a little bit through that technical section. Yeah, 100%. Interesting.
SPEAKER_00And the responsiveness is a good word, you know, the different ways that shows up, but the flight attendant and just the pedal responsiveness has been key. So yeah, racing's not really, you're not looking to have fun on your bike necessarily, but right, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Hey, Lake Placid is where you clinched the double. I wanted to go back to that a little bit. Like when you were there at American Soil, I know your mom was there, your dad, I think, had had a hip surgery, so he couldn't make that particular one. But what was that race like for you? You mentioned a little bit that going into it, you know, you weren't as much racing to win as to not lose the overall.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What was that like for you? Well, I did have a shift. I think I had a mid-season alull. I got sick a couple of times, didn't have the races I wanted in the prior two World Cups, and then uh I had I went home for a week. Um, and I really had this moment of like just a conscious shift, and like, you know what? I'm I'm attacking, I'm not defending, I'm going for this. And I think I raced that first short track. Uh I would, you know, if you looked at the data, I was probably on the front like 50 to 75% more than any other short track I've won. I was just leading from the front, controlling from the front, and I just took it on and that paid off. Um, we had Adrian, you know, boyshi, like on both races, attack me right at the end, and that was awesome. He's like a the young puppy of the team who has so much so much talent, ridiculously talented. He was still U23 this year. So we all know he's knocking on the door. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we have to watch out, you know, keep him, keep him and he he he wants to win more than anyone, and he will, without a doubt. So I think for me though, um Lake Placid, I I've been asked, like, oh some of your races, my best results have happened on American soil, and I don't think there's any element that a race course is a race course, you know. There's some characteristics of American cross-country racing that I think you should did show up in Lake Placid. It's a faster course, a little bit more of a pack dynamic. I tend to do well in that situation. Um but maybe there's there's an element of you know, the Europeans have to deal with some of the things I we North American riders have to deal with all season. A little bit of jet lag, you know, different food, whatever else. So the tables are turned a little bit in that respect. But I just was so focused, and in Lake Placid XC, XEO, like I had probably 15 family members there, and I don't know where any of them were on the course. Like I heard them, but like I was so tunnel mode that whole race. And uh it was, yeah, maybe it is the most yeah, special race of my career so far. But very cool. I have so much appreciation for the fact that I was able to do it in like classic and yeah.
SPEAKER_01So cool. So it sounds like going along, got a little bit sick, you did some introspection, you made a decision. I'm not defending, I'm attacking. Yeah, and you came out and just took control. Totally, yeah. Love it, fantastic. Okay, cool. I just wanted to dip back into that one on the on the last season. Um, you mentioned just then, like, when when things are tight and you do well, and I want to get into BMX, but before that, I want to ask you like, what was it like growing up in Durango? Probably I mean, it's what, 20,000 population, and the number of cycling champions that have come out of that town, it's got to be the highest per capita champion. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Racers coming out of a small town anywhere, and Ned was your neighbor, right? Ned Overend was your neighbor. It's like, tell me about that. Like, what was that like growing up in that context?
SPEAKER_00I mean, I've talked a lot about Durango in my you know, whatever. Such an amazing town. Yeah, yeah, in community. It's still hard for me to really understand, like, I can't pay. It to one thing, like why Durango has produced so many top-level cyclists, because it has felt so natural for me growing up. I think any kid in Durango can look 360 degrees around them and see where a bike can take them. For me, you know, I could look at Ned and Todd and Howard Grotz, you know, um, all the kind of American specialized riders, you know, before me, and I could really see like how I can make the bike a part of my life. Um, and I had other friends who said I can make the bike a part of my life, but didn't race. They became, you know, bikepacking guys or work in the industry or are filmers. And like Durango Devo's motto, I said this earlier, is developing lifelong cyclists. And I love that. And that it's just embedded in the culture. And I think it's unique to Durango, but it's not exclusive to Durango.
SPEAKER_01It can happen other places, it does happen other places, but but there were role models you could see in the community that there were very tangible, like next door neighbors that were doing this. You could actually envision it. And then there were there were programs like Durango Devo that world renowned for developing and yeah, joy of riding, lifelong cyclists, give back to the community. I see so much of that in you today. Do you feel like you got a lot of that from that Durango Devo team?
SPEAKER_00I think I got yeah, almost all of it, really. Yeah, you know, take the impact. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01And the number of riders that have come through that, yeah, you know, SEP and you mentioned Gratz, and the list is long.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it started like Durango Devo was started by uh two co-founders, Sarah Tesher and Chad Cheney. And I think a lot about you know, what two people or one person can start and ripple out. It's a small sport, you know, and sometimes it just takes those two passionate people, and that's all it was in Durango, you know. So, I mean, obviously before that, yeah, we had the first world championships and net over in there. So, like the the it was fertile soil, but they were the seed that kind of still did it all, you know? 100%.
SPEAKER_01And now you're doing that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Now you're doing that, Chris. I mean, I really care about the the ways that the bike can impact community and show up in different places and like beyond the racing. Yeah, our sport's unique. It's not like a basketball court where there's one way to play it, right? Yeah, you can ride your bike anyway.
SPEAKER_01If you got your body and a bike and if somewhere to ride, you can ride. And then, you know, I'm not the first to say it, but give me any problem that humanity faces today, and I can tell you how the bicycle is at least a part of the solution. Yeah. Mental, emotional, physical, environmental, social. If you ride your bike, things get better.
SPEAKER_00Totally.
SPEAKER_01I mean, it's just that simple. And to your point, like you might choose a competitive path, or you might choose something that's no one ever sees you. You know, most of my rides are Dom Patrol. I don't see anybody. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But it changes most of mine are not, but I I respect it.
SPEAKER_01Right on, man. Thank you so much for that. So you started off before the Devo, you started off racing BMX on some pretty big teams. And by the time you were 16, half the years you had been alive, you had won a national championship. Is that right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01You won eight national championships by the time you're 16. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, honestly, I think it's more. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay. If it's two years, then you then you're right. Yeah. So amazing. I almost I I feel like little six-year-old Christopher is like a he he was a different kind of beast in some ways. Like, what would tell me about that beast?
SPEAKER_01What was six-year-old Christopher like?
SPEAKER_00If Divo taught uh taught me how to be, you know, connected to the love of bikes, that was part of BMX, but it taught me how to like be competitive as hell. And just like to be.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. If you missed it, if you missed it in BMX, yeah, if you don't get the whole shot, good luck. And if you miss it by a light, nothing.
SPEAKER_00Totally.
SPEAKER_01So you gotta be cutthroat. Yeah. And lightning fast. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00And double. For sure. For sure. Seven-year-old, eight-year-old, nine-year-old, ten-year-old BMX Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I still, every November around this time, I start. Ooh, it's Grand Nationals. Wow, it's time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, in your DNA.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So every one of those felt like the biggest thing on the planet to me, which, you know, part of that is like, okay, like I, you know, maybe kids shouldn't feel like it. But it was absolutely good for me to learn how to be competitive and to go all in on something. So BMX was intense, but that's how it is for um for any kid, you know, really racing the national circuit. But it also taught me all these bike handling skills and pack skills and everything. Um, but yeah, I love BMX. I still like dream about BMX all the time.
SPEAKER_01Do you ever think about going racing again, BMX?
SPEAKER_00No, I think I think my my poor mom couldn't handle that, like the stress of it, you know. Uh I definitely play like a BMX kid, you know, like manual all the time.
SPEAKER_01I think that six-year-old Blevins is still in there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm not really big enough. I would have to, you know, probably put on 50 pounds to be yeah, muscle to I think you found your right spot. I think I did.
SPEAKER_01But to find that right spot, you know, in the short track and cross country, you also you raced and rode on the road, mountain bike, you know, cyclocross, a lot of different disciplines. Yeah. What was that about for you? Like what was the choice to do all those things, part A and part B? Can you kind of put your finger on what each kind of gave you a little bit or what was significant about these different expressions of cycling?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think the road is maybe the most common career choice for for a lot of kids who maybe grew up on both um, you know, in both disciplines. Now you see a few more a few riders really transitioning between the two. And I did for a while, and then I I really, you know, focused on mountain biking with the Olympics, Tokyo, and then again with Paris. Um, but I appreciate really the team aspect of road the most and the fact that every race is so different, you know. Absolutely learned a lot that shows up in how I race short tracks and you know, race tactics. Um, and who knows? I may end up back on the road at some point. You know, if there was Torre California every year, I that's like I'd love to do that every year. I love it like a world anymore. Yeah, I know. Um, even like Utah or Colorado. But uh, who knows? Maybe you know, I'll pop in if there's some races at some point, but we're just racing bike, like there's so many different ways to do it, and I think kids should experiment and you know, not define what kind of bike racer they are too early. Like I've learned so much, and I think that has shown up in a lot of races. I don't think I was the strongest, but I think I raced the smartest.
SPEAKER_01Um, and uh that's a cumulative experience of all these different so maybe road gave you kind of a tactical, analytical aspect that you didn't have otherwise. BMX gave you that the bike handling skills and being calm under pressure, yeah, and groups in tight quarters, that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, totally. And I love the cross country format. I think it kind of is like this, it falls in between a lot, you know, in different communities, like trail riding, you know, sticks are downhill, they kind of go to that direction, road, you know, endurance people go that direction. Well, I love the cross-country discipline because it and short track for that matter, because they demand so much of all aspects. Point trick poem. Yeah, you have to be explosive, you have to conserve, you have to think, you have to, and you obviously have to go, you know, down these rock gardens with 190 RPM, you know, uh heart rate, you know, while you're doing it. Great point. Yeah, yeah. A lot of pieces to that puzzle. Yeah. So that's kind of how I landed up on what I'm doing now. I love it.
SPEAKER_01So Durango Devo was one, but then the Nica side, which I just gotta say, like near and dear to my heart, because when Matt Fritzinger was doing the NorCal League and then it went to SoCal, we had a conversation. Why don't you take this thing nationwide? Matt said, Well, I need a check. I went back to Sineard and I said, Mike, let's write a check. We wrote a check for 100 grand, gave it to Matt Fritzinger, and said, The next thing is you take this to track and you get a matching check. And he did, and he had 200 grand, and that's what started Nica. And so I just love that like to see the access it's brought to riders, but then I want to hear about it from your perspective coming up in Durango BMX, then Durango Devo, and then Nica. How did Nica fit in in that Colorado league? Like, what part of your life was that and what did it bring you?
SPEAKER_00I raced a handful of Nica races. It was at the point where at that point I was racing in World Cups. Yes. You know, I kind of well, we didn't have uh World Cups as a junior, but I was over in Europe mostly on the road, but it really like kind of pinned everything back to the rest of you know, my my friends in school. There were people who were also all of a sudden racing Nica who hadn't been in Devo kids when they were 10 years old. It allowed these different entry points. And I had like this earliest entry point, you know, with BMX, age five, go race every weekend and you know, around the nation. But Nika has been the best entry point to to kids finding the bike, finding racing, you know, that we've had in America, um, in this in the history of the sport. Yeah. I think next year we have a World Cup in um Soldier Hollow in Utah. And I've heard that NYCA is the fifth big mountain bike racing is the fifth biggest high school sport in Utah.
SPEAKER_01It is, it's a it's amazing how the team there has grown it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's unbelievable. And uh yeah, that all started, you know, with uh again again, it's like these little seeds that get planted. And I think that's what cycling needs to grow community and then connecting the dots, I think is the next step now. Like Nica, how do the Nike kids have opportunities to translate to well, first of all, to follow the sport and to see how they can, you know, have that path and then these different stepping stones. But Nica has again kind of like pinned it back, rooted it within the schools. There's no better place to do that.
SPEAKER_01Now, when kids go to high school from coast to coast, I mean not every high school, but they don't really know the difference. Oh, I can be a part of the mountain bike team or the soccer team or the football team or basketball team. It's there, it's present. You know, that's the thing about kids too. They don't have a frame that's different. So once it's established and ongoing, they can just keep going. Yeah, and the numbers are amazing. Like more than 90% of kids that are involved in NYCA teams keep riding after, whereas it's like single digits who regularly play other team sports. Yeah, not disparaging those, but it's tough to play football with other, you know, other people impact, yeah. But like you said, you know, body and bike, you can ride. Yeah. All right, hey, shifting gears a little bit, you know, every every path has challenges. And I was reading some stuff around what you were sharing on the 2019 season where you were starting to question, you know, what is this thing I'm doing? I mean, by that time you had been racing a long time, but you said you were feeling kind of a numbness, like a dullness, just kind of flat. Like in your words, what was going on for you in 2019 and what was the struggle and what did that lead to?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I haven't really thought of that in a while. I think the perspective now is to realize that like a little of the feeling of maybe ambivalence or having to intentionally choose the bike in a new way at that stage is common to any 22-year-old, you know, in any walk of life. But for me, doing this thing I'd done my whole life, like that was the first sign of my intelligence that, like, oh, this bike thing can be really the source of like who you know, what how I root myself in the process of becoming a better person, you know, and to use it not just as a career or a way to, you know, continue to do what I've been doing and to be successful, but to have this inner game happening as well, which is first of all, like what is your why? That's everybody's gonna answer that. It may shift, there's maybe multiple little whys, but like, yeah, that was just a moment of like, okay, um, I'm about to graduate college, you know, I've been doing this really hard sport my whole life. Sometimes it sucks, you know. Sometimes I don't want to be in that European hotel room getting ready for this race. So it's learning to accept the things that you know maybe don't like so that you can commit to kind of loving all of it, right? And loving the cumulative process. So I think that we absolutely need to push ourselves to do hard things and to do things that we don't like, but to choose to love it anyway, right? And that was obvious for me with my bike, you know, as a kid. It was just reconnecting to that in the kind of this adult version, and it absolutely has like now I feel like, yeah, this is, you know, this is what I do. There's nothing I'd really rather be doing at this stage of my life. I have more perspective of like the other things I could be doing, have a ton of other interests, you know, for sure. Like if there was 50 hours in a day or a hundred hours in a day, I'm sure we'd both like do a lot more. But for now, like everything that I could find in other aspects, which in 2019, I was like, man, there's all these other things I want to be doing, you know, like be a normal college kid for once, or go help help the world. You know, I'm finding out how to do that within this walk of life. Very cool. So there, yeah, and there'll be time. But I think we, you know, we can't be afraid of the narrowness of a certain thing we're committing to, and to figure out that you can have the fullness of your human journey within that, so to speak. Not to, you know. So yeah, it was a tough year in just the way I was like starting to question some of this stuff, but it was also natural and uh nothing unique, but I think the way that I responded and kind of rooted my why um was pretty powerful.
SPEAKER_01It sounds like the challenge led you to like again, introspection. You went inside that galvanized something that was true for you, and then that turned into a kind of a turning point.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_01Amazing. Yeah, I mean, that's the way of life, right? I mean, we can try, we can turn away from challenges and fail to learn the wisdom within them, or we can stay with it and say what's there for me. Totally. Again, another great example of how what you're doing is so useful and applicable for other people. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, you know, so that was 2019. Couple years later, you win the inaugural, you know, Rainbow Stripes in um in short track, first time ever, that it was something you could be a world champion in. You're like, I'll take that. What was that experience like? And um, if it's relevant to you, what happened between that 2019 and 2021 that bore that kind of fruit?
SPEAKER_00Well, COVID in the Olympics, you know, and really like time to kind of yeah, go on this, like I really trained a lot, you know. We had 2020, was as a bike racer, you know, the the lockdown and the the uh online school was like the best thing that could happen for me, you know. I just rode my bike every day. And uh and then I made the Olympic team, um, which was the main goal, you know, of that moment. And I was like top 15, top 20 in the World Cups, which is good for a first year elite. That jump from U-23 is really hard. And then, you know, Valgasol World Champs came. I decided to do a stage race. So I did five days in a row there. We had short track qualities on Tuesday, team relay, which we were second in on Wednesday, short track finals, and then e-bike world championship. Oh, yeah, you did that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then XEO. So I wasn't thinking I could win a world championship, you know, my first year elite, but um, I love short tracks. I had a lot more experience, I think, even than the pros who'd been doing it since it became part of the World Cup circuit. Every Wednesday night in Durango growing up, we'd have a Wednesday night short track. So yeah, it was a it was a good breakthrough moment. And one of those, like, what the heck just happened, you know? Cool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, very cool. Okay, I want to jump into what really I've been biting my tongue to to go into because it's something that is really valuable in my life too, and I've appreciated so much how you've talked about your mindfulness practice and you've referenced it a little bit obliquely in our conversation today. But talk to me a little bit about your mindfulness practice, like what if you want, and what its role is in your life and what it looks like if you want. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, if you've gotten to this point in the podcast, you probably like, you know, I've had all these words mapping out this inner game and like, you know, okay, this guy's like, you know, he's talking all poetic or like, and that is, you know, coming out of this, I guess, perspective, the way I want to approach the sport. Um, but I can also boil it down to really practical skill set and tools and application and like you know, the science of it, which I love that you know, mindful awareness can be presented in all these different ways. Like, right, I can wax and wane on like wax poetic on all this, but like it can be about finding the mental tool set to put yourself within that flow state experience where you're maximizing your capabilities as an athlete. And like for XEO racing, that is being able to be calm in the midst of complete effort, like the calmest I've ever felt in my life this year in the past in 2025 was like at the start line or like warming up before, or just yeah, this like still point of the turning world, you know, and you find that we have to train that um as human beings because there is so much turning world all the time, right? So, like, how do you come back and stay rooted? And also the turning world in our own mind, yeah, exactly if we don't train it to be still, especially, yeah, the turning world in our own mind. So I've learned that this is something, this is the true like mental game approach that I a lot of athletes have employed, you know. Kobe Bryant is my like absolute idol. And when Kobe Bryant and uh Michael Jordan, you know, before him, met well, Phil Jackson through Phil Jackson, the guy George Mumford, who introduced them to meditation, you know, mindfulness, and then they employed that within the team and it became like you know, one of the biggest, yeah, they called Phil Jackson the Zen master, right? Or whatever. So I'm a huge basketball fan, so I love that you know it's true even in cases like that. If Shaq can meditate, then we can meditate, you know. I don't think Shaq can't. I heard Shaq was ballot. All right, well that happens. But if Kobe, if Michael Jordan, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. So there's the sport application, like it's made me a better bike racer, but it's also placing that in the context, like I said, of my whole life. And you know, where sport, how sport is viewed in traditional ways in the East, like through martial arts, is about a process of bringing your mind, body, and energy together. And like that's the yoga of you know, of sport. So, like, what does that actually mean? What is union with your body, breath, mind, bike in this case, like actually mean, and why is that worth doing as far as your her human journey? Like that kind of is the fundamental question that I've been able to really go deeply into. So as far as the routine, it's not just the sitting practice on the cushion and you know, the yoga, but it's bringing that into the bike. And I think a lot of people can appreciate how a four or five hour endurance ride alone feels like, you know, there is a meditative quality to it, a stillness. So maybe people, you know, as endurance athletes doing something hard were more there's a there's an open door towards this kind of mindset.
SPEAKER_01Because you've touched on that through sport, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So in 2019, just to kind of pin the story back, I met um my teacher, Patrick Sweeney, who uh is a former athlete, was a bat uh college basketball player, um, a cyclist now, and he really is able to kind of understand, you know, like all right, he's a he's been practicing Buddhism for 40 years and teaching at, you know, all around the world and really at this deep level, but like, okay, how does this look as a professional cyclist? And I think I've been able to, you know, try to live that process. So simple thing, right? I can you know, but it's it's deep, and I think uh it feels very organic and natural to the way I want to be as a cyclist and um as a as a person. So fantastic. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I appreciate so much your sharing that message. And also, you know, we talked in the beginning of the conversation a lot about the fruits, you know, the wins and the records and the unprecedented, and that's all true and beautiful. I love to hear the roots where the fruits came from. It's like you're tending to that tree, you're taking care of your inner life and living from that place, and then these results are uh are the fruits that come of that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, 100%. And like, you know, riding your bike is just intrinsically good, right? It's you know, we none of us, if we're you listen to this, you you agree. So, like that uh is something even at this highest level of mountain bike racing, I want to remember because that is his own fruit, right? Totally.
SPEAKER_01I when I got into mindfulness and I was starting to read and learn, I was like, oh wait, I've had a practice my whole life basically, is riding a bike. Yeah because it's it's breath, it's focus, it's you know, it's training. Totally. And so it's another level of that. It can be really holistic, but I think you've done a great job at sharing it in a way that like modern Western humans can actually receive, which is one of the biggest challenges, yeah. Absolutely. It's not some weird voodoo esoteric thing. Totally. It's very pragmatic. Yeah, yeah, 100%. Well, right on. Um, hey, creativity. Like, you're a musician, you're a poet. Like, where'd that start from? How much are you doing that? Where does it come from? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, I was uh I think freshman year, second in the high school poetry slam, arrived on the scene at Durango High School. No, like that was like I had I'm gonna ask you to freestyle right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like we're on the Breakfast Club with Sway. And then I think I won the poetry slam the next year. I actually was digging out an old. Home when I was 16 because my mom sent it to me and I was reading it to Haley last night. It's totally random, but um I just always loved uh loved like you know, I was that kid who thought he could uh just write some raps in high school or even in middle school, right? And it was fun, it was like a puzzle piece to me, and it's it's really an intrinsic thing, like an introspective thing, like you know, it's kind of maps my um yeah, how I feel personally, but also maybe connecting to some more universal, you know, feeling that I've that I have. But um I haven't really written anything intentionally, like I haven't I have maybe an album that I'd love to put out if I had that 50 hours in the day, but um I thought that's that might be what you're referencing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the artistic expression.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I definitely like it have a lot of music I want to put out there, and it's it's lyrical, it's it's more spoken word than than rap. But a message in it that can come across. Yeah, but I have been able to really mix it through the bike in some cool ways, like a video project, being able to have some spoken word and you know, some projects that are like had this piece with Protect Our Winners, where I wrote a poem and this animated piece one of my friends did, and it ended up being like played in front of a bunch of senators at some conference I was at, which is really cool. Very cool. Stuff like that is fun, and it I've learned that you can be a creative athlete, you know, it's not two separate things, like you can actually merge the two in a way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's I'm thinking about you know Rick Rubin's book, The Creative Act, and like we're all creators, totally. You know, the world can can put a lot of messages, particularly into young people's heads, that say that they're not and they can switch that off. But it's like we got to do everything we can to support all humans and going, you you are creating actually every day. You're creating, and if there are things that are you're in touch with on the inside, like let them out. Yeah, you know, and if if you need to hone a craft to have it come through closer to how you're feeling it, then do that. But in whatever way people create, just keep creating, yeah, never stop 100% totally. Yeah, we don't when we don't, it's just bottled up inside, it comes out as frustration, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, totally. I was just gonna say, check my mixtape, you know, right now find my old sound class. Just gotta plug that in the podcast. But yeah, I know. No, I I yeah, I completely agree.
SPEAKER_01Say where to find it, man.
SPEAKER_00I actually don't even know. I'm on Spotify, I think, but okay. I need to find a rap name. Maybe I'll yeah, ask for some suggestions.
SPEAKER_01Nice. Hey, we have a common friend in Scotty Nightham who uh started Silver Stallion, for those who don't know, on the Navajo Nation Reservation and working to has been working for a number of years to bring cycling to that community, and the community really has embraced it. Um, and I know that you've been involved with Scotty and what's going on um on the res and what led to that and what was that like?
SPEAKER_00Well, as you know, Scott, like it's you you call him and it's a two-hour podcast. Like, he's one of my favorite people to just chat to because it's so like you know, you throw out all these sentiments and it becomes a very loose conversation in the best way, but but so heartfelt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So I had one of those conversations probably a few years ago now, and then I visited um this was probably pre-COVID, and now I'm on the advisory board of Silver Stallion, and it's you know, partially through my relationship with Outride, my sister, Kaylee, who started the Outride Ambassador program when she was the research manager. At that time, it was a specialized foundation before it became Outride. Silver Stallion helps support, I think it's like up to double digits outride schools within the Navajo Nation and existing areas, right? So we've talked a lot about and in Durango, like what is it like to be that kid who can understand where the bike can take him all the way around and how do you create those resources and kind of link these different areas? And on the Navajo Nation, how do you do that in a way that connects to all the different, you know, aspects that are happening? So being able to start with the schools and the hospitals and having it be a health social initiative, and there are so many like kids that absolutely shred doing it already. They do the res duro, yeah, exactly. I raced that one year, like right before or after I think it was after the Olympics, before the worlds in uh Val de Sol. And that was like maybe the magic sauce to help me win short. But no, that was like my favorite event of the year, yeah. So it's everything from trails, you know, trail development to uh mechanic education, uh to connecting all these other programming, and it really takes that kind of constellation piecing.
SPEAKER_01It needs to be holistic again. Yeah, yeah, because if your bike fails, you gotta know how to fix it. Not a lot of resources there. So they're really are doing a big, a big, comprehensive approach there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but it's been really cool to see Silver Stallion connect with Outride and specialize in all these different ways and have it feel like that stuff gives me energy as a bike racer to see that, you know. Absolutely, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And for the for listeners who aren't familiar, Outride's a nonprofit originally with Specialized Foundation. One of their main programs is riding for focus, where cycling is brought to schools as an accredited physical education program. PE teachers are taught how to be cycling coaches essentially, yeah, and then specialized provides the bikes and the helmets and the gear so the kids can ride. So it's it is so cool to see that. And many, many kids don't have access to riding bikes, you know. Durango's a relatively you know, upper middle class community. I grew up in the same thing and riding's ubiquitous, but on the res, for example, it is not. Yeah, but now it's becoming that way.
SPEAKER_00Totally.
SPEAKER_01Another great example of how the bike can be positive for change. And we'll send this Scott will be listening, so we love you, Scott. Love you, Scott. Love you, Scott. In the heart, man. Power to you. When you think about you know, looking forward um in that kind of work, like community work, are there things that you'd like to get involved with or that are calling to you or you're interested in? Like what what part of that is a part of your why? I didn't ask you directly what your why was, but yeah, how does this fit in?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh, I mean, all the way through. I have like I really have so much energy for growing the sport, like elite racing in America. I think that it's a moment where we can push, especially before the LA Olympics, and you know, have more high-level races, World Cups, and just build this race scene in what are kind of siloed communities. Like there's a thriving endurance gravel scene. How do you connect that with XC, you know, with these different communities that are the same community, uh ultimately? So projects there and bringing more kids, you know, into it and having more pathways. But then like on the complete opposite side, it's like really the bike is just a tool. The work is about you know, social initiatives, health initiatives. Um so when I retire, uh, who knows when that'll be, right? But like there's a lot I I want to be able to do through the bike, and I see I see all of it.
SPEAKER_01So the butt the bike as a vehicle for change in all those other positive ways. Yeah. Yeah, totally. I love that the bike, you know, if it's the thing that captures someone, the joy of riding the bike is the motivation to ride the bike, and all the goodness just comes along for the ride, like it's intrinsic motivation. Most most behavior change, like people who are overweight, they go to the doctor, the doctor says you gotta lose weight, you gotta change what you eat, you gotta do all these things. It's like they don't want to do it. But if you find something you love that also is good for your body, mind, and spirit, like keep going with that. Yeah, absolutely. The bike can be that for people where it resonates, you know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01Hey, you mentioned um Olympics coming up, and I just want to check in like where is your head at with that? How do you think about Olympics coming back to US? It'll be your second Games. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think about what's Olympics in your mental constellation?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, right now, it is a frame of mind that you know I know what my life is about these next two and a half years, and it is being about being the best I can possibly be on that date, you know, in July in 2028. So it's the North Star.
SPEAKER_01What you're doing now is moving you in that direction. Yeah. What you'll do this season is a path to that.
SPEAKER_00Without a doubt. Yeah. And the goal, the North Star is, you know, is the gold medal. And it's uh, but it is just I know that if I can be the absolute best I can be on that day, that I can do that. Um, so leave the rest up to what happens. But I just gotta, you know, stay within this frame and it's an easy one and it's a beautiful one. Like, yeah, LA, where my dad grew up. I remember there's a story. And he went to UCLA as well, right? Yeah. There's a story of me doing sprints on the BMX when I was, you know, dominating as a six-year-old BMX kid, right? And I would do these sprints when we go visit my grandparents um up off of Mulholland, like, you know, and my dad tells this story of I think some like electric company had a you know USA chalked, you know, spray painted on the ground, which was like marking some underground pipeline. And he he's like, Yeah, I remember thinking, like, huh, I wonder if he'll ever be in the Olympics, you know, as he was like seeing that USA. So that's a fun story when I think of like the LA Olympics, which are gonna be right, you know, down from there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right down from those Hollywood hills. Yeah. Incredible.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And when you think about like this next year and so forth, like as a pathway in that direction, what does that mean more tangibly? Like, are you gonna be doing things differently? Is it that much of a build?
SPEAKER_00Or is it I think there's subtle tweaks and kind of refinement in this year? Maybe there's a little more room to we have some time before the first World Cup in May in South Korea, so we can really work on the whole picture. And with the team, I think we have got like a great performance structure to you know set things up to push, you know, but not necessarily just push, but also recover better and do all of it. So keeping curious and digging in, really. Like, yeah, but it was also you can't recreate the wheel. Had a great season last year, so sticking to it. Um, I know what to do, it's just doing it, you know. Interesting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. What just flashed in my mind was maybe is it a little bit like when you were thinking about Lake Placid? And it's like, do I clinch it? It's like, okay, I could be in defense mode, but really I want to stay on the front side, like keep leaning in. Is it a similar kind of thing in a bigger in a bigger circle?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, a bigger circle. Absolutely. That's a great way to put it. Yeah, yeah. But you don't win by looking backwards. No, I don't even know what happened last year. I don't remember.
SPEAKER_01Nice, yeah. I mean, it's not really even a real thing, right? Yeah, yeah, exactly. The past you know, you know it is. No one's been there and the future doesn't either. You can't go there. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah, I like that. And you know, you talked about it before earlier a little bit, and it's something that I've been thinking a lot about. It's definitely Buddhist, but it's like if my intention is right, meaning it's it's of benefit in some way to others, and my action is right, right intention, right action, let go of the outcome, because those are the things that we're in control of, right? Totally.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And the connecting the dots piece between and I've struggled with this more in 2019, understanding like, oh man, I'm just a bike racer, it's a somewhat selfish pursuit, right? People say that, but it doesn't feel that way anymore, right? And it's like, yeah, this is my path right now, and I'm gonna go all the way in on it. And as you said, that can be my journey can connect in all these different ways to other people, you know, riding their bike, not just racing.
SPEAKER_01I love to hear that you're you're seeing that and you're feeling that. Yeah. And in what way do you feel that that it's not a selfish pursuit?
SPEAKER_00Because it makes me a better person, yeah, you know, in other ways. Um it's also a function of just this chapter in my life and being able to give me more uh meet more people, have more community to to what the next chapter of my life may be, which is more yeah, engaging and helping others, whether it's like one kid or you know, a thousand kids. So um I see the the connection there. And uh and yeah, understanding that what I what I do on the bike is just doing a hard thing, and that's the human journey. We all got to go through that, and you know, uh mine is racing bikes.
SPEAKER_01Well, I hope that you feel it, but the impact that you have, there's like what you're doing, but there's the way you're doing it. And I think this year, more than ever, that I've noticed what you're sharing about how you're doing it, which is I think universally applicable. And you know, you definitely are inspirational. Yeah. You inspire me so much, and I know you inspire many people. And when the connection of what you've been able to achieve along with how you're achieving it, that's making a massive impact, Chris, at a time that the world needs it, huge. You know, thank you. I mean it's a false promise that looking to the outside for gratification on the inside will work. It doesn't work. Totally, it doesn't work. Yeah, and and the sooner more people tune into that, the better. Yeah. For them and for all those that they impact. Yeah, without a doubt. All our actions have consequences, yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_00And bike racing, it's being able to say winning isn't anything and it's also everything, you know? It's like it it doesn't matter, and it does matter. And it's that kind of that heart sutra, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the hard sutra, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome, so good. Um, hey, I wanted to talk about your family, you know, pretty cool family. I don't know your mom and dad or your sister, but each one of them seemed like really powerful and supportive people. I mean, your dad's a doctor, uh, orthopedics, right? Works with works with athletes a lot. Um, your sister, competitive cyclist as well, and then worked for outride, spreading this, you know, what the bike can be in the world, and your mom is is an amazing person too. What was it like growing up in that household with that kind of love and support around you? Or what was that like?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh, I mean, I am who I am because of it, really. And uh my sisters, I say this a lot, she's kind of the rock star of the family. Like she's uh she just got married in Santa Cruz a couple weeks ago. Um, and she is about to be the next Dr. Blevins. There's been a long line of Dr. Blevinses, my grandpa, I think my great grandpa, my uncle, my dad, an orthopedic surgeon, my mom's a nurse. Was your grandpa Fields Blevins?
SPEAKER_01Yes, no, from the 1900s, early 1900s. Was there another Field Blevins? Yes, medical doctor in 1900 to 1925, practiced in Louisville. You didn't know maybe my great grandpa. Maybe your great grandpa was he a doctor as well? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And same name as your dad? I think so. How do you know that? I did some research. Wow, yeah, I'm pretty sure. Amazing, very huge impact. Yeah, I mean, huge impact that he had. Uh-huh. You know, breaking down barriers and advocating for education.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then my um, my my grandpa um moved to LA and met my my grandma, who, you know, my dad on my dad's side who was a German nurse, and uh my grandpa was a one of the first black physicians in the LA county hospitals. Um, so it's a connection, you know, maybe post-career I'll become a doctor. Just kidding. No chance on that one. But unfortunately, maybe if I wasn't racing, or fortunately, unfortunately, but I'll leave that to my sister. Um, but it's a cool connection. There's an obvious connection. Like when I break myself, my dad, you know, knew what to do growing up. And that's the BMX races, you know, there weren't too many doctors. So when you heard Dr. Blevins to the finish line, we knew what happened, someone crashed. Um but and then obviously the bike, everybody rides almost every day in my family. It's kind of an obsession, you know. So uh it's cool to still feel that with all with all of us.
SPEAKER_01Amazing. Yeah, that's cool. So just coming up and that is a part of it.
SPEAKER_00And Kaylee, so my sister, she in her last year of medical school, decided to raise Leadville while she's planning a wedding and was top 20 in the elite woman's field. Get out of here. So I didn't know that. Yeah. And if she if she trained, I mean, like, watch out. Yeah. That's incredible. Yeah. I was like, Kaylee, just chill a little bit.
SPEAKER_01Just chill a little bit. Great. Well, thanks for sharing that. Yeah. That's funny that I learned something about your family. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01Very cool. Okay. Um, hey, you referenced it before, but I'm very intrigued. Like, maybe you can say it concisely, maybe not. Maybe it's too private to share. I don't know. But you said you got to have your why. You got to know your why. Like, is that something that's like an articulated? Is it is it like a series of words that articulate, or do you just is it an intuitive thing? What's your why?
SPEAKER_00You caught me there, Ben. Um, being the best person I can be. Yes. Super cliche, but the bike is the way, my pathway into that. It looks different in different modes, you know, it's being able to show up for other people. It's getting the most out of my body, you know, my mind. But yeah, being the best I can be. It's great. I definitely encourage young riders listening to this to face the difficulty of you know the sport if you want to be a part of it, um, and understand what's underneath it and what you're choosing and why you're choosing it.
SPEAKER_01Wise words. Yeah. Turn into the challenge and go underneath that and see what's there.
SPEAKER_00Totally.
SPEAKER_01And then also maybe along the way, discover what's inside yourself. Absolutely. Through that. Yeah. Love it, man.
SPEAKER_00And pair that with the just front, fun and free-flowing, like you join those two, you got a you got a good way forward. Very cool. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01All right. I got some uh I got some rapid fire questions for you.
SPEAKER_00Can I wrap them? Yeah, that would be amazing.
SPEAKER_01Why do you ride?
SPEAKER_00Because it's damn good. All right. What's your favorite trail anywhere in the world? Ooh, um, let's see. Engine Creek in San Juan's. Oh, sick. Yeah. What do you love about it? It's just high country, yeah, you know, Colorado.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what's a song or artist that you've been listening to a lot lately?
SPEAKER_00I was listening to uh Frank Ocean a lot today. Cool. Um, I've been listening to a lot of Geese, which is this like younger New York City band. Yeah. Love them.
SPEAKER_01I'm definitely too old to know, but I'm gonna check them out. Geese. Geese. Okay. Um, what's a book or a podcast that's inspired you lately?
SPEAKER_00This book, it there's always this year. It's about basketball. Uh, and this art uh this author, Hanif, I'd always butcher his last name, Abdura Kib, I think, but it's like he's a kind of poet essayist, and he's about growing up in Ohio with LeBron James, but there's always this year, which also I just had with me throughout the season. I was like, damn it, there's always this year. Wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So it was resonant for you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. And it's like in sport, how we always say there's always next year, but it's like, no, there's always this year. That's great. That's great.
SPEAKER_01Chris, before we before we wrap it up, is there anything more that that you'd like to share that's on your mind or on your heart?
SPEAKER_00Just uh just thank you, you know, to my near and wide circles. Uh anyone who follows me, you know, feels a connection, cheered for me on you know, HBO Max this year in the US um or in Europe, um, to specialize, you know, in the the wider like network beyond our core team, which is a great core team. Um, yeah, just thank you. Really feel so much appreciation for the support I've had this year.
SPEAKER_01Fantastic. Well, Chris, thank you so much. I've been looking forward to this a ton. A lot of these things I just felt like that we talked about were a personal indulgence. Like I just wanted to know more about where you're coming from in those areas. And I'm just so grateful that we had the opportunity to share it with a wider audience because I really do believe so much in what you're doing and how you're doing it and the positive that that's bringing to the world. So thank you. Thank you so much, Ben. Yeah, great to chat, really. Fantastic, fantastic. Hey, thanks for listening to the specialized podcast. If you enjoyed the conversation, be sure to follow Rate and share it. And advise a friend that they should check it out as well. Definitely stay tuned to this space because we got some really cool episodes coming up. So check that out and also stay tuned because you'll hear from creators behind the scenes and the products that are working hard to make your ride better. So until then, get out there, ride your bike, keep the rubber side down, and uh follow Chris's advice. Keep it fun, turn into the challenge, see what's out there for you. Till next time, take care.