The TriDoc Podcast, triathlon and health in one place · Dr. Jeff Sankoff

Ep.186: Vagus Nerve Stimulation: The New 'Magic Bullet' or Just a Fancy Paperweight? And Grizzlies, Grants, and Gravel: Montana's Last Best Ride

·1 hr 8 min·4 clips

Montana's Last Best Ride has funded $130,000 in scholarships for 31 women.

Jeff Sankoff opens with Jess Serra. He introduces her as someone who has moved through a few different corners of endurance sport, from professional cyclist to kitchen experimenter to co-founder of Montana's Last Best Ride. That race has a real track record. It has sold out for five years, raised $130,000 in scholarships for 31 women from five schools, and also supported underrepresented youth through its 501c3 mission. The story feels grounded because it is. A racer with a practical streak helped build both a popular gravel event and a funding stream around it, and the conversation treats that as the point instead of dressing it up. The mailbag then shifts into medical territory. Jeff and his guest dig into vagus nerve stimulation, the recovery claims around it, and the devices being marketed ahead of the data. The tone stays skeptical throughout. Again and again, the discussion comes back to the same questions: is the evidence actually published, or still sitting at the abstract stage, and is the marketing moving faster than the science? That caution matters. Some of the benefit may come from the simple act of lying still and relaxing while using the device, which may be real enough as an experience without proving any special mechanism. The episode does not pretend that is the same thing as solid evidence. It also notes that vagal nerve stimulators already have established medical uses, including mental health applications, so the biology is not the issue. The issue is the consumer pitch. One of the last studies discussed is a tiny randomized crossover conference abstract on tragus-based vagus nerve stimulation for stress reduction, which hints at promise while also making the limits obvious. The episode lands in a useful middle ground: a gravel-race success story, a scholarship effort with actual numbers behind it, and a skeptical look at a buzzy recovery claim, all handled in a plain athlete-to-athlete register.

As heard by us

A skeptical medical mailbag sits beside a grounded gravel-race story with clear community impact.

The episode balances a skeptical medical mailbag with a conversation about Montana's Last Best Ride, a gravel race that has run for five years, sold out every year, and raised $130,000 in scholarships for 31 women from five schools.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a practical gravel-race success story and the backstory of a cyclist who built from a kitchen experiment.

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