Bikes or Death

Meaghan Hackinen just made history on the Tour Divide, completing the 2026 Grand Depart in 14 days, 10 hours, and 2 minutes.  In the process, she lowered the previous fastest women's time, set by Austin Killips during a 2024 ITT, by more than 13 hours. She also improved her own Grand Depart record by nearly  37 hours , one of the largest leaps we've ever seen at the front of the sport. For a full...

Daniel Connell, aka " Dirty Dan " is fresh off setting a new FKT on the Pacific Coast route from Alaska to the Mexican border. Dan ripped down the coast on his new, yet-to-be-released Trek Domane, setting a new time to beat: 6 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes. What some people may not know is that Dan is also preparing for a Guinness Book of World Records attempt on the Pan-American Route from Prudhoe B...

Maddy Nutt just made her mark on ultra-cycling in her very first attempt at this year's Traka 560. She is no stranger to big efforts on the bike — or The Traka itself. Over the previous three years she competed in the 360km event, notably finishing 7th last year despite tearing her AC ligament only 100km into the race. She's also raced some of the biggest gravel events in the world including Unbou...

We're gearing up for the second edition of RYDB Fest in Fayetteville, AR. In today's episode, we're breaking down everything you can expect this year. So what is RYDB Fest? A bike festival? An ultra-cycling race? A friendly bikepacking overnighter? The answer is: yes. RYDB Fest is an open invitation to ride your damn bike, any damn way you want. Built by the bikepacking community, for bikepackers...

Something new came to Sea Otter this year, and I went to get the scoop. Sea Otter is widely regarded as the largest bike expo in the world, but calling it a "bike expo" doesn't quite cover it. With over 70,000 attendees, 1,000+ brands and exhibitors, and 10,000+ athletes competing across a huge variety of races, it's… a lot. And with all of that, it's hard to imagine anything was missing. Enter Ol...

Can you imagine packing up everything you own on a bicycle, riding away from your home with plans to cycle the world over the next four years? Now imagine it's your first bike tour. That's exactly what Jacob Ashton did in 2016 when he rolled away from his home in Idaho. Over the next four years, he would cover roughly 77,000 miles, visit 100 countries, and ride across six continents. His travels w...

Tyler "Freakin" Reynolds and the First Texas Triple Star In 2025 the  Texas Triple Star  was born. Complete all three events in the  Texas Showdown Series , in the same category, within a calendar year, and you'll earn a handmade belt buckle crafted by Texas builder  Kyle Gilbert . Last year the series became official with the addition of  West Texas Showdown , and seven riders stepped up to attem...

My guest today is someone who is no stranger to the front of the field. A perennial podium finisher as a professional mountain biker, and over the past decade-plus one of the most accomplished ultra-endurance cyclists on the planet, he has first-place finishes at the Tour Divide, AZT, CTR, and many many more. The truth is, I'd need to create an entirely new podcast series to fully unpack the range...

We're kicking off the year with a special guest—Eric House! We met up in the Sam Houston National Forest for a bit of a role reversal; this time, Eric took the mic to interview me. I gave him free rein to ask anything, resulting in a wide-ranging conversation that covered everything from the silly to the serious. The heart of our chat focused on the last six years of work that culminated in 2025 w...

For the past five years, the Texas Showdown Series has been slowly, inevitably, drifting west. We started in the dense, pine-soaked forests of East Texas, moved through the rugged limestone of the Hill Country, but the destination was always clear: Big Bend. Few landscapes in the world capture the heart and soul the way West Texas does. For those willing to push themselves to the edge, something d...

We're 60 days out from the 3rd annual Central Texas Showdown grand depart, so let's talk about it! To talk about CTS I brought in a couple experts.   Andrea Roelofs has participated in the Central Texas Lowdown the first 2 years.   And Javian Quinones has participated in the East Texas Slowdown and came in 5th place this last year at the Central Texas Showdown. I'm stoked to have both of them in t...

Today on the Bikes or Death podcast it's all about the ladies!  For the first time ever I turned the microphone, and podcast, over to the talented Kayla Hall who guest hosted today's episode!   Her guests for today's podcast are Abi Snyder, Jenny Klecak, and Leila Husain, who among other things, participated in this year's Rockstar Challenge.  A 270ish mile, singletrack focused, backcountry bikepa...

This year's Tour Divide was one for the books - and the record books. With good weather and a very competitive field we saw dots moving so faster than anything we'd seen before, putting all the previous FKT's in potential jeopardy. Among those dots was Andrew Onermaa who was taking on the Tour Divide for the first time, and on a singlespeed! For much of the race Andrew's dot was ahead of the 2016...

Last year I participated in the inaugural Arkansas Graveler where we traversed the State from Fayetteville to Jonesboro through the Ozarks into the Delta. This year Arkansas invited Ariel Marlowe and I to check out their new course for year two. This year the route would take us from Mena to Russellville mostly in and through the Ouachita Mountain range. The Arkansas Graveler can best be described...

Stephen Fitzgerald is a husband, father, owner of Rodeo Labs, and accomplished cyclist. When time allows he's been known to dabble in gravel and ultra cycling races. In 2020 he placed a respectable 19th in the Atlas Mountain Race. Building on that experience he signed up for Pinyon & Pines this year. It was a stacked field of experienced riders and Stephen found himself in the lead group for most...

Cjell Moné just did the unthinkable by riding his custom Moné La Roca with coaster brakes on the Arizona Trail 800 . The AZT 800, which is actually 840 miles, traverses the length of Arizona from the USA/Mexico border to the border of Utah. It's infamous for being one of the most challenging bikepacking routes in the world. Riders will face extreme temperatures, brutal desert terrain, long stretch...

On today's episode I'm joined by a long time friend and cycling buddy of mine, Kerry Snow. Kerry was our 2nd place East Texas Showdown in the women's category and was 10th overall. While an impressive accomplishment on its own, Kerry's effort was even more incredible considering that she is undergoing chemotherapy for stage 2 breast cancer. Determined to not let cancer dictate her life, she has co...

My guest today is the one and only Dr. Eliza Sampey who brings her wealth of experience to the podcast. Eliza was a professional adventure athlete for 13 years. Her adventures and expeditions have taken her all over the world by way of all modalities of human powered travel. She is also a doctor of physical therapy, a concussion specialist, and a coach. Needless to say, we had a lot to chat about!...

I'm stoked to bring you my latest chat with Eric House fresh off his finish at the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco. After being laid off from his job in September he decided to go full send on bikepacking and has an epic 2025 planned. Probably most notably, he'll be doing all three of the Nelson Tree's Mountain Race series on a singlespeed. Something no ones ever done before! He's got a lot more on...

For the past 8 years Indiana aka "Drive by Dildo" has been focused on bikepack racing. He's got a laundry list of accomplishments to his name. Including being a Triple Crown Challenge finisher. He's one of only 23 people in the world to have accomplished this feat. I met him in 2018 when we were both participating in the GranGravel 500 and he was the first (and only to-date) to Yo-Yo the East Texa...

While you were sipping egg nog and opening the presents that Santa Claus brought you, Matt Annabel was starting his AZT 300 Yo-Yo attempt.  And while you were watching the ball drop or lighting fireworks to ring in the New Year, Matt was still out riding the AZT 300 Yo-Yo.  I can't think of a more epic way to close out one year and ring in a new one than riding your damn bike on one of the most be...

At this point Justinas needs no introduction. In 2024 he completed a total of 10 ultra cycling races, winning most of them. Among them was a win, and new FKT, at the Tour divide, where he bested the long standing record Mike Hall set 8 years ago. He then went on to finish first, but not win*, at the Colorado Trail Race. Followed by a first place finish at the Arizona Trail Race, a time that would...

Annabelle Bitterman was our 2024 Central Texas Showdown (472 miles) 1st place female, which was also good enough to secure 3rd overall. This was her third time participating in a Texas Showdown Series event. Her first bikepacking race was the 2023 Central Texas Slowdown (297 miles) and was our 1st place female finisher. Next she signed up for the 2024 East Texas Slowdown (280 miles) where she was...

Tim Krueger has been in the cycling industry for almost three decades. He got his start at a local bike shop breaking down boxes as a teenager. After college he landed a job at Salsa Cycles as the Product Manager during the birth of the "Adventure by Bike" category. A pivotal time in the bike industry that ultimately led to an entirely new market and category of Adventure Bikes. After his time at...

Hannah Simon is quickly becoming a dominant force on the ultra bikepack racing stage. She recently added another feather in her cap of accomplishments with a win at this year's Silk Road Mountain Race, with a time of 8d 20h 16m. At this point, Hannah probably needs little introduction, especially to the Bikes or Death audience. This is her 7th appearance on the show and this time we turned to you,...