Iowa Gravel Series

Chris: Well, welcome everyone to another episode of the Iowa Gravel Series Podium podcast. I’m your host Chris McQueen and we have a very special guest and I know I say that a lot, but um we have Olive Lind here uh with us today and she is absolutely unique. um a a very young talent and it was so cool to see her uh compete at uh Glenwood here in 2025 and do just a fantastic job. It was a difficult day. We threw a lot of weird stuff into the mix there. But um I think as we get to know Olive Pier a little bit, you’ll realize why she was so prepared and did so well because she is I guess in if you know many languages, you’re a polyglot. If you’re if you if you do a lot of biking uh formats, you’re a poly biker, poly cyclist, I don’t know. We’ll come up with a term eventually. Olive, thank you so much for being here. So good to have you.

Olive: Yeah, thank you for having me.

Chris: So Olive, um is it okay? I mean, your age is posted on the results page. Is it okay if we talk about how old you are?

Olive: Yeah, of course.

Chris: So Olive, you are you are 13.

Olive: Mhm.

Chris: When do you turn 14?

Olive: November.

Chris: November. So, here soon. But you are solid 13. How did you get started in uh bike racing in general? Like what what’s kind of been your route to getting into cycling?

Olive: Well, I first started DVO mountain biking two years ago in 2023 and that led into me joining Nika and that just really started it and I started getting into more non- Nika races last year.

Chris: So, dude, um, what got like what got you in? So, we might have to explain Nika to to some folks. Like, how do you when someone’s like, “Oh, when you when you’re like, “Oh, I have to go to this Nika race.” How do you explain to your friends what you do or what Nika is?

Olive: Um, I mean, it’s interastic for middle and high school, mountain bike racing.

Chris: No. Does that surprise anybody in your friends that you’re that you uh mountain bike race competitively?

Olive: Um, well, I’m homeschooled and all of my friends bike, so no.

Chris: Has do you feel like Nika and uh that group has been like how did that work? Did you start off where like all your friends were biking and you got in or did you kind of get in and then you noticed more of your friends joining Nike? Like what which what would you say was kind of the the way that your friends got involved with it?

Olive: Um, I I met all of my friends through through biking. So

Chris: that’s that’s pretty cool. Like I like I don’t So I’ve I’ve been cycling for years and years and years. Um and started actually I learned how to ride a bike at 8, which I always felt like was a little late. And um but it was it was me biking around the neighborhood that helped me get introduced to my friends that were in the neighborhood that were also biking. And then even in uh in my career, I have consistently found some way to either bring my bike to work or find a way to organize a ride as part of my workplace. Like I feel like cycling is a great way to make friends. So I think you’ve hit on a very good pattern here that I hope you keep using in your life. So you started with Nika and you started racing at DVO like Well, I guess they didn’t have Dashlap three years ago, did they?

Olive: No, Dashlap started this year.

Chris: Gotcha. So, Dashlap, for those that again aren’t familiar with Nika, is uh really really designed for like the earliest middle school or earliest like fifth grader rider where you do just one lap. Whereas, um Olive, what are are you what division are you competing at now in in Nika? Are you JV or varsity?

Olive: So, you’re already in varsity at 13.

Chris: Yep. So, how many rep how many laps is that on uh uh a course?

Olive: Five depending on course length, but mostly five.

Chris: How quickly did you progress from like just doing, you know, kind of the DVO two laps or whatever up to varsity? Like how did that how did that progression go? How long did it take?

Olive: Um, well I started racing MEA in sixth grade and in sixth and seventh I did the two laps and then this year I petitioned into JV1 starting the season and then

Chris: three laps, right?

Olive: Four.

Chris: Oh, that’s four. Okay. JB is four. Gotcha.

Olive: Yeah, JV1 is four. Um and then after the first race I went into varsity for more competition this year.

Chris: What I mean um the that’s a pretty fast progression. So tell me a little bit about your training in like the off season what you’ve done to like I mean are you I can’t imagine but maybe I’m maybe you’re just amazing which is totally fine. You can say I’m just amazing. That’s a good answer. But I can’t imagine that with like the two practices that we have usually a week in Nika that you would progress that fast from a you know two laps up to five laps in the matter of basically a season sort of thing. So can you tell me a little bit about what you’re doing week to week to to uh to train?

Olive: Um, I do three Nika practices a week. Other than that, it’s really just getting out and riding. I um I do indoor cycling over the winter to just keep that up.

Chris: Are you a fan of Zift or do you use another platform?

Olive: Zift.

Chris: Yeah. Um and so what like do you do you aim for a certain amount of time each week or do you aim for certain miles or just like doing a little bit every day? What’s kind of your philosophy on trying to to make that happen? Cuz it’s uh it’s hard as an adult to figure out how to be a good cyclist. It’s even harder, I think, as a young person figure out how to be a good cyclist because, you know, you’re you’re learning a lot of things. So, what what’s kind of what’s your what’s your kind of like principle or goal for getting your training in?

Olive: My main goal is 100 miles each week. No, I’ve been pretty consistent about keeping that up over the last couple months.

Chris: And I guess as a homeschooler, you’ve got some flexibility there. What’s your preference? Do you like how do you fit it in? Is it first thing in the morning or is it something that uh you just it just depends on the day? Like what what what works best for you?

Olive: Yeah, it really just depends on the day. I mainly go out in the evening.

Chris: What’s your favorite? Like if you’re like, “Oh, good. I get to go do this.” Do you have something to enjoy the most?

Olive: Mountain biking is my favorite. No, I I just I really enjoy that. I will also do a lot of pavement.

Chris: What uh you’re in Nebraska, right?

Olive: Yep.

Chris: Uh what’s your what’s what’s some of your common routes that you love to to go and do? Are you like a stay as flat as possible just just pedal or do you go out and look for hills or or or or things?

Olive: It depends. I I do have some pretty good routes from home. I I’ll go over to Swanson Park a lot then just just going around town really.

Chris: Are you a do do you love more of the like the solo training or with friends?

Olive: Uh no. I like nine out of 10 times I will go out with some good friends.

Chris: Sweet. Yeah. So, do you you just like coordinate be like, “All right, let’s go. Let’s go get a ride in.”

Olive: Yeah.

Chris: Oh, that’s sweet. It’s awesome to have good friends that like support the goals and everything. Do you feel like what like when you think about your friends and and the the group that you have? Like how much of that of your success do you attribute to just like your tenacity? Like it’s just like no, I want this no matter what. I’m going to do whatever I need. All the way to like, oh jeez, if my friends weren’t doing it, I probably wouldn’t even like pedal once. like you know it’s a spectrum like how much would you attribute your your kind of like your friend network to your success?

Olive: Um, I have I have one friend that I go out with a lot and he has he’s he’s pushed me quite a bit. No, really made made me better over the last year or so. Um, I do I will push myself quite a bit in a lot of stuff just going through it.

Chris: Yeah. Friends like that that push you supportively like that’s that’s that’s awesome. That’s really cool. Okay. So, we kind of get a vision of like your Nika experience and everything like that. You said this year or last year you started signing up for other events?

Olive: Last year.

Chris: So, what are some of the ones that you’ve been picking? What What were some of the other events outside of Nike that you started picking last year?

Olive: Um, last year I think the only other things I did were the Nebraska Off-Road Series races and Gravel Worlds.

Chris: What distance did you do at Gravel Worlds?

Olive: 75.

Chris: Nice. Was that Were you prep Did you feel like you were prepared for Gravel Worlds?

Olive: No, not at all.

Chris: What? Tell me more.

Olive: Um, my my longest ride prior to that was 40 miles and I think that ride only 30 were of gravel.

Chris: So, I mean, it just just seemed like such a big thing to do.

Olive: Yeah.

Chris: What did you learn as you were out there? Did you finish?

Olive: Yes.

Chris: So, what did you learn like you’re out there once you got like, “Okay, congratulations, me. I just got past 40 miles, so this is the farthest I’ve ever gone in my life.” Uh, what were you what were you kind of saying to yourself? What was the the Olive Lind narrative?

Olive: Um, I mean really just just finish.

Chris: Were you with anyone?

Olive: Of course. No. Oh, I kind of went back and forth between riding with my dad and not. Um but yeah, I mean just just finishing the course last year was a lot of very steep hills and just constant up and down. Um the gravel seas.

Chris: Yeah. Yeah.

Olive: I I definitely cried myself through the last 15 miles.

Chris: Do you look back on that and I mean clearly you you you kept doing other things so I mean do you look back on that and go no that was that was a good thing.

Olive: Yeah. Yeah definitely.

Chris: Um okay. So did anything else in 2024 that was outside of Nika?

Olive: Um, well I did cycle cross races that year too.

Chris: Oh, tell me about cycl. So, I do not cycle across and it’s not because I don’t like it. I’m just busy and um I uh can only fit so many cycling things in my life. But uh what would you how what would be your pitch to someone who’s like thinking about doing Cyclacross? What would you say?

Olive: Um it’s not my favorite. I I will do it just to do it. I mean, just the the getting off and on your bike constantly, it’s a little much.

Chris: Yeah. Um, on your is your Cyclacross a Cyclacross bike or is it like a gravel bike with cyclacross tires?

Olive: No, I the last two years I did it, I used my mountain bike. This year I will next weekend I will be uh racing my gravel bike.

Chris: Gotcha. Uh clipped in or or

Olive: clipped in.

Chris: Nice. Uh that adds so much more fun to it, especially if you’ve been mainly on flat pedals with mountain biking, right? How many times have you fallen fallen over uh by not being able to uncip your pedals?

Olive: Not as much as I think most people do, but no, there there have been times I I started clipping in a little over a year ago.

Chris: So, I think it’s just a right of passage for like every cyclist once they get clipped in. Like it’s not if you like fall over still in your pedals. It’s just when like you might be really good at it at first and then be like, “Oh, I’m I’m going over. I’m going.” Yep. Yep. There we go.

Olive: Yeah. Yeah. Just just whether you get out or not.

Chris: Oh. So, okay. So, let’s skip now to 2025. Did you do you do you plan your season kind of early on or are you kind of like you know what are you like basically well I know I’m going to do Nika maybe I’ll do these other things but we’ll see you know as I as I get going. How how do you kind of plan your how did you kind of plan your season for 2025?

Olive: Um, I mean really just finding things to do around Nika just No, a lot of things just came up as you went on. Um, I did I did have a couple things that I planned in advance that were bigger, but I’ve had a I’ve had a very full year.

Chris: Oh, yeah. What What’s your year been like?

Olive: Um, I mean, races every weekend since, I believe, April. So,

Chris: wait, hold on. So, April, Nika doesn’t start until like August. Really?

Olive: July. Yeah,

Chris: July. Yeah. You like at the very end of July is the time trial, right?

Olive: Uh mid August practices. Yeah. Mhm.

Chris: Um so, what were you doing in April? What were your races early in the season?

Olive: Um, I had a lot of gravel races this year and then we went we went down to Arkansas quite a bit for mountain biking.

Chris: Mhm. What What do you think of What do you I’m guessing Bentonville, right?

Olive: Yep.

Chris: What do you think of Bentonville?

Olive: Oh, I love it. It’s It’s such a fun place. We We went down there last weekend for a gravel race.

Chris: Um, it’s not the Was it the which gravel race last weekend?

Olive: Big Sugar.

Chris: Oh, Big Sugar. How’d that go for you?

Olive: Good. It It was wet. It It rained. It rained on us a bit, but it was It was quite a fun course.

Chris: Well, I feel like Big Sugar, like if it gets wet, it’s not too bad of an issue because it’s it’s just rocky, right?

Olive: Mhm. Yeah.

Chris: So, were you you were on your mountain bike?

Olive: I was on my gravel bike.

Chris: Oh, you did do it on your gravel bike. Okay. Uh yeah. How would you describe the Big Sugar experience? Like, did you did you podium? Did you have a good day? Did it just all go down in flames?

Olive: Uh I played second.

Chris: Congrats.

Olive: Um I think I had a really good time. No, it was it was a fun course. just I I prepared well for it. I think just just a fun day.

Chris: What were some of the things that you purposely kind of prepared for? Was it I mean was this in your training? Was this in your gear? What was it that you were like, “Okay, I’m going to do this.”

Olive: Nutrition mainly, having the right thing things during the race. No, just getting through it, feeling well.

Chris: What are you learning about nutrition for you as I mean, frankly, as a 13-year-old young woman, you are in some ways blazing trails for like what can or can’t work because so much of the science, so-called science, you know, that is out there is for like guys in their 20s with like testosterone poisoning and things like that. What are you learning about nutrition for you that worked well at at Big Sugar?

Olive: Um, well, I I mainly use a custom drink mix with carbs and sodium in it. Then then I’ll I’ll use gooze, too. But that that gets me through most things.

Chris: What’s your target for carbohydrates? Do you have a target or

Olive: I can’t think of what’s in a bottle right now, but no, just having a 20 oz bottle an hour.

Chris: Gotcha. Yeah. Bottle an hour with with carbs in it with sodium in it. And so you’re constantly drinking your nutrition as well and just hitting What do you do to remind yourself to take a drink?

Olive: Uh I have a timer on my Garmin that pops up.

Chris: I have the same thing. I love it. Like I’ve done some bigger efforts. I don’t know if you’re familiar with like Spotted Horse or Iowa Wind and Rock, but these are like 180 right miles. And somewhere around 90 miles, my brain turns off. It’s like, so thank goodness for Garmin being like, “Hey, you should drink.” I’m like, “Okay, just do what my Garmin says.” All right, cool. Um, so Big Sugar was last week. Um, you said you did a lot of gravel this year. What kind of started off your your gravel season? Well, I see a Lewisville uh shirt on.

Olive: Yes, Lewis uh Lewisville was the first race this year and that was an interesting day. No. Um, before Lewisville, uh, before Lewisville, Gravel Worlds was the only thing that I’ve done. And I did the 100k. It was 30 mph winds full time.

Chris: Yep. And that’s less wind than it was the year previous.

Olive: Yeah. Yeah.

Chris: Lewis Lewisville is getting a reputation for um Yeah. You got to bring the watts consistently. Um but you know it’s a loop so in theory everything you push into you get back right.

Olive: Yeah. Yeah.

Chris: Um how did that feel? Did you did you podium at at Lewisville as well or was that uh

Olive: I got first.

Chris: Nice. Uh for a junior or for the overall? Okay. For juniors. Nice. Um then what?

Olive: Um well after that I did I did Rule of Three down in Bentonville as well.

Chris: Um lots of folks think that Rule of Three and I’m kind of one of them. I’m a I’m a big fan of it is kind of the the the future of gravel or the future of of cycling a lot in in uh in America. What do you think is that is that the format that like that that we we all should be doing more or or are you are you more for like hey I I like just one discipline at a time.

Olive: I really enjoyed level three there. The course that they had this year was not as much gravel. It was it was a lot of single track, but but I really enjoyed that. I I will definitely be doing that one next year.

Chris: Sweet. The Yeah. How would you pitch Rule of Three to people in case they don’t know what it is?

Olive: Um I mean just the single track gravel pavement. No, it’s I did the 50 mileer and not didn’t try to be competitive. Just went and had fun with it.

Chris: Uh, which bike did you pick?

Olive: I brought my mountain bike.

Chris: Do you feel like that was the right choice? Would you do that again or do you think you’d do a different bike next year?

Olive: I was very happy with my choice. I think I I would do my mountain bike again, but I think I I got a new gravel bike recently and I think that I would also ride that.

Chris: Is your mountain bike uh full suspension or hard tail?

Olive: Full suspension.

Chris: Do you have a remote lockout?

Olive: Mhm.

Chris: Do you feel like that would almost be required for rule of three? the remote lockout and the full suspension.

Olive: No, I mean you could don’t need it, but no, it was something that I enjoyed having. But I did I did ride with someone who was on a hard tail. No. And you know, it was fine. But no, just whatever your preference is, I think.

Chris: What was your regular tires that you already had on your mountain bike or did you just swap them out for something?

Olive: Yep. The the 225s.

Chris: 225s. And how how knobbyby are they? They are they kind of more of like a crossc country mountain bike, you know, kind of more rounded or are they pretty pretty knobbyby?

Olive: Yeah. Yeah, just what what I run on my mountain bike. I didn’t change it out or anything. Mhm. Okay.

Chris: Very cool. All right. What was your favorite race this year? And you don’t have to say Glenwood gravel. Like that’s not fair. I like you. You can tell me. I do want your feedback on Glenwood because I’m interesting. I’m interested in like what you felt um given what it was and everything. And I think that was your first IO Gravel Series race. So, I’m very interested in your blatant like give me give me the mean stuff like the stuff you’d only like text to your friend be like son of a who is this guy doing like I want I want I want it raw. But before we do that, what what was your favorite race this year?

Olive: My favorite race was Dakota 5 out in South Dakota

Chris: Black Hills, right?

Olive: Yep.

Chris: What What made it your favorite?

Olive: It was the first time that I had done it. I I got third in my category. Um it was a really fun course. I I’m more of a distance person. Just the endurance of it made it really fun. No, I I rode I rode with friends the whole time, you know. It was a good day.

Chris: Good day. It’s a lot of sustained climbing, right?

Olive: Mhm.

Chris: We don’t have a lot of sustained climbing in Nebraska and Iowa. So, what what did you do to kind of prepare for that?

Olive: I mean, I just just being consistently on the bike helps.

Chris: I mean, Gravel Worlds was the week before that. So, did that help or did that hinder?

Olive: No, it it helped me. I I don’t think I got hindered a lot this year, but that’s that’s me personally.

Chris: That’s good. All right. So, tell me about Glenwood. What did you think? Give it to me raw. You can’t hurt my feelings because if anything, I want to make this something where like folks like you want to sign up for it. So, you know, don’t be nice. Be be real.

Olive: Um, I enjoyed the course. I I’m a climber. No, I I enjoyed that. I was not feeling my best that day. And that definitely didn’t help, but but I I still had fun. No, good course, good good atmosphere. I I enjoyed that.

Chris: Did you get squirted by a hooligan?

Olive: I did.

Chris: How did you feel about that? Are you Are you team yay or nay on hooligans?

Olive: Depending on the weather. It’s It was It was fine. I I wasn’t like I wasn’t completely mad at them.

Chris: Did Were they kind to you or were they squirting you in the face? I told them not to squirt you in the face.

Olive: Oh, no. I I did get squared in the face. I got hosed in the face.

Chris: You got hosed in the face?

Olive: Yeah, they had hoses at some of them.

Chris: Was that at the park?

Olive: Yeah.

Chris: Yeah. Those cross country boys. Seriously. Like, come on, guys. Have some packed. We’ll we’ll we’ll talk to him if we if we we end up doing that. Uh again, um have you uh Okay, so we got Glenwood, we got a little bit about nutrition, got some of your races. What’s your plan for 2026? What What are you looking forward to?

Olive: Um, I mean, I will definitely do all the races that I did this year. I I do have some new races planned. Just bigger things. Um

Chris: what?

Olive: Unbound.

Chris: Nice. We’re going to do and then distance.

Olive: Hm.

Chris: Which distance?

Olive: 100.

Chris: Okay. Sweet.

Olive: Um, we’re also going to do Pine Island Gravel, which is up in Spearfish, and that’s 100. But other than that, I think just, you know, see see what new things come up and then other than that, stick with what we did this year.

Chris: That’s a that’s a lot of racing. Do you have an a race? The race you’re like, this is the one I want to do the best on.

Olive: Um, no, definitely rule three and 50 again. Um, Glennwood was the only Iowa Gravel Series race I could do this year, but I will, you know, if I’m able to, I will definitely do those.

Chris: You You said you like to climb.

Olive: Yeah.

Chris: Um, have you considered soldier cut off? I don’t know if you’re familiar with that one.

Olive: We we were going to do that this year, but it didn’t work out with the schedule. It was on the same day as the Nika race.

Chris: Yeah, I miss I miss that Nika race as well. It’s I’ve I’ve got the I’ve got the dates for all the Nik races next year and because I’m a coach, I’m trying to do my best to make sure that those don’t conflict too much. It’s hard as we get into the fall season that just there’s stuff everywhere. Um, yeah. So, there we are we are raceer rich in the in the the Midwest. Um, and have you looked at Wacon out way northeast? It’s like a five, six hour drive out to the Northeast, kind of the Drifless Hills area.

Olive: I don’t think I’ve looked into that one.

Chris: That one’s a really fun one because it’s basically four climbs, h four or five climbs, for the most part. Um, and it is it has no B- roads, but it has like you you’re never taking a 90 degree turn. It is always twisties through canyons and up hills and everything like that. It’s it’s the curviest darn thing I think we we have. I don’t know how you feel about curves, okay? But it’s a lot of fun. It’s beautiful. It’s in June. Um, it’s my personal favorite. And I shouldn’t have favorites. That’s that’s not the job of a race director, but my personal favorites are always walk-on and soldier cut off. Um, I love them all. They all have they all have redeeming attributes, but I like to climb and I like to always be wondering what’s going to go, you know, be there around the next corner. So, yeah.

Chris: All right, one last question. Uh, actually, I got two last questions. They’re kind of the same. Um, yeah, we’ll just combine them. If you had a magic wand for cycling and you could just wave this magic wand and change anything in in in this world of Nika and Cyclacross and mountain biking and all these races and what would you what is you what what would you love to just see just magically maybe different?

Olive: Not sure. I mean, a lot of a lot of the gravel races I do here, 99% of the time I’m the only one in my category. I No, I would love to have some other people. Um,

Chris: did you raise Super Bloom?

Olive: No.

Chris: Same day as a Nikka race.

Olive: Same day as an RA. That’s hard.

Chris: Yeah. I think I’m going to I missed it last year, too, for the same reason. I’m think I’m going to I’m going to try to make it work a little harder next year. Yeah, Julie does a great job. So, it’s a good thing. Uh, cool. Olive, what what should I have asked you on this? Are there any questions you’re like, “Oh, I wish you had asked me or we talked about this.”

Olive: Um, I mean, not really. you you you covered a lot.

Chris: Oh, good. All right. Well, I look forward to seeing you on another race and I hope the Iowa Gravel Series uh jersey that will eventually come in the mail, uh is, you know, something that you enjoy and think back on fondly. But yeah, good good luck. Uh I’m a super fan and wish you the best in your racing.

Olive: Thank you.

Chris: All right, catch you later.

Olive: Yeah. Bye.