Ep. 59: Eric Hill Announces 2024/25 Echelon Racing League & USA Cycling Esports Nationals

In Episode 59 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma welcome Eric Hill, founder of Project Echelon Racing and Echelon Racing Promotions. Eric has been a visionary in blending traditional cycling with virtual racing, supporting the sport and the veteran community through his groundbreaking initiatives.

In this episode, we’ll dive into Project Echelon’s mission and its impact on cycling and veterans, explore Eric’s early adoption of cycling esports as a distinct discipline, and hear about his plans for the 2024/25 Echelon Racing League season.

From the race schedule and prize purse to its potential role in qualifying for the 2025 USA Cycling Esports Nationals, there’s a lot for racers and fans to get excited about.

We’ll also discuss Eric’s move to MyWhoosh as the platform of choice for the upcoming season, his thoughts on performance verification, and how he plans to address athlete concerns about adapting to new technologies. Plus, he’ll share details about an exciting new partnership with indieVelo—now Training Peaks Virtual.

Don’t miss out on the unique opportunity to delve even deeper into the intriguing topics discussed in this episode. We’ve curated a selection of articles that inspired our conversation, providing you with exclusive insights.

• Wahoo RGT and Project Echelon Introduce Trikes For Disabled Virtual Cyclists [Zommunique, Dec. 12, 2022]
• One of The Most Momentous Events in Virtual Cycling Recently Took Place, and Not Enough of Us Are Aware, But We All Should Be! [Zommunique, Feb, 7, 2022]
• Why introducing handcycles is Zwift’s most important update so far [Cycling Weekly, Oct. 10, 2022]
• RGT leads the charge for inclusion of disabled athletes in virtual cycling [CyclingNews, Feb. 7, 2022]

Join us for a conversational ride where we not only lend a voice to the digital athlete but also bridge the gap between athlete and avatar. We invite you to be part of this exciting exploration of the future of virtual sport and digital athlete engagement!