Austrian athlete Simon Oberauner has competed in the Red Bull X-Alps five times and has always finished in 6th place or better. In this year’s race he placed third for the second time, a mere seconds behind Lars Meerstetter after over 1200 kilometers (course line!) and 8 days of ferocious racing across the Alps. Simon reflects on his amazing experiences in this years race and the importance of attitude, teamwork, and training evolution. He shares insights on navigating risks, the legacy of the 8-time champion Chrigel Maurer, and offers suggestions for improving the race experience. Simon emphasizes the balance between safety and adventure, highlighting the need for understanding one’s strengths and the role of a supportive team in achieving success. Simon is the athlete everyone loves to love, he’s always smiling, always having fun, always relaxed. And clearly it works when it comes to results!
Simon competes in the 2025 Red Bull X-Alps. Photo Adi Geisseger
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Simon’s consistent performance in X-Alps showcases his dedication and skill. A positive attitude is crucial for success in challenging races. Team dynamics play a significant role in an athlete’s performance. Training should evolve with experience and competition demands. Understanding one’s strengths is key to navigating the race effectively. The importance of enjoying the journey, not just focusing on results. Kriegel’s legacy sets a high standard for competitors. Risk management is essential in adventure racing. The balance between safety and adventure is a constant challenge. Improvements in race organization can enhance the experience for athletes and fans.
Chapters
00:00 The Journey Begins: Reflecting on Past Races 05:21 The Secret to Success: Attitude and Enjoyment 09:16 Team Dynamics: The Importance of Support 14:18 Building a Winning Team: Roles and Responsibilities 23:07 Training Evolution: From Adventure to Competition 27:26 Key Insights for Aspiring Athletes 33:57 Kriegel’s Legacy: The Challenge of the Champion 40:39 Navigating Risks: Decisions in Adverse Conditions 49:20 The Nature of Adventure: Risk vs. Reward 01:04:15 The Future of X-Alps: Suggestions for Improvement
Cool. Simone, awesome to have you back on the show. You just reminded me, we did a little thing with you and Kriegel and the Suleva athletes in 2019. I thought it was 2017. It's easy to lose track of time, but good to see your smiling face after a few weeks. It hasn't been that long, hasn't it? Well, July 24th, so we wrapped up about three weeks ago and you did it once again in incredible style. I was actually just...
Going through your races since 2017 was your first, you got fifth that year. You haven't been worse than sixth, which is incredible. It's kind of funny that Aaron had never been better than sixth, and then he won this year. So he really put together a hell of a race, but you've always put together.
amazing races. So let's start there. You and I talked about this a little bit, you know, when you got to the raft and we chatted a bit, but your attitude is famous. Everybody talks about what a great attitude you have. What do you chalk up your success to in this, you know, the toughest adventure race on earth? Because you've had a hell of a run.
Simon (02:48.127)
Definitely, yeah, yeah, I'm quite happy with with how it it it went especially this year this was For sure my best race. I never I never was was able to yeah to really focus that much on my on my Let's say on my line on my decisions on on on those things that good so yeah, I'm really happy with this year, but
Yeah, what keeps me this attitude is maybe from the beginning, from the start, I never tried to focus that much on the positioning, which was very hard in the beginning because I just told myself, no, it doesn't matter. and, but for sure, the first time you start the excerpts, you get like, you're smashed into this big race and, and the...
Gavin McClurg (03:41.027)
Yeah.
Simon (03:45.675)
risk management you thought about in advance is like completely gone because you have to push and you have to go and yeah that was tough time like the first first except it was like the first two days 2017 I think you were there too or 2017 yeah sure sure yeah
Gavin McClurg (04:05.248)
Yeah, yeah, we just walked the first day, the weather was terrible.
Simon (04:09.163)
And then the terrible Nordfön on the second day and I did some horrible decisions there and I even wanted to quit. So yeah, that was very close for me. I really thought about it because I took off in way too much wind for me at that time. I was way above my comfort zone.
Gavin McClurg (04:22.466)
Really?
Gavin McClurg (04:28.238)
because of the risk.
Simon (04:39.663)
And then I just kept on walking, had my girlfriend with me and she said, hey, let's just walk some meters and look tomorrow. And the next day was a very good flying day and I could focus on myself again because I said, okay, I don't matter about ranking or anything. I just try to...
find my line and my spirit and this kind of worked and at the end of the third day I was third and then I thought okay now I know how it's working and then next day I was in the middle field again around 15th again okay oh shit okay I don't know
and down and up and down and in the end it was fifth place and I was super happy and it was just a real big adventure. It was the toughest, the 2017 definitely was the toughest for my body because we walked so much.
Gavin McClurg (05:54.734)
Yeah, the weather.
Simon (06:00.011)
then we had to go through the flatlands of Turin. That was so tough. I always thought that's the nicest part to fly there and then we had to walk there. yeah, I always tried to enjoy the race. That's kind of...
Gavin McClurg (06:25.218)
That's your secret. Just enjoy it.
Simon (06:27.313)
Yeah, yeah, but it's hard. Of course, it's hard to enjoy. But if you think about it, you're training so much, you're putting so much energy in advance into this, organization, in the preparation for this race. So there goes so much in it. And then the race day comes and a lot of people then, let's say...
Yeah, they just see the race and okay, I have to perform, I have to perform. And I think, okay, I did so much. And now it's time for me to show what I can for sure. And I want to show what I can, but I really also have to enjoy this because I worked so much for it. then for me, this works like this approach. And then I don't look at the numbers too much.
And I'm just happy to be there because it's not like something you take for granted to be in a race like X-Rap. For me, I'm really happy to compete with the best in the world. Maybe I just try to see the positive things about this and maybe that's my secret. But for sure, they're not.
Gavin McClurg (07:50.648)
That's smart.
Simon (07:54.6)
not just like, good things, for sure. So, yeah.
Gavin McClurg (07:58.798)
Tell me more about in this race when we first started recording there you said that this was the one where you were really able to fly your lines and that was really special. For me it was kind of the opposite and my first was 2015 and because I really didn't have any clue where I belonged in that 32 people and you know getting third in the prologue was this huge
Simon (08:25.244)
it.
Gavin McClurg (08:26.68)
boost and confidence that really helped. think that was the first year they had the Prolux, so that really helped me. But I think in a sense, because I had no expectations, I was able to fly how I fly. And that worked really well. I wasn't so worried in my mind about if this didn't work or if I blew this line.
I don't know why that wasn't a factor and then it became a factor in the future races because in 2015 I did quite well and then I had expectations and then I had in a sense pressure and that made it worse and I never really got better with that. Yeah, we do all the training but I guess what I'm trying to say is my I never really got back to flying my lines to flying how I fly it was because
it became more follow the leader as they add more waypoints, but also it became, God, if I go 15K off course line here and follow the obvious sky, which you do as a pilot, as a good pilot, but I would start thinking, what if I fuck this up? What if I screw this up? It's gonna be that much more walking. It was really hard to get.
Simon (09:39.561)
Mm-mm.
Gavin McClurg (09:42.988)
more in flow. I felt like I was more in flow the first time than I ever was. I mean, I had moments, but you seem to stay more in flow. But I'd be curious to hear how, why this year was, why was it so special?
Simon (10:01.001)
Why was it so special? Because everything worked so well for me. Sometimes the things just... You take decisions and they work and then you get into a flow. But I definitely also had a great team this year. They worked really well. They had good spirit, they were motivated and...
That's something that pushes you a lot. If you have good friends with you, and that's friends, that's really good friends. Simon is there since 2017, since my first race. And Moritz, my main supporter, is there since 2019. He's always had a role in the X-UPS, and so they know how the race is.
and they know if they are worried about things or like...
Let's say if they're little frustrated because I'm 30 kilometers now behind the leaders and things like that, they don't let me feel it. That's something very important because for me, this time, I was... Sometimes I was behind a bit, like 30, 40 kilometers, but I never saw it as a problem for me.
It was never, shit, I have to catch them, I have to catch them. I just saw, okay, what possibilities do I have? How looks my fastest line to get there? And somehow I could concentrate on my, really on my flying, like I would fly at home. Like I would go cross country flying at home.
Gavin McClurg (11:55.47)
work.
Simon (12:06.387)
completely free and intuitive this just worked out one time I did a big mistake because I was feeling like very free and thought this is a good line and it's a little detour but it could work very fine and then in the end it it was a shit line so these things happened they happen often but
Gavin McClurg (12:30.882)
you
Simon (12:35.753)
But that's X-Hubs. Never everything is working. This is for sure. But yeah, it was definitely the team. This was very good team and they did everything right. But we haven't been that much luck with, let's say, the health of my team.
Gavin McClurg (12:39.192)
And have us to everybody.
Simon (13:04.541)
because in the first night there were like four or five teams at Bratzwiese in the Dolomites parking and my yeah let's say it like this I heard in the night at two o'clock in the night 2 a.m. around and I heard a door from a van opening and closing and then I heard somebody throwing up for
at least half an hour, like really hard. It was, it was, I thought, that poor, that poor guy. then I thought, wait, was the door at my van? And I opened the latch and like looked down because I'm sleeping in the roof tent and looked down and saw
Gavin McClurg (13:35.955)
Simon (14:02.605)
There is only one person link and and and that was my main supporter Moritz and he looked me up and said shit and I said shit It's Moghi my physiotherapist and And he had he must have eaten also something not that good and he was partying two days before the race a little bit and He was just yeah
And then we had, we were like, oh shit, will I get it also? Because you cannot like quarantine somebody in this race. And he was really not feeling good, but he knew I needed him because he's like a really good physiotherapist and he's so, we need him in the team because he's just spreading good vibes all the time.
Yeah, after three days he was back on his foot and he was able to support me again, like really on the mountains and doing everything. So yeah, I'm super thankful for them.
Gavin McClurg (15:19.092)
Simone, briefly, I not to be that brief, but how many people on your team and what are the roles and how did you choose your team this time? Obviously, you've had, know, the two you just said have been with you mostly since the beginning, but talk about that a bit, because I imagine a lot of people listening, this is a dream, right? Maybe someday I'll be able to compete in the Red Bull X-Alps and I think it's...
The team is obviously so critical, they're kind of the unsung heroes and you had a really good experience. How did you put it together? What does everybody do and what are the roles?
Simon (16:01.097)
Okay, yeah, so let's start with the main supporter. That's Moritz Kampermüller and he's a very good friend of mine. I met him before, just before I started flying. So we have a very good friendship going on. We did a lot of adventures together, so he knows me in extreme situations. So that's very... 2012.
Gavin McClurg (16:24.706)
When did you start flying?
Gavin McClurg (16:28.982)
Okay.
Simon (16:31.553)
and he didn't start flying but I think it was 2017 or 2018 around when I was the first ex-alps and then he realized this flying looks really nice what I'm doing and then he had a little injury at his finger and then he said I cannot climb at the moment because he was climbing a lot
Can you teach me how to fly? And I said, okay, let's go. I sent him to the flying school, which I own now. then he started the basic course. And then I took him, let's say under my wing. then I teach him a lot. And then he started to enjoy it really a lot. And then he put a lot of effort in it. So he knows how to fly. He really...
He knows how to fly big triangles and he's very fit and yeah, he knows how the game is going at X-Hubs, yeah, how it works. So there's Moritz and then there's my physiotherapist. So this is Mogli who was sick. I met him, yeah, also I think he was in 2021, was the first time in 2021.
Gavin McClurg (17:38.456)
That works.
Simon (18:00.157)
that he was with me. And it was over a friend. And he was like looking, I think for, I was looking for a physiotherapist and then we got in touch and we met and there was like really good chemistry. He was such a nice guy and I thought, cool, this could work really well. And then at the race he was full on fire and always there and yeah.
very motivated and his approach is very good.
Gavin McClurg (18:31.234)
What is your physiotherapist doing? Are you getting massages and stuff at night or what are they taking care of?
Simon (18:38.377)
He's got a not approach with massages. It's not his thing. Sometimes I wish I get a massage, he's more like he's bending me a lot and pushing trigger points at the muscles. now he really knows my body and my problems. Sometimes I get some knee problem and...
When I get this knee problem, I just look at him and say, I feel my knee and he asks, shit, okay. But after 10 minutes, it's gone. And most of the time it's gone for the whole race. So this, I just can trust him 100%. And that's worth so much because he really knows what to do to keep me fit. Let's say it like this. So there's Mokey and yeah, we have a...
very good friendship also. this is a very important part. And then there was the second car. And there was Simon, who supported me in 2019, 2021 and 2023 as main supporter. But this year he said, I don't want to be the main supporter. I want to
because I have some other things going on and yeah, I want to step back a little bit and say, hey, no problem. But I want to support you, like not main, but I want to come with you. And that was very nice from him because he knows also how the race is going. And so I have two cars with two people who really knows what's happening in the race. So this is super important.
And then there was Dario who has a very small one-man production firm with video and he did document the whole race. And he did a really great job. It's the first time I had somebody really for media and for documenting it. And this worked super nice. And I met him
Simon (21:03.311)
at some smaller races in our area, the border races in Austria, maybe you know them, it's like hike and fly competitions, 33 hours, and he did there some videos and I was talking to him sometimes and then I thought, would be very nice if I had somebody for excerpts and then I just asked him and he was like, yeah, man.
Sounds nice. And then it went on and we talked more and he said, yeah, cool. I think I could imagine coming with you. And then he just came and he fitted perfectly into the Dean. yeah, this stereo is, yeah.
Gavin McClurg (21:28.31)
Yeah.
Gavin McClurg (21:45.504)
Is your, who's doing your weather? Have you got, are you outsourcing weather to somebody else back home and feeding it to you or is it somebody on the team that's mobile with you?
Simon (21:57.373)
Yeah, it's Moritz who is doing most of the weather. Yeah, that's quite nice. And there was one other person that was Stefan who learned flying two years ago in our school with us. And he's kind of an adventurer, full adventure guy. He's very often in Africa with his small ladder.
Gavin McClurg (21:59.914)
Okay. Okay.
Simon (22:27.079)
Maybe know Blader, the small 4x4 vehicles. It's really really small here. Let's say, how do you say, cheap SUV, very small thing and he's driven it from Graz, Austria to I guess now it's not the whole of Africa but he's...
still like expeditioning with this small thing and repairing it on the go. And so we had somebody who is very also in Vedebari and got a lot of experience in adventure. So this was very nice. And yeah, he also did fit in the team just perfect. So yeah, this worked very well this time. Yeah. Yes. Yeah.
Gavin McClurg (23:19.246)
So five supporters, two cars, two vehicles.
Simon (23:24.585)
One with roof tent and one summer mobile which is like California but made by another firm. This worked really cool. One was a Toyota Hilux. This worked. One time we really had to, the Hilux had to work up the hill.
Gavin McClurg (23:41.934)
Those are great.
Gavin McClurg (23:48.332)
Yeah, those are fantastic vehicles. Simo, what is your, I'd be curious to hear about your training. I mean, again, briefly, when does it kind of officially start, if it ever does, or are you just always training? And then how have you changed things from, in 2017 was your first, you'd been flying for five.
years I guess right you have five six years you know it's almost a decade now you've been competing you know so how old were you when you started and yeah how has that shifted how what does your training look like?
Simon (24:25.321)
I think the training evolved just naturally. In the beginning, it's hard to train for a race which you haven't been racing before. So I just thought, okay, I do a lot of adventure flying, like bivouac tours and just being outside and trying to experience...
different weather conditions. So that was my approach. And the border races, which are like 33 hours competitions with a lot of hiking most of the time, sometimes more than 150 kilometers. so your body learns to deal with long days on the streets. That's something really important for X-Ups because it's not always like this year and the two years before.
Also very good, but that's not for sure, that's not granted to fly a lot like this. So your body needs to be able to handle a day of walking. That's just, you really need to be able to do this. so that's what I knew. And I also knew from 2015 when I was with Paul Kuschelbauer, I was supporting him. Like it was, I think maybe...
maybe a month before the race or even closer to the race he asked, yeah, Simon, do you think you would like to join me? I was like, oh, wow, yeah, sure. Let's do it. And then suddenly I was joining Paul for the X-Labs. And there I experienced what X-Labs is, like wow. And I saw
the flying is the biggest part and that's where the group divides if you're able to stay in the air and use it whole day so I knew I have to train just flying and keeping in the like keep flying even when the conditions get like slow and you think you're not doing a lot of progress
Simon (26:52.295)
You just need patience and patience, patience, patience sometimes to keep flying to topland, to wait, to put out the tempo, to speed, to go slow and give the weather the chance or the thermal. that's something I learned a lot and tried to train a lot.
to keep patient and say, okay, there will be a window, there will be a possibility. That's just something I always have in my flying. It was always a little bit of my style to be patient, to keep flying, to just spend a lot of time in the air. And that's what worked during X-Ups all the times. So that was my... No.
Gavin McClurg (27:44.686)
Do you have a trainer or do you have somebody you're kind of accountable to in training for the, okay. You just do it on your own.
Simon (27:50.089)
No, no, I just do it on my own, yes.
Gavin McClurg (27:56.105)
What would be, you supported Paul in 2015. Imagine being a supporter, I've never been a supporter, but when I watch it now as I have the last two editions and seeing it kind of from the other side, I wish I had. It seems like you really learn a lot.
But for those listening who are, you know, maybe they've done like the Bordaire, other smaller hike and fly races, but they've got their eyes set on X-ops, are, what are say three things that you think are really important to understand about the race or to prepare?
what are the kind of key things? Because like I said, you unlocked it right from the beginning. You seem to have unlocked the Red Bull X-Alps code, in a sense.
Simon (28:53.107)
Okay, so what are the three most important things like for the athlete or for sure the most important thing is you as an athlete have to know your strengths, your strengths. Let's say it like this, where are you good? And if it's flying then it's...
Maybe this is the crucial thing about about EXARC, you just really need to be good at flying. So the flying training is the most important part. This is where most of the energy should go. Don't...
let's say try to plan everything in advance because you can't train for the unexpected or train the adventure a little bit like this i hope it's understandable but you you cannot plan the whole race in advance it won't work and there will be
Gavin McClurg (30:06.626)
Yeah.
Simon (30:16.361)
There will be situations which you have never experienced before and then you need to listen to your feeling because you know how to fly otherwise you wouldn't be there, you wouldn't be at the X-Hubs and then you have to trust your senses or you have to be able to see what the other people in front, if you're not in front, did and you have to understand it.
So you have to also understand other lines. You have to be able to watch other people flying and take the advantage out of that. That's important in a race. It's always. You always have to watch your opponent a little bit. Not all the time. You're not allowed to be just focused on them because then you lose the focus on yourself and then you're not in a good place. So focus on...
on your flying and try to yeah then the second maybe try not to blend everything at once blend the turn points because that's where you have to be on the ground and where you have to get airborne again or have to move on
and
What's the third? Find a good team that supports you because they want to support you and not because they want to...
Simon (32:00.75)
How should I?
Yeah, it's very important to have the team that really, let's say, likes you and wants to support your mission and wants to support your mission on this X-Alps. And maybe the fourth thing would be...
Gavin McClurg (32:11.822)
Mm.
Simon (32:26.505)
Don't.
don't have big expectations because they are putting you on the ground. That's very important. On my first excels, my main supporter, was Christoph, I started flying with him together and we always like to talk about everything and philosophy.
Gavin McClurg (32:36.334)
Mmm.
What are you? Go ahead.
Simon (32:57.737)
things and everything and this one evening the whole team was together and it was a big team in 2017 and the sitting there Domi was there I think he was there 16 or something like this and then Christoph said okay now I want everybody to make a guessing how much chance Simon has to to win
the accepts to to be treated how much much chance do you think salmon has and and everybody should have read a number on on on the paper yeah and then okay is that let's start then it was like once a seventy percent and Tommy said yeah
Gavin McClurg (33:35.16)
you
Simon (33:53.545)
90 % chance that he is feeling crazy. I was like, yeah, maybe 50, I was like, maybe this could happen, but that was totally stupid number. And then he said, okay, now I tell you what I've written on the paper. And he was like, 2.5%.
Gavin McClurg (33:55.822)
Bye.
Simon (34:24.137)
He was like, no chance. And that was completely right. That was completely right. Because Krill really knows what he's doing there. And he was so good prepared compared to me for this race. And I looked...
Gavin McClurg (34:46.562)
You didn't know what you were preparing for yet. mean, in the first time, it's just, there's a lot.
Simon (34:50.441)
Yeah, that's just... Yeah, there's so much to learn and to see and... Kind of... I was like, okay, in the beginning and then I started thinking about it and I said, yeah, I think he's kind of right, yeah. Because Krigli Nostu... I wasn't... I was far away from...
from being able to be faster than Kriki. Yeah, that definitely. And that was kind of a nice thing that happened. He always is like, he likes those shocking approaches. Really cool, man.
Gavin McClurg (35:35.064)
Yeah, yeah, that's great. I like that. Let's talk about Kriegel because this was a big one, wasn't it? Eight time champion. You and Lars and Aaron got him in the end. was kind of, you know, I took off with you guys that morning heading to Lermous. It was still anybody's race at that point. Pretty thrilling end. He's always kind of crushed.
Simon (35:44.169)
Absolutely.
Gavin McClurg (36:01.804)
those eight, know, in a sense, it hasn't really been close. He was the oldest in this race, which was interesting. You know, that means only 42. That's not old for an endurance racer, but it's, you know, so anyway, first non-Swiss, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot we could talk about here, but there's a lot of incredible storylines, but.
It was interesting because I mean, right from my first one in 2015, that's always the talk in the week before the race. This is the year that Kriegel is going to get beat. This is the year and I've always got, yeah, no way. mean, and especially I think last year with his big Xpeaks expedition, I just thought, God, he's still, that's a realm now that...
Simon (36:39.58)
Yeah.
Gavin McClurg (36:54.282)
another realm that he is gonna dominate in. mean, he and Peter, his partner Peter, they learned so much, I would imagine, just operating up high and above cloud base often and just in a lot of horrendous weather. And so this caught me by surprise. I certainly was...
Simon (37:01.737)
Definitely.
Gavin McClurg (37:16.192)
you know, was not one of the ones who was thinking this was the year he was going to get unseated. And there's a couple things I talked about with Tom just a couple days ago. We were recording a podcast with Tom Dodorlodow, and we both kind of agreed that there was a couple big factors. The gear probably didn't help, you know, that he wasn't on a sub. And, you know, so maybe a little bit overconfidence there. But
that led him to choose that gear because he had done, he got third in the World Cup exactly, well, May a year ago in his hometown at the Grindelwald World Cup, which I was at, and he flew on the Impress. Everybody else was on a sub, but he got third. And so I think that was probably, I can just outthink this. I don't know. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to Kriegel. I don't know if you have, but I'd love to get, and then the other thing was just.
Simon (37:57.469)
I know, yeah.
Gavin McClurg (38:09.89)
The weather was pretty good this time and it does really seem like Kriegel makes his big moves. He really shines when the weather is terrible. And we didn't really have much bad weather, you know, other than that day too, but there wasn't a lot of separation that day. So we'll talk about day two here in a bit. And I want to talk to you about the storm night one, cause you chose a different way down that night. So we'll talk about that, but I'd love to just get your thoughts. think everybody would.
Simon (38:23.955)
Yeah.
Gavin McClurg (38:38.956)
What happened this year?
Simon (38:41.693)
What happened this year? I think we did a lot of moves to get away, to push away. It's like maybe to the France at the moment where one tries to sprint away and tries to break away from the group. But the Bellatorne really worked great. We always...
had him again. Maybe there was also some luck missing. Sometimes he pushed too hard and maybe too fast. We caught him easily. Sometimes he really had problems. Comparing in thermals, was not climbing that well. That was a big factor, I really have to say.
Gavin McClurg (39:11.115)
Yeah.
Simon (39:39.571)
that you could feel it because Kreek is an excellent, excellent thermal flyer. When you fly with him, he really knows how to do it good and he most of the time also comes out top and this time was different. Maybe I also gained a lot of experience, but you could see, okay, he's struggling to get away and...
And we...
had no problem leading, so he had to follow again. Normally, if he's in the back, then he sometimes... There were X-Hubs races where he was like two hours on the thermal day behind and then he...
Gavin McClurg (40:20.398)
which is not his thing. He doesn't like that, does he? He likes to be out in front.
Simon (40:40.531)
boom started the turbo and was in front again. So that also happened. But this time he just couldn't break away. So that was the one part and for sure we had good flying weather. So there was not this okay, this extreme extreme weather situation where we couldn't fly efficient because he knows how to fly efficient with a lot of wind and maybe
We all learn to do that more, use strong conditions like or heavy conditions like fönwinds to...
I think we all gained a lot of experience during X-Alps races and now we know how it works a little bit and where you can fly and where you should not fly and what to expect because it's always hard when you don't know what to expect for certain conditions and then you cannot fly because if you don't know what's coming or what is the possibility of when I fly there then you cannot fly efficiently.
Maybe that... Yeah. Maybe he didn't had the...
the chance to break a run, to get into his lone leader role, because that's what he's used to so much. But he was chill, he was really chill. He enjoyed the race and that was super cool. What really happened, we don't know.
Gavin McClurg (42:17.72)
Super chill. Yeah.
Gavin McClurg (42:27.68)
Yeah, we're just guessing, aren't I had a very special, you know, kind of personal moment that your last day when I was up with you guys, you know, and launched with you heading to Lermos, it was very instructional for me. The last two, these both these last two have been very instructional for me because it's a different, it's so different that I can observe and
in a sense, pick apart.
Gavin McClurg (43:01.886)
learn how you guys do it and compare it to what I had done in my races. And I already said, you one of the things that really started working against me was this whole fear of blowing it and not flying my lines. But it was really cool to see how chill you guys were up there that day. You know, I don't remember many moments like that for me in the race. You know, just
So relaxed and so chill and just making jokes and you weren't, Lars launched and he was making it work and Nolan was really in a hurry. Lars was what, 10K behind you guys and launched just before you that day. Same air mass and same place and stuff. But for me, it was always, and maybe this was because I was never out in front, but it was always more racing.
know more, I gotta go. I gotta move, I gotta go. And it was really cool to see how just relaxed you guys were. I Kriegel even commented on it. You and I were laughing when I was filming and I said, what do you see about today? He's I see a lake, I see a ski area. That was so funny. But is that...
Simon (44:09.5)
Yeah.
Gavin McClurg (44:18.798)
Was that moment, did that capture a lot of how you are in the race? Or was that unique?
Simon (44:28.701)
You that it quite often is... it depends on the day. If it's a really good flying day, you know that decisions that are important will be made in the air. And if you go too early and you fuck it up, then you just have to run up again and be...
already did the glide down, we did our work, let's say it like this, in the morning, we did a very efficient glide down, we got ourselves in a good position and it was also really good to compare with the Tour de France. If you break out of that pack in the beginning now, because it still was a long race, then
it's more likely that you do a mistake and and bomb out and then you you lost like something like this so everybody was like cool and chill and checking each other out a little bit and we knew okay we we have to go to the amos and this will like
To go there, we don't normally on a good day like this, everybody knows how to fly there and there won't be a big gap. And it will all get together on Plymouth again and then we will go up and then the real race will start. So that was kind of the situation and let's say how I experienced it because I knew we, it's just...
incredible day and it's a perfect line to Lermos and perfect southeast and yeah if we cannot fly this then okay then we have another problem but this worked so well and the valley wind was not on and yeah it was perfect day it was like like we say in austria a hammer day yeah perfect and yeah yeah easy easy cheesy but in Lermos the racing started
Gavin McClurg (46:30.68)
Yeah, easy.
Yeah, easy.
Gavin McClurg (46:38.786)
Ha!
Simon (46:42.409)
There we... It started slow up the hill and slowly we started to push more and push more and push more and then I suddenly became nose bleeding from the morning because in the morning I was like yeah...
I had something in my nose and tried to pull it out and accidentally cut it with my nail. And so I had nose bleeding in the morning. But then it went away. when we walked up, and then we got really fast, suddenly my nose started to very, like, very intense. was like, shit, what do I do?
Gavin McClurg (47:08.91)
Cool.
Simon (47:28.721)
I didn't have anything to put inside my nose or anything. I looked at my supporter at Moritz and said, fuck, my nose is bleeding. He was like, fuck. And he took his cap, a running cap like this, and he was like, I only have this. And it was completely wet from his sweat. was a completely wet cap. like pushing it on my nose. Gave him one walking stick and pushing up.
Gavin McClurg (47:53.344)
God.
Simon (47:57.329)
And I said, okay, no, I'm not losing them now. And kept on pushing. And on the takeoff last gave me some toilet paper, put into my nose and yeah, that worked. But, but there we took off like, in two minutes or something like this, was like, okay, lying, laying out, but still in a controlled and not hectic way. Because when you learn one thing at excerpts, it's if you
Let go racing, racing, This most of the time leads to maybe one small mistake where you forget to put your barrier or to... If you have one little mistake, that can cost you so much more. So you always have to stay like a little calm at the takeoff. Do I have everything? Okay, I can go.
a very important thing and that's the takeoff should always be calm because you go flying you go flying and you just need to have everything that's always for me at least and it was also for everybody who was at the takeoff there like Aram, Bas, Krigel okay chill and then we shook our hands and said okay let's let's go good luck and yeah and then we knew it's on yeah
Gavin McClurg (49:25.694)
Yeah, that was awesome. Such a, I mean, truly a photo finish. mean, watching you and Lars come in with about 10 seconds to one another was just, you saw how excited I was on the top. That was just unbelievable. Simon, you had...
Simon (49:25.851)
and yeah
Simon (49:32.841)
Definitely. Yeah.
Yeah.
Gavin McClurg (49:43.91)
different take. So night one we had that huge storm up on at the the Sexton Turnpoint and you know we're all huddled underneath that roof and it was just dumping hail and nasty and then a brief break no hesitation from Kriegel and you guys all start hiking out there and so we're all basically running out in the hail and
Simon (49:57.459)
Wow, yeah. Definitely, yeah.
Gavin McClurg (50:09.932)
you know, handful of those guys took off and they did not make it look good. was, I mean, we had video of that and they ended up getting a penalty. But you didn't, know, Maxime had already walked down and you, you, you, I saw you, you looked and just kept going. You just walked, walked down. I'd love to hear two things. That decision, why, but also,
Simon (50:15.755)
no.
Simon (50:22.686)
Yeah.
Gavin McClurg (50:37.89)
There was a lot of chatter this year on the social media and I don't know how much you were aware of that, but David Cessudelli had that pretty wild launch that went totally viral day two and there was a lot of couch chatter. It's gotten too risky, it's gladiators versus adventure. I have a very specific take on this.
I don't agree with any of that, but I would love to get your thoughts. mean, to me, it's been that since 2003. It's always been that. We're just doing a much better job of showing everything now, not just us on the organization side, but everybody. You have your own media person. A lot of the teams do. Anyway, I've asked a lot there, but I'd love to get your thoughts on this stuff.
Simon (51:20.841)
Definitely.
Simon (51:26.793)
Yeah, so the first day with the thunderstorm, there I was seeing everybody taking off and it looked awful, yes, because the wind was not out of a good direction, the terrain was shit for taking off, I even Krill ran like...
It looked like he would never take off and I was like, fuck, what is this? And everywhere, there was the hailstone before and it was all white. was just shit. And I thought, no, first day X-ups, my legs are fresh, I walk down. And then I started walking down and then it also was very slippery.
Gavin McClurg (51:52.556)
That was awful. He made it look bad.
Simon (52:20.327)
It was really slippery to walk down in this hail and I walked down, walked down. And then I checked the conditions again. I was like, okay, shit, boy, I perfect wind there. It got clearer. There was no sign of rain at that moment at all. And I was like, I looked at my supporter and said, hey, this looks good. This looks good. Am I missing something? I was like, you're right. Now it looks better. And then I took off like...
200 meters of elevation down and then was perfect for flying for me. In the end there was a little bit of rain when I landed. I this little wet. Because for me then down there it just looked way better and it worked super nice. I just took off and on the way down I...
Gavin McClurg (53:02.568)
I didn't know you took off. thought you walked all the way down. Okay, so you just walked down a little bit and then took off. Interesting. Okay.
Gavin McClurg (53:16.309)
wow, okay.
Simon (53:20.041)
When I flew down, I just looked in the valley where I should have been walking or I could have been walking and where my supporters then walk and there was like, it was all a big river. It looked like, it also looked not nice to walk there and so I was really happy to take the decision to fly. But of course there...
It was not next to us, it was couple of kilometers away when I landed I also heard like far away a thunder and things like this and so yeah I also maybe could have walked down but in that moment I saw it safe and it was for me I didn't felt it at the top where the others took off so
for myself I just took the decision that this is not cool for me so I walked down and then I saw okay now the conditions changed a little bit and now I feel safe and then I took the decision so in the end it's you have to to live with your decisions that's that's the very important thing and for Krita it looked good and he yeah he also did a good flight down there he even landed high and then he even I think
toplanders somehow some meters of elevation and then this was his first move to get away from us. Not a lot of people recognize this but at Platzwiese he went up to like he tried to fly down the path which would have been a very good move if he could have done it but he took off and he couldn't cross the tree line.
and he had to land in again and then he had to land in the completely wet grass, in high grass I think and then he just took his glider and went straight into the hotel and then booked a room there, here like, fuck it I take a room or at least it looks like this, yeah and of course then there was this
Gavin McClurg (55:28.354)
Really? No, I didn't know that either.
Gavin McClurg (55:38.248)
that's funny. I didn't know that.
Simon (55:45.171)
day two of the the exaps which I think everybody who knows how to read weather and how to read pressure difference diagrams knew that this wouldn't be an easy day this will be be tough and this will be nothing like okay let's go XC flying and easy I knew that the dolomites won't be
that affected the fern. But in the beginning we still had north wind, but I flew a lot of times there with north wind and with this kind of conditions and they worked really well. So this was good flying, it was not easy flying, but it was possible. And then there was the crossing to Meran.
And then we had to land, to top land at the Meran 2000. And when I was approaching, was called my supporters, do you have some, wind data there? And it was like, yeah, there, there are gusts up there, but they are not sure if the weather station is correct because it, it seems like a lot of wind there. So, so be, careful. And then we were in a big, in a big group who, who came there. And then I
First I think I saw Tim Malangi landing and he was like top landing there and in kind of the lee side of the lee. was like double lee and he was landing that looked good and then he put down his glider and the wind was like you could see how he had to handle his glider on the ground to...
not blow him away and I was like oh fuck shit okay there's a lot of wind and so I kept on looking at the others how the the wings will behave and so I crudely like taking okay there's the there's this one spot where the the nearest to to the to the hacking trail to the via farata and it's okay for sure he's going for this so Tommy also going for this and
Simon (58:09.545)
really had like the perfect timing there was very low wind because it's fern, have big gusts and when I was coming in there was big gusts and I was like oh shit and really this was a really like intense moment and you you have to be in that moment and you know that
those gusts can come and I was prepared for it and I could handle the situation and also so could Tommy and we landed, backed and okay let's go and I was how will it be at the top yeah because we have to climb the VFR up, go down a bit and take off again and there it was a lot of wind but more
more linear so it was not that gusty so this was cool then in Shenna down there you're like in a complete situation so there was really a lot of wind but if you know how to handle those situations you have to be very patient to get this to get the right timing you're not allowed to like okay
Gavin McClurg (59:02.03)
Mm.
Simon (59:27.241)
Sparrowed down on the way and just land So I just sparrowed half the way and then I waited and Then I saw okay Now it's a little less and I tried to lose more Height and just landed and it was easy for me there but of course if you get like suddenly a gust you have to handle it again and it's it's it's kind of a tricky situation there and
Then we knew there's this hill where the fern hits from the valley and you will get uplift immediately. And for me this was like okay we can do this because the north wind will go up the Finchgau and there will also be the wind from Rechensee coming down.
Normally this area then is like a little neutralized. And it was like this in the beginning. We were even then struggling to get to base, to really get high. But then I somehow managed because I took a lot of patience in the first thermal and Kridl didn't and Damien and Christian Schuck also didn't. They just kept on racing and then they had to top nine.
Gavin McClurg (01:00:51.352)
You had a hell of a flight there, that was amazing. You just kept going and going and going.
Simon (01:00:55.369)
Yeah. And I was like, wow, nice. It's working so well. And I still have this ridge and in the higher, higher layers we have north wind. And I was calling my supporters and I was like, hey, this could work. This could work. And then I had this one crossing and I wasn't aware that in the valley will be a lot of wind, but I was at 3000 and thought, okay.
I can go around that mountain and will soar up again. then it was like you're hitting like the... You know Mario Kart? There are those accelerating stripes and there are those braking stripes. And it's like, okay, whoa. You cannot push against that wind. It was clear. But you had to push to...
at least keep your position for landing. And then it was at 3000, I knew that I had to look for a landing in the valley, which is like three or 400 meters above the sea. Like at three or 400 meters, the landing is, I was at 3000 meters. So 2500 meters of just going, of going really, of going down. And you knew it when you hit
Gavin McClurg (01:02:12.92)
Jeez. Straight down. It was that strong. Jeez.
Simon (01:02:23.023)
wall you knew that you wouldn't go any further that day with flying that was clear so i i was just i was in the zone i was i was flying and i knew what was coming i knew what i had to do i knew it will be turbulent it will be rough it will be not easy and so i constantly was checking like landing gusts trees everything it was for me it it
felt as much under control as it can get in this situation. So I had my wing, I knew it would be tough to keep it open, but it worked. So then there's this video I think from Paul who did like a video from where I was like going down the valley to my landing place. And this was really the most turbulent part. And for sure he is capturing this.
Gavin McClurg (01:03:12.524)
road.
Simon (01:03:23.427)
And so when I saw it on the video, how it was looking, it didn't felt like this for me. That's funny because for me it felt very under control and it was. I could land it and I could catch every collapse and reopening it. And so that was manageable for me. It was on the edge, definitely.
Gavin McClurg (01:03:33.368)
Mm-hmm.
Simon (01:03:52.787)
But I also, I don't really train, you can't really train those situations, but you can train flying in high wind situations. And through my experience or through the years, it will happen for you to land in heavy welly winds and in this situation. for me,
This didn't felt like a completely new situation. I knew what was coming and I knew that I was able to deal with it. The problem is if you're under the wing and you think, fuck, what is this? I'm stressed and then it's getting really dangerous because then most of the time you're not seeing anything but fear and...
Gavin McClurg (01:04:49.326)
Yeah.
Simon (01:04:49.811)
then it's dangerous. And when you look at that video, you see what would happen if I was in this situation. and, and, shit, and shit, and shit, I would never do that, fuck, fuck, fuck. And I can see both sides, yeah? I can see both sides, that people are like, fuck, what are you doing? But they cannot look inside me, and they don't know,
what I put into the preparation into the race and that I'm like yeah doing a lot of flying and really a lot of stuff to handle those situations and of course you're not allowed to do this like all the time and keep pushing and that's not what I want to do and I didn't I wasn't expecting
Gavin McClurg (01:05:19.438)
Thank
Gavin McClurg (01:05:38.358)
Sure, of course.
Simon (01:05:48.911)
like a wall of wind like this and nobody was expecting and the funny thing is everybody knew that I was got pushed down and Krillin was thinking yeah I just thought you did a little mistake in approaching the mountain and I was like yeah I think there wasn't the right approach to this mountain that's just boom and he was like yeah
Gavin McClurg (01:06:13.94)
Right?
Simon (01:06:18.377)
That was boom. And yeah, so we had to land there.
Gavin McClurg (01:06:21.166)
I mean, I don't know about you. I have more opinions about this, it's to me, I don't think the race is getting more dangerous. It's just, it's paragliding. It's dangerous. It's always gonna be dangerous. Competition makes people do dumb things. you have decisions like you did at the end of night one, you know, okay, is this worth it? But that's up to you. It's not up to anybody else to decide that. And then...
Simon (01:06:33.225)
Thank
Gavin McClurg (01:06:48.8)
Without those moments, without the wall of wind and the straight down and landing, it'd be less of a race for you personally, I'm imagining. These are part of what makes this race, this competition, this experience, this adventure so worthwhile to me. so those are the moments that we live for. I wouldn't wanna do that every day. I wouldn't wanna train for that.
too much, you know, because you're at some point your time's gonna come. You know, can't just fly in that stuff all the time, but like you said, but it's, you know, I bet you walked away from that pretty nervous, probably breathing a little heavy, you know, your heart's racing, but you're also kinda like, yeah, you know, I got it. This is why I'm here. It's not just to have the great flights, it's to have, you know, it's to piece together these hard ones, right?
Simon (01:07:45.961)
Yeah, I mean, flights like this, it's not... If they are not happening, I'm happy also. Because for sure we know there's more risk involved and we cannot see the wind and we cannot see turbulences. We can just feel them and react to them. So if you would see the air, think a lot of... we would not...
Gavin McClurg (01:07:56.502)
sure. It's not that fun.
Simon (01:08:16.045)
flying in a lot of places definitely because yeah so that's the one thing and there was this this one saying of Krile when we did the Tolomiti superfly and there were there's it's not so much meteor on this race and and and there was at least this kind of conditions but
Gavin McClurg (01:08:18.798)
Yeah
Simon (01:08:43.655)
we were a little more protected from the north wind and when we were landing at the next turn point he did say on German he said yeah which means yeah this part was not necessary so I would have been happy if it
wouldn't be like this. So he was also like on his limit and flying there on the edge. So we know that conditions like this are flyable in a certain way, but you have to be so cautious and so aware of the conditions and of what could happen.
Gavin McClurg (01:09:20.268)
on the edge.
Simon (01:09:42.451)
So, yeah, in conditions like this, if you're 100 % focused, it's like driving on a racetrack for a racing driver. If it does a mistake, it can happen.
You have a crash and then you you know what I mean? It's it's a racetrack isn't safe as well and and and people go racing there and
That's the racetrack for us is the Alps. And if you say, okay, we need rules that forbid there is this weather and people cannot fly, then it won't be Xalps anymore. Then it's a different race. And it's also cool. I like different formats and why is there not another Xalps? And I think Paul is thinking about things.
Gavin McClurg (01:10:32.995)
Yeah.
Simon (01:10:44.879)
And yeah, so there, but XSURBS is special and XSURBS is an adventure and everybody can take his own decisions. think that's very important for this race. yeah, so, and I did one mistake. did one mistake. really, I looked at Instagram and I looked at comments and I saw comments from people I know and they were like, and
Gavin McClurg (01:10:59.362)
Great. Excellent.
Simon (01:11:14.627)
I just said okay, I have to...
Gavin McClurg (01:11:18.414)
.
Simon (01:11:19.431)
get my phone away and no Instagram for me. And the next time I looked at social media was the Mont Blanc area because my video guy Dario was walking with me and he was like, hey, did you see the last summary of the last day? I was like, no, no, I hadn't looked at Instagram a long time. And he was like, yeah, look at it, what I did. And I was looking at it and I was like, wow.
He did a really amazing job in putting all together and I was like, looked at him and said, wow, great work and motivated me a lot. Yeah. But I just looked at the stuff I posted. So, or my supporter posted.
Gavin McClurg (01:11:47.842)
That's cool.
Gavin McClurg (01:11:57.452)
Mm.
Gavin McClurg (01:12:02.702)
Yeah, I think that's very smart. There's quite a gallery out there. I mean, if I looked at all the bad comments about our live shows, then I would be so crumpled I'd never be able to speak again. It would just damage my ego too much. I would never be able to do my job. Simone, I have a lot more questions here, but we're up against our time here a little bit. So I want to ask you, you've seen the race.
Simon (01:12:15.261)
Hahaha!
Gavin McClurg (01:12:30.382)
both ways, know, forever and ever it went to Monaco. You got to experience that specialness. And now it's the big out and back keeps getting bigger. Not so much comment on that, but I would like to hear your thoughts on how it could be better. You know, what are there things that, you know, either the race organization who now I'm working for obviously, but how could it?
How could it improve? And I think there's lots of little things, but are there a couple big things that would make it more fun for the fans, more fun for the athletes? I don't know, safer, whatever. Anything big that you're, you know, after five times, I bet you've got some thoughts on this.
Simon (01:13:22.313)
Definitely. So there's, it's, I see both sides because it's hard to organize a race like this. It really is hard. And I think that the X-UPS is also like giving a lot for, for, for pilots like me. So they're giving me a stage to like, Hey Joe, I am here. I do my adventure. I do my line and
I can fly like this or I can compete on this level and so I'm thankful for this platform but of course they also need to sell it and there are things where you say okay you're like putting a lot of sponsors into your wing which is like your wing and you just get the stickers and you have to put them in that's like a thing
But, okay, then I think it's, you know, that the live tracking is the heart of the excerpts. And I mean, come on. They can, they, but it was, I heard, for me, it feels like it's every year. Every year, people saying, what was the live tracking?
Gavin McClurg (01:14:40.77)
This year was a disaster.
Simon (01:14:52.539)
And I think there you need to put a lot of money because that's what the people actually are really watching. And I don't really understand why they're... Because there are so good solutions out there. There are really good solutions out there. And I think this is something that could be improved a lot.
I think doing via Faratas on the X-Raps is something very dangerous.
I get it, they want to get cool pictures and stuff like this and they sell it not as a paragliding race, they sell it as an adventure race. That's cool to get a bigger audience, but you have to consider that in the Alps conditions are not always right for VF-Raters and they can be not right for VF-Raters for a long time.
So this is something unfair for people because when there's a thunderstorm and then who decides is it still okay to do it and is it not okay to do it now? And there were some...
situations really on the edge and yeah talk to Kregel about it I think this was the this was maybe the most dangerous situation maybe for him I guess because you're you cannot do anything about it you you kind of have to do this this VFR out there and I don't think this is cool this is so so it's it's not
Gavin McClurg (01:16:30.958)
while we all saw the video that was dicey
Gavin McClurg (01:16:39.967)
it.
Yeah.
Simon (01:16:52.915)
that I don't like to climb a via ferrata, that's not the issue. It's just not really safe for everybody because sometimes the way it is like this, sometimes like this. Maybe this is very important. And then the more and more turn points you get,
the more the route is given and it will always stop the race for a moment which makes it a little more thrilling to watch and it's harder to break away so maybe that's even a good thing but not sure so I liked it when there were not a lot of turnpoints
because this was allowing a lot of freedom to choose routes and different things and I think this was also very exciting to watch. I guess there are a lot of things you can improve in a race like this and it's important to give the...
give the pilot a good... to value the pilot. That's very important I think. And of course you have to value the sponsors also because they give the money, they give the possibility to do a race like this. But yeah, don't forget the pilots.
Gavin McClurg (01:18:31.598)
Like you said, think very eloquently you said it. I think what often gets lost in the chatter and the complaints is understanding what it takes.
but you've got to get that balance right. I think that Tom and I had pretty similar views is what you're saying here. I think we've lost, we could gain safety and adventure by removing turnpoints and having more.
Simon (01:19:01.065)
Definitely.
Gavin McClurg (01:19:02.446)
I remember in 20, I think it was 2015 when Nick Nainans just started going off into space. I mean, he went so far north of where everybody else did with his block of cheese and his mom, you know, and it was awesome. And he made it, he kind of made it work, but he kind of didn't matter. And then you interview him, what are you doing? I don't know, I'm just having fun, you know? And it was so cool. I mean, he went like three passes north of where everybody else did. What is he doing?
Simon (01:19:11.591)
I know, I know, yeah. Yeah, super nice.
Simon (01:19:19.838)
Yeah.
Simon (01:19:28.841)
I remember that I was very good here.
Gavin McClurg (01:19:32.364)
We've, you know, and in, what was it in 2017 with the lakes and Paul's route, you know, way south. Super cool. Super cool.
Simon (01:19:38.845)
Yeah, that was super nice.
Gavin McClurg (01:19:43.52)
Yeah, so I think from a spectator standpoint too, that's really fun. And at the same time, we also understand that that's where a lot of the money's coming from, in these Turnpoint sponsors. So I get it. I see it now, working for the organization. I'm not involved in any of that obviously. I'm involved in just videoing you guys. But it's...
Simon (01:20:03.529)
Yeah.
Gavin McClurg (01:20:07.694)
I understand how difficult it is. It is the greatest platform. It is an incredible opportunity, but I agree with you on all points there. I think you can accomplish a few things with a few little changes that help everything. Certainly the live tracking is a good start, but Simone, I just...
So enjoyed watching you and spending time with you and delivering pizza to you. That was a blast.
Simon (01:20:43.625)
That was really really Kevin I have to say that that was so nice because it was I think 35 or 40 kilometers on the on the road in the rain and suddenly you really stop by I said like I pizza for you I heard you ordered pizza and I was like fuck no really man there's a really good pizza it's really good pizza yeah
Gavin McClurg (01:20:48.494)
Wasn't that fun?
Gavin McClurg (01:21:04.534)
It was good pizza. And poor Kregel got the shaft. I don't know if you saw that whole video that we produced from that, but Aaron, just was too generous. And Aaron and his supporters took a bunch and I looked in the box right before I delivered it. These two tiny little pieces, but it was great. His reaction was terrific. It was so much fun. Well, one more question. I'm assuming you're going to do it again. Is it still too early to know or?
Simon (01:21:09.501)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Simon (01:21:20.573)
Yeah.
Simon (01:21:32.137)
It's a little too early to know because of course I have to talk to my supporters. I of course need them if I want to do it again. And you always have to... We all have a certain energy level. And like we have energy and you take a lot of energy and put it into Excel. So there are always parts where the energy is missing.
That's something you always have to consider. But I think if everything is right, I would love to do it again.
Gavin McClurg (01:22:11.598)
It's good to hear. Simone, thank you. I appreciate your time and have fun there with Tommy at your school. And can't wait to see what you do next, But thanks for your time and thanks for coming on the show. I appreciate you.
Simon (01:22:26.345)
Thank you for the invitation, thank you for the good question and everything. And also thank you for the good and really cool insights during the race. Because now I watched some videos of you, you were really full in and this is something very cool. And you understand the race and you could cover it really good. So that was very nice to see this time that this was happening finally. More, I think we need...
more of this, more coverage really like from people who really do understand the race because that's not it's not easy to understand and to bring it to the people. Maybe the most different most yeah cool cool
Gavin McClurg (01:23:09.442)
Yeah, thank you. I love it. It's a great job. I really dig it. Thanks, Simone. Talk soon,
