Privateer Diaries: A strange sort of calm
Will the team ever happen? What're my 2026 plans? Oh, and I'm on a podcast!
Hey, how’re you doing?
I’m back in Girona and, honestly, I think this is the first time I’ve spent more than three weeks at home since February. It feels…nice.
It’s that time of year when I’m getting back on the bike but also working my way through a long list of life admin. The bike storage is finally built, the wardrobe is tidy, and I’ve got an IKEA order on the way.
But I’m also a little bit bored. Racing feels miles away. I can’t really plan anything yet, and riding is simple. It’s a strange limbo with no big goals or adventures lurking just around the corner.
My last article about the Gravel Earth Series ruffled a few feathers, so I promise today’s is a bit less controversial.
Here’s what’s inside this week’s ramble:
🎙️ I’m on a podcast
🤑 What’s happening with the team idea?
🤔 What the 2026 plans look like
😴 A bit of everything else
Podcasting
Soren Jensen is the Global Marketing Manager at Castelli. He speaks countless languages and is extremely good at his job. He’s also one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet.
Soren and I think similarly about things, and over a beer at Rouleur Live, we remembered that we’d recorded a podcast in the autumn of last year. For some reason, that podcast never went live. Even though it’s a year on, we both agreed we should change that.
We talked about the transition to gravel, how much it costs to run a privateer calendar, advice for U23s and a whole lot more.
The team idea
If you’re reading this, you probably know what I’m talking about. If not, go and gander over here quickly and come back.
I’m still working on building a team, however, it’s not going to be happening in early 2026. When I set out my grand plans in August, I don’t really know what I expected. It led to this web of conversations right across the industry. From brands, to founders, CEOs, and companies completely out of the sphere of our sport.
It taught me three things:
This is going to take time.
People like the idea.
Raising money is really hard.
I’ll have a handful of productive conversations over a few weeks period, and then it’ll all go quiet again. I’m learning that this is a marathon, and not a sprint.
With no obvious funding ideas on the horizon, I’m thinking about what I can do in 2026 to at least make steps towards this. Michael Garrison and I are texting about a plan for one race, but we’ll see what happens there.
Again, not to toot my own horn, but I spoke on a podcast about this last week.
My 2026 plans + health
Long story short: it’s another year of privateering.
It seems I’ve finally got to the bottom of my breathing issue. Basically, breathing-mechanics, laryngo-spasm, and a few nose issues. So, that means I can make athletic plans for 2026.
There’ll be the obvious races: Mid South, Redlands, Sea Otter, Levi’s, and Unbound.
But, there’s also a few different ideas too: National TT Champs, PCH FKT, maybe a crack at the Central Park KOM?
I’m in an interesting position where I want to race what I want to race. In my opinion, the whole point of privateering is that you can do whatever races you want as an athlete, but I’m definitely leaving money on the table doing it this way.
This is the first off-season where I haven’t been dominated by the stress of chasing contract dollars. And trust me, that is not because I suddenly have the financial security to relax.
I’m not sure why, it just feels right that way. I want to chase the events that make me excited to get out of bed in the morning. If that means a slightly chaotic calendar that blends gravel, road, time trialling, and whatever else catches my eye, then so be it.
What am I working on?
I’ve recently been doing some freelance work with the Unibet Rose Rockets. In my humble opinion, they’re the only team doing it right in the world of cycling when it comes to media.
I’m working on an article for this Substack about them. When I say working on it, it’s all in my head currently and I need a few more long rides in the mountains to piece it all together.
That’s similar for an article I have cooking on the Life Time Grand Prix. Life Time are doing a great job over there, but I think there’s so much low hanging fruit that they could easily implement in their pro-events.
Bikepacking
Okay, I know I said there were no adventures, but we did bike pack from Girona to Barcelona this weekend to watch Mumford and Sons. That was a lot of fun.
Righto, I think that’s it for this newsletter. Sorry it was more of a brain dump than anything else. Sometimes I find it’s nice just to write what’s happening and see where it takes me.
Actually, one last thing. I was scrolling through LinkedIn this week and saw my dream post racing job! Does anybody know anybody at Substack?!
Until next time,
Joe
While you’re here…
I’ve added a paid subscription and a ‘Buy Me A Coffee’ link to this post. As the year progresses, I’m planning on building this blog and putting out articles which I’ve always wanted to write but for whatever reason haven’t wanted to pitch.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/joelaverick
The following brands are racing partners of mine which allow me to do cool stuff.