How Tommy Bustard's Yorkshire Grit podcast got ex-cyclist's own life back on track

Bustard, from Yarm but now living in Leeds, was at a personal low point at the end of 2018 after his once-promising professional cycling career had gone off track.

He says problems had been building since Christmas 2015 when he got pneumonia after “burning the candle at both ends” and running into relationship and drug problems.

“My life from that day on took a spiral and I never got out of it for a long time,” he says.

“I never really found my love for cycling again. I made a bit of a comeback in 2017 but it was more just a battle with mental health and drugs to be honest.

“Then three years ago on Christmas Day was a very, very low point. I wouldn’t say I wanted to kill myself but I remember being on a bridge in Yarm at about 1am. But I came back and set the podcast up that night.

“I just had this innate feeling I had to talk my way out of it and if talking the spoken word was a vehicle for change and trying to help other people.”

His Yorkshire Grit podcast, which focuses on issues in men’s mental health, particularly in the sporting world, has since attracted star guests such as triathlete Jonny Brownlee, former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber and ex-cyclist Tyler Hamilton. The podcast has also featured Turner Prize winning artisGrayson Perry and is now supported by major cycling brand Le Col.

Bustard, who does the podcast in his spare time while also working in a sales job for a waste management firm, says it has been wonderful to witness the growing response to the show.

“The feedback I have had has been so overwhelming,” says the 34-year-old. “I used to screenshot every message but in the end I lost count.

“The key principles were always to be honest and never to be self-promotional. It is only about two weeks ago that I put the first photo up of what I look like.

“People didn’t even know what I looked like because I didn’t want it to be about me. It has kind of gone from strength to strength because it is so brutally honest that people can relate.”

Doing the podcast has also helped him as well as his listeners. “The podcast has helped because it gives you a meaning to strive forward for better things than just yourself. It gives you a purpose and makes you realise what you do can help others. My aim is I want to make people better after they listened than they did when they logged on. If I can do that, that makes me feel better.”

“I’ve had a few people say ‘You have inspired me to go to therapy or go to the doctors’. When I get that, it does make me think I’m doing some good here.

“I did Cocaine Anonymous. I’m nearly a year sober, I will be a year sober in two weeks and the strength that takes is unparalleled to anything I have done in my life.

“I’m infinitely better, you can’t put it down on paper how much better I am this last year.

“But that doesn’t mean I still don’t struggle. Once every five to six weeks, I have a day or a couple of days of a wobble. The podcast has been my anchor when the seas are choppy. It makes you think this is what it is for, you have people relying on you.”

Bustard says while there were some “raised eyebrows” from some of his friends when he set up the podcast, the decision to start it is one he feels has been fully vindicated.

“I laid my soul bare and when you do that there is no right or wrong. When you are being as honest as you possibly can be, there is no negative because you have tried your best.

“I think from what I have heard from people they are inspired. I have gone on there and said I did have a cocaine problem, I have gone on and said I didn’t look at myself in the mirror for three years and that I couldn’t get out of bed. I’ve let myself be vulnerable and had the courage to open that door.”

Bustard says there are definite parallels between fighting for success in the competitive world of cycling and putting in the groundwork to create impactful podcast episodes that have meaning for listeners.

“You are always searching for that high, that dopamine rush. While I’m doing the podcast it can be quite hard work and stressful and you are always doubting yourself. But afterwards, when you have done it and you see the amount of people listening to it and the feedback you get, you ask ‘Why do I doubt myself?’

“It has helped people and it is doing good and there is a really good satisfaction that comes with that.

“There are definitely similarities – both take planning and effort. The less you plan and the less effort you put in, the less you get out of it.”

His determination to go the extra mile comes through in the story of how he got Grayson Perry to appear on one of the earliest episodes of the podcast.

“I wrote Grayson Perry a handwritten letter because he did a book on mental health and a few documentaries and is very clued up on it,” he says. “I wrote ‘you really fit the mould of who I would like on’ and he wrote back to say he would do it.”

He says one of his favourite episodes was with Tyler Hamilton, a teammate of Lance Armstrong who co-authored an award-winning book about doping practices in cycling.

Bustard says: “Tyler Hamilton was a special one because he changed my life. I have read so many book and so many documentaries about Tyler Hamilton and Lance Armstrong and to be speaking to him was very surreal. Talking to him was just a wow moment for me.”

With future guests for the podcast due to include Sir Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton, Bustard admits he has hopes that he will eventually be able to turn podcasting into a full-time career.

Intriguingly, having been so open about his own mental health challenges, Bustard has a nuanced take on how men should deal with such problems in addition to opening up about their feelings.

He says since starting the podcast and learning more about the different schools of thought, he considers promoting self-belief among young men to be an important value.

“My views on mental health have changed so much,” he says. “It is important that mental health is supported but fundamentally we need to believe in ourselves and believe we can be great. Part of me thinks men do need to stand up straight and embrace the hardships of life.

“Just because men get a bit of a bad press at the moment doesn’t mean men can’t be great.

“If you believe in someone and put your arm around them and give them a word of encouragement it is amazing how they can light up. I want lads to just effing believe in themselves!”

Tommy Bustard is in the process of setting up a series of talks for businesses.

“I’m just about to set up Yorkshire Grit Talks – going into businesses and doing mental health talks on back to work after Covid and inspirational talks,” he explains.

“I have been booked for two in London.

“So that’s my next thing – to kind of grow that now.”

Series of Yorkshire Grit Talks planned

He will be setting up a LinkedIn page to promote his services and the talks.

He is also recording more episodes of the podcast, which is now into its third series.

To listen to the Yorkshire Grit podcast, search for it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Podfollow.