Wear the Boots | Alison Tetrick | The Sean Trace Show

I don't have many conversations that stop me in my tracks, but this one with Allie Tetrick did exactly that. Allie is a three-time world champion professional cyclist, a biochemist, and a born-and-raised California cowgirl who found her way into competitive cycling almost by accident - buying a bike to surprise her grandfather and never really looking back.

But this episode isn't about trophies. Allie opened up about being life-flighted off a course, surviving a traumatic brain injury, and making the mistake so many high performers make:  coming back too fast, for all the wrong reasons. What pulled her out wasn't another race. She was finally deciding to do it for herself and no one else.

We got into the difference between results and effort, why hustle culture glorification does more harm than good, and what it really takes to build community for women in sport. As a dad raising a daughter, that last part hit me especially hard. Her advice to her younger self? Wear the boots. Own your truth. Stop shrinking to fit a mold that was never made for you.

What's one thing you've been shrinking about yourself to fit in, and what would change if you just decided to own it?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I I shamefully didn't realize how much people needed to see people like me show up and then give them space to join me. Because I was like, that's what we were talking about earlier, like on the um progress and purpose. Where when I came off of the world tour and I was like, okay, I'm gonna pace a bunch of uh, you know, I'll pace women to do this 100-mile race at Unbound. And women just show up. I mean, Sean, it gives me the chills and it still makes me want to cry because I did not realize how many women needed somebody just to say, hey, ride with me. I will guide you through this scary event, and I am here for you. And so I think it's about people showing up and and then you see it, and then you have somebody, and I can be very bossy if you didn't notice. But like, I I mean, I mean, but and I, you know, and I'm uh I can be there for them, but they'll show up. And so I think it's about having like if you see it, you can be it. Like, so like your daughter, like if she wants to watch Rhonda Rousey, or you know, I that's not like that's judo, but and now UFC, but like, you know, she wants to watch somebody. Like, I mean, I'm a huge fan of Rhonda Rousey, so I read her book. I think it's about seeing people that going like, oh, I can do that. Oh, I can do that. And then it's like then for me to say, hey, just ride with me, and I can have 150 women in a sold-out event come and just ride with me. And then they feel safe because they're with me. So I think it's about creating that community, is that you see it, there's no judgment. And I'm not like against like shunning out men. I think like everybody can be there, just you know, make it a safe place where people could just come and and feel welcome.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Welcome everybody back to the Sean Trace Show. I have an awesome guest with me today. Uh, who can you tell people who you are and what you do?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Um, hello, Sean. It's great to be here. Is it's taken us a few months. You're very popular. Um, I know. Um, I'm Allie Tedrick. I'm a professional cyclist, also um a cowgirl biochemist. Um, been through a lot, but I've been racing my bike at the highest levels around the world for the last 15 years. And I'm born and raised here in California, and I'm in it for the long haul.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

I could I could go longer, but you know, it's awesome, but you got a lot going on, but how did you get started down that path? I mean, it's such a cool path, you know? How did you get going?

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Um, it's a crazy story. Um, like I said, I was born and raised here in California. Um, my parents still have the cattle ranch, so total cowgirl at heart. I played tennis in college. My dad actually now instead of horses rounds up the cows on a mountain bike. It's very funny. Wow. It's so cool. It's so cool. Um so I didn't really grow up playing traditional sports, but um kind of grew up a little free range, you know, like just a little wild and free out there. And um my parents were just wanting this life where, you know, they're high school sweethearts and they wanted this life out in the in the in a ranch. My dad played football at UCLA, and and so we just had this. I grew up on a ranch, so um didn't play a lot of organized sports, but when I finally had to go to the big city, you know, a small town of 6,000 people to um uh go to high school, I played tennis. I ended up playing tennis in college on a full ride scholarship, so I played NCAA tennis and um I studied biochemistry, then I worked in chemistry research and drug discovery. And my dad's father actually loved racing his bike, and that's an interesting story. He was um a Korean War vet, so he he didn't have much of a childhood, right? You know, he was drafted early, never went to college, he worked really hard. He was, you know, a successful contractor. And he loved racing his bike, and I thought that was the dorkiest thing I'd ever heard, you know? Like he's like, Al, you should try racing your bike. I'm like, I'm a tennis player, you know, and the neon clothing. I mean, it's you know, you're wearing a diaper on your rear end. Like, it is not attractive. Um, so after graduating, I get some injuries and I think, well, I'm gonna buy a bike and surprise my grandpa. And so I buy a bike and I drive to Colorado where he's living, and I kind of the rest is history. I sign up for some bike races, and next thing I know, I'm on the national team racing in Europe, and then here I am.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

That's rad. Yeah, it's rad too because like sometimes life is not this straight line. Like, we get all these wild detours, and you know, it it's about finding your way amongst that, and not just finding your way, but thriving, like truly thriving in and amongst the detours, you know? And I I I wanted to ask you because you've got this interesting background of both science and sport. Um, you live in both of these interesting worlds. What has each taught you about handling challenges, failure, and success?

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Well, I think like in science, it's so it's data driven. And so and sport can be data driven as well, right? Like you can get a spreadsheet, you can do your titrations and have your whole scientific method in sport and in science. But then there's also some things you can't predict, both in sport and science. So it teaches you also have to, you can control your controllables, you have to be ready to to um, you know, have your whole game plan, you have to have your your testing, your whole process, everything prepared for you. But just like life, like it doesn't always happen the way you plan.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

Like this morning with us starting this podcast, everything went wrong, man.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Exactly. And so you have to kind of let it go in a way and say, okay, there is still a plan, there's still a process. There are some very clear pillars that we believe in in this world, but there's also some things that you have to pivot for and adapt to. And that's very difficult for us, especially if you're a type A like achiever that wants, you know, you want these like gold stars and you want like, is this right or wrong? And sometimes it's vague. And so what I think it taught me is I think that's why I particularly, Sean, like endurance sports, because like I said, I play tennis in college, and tennis is a skill sport. And skill is is you need skill. Now, I'm not saying you don't need skill in endurance sports, but endurance sports is like a direct like correlation to like usually the more you run, the better you get. Okay, you need to rest, not get, you know, you take care of your body, fuel, stress fractures. But like you don't need to know how to hit a tennis ball perfectly or a perfect putt, right? You just need to like pedal harder, run faster, right? Like you're kind of like dumbstrong in a way. Like you just go harder. So I liked that because I could turn my brain off in some ways. But I think what I learned is that there's there is a science to both. But sometimes, like one of my biggest research projects, including myself in sport, is there like things that can surprise you that you can't explain. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Right? Those those things that just pop up, you know? And it's I love the the my favorite thing is like what you talked about, and that is the controlling the controllables. Um we with one of my clients, we have this weird thing going on where my team exports a video, we give it to my client, they go to post it, and it's the wrong resolution. We're checking on our side and we've exported things correctly. Like I am 100% sure because I it doesn't allow us to go any higher on this one software. And then we hand it to them, and then they're like, they're doing everything correctly. But somewhere between here and here, there is this some software's going, hey, let's make this video bigger. And we don't know where. No one knows where they're doing. And then I've been so frustrated by this, but then I sat there and I was like, well, I don't have the ability to control the whole thing. But what I can do is after we're done, I can make my team go back in, right-click on each video and make sure that it's right. Like that's something we can do. And whatever you're doing, like you're not feeling so great today. Well, you can try drinking more water, you can get a massage, you can, you know, get some rest, whatever it is that's gonna help you get some exercise, get there, but you can't control everything. And I think as people start looking at that and realizing that and working through that, it helps them a lot more because if you try to control everything, you're gonna go nuts.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

I think though, this is where there's a very interesting, and I'm sure this happens to your clients and to your colleagues, but there's a very interesting dichotomy between results and like effort, right? Did you do like, and I think this like goes into sport too. Like, did you win? Like you get that a lot. Did you win? You're like, no, because you can only win so many times in sport and in life, right? Like, I mean, you can win like 80% or in life. In sport, it's like black or white. Did you win?

unknown 9:28

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

And but and I think like people get upset that they didn't win because that's such an easy thing to say. Like, I did not succeed. And so you get very upset about that. But and so that's your result, but your effort, did you do as as did you do your best effort? Did you work as hard as you could? Did you can control those controllables? Did you do everything you could to get that file out, to please your client, to make your wife happy, to like do everything that you needed to do? And that's when I have to ask people like, are you upset about your result that you didn't win? Or are you upset about your effort? Now, if you're upset about your effort, you can change that. If you're upset about your result, somebody's just better than you that day. Not now, hopefully, yeah, hopefully if it's your wife. There's not somebody better than you.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

But I never thought about that. You, you know, because the results are like honestly outside your control, but you can control what you put in. You can control the effort and you can control the the flow, you know, to a degree. You can control your your planning, but you can't control how the enactment of that planning goes. You know, maybe I'm gonna plan to to ride this way and do this. Um, but then you get a flat tire and you sit there and you have to you respond to that, you know. I've been trying to get back into cardio. One of my goals is I really would like to. I used to do long distance running, loved it. I want to get into triathlons. Like, that is something that I am and would love to get. Yeah, we're not there yet, though, but I've been looking at that and I've getting the things in place. And one of the hard things that living in Southeast Asia, buying a bicycle. Now, why that seems like super easy. I'm six foot one. Finding a bike my size in Vietnam is challenging. Like, and so like I can't control everything, but I can sit there and I finally track down a large uh trek and I'm gonna be like, okay, this is I'm good. I found it. Now that was what I could control. I couldn't control everything else, but I got the bike. And next step is getting out my front door, you know, and those are the steps that you can control because if you try to control everything at the same time, it's really hard.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

No, then you just never get out your front door. That's the problem. And you get paralyzed with too many things, and then you then you never do it. So I do like this wisdom though. There is results and effort, it's way different. And that can go into your clients. Like your deck might be perfect, your pitch might you did the best you could and they don't like it.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

That's it.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

That's it. It's okay.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

And then you sit there and you figure out the next thing you can do. But like, I want to ask you this because it plays into that. Like, you've had success at a high level, but what's a a moment that really tested who you are as a person?

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Oh my gosh, every day of my life.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

Oh as I read that question, I think that I'm like, I'm sitting there going, I I know what I would answer. I'd be like, dude, waking up every moment. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

I think I mean there's so like there's so many pivot points in life. I mean, but there's like some that really strike me. And I think, I mean, a few, a few come to mind that are very poignant, and they're the ones that you have to like that's where you have to separate yourself from the emotion, the expectations, the pressure that you're putting on yourself. Possibly other people are putting on yourself. I'm sure they are, but I think we put the most pressure on ourselves. Like you think it's your parents, society, your coaches, your boss, your family, whatever, but really it's us, right? Because we want to succeed for us and for others. Um and I think this moment was after I had some very bad crashes. So I, you know, I've been lifelighted out. I've had a traumatic brain injury, I've broken my pelvis, I've I've had some really bad injuries where I had to come back and kind of realize that my identity wasn't just about sport or wasn't just about my results, or it wasn't just about like what was being portrayed in the media or what I was even telling people. I had to like come to what I was, who I was, and why I wanted to do this. And so there's a few key moments where I think it's where I wanted to do something, and it sounds selfish, but it's like where I wanted to do it for myself. Not to prove anything to anybody else, but I was just like, you know, Alison, I think you can try this. Like, I think you can do this. Like you can come back for you because you come back like after this horrific accident, and you can come back on your terms for you. Yeah. And I think that that's really important. So after this broken pelvis and traumatic brain injury, life flighted out. I came back. Everyone's like, wow, you're so impressive. You know, she's the next big thing again, you know, because I was the big thing and I'm the big thing again because I'm coming back and faster, but I wasn't happy and I wasn't healthy. I crashed again at the Pan American games. I'm still not great. Like, I mean, I'm still and so then I'm still like just I was super dark and depressed, and you know, I'm on antidepressants. I'm going to neuropsychologist, I'm trying to figure out what's going on in my brain. And then so it's like, I think the pivotal, one of the biggest points in my career early was coming back where he's not going to let me ride my bike until I can figure out why I want to put my life at risk, to put my brain at risk, to like get back into this space. And it couldn't be about anything else except me. And when I said, like, this swear word bike owes me something, and I just want to do this for me, he was like, Yes, now let's work on that. Versus like, I want to go to the Olympics. I want to do that, you know, it was everything was about somebody else. And when it became about me, and that I was a daughter, you know, a sister, a friend, and a biochemist and a cyclist, and I want to do this for me. Like, I was more than just a cyclist. And I think that that was a big pivot point that maybe doesn't make me the skinniest, the most nun, you know, living in a convent type of a cyclist where I'm gonna like do everything perfect, but I'm going to do it for me and I'm gonna do it my way and on my terms. And I think then then that's where my career pivoted, where people go what changed. And I'm like, F it, because I do it my way now. And I do what I want to do.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

I love it. You have to find that. You have to find, you know, find your why. And you know, it it it what is it that is driving you, you know? And um if you don't have your why, I I wake up at 5 a.m. to do podcasts. I stay up till 1 a.m. Do my podcast outside of the normal hours that I run my business, outside of the hours that I spend time with my daughter. And I when I do my podcast, I keep a picture of my family in the background. You know, I try to make this world a better place for my kiddo by having conversations, by learning from people that are amazing people, by putting out there this message of positivity. Because I think we have so much negativity in the world right now. And, you know, if we can have more people that are figuring out their why, because you know what? I've traveled around the world, and everywhere I go, people all want to be happy, people want to be loved, people want positive experiences, and it's just in our heads that we have this idea of separation, you know. But the reality is, is everyone wants kind of the same thing. And if we can figure out how we can all have that, it's a lot of good, you know. But I want to play in because it plays exactly into this next question. You talk a lot about purpose and progress. How do you personally define a meaningful life right now?

SPEAKER_00 17:44

I think that I mean, purpose and progress is hand in hand to me. Um there was a point in my career where I'm racing at the highest levels in the world, right? Like it's like what if I mean cycling's a very niche sport, so I mean, and especially women's cycling, but we're doing very, we're we're doing very well right now. Um, but you know, it's it's a it's a small sport, right? And um and and you're risking your life and limb, and you love it, you're doing it for the passion. Sure, I get paid to do it, and it's amazing. And but I'm doing it for the passion. And then at one point I was like possibly like a little bored or like a little just like, you know, and that's where I was back to my own terms, you know. I was like, I don't know if I'm like in this like racing the Tour de France, racing Flanders, like racing these like big races that people would love to race. So I'm just like, I kind of want to break a little bit. I don't feel like crashing anymore, you know, and I've started thinking about, you know, choosing my own health over a result, which is very important to do. And so I thought there needs to be a purpose to this. And and you live in this silo, and sometimes we do that to ourselves. You live on a pedestal or in a silo. And I said, I want to go down to this community that supported me and I want to help. So I want to like get more girls on bikes and not even bikes, just you know, mainly girls, anybody, but like girls especially, like just get them to sports and and get keep them in sports through that, you know, 11 to 14 years old, you know, get them like keep them in sports through puberty. And they don't have to be pros, they don't have to play in college, like just keep them in sports and active because the studies show this is where our next leaders live. It's just like keeping them active. And it's a very hard place. And so I was like, up here, I couldn't quite do it because I didn't have time because I'm just traveling around the world living in this bubble. And so I wanted to come down and do that. And then the progress is just a really great mantra, is like I have to check in on myself on this. But before I did my first gravel race, which I I won, which is a very famous gravel race, it's Unbound 200. It's probably the biggest gravel race in the world. It's 206 miles across Kansas of all places. But it's a big, it's a big thing. It's a big thing. Um and it was my first race, you know, whatever, and it was a long time ago. But the mantra I was given by a dear friend, she said, forward progress, take care of yourself. And that is something I think you'll like because she said, okay, and I because I'm like, this is gonna be a long day. It's gonna be a 10 hours on a bike. Like it's 200 miles. Like, this is a long day on a bike, 10, 11 hours on a bike. And she said, forward progress, like, are you moving forward? Are you taking care of, you know, and then taking care of yourself? And I think that this applies to also life, like to not just on a bike. Because forward progress is you could be walking, you could be riding, you could be winning, you could be fixing a flat tire.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

You could be crawling at a certain point in time if you're moving forward. I've been there, you know?

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Yeah. And then taking care of yourself, you're eating, you're drinking, you're fueling your body. Is that meditation? Like outside of cycling, is that meditation? Is that just how are you feeling your body on the bike? That's eating, drinking, you know, taking care of yourself. And then also there's something about like talking nicely to yourself. Are you pepping yourself up? Are you treating yourself with this? So I think like for me, it's like purpose and progress are the same thing. Because if I don't wake up in the morning feeling like I have a purpose and progress, like we have a problem, because then what am I doing? I could go have a desk job and not be riding my bike and traveling the world, like like trying to inspire people. And honestly, like I don't find myself inspiring necessarily until I see what I can do and get more girls on bikes and people on bikes and work with my partners to do that. And then that's pretty awesome. And so I go, okay, I can do something, but that's where we have to remind ourselves that we can do something big with our skill set.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Yes. Right? I love that what you're talking about here too, because um my daughter is just turning 10, and we've had her in tie boxing when we tie over the last three years, you know? And that's her her epic. Exercise. It was one of the ones she had a weird situation where there was a person that was kind of lurking outside the swimming pool when her school went swimming. And my wife at first was like, I don't want her in Muay Thai, it's too dangerous. After that event, she's like, put her back in. And she's been in there and she definitely knows how to punch and knows how to kick and knows how to protect herself at this point in time. Um, and one of the things is, but you know, she we don't want her becoming a professional We Thai fighter. And she doesn't have that aspiration, but she loves going, she loves the vibe, she loves the teamwork, she loves it, and it's teaching her these skills about resilience that you know, when she she pushes through that cardio when she's tired, when they're sitting there and they've just trained for an hour and the teacher's like, now we're doing abs. You know, and she's like, and like, wow, you know, like she's sitting there doing it, and like she's a 10-year-old kid and she's got a six-pack, you know, and it's like she's proud of that. You know, she's proud of having that that resilience. And when getting punched in the face is something most people don't know how to handle. And, you know, she's learns how to, like, obviously, she's wearing headgear and protective stuff, but you know, when they're sparring, she pop, you know, like, wow, that was an interesting experience. Now what are you doing? And you know, and like the teacher, and we always work on, you know, when between rounds, don't sit on the floor, just stand up. If you've got the ability to stand up, stand up and keep going. And if you're tired, recognize that and learn to take a rest. And it's like she's learning to tune into her body for one, but she's also learning these bigger success skills that are really powerful, you know? And I think that when we can get all of our young people into that, but especially young women, you know, it's so powerful, you know? And I want to ask that because it plays into this next question. When you step into leadership roles now, how is that different from when you were just the athlete? Because you are leading the charge for things to shift, you know?

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Oh my goodness, that's a hard question. I think that's where you have to, I mean, I'm sure I mean everyone deals with that's where you have to kind of like take out, take off your like athlete hat or your imposter syndrome hat, where you're like, oh, like I actually have race at the world's highest level. And I am a three-time world champion, and I am like, oh, I do have wisdom to impart, because I think sometimes we take for granted, and you don't have to be an Olympian or a world champion to have wisdom, right? Like we just have lived. And and living is really hard. And so I think like that's where you maybe, though, don't train as long, and you you give the a couple extra hours instead of pushing forward in your own training and your own aspirations, and you give that back and you and you pay it forward. And I think that that's so gratifying to me. And sometimes I still grapple with it, but I'm like, should I have ridden longer? No, no, no, no. Because seeing the smiles on these girls' faces and like helping them and mentoring them and showing up and pacing them and races, and it's it's so beautiful. So I think balancing it is first of all taking off the imposter syndrome hat where you're like, okay, I I I do belong here. Like they're looking up to me, but sometimes don't you get that? Where you're like, wait, you want my opinion? Oh, I have a lot. Like, oh, I no, I do know what I'm doing. Okay, I got this. And then they're they're so moldable and vulnerable, and I'm vulnerable still, like I'm still learning so much about myself. And then I learn so much from them because they're so pure. Like they're still learning, like in a whole different way. So I think we both learn from each other. I think it's a beautiful experience. But then I feel like with what we can build, like helping them with the opportunity, inclusivity, and opportunity that um as a repetitive opportunity, but we could um also just like make sure that they have a safe environment to do so and and and let them fly a bit and have that proper guidance. So it's a healthy balance of me knowing that I I can do that, and I think I'm getting much better at you know, as I keep going. If that makes I mean practice makes perfect, but it won't ever be perfect, of course. But I mean, keep showing up is really important, and and then watching them fly is incredible. And you go, that's you know, that's my girl. Look at her go. That's awesome. You know, it's so cool.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

Yeah. I love the you know, and and being able to see other people succeed, you know, is is huge, you know. And and one of the things too that we like this, like everyone likes to romanticize things. What is the hardest part of my day? Generally waking up, getting up, getting up early. I gotta take my daughter to school, then I gotta go to the gym, then I gotta get in, and I gotta start my team for our work day. And you know, it's stressful. Like, even this morning, I had my one of my big clients call me and say, hey, we've got this big problem. And so, like right now, you know, I'm triaging that, trying to figure out how that's going, how we can fix that. Getting up is one of the hardest things. And like, I think people tend to romanticize it, especially like on LinkedIn. And like LinkedIn, all these business owners, like, I crushed it with 25 deals today. And you're like, wow, I just, I just nearly, I had my kid throw up on me, and that was a hard thing to deal with, you know. But what's something about the cycling world or even life that people romanticize but don't really understand?

SPEAKER_00 27:40

Oh my goodness. I absolutely hate when people romanticize the word suffering. They're like, oh, I was suffering. I was suffering. I was like, you were just riding a swear word bike. Like, that's not suffering. Like, and Billy Jean King as a quote, you know, pressure is a privilege. And also suffering's a privilege. Like, yeah, you're you're tasting, you know, ferritin, you're tasting like blood in the back of your throat, you're bleeding through your eyes, like your legs are searing, you know, you're trying as hard as you can on a bike. But that has nothing to do with what is going on in the world and suffering, right? And so someone's like, oh, I was really suffering. And I just like cringe because so I was on this team once and they put like suffering on the bottom of our socks. And I could never wear the socks because I hated the word suffering because like I was like, I'm not suffering, I'm just riding as hard as I can. Do I want to vomit? Yes. Am I coughing at blood? Sure. Like I know how to go really hard and push myself like in and out, but like I just don't think suffering is like special. And so, Mike, I had a coach once that said, just because you went hard doesn't make you special. And I love it. I I love that quote. Because I was like, and then I did this, and then I did that, and then like he was like, Cool, Al, just because you went hard doesn't make you special. I was like, I I mean, he had a good way to like just throw a knife into my heart, but like he was just keeping my ego down.

SPEAKER_02 29:26

Right. I I find that like with business and with the uh the success, uh, I don't know, I don't know what you would call them. The people that are just like, you always see them out there about like go hard 24 hours a day, you know, eight. The grind. The grind people like they really like, and then you get people that are just like, I woke up at 6 a.m. today and that was hard. And I am proud of that, you know, and like that is to me an admirable start. You don't have to be that person. And if you are that person, if you are the person who likes to get out there and go, you know, to the 12th degree, that's awesome. That's you. But I don't think that we should tell everyone that if you want to have any type of success in life, you need to be going nuts, you know? I think that it's about finding ways to make it sustainable. And I think sustainable in your life is really important because, you know, if you want to be doing this until you're 80, 90, you got to find ways to take care of yourself too.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

For sure. And I I just think that we do need to find that balance. And I mean, I will admit, like you were asking me earlier, and I just didn't have that balance when I was early in my career because I was just so fixated on like gold medals. Like, I'm like, this is what I need. And and then when your world comes crashing down, you realize you're alone, and what do you have? And then you're like, that's when you have to be like, I'm so much more, and how do I like fill my life back into what I know who I like, what I know that I am? And then how do I still pursue my goals, but in a healthy manner? And I still get up at you know five in the morning. I work really hard, you know, so I can train and then balance, you know, all my other activities, but like I'm just never gonna glorify suffering or the grind. I feel like suffering is sports and the grind is what I see on LinkedIn. It's like, yeah, like you gotta like keep like pushing. Yeah, you do, but do you have a family at home or you have like a sister you need to call or like a mom? Like, do you have like a friend? I love that. What about a walk and listen to the birds? Something. There's gotta be something you need.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

I am a hundred percent on board with that, and I agree entirely. But I want to ask you this because you've been part of building communities, especially for women's work. What actually works when it comes to creating lasting change?

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Um I think that's a hard one because we're still working on it. So I think it's there's just so many overused words. Um Right. Um, but I think that like, you know, it's not um it's not a moment, it's a movement. Um, I'm just throwing out stuff. Um But I think ideally what I would like to see is where it's not even a topic of a conversation anymore, where we don't even have to ask that question, where we don't have to talk about e equality, equity, pay, community for women because it just exists, so it's not a question. But how we do that I think is just creating space. And and it's also so cliche, but you know, I think I didn't I I shamefully didn't realize how much people needed to see people like me show up and then give them space to join me. Because I was like, that's what we were talking about earlier, like on the um uh progress and purpose, where when I came off of the world tour and I was like, okay, I'm gonna pace a bunch of uh, you know, I'll pace women to do this 100-mile race at Unbound. And women just show up. And I I mean, Sean, it gives me the chills and it still makes me want to cry because I did not realize how many women needed somebody just to say, hey, ride with me. I will guide you through this scary event, and I am here for you. And so I think it's about people showing up and and then you see it, and then you have somebody, and I can be very bossy if you didn't notice. But like, I mean, I mean, but and I, you know, and I I'm uh I can be there for them, but they'll show up. And so I think it's about having like if you see it, you can be it. Like, so like your daughter, like if she wants to watch Rhonda Rousey, or you know, I that's not like that's judo, but and now UFC, but like, you know, she wants to watch somebody. Like, I mean, I am a huge fan of Rhonda Rousey, so I read her book. But like it, I think it's about seeing people that going like, oh, I can do that. Oh, I can do that. And then it's like then for me to say, hey, just ride with me, and I can have 150 women in a sold-out event come and just ride with me. And then they feel safe because they're with me. So I think it's about creating that community, is that you see it, there's no judgment. And I'm not like against like shunning out men. I think like everybody can be there, just you know, make it a safe place where people can just come and and feel welcome. And I think that's really important. Um, and we're getting there because then also we're seeing it on TV. So I I worked a lot with Zwift. Um, I still do. I love Zwift if you ever ride indoor trainers. Um but you know, they're the title sponsor of the Tour de France Femme of X Wift. Um and I mean that's their big motto. It's like hashtag watch the femme. It's like if you watch more, like the more you watch women, the more women win. And that's the more your daughter can watch women play basketball, tennis, cycling, right? And this is where we get we get more of that community. And then we have people that come down into the communities and and build it and and and have this safe place. And so I think it's it's an important place to be. Um, so please tune in.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

I love it.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

Listen to our podcast. I host a podcast about the Tour de France.

SPEAKER_02 35:36

This is awesome. I I want to ask you this: where can people go to find out more about you and what you're doing?

SPEAKER_00 35:43

Oh, I mean, you can definitely find me on Instagram. I'm pretty active on Instagram at AM Tetrich, A-M-T, like Tom, E-T-R-I-C-K. Um, that's where you can find most of the things. Um, and then during the Tour de France Femme of Xwift, I host a podcast with Lance Armstrong called The Move. Um, it's a great podcast, and we'll host it also during the year. But we're live on Peacock every day after the tour, which is super cool. And um, we sell bandanas on my site. That's in my link tree. It's also Saga Ventures for AMT bandanas, but all the proceeds go back to create scholarships to get more girls on bikes.