Pickleball, Mexican food, gravel riding: Brandon McNulty on his off-season
There aren’t many chances for Brandon McNulty to spend long stints at home in Arizona, but fortune favored the U.S. rider this winter.
McNulty kickstarted his 2023 season off at the end of January in Mallorca, four months after pulling the plug in his 2022 campaign after the Vuelta a España.
Skipping his UAE Team Emirates training camp in December allowed him to get more from his off-season. He made the most of it, getting in a long vacation before going home to spend time with his family, as well as putting in some good time on the pickleball court and trying out a few different cycling disciplines.
“I came home after the Vuelta, on September 16, but then I went on vacation. We did two weeks in Jamaica and then we did like four days in Mexico, and we had a lot of fun,” McNulty told CyclingTips. “It’s nice to get disconnected and just be a normal person a normal vacation. We had our camp in Dubai, but then my total time at home was probably two and a half months.
“It was good, and I had a lot of fun with my fiancée and friends. I ended up not going to the training camp in December, so I was home for a prolonged amount of time. It’s really nice to just spend time in one place at home.”
The more than two months back at home in the U.S. gave McNulty an opportunity to enjoy some home comforts, see his family, and get in a few of the foods he usually can’t eat when he’s in the midst of a season.
When trying to get down to race weight, there are a lot of dishes that are ultimately out of bounds, while some foods just aren’t as good in Europe. The winter break is a window of opportunity to eat a few of them.
“A good steak is always nice. Mexican foods always good in the US or in Mexico when we are there also. Anything heavy. And ice cream,” he said. “I’m pretty lucky because I’m based in Phoenix, Arizona. We border with Mexico also so there’s a lot of pretty legit Mexican food.
In the off-season, bike riding isn’t McNulty’s only sport and takes a little bit of a backseat to pickleball. The sport, which is similar to tennis but on a smaller court, has been named one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S. over the last three years.
“My girlfriend and I play pickleball a lot with our friends. It was fun and completely different,” McNulty said. “To be honest it’s probably more competitive. You get more frustrated even though it’s not anything serious. It’s always more of a big deal, but it’s all for fun.”
He added: “Our friend Brad is probably the best of the four of us. And I’m, probably, by far the worst.”
Testing different disciplines
It’s not all pickleball for McNulty and he did fit in some time on the bike over the winter. The off-season gives riders an opportunity to taste some different disciplines when they don’t have to do specific efforts on the road bike.
The American decided to try some downhill, though he is keen to impress that he’s not about to threaten the likes of Loïc Bruni or Greg Minnaar.
“I wouldn’t call it downhill but there are some like famous trails in Phoenix ones like South Mountain, which is it’s pretty rough. But I’m not anything special at it,” he said. “It’s still cycling but also to me, mentally, it feels completely different just because I’m not trying to do anything physical. I’m more just having fun.”
McNulty also hit the gravel trails in Arizona during the off-season, adding some wider tires to his Colnago to do so. It allowed him to try something different to build strength and form, as well as getting away from the risks of the road, which provide an unnecessary stress when out training.
“I’ve never done a gravel race, but I’ve discovered in the off-season that I could fit like 32 mil gravel tires on our on our Colnago road bike,” McNulty said. “I was riding some gravel in the off-season, which is it was really nice. I could train but it was also not on the road. It’s always nice to be a bit safer.
“There are a lot of dirt roads that just kind of go nowhere where I live and then there are some trails that are super easy mountain bike trails. They’re single track, but there’s no big rocks or anything. So, it’s kind of perfect for the gravel bike and that was a lot of fun.”
For now, gravel riding is purely for a bit of diversity in training for McNulty. He’s not planning on hitting up one of the races in the near future.
“I think it’d be fun one day, maybe not when I’m fully focused on being a pro road cyclists. But if I ever retired and still had motivation to race maybe I would try,” he said.
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