The Challenge of Being One of the Fastest Track Cyclists in the World

with ASHTON LAMBIE

Track Cyclist Asthon Lambie

The Challenge of Being One of the Fastest Track Cyclists in the World

with ASHTON LAMBIE

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The Challenge of Being One of the Fastest Track Cyclists in the World, Ashton Lambie

Episode 10 – The CardioCast CoolDown – Track Cyclist

How is it possible that Ashton Lambie, without respecting the ancient traditions of the discipline, became one of the fastest track cyclists in the world? He is a track cyclist known for his Trans-Kansas record, as well as being a former individual pursuit world record holder. He elbowed his way to the top of a tight-knit cycling discipline. He first came to our attention after his individual pursuit career that broke the world record at the Pan American Track Cycling Championships in August 2018, which earned him a place on the USA Team. Three world records, four world cup medals, and one world championship medal confirm that Ashton is one of the fastest track cyclists in the world.

Highlights:

  • Ashton’s love for riding fast and pushing his limits since he was 16 years old.
  • His gravel racing experience before hitting on the track.
  • How he started competing in international events to get noticed by the national team, with whom he won his first national championship in 2017.
  • The disappointment of not being able to go to the Tokyo Olympics.
  • Ashton’s training modalities and his diet to train at the best level.
  • How does he train for something so intense and short?
  • The feeling of knowing he was the best track cycler in the world in 2019.

To learn more about Ashton Lambie, you can visit his website or follow him on Instagram.

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The Challenge of Being One of the Fastest Track Cyclists in the World With Ashton Lambie

 

Doug Lotz  00:03

Hey everyone! This is Doug Lotz, active lifestyle enthusiastic armchair futurist and founder of CardioCast an audio guided fitness app where we help people get fit and stay fit by making studio quality fitness classes more accessible and affordable than ever, in delivering the best music and coaching possible. Anytime, anywhere. You’re listening to the CardioCast CoolDown Podcast, where we explore topics, the intersection of health, fitness and personal wellness, you’re ready? Let’s go. Welcome to the CardioCast CoolDown podcast where we explore topics of the intersection between health, fitness and personal wellness I’m Doug Lotz founder of CardioCast, and today we’ll be speaking with professional cyclist Ashton Lambie. Ashton has been called the most interesting bike racer in America. And for good reason. Ashton’s path to elite Cycling is an unconventional one. hailing from Nebraska, he started his cycling career on grass and gravel, but quickly rose to an international competitive level, entering cycling Limelight with his world record breaking individual pursuit right at the Pan American track cycling championships in 2018, which was just two years after he started track racing. So Ashton, thank you so much for joining us. It’s great to have you here.

 

Ashton Lambie  01:15

You bet, Doug, thanks for having me on, man. Yeah, of course.

 

Doug Lotz  01:18

So So I always like to set start off with why it’s a bit of a Simon Sinek rip off if anybody’s ever seen anything he does. But yeah, it’s a really interesting question. Why do you do what you do?

 

Ashton Lambie  01:31

I mean, honestly, I really love going fast on my bike, and like, sort of pushing the boundaries of like, you know, what people are capable of, like, what I’m capable of, I’ve always been a fan of that. You know, and just because they’re like, because I’m, I found success in it. I enjoy success. And I love the process of like, getting to where I’m at. It’s been a blast. Yeah.

 

Doug Lotz  01:55

Yeah. So let’s talk about that, that process a little bit. Because, you know, I’m not like, I’m not like a, you know, I’m not super up on everything. That’s, you know, international cycling racing, but and I imagine some of the listeners aren’t, aren’t, you know, quite there yet, either. But super interesting, you know, backstory starting out in Nebraska and, you know, writing on.

 

Ashton Lambie  02:18

Oh, it’s tricky fighting story, if you’re like, Oh, you started riding bikes two years ago, like, I’ve been riding bikes since I was about 15. And I’m 30 now. So I’ve been writing and, and I actually, like, did a lot more ultra distance stuff before I got into track. So like, before I got into track, I was doing like gravel racing. I did ultra distance cycling called Brandon nearing, which is like, sort of self supported anywhere between like, 200 kilometers to 120 miles all the way up to like 750 miles. So like, crazy, crazy, long stuff. Before, you know, I finally realized I was like, Oh, I just, I’m, like, built differently from a lot of these guys. Like, I wonder if there’s something that’s like, a little bit more power base, like that I could do and so I was living in Lawrence, Kansas at the time. And they had a grass velodrome which is basically like, you know, just a 333 meter, path, mode and someone’s field. And so I, you know, kind of have my teeth in there. I got, you know, a handful of track records and one every event my first night and I was like, oh, man, I might be alright at this. I mean, I was also like, winning gravel races in the area. So it wasn’t like I was specifically training. This was before gravel, you know, blew up to the level of was now like, I’m not, you know, World Tour pro level, a gravel racing, by any means. So, I got started on the grass track, and then it was like, okay, you know, let’s say I want to go to the Olympics, like the gravel racing is not an Olympic track sport. I want to go to the Olympics. Let’s do track racing, like what does that look like? Like I had to do USAC races, I had to get my pro license. So get upgraded enough to do events, and then start racing international events to get noticed by the national team. And so I went to my first track race, like my first USA cycling track race, basically, a mid level domestic race in Florida, because that was the only thing that was going on at the time, and I needed a bunch of points to upgrade according to their system. And the track director Carl Sundquist, down there saw me win every event except match sprint, which is like not my event at all. But every other event, I won pretty handily, and he was like, okay, when you get home, you’re going to talk to your, like regional USA cycling director. They’re going to upgrade you to a cat one. And you’re you’re going to go racing track flourtown, Pennsylvania this summer, which is like pretty high level domestic racing. But they bring An international team. So it is technically international racing, but it’s the best track racing you can get in the US. So I raced there, you know, kind of learned a little bit more, got my teeth stumped in, you know, with like, some really high level international field, and then won my first national championship that would have been 2017. And so then I got on the national team. I won the individual pursuit, which is like my main event, I got on the national team for Team pursuit, which is an Olympic track sport, individual pursuit is not. And then yeah, was, you know, getting rubbed with the USA cycling national team, trying to go to the Olympics for the last three years since 2017. When I first went, so it’s a whole long qualifying process. But unfortunately, we didn’t make it. I won’t be in Tokyo this summer.

 

Doug Lotz  05:48

Yeah, yeah. Well, we’ll chat about that. And in a second, kind of like, yeah, it’s not something I want to harp on. But I feel like there’s all sorts of other cool stuff you do, you know, you’ve been doing. But yeah, so I had this vague. I’m like, kind of wondering how somebody gets, like, you know, picked up and noticed or whatever. You know, like you said, I was kind of envisioning like, stuff. Yeah. Somebody is there somebody there watching, like, you know, you just get would you get, like, pulled aside after that first flirt? Or is it just like, Oh, hey, like, you know, I’m so and so or did you know these guys ahead of time, and we’re like, you know, seeking them out.

 

Ashton Lambie  06:24

I knew Carl Carl was actually a member of the 80 1984 Olympic team pursuit squad. So he’s like, a very well versed rider, like he’s definitely someone to know, in the cycling community. And I had messaged him, because like, I didn’t know shit about shit. You know, I was like, Hey, man, I want to come down here. I have my safety certification from, like, I wrote around a pasture. He was just like, you want to do a scratch race? Like, I don’t know if we can do that. I was like, please, please just let me do it. So I mean, he did take a risk on me, which is pretty nice. But then afterwards, it was sort of like, you know, he saw me and like, my dad was there. And so he was talking to my dad the whole time. And like, look, I think, I think you’ve got a lot of potential, like, go get your upgrade. And I hadn’t gotten noticed by the national team. At that point. It wasn’t until I won my national championship, which is, it’s easy to go to a national championship and ride an individual pursuit because the timed event, so like, you could be Omnium national champion. But it’s like, well, if no one shows up, like none of the other a level riders show up, and it’s a weak feel like, Well, that doesn’t really translate. But if it’s like, oh, you go to you go to this track, you ride this time, you beat this many people who also raced on the same day. It’s like, okay, while you’re that good, very cut and dry thing, you know.

 

Doug Lotz  07:47

So how would you describe some of these track cycling events to somebody who’s, you know, maybe only seen a clip on like, you know, the Olympic like, highlights or something?

 

Ashton Lambie  08:00

Hard, it’s hard, because there’s so many different events. And like, the essence of all of them is like, there’s a track and everybody’s riding around it really quick. And then at some point, the race, the race is over, which is hard, because like, you look at a sport like basketball, and you’re like, well, there’s a ball, and there’s a hoop that’s roughly the same size of the ball. Like, I wonder what happens next. Like it’s a very race board sport, you know, whereas track cycling, like people are just clicking around, somebody might like, go slower, or go faster, or like, go up the track. And you’re like, What the fuck is going on? Like, sometimes I don’t even know what’s going on. Like, it gets messy man. So I mean, it depends on like, you know, some events are pretty straightforward, like the individual pursuit. Like there’s two guys on a track, you ride a set number of laps, and then it’s over whoever rides the path. Very, very simple.

 

Doug Lotz  08:48

That’s kind of compelling. Just because you can like really vision, you know, what’s going on? Like, there’s just those two riders, right?

 

Ashton Lambie  08:54

Yeah, that’s why team pursuit is one of my favorite events. Like, it’s incredible to watch a team pursuit where it’s four guys that start all on four guys on each side of the tracks at the same time. And then it’s just when you start four, but you only have to finish three. So like one writer might inject at some point, and that’s fine. So that that’s a fun event to watch. And they just go like, you go stupid fast. I mean, you’re going like 40 miles an hour. It’s crazy.

 

Doug Lotz  09:20

Yeah, I mean, watching that stuff. It’s like, Can you just slip up and it looks like a lot of hard surfaces.

 

Ashton Lambie  09:29

I mean, I would rather cash on wood. Yeah. And they’re also the weird thing that a lot of people don’t realize about tracks like that all the bikes, single gear, you only get one gear, you can’t shift at all. And you also have it’s fit. So like you can’t coast you can’t ever stop pedaling. The other last thing is that there are no great, which is it seems terrifying. And you’re like, Oh my god, I can’t imagine that. But like on the same time. If no one has brakes, it’s actually pretty safe. Like Imagine if you’re cruising on the Their state and everyone is just using cruise control. Like if somebody cuts you off, you can’t just slam on the brakes. Like you just have to very gradually adjust your speed, which is the same thing with track racing.

 

Doug Lotz  10:11

So a little less, like unpredictable than somebody just yeah. Being able to sort of.

 

Ashton Lambie  10:16

Right, right, right, right. Yeah. Somebody can’t just grab a handful of break through a corner and crash.

 

Doug Lotz  10:21

Right? Yeah. And there’s white there.

 

Ashton Lambie  10:23

Yeah. Right. Unfortunately, corners are based. So someone crashes, they just slide to the bottom of the track, or out of the way.

 

Doug Lotz  10:31

Automatically clearing?

 

Ashton Lambie  10:33

Yep, yep. Cool. Yeah. So that works out? Well.

 

Doug Lotz  10:36

Yeah. So, you know, like I said, not to, like harp on it or anything. But, you know, USA track cycling didn’t qualify for Tokyo. And, you know, I’m kind of curious, just, you know, how that experience, obviously, you know, ton of training and like, you know, being part of the team and building up to that, I’m just interested to hear a little bit about what that’s done for you as an athlete that experience and then, you know, maybe we’re, you know, want to hear a little bit about what you’ve been doing since and then, you know, maybe what your plans are for the future?

 

Ashton Lambie  11:08

Yeah. Um, I mean, it was like, you know, there’s no way to get around is that it was a disappointing experience. Like, you go for three years, and you’re hoping you’re hoping you’re hoping and then was like, the way our process works. It’s not there’s not a trial, it’s sort of like you’re the Olympic qualification period is like, a bet. A total of 10 events, I think, over two years. So it’s like you get one, Pan American championship, your best three World Cup results, and your world championship result. And so I mean, we can we can, you know, nitpick the reasons we didn’t make it all day. But like, in the days, we didn’t ride fast enough, when it counted. as frustrated as it is, you know, that’s the rule of when you sign up the play the game, man. I mean, I’m, you know, there are eight teams that are going to go to Tokyo, like, that number got cut down to from 12, the previous games IP got cut out of the program in 2008, or 2012. I think. So I can’t go for that. But I mean, I know that.

 

Doug Lotz  12:16

Those decisions are always weird to like, what’s what individual event? You know, what events are going to be in the Olympics is a bit of a head scratcher. So I’m, I don’t know what the I mean, I, you know, there’s always reasons there’s always stuff like, you know, that the thought that goes into it, obviously, but I’m, I’m a, so I grew up doing a lot of sailing, and just like seeing what, yeah, like, what events make good and what you know, like, that’s always kind of an interesting story. Obviously, that changes over time. So if, you know, if you’re in kind of into one of these sports, and like, you know, you’re going after one of these particular, you know, events, and you’re training, you know, I don’t know, that’s your specialty, you might not really, you know, might not be in the Olympics next time around who knows? Yeah, so. Yeah. So I mean, what have you been? What have you been up to? Since like, I know, COVID, probably, through, I don’t know, if it threw a wrench into things or not, like, I don’t know what the the scenes been like. But I would imagine events and everything, were kind of.

 

Ashton Lambie  13:17

Hoping for a wrench in the thing. You know, it was a lot of gravel last year. And I mean, it’s been nice getting back to it, like I’ve been really focused on individual pursuit. Like, we just had the Hong Kong Nations Cup a few weeks ago, where I won gold there. So I mean, I’m pretty excited to see that the training paid off that way. You know, like, right after worlds, or I guess, after we didn’t make it to the Olympic. I still had World Championships in 2020. So I went to World Championships got second. And then it’s just been like, I don’t know, a little bit of experimenting with different training modalities. And like, different ideas, training, seeing how some of that work.

 

Doug Lotz  13:59

Let’s talk a little about that. But what I want to know, like, what I mean, you know, what goes into your track cycling training versus you got if it’s any different than gravel, and like, you know, obviously, the physical activity, like the actual, yeah, like the training regimen is gotta be totally like.

 

Ashton Lambie  14:15

I mean, if I say like, anaerobic threshold, is that too nerdy for this podcast?

 

Doug Lotz  14:20

I don’t know. I think people kind of, I mean, I know what that means. But like, you know, just in layman’s terms, maybe go through some of that stuff. But yeah, no, I mean, anaerobic threshold can be googled by folks. In level, that’s fine.

 

Ashton Lambie  14:39

I had to ask that question to one of my athletes, he was reading an article and he was like, well, that’s crazy that you make so much ATP. And I was like, have you heard of the Krebs cycle? Like, let’s learn about that, man.

 

Doug Lotz  14:50

Yeah, so that that’s probably you know, going into maybe a little bit nerdier than then we can.

 

Ashton Lambie  14:56

Well, so I mean, basically, like there’s there’s two schools of thought that Individual pursuit, like, the whole point is that you empty yourself anaerobically like it is an anaerobic event, but the goal should be, yeah, it is a lot. And you know, a four minute sprint is an anaerobic event. And so I think there’s a lot of guys that have made that compromise of like, oh, if you’re doing, you know, gravel or roads, like, even even myself included, like when I was getting ready for Berlin, which was World Championships last year, you know, like, the week before I was doing like a three hour ride.

 

Doug Lotz  15:34

That is, like you said, polar opposites. Like if you’re going for these, like, you know, just for people listening, like thinking about that the difference between a very long distance gravel or adventure race where you’re just like, you know, that’s like, yeah, the endurance factor and everything versus like, short speed burst, where you’re really like, crushing it for a few minutes. It’s just like, that’s a that’s a wide range, in my opinion, at least from the layman’s point of view that.

 

Ashton Lambie  15:58

And so I’ve kind of transitioned and changed, like, I’m not doing as bad as this makes me. I’m not doing those huge rides and those huge volumes. Like the DK this, the unbound race this weekend, it’s like this huge gravel race in Emporia, Kansas. Like, I’m signed up to do the 100. I don’t know if I’ll finish 100 honestly, like the longest ride I’ve done in the last three months is probably two and a half, three hours. Like, I’m not ready to go out there. And there’s no you know, last year, I finished the dk 100. Our guest two years ago, I finished it in five hours. And there’s no way I could do it in five hours right now. But my four minute power is way better than it was last year.

 

Doug Lotz  16:41

Yeah. So I imagine if you’re focusing in one area or another, the the training is just the different. Yeah. So tell us about that. So if you’re focused on individual pursuit, you’re focused on the track, right? What What does that training look like? What’s your what’s your day to day for, for training, something that’s that kind of intense, and, you know, short?

 

Ashton Lambie  17:00

Well, so I work a lot, I don’t have access to a track, you know, I’ve limited access to a track, like, in court, if I’m living in Colorado Springs, like, you know, we can get access to the tracks, but it’s a little tricky, especially now, when everyone else was getting ready for the Olympics. And I’m like, hey, I want to do this other thing. That’s not me. And they’re like, you know, I personally feel a little bad, like, taking up resources and bandwidth from people that are focused on going to the Olympics, like they should have everything they need. And like all the coaches, all the staffs attention, all the way through Tokyo. Like I want nothing better than nothing more than those guys succeed. And so for me, it looks like gym three days a week, I work with athletic strength Institute and my coach there Chris Bella, Sega, we work together for four years now, since right after my first national championship, so almost five, yeah, four years. He’s awesome. I love working with him, we worked together a long time. So he’s got me into the gym three days a week where there’s a squat day like a anterior chain day, an upper body day, and then a posterior chain day. So like deadlifts.

 

Doug Lotz  18:12

So it’s not just like every day is leg day. For the cyclists. It’s like every day as a different if you actually do like, you know, like everybody else kind of rotate through

 

Ashton Lambie  18:22

Wednesdays, basically, I mean, Wednesday is just upper body days. So I pretty much have to sort of rest days a week where it would be like, usually Sunday’s pull off. And then Wednesday is just upper body day. And then those other two days, I will do like Tuesday, Thursday, do like a double double interval session day, usually on the back, like I’ve got a stationary bike that I can put my track bike on. And that’s nice because it has what’s called earned mode. So I just say like, Okay, my IP power, I need to ride 520 watts. And so the trainer will always give me exact amount of resistance, and I can just pedal wherever however fast I want.

 

Doug Lotz  19:03

So you said there weren’t you feel bad to track time? Or how many tracks are they? I actually haven’t even.

 

Ashton Lambie  19:10

There’s not that many tracks in the US. There’s

 

Doug Lotz  19:12

 I was gonna say I don’t think I’ve ever even seen.

 

Ashton Lambie  19:16

The one in Colorado Springs is covered. It’s a concrete 333 and then the one in LA is also enclose a wooden 250. So LA is the only wooden 250 which is the like international standard for competition. But like the folks that go to the Olympic team that goes to Tokyo, those guys will be on a one to 15.

 

Doug Lotz  19:36

Yeah, so I mean, it’s definitely I mean, well, I lived in England for five years growing up and it was definitely a bigger thing over in Europe, right with all the the it’s definitely a bigger thing. Well, much bigger thing.

 

Ashton Lambie  19:51

Where did you live in the UK?

 

Doug Lotz  19:52

I was in Surrey. So South London Southwest well on Thames and Weybridge was there on time. Yeah grown up like.

 

Ashton Lambie  20:01

I trained him who bought like in Darby. So like, kind of Midlands area. But I love I want to ride out there. super pretty.

 

Doug Lotz  20:09

I’m curious about that team and you know what? So you active with them and you guys doing stuff for.

 

Ashton Lambie  20:15

No, I mean, there was a problem with our international governing body where they created a rule to ban trade teams and later reverse the rule but reversed it to the point like late enough that pretty much all of us sort of, I don’t know, found other stuff to do where it was like, Okay, well, if we can’t raise nation’s cup, like there’s not really much for us to do so like, I’m still in contact with all of them. And like, you know, we all chat every once in a while. But I think for the most part, everyone’s kind of like off doing different things.

 

Doug Lotz  20:44

How does, I’m actually like, I’m trying to figure out how this works with individual athletes, and then teams and then like, you’ve got a national team, you’ve got, you know, like the travel and you guys, you traveled to go train for like, for instance, if you’re working with the national team, do you guys all do stuff together? Do you kind of like train on individually and then come together at different places? I’m kind of curious how that all works out with travel and training together, like what it’s like team dynamic wise.

 

Ashton Lambie  21:11

Yeah, I would say usually is like, we would usually come together for a camp. So it would be like, everyone, like when we were, you know, the men’s GP squad was like working towards Tokyo, it was like, we would come together for a month, and then be on the track maybe once or twice a week. And so was like, okay, we’re all hanging out together, getting track time in. And then maybe we got her for two months. But if it was during competition, like Usually, we will go to the track or go to LA or go to Colorado Springs for like, two weeks before competition. Like, for example, Hong Kong, the one we just did, we went to LA two weeks, and then flew to Hong Kong, for Berlin. World last year, we went to man, I think we went to Poland for two weeks just to kind of get over the jetlag, and get time on a one to 50 we have a couple of staff from Poland. So it’s really easy for us to go to Poland. Yeah.

 

Doug Lotz  22:12

Not really getting track time in the US. Like, you gotta, you gotta, I mean, how important is it, I mean, you know, just sort of sitting there crushing stationary miles versus getting on track and you know, actually feeling the bank of the thing. And you know, the feel of it.

 

Ashton Lambie  22:27

It’s, it’s more important for Team pursuit than it is individual pursuit, I would say we’re like, there’s a lot of emphasis, if you watch team pursuit, it’s sort of like, like those running drills where like, one person from the front goes off to the side, and it goes to the back. And so it’s like, the person in front swings off the track, they ride uphill, they’re going to further distance because they’re out farther. And they’re also going slower, because they ride uphill. And then you swing back down and get back in line neck.

 

Doug Lotz  22:53

Yeah, I imagine there’s a bit of coordination that has to happen there. I don’t know the team. Yeah, the team dynamic.

 

Ashton Lambie  22:59

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

 

Doug Lotz  23:00

It’s tough. If you’re, I mean, I’m assuming it’s tough. If you’re kind of coming together only for a period of time. And you know, you haven’t worked, you know, worked with these guys all year, and then sort of coming together and trying to be cohesive. I did read something that you’re, you know, again, not knowing a heck of a lot about the tactics of it, or, you know, track cycling, but I did read that. How would I describe this? So like, a bit of a maverick style, when it comes to just kind of going and not really focusing on the sort of tactics of like, where you’re writing and that sort of thing, just going, Yeah.

 

Ashton Lambie  23:37

That’s why I never raced MasterCard, you know, like, Yeah, I would say, I do a lot of stuff that’s like fairly non traditional, or it wouldn’t be like, you know, the only the only reason I was good at racing is because, like, I didn’t necessarily like no one could predict my tactics, because like, oftentimes, I didn’t even know what I was going to do next. I was like, I’m just making this up.

 

Doug Lotz  23:57

Well, you know.

 

Ashton Lambie  23:58

And that works. But it doesn’t work. And like.

 

Doug Lotz  24:01

Yeah, I mean, you had a couple, and you had, you know, you have some some scoreboard moments for sure. Like, you know.

 

Ashton Lambie  24:09

But it doesn’t, it doesn’t work. Like if you just rely on physical fitness, and do stupid stuff. Like that doesn’t work on an international level, it might work on a domestic level, and they don’t get you a little bit, but it’s not going to get you like a World Champs medal.

 

Doug Lotz  24:22

I mean, I think, yeah, there’s probably a certain point, I mean, obviously, you built a little differently to be able to do some of this stuff. You know, so there’s probably that, you know, there’s both mentally and physically right, to be able to sort of compete at that level. And then like any sport, I would imagine there’s a certain degree of sort of elite training and you know, thought that goes into it beyond just brute force. Yeah. So I mean, you know, for you did have those those world records in individual pursuit. August 2018, and then September 2019. tell tell us a little bit about that, like, what’s, what’s it feel like to be to know that you literally were the best in the world at this thing? Like, at that moment? You are literally, here the top. Right? How’s that feel?

 

Ashton Lambie  25:13

Um, it was good, man. I mean, the, they were very different. Like, I think the one in 2017 was like, I kind of thought, you know, maybe it could happen. You know, I wasn’t really sure. And then I felt in 2018, there was like, a little bit more of an expectation of the faster track, you’ve already done it. Like, I think I would have been disappointed if it didn’t happen. Know what I mean?

 

Doug Lotz  25:35

Yeah, and targeting any more world records anytime?

 

Ashton Lambie  25:39

I mean, it just depends, like, if there’s an opportunity to make it happen. Yeah, it’s hard because like, especially in event like, individual pursuit is so dependent on conditions. where, like, if you go, and we would call like, the air being really heavy, like I have a little a little thing that tells me you know, how much one cubic meter of air weighs?

 

Doug Lotz  26:05

Wild. I would never even thought of that. And now that I’m thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense. Yeah. So like altitude and stuff like that.

 

Ashton Lambie  26:13

Altitude, changes in temperature, humidity, all factors, then if there’s a storm rolling through, like, it’s a clear sunny day, like all that stuff back then. So I mean, it just depends, like, you know, hopefully, sometime soon, the stars will align, and they’ll work out.

 

Doug Lotz  26:29

Yeah, cuz I’m thinking like indoor sport. I’m like, yeah, yeah. You know, it’s not like, affected by Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it’s crazy. So the opposite end of the spectrum, you know, of all this track stuff.

 

Ashton Lambie  26:43

East Coast, the roads are more like the UK where it’s like, very, you know, you get a lot of like freeway intersections, and like, the roads are really windy and up and down, and everything paved. So out in Nebraska, like the entire eastern half of the state, basically on a one mile by one mile. So like, you can take a road, and it’ll just go straight, like, dead, nor there might be a bridge, there might be like a tiny little job, but it’ll come back to the main road. And you can take that road for like 100 miles a week. And if you want to take a different route back, you go one mile east, and you had 100 miles back south, and it’s a whole different road. Like one of the big quarantine projects I had last year was the county where I lived in, I wanted to ride every single stretch of road, every single stretch of gravel road. And it was like, like 1414 116 miles or something. And I didn’t do them all. I didn’t just do 114 100 mile ride. I would like you know, okay, I’ve got a five hour ride today. I’m gonna go take off three mile in like, way northwest of the county, because I you know, it takes I ended up writing them all from my house. And so it took you know, 30 miles to get the little two mile segment of road in the northwest corner of the county. I mean, that’s pretty much travel isn’t like, Yeah, it is. Got to see a lot of now. pillbox? Yeah, I mean, that’s what gravel is. That’s that’s what gravel is. It’s like riding all the rural. Because like, there’s no road you can get on the rural roads and, and all it’s so much quieter. Like it’s really scenic. It’s Yeah, it’s just nice, man. It’s so nice to just be out there and like, not have to deal with traffic.

 

Doug Lotz  28:34

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that’s the that’s really what’s kept me from road biking in the East Coast is just like you were saying, it’s super windy, super. It’s so dangerous. Like, you know, every time I would just hear about people, you know, out for a Saturday morning ride and getting hit by a car just clipped and you know, end up in a ditch somewhere. It’s, it’s scary. Yeah. So that that’s always been kind of our, our CTO, cardiac cast. He does, you know, outdoor rides and I’m kind of like, you know, I haven’t really got into it but he’s, he’s into it and but he’s in like Connecticut. It’s it’s windy and like, you know, just trees blocking view around, you know, roads and just kind of it’s it’s my opinion, but, and hilly, which, you know, you might like or somebody like that Not too many hills out where you are.

 

Ashton Lambie  29:26

There probably a lot.

 

Doug Lotz  29:28

So yeah, are they very long, like they just go on there, okay.

 

Ashton Lambie  29:32

They’re just like, you know, you’re, you’re the longest climb might be two minutes, but you’re just like, constantly climbing or descending. It’s just like, these little bumpy rollers where you’re just like, you’re losing your momentum every time you go up over a hill and you got to re accelerate and then like, you got to climb again. Yeah, over like 50 miles, you might get four or 5000 feet of climbing, which seems insane. But then you think of like, if I were to go up a climb, they went up for about The you know, out of Colorado Springs, you’re going from 6000 feet up to 10,000 feet. Like that’s a huge climb.

 

Doug Lotz  30:07

Yeah, I can’t even fathom the, you know, like, the when you’re out in the mountains like that’s that’s in the air gets thinner like literally that’s that’s a lot. So, so going kind of back to training stuff for a bit. When you’re training when you’re prepping for events, what’s your food regimen? Like? Yeah, I imagine you’re just absolutely treading calories. Yeah,

 

Ashton Lambie  30:42

Eat around like 3500 calories a day, but not like, I mean, and that’s during.

 

Doug Lotz  30:49

This isn’t ike Michael Phelps territory where they have like the, you know.

 

Ashton Lambie  30:52

I would be during, like, you know, cycling training is periodized. So if I’m doing, you know, to really intense, but shorter rides in a day, that’s where I’d probably be more towards that 35 if I’m doing you know, longer, like, you know, say 20 to 25 hours a week. That’s where I’m going to be more towards that, like, just eat as much food as I can constantly but with the intensity, you know, I think having a good life, I always try to not count but keep track of macros. So like, I just try to shoot for two grams per kilo of body weight in protein every day. That’s one that I’ve come to with working with light experience Institute, and that seems to go really well for me. And then I’ll I’ll change my carbohydrate. What’s my main protein source?

 

Doug Lotz  31:44

Yeah, your favorite? Or your man? I don’t know.

 

Ashton Lambie  31:47

Hey, I love steak. And yeah, all right.

 

Doug Lotz  31:50

Yeah. out there that there’s some good steak. Fresh beef.

 

Ashton Lambie  31:55

We’ve got a company here that like, right up the street called certified Piedmontese that does like, Oh my god, it’s the best steak I’ve ever had. So good. Yeah, I will adjust my carb intake based on activity level. So like, I try to keep protein pretty constant. But then like, if it’s a huge ride, you know, I’ll be like, Oh, yeah, let’s get some extra rice or bread or potatoes or whatever. But a little bit shorter duration, higher intensity. I’m going to keep the protein the same, but maybe just not eat quite so many carbs. today.

 

Doug Lotz  32:28

Other random stuff I mean, you know you don’t you don’t get the title of you know, most interesting bike racer in America without you know, a few things going on. For those you know, you guys can’t necessarily if you’re listening to podcast, see but Ashley’s got his signature handlebar mustache going pretty good here. Which is a different different look. I you know, I’ve been doing the facial hair thing pretty strong.

 

Ashton Lambie  33:20

You got a good looking beard too, man. Yeah.

 

Doug Lotz  33:22

We’re getting we’re getting there. I don’t know. I might need a little trim. But yeah, that’s that’s definitely a look. just filling people in, you know, giving them the, the, the vibe, which is which I have to say for a. It’s definitely a fun vibe for a pro athlete in my opinion. Like, cardio cast is all about pairing music with coaching. It’s a big thing for us. And music is a huge part of what we do. And I hear that music is a big part of your life as well. So if I’m not mistaken, you started out playing music, you know, doing music stuff growing up. And that’s an interesting transition. I feel like playing music has a lot of discipline involved as being a an athlete. So I’m curious if there any parallels there?

 

Ashton Lambie  34:20

No, I think just like yeah, finding a big goal. And then like, pretty common thing with me. In cycling, you know, like big hours. I mean, you can spend eight hours in a practice and but you can’t spend eight hours on a bike so probably fewer hours. But yeah, I would still say music is a huge, huge, like, passion hobby for me. Like I listen to music all the time. I love finding new music. I don’t play as much anymore. But you know, it’s still something I I enjoy pretty regularly.

 

Doug Lotz  34:50

What’s your, what’s your your go to work at music?

 

Ashton Lambie  34:54

Well, it’s funny. I actually have a couple playlists that are set up So senses, like, you have a six year and you get to choose the size, the goal is like a specific cadence. And so I usually try to listen during my warm up, I’ll listen to a playlist that has that specific cadence of what I need to hit during the race. Then like, when I go up on the start line, you know, I’m jamming. Come on Eileen, or black eyed peas in my head. Yeah, I’ve got a 110 beats per minute playlist and a 120 beats per minute playlist. And most of my, most of the time, if I do a race, my cadence is gonna be somewhere around there.

 

Doug Lotz  35:37

Yeah, so we, that’s actually like, you know, when we’re doing, I mean, it’s obvious in the spectrum in terms of intensity, but you know, a, or at least, you know, competition wise, but for our indoor cycling, for all of it, a lot of our workouts on cardio cast, you know, we we build the playlists based on BPM, and you know, cadence on the bike, and, yeah, it really helps lock you in, I feel like I mean, for me, that was a big part of starting this company was, I was looking for something, you know, that I could get the right sort of, you know, the music is always kind of pushed me to work out and, or during the workout. And, you know, the best indoor cycling classes to me were ones that had really been, you know, well matched with music. And we were fortunate to get connected with a couple coaches who have this sort of beats ride kind of concept, you know, that we we built together with them on the app. And, you know, it really makes a difference. Like, that’s one of the biggest things is like, when you’re locked in with your, with your music and your movement. At the same time, there’s just this magical connection, I feel like that just, you know, at least for me, tells you forward locks you in.

 

Ashton Lambie  36:46

Yeah, you need to do it when I’m on the app. But I can’t necessarily do it on the track. So for me, it’s a good thing to practice. But yeah, I 100% agree, it works for running too.

 

Doug Lotz  36:58

I mean, it’s everybody’s got a little bit of a different cadence. So we can’t really do it as easily for the running portion of our app. But like, I’ve, you know, I’ve created I’ve done the same thing, like making workout playlists, where I’ll just try to, you know, hit a certain cadence, especially for running for me and like, try to hit a certain BPM. And I think the sometimes the tricky part can be, well, it sounds like genre wise, you’re a little bit all over the place, in terms of what you like, listen to you. More More about the VPN genre.

 

Ashton Lambie  37:31

yeah, you can go check out the playlist, but it’s like, I mean, there’s some classical, there’s like fountains of way, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson. I mean, dude, yeah, like, just Well, the goal for the playlist is to have it be catchy, you know, like, yeah, you can find them both on Spotify, you can find 110 and 120. Both on Spotify. Oh, those Yeah.

 

Doug Lotz  37:55

Yeah. Okay, yeah. Got it. Like the action, the one.

 

Ashton Lambie  37:58

I also, I also have one called bicycling mag that I made for Bicycling magazine that I actually, like, keep updated pretty regularly. It’s just like, you know, songs I’m super into right now. Yeah, right. Like, lately, it’s been a lot of like, South American stuff. I listen to a lot of Baroque music. Like a lot of old time, like, old time country. What that’s probably about that’s kind of what I’m into right now.

 

Doug Lotz  38:25

Yeah, I feel like my genre preferences change with the times and my mood and where I am and like, you know, even the scenery.

 

Ashton Lambie  38:33

That’s good. keep it fresh, man. Don’t get stuck in the same stuff.

 

Doug Lotz  38:37

Yeah. Well, I’m, I’m, it’s funny, because it’s, like, you know, I’ve got this this workout app where we’re doing a lot of like, you know, we’ll have rock we’ll have pop, we’ll have EDM and hip hop, right? And then sometimes I’ll go out for a run. I’m like, Alright, one thing I know we don’t have is just like, you know, classical. And it’s like, or even like, this is the nerdiest thing ever. But like you like video game soundtrack music, which is kind of sometimes kind of intense.

 

Ashton Lambie  39:04

Lame. I just, I was listening to the doom Soundtrack The other day. And I was like, Oh my god, this is so heavy in sewing. Right?

 

Doug Lotz  39:15

Yeah, no, it’s like there’s nothing like kind of like, you know, running or biking, whatever, in the head of this great Vista. And just like this, like, you know, this, you know, this intense soundtrack behind you know, it’s it feels kind of epic.

 

Ashton Lambie  39:28

Yeah. Awesome. I agree. 100% kind of a big part two, so I get into a lot of video game soundtracks?

 

Doug Lotz  39:34

Well, I mean, they were written to convey that emotion, right. The sense of adventure though, like the intensity and, and it makes sense. You know, you’re doing something physical, you know, out in the world. And it’s like, you know, that whole emotional like connection you have to that experience is just amplified. I feel like by the right soundtrack.

 

Ashton Lambie  39:53

Yeah, I agree. That’s all you need, man.

 

Doug Lotz  39:56

So what’s, what’s next for you? What do you Yeah, you know, I guess you’re you’re moving. So you know, you’re getting closer to the track to, you know, training opportunities. And what are you targeting? What do you What’s your What’s your plan?

 

Ashton Lambie  40:12

Well, it’s a long ways off. But I mean, the World Championship just got announced the day that they’re moving to Glasgow. So that’s in October. I mean, it’s weird because track like, you really have to enjoy the process, because you race. So little, like, we still have that many races. I mean, if you race six times in a year, that’s a big year. And so it’s really just like, I’m just planning to go to that right. And try to win a World Championship like that’s.

 

Doug Lotz  40:41

Like, that’s a lot of pressure for that one. It’s just like.

 

Ashton Lambie  40:46

It totally is man. Like, you look up and you’re like, I’ve bet three, six months, getting ready for this four minute ride. Like, I flew to Hong Kong to ride for six minutes. And I’ve spent the last six months getting ready for that.

 

Doug Lotz  40:59

That’s so that’s really intense. That’s like six minutes of just like.

 

Ashton Lambie  41:05

Very, very, very focused. Energy.

 

Doug Lotz  41:08

Yeah, yeah. Wow. All right. So that’s the Glasgow All right.

 

Ashton Lambie  41:14

Oh, in October.

 

Doug Lotz  41:15

Yeah. And then training until then. Got it. In Colorado, and hopefully, you know, enjoying a little bit of post pandemic or, you know, transition a little bit here. I know it’s starting to, you know, things are, I think by the time this is airing, hopefully, things will be pretty, pretty opened up in most places. So at least in the US, which.

 

Ashton Lambie  41:41

Yeah, we can help man, that’d be nice. Yeah.

 

Doug Lotz  41:43

Yeah. I mean, we’re really looking forward and cardio casts people being able to get back to the gym. You know, that whole gym culture, like just being able to go out and like, you know, yeah, we have all these different workouts and stuff. And you can use treadmills is the buy in, you know, so elliptical, like, just people don’t have.

 

Ashton Lambie  42:04

It’s hard to be on the elliptical. Oh my gosh, I’d be so disappointed.

 

Doug Lotz  42:09

So it’s like, you know, somebody only ever has like, generally like one piece of equipment at home if they have anything so and you know, our experience is very much designed to be able to like be portable and take with you and like, you know, experience on the go at the gym. So very much looking forward to that. And everybody getting back to it. And, you know, maybe recovering some of that form. They had pre pre COVID quarantine. Start, everybody was trying to ride every mile of state on gravel. Yeah, so where I think you have your own website and maybe Instagram where can people follow you? Where can they follow your pursuits? No pun intended.

 

Ashton Lambie  42:51

Would definitely be best on Instagram. Like I keep that updated. Probably the most websites there but it’s pretty I don’t update it very often.

 

Doug Lotz  43:00

Yeah, got it. Alright, so Instagram, it is what’s your what’s your handle on Instagram?

 

Ashton Lambie  43:05

At Bahama long bottom.

 

Doug Lotz  43:06

Alright, is there a story there is?

 

Ashton Lambie  43:09

Yeah, I knew you’re gonna ask that. When I started working bike shops for a long time, even before I was racing, and the I worked at a bike shop called sunflower outdoor and bike in Lawrence, Kansas. And it was like my first week there. And we we had to ride, like, rode stuff on paper. And so it’s like you did something and you wanted to make sure like someone else knew to ask you about it, you’d write like, your date, the date and your initials. So I’d write you know, 12 2017 al. And they’d be like, oh, like oh asked him like, what, what’s the dude’s last name. And one of my good buddies who I worked with there was like, Ah, it’s probably so stupid, like long bottom. And so that is that. And then it was like, at the long bottom, like Ashton long bottom for a while. And then I also wear Hawaiian shirts a lot. And like, you know, the shop didn’t have air conditioning. So I just wear Hawaiian shirts all summer. And so then it was quickly became Bahama long. And so that’s that.

 

Doug Lotz  44:14

Little known fact about me. I also wear Hawaiian shirts quite frequently in the summer.

 

Ashton Lambie  44:18

Oh, yeah, man, that’s awesome. Always.

 

Doug Lotz  44:20

That is that’s Yeah, it’s one of those things. It’s like, you know, probably in the corporate setting, or like in work setting. Well, actually, that might change. You know, I’m like kind of doing the doing a little bit of the digital nomad, and we’re based out of Florida, so I spent a lot of time down there and you know, can get my Hawaiian shirt game going again.

 

Ashton Lambie  44:42

There you go live somewhere where that? Definitely,

 

Doug Lotz  44:45

Yeah, I think that’s about it for today’s show. Ashton, thank you so much again for joining us. It’s great chatting with you.

 

Ashton Lambie  44:53

Yeah, you too, man. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

 

Doug Lotz  44:55

Yeah, for sure. And thank you everybody out there listening. You know, remember to follow us CardioCast on Instagram @cardiocastapp. You can also subscribe to this podcast. Give it a like give it a review on whatever platform you enjoy podcasts on. We always appreciate that. So yeah, that that about does it. Take care and have a great week everyone.  Hey everyone, if you like the CardioCast CoolDown, please don’t forget to leave us a review wherever you’re listening. You can also connect with us on Instagram at CardioCast App, and check out our website, CardioCast.app and check out our app on the App Store or Play Store. See you next week.