Ep. 91 - Kyle Gilbert & Nick Ybarra on their ETS Experience

The inaugural East Texas Showdown is over and now comes the podcasts! Hearing everyones stories after their rides as we shared food and beverages was a true pleasure, enjoyed by all. It was really probably the magic sauce that made this event special. I went to Austin shortly after the race and recorded 3 episodes with five guests and I look forward to sharing some of that post race fodder with you over the next couple of weeks. First up are Nick Ybarra (Showdown, 4th) and Kyle Gilbert (Showdown,. 6th). We meet the Wednesday after the race at Kyles workshop in Austin, which made for a cool backdrop to our conversation.

On this episode Nick and Kyle share their experience on this years ETS. It was both of their first bikepacking race and they had different approaches. For example, Nick wore sandals for, had rim brakes, carried very minimal gear, and no aero bars. Whereas, Kyle was clipless, with disc brakes, ran aerobars, and lived on crackers. It created some good conversation about different approaches to the same course.

It was a lot of fun for me to get to hear about my event from their perspectives. I had all kinds of concerns as a first time racer director with a brand new route, but as I heard more and more stories like these all of my concerns have been squashed. The feedback I got from participants was overwhelmingly positive. In fact, a Spring date was highly requested and we are happy to make that happen. Dates coming soon!

These episodes aren't possible without support. Thanks to this weeks supporting partners:

Kuat - They just released the Piston Pro X, and it's badass. How do you tell your bike you love it without saying I love you? Answer, you get it a Piston Pro X.

NM Bikepacking Summit - Part Summit, Part Bikepacking Party, 100% good times, good rides, and good tacos. Schedule Oct. 21st at 6:00pm - 12-15 mile mellow gravel ride Oct. 22nd 8:20-11:00am & 2-5pm - Bikepacking Summit - @7:30pm I'll be interview Cjell Mone' with a live audience Oct. 23rd at 9:00am - Dangerbird Group Start Contact Matt Mason for more info!

Huge thanks to our newest Patrons: 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 Ryan Can Mikaela Koch Paul Lichtenauer Edward Anderson Nicholas Campbell Andy Simmons Anderson Simmons 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤