Episode 15: BONUS Crossover with On The Outside podcast, Cycling World Champs episode
This bonus episode is a crossover with On The Outside, a podcast sharing diverse views on outdoor news in the UK. Specifically, this episode discusses the Cycling World Championships which took place in Scotland in August 2023, looking at a range of subjects about the event, its impact, accessibility, and what it was actually like to be there with some of the world’s best cycling athletes riding on ground familiar to a lot of UK-based cyclists.
This was the first large-scale Cycling World Championships event that the UCI - the global governing body for cycling - had held, with events happening across the country from Fort William to Stirling to the main venues in Glasgow. Nearly every discipline of cycling was present, from artistic cycling to cross-country mountain biking; normally, each discipline or related groups of disciplines would have their own world champs at different venues and points in the year. So essentially this was the Olympics of the cycling world.
Spindrift Podcast host Aoife took part in this discussion, as she’d be an in-venue emcee for the cross-country mountain bike events in Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders.
The other guests included Neil Russell, founder of ARC - the Adaptive Riders Collective CIC - and Disability Access Consultant, and endurance athlete, author and adventurer Vedangi Kulkarni.
On The Outside is produced, edited and presented - this episode included - by Francesca Turauskis, an excellent host and award-winning podcaster.
In this episode, we discuss access and inclusion at the World Champs, the visa issues that some athletes travelling from overseas faced, the atmosphere in the various venues and what it felt like to be at (or part of) this big event, how the local communities came together, and what it would be great to see changed, updated or improved for the next one.
On The Outside is part of the Tremula Network which has a selection of absolutely brilliant podcasts which, if you like outdoors, adventure and generally exploring the world around you, we’d highly recommend you check out. It also runs the Outdoors Podcast Club, which Spindrift is a member of, and if you’re an outdoors-focussed podcaster looking for advice, community and support, it’s definitely worth becoming part of.
On The Outside podcast:
Neil Russell and ARC :
Vedangi Kulkarni :