Choose the Hard Way Andrew Vontz

Six years ago, I launched Choose the Hard Way to inspire more people to embrace the idea that doing hard things builds stronger humans who have more fun. My guests are among the very best in the world at what they do and I’ve been lucky that they’ve graciously shared their stories here.

To celebrate 100 episodes, I’m doing something different and sharing more of my story--a story about a friendship that has pushed me to do hard things for 15 years and counting.

This podcast isn’t about hacks, tricks and shortcuts. It’s about the powerful things that happen when you choose the hard way--and I hope my guest’s stories inspire you to go do hard things with people you love and have some fun.

That’s the best part of life and it’s available to everyone willing to answer the call to adventure.

I have a request: please pick something challenging to do, invite a friend to do it with you and leave a comment or shoot a DM to @hardwaypod on social and tell me how it went.

Joining me today is @blakeoftoday. In the past year, Blake has become one of the most popular storytellers on Instagram because of his distinctive storytelling style focused on family, fatherhood and jiu-jitsu. He’s the host of the Grappling with Fatherhood podcast, the author of the Blakeoftoday substack and one of the only humans I know who organically grew his Instagram following from less than a thousand followers to nearly 200k followers in a year.

Blake has joined me on this podcast in the past to deconstruct our path to podium finishes at the gravel race now known as the Unbound 100 in 2014 and 2015. Today, we’re talking about how our chance meeting while volunteering at a shelter for unhoused people in downtown Los Angeles led us to start doing workouts at a park in Silverlake that were brutal and would have been total nonsense if they hadn’t been so much fun--and how that led to friendship, rivalry and both of us pushing each other to go bigger and bigger.

And so can you.

Choose the Hard Way is the podcast about how doing hard things builds stronger humans who have more fun.

Please help more people find this podcast. To do that, just hit subscribe and rate the show five stars on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this episode with a friend. We are 100 episodes deep and I really appreciate all of your support.

Go to choosethehardway.com to sign up for the newsletter and if there’s someone you think would make a great guest, DM @hardwaypod.

Choose The Hard Way is a Big Truck Production. Anthony Palmer at Palm Tree Pod Co is the producer and editor and Emily Miles is head of digital and marketing. Hekla Projects founder Jeffrey Nebolini is the world-renowned designer behind our brand identity and the Choose the Hard Way logo. The content for this show is created by @vontz.

Pete Stetina grew up in a famous cycling family and became a highly accomplished pro road racer who raced the Giro D’Italia four times, the Tour de France twice and the Vuelta Espana twice. When he started dabbling in gravel racing, in 2019, he was still doing 80 race days a year in the World Tour while winning iconic events like the original recipe Belgian Waffle Ride.

That’s when he pulled the ripcord on what most cyclists would consider a dream career to pursue new frontiers on the dirt full time. Pete is a big character in the grand story of gravel racing and has animated the many conversations about the present and future of the sport while nabbing top results.

Pete has been interviewed and written about ad infinitum and there’s a lot more to his story than what you’ve heard so far and have seen on social media. I caught up with Pete a few days after the first ever Gravel National Championship, which he crashed out of early on. I’m excited to bring this conversation to you. It covers a lot of new ground and I hope it gives you a more dimensionalized look at Pete as a human being, parent and competitor. You can find Pete on Instagram @pstetina.
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Vince Murdock is a professional mixed martial arts fighter who came up from difficult circumstances and worked his entire life to get into the UFC. When he finally got the call, a pre-fight brain scan showed he had Moyamoya disease and a life-threatening arterial blockage. Following brain surgery that involved removing a quarter of his skull, Vince’s perspective on life radically shifted. He became a father, got into cycling to rehab from surgery and formed an inclusive community, the Enjoy Cycling Club, to counter the elitism and exclusion that’s commonplace in competitive cycling.

Vince trains at Team Alpha Male under the supervision of multiple former UFC title belt holders and champions including Cody No Love Gabrandt and team founder and owner The California Kid, Urijah Faber. Vince has a unique perspective on life and deep wisdom from the hardships he has persevered through both before and after his surgery. He is a remarkable human and I am deeply grateful for what he shares in this interview. It really moved me.

I’m dedicating this episode to my good friend Aaron Burby and his friends and family. Aaron suddenly died from complications related to undiagnosed Moyamoya disease in 2020. He has been with me every day since then and he always will be. Like Vince, Aaron made the people around him feel loved and special, he was a gifted community builder, went full gas after his goals in life and expected the people he loved to give everything to what they valued.

Special thanks to past Choose the Hard Way guest Derek Teel from Dialed Health for connecting me to Vince. 

This is a special conversation and I’m grateful to be able to share it with you all. 
 
Vince Murdock Instagram 
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Drew Dillman is a pro cyclist who, until now, has focused on cyclocross and criterium racing. In recent months, Drew has aimed for the fences like Babe Ruth and hyped his plans to catapult into the LifeTime Grand Prix series and become a gravel icon.

He co-hosts the Matchbox and Bonk Bros podcasts and is co-founder of Ignition Coach Co, a coaching company for endurance athletes. Drew races for the Texas Roadhouse team and is a long-time YouTube creator focused on taking viewers inside the nuances of pro crit and cyclocross racing.

Learn more about Ignition Coaching and Drew on Instagram @raddaddizzle.
Drew Dillman YouTube | Instagram 
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Iz King left Wall Street to pedal for gold on gravel roads and trails across America as a pro cyclist in the LifeTime Grand Prix. She played D1 soccer for Columbia University where she was the team captain, traded equities for UBS then got into racing triathlons while completing her MBA at UCLA.

So what leads someone to step off the fintech yellow brick road to take 165-mile weekday rides from Santa Monica to Ojai and back? Let’s find out. Iz’s story is complex and we get into the unexpected bumps and broken backs she has encountered along the way.

To learn more about Iz go to @king_iz on Instagram or kingiz.com.
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Michelle Curran, call sign MACE, spent three years flying in the United States Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team and was the lead soloist for two of those years flying on the outer left wing of the delta formation.

Michelle was the fifth woman ever to be a member of the Thunderbirds and while deployed as a fighter pilot in Afghanistan in 2016, she acquired 163 combat hours. When Michelle left the Thunderbirds in 2021 she continued to pursue her passion for inspiring and motivating people in a slightly different format. Today she’s a keynote speaker and the author of the children’s book "Upside Down Dreams" and a forthcoming biography.

Michelle has done many fantastic podcast appearances about leadership and lessons learned from her time in combat and with the Thunderbirds. In this interview, we go deep on new topics including risk management, vulnerability, the power of extraordinary effort, why you must become an expert learner to become the very best at anything, and the role mountaineering, running and strength training played in helping Michelle prepare for and heal from the physical demands of pulling 9 G’s while on the road 240 days a year with the Thunderbirds and more.

My uncles used to take me to the airshow at Richards Gebauer air base outside Kansas City every summer when I was a kid and watching the United States Air Force Thunderbirds was one of the most truly awe inspiring things I have ever experienced. This one is extra special for me and I’m really excited to share it with you.

Special thank you to former Choose the Hard Way guest Ben Davis, the author, former Navy SEAL and VOAG executive director for connecting me to Michelle, very much appreciated. You can catch my interview with Ben in the archives. You can learn more about Michelle at macecurran.com or on Instagram @mace_curran.
Michelle Curran Website | Instagram 

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