Only VN article:
And Stetinas strava ride desc
Very true! Maybe Jonathon… sometimes.
Which training plan is
Baxter, Baxter,
Baxter, Baxter,
Baxter, Baxter,
Baxter, Baxter,
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That’s all additional filler 
You forgot he raced Cape Epic this spring…I believe he and Maxim won a stage there.
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I wonder if EF will give hime an offer like Strickland?
For reference, Nate and the crew usually have their TR Calendar open for review, from their podcast profiles.
Nate
If he was using a coach and not not TR workouts, I’d agree it was odd…but being able to know which workouts work for you and to structure them successfully seems to be the hallmark of an athlete who knows what they respond best to.
I don’t see anything odd at all about him using individual workouts as he saw fit.
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I don’t get what the controversy could be if he’s referring to what’s in the VN article. There had to be something else that happened that Stetna is talking about, if it even involves Keegan at all.
Edit: Just saw more on Payson’s strava. Apparently Keegan, Payson & whoever went with them didn’t stop at a feed zone with the rest of their group because they were carrying extra bottles. Stetna accuses them of attacking through the feed zone to catch the break.
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Yep. I knew I would forget a big one. He is just unreal this season.
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I find this drama over feedzone etiquette pretty silly. I think very highly of Payson and think he is a great ambassador/representative of the sport but it was just last year on his podcast that he was criticizing feedzone attacks and said that feedzones should be neutral and “if there are 9 guys/gals that roll into a feedzone together there should be 9 folks that start the race again together”. I’m sure there is some additional context here (weren’t interested in waiting for people they didn’t think were committed to racing/chasing the break) but it seems like an opinion of convenience, especially with the amount of shade thrown at people in the past just straight rolling through feedzones.
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The problem with racing, for me, is this drama. No matter what, some people aren’t going to be happy for you because they didn’t win. It’s people competing at this massive event, stress is high, everyone is in the red.
It shouldn’t ruin Keegan’s victory. I’ve learned that about myself, even after a win if there is talk by one person that I did something wrong it messes with me and spoils the victory a tiny bit.
I know that’s a personal problem I need to solve, but I’ll bet I’m not alone.
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Hmmmm. Seems fair to me. If they carried extra weight for a while, surely riding through the feed zone is the reward for the weight penalty?
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Based on his comment to Stetna on strava, the aid stations at SBT are known to be total chaos and all but a very small number of riders carried extra bottles/hydration packs on them in order to bypass this. Apparently Stetna wasn’t one of those who did so he got upset that they rolled through the aid station in stead of stopping as he and some others likely did.
Much ado about nothing IMO. They just had different strategies for how to approach the race is all. The “drama” is boiling down to more “unwritten rules” which, the gravel world can’t seem to get enough of.
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This is an old debate. There’s baggage there. This is what all the “Spirit of Gravel” jokes are about.
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And then when rules DO get written people flip out about it…
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Good grief. Bad enough for these adults to complain about making a choice (not taking extra fluids/nutrition) and being faced with the consequences…
but to air it like some sort of grievance in public like that (Festivus) in order to justify their lackluster result, shame others who acted differently (or both?) is just a level of childishness that is unbecoming of a pro, or anyone else for that matter.
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I don’t believe there are any doping controls at either SBT or Leadville. USADA showed up to Unbound this year and that was about it for the gravel scene. I think it’s a fair question to ask and know a good chunk of the Colorado locals I race with around here are racing gravel on TRT at the minimum.
All that said, Keegan’s efforts aren’t beyond reason. Leadville NP 299/Avg 266 is impressive, but not beyond belief. He follow that up at SBT with a NP 275/Avg 237. Now compare to a performance like WvA at Strade Bianche where he posted up a 363 watt NP for a little over 5 hours and Keegan actually seems human.
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I agree and don’t think there should be any BS rules about whether you have to stop and wait for others or not, just found his apparent change of opinion when it better suited him interesting.
I think Stetina’s moping about it is definitely unbecoming but I suppose at the end of the day, both he and Payson are public figures first and foremost in their profession and rely more heavily on exposure than racing results, so making sure your name is in the articles is probably a smart business move…“no such thing as bad press” I guess?
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I’m going to make sure at my 6 hour mountain bike race coming up next month that the organizer makes sure everyone knows they have to stop every lap for a fresh bottle because I am.
The irony for me is that I did that last year and it probably cost me the win because I finished 10 seconds back from the winner and he was not stopping as he had a camelbak that he exchanged one time. My response to that is to wear a camelbak this year.
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