The American Cycling Report

American Cycling Report: Luke Elphingstone, Elite National Criterium ChampionPresented by rowerM8.com
Luke Elphingstone grew up racing in Boulder, and this summer he became the best criterium racer in the country. In June, riding for Project Echelon Racing, he won the Elite Men’s Criterium National Championship in Charleston, West Virginia, in his first attempt at the elite title.
Dave and Luke start with Boulder Junior Cycling, the program where Luke learned to race. They talk about the coaches, the group rides, and the culture that has made Boulder such a strong place to develop young riders.
From there, Luke explains why collegiate cycling was a great fit for him. He was able to keep his education on track while racing a full calendar with a team behind him, and the college scene gave him room to grow as a sprinter and a racer.
The conversation finishes with the path to the stars-and-stripes jersey. Luke stepped up from a U23 podium the year before to the elite title, and he talks about the breakaway, the work his Project Echelon teammates did, and what it took to win the final sprint.
This is a story about how a grassroots junior program and the collegiate pathway can produce a national champion.
Watch Luke win the 2026 Elite Men’s Criterium National Championship: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZlHaYgBjAXM

When the Philadelphia Cycling Classic returned to the streets on August 30 after a ten-year break, the home crowd had one of their own to cheer for. Kim Stoveld, a Brewerytown resident, a registered nurse, and a rider for Automatic Racing, lined up against a WorldTour-level women's field and then went up the road in an early breakaway, leading the race on her home roads.
Kim's path to that start line was anything but typical. She was a college swimmer at the University at Buffalo, didn't take up competitive cycling until the pandemic, and won four of her first six road races in 2021. By 2022 she'd earned a spot on Automatic Racing alongside former Olympians and pros, and she still rides to work before a full nursing shift. She was a fan on the barriers at Philly from 2013 to 2016, and when the Classic's comeback was announced, she reached out to race director Robin Morton and helped earn her team an invite.
Dave and Kim talk about:
Going from swimmer to bike racer in her 30s
Balancing a nursing career with elite-level training
Making her Tuesday night group ride climb the Manayunk Wall over and over
What it felt like at the front of the race in front of a Philly crowd
The growth of women's racing in Philadelphia and beyond, and her message to the next generation
Watch the full 2026 Philadelphia Cycling Classic women's race (6abc):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoEUsIeo52I

Episode Show Notes: Luke Fetzer
Guest: Luke Fetzer — former U.S. U23 Criterium National Champion, riding for Cadence Cyclery p/b Waldo
Luke Fetzer joins the show as one of the clearest signs of where American criterium racing is headed. A former U23 national champion, Fetzer races for the powerhouse Cadence Cyclery p/b Waldo squad and has already put together a résumé that marks him as a rider on the way up fast. Dave talks with Luke about racing at the front of the field, what's next for him, and why he's one to watch as the future of the sport.
Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by KÜHL.

Danny Summerhill — The American Cycling Report
There are riders who come into cycling with a plan.
And then there are riders who simply keep showing up… keep racing… keep pedaling… and somehow, after more than two decades, find themselves still standing at the front of the pack.
Our guest today has been there.
From the muddy fields of American cyclocross to a silver medal at the Junior World Championships… from the brutal cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to some of the biggest, wildest, and most unforgettable races American cycling has ever produced.
He’s raced through eras.
He’s raced for big teams. He’s raced against some of the biggest names in the sport. He’s seen American cycling change, contract, rebuild, and come roaring back.
And somewhere along the way, Danny Summerhill figured out something pretty important:
He really, really likes racing his bike.
Now, in a sport that is increasingly young and increasingly fast, Summerhill isn’t looking backward.
He’s still at the front.
Still fighting for wins.
Still mixing it up with the best criterium racers in the country—and still finding new ways to make a living, make a mark, and make people remember his name.
In 2023, he won the American Criterium Cup overall. In 2024, he was the ACC’s top American. And now, with Team Cadence Cyclery, he’s back in the heart of American crit racing, chasing another chapter in a career that refuses to slow down.
But this conversation isn't just about results.
It’s about the road that got him here.
The races.
The teammates.
The characters.
The close calls.
The victories.
The disappointments.
And what it feels like to have spent your life chasing that little bit of speed around a four-corner course.
Because Danny Summerhill isn't just a veteran of American cycling.
He is a piece of its history who is still writing the next chapter.
Danny Summerhill—welcome to The American Cycling Report.

A national title and a new team — Preston Eye's season just leveled up, and on this episode of American Cycling Report, he tells the story behind both.
Dave Towle sits down with Eye fresh off a national championship win, a result that cements him as one of the sharpest talents coming up in the domestic scene. On top of that, Preston has landed a new home  with the Clif Family Drifters, joining one of the most respected programs in American racing.
They dig into what it took to get to the top of the podium, how the move to the Drifters came together, and what Preston's aiming for as he steps into this next chapter of his career.
This episode is brought to you by KÜHL — Born in the Mountains.
Preston Eye's rise is just getting started — don't miss this one.

On today's show, I'm joined by Eric Brunner — one of the best off-road racers in the country and a three-time US elite cyclocross national champion. Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, Eric capped his 2025 season with a solo win in Fayetteville to take his third national title, after podiuming in 11 of 12 US cross races with seven wins along the way. He's also a four-time Pan-American champion, and for 2026 he's turning his focus back to the road with Project Echelon Racing, where he'll line up as one of the team's leaders both here and internationally. It's a great conversation.
And a big thank you to our friends at KÜHL for supporting today's episode. KÜHL — Born in the Mountains. We appreciate everything they do to keep this show rolling.

American Cycling Report — Patrick Lemieux
Stars, Stripes, and Saddles: Patrick Lemieux on Winning, Wove, and the Long American Crit
Episode Description
Dave Towle sits down with one of the most fascinating figures in American endurance sport. Patrick Lemieux just pulled on a stars-and-stripes jersey at Masters Road Nationals in Milwaukee — and that might be the fourth or fifth most interesting thing about him.
Patrick is a former pro who's building Wove in Boulder, Colorado — handmade North American carbon saddles designed with direct input from the women's pro peloton. He races for Rollers Racing. And as a promoter, his Solstice 100 is a throwback to the era when American crits were long, hard, and legendary.
Racer, entrepreneur, promoter — and now national champion. There's nobody in this sport quite like him.
In This Episode
The finish in Milwaukee: how Patrick won his masters national title, and what's different about his engine (and his head) this time around
Racing with Rollers, and the masters peloton vs. the old pro ranks
Why the saddle? Building Wove, designing for women's bodies from day one, and betting on handmade carbon in North America
The Solstice 100: bringing back the long American crit
What American bike racing needs right now — and which jersey fits Patrick best
Links
Wove Saddles: https://wove.bike
Follow Patrick on Instagram: @patricklemieux
Thanks to Our Sponsor
This episode is supported by KÜHL — born in the mountains, built for the way you actually live. Gear up at https://kuhl.com
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I'm Dave Towle. Thanks for listening — we'll see you at the races.

Michael Garrison came up the classic way — Decatur, Georgia junior, worlds trips to Europe, LUX, then four seasons with Hagens Berman Axeon, where he won the U23 time trial national championship. But instead of chasing the traditional European road dream, he bet on himself, launching an independent program and building one of the most diverse race calendars in the sport: gravel wins, Speed Week podiums, crits, mountain bikes — all of it.
Now, for 2026, he's joined forces with Cole Davis on SpeedStudio p/b Basso, with a schedule that runs from Tulsa Tough to The Traka in Spain to Big Sugar.
Dave Towle sits down with the younger brother of former WorldTour pro Ian Garrison to talk about the development pipeline, life as a privateer, why he refuses to pick a lane, and what pro cycling can look like when you write your own rules.
Presented by KÜHL — born in the mountains. KUHL.com
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Our guest today is one of the most experienced voices in American cycling — Brad Sohner. Brad got his start in this sport at 14 years old, traveling the country helping set up race venues long before he ever got near a microphone. He fell in love with the sport from the inside out, and eventually that passion found its way to the PA system — and it never left.
Today Brad is the voice of more than 200 events across multiple countries, covering the full spectrum of American racing: from grassroots criteriums to marquee events like the Amgen Tour of California, the Tour of China, and USA Cycling's Cyclocross National Championships. He's also a TV producer based in Pittsburgh, which means he understands not just how to call a race, but how to tell the story of one — on air, on broadcast, and for an audience that may be watching cycling for the very first time.
Brad is one of the people in this sport who's been there when it was big, watched things contract, and kept showing up anyway. That perspective on where American cycling has been — and where it needs to go — is exactly why I wanted him on the show.
Brad Sohner, welcome to American Cycling Report.

Cade Bickmore has put together a solid career on the American cycling scene — from his junior days through the domestic criterium circuit and now with his sights set on making the U.S. Olympic team pursuit squad. On this episode of American Cycling Report, Dave Towle sits down with Bickmore to talk through that journey, including his comeback from a concussion that sidelined him earlier this season.
A two-time criterium winner at Tour of the Gila and a Sunny King champion, Cade knows what it takes to win on U.S. roads. He also has a unique vantage point on how the sport has evolved — what the criterium scene looks like now compared to when he was coming up, and how the demands on riders have shifted along the way.
It's an honest conversation about resilience, the realities of racing at the highest level of American cycling, and what it takes to chase an Olympic dream on the track.