Less science, more banter. More racing too, Jonathan has always been great in my opinion cause he’s always approached new challenges and kept us onboard along the way. Nate used to be like that but sadly he doesn’t seem to have the passion for cycling like he used to.
Chad and Amber used to kind of bore me to be honest, neither of them were competing any more and seem to dribble on about some study for way too long without giving any usable advice.
Which are those?
I fully agree on the OP. For me the podcast lacks depth. I miss the training hacks, physiology, and the level of experience of somebody like Chad.
I also agree that it was way better interaction with everybody in the same room.
Jonathan and ivy are doing a good job, I like them both a lot.
I’ve been listening since about 2017, still go back to old episodes and I’m regularly surprised by how good they were.
Run it three ways
Tea & Trails
I still enjoy the podcast even though i feel like i’m less and less the target audience (same goes for the platform as a whole, now training 10-12 hours and not really “time crunched”.
I like the banter, race tactics and race reviews episodes the most. But they work best with 3 people on the podcast.
I really miss the stories, challenges, and banter as Nate worked his way up. To me, that was the zenith of the show. I learned about so many things along the way, from how much cereal a man can ingest, to air fryers, to CPAP, to weighted blankets and mattresses with air conditioning, to DEXA scans, to Pete teaching him how to race and sprint, to Jon teaching him how to mtb, etc. The science was interesting, but the guys sitting across from each other, having fun, talking trash, learning, and going through their ups and downs was the ultimate highlight for me. I don’t blame Nate for quitting after his concussions and personal challenges, but I miss it, and I’m thankful they took me along for the ride. I still see it as the best podcasting I’ve every regularly listened to, and I’m probably a lifetime TR member as a result.
Well said.
100%
That describes it well. it was the journey that Nate took and how it evolved into different issues he faced. I learned what to do and what not to do by listening to the podcast.
All exactly how I feel. Used to look forward and listen to every episode, now not listened for several months. Best was Nate, Jonathan and Chad with challenges and banter then Amber joined and was superb too as was Pete…now all sadly gone from podcast/TR
Agree that absence of Nate is far more of an issue for me than Chad in terms of podcast enjoyment. Nate added humour and ‘one of us’ style to the podcast. I just don’t connect in same way with new presenters like Ivy and Hannah.
There are some things I miss and some things I like about the current podcast. Like many of you, I miss the hosts spending time talking about their personal goals, equipment choices, and learnings. I also miss a steady lineup. I think Ivy and John are great, but we need a third person who is always there as well because it adds banter and chemistry. I don’t miss the deep dives at all. I thought they were dry and oftentimes just led to a short yes or no, or a “not enough data to be definitive” answer after a half an hour. Ultimately I enjoy the podcast still, and I like TR but it can’t be a one size fits all for all of us
I never missed an episode from the early days until a few years back. I was new to serious training and learned a tremendous amount from the podcast, both from a training perspective but also from a bike/equipment standpoint where @Jonathan really shines. I also got invested in the journeys of the three and it was @Nate_Pearson doing Leadville in 2018 than served as a spark for me to do it in 2019 (and every year since minus pandemic year).
@IvyAudrain and @Jonathan taking on Unbound next year will be interesting and I look forward to hearing how this goes, especially as it gets closer. I’ve also enjoyed Keegan, Alex Wild, Sofia, and Hannah all being on. With the advent of the LT GP, hearing from the pros in terms of race prep, equipment, the race itself, and the aftermath are all interesting but realize its not for everyone.
I don’t listen to many of the week to week podcasts anymore though and now have a big backlog. A big part of this is the landscaped has changed so much since the genesis of the TR Podcast. There are SO many other podcasts. Payson’s Adventurestache podcast brings in a lot of great guests and has a big focus on the LT GP. Ted King similarly has lots of great content and is easy to listen to. EVOQ is building their brand and is finding their groove with a mix of shorter content and then deeper interviews with pro’s and coach’s including recently Matt Fitzgerald. Bonk Bros has also really been great this past year, again with a lot of discuss of the LT GP events but also some really good tech discussion with Dylan leading the way. And Amber’s “Be A Good Wheel” podcast is going to launch shortly. So much content…
I’m sure @Jonathan is always thinking about ways to improve the podcast and it will be interesting to see where things go from here.
I agree. Jonathan and Ivy do a nice job together. I actually think that Ivy provides the most actionable ideas on a regular basis and really enjoy her commentary. It would be great to have Nate on more regularly as others have said.
The pro guest hosts are variable. Hannah Otto is by far the best and provides a very thoughtful approach to issues. I’ve found Keegan and others to be a little less engaging.
The dedicated nutrition podcasts are painful and I routinely skip them.
I’m at the point every podcast is getting boring to me. I still listen to them ( not just TR) but sometimes don’t have the time or patience too
Not saying I don’t value them, I’ve actually learned quite a lot from them and appreciate TR and other podcast creators for it.
I’ve gotten to a point where I don’t want to hear anything about training, nutrition, bio hacks and all that. Which makes me over analyze everything I’m doing. I feel I have a good grips on what works for me and so at this point I listen to podcasts rarely. When I used to be an avid listener to a lot of them.
Thanks for starting this thread. I think the observations/comments/criticisms in the OP and the replies are mostly on point. I don’t that I’d go so far as to say it has lost its way, but it has changed and not, in my opinion, for the better.
I really like hearing from both Jonathan and Ivy, the current “regulars”. They’re both really good at breaking things down for dummies like me and I think their chemistry is really starting to gel over the past few months. But there’s a voice I’m really missing, and it’s not the one I thought I’d miss. I miss Chad. Or rather, I miss input on the show from someone who has spent a lot of time helping individuals become better athletes. I was never really a fan of the deep dives; I think the science is often interesting but usually hard to apply to my life and “training”.
Every once and a while I’ll check in on some of the other cycling shows where it’s a bunch of exercise science types. There’s some good stuff in there, but for me they tip things too far the other way. I need some banter and real world experience and examples of lessons learned the hard way. The old show, for lack of a better term, got the balance right, I think. Jonathan, Nate, and Chad ticked all the boxes, and Amber was a great addition to the team. The recent appearances by the nutritionist (whose name I’ve forgotten, sorry!) has been welcome, but I’m not sure that she’ll be able to appear enough to fill in the hole I see. Again, I like hearing from Jonathan and Ivy, but I’d really like to see another regular who has more (or different?) direct experience on the coaching side.
Sure, I’d also like someone to play the role Nate used to, the guy who’s trying stuff out and has insights and questions that new listeners might also have and not know it. I’m not talking about a NorCal Cycling style couch to crit thing. That seems much more like a gimmick to grab new viewers, not a long-term…relationship(?) we build with the host.
As for the podcast being a tool just to push TR products. Yeah. As I understand, Jonathan and Ivy together are most of TR’s marketing department. And it’s why they give this away for free, without ads even! I found out about TR through the podcast, recommended to me on a group ride like 5 years ago. It works. But in my opinion, the current lineup isn’t as effective as the old one.
edit to add: I hope that the folks at TR sees this as a positive thread. People here like the podcast enough to a) notice that it’s changed direction and b) start a pretty reasonable discussion about it with, imo, some constructive criticism.
A great thread thanks for starting it. Given me plenty to reminisce about.
Lots has changed since the early days.
Including me, I’m a lot more knowledgeable, so it would be hard for me to enjoy an article aimed at a complete novice.
My suggestion would be to select some TrainerRoad volunteers. Maybe enough for every event that TR caters for. So someone doing a TT, someone doing a fondo , someone doing a crit etc. There would be a rota for each one and a discussion about how they were getting on.
My personal preference would be trying to find the balance between following the TR plan as closely as possible, but also fitting in some much longer outdoor rides. Shouldn’t a TR plan have suggestions on when I should be heading outdoors?
I’d considered my own post relating to the podcast but on diversity. This seems like an apt place to put it instead.
Personally, and I speak as very much a white male, I think it would be great to hear some views from more diverse backgrounds. TR do a good job of putting women at the fore, however, there are very few from ethnic minority backgrounds. I can think of only Justin WIlliams featuring as a special guest once or twice. I’d like to see them put in a bit of effort to regularly bring to prominence athletes from a range of ethinicities.
Thing is as well is that the TR podcast used to be one of the few resources for learning about training and racing. Now its one of many and everybody knows best (see forum!).
We were lucky to have lived through that era, it was so exciting.
Hits the spot for me. Thank you for expressing it well.
+1
Hearing people who are pro athletes give advice is like Lewis Hamilton trying to tell me how to be a better driver, its not really applicable considering their skill level.
And a pro athlete turned coach can almost be worse, since now you’re listening to someone who is 0.01% of the gene pool, who now (usually) coaches others in the same gene pool.
The most insightful stuff for me is listening to coaches (who are not ex pros) deal with us “regular” riders that deal with work, kids, vacations etc etc.