Iowa Gravel Series

Here is a summary of the podcast conversation for your blog, along with a cleaned-up transcript.

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triathlon Tough: How a Podiatrist Conquered the Waukon 100

A 95-degree race day with 20 mph winds is enough to make any rider nervous, but for a self-described “tentative gravel racer,” it’s even more daunting. Yet, that’s exactly what podiatrist Maggie Fournier faced when her husband signed her up for the Waukon 100 just days before the event. She went on to win the women’s 100k category, finishing in just around four hours.

On the latest Iowa Gravel Series Podium Podcast, host Chris McQueen talks with Maggie, a French-Canadian podiatrist now living in Wisconsin. They dive into her athletic background, which is rooted not in gravel but in triathlon, her “main love”. This strong aerobic base served her well at Waukon, a race she rode during her first “unstructured” season in 25 years.

Maggie shares what her “relaxed” training schedule looks like—which still often includes two-a-days —and her go-to active recovery method: an easy swim.

Drawing on her professional expertise, Maggie also offers key advice for endurance athletes:

• On Injury Prevention: Don’t just focus on your feet; focus on the entire kinetic chain, from the hips down. “Sweat the small detail” and do your core and glute exercises.
• On Compression Boots: She personally loves them. While there’s no medical research proving they work for recovery, she says if they feel good and make you feel fresh, “go for it”.

Finally, Maggie discusses her simple nutrition strategy (250 liquid calories per hour) and her exciting future plans: tackling self-supported, “extreme” Iron Man-distance triathlons in Europe.

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🎙️ Full Podcast Transcript

Chris: Well, welcome everybody to another episode of the Iowa Gravel Series Podium podcast. I’m your host Chris McQueen and we have a fantastic guest for you today. Uh not from Iowa, but even better, our our neighbors to the north. Um Maggie uh came in uh as one of our podium finishers at the Waukon 100 this year. very excited to get to know you, Maggie. So good to have you on the call today.

Maggie: Well, thank you, Chris, for having me. I’m looking forward to this podcast.

Chris: Yeah. Um, Maggie, I did have one question that I probably should have asked you when we were like getting to know each other a little bit before the call and um you you mentioned that you were French Canadian, which means that I’m going to be very careful how I pronounce your last name. Could you pronounce your last name for me?

Maggie: So, my last name is Fournier.

Chris: Perfect. Fournier because that’s uh I mean it’s not spelled the exact same way as like a Fourier transform like what I’m familiar with with math and everything, but uh it’s got that sneaky little N in there and I want to make sure that was pronounced correctly. Um well, Maggie, uh so you are up in Wisconsin. You came down for the Waukon 100. Let’s maybe start there to get to know you a little bit. Can you tell us a little bit about like um how you’ve gotten into cycling and and what brought you to uh the uh the Midwest from Montreal and uh Canada.

Maggie: Uh yeah. So I started cycling at a very young age. So I grew up really in a rural community and of course uh cycling was our mean of transportation, right? I mean, you would get your bike to school, meet your friend, then so it just very naturally uh just became a sport that I really enjoyed. And it’s really truly only when I was in my mid-20s that I started to be a little bit more serious about cycling as a sport, uh trying to perform. And truly, my first um my main love is triathlon. So, I became a cyclist, so to speak, uh, with triathlon in mind. And it’s really been a three sport type of approach to my cycling, meaning that I never really 100% focus on cycling, but it was always some swim and run uh, involved with that.

And some uh, so I started more a triathlon in my mid-20s. I was after school. So I came to United States uh to go to uh graduate school. I’m a podiatrist and um after I finished u medical school, I transferred to Wisconsin to do my residency and I really fell in love with the Midwest in the area which reminded me a lot of where I grew up. So I’ve been in the Midwest in Wisconsin ever since. Really?

Chris: Oh, wonderful. the I mean I guess in some ways like we a lot of folks in the United States will think of like the Midwest as kind of a colder area, but I mean you growing up in in Montreal and that area you’re like well no no I’ve I’ve come down to the Midwest in America to enjoy the warm weather, right?

Maggie: That’s right. So uh it is it it is definitely warmer and actually my husband is from North Dakota so he also you know came to the warmer weather as well. So, it’s there’s definitely a good two to three weeks difference in how later the the fall will be and how earlier the spring will be here. That’s for sure.

Chris: Yeah. Um and I was just looking at your times um on the Waukon 100 coming in first on the 100k and coming in around about that 4-hour mark uh for the women everything which is a great you know fantastic time. Um I it’s not it’s not surprising to me that you come from a triathlon background when you come in with those types of times. like are you know the triathlon athletes that come in often are just so strong in the gravel area. You’ve already got this amazing aerobic base. You’re you’re ready to go do a couple more hours of whatever it might be. Um so that that makes a lot of sense. What what got you interested initially in triathlons? Like I mean that’s that’s a usually and you can tell you can kind of correct me. Usually folks come in from like one sport. They’re a swimmer and they’re like well I want to try this or I’m a runner and well I want an additional challenge. But what was your entry point for triathlons?

Maggie: Oh that is so long ago. But how I remember my entry point is that really was a friend who signed up for this event back home. And I’m like, “Oh, why don’t I do this?” And it was a triathlon in a beautiful area. And at that time, I was dabbling a little bit more in swimming and running a little bit and I said, “Well, why not join you?” And we ended up doing this triathlon together. And I absolutely fell in love with this. I think what I enjoy the most about triathlon is really mixing three sports. So I feel that I’m constantly challenging myself with trying to be the best at those three, but not only at those three separate, but also together. How can you string three sports together and go as fast as you can? So it’s really been a fun journey in triathlon.

Chris: Yeah, that’s really cool. I find the triathlon workout is like a great aesthetic as well. Like it kind of evens out everything. If you’re just a runner, you kind of like have one look. If you’re just a swimmer, you kind of like tend to look a little top-heavy. If you’re just a cyclist, you look a little bottom heavy. So, like I I’ve always loved the triathlon uh workouts and have kept those up on on occasion just to like have that nice cross training across it because I do, you know. Yeah. Um what uh so I I’m very interested from your prof professional background and everything as a podiatrist. I’m not hopefully I’m not getting this wrong. Um I’m getting after I was sick last week so I’ve been a little foggy on things but when I hear podiatrist I’m thinking feet. Am I getting that wrong?

Maggie: That’s correct. No. Yeah correct. Yep. Biomechanics all of that. Yes.

Chris: So, how far up the the the the leg do you usually go and what are you thinking of uh and and what what advice would you have for anyone in an endurance for sport to say, “Hey, here’s how you keep your feet healthy.”

Maggie: Ah, that’s a great question. So, um I uh a surgeon, so I do surgery as well. So, in the state of Wisconsin, we can do surgery to the feet and ankle to about mid leg. that’s where uh I can do a surgery. But then in my clinic biomechanically it’s hip all the way to the feet. Uh in order to keep your feet healthy, that’s a great question. Actually, it’s not just the feet healthy, but it’s the entire like I say uh kinetic chain, right? How your hip, knees, ankles, and feet work all the way together. Don’t forget to do your small strengthening and exercises to really help with core muscles uh glutes and all the way to the ankle and feet. So it don’t forget uh how can I say that? Don’t forget the small detail. Essentially sweat the small detail. Always keep in check with how you feel. Do you feel a little niggle? If so, get at it.

Chris: Yeah, because I mean, yeah, I feel like uh as I get a little bit older, and I’m not that old, um I’m mid-40s, but like the that that kinetic chain going from I mean, I definitely realize more and more how much my hips drive everything else that I do. My knees then support it and shock absorb it. My feet kind of do that as well, but also are um you know, taking the punishment of being that direct contact. Um the uh yeah, it feels like it’s it gets to be more and more of a a full-time job to keep them healthy.

Let me can I can I ask you a hot take because I’ve loved these so far. Have you ever seen the the the Hyper Ice uh leg squeezer bags where they where you basically put on these uh kind of like uh pants with vacuum tubes on them and they do the squeezing in between. I mean, I I I have the hips set up and I have the legs set up. In your in your prof in your professional or non-professional, you can just have an opinion. That’s fine. Uh are those things hype or do those things are those things actually a good act like passive recovery tool? What what’s your your hot take?

Maggie: Oh, so that’s a great question. Actually, I do have a pair myself which I absolutely love, especially after a hard workout. I think it feels so good. So from a medical standpoint, there’s absolutely no research that will prove that this is a efficient way to recovery. And what is really the definition of recovery, right? Does it mean that how quickly can you go back to your sport after a hard workout? I mean recovery, the word itself is um it’s uh we lack a proper definition, but if it does feel good, absolutely. You know, to me also part of the recovery is how fresh do you feel after a hard workout? And to me, if that, you know, squeeze sensation, which is essentially compression while you’re watching a movie, if it feels good and you enjoy it, then then go for it. I don’t think there’s the worst thing is going to do is nothing essentially. So therefore, if you put it on and it feels good and you feel refreshed after, well, go for it.

Chris: Yeah. I feel like for me it’s like the idea of just getting a little bit more active blood flow through and u maybe maybe uh you know curb some inflammation if I’m lucky but uh yeah just sometimes you just you just you just want something to squeeze squeeze my legs please.

Maggie: Exactly.

Chris: Um, well, I want to I want to eventually get back to recovery, but um I want to talk uh a little bit more. You know, you mentioned triathlons and everything, but I’m curious like what is what is your level of training that you’re doing right now? Cuz coming in at a 4-hour uh time on 100k, like you’re you’re clearly on the faster end of the spectrum for most, you know, novice andor, you know, amateur women that are out just, you know, having fun and everything. So tell me a little bit about what you’re training for. What what what have been your goals this year? Uh I can’t imagine that the Waukon 100 was necessarily your A- race, but if it was, that’s great. But I’m curious kind of like what what you trained for this year and and what your regular training routine is.

Maggie: So actually, it’s funny you mentioned that. This year was my first year I want to say in probably 25 years that it didn’t have a a race on the calendar and I wanted to take this year kind of more of a break from traditional structure training and just truly enjoy the events that I wanted to do. because as you know if you have an A-RA there are races that you cannot not do right because of the timing and maybe it’s too long based on your a- race. However, this summer I’m like no, I’m just going to not sign up for anything and just try to enjoy myself and just try to do a little bit something different. Um maybe I was getting a little burnt out of the structure training. So, this has been a very good um kind of um I don’t want to say off season, but kind of like a more relaxing summer for me. Uh however, I still trained. Uh my goodness, but you know, most days is a two workout a day. Um I enjoyed the workouts. I enjoyed the training, but I didn’t do anything very specific or structured this summer.

Chris: So what would that look like for you? Is this, you know, go out and do something in the morning and then maybe after work or whatever to hit something in the evening? Give give us some examples of what like a common week kind of look like for you in this more relaxed uh setup.

Maggie: So I still like to train for all three. So I enjoy swim in the morning. It’s one of my favorite time to swim. So I get up usually early morning, go to the pool, do my workout, and then in the afternoon is typically a second workout, which is either a run or a bike. Uh depending on the time of the day, the time of the year, then my bike usually will vary in duration. So that’s typically what I do for sure, Monday through Thursday. Fridays I like to take them off. And then Saturday is usually a long bike and Sunday is a long run.

Chris: Okay. Great structure. The um so what were some of the fun things that you went and did this year? What what were some of the things you enjoyed?

Maggie: Um so actually your race was I should tell you that story about your race if you want to hear.

Chris: I definitely want to hear but so yeah we can start with the Waukon 100. What did you enjoy about the Waukon 100 if that was?

Maggie: Well, so a long story. My husband had signed up for your race a while back and I I kept going back and forth and he essentially signed me up a couple of days prior. And at first I was just like, I don’t know if I want to do this. First of all, I’m not um I’m a very I call myself a tentative gravel racer. I’m not very uh technically as good as I would like. So, to me, gravel race is always a little bit outside of my comfort zone. So, it’s always kind of more of an effort and I’m a little bit more nervous and anxious. And if you recall on that day, it was what 20 miles an hour winds that day, like 95 degrees weather. And I was almost upset with it. Like, oh my gosh, I cannot believe I’m getting up in the morning and going to this event.

But it ended up being such a fun time. First of all, it was my first time riding those uh roads in Iowa, and I absolutely loved the course. It was beautiful and yes, it was windy, but it was I I thought it was fairly sheltered both from most of the wind and also the the heat. So, it ended up being a a very fun day. So, kind of a fun surprise that you wake up one morning, don’t feel necessarily like going for a race, but it ended up being a a a great day. Really a fun day.

Chris: Oh, awesome. So glad to hear it. Well, so Waukon’s Waukon is a little unusual for Iowa because it is down in the drifless hills area and that’s very unique to Minnesota and to uh Iowa in that area. And so it’s not so much that it’s hilly, it’s technically like and I wouldn’t I I call other races dippy, but like you you go through these long kind of uh trout stream uh cutout, you know, can canyons kind of cut out from the the trout streams or valleys. Um, I am curious though if especially if you’re not especially technical because the beginning of the route, uh, self-described it sounds like because apparently you you clearly did very very well. So, it all worked out. The beginning of the route generally there’s a long stretch of gravel, then you’re a little bit on pavement and then you drop down into this uh, a little bit technical dip that goes down and then you have kind of a a somewhat rocky uh, ascent out of it. Yes. How were how were you feeling at that point? Because I know then we can go on because then the rest of the race is very different. But how did you feel at that point? Say you know first three four miles coming into it.

Maggie: Well, I I first started but my goal was to stick with the strong group as long as I can. I I could at that point and I remember maybe like two miles into it the guys were gone and I’m like in nowhere and I’m trying to catch up go as fast as I can and then like you described there’s this descent and at that point I’m like okay I’m I’m letting go of that front group. I just want to ride more conservatively because I especially going downhill was definitely, you know, and then climbing up is not too too bad because you just you just paddle, right? It’s all that you can do and try to stay, you know, in a good uh line, but that climbing has never been too bad for me. But the descending is definitely where I get more nervous.

Chris: Well, then how did you feel on the long descent uh after that? you know, as you as we as you go down into the uh the trout stream areas, how how did that feel?

Maggie: Oh, the same. I I’m never I never feel comfortable descending. It’s always outside my comfort zone. I always try to be a little bit more uh loose and relaxed instead of being tight and tense and but it was actually not very it was ended up being a good course was not overly technical. I didn’t feel too much outside of my comfort zone, but it still always is no matter what for me.

Chris: Yeah, it takes a little bit. Well, cool. The I’m glad you I’m glad you enjoyed uh the Waukon 100 100 and and we can come back to like, you know, recovery and and stuff uh on that. Were there any other events this year that you you you especially enjoyed?

Maggie: Uh actually I I will say the and again it’s a local ride that the Smith bike shop here in Lacrosse uh put on a 130 miles. It was not gravel a road uh ride road bike ride to celebrate their 130th anniversary. So there was a big group of us that did that ride and I thought it was a very fun event. So that I also was um something that I really enjoy even though it was not a race. It was just a very fun and long event. So I like longer uh longer events.

Chris: Is that something that they do often or was this kind of like a special oneoff?

Maggie: No, that was a very special one for their 130th uh anniversary. So 130 mile for 130th anniversary. So that was that was actually a great uh fun day. And again the w the weather was beautiful. It was It was a good day.

Chris: Oh, wonderful. That that that that certainly makes a difference. I’m I’m always I always love it when we can get guests on here that are from other areas and can promote and or or talk about other events and things that are going on. because you know you we always hear about the Unbounds and the Midsouths and the gravel worlds and some of these big gravel events and everything, but um there are so the calendar is so full of other opportunities to make new friends, explore a new area, have more adventures. I always love it when we can find something else. Um, lacrosse is, um, I believe where gravel nationals was this last year. Yes. And so it’s it’s a it’s an area that I I definitely want to uh explore a little bit more.

Maggie: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Chris: Yeah. Um, so tell me then uh what’s your general recovery like after a race like this? Um, was this much of a recovery effort for you or was this something that you’re like, you know, that was pretty good . go spin it off and and and it wasn’t too much of a what’s your what’s your classic what what is your go-to um recovery efforts when when when you’re getting done either with a workout or a big effort?

Maggie: That’s a great question. I you know you think you figured it out and then it seems like the following week it doesn’t work anymore, you know. And I’m um I’m just turned 50 years old this year and I’m finally realizing that okay the recovery has to be a little different than what I used to do like you know 15 years ago where you pretty much just get up and go the next day and yes you’re sore but you still power through right so now I’ve trying to listen a little bit more to my body what does it mean I think the intervals that you the intervals workout has to be spaced out a little bit more. And after a hard effort like Waukon, I mean, the beauty of being a triathlete is that the next day I can easily go for an easy swim. And that’s typically my recovery workout. And I absolutely love to do that. You’re in the water, it feels a little bit good. Yes, you can push it if you feel like it, but if you don’t, you still can get somewhat of a good workout where you involve movement and it really helps getting some, like you mentioned before, some blood flow and just some recovery movement that I really like. And sometimes all it looks like is just going for a long nice hike the next day. I still like to do uh active recovery where I feel that whether it’s walking or a light jog or some type of motion helps with the recovery. I think that’s very important.

Chris: Yeah, I I I hear you. And it took me a long time. Um you know, I the longest triathlon I ever did was like a a half. I’ve never done an Iron Man, but I’ve done a I’ve done a 70. Um, and it took me a long time to realize how powerful and and great it is to that you can learn how to just like you can run slow, you can swim slow and let that be an active recovery area. And unless unless you’re at my pool where they keep it very very warm because a lot of the patrons are um I would say closer to 70 and 80 and so they they prefer it to be a little bit warm. Um, you know, you can find if you can find a good pool that’ll uh let you have some active recovery and some cooling effect through it.

Maggie: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Chris: You know, that’s that’s kind of nice. Um, okay, that that makes sense. Um, well, let’s maybe thenuh transition over to nutrition. Like what have you learned over the last few years going from triathlon to gravel and some of these other events? What have you learned for you u about nutrition and what works well?

Maggie: Uh so nutrition I see nutrition in two ways as in during the event but also in between events right also in between workouts. What do you do day-to-day? Uh however if you ask me specifically during a race I’m pretty much a 250 calories an hour gal. That’s what works for me from the get-go. Um, and I do this I’m very very consistent whether I’m hungry or not. I stick to my 250 calories an hour to 200 to 250 calories an hour. Uh, to me that allows me to sustain my efforts and that works well. I’m lucky I don’t have a whole lot of cramping issues. So, yes, I do try to take some salt, but I’m not as maybe consistent or as regimented as I should. But, uh, from I mean, I’ve just about always did my 200 250 calories an hour.

And I know that recently you see more pros introducing uh, I mean 4 to 500 calories an hour. And you know in theory the more you can feel during your event the better it is. However somebody like me who definitely does not pushing 400 watts I don’t think I need to push that hard. But I think the more you can you know take some nutrition early on and sustain the better it is. And the same goes for uh hydration. You know, hydration is very important. So, I try to always have as much as I can that I carry on me. When I go to races, I try to be as self-sufficient as I can. I always research what will be on course. Some events they’re not supported at all. Some are. So, I try to decide how much, but I always, especially for gravel events, you never know where you’re going to end up or, you know, because you you are a lot of time you’re into booties. I try to carry all my nutrition with me as best as I can.

Chris: So, what’s your what’s your favorite ways to get those 250 calories in? Are you a drink your calories kind of gal or you bars? What what what’s kind of your preferred method anymore?

Maggie: Uh I usually just do uh liquid whether it’s gel or with uh you know added um powder to my water but I don’t do bars. I cannot really do solids during the race. That doesn’t go down for me. Um and you know nutrition is so individual. What works for me might not work for you. I mean obviously there are some basics that everybody should hit right but beyond that I think it’s very very individualized and everybody should experiment really what works what doesn’t work and so so on and so forth.

Chris: Yeah, it’s it’s actually one of the reasons why I love asking these questions about training and getting to know different folks is so that we can kind of see, oh wow, I can be on the podium and I can do things completely differently uh from someone else, but you start seeing those themes of like what actually tends to work. You have to eat, you have to get good sleep, you have to recover . how you do those things might be individualized or whatever, but uh you definitely see those themes.

Maggie: and keep things simple. Really, it’s it’s to me I like to keep things simple. Uh yes, there’s so much studies out there and lots of different ads for different product for this and that. Ketone was big last year. We don’t really hear about ketones anymore. Why? because it probably didn’t work. You know, it I like to keep things simples, you know, it keep my gels and keep my my hydration and that’s pretty much it.

Chris: I think ketones failed because they taste terrible.

Maggie: Oh my gosh, it is a fail. It was a total fail. We can get into that, which I could have predicted was a fail, but anyway,

Chris: I have a buddy who does uh marathons and is really interested in staying fast even, you know, into his 40s and everything. And he, you know, not too long ago says, “Man, I think I think ketones are amazing.” I’m like, “You can keep it, buddy. I love you. You’re you’re fantastic, but I’ve I’ve just I’ve smelled them alone, and I’m like, you know what? I don’t want to go that fast.”

Maggie: Yeah. Thank you.

Chris: Um, well, very cool. All right, so uh uh some some local events, you know, you’re you’re focusing on uh you know, being uh having fun this year. What’s the future hold for 2026? What are you thinking about as you get ready for next year? Because there’s always something next, right? What’s what’s kind of your something next.

Maggie: I know. Well, I I will have to be honest. I haven’t been running as much this summer. So, I’m trying to heal from uh an injury that I’m trying to figure out and if everything goes well, I can get 100% better. Um I I I have uh a soft spot for I don’t know if you ever heard of extreme triathlons. So, there’s a new series that started in Norway and it’s uh essentially they call it extreme uh triathlon where it’s an iron man distance but it is a self-supported events . and I’ve done a couple of them and I have a site on one in Italy that I would absolutely love to do . but again depends on how my health and recovery goes for this winter but hopefully believe that’s something they can maybe plan in the near future.

Chris: So not not quite as you know um dialed in as something like Kona where you know exactly it’s going to be a fairly flat course and the big thing that you have to balance is maybe the wind and maybe the crazy craziness in the water. Tell me what make what makes these Italian or this what makes what makes these extreme? Because I can think of extreme things in Italy. You’ve got some great elevation. You’ve got some gravel roads. You’ve got some beautiful waters. like what what what makes this one in Italy extreme, not just your your classic Iowa, I mean your classic Iron Man.

Maggie: So, full disclosure, I’ve been to Kona a few times already. I’ve done the race and to me, um I just wanted to move away from the Iron Man brand. Um it’s a great race. It’s a fantastic race. It is well-run, but I just wanted to try something different. And so those extreme race series, it’s a point-to-point race and usually it uh starts obviously in open water and it ends on a high point. So it’s a positive elevation race.

For example, the one I did in Norway, it’s called Norsemen. You start swimming in the fjord. After that you cycle um I think it was not super hilly but about six to 7,000 feet of climbings again point to point…

Chris: 6 or 7 hundred or 6 to 7,000?

Maggie: 6 to 7,000.

Chris: 6 to 7,000. okay there we go. 6 to 7,000. okay yeah that makes sense.

Maggie: and then after that it’s a trail run to uh at that point it was one of the highest point in Norway way um Mont Gustab Blake and the last 5K you need to be accompanied by someone because it is quite rugged trail run . and it’s a self-supported uh race . and my husband has supported me for all my Arab men’s and he’s a great great Greg but it gets long for them. So with those events, he’s able to crew for me, and it’s been such a blast to get ready for those. He’s wonderful. He’s the one who takes care of all my gears and my bikes and kind of like the detail while I train. And so he was able to follow me all throughout that race and uh crew for me. So it was it was a great uh event. And it’s they only take about 300 athletes, so it’s a very small events and you kind of get to know everybody on the course, too. So, it’s a fun uh kind of homey vibe. And then they have those just about throughout uh throughout the world. The United States, it used to be one in Utah. I don’t know if it still exists. Um and then this one in Italy. I’ve never been to Italy, so we would like to check it out. And then so if I get healthy again, that would be my number one race that I would love to do.

Chris: Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun. on on the on the crewing with this um uh are you only able to like take in items at the transition points between you know the swim and the bike or are there checkpoints along the way on the bike and the run where where you can uh you know top top up on things?

Maggie: and so no it’s completely self-supported so you decide with your crew where you’re going to meet them

Chris: oh so you could you can decide any point on is like if I wanted to meet up three times on the on the bike, for example, they they give you the route and they’re like, “Yeah, go.” Then you figure it out.

Maggie: Yeah. Very cool. Um so it so it it takes a lot of thinking. Where do I think I’m going to be the slowest? Do will I need to have um uh a vest for whatever reason or do I think it’s going to be cold or you know change of clothes? So, it it’s it takes some some trying to figure out precisely, okay, where do I want my nutrition? How long is this going to take me? Do I want to bring an extra water bottle or not? Or so that’s kind of also what is fun about those events is you really have to plan ahead of time and really write down everything and get really your your plan um well planned and executed, too.

Chris: I I wish I could tell myself back, you know, when I was 10, 14 or whatever, and maybe I kind of knew this because I was doing things like Boy Scouts and stuff like that that how much like how much fun I would have with a spreadsheet and some maps and some docs ahead of time before like a big effort or event, you know, through through hiking or or doing an extreme event like what what you’re describing be like uh you know, it’s crazy as you as you grow up what you find out is is play. And this idea of playing with like well you know what if what if I did it this way what if I did it this way um our play changes but we still play in some way and it makes it fun.

Maggie: Absolutely. And my husband’s a engineer so he love to like figure it out those numbers and I I’m just I just go for my workout and he can plan the rest. So off to him.

Chris: Oh sounds like you guys make a a good team. All right. Well Maggie has been so good to get to know you a little bit. I mentioned that there’s one question that I often ask folks to kind of wrap things up and that’s the the magic wand question. And I don’t know if I gave you enough time to really think about it or anything, but kind of off the off the top of your head or or or what you’re thinking like if you had a magic wand and you could kind of change something in this, you know, endurance world or gravel or whatever, what are some of the what’s some of the change or or some of something magical that you would love to see happen in the future?

Maggie: some of the change. Is it okay to answer? I don’t know if I would change anything.

Chris: Sure. I mean, if if if things are great, you can it can be that way.

Maggie: I know it sounds strange what I’m but I’ll explain to you a little bit more my answer. To me, endurance sports, cycling and all that is to adapt to adapt to actual condition. I mean, I could go on and tell you yes, I would love to see a little bit more of the So, I’m going to answer this two ways, right? First answer that I have in mind, would I change anything? I don’t think so. I’m very happy with what I’m doing. I mean, we we have great cycling community. I’m having great fun. Uh to me, you adapt to the situation. You adapt to races around you. I think that I have a great opportunities to race. If you ask me a more broader, you know, answer, yes, I think we could definitely change the access for professional women. I mean, we could do an entire podcast just on that. how fairness it could be for women in professional sports, right? Especially in cycling. I mean, it it is unreal the amount of effort we need to put in just to barely scratch the surface of what we can do. We need more resources. I mean, we could do an entire like, you know, conversation just on that.

But based on me from day to day, what I would change, um, I don’t want to say I don’t want to age anymore. No, it’s part of who we are. So, we adapt. Do I want to change where I live or absolutely not. And we have good equipment. I have great friends, great cycling community. So, I don’t think I would necessarily change anything in that aspect. Does it make sense my answer? I know it’s it’s all over the place.

Chris: No, it’s I mean, look, I think one of the hardest things to be as as we get older is okay. Like just being like, you know what, this is great. Like I’m happy with where I’m at. I’m happy with the opportunities and that gratitude and gratefulness I think are a really good healthy mindset, right? And I think I think you’re balancing that with the the understandings that like would it be nice if there was equal participation across genders or even age groups across all events. You know, these these events do tend to lend towards people that are 30 plus and tend to be male and some of them even, you know, even bald, you know. Um, but uh I say that as basically I’m looking in the mirror here looking at the the call. You know, I know that I’m I’m I’m kind of like middle of the pack uh type of person, but I I think I get your point that it’s really good to be happy with where we’re at and it’s good to have and enjoy and and enjoy uh the things that we have. So, no, I think I think we can I think we can hold both of those thoughts and feelings at the same time and it’s it’s okay, right? Um well, uh like I said, Maggie, so good to meet you. So good to get to know you a little bit. Um do you think you’ll be back on an Iowa Gravel Series race sometime in the future?

Maggie: I would love to. Absolutely.

Chris: Do you uh is walk-on do you think probably the the farthest you’d go or are you are you curious about any of the other races that we have? I don’t know if you’ve even looked at them.

Maggie: I have looked at them. Waukon is for sure obviously because it’s within driving distance and we were looking at maybe other ones to to take a look now.

Chris: Okay. Well, you you like the climbing but you don’t necessarily like the descending, right?

Maggie: That’s right.

Chris: Do you want something flatter? I could make some recommendations. Is there anything you

Maggie: Oh, no. I I have to get out of my comfort zone. I need to learn. I need to do this over and over again to get better at it, right?

Chris: Okay. Well, then if you want your climbing and you have to just deal with your descending at the same time, I definitely always push uh the Soldier Cutoff. That’ll be in September next year. It’s on the far end of Iowa, so it’s like it’s it’s a bit of a drive for you. Um but it is just as as beautiful if you like that climbing stuff. And if you if you want if you want to stick to the flat end of things, uh both Fairfield and Kalona are are beautiful as well.

Maggie: Okay, so those would be my plus. Those are good. Okay, I’ll look definitely look into that.

Chris: Okay, perfect. Well, Maggie, thank you so much. Um I’ll go ahead and let you go for tonight, but uh thank you. It was so wonderful to get to know you.

Maggie: Yeah, it was great. Thank you for having me, Chris.

Chris: All right, catch you later.

Maggie: Bye.