Keegan Swenson’s Tips on Racing, Mindset, Injury, and New Bike Testing | Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast 576
Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast - Presented by TrainerRoad
TrainerRoad
4.9 • 4.6K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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// TOPICS COVERED
(00:00:00) Welcome!
(00:00:46) What it’s like to race with a broken pelvis
(00:06:27) How do you reset your season after injury?
(00:10:04) How do pros handle frustration after setbacks?
(00:12:33) What can you train while recovering from injury?
(00:19:01) Should your race goals change after injury?
(00:20:31) How should you approach non-priority races?
(00:24:58) Can a race still be valuable if you’re not peaking?
(00:30:05) What gravel tires are pros choosing right now?
(00:32:02) How do you choose the right saddle width?
(00:34:37) How do you dial in fit on a new bike?
(00:36:06) What did Keegan learn from wind tunnel testing?
(00:37:44) Will team tactics change gravel racing?
(00:40:20) Valley of Tears Gravel Race
(00:41:35) Diverge vs Crux: which gravel bike is faster?
Coach Jonathan talks with Keegan Swenson about racing Santa Vall while unknowingly dealing with a fractured pelvis after getting doored, and how that derailment forced a quick reset when a major goal like Cape Epic disappeared. Keegan explains how he managed the mental spiral, reframed the setback as a chance to preserve the season’s bigger targets (Sea Otter, Unbound, Worlds), and focused on what he could control: recovery, easy aerobic work, fixing imbalances, and dialing fit and new equipment after a brand change. They also cover how to approach “non-A” races with intention—fueling, tactics, and setup experiments—without letting the result define you, then finish with quick gear talk on tires, saddles, and why team dynamics could shake up gravel this year.
// RESOURCES MENTIONED
- Keegan Swenson’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keegels99
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | What's it like to ride your bike with a fractured pelvis or even better race in one of the biggest gravel races in the world? |
| 0:05.7 | We're going to ask Kagan Swenson that question as well as how he adjusts and manages his mindset after being doored by a car and then as a result, not being able to do some key races in the year. |
| 0:17.5 | We talked through everything about how he adjusts his mindset and his expectations going |
| 0:22.1 | into racism, what he focuses on instead to make it feel like he actually isn't missing anything, |
| 0:26.9 | and instead he's just building for a better season later on down the year. We go over this |
| 0:31.3 | and plenty of details about all of his equipment and the changes that he's made this year and some |
| 0:36.5 | cool details. So stay tuned for this episode, and if you want to made this year and some cool details. So, |
| 0:37.5 | stay tuned for this episode. And if you want to get faster, go to trainroad.com. Sign up now. |
| 0:42.9 | It's AI built by cyclists to make you faster. Go give it a shot. |
| 0:48.0 | Kagan, you just raced on, you race on Canteval, which honestly might have been one of this |
| 0:52.6 | most stacked gravel fields I've |
| 0:54.5 | seen in a very long time, like maybe even more than unbound. You raced with a broken pelvis. |
| 0:59.3 | What's it like to race a bicycle on a broken pelvis? |
| 1:03.0 | Not great. Yeah. I mean, I was fighting all sorts of kind of pain. |
| 1:11.9 | You know, my arm hurt, my leg hurt, hip hurt. |
| 1:14.1 | So I didn't really know what was going on. |
| 1:16.3 | I just knew my body was not happy. |
| 1:18.8 | So, yeah, it wasn't happy making power. |
| 1:22.4 | Wasn't happy really doing anything. |
| 1:25.3 | So, yeah, it was a bit rough, you know? |
| 1:28.0 | Like it just like wasn't responding. |
| 1:29.9 | Like I would push and, uh, it just wasn't having it. |
... |
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