A letter received by Matt Zimmer, while living in Davenport, Iowa, changed the trajectory of his life. Tim Hall, Cycling Coach of the Lees McRae College Cycling Team in Banner Elk, North Carolina, was busy recruiting and noticed a young triathlete with strong running palmers and had stuck his toe into the USA Cycling scene. That led Zimmer to a college visit that ultimately got him into cycling.
After turning pro and now racing with the Project Echelon Cycling Team, Zimmer and his wife Megan found themselves living in Des Moines, where the two have settled and are starting a family. Zimmer continues to race internationally and serving as a bit of a leader on the team, which often finds itself at the pointy end of races, from road races, criterium and stage races.
Des Moines cyclist Dave Mable sat down with Zimmer to record a podcast for Bike Talk with Dave, a weekly podcast about all things bike. The two talked about Zimmer's start in cycling, where he hopes to take it, his team, and a bit about the state of cycling in America, from road to gravel.
From the podcast intro:
"Well - we did it - an on the bike interview! Matt Zimmer, a pro roadie riding with the Project Echelon Team, lives in Des Moines - and is a super good dude -he’s great to have in the local group rides - from the break legs off Tuesday night world championships to the friendlier (but not slow) Saturday morning rides - so a few weeks ago I asked if he’d like to join me on a ride and do an interview during a ride - he enthusiastically agreed - with the caveat that if it didn’t work, we’d have an old school sit down conversation indoors - so we got together for a ride on a beautiful Monday late afternoon, clipped on some microphones, stuck a recorder in my back pocket - and went out for a ride - so it’s a bit weird - we go through some tunnels (and you can really tell!), had to pause to wait for some cars to pass at intersections - and of course, my mic sucked - but you’re here to listen to Matt, not me, so settle in and enjoy my recent ride and conversation with Matt Zimmer as we talk all about his life as a cyclist and the health of cycling in the U.S."
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