1.Roadman, we've got a real treat for today's podcast

Roadman, we've got a real treat for today's podcast. We've got none other than Lauren's 10 damn. Let's cure that intro The big question is this how do we use cycling as a tool to improve our health or happiness and our lung chavids? That is the question and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Anthony Walsh and welcome to the Roadman podcast Roadman, welcome back, Roadman to another Roadman's Cycling Podcast. I'm as excited about this interview and I know I say this almost every week that I have a guest on the show but we've just been so blessed and so privileged with the quality of guests we had on and today's guest I'm absolutely, I was waiting all week to chat to this guy. He needs no introduction but I'll give him one anyway, his name is Lawrence Tendam, 16 years or so at the very top of our sport, top 10s in the Tour de France, the Vuelta aspania, he had that iconic crash with Rababank that just turned into a meme where he face planted, bust up his whole face and finished the race. And you see that meme always contrasting that Cristiano Ronaldo has left on the Ibra Hemovitch. He personifies exactly what it means to be a roadman and his career post-World Tour is even more interesting than his career. I don't know how to say more than interest, but it's as interesting as his pre-retirement career. So now he's spearhead in the movement that's more of a philosophy that he had all through his career called live slow, ride fast. And this is the idea that yeah, we hammer on the bike, but when we get home, we just take things real slow. We purposefully brew our coffee, we purposefully drink our nice craft beer, we spend time non-destructive with family, friends, cooking. He's spearheading a gravel movement all across Europe. And now he has ambitious plans for a gravel calendar across the US, taking on races like Dirty Canza. This year he organized Dirty Canzled, which was a pawn on Dirty Canza being canceled. And it attracted top riders, Nikki Terpstra, Wilt Van Art, and got some all around the world who at the exact same time, followed Lorenz rules and they set out to roid, I think 300 kilometers in one day. Absolutely epic, epic. He's a guy who I can see our paths crossing more and more down the line because there's just so much synchronicity of what we're trying to do on roadman and what he's trying to do in Liv's low roid fast. Okay guys I'm not going to put this off any further. The last thing I need to tell you before we jump into this podcast, I'm able to bring you these podcasts because of user generosity. It's a tough time with COVID at the moment that a lot of people are out of work and if you are one of those and you're finding a bit of a financial pinch, don't worry at all about contributing. But if you're not, if you're still making hay, the sun isn't shining. But if you're still making hay, do you think about contributing to the podcast because it's what keeps the podcast going? It's entirely user-funded, not one sponsor on the Roadman Cycling podcast at the moment. So it's the generosity of users buying me a beer once a month to keep the podcast show on the road. So if you can find the near heart to buy me a beer for bringing you this content once a month, head on over to patreon.com forward slash Anthony underscore Welch or the link to support is in the bio and in return. I'm going to record for you once a month the secret podcast and it's coming up this week where I answer all your burning questions and give you my best insights. Okay, roadman, here it is the moment you've been waiting for the true roadman, Lauren's 10 Dom. Lauren's 10 Dom, welcome to the roadman podcast. Okay, nice to see you. Sometimes and now I finally see the face behind actually I Google, I Google some some pictures of you. And then I saw So you're raising your bike, but now I see the face behind the, behind the mic. Yeah, it's crazy because I have some of the world tour guys in the podcast and like they're talking about like, oh, yeah, I was listening to the podcast on the way to train a wadry article today and stuff. And I was like, that's so fucking cool. Cause I never got to like, that was my dream to race those races, but I was never good enough. And for guys to be on the way to the race, listening to the roadman podcast, it's just pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. That's a podcast myself too, for me it's the same. I hear so many stories of people like listening to the podcast, or they know a lot about me because I talk a lot about my life in the podcast, you know, and then it's almost like they are friends. Isn't it a crazy world where you can sit behind the computer? I look at the stats sometimes and there's one dude, if you're listening to this dude, you need to reach out. There's one dude in Kenya and he listens to my podcast like every episode There's one download from Kagan and I just have this image of this guy like walking through the desert with a spear Actually, I don't don't do too much that's that thing. That's more my my host like I do it together with somebody else but I didn't even know that you could find like who downloaded it. Oh yeah, you can see the country. You should check it out. I didn't know that. I know we're happy with the downloads we have, you know, but I don't know the exact people.

2.To kind of tell myself a story

Yeah, I like to kind of tell myself a story. So I look and I see there's some downloads in Russia and I was like, oh yeah, Putin's kicking it back into Kremlin listening to the podcast. It's definitely filled. Wow, yeah. Lawrence, you have a cool motto when I was researching the podcast and obviously I'm a massive cycling fan and I knew who you were so I didn't have to do that much research on it. I've been watching you for a decade plus but some of the stuff I came across, this motto that you have lives low, right? Hard. I just thought that's so cool. I thought, yeah. Or lives low, right? Fast, sorry. Yeah. Tell us about that. Yeah, that's like my live motto, you know, and it started a while ago, you know, just before. Actually, it started already in 2011. I had my first live flow right for us to camp. It was like a Twitter right in the, in the, after the classics, the week after the classics, I invited people on Twitter to come to the audience and camp with me and have a campfire. Because I also wanted to write the notes in the audience enjoying the scenery and be with friends and be able to drink a beer and stuff like that. And I think 30 people showed up. and since then it started and we took off. It feels like it's the best about Saitland. That motto just kind of encapsulates it all. That you can throw down hard when you're riding uphill or you're riding across wind. But then once you're finished the ride, you just don't take yourself too serious. It's just about chilling back. It's not about the fast cars and the big houses. It's just like... No, exactly. No, Exactly, it is like that. Also, you have to enjoy the small things and enjoy the good coffee. That's what I mean with Liv's law. Enjoy beer once in a while, good glass of wine, you know, but when you drink wine, drink good wine, when you drink beer, drink good wine, when you make coffee, take attention to make the right cup of coffee, you know, for yourself. And then, yeah, Yeah, on the road you just go with your friends and try to raise each other and wait on top for each other and then go down and take the piss with each other and just have fun on the bike and the bike can take you everywhere and it's a recipe for adventures, you know? So yeah, I love to be able to still ride my bike. I got a blog a while ago and I was reflecting back on what cycling was to me and I was looking at different times in my life, the bike is being something completely different. But at the very start, it was like a way to escape the confines of my local neighborhood. It was a way to like broaden my world and make it a little bit bigger. And when I listen to you, even on some of your interviews, when you're like, you've made it as one of the top riders in the world, you still sound like that adventurous kid who's still using it to broaden your horizon. Yeah, that's exactly that stool. actually my first memory I was on a bike, I was on my strider bike or three wheel, I don't know, a track. I don't know. Yeah, we got a track. And I was, because I was living on one of those houseboats, you know, like I'm a real good guy and I was born on a houseboat and I just went straight next to the channel and I maybe I was three years old, you know, and I was like, what the fuck where am I, you know, and okay, let's just return and go back to mom and dad, you know, but I started to explore there already and I remember when I was 11 years old, I bought my first road bike, you know, and I got rid of all the mudguards and all the other stuff to make it look like a real race bike, but still every every summer I would put everything back up again and then I would go with my dad bikepacking, you know nowadays you would call it bike backing but yeah back then we said bike holiday or something you know and we would do like a lap around the isomer of 350 kilometers and we would take three days to do it you know and camp and make the tent and make food and stuff like that as just things were the highlight of my my summers you know like I would still remember those three days with my dad being in the in the tiniest tent and riding our bikes around the lake You know and feel also the lift slow feeling but also the feeling of accomplishment like we did something we did something nice Now we'll be able to eat a big steak, you know in the camp at night at the campfire with my dad You know because we did something and now we buy a nice steak and stuff like that But isn't the lift slow thing just getting more and more important when you see the social media Instagram culture It's kind of a merge and where everybody's trying to put up a fake life for their best foot forward. And relationships are quite trivial and we're drifting into a place where it's probably the opposite of where we need to be going as a society, but live slow. Kind of brings it back for us. I must admit, I have to slogan, but sometimes I also forget it. sometimes I'm also busy and go into meetings and doing stuff maybe I don't want to do and then I have to realize that back go on the bike and go for a few hours come back play with the kids and enjoy that day for being good you know like go on the bike play with the kids have some attention to cooking a nice meal for yourself and the family and then that day is good already you know So then you have to step back and see what you really like instead of going into that red race, not maybe with Instagram, but with companies and negotiations.

3.We have to do more and more and more

We have to do more and more and more. Sometimes you have to step back and think like, okay, actually what I have already is kind of nice. And let's say for this, you know, you know, I started the on, which is a cool idea. Body of mine runs a big company, super busy guy. And he was saying, if he didn't create time for himself, the day just gets away from him. So he started, like from my Google calendar, obviously I had my podcast recording with you and the calendar, but I also have scheduled like time for myself. What time I'm gonna ride the bike at? Like 9 a.m. to 12 o'clock, I'm riding the bike. So if somebody like sends me an invoice and they're like, oh, can you do a meeting at this time or can you do a recording at this time I look at it? And I'm like, you know what? I have a meeting right there that I can't move. because it's like the most important meeting of the day. It's the meeting with myself and my bike to go ride. No, you're right about that. The thing is, for me, that's totally natural because I used to be a pro cyclist and everybody would accept if I said no. If they asked something for me, I would always say after 3 p.m. Yeah. Because before I'm riding the bike and if I do the bike for three hours, I'm resting the other three hours. Yeah. And still I like to plan all my meetings the end of the afternoon, because that's still in the system of riding the bike. And I still have to be competitive to raise all those grateful races on photo, because I'm also still sponsored by some companies to do it, actually more partnerships than sponsors because we do a lot of other things together too, but still I want to ride a bike and be competitive next year in 2021. So it's also part of my routine and it's also part of who I am. So I do exactly the same as you do. So I definitely want to get into the gravel stuff and all about that, because I think the next chapter you're cycling is almost as exciting, if not more exciting than the previous chapters you've written. But before I jump into the gravel stuff, like your 16 years as a world tour rider, and like... Yeah, something like that. I was 16 years ago, yeah. Like Tour de France, top 10, Vuelta GC, top 10, You've crashes, you've up, see if downs. When you started out as a kid riding your bike along the canal in Holland, what was the dream? Did you ever think you were gonna get that far? Actually, I didn't dare to dream in that thing. Once you get older maybe, but when I was a young kid, I also, together with my parents, we went to France and watched the tour de France. And I was so delighted to be there, you know. I said, I remember the first mountain stage we did. I was 10 years old, was 91, Juplan. And I was so excited that I walked up that mountain together with my parents and my dad was pushing my youngest brother in a stroller. He was like two years old. And I was running with every tourist guy, like I could keep up with them. I was that young kid who could keep up with the old guys climbing the mountain on the bikes. And I run for kilometers like that. And then it started to rain and stuff like that. And that planted the seeds like, okay, you know, this is like something I admire those guys who did it, who did all that. And somewhere I think I wanted to be it, but I never expected to be there. And there was still, I was 20, 21 years old, but then I was raising for RAVA BUNK, the amateur team or the U-23 team, but the development team and then you start to know like, okay, I can really make it as a pro. Does it ever sink in because cyclists are so goal oriented, that you're always looking to the next Tour de France, the next Vuelta, I wanna be GC, I'm eight this year, can I push into the top five next year? Do you ever have time during that whole process to go, you know, just enjoy the moment because this might be as good as it gets. Like when you hit your Tour de France top 10, I'm sure you taught next year I'm gonna hit top five. Yeah, I actually hit a good point there because in hindsight, you know, when I did that to the friends in 2014, even on the Sunday night, I was already thinking about the throughout, I would start four weeks later. And I was also like a team leader, you know, like maybe not too much food and stuff like that. And hindsight, that was totally crazy. And also it never got better after that to the friends, but in the winter, after that to the friends, I tried to be better. I was thinking, okay, I was ninth last year, maybe I can become sixth, you know, or first five that would be even better. So I tried to train more, to be a little bit more skinny, to do everything a little bit better. And I just emptied myself, myself too much. And the season 2015, so the season after was like, nothing was like a hell of a season. So it took me, it took me time to realize that I went to the US in 2016. I was living in the US because in 15, I didn't like cycling anymore. And there I realized, like, man, I did so many stupid things.

4.Winter after 2014, because I was too focused, and I wanted to continue

The winter after 2014, because I was too focused, and I wanted to continue. And there I started to take a step back and to enjoy life and to do a little bit more live slow. And there I was one whole year with a family. Basically, I just raced in March and in July in Europe. and the rest I would stay in the US with my family. So there I realized how important it is to step back and to be with the family, to be in a moment, instead of always thinking about, okay, the next, the next, the next. And I tried also to teach there to the guys. I was actually don't mistake for since then like Dumeland and those other guys. So what separates a knight in the Tour de France from a Tour de France and then as a follow up to that, Is it worth the sacrifice? Like to go from ninth to third, if you need to go from having a family and having a life and really being happy to live up the side of a volcano in Tenerife for six months of the year. Like at what point does that trade off like not working? Yeah, that depends. That's different with every single person. For example, also nowadays you're right, it's getting more and more difficult for the top guys who are doing GCs and the grand tours to have a normal family life. Back then, the year before 2013, 2013, I didn't even do an altitude stage, like an altitude camp. And I still got 13, you know, and 14 I thought, okay, maybe put in an altitude camp for two weeks and maybe it's better. So I spoke to this for example about it with Dumont Land. For him it's difficult. Well, for example with Stephen Kriesweig, I know also for my years in Jermot Fissma, he's not asking those questions you do to himself. He just does what he needs to do, what's on the schedule. He enjoys the process enough and he does it till the end of his career without asking questions like is it weird to sacrifice or is it weird to it? But the Dumola is different and maybe he, I can see at him. And for example also for me in 2015, when I was not 19, the two of the friends, I was a lot like, what the fuck am I doing here? I broke my back the week after the tour. I instantly decided, okay, it's enough. I go to the US now and I go to try to find the law for cycling again. Like I always started as a young kid. And I also think the young kids, they don't, like you see, I went to the tour in 1991. But you don't know what's behind those guys, you know, and when a young kid now goes to the tour and he watch them climbing those Mountains he doesn't know they were they are on the on the on the mountain for two months before like do Rochlitz was not as as not have been at home for three months in a row seriously No, no, no, he hasn't been at home till after the world setting Oh, so awkward. Yes, maybe. Nobody understands this when they're watching it and they're listening to it. They just think, what an amazing thing. It's like, primarily a soccer or like, you don't go home to your girlfriend. I think, no, they think you're living the dream and it's, like I said, it's different each person. Like I said, Wilco Kellerman taking the pink jersey and he saw him smile and he, there was something he dreamt of, you know, it's almost. He was also very disappointed when he lost it. But also I remember being with Tom in the last week of the year, he was in pink and everybody tried to touch him and try once an autograph. And he was in a cantana was still attacking. And there was like controversy in the burns, like they had a fight. And I remember being with Tom in the Philase par and there were also some teammates, and I also thought, he's living the dream, and I told him, like, okay, I can see your face now, and you just wish it was Monday, you know? Like, he would be at home, and if you won, or if you got second, or if you got fourth, it doesn't matter, just let it be Monday. Like, this needs to be over. And you see, so it's lonely at the top. That's what, it's true. People say stuff like that, but it's really true. and yeah, I could feel for him. We have an Irish expression. I'm not sure if you have something similar. It's like the grass is always greener on the other side of the hill. And I think that's social. I remember being in the US and I thought it was just like a continental level. And I had a buddy that I grew up. He got me into cycling. He was an old school teacher and he got me into cycling. And then I was out in the US and I was racing. And he was still back on teaching his classroom. And it got a text message off him. And it just said live in the dream. And I was getting a bus from Toronto to Chicago, with my bike on the public transport. It was like a 12, 13-hour bus ride to go and do like a one-hour criterium. And I was sandwiched in between like these two fat people on the bus and I was reading his text. And I nearly felt like crying. I was just like, this is not the dream. This is not my dream. I met a book of Phil Gaiman, like, Paul, $10 a day, you know, or something like that.

5.Book is called. that's about the US continental scene, you know, and…

The book is called. that's about the US continental scene, you know, and like, so I can see the situation wherein and it's always you try to get bigger or to try to get to the top. And it's never easy, but in hindsight, you know, also the bike brought me so much fun and also I'm totally not frustrated about having to leave now the world tour. Now it's been good to me and I'm still loving the bike right now And that's what I'm happy I still have that. But sometimes I see with colleagues, they stop and they don't touch the bike for two, three years or maybe longer. Yeah, I think I had. I'm so sorry for them. I think I can't remember. I one of the podcast guests, maybe it was Tyler Hamilton that I had on and he was saying the Christian van de Velt when he retired like left this bike in the bike bike for like four years. I never took it out, like not one Roy's. And I was like, jeez, you got it. Like I'm sure I used my, I hate golf. I'm pretty sure I use my golf clubs more than once every four years. Like you got to haze it to leave it in the bike bike. Oh, I heard the same story. For example, Steph Command, he had to retire because of back problems, but the team gave him a bike or like left him his bike, but he never used it for the next two years. And I was a man, how many years before you're tired, you already hated that thing so much, but you just did it for the money or the fame or just to be for the warm reasons, you know. So I'm happy that I still have it, but I'm also happy for those guys, because for example, Steph, he bought a gravel bike now and he's doing cycling on another level, you know, in the forest and on a gravel bike, so you don't have to go 30K an hour efforts anymore, at least, because that's on the road to standard in Holland, you have to do 30K an hour, otherwise the ride doesn't count, you know, and careful you can blame the forest or you can blame your friend. So, yeah, let's talk about it. He finds a lot for cycling, same for Kastankrone. He was also for two, three years, not on a bike. And now, in two weeks ago, for a bike back trip together with him and tanking, also from tanking. So the three retired guys are going bike. And that's what I like. And also, C.K.S.T.E. and he's back on the bike. So... Yeah, I think it's awesome because for a long time... And I know I fell for this as well. I had a point where I taught, you know, I'm not going to progress in cycling. I'm not going to make the step up to pro content at the level. But I need to quit cycling. And then I was actually Mike Barried. It was right for Team Sky. It was coaching me at the time and I was living in Toronto. And I remember talking to Mike and Mike's like, it was like probably a week after I said I was quitting cycling. He texts me like you're coming for a bike ride. And I was like, I quit. And he's like, yeah, you quit trying to be pro. you're still gonna go come ride your bike and go to a coffee shop like that's like oh yeah and it just depends on just drop them he is like fuck they're not the same thing I can still ride my bike with my friends and have fun and that's why I start us I didn't start to try and make a career or try and make money I started to have fun and I suppose that circles back to the second part of your career and now what you're doing looks way more fun than what you don't start you've moved into gravel. Yeah, like I said, I wouldn't have missed, I wouldn't want to miss the 16 years in the world too, but I'm also still, I'm also really happy that I'm being gravel right now. And unfortunately, 2020 was a difficult year, but then we tried in 2021, 2021, I'm not getting any younger, but I'm still sure that I'm going to have a lot of fun in those races, you know, and I can't way to travel the US in May from the Belgian Waffle ride to do the grasshoppers to go to cancer all with a camper van to get away with a bunch of friends who also like to ride bikes and talk shit to each other afterwards you know and so how did all this come about huh how did this all come about how did the transition into gravel happen okay we have to go back to that shit year I had in 2015 where I was basically the same as you maybe like I'm I'm fed up with it, you know. Basically, I called my manager, as well, I said, okay, I'm done with raising in, I'm done with raising in the world to it, the thing you admired to, or you wanted to go to, and I want to go to the US continental level. I went to trade with you. So, and he was like, what do you say to me? I said, yeah, I'm done. And because when I was 20 years old, I always had to go. I was a graduate. My current wife was back then my girlfriend already and I said to her, when I make it to a pro, maybe I do it for 10 years because that's what you do. Back then, when you become pro, it was, and then I'm 33, 34 years old and the kids are still not be able to, they don't have to go to school.

6.We can travel the world for one or two years, you know, I'm making…

We can travel the world for one or two years, you know, I'm making off money. We save money. Like we We say 50,000, we can travel the world for two years and then we go back to work and stuff like that. And then I become better and better in cycling and I do the Olympics, I do the world, I become ninth in the tour. So I got better contracts, you know, like a lot of money. And we say it's the Goldman handcuffs. Yeah. And then I did this. So I got nine in the two. I tried to be better. I tried to be skinnier. I break my back. I break my ribs. I'm nothing in the two of the friends. Like, I don't know. I don't know my place, but not what I wanted to. And I'm next to the swimming pool to get a bit of my wife and my youngest kid, who is one year old. You know, I'm doing like trying to make him a sleep. And I say to my wife, what if we go to the US next year And she looks to me and she says, what? Because like I said, I was making a lot of, we were going in contact and you negotiated just for the next year. And I said, yeah, I'm fed up. I'm done. She said, if you're sure, are you sure? She said, I said, yes. OK, then we go to the US. And I still I wanted to race. Like I was thinking about back then, it was called, I think it was already early or maybe Jelly Belly, you know, just like. Oh, yeah, they were a good content. I just have the cool jersey and raised with Lachlan. And then my manager told me like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I said, what was also US manager? I said, I'm done with it. I want to go to the US and raise bikes, and do those crits and do a road trip with my team and basically being Phil Game and Prone $10. You know? And he said, what if I can find you a team that you still raised it to the friends because it's still your dream race where you dreamt of a kid, right? I said, yeah, that's still my dream race. But you know, I don't want to do 100 because back then in on the shamsel is a I counted 100 days back 90 days I was not at home. And the 10 days I was at home at least five I was grumpy I was tired. I was not tired. Yeah, so for my wife it hasn't been a pleasant time meter. And I said, I want to do the tour, but I want to be with my family to I said, what if I can find your team, you just do Parinis and Catalonia and Swiss and the tour. And in the US, it is California. I say, okay, if you find that team, I signed that team, but I don't think you're going to find that team at the anti-foulta team with some web back then was giant opposite. So I went to the US and I started to train the adventure to get to to Pyrenees, right? But you have to be a little bit competitive. So my plan was to raise the US crates. Yeah, I had like a jersey like a black jersey without sponsorship. I thought, okay, maybe you're not allowed in as a world or writer then. So I found out that I found out My manager found out USA cycling is not going to let you in one of those crits How do I get how do I get and shape them for perinise because all the other guys are racing and I'm here in Santa Cruz You know I'm having a good time, but I also need some intensity You know I did the geo I did the Tuesday. I did the Saturday, right? Didn't do the with the little soul or stuff. So then my manager said yeah, there's something here in Santa Rosa It's called a grasshopper. It's something like an in-sanctioned Graful, I said what what is careful? I basically said it's a cyclocross But it's not on laps of 1k, but just one big lap of 50 miles. I said, okay Let's go. So the guy my manager is living in Mill Valley arranged me a bike I go there with the whole family in the car. I was doing all of our drive from Santa Cruz We arrived at that race and the Ted King was there Leave a lipo. I was there. Jovka Bush was there. It's like the glass of a scene, you know. Suddenly now it's on cycling news, but it's just like, you know, so I get my number. I'm on the start line and I race that race and suddenly everybody starts to sprint and I'm like, what the fuck is happening? But I also sprint, you know, and we have to climb a gate. We have to climb one of those gates and and I climb and down and 50 miles of like like full racing, like a final of a classic, you know. I remember I ring it flat on the last hill, Willow Creek or something. And that King wins the thing. I think Levi got third, Caboose got third, Levi got second, Caboose got third, I got fourth. We arrived there on top of the hill. There's like a pellet with two coolers, with thousands cans of beer, big bags of ships, you know, those big US bags of ships. And we're starting to drink beer and eat chips talk about the race and I'm like, what the fuck, you know, this we should do this in the world to you know, like on the shop, certainly say, drinking beers and eating ships together after the tour, because at the end, we had, we had fun raising our bikes.

7.Was, it was no money on the line

That was, it was no money on the line. I was no bus, these are just, we all wanted to win the fucking gospel, you know. And that's where it started basically. And I did a few more of those if I did let Phil. But they're the early stages of gravel. Like this is a movement now and you were there at the early stages. Yeah, it was like five years ago. And I did Guenduro. There was the second year of Guenduro, which is now in Japan, the UK and Scotland and everywhere as Guenduro. But I did the one in Quincy, so the original one. And yeah, then it evolved from there. I came back to, I found back the love of like actually 2016. I signed the contract and I said to the team, is going to be my last year. And I still did 17, 18 and 19 continued because I found back my real love for cycling again, you know. So 17, 18 I raced with Dumeler, the Giro and the tour, and 19 I was my last year at CCC. So basically that grasshopper extended my career with three years. That's brilliant. Dude, dude, roadman, it's our brief little intermission where we just look back on me tink what an amazing podcast this is with Lauren Stendam he's one of the coolest guys I've ever talked and I'm able to bring you these podcasts day in day out because of user generosity over on patreon so right now pause this podcast head on over to patreon.com forward slash anti underscore watch i'm going to be the price of the year once a month to keep this podcast show on the road okay with all that being said it's time to get back to learn send out And so how do you come about then that you're making the transition now into like you've got a bunch of sponsors behind you You're planning something I'd love to do getting over doing all these us races. How does that happen? So yeah, that's so bad. I'm kind of I don't know in Holland. We say on the name of entrepreneurs So I'm I like to arrange things and to start new things so I came back in Holland Wheeler and dealer we call in here What we learn we learn Yeah, you let him do it. So I started that podcast, but also I created something like Gandhiro, but in Europe. So we have the same event, same format, elderly, Gefirate. It's in Germany. And now in this year, we should have two events, but because of COVID, they didn't happen. But I have two now two Gefirly fans myself. Oh, fuck, I'm there next year. It's on, Rakes of the Podcasters. Yeah, yeah, it's really cool. Always sold out, you know, we have, so it's Friday, a comb, Saturday is race day, Saturday night is a big party, a real big party. And Sunday we have a hangout, right? How do you call this in English? I can of beers, right? So not a six pack with a card. Oh, like a keg? Yeah, like 24. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like 24 beers in one. Oh yeah, I don't even know if that has a name. That's just something like, his head's get when they're going on the session. So we had the first, last year we had two, I think 600 people, and it was 250 cages of 24 bottles. So everybody had like almost half a cage of bottles of beer sold. It's like a rock festival. Last year my kids were there, my youngest. I organized his first rock festival. I mean, I need to get over and do your event because I'm running the forest. So we've no gravel events in Ireland, but I'm running the first gravel events next year in Ireland. Really? Oh, cool. I haven't mapped out the course and haven't really figured out the team for it yet because Covid has just been a white belt. But I'll definitely have to pick your brain on that because that sounds amazing. I love the hangover right idea. Yeah, now the hangover. Now, so I have two events in Gravel and yeah, I have contacts with sponsors and stuff like that. because of the events. And I knew I was going to be too old to do world tour, but I still wanted, you know what I really like about racing? That's something I'd really clear for myself. What I really liked in the racing was being with the boys, in the bus, on the dinner table, talking shit, watching girls, talking races, taking the piss with each other, doing a beer at the bar at night, stuff like that, I think about you on the rest day. And also a little bit of adrenaline of pinning a number and show your best, you know, on whatever level. So I try to seek that also after the career because I didn't want to be one of the cyclists being at home, don't know what to do, not riding your bike and divorce your wife within two years. It's not good for your mental health. Like when I chat to somebody, the guy is in there just like stopped and they're piling on weight and they're drinking and I'm just like, go back to make what makes you happy. Yeah, so I realized already when I retired from the world tour, I want that and I created that with having a small team around me. The guy I do the podcast with Steven Dennis, the guy who does the clothing because we're also doing something in gaffa clothing. And, like I said, we go to the US or we hire one of those big RVs and we just travel there and having the same feeling as being on the bus. Maybe we take a mechanic when the butcher is enough.

8.We can take a mechanic for the whole month and have fun with four or…

We can take a mechanic for the whole month and have fun with four or five guys, you know, and trying to raise and have the best after the tailgate barbecue afterwards, you know, and make new friends. So I pitched that plan with my sponsors, with my partners, and they were on to it. I think I also learned for my manager who did something impossible, me raising a European team, being a European living in the US was never happening before. And now I do also something that's never been known before, but it's not against the law. It's just against the rules, but fuck the rules, you know? It's brilliant. I talked to Pete Stanton on the podcast a while ago, and he had the exact same idea, just going around talking to sponsors and pitching them this crazy idea going, like I'm out of world tour, but I don't want to let go of my fitness. I still want to go and race hard like all over the US. And he managed to pull together some people that believed in the same dream as him. And it seems like you've done the same in Europe. Yeah, yeah. Now basically I also have some US funding, but yeah, the thing is also I have like a platform like you have to get with my podcast. I'm also still I'm also editor of bicycling the Dutch version like a cool I write for pro cycling UK so yeah I'm I'm I think you call it editor in chief in that's the that's official words in English that's also yeah so I have a I have a in Holland and I have a big platform and I can use it to to pull some strings and my my My goal is to bring the people the love for cycling and the love for the bike and the love where the bike can bring them and to bring them on new adventures. And that's what my goal is for the people. And I don't care if you write a $200 markplots bike or like a $12,000 S-Works as long as you have fun, that's okay for me. I love the road bike and I still race on the road over Arnold amateur and like I'm still racing. You still racing? Yeah, I still do the local clip-raises on the road. I still race on Catwan's stuff and it's so much fun. But you know what, the more what I used to love about it was it was so elitist and exclusionary but the more the older I guess and I see friends who are scared to get into this board. I just feel like Gravel is that inclusive part of cycling that we've always been missing. Because there's so many goofy customs that you and I just think are normal. Your socks need to be the right length. Your shoes need to be matching your helmet. Your stem has to be slammed. Give all these weird customs and you look at someone and go, look at his stem, look at his handlebar angle. What a dickhead. Gravel is just like whatever he wants. Yeah, I also never fitted that plate actually because I was the guy who barbecue it, you know, and drink beer and stuff like that. Also that I really like Pete. I gave him shit a lot of times, you know, because he's like the careful pro and I play the flow card, you know, like Ted King gives him shit for using the arrow bars. Yeah, I give that also a lot of shit, but actually with friends already since 2016, you know, when I lived in the US. But what I, because they are a little bit a younger generation in the world too than I was, and what I don't like is they are the advocates of like in the world who you only had to do efforts and not drink beer and not drink wine. And I'm like, maybe I did two real interval training a year. Like, but those were like real interval training. Like, I don't know how you call it your coach, but I would go Isaac was full and then another one full and I did three sets and it would crawl home. And those were the training I was nervous of. But the rest I did was what they call like, soul rides, I did it all the time. Like 99% of my riding was soul rides. And still, and also when I got nine ting that two of the phones, every nine, every night I drink one glass of wine. Like during the race, like also in the Vuelta, also at home. For me, it was not an issue of, I never did three glasses of wine, like maximum two when I allowed myself another one. But like the world is not as strict as they sometimes picture it. That's what I want to say. I think the guys like Pete Stettner, that are one generation after, it seems like you've almost like, you know, we call it in religion before Christ and after. It's almost like before Team Sky and after. Because after Team Sky, anyone that came along, it seems like they made sat, no matter what level they were at, even if they only got to, you know, pro-county, it seems like they made sacrifices that were just crazy, like no alcohol, no desserts, ever, no exceptions. Not like that is exactly the guys before that just a little bit of a looser attitude and like you know what I try in hers But as you say I live slow Yeah, the thing is you have to that's with everything in life But if you want to if you if you become pro You have to look at it as a long-term project. It has to be sustainable So if you start to do everything right like I tried to do in 2015 I I realized in September after 10 months.

9.No, it's not going to happen

Oh, no, it's not going to happen. It's not going to be like that I'm not and I switch like maybe totally the other side because I moved the other side of the ocean But you have to like Nicky tabs. I train a lot with him because I live close to him and he says when you become a pro You have to make sure you find a way that you can that you can do it at least for 10 or 12 or 15 years and not for like a few months just a few months, you know, so that's a thing. Yeah, because I say it, I actually have a new client that I was talking to him the other day and I was saying to him, it almost sounds counterintuitive as a phenomenon. I was saying, your enthusiasm is unsustainable. Like you can't have how excited you were about training. It's not gonna last you six months, four years, five years, 10 years. This is a six week project. if you don't curb your shit down. Like you can't have this level of enthusiasm. Like the dude's 15 minutes early for every training session. Like he's texting me like, I'm here. I'm like, well, I haven't left yet. I'll be there at the fucking time. I said I'd be there. I'll be trying to get her with him. I'm trying to get her with him. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Like the host of my podcast is the same. You started training now and in the beginning, it's always, they think they become better instantly like in to it. And I say, is it because the training you do? Or is it because you're just more focused on doing the right things, you know? Like maybe you train more or stuff like that. And in the beginning, it always seems also not too much. I think you also do progression. I said, wait till week forward. There's like a four hour act on the schedule. It's a little bit raining. And then you also still need to find the motivation to go out and still do it, you know? So it has to be sustainable. And I think that's a thing. Young pros, they don't need to forget. And if you put yourself on a tail parry or bear from the 1st of November, I don't drink any alcohol diet. You don't, it's not because you don't do it. You deserve those results because everybody's doing their best. And maybe the guy drinks a beer, but he's still training 15 minutes longer or whatever. Like everybody is at the best at Ruben. It's not because you didn't drink anything or you deserved that result. That's not the case. And that's what I talk a lot with my younger colleagues the last few years. You pulled off something pretty cool this year. I wanna finish up on this one. So Dorty Kansa, it's in gravel. It's, I don't know, it's the party roux bay, it's the world championships, it's a big one. Whatever the corollary is in road. cancel this year obviously and you came up with an old play on wards and called it Dirty Cancelled and you guys went and done your own thing. Tell us what that was all about. Yeah, that was something I was in Jirona at the beginning of March so actually when things started to collapse in Europe I was at a specialized lounge from a new bike for journalists but I was also there on the terrace with an old friend. I did a ride with him in December Jack Ultra Cyclist, some Orsi guy who was actually would be a nice guy. I guess you had him on a podcast already or not? No, no, I haven't had him now. I don't know. A few weeks ago, he did the World Records most kilometers in one week. These guys are crazy. I don't know how to do it. He did the Taiwan comb. I did it the year. I was there. He did it four times in a row. I was like, fuck, that was the hardest climb of my life. I didn't want to do it any more. I got to check on after the show. So we were thinking about, he was also going to do cancer, but of course the excel edition, like the 350 miles edition. But we were on the terrace and we were like drinking beer, Spanish beers and we were like, okay, fuck, when dirty cancer is not happening this year, we're going to find something else and we call it dirty canceled. And that idea is ticked, you know. And then all good plans are drunken plans, aren't they? And actually like I told you about my platform and with the podcast and with bicycling and the website We tried to and with Instagram and we made someone kind of a promo website and it took off it got viral It went viral it was I think every continent except of Antarctica people were riding the bikes at the same time for 200 miles at 6 a.m. Start max 2 rest stops self-support that we had the same rules as in Dirty Kenza. You had like well-tran art and stuff there on it as well didn't you? Yeah well, Tvanad was doing it. Actually our plan was to make that our dream plan would have been that well-tranad and Machia van Apou would do it together. Because they are enemies already. Like the bike would bring them together and they could hammer themselves with 200 miles you know, but that didn't happen. And everybody could take out what they did because, uh, stay from there with another friend and they just enjoyed themselves for 200 miles. And of course, they were also really tired. I really needed that adrenaline and Nicki Terps are too. So we basically we hammered each other for 200 miles like we attacked each other and tried to be the best.

10.Weeks before we were thinking about our gear, our training, notation…

And also the weeks before we were thinking about our gear, our training, notation like for 200 miles, right? And when you want to go fast, everything has to be dialed, you know, so especially on your going with Nicki Terrap strength. Yeah. Yeah. And also everybody had to design their own route from their house or like the house of your friend, maximum two people was allowed or three people was allowed to write and allow to write in Holland like the together back then. And yeah, everybody made a route on commutes because that's the best routing thing to find all the gravel in Holland. And I think we we had 2,000 people doing it, like, riding 300 kilometers on the same day. It was so bad. We made a movie out of it so you can watch it on YouTube. I'm gonna check it out and I'll link it up in the description for this for anyone that's listening. Lawrence, I wanna finish up on one last question that I asked all the podcast guests. So if you want piece of advice, one tip, one training session, one anything that somebody's given you or you've learned through your career that's impacted your cycling career the most, what would that be? Okay, this is kind of, this is, I told this story more often. In 2006, so I became a pro in 2004. In 2006, I was writing for a new team and I got to be friendly with a Belgium guy and all the Belgium guy and the name was Eren Thais and I trained with him every day, you know, and he learned me how to train as a pro because I remember I was there like training with him. What are we going to do tomorrow? Five hours. Okay, five hours here. What are we going to do tomorrow? Tomorrow, training, how long? Yeah, five hours. Okay, so three days, five hours. What are we going to do tomorrow? Easy, okay, how long? Two hours. Okay, so it was like three days on, one day off, and that the whole way to two, basically. And then in spring, I did a race, it was somewhere in Catalonia, I think, or Castilla Leon or something like that. And I became 18th on the mountain, but it was the years of US post-law, I think, I said, very well, one day, so I was climbing together with Fino Coor over those guys. And he told me, because I was, before I was known as the time tireless, he said, log on, he said, I think if you lose a little bit of weight and you had to focus more on climbing, you become a, it's better for you, because there are not so many climbers in Belgium and Holland, so you stick out more, like you will make a lot more money, you will be more like a star or what's more popular. And that's what he said to me. So I tried to focus on climbing since then more and then from there it started to go up. That's brilliant. That's a great story. Lawrence, thank you for your time. I could just chat to you all night about Eilin. If anyone wants to keep following on your journey after the podcast, as I'm sure they will, what's the best place to keep up with you? I know you're all over the place. Yeah, so basically the best is to watch it to stay tuned with the website, liveslowridefast.com and all the podcast are on there and the clothing, the events, everything is there. So stay tuned on liveslowridefast.com. My Instagram too, basically. That's my daily life. You see me cooking or doing some bike packing. I've seen you had a bit of chicken for dinner, to drop it. Well, thanks, right? Job. Hey everybody, it's Anthony again. Really quick, I want to invite you to join arguably the best thing I've ever put out inside the roadman community. It's a challenge. It's a challenge called a 14 day kickstart challenge. So regardless of where your fitness is at right now, this is going to be the catalyst for making you faster and making you leaner. I've created this challenge to take the guesswork out of everything. It's 14 days, training plans, regardless of what your level is. There's the master's beginner, advanced, there's meal plans, shopping list and even a video course holding your hand and talking you true at all. So what I recommend you do right now is just stop everything, press pause on this audio and go to roadmansoidcling.com forward slash 14 day or check out the link in the bio. That's roadmancycling.com slash 14 day.