Bikes or Death

Rebecca Rusch is an accomplished endurance athlete with 40 years of experience. Her list of accomplishments over that time period has been impressive. Among other things, she is a 7x World Champion Adventure Athelete, 2x Iditarod Trail Invitational winner, MTB hall of fame inductee, and a Red Bull Athlete. On today's episode we tackle the topic of Winter Riding. Some of the topics discussed are la...

Jerry Kopack followed the "laminated playbook" that many Americans are familiar with; go to college, get a job, buy the house, save for retirement, have the family, etc. etc. While he was on the path to a traditional standard of success, he wasn't fulfilled. In 2016 he set out on a 4 week bike tour in Zimbabwe with the goal of resetting himself in search of what's next. That 4 week trip turned int...

Ronnie is roaming around the states on a much deserved vacation. He was in Austin for a few days and we were able to meetup at Cycleast for a little chat. A lot has happened since the the last time we spoke back in the Fall of 2019. During the pandemic he moved back to Connecticut and ended up staying there and ramping up on his entrepreneurial efforts. What he's been able to accomplish in the cyc...

As the East Texas Showdown heads into it's third year the excitement is growing and so are the questions. To help answer the questions we brought in a few past participants who are also competing again this year. Our guest are Kuya Takami who won the Showdown last year, Emily Miller who is hoping to ride the Slowdown without sleeping, and Brendan Hare who was our Pro Slow winner last year and is s...

On today's episode Holden and I chat about a little bit of everything. His day job is at a hot rod shop in Ft. Worth and he's owned a few pretty rad cars over the years. He put his mechanical abilities to use and built hims a rad Tall Bike, which is the fodder for many of my questions on this episode. When he's not tooling around on his tall bike you may see him on his fixie cruising the streets o...

Scarlet & Flint Ziegler just made waves in the bikepacking community when word got out that they had completed the Tour Divide Route in 42 days. The Tour Divide is a well established route that many have done, but what sets this father daughter duo apart is that Scarlet was only 13 years old when she completed it. Please visit www. BikesorDeath.com for a full writeup on todays episode and a photo...

In October my friend Connor (Natalie joined us on day one) and I were the first ones to ride a new route I created as part of the East Texas Showdown. This one is called the Lowdown and is for participants who want to ride (not race) and enjoy the East Texas Piney Woods with a group of other riders. It's 160 miles with a little over 5,000 ft of elevation, with four camping options, and plenty of r...

Today's episode is a hodgepodge of topics as we look at the year in review, reveal the winners of the BoD Awards, and I answers questions from the listeners. 2022 was a year of first, of growth, both personally and for the podcast, and I can't wait to do it again in 2023. As I reflect on the previous year, and over the past four years, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to share th...

In Oct. the first iteration of the Rhino Run took place in South Africa. After being delayed by covid for 2 years the first 32 adventurous souls lined up at the starting line. Among them was Abdullah Zeinab and Kevin Benkenstein who would establish and early lead in the race that they were able to keep until the end. Their battle for first place is the stuff of Hollywood movies, caulk full of dram...

Eddie O'dea recently became the first person to complete the Eastern Divide Trail which runs through Mulberry Gap in Georgia, which was also the location for the first BoD Takeover. This made him the ideal candidate to be my first guest with a live audience. This conversation took place on Saturday morning at the Mulberry Gap Barn with about 40 bikepacking enthusiast in attendance. Please visit ww...

On Sunday before the group start of the Arizona Trail Race Katie Scott was texting her friend who was doing the race with the typical well wishes. That short interaction sparked something in Katie that had been brewing for years. After thinking about doing the AZT for years she decided in that moment that this would be her year. So she threw fears and doubts to the wind and moved forward with her...

Ernie Lechuga is no stranger to cycling success at a high level. He began his road cycling career in the 90's and earned a spot on the coveted Team Jelly Belly. After retiring he moved to NW Arkansas where he now helps other cyclist unlock their potential through his coaching business, Leborne Coaching . In recent years he's been signing up for more endurance cycling events. He's done Silk Road tw...

This week we are taking a peak over the preverbial cycling fence to see what's going on in the world of gravel racing. We've seen Ted King, Payson McElveen, Lachlan Morton, and many other gravel racers dip their toes into the bikepacking waters. Now it's our turn to take a peak into their world. After coming on the podcast to tell us all about Wisconsin Bikepacking & Gravel , Shane Hitz invited me...

RJ Sauer is no stranger to big trips, big challenges, and big adventures. I've been following him and his work for years with great interest and a tinge of jealousy. Last year he set out to take on a new challenge, this time with his 3 year old son, Ollie, in tow. They settled on the Rexy Gravel Race , a 200 mile mixed terrain race starting in Fruita, CO and ending in Moab, UT. The catch? You've g...

Edyn Teitge just completed the Smoke n' Fire 400 at the age of 13. He didn't just complete it though, he came in 6th place only 8 hours behind Jay Petervery with a time of 2d 15h 31m. When I asked him how he felt after he finished, he didn't think he could go any faster, but he thought he could go for another couple of days at that same pace! Please visit www. BikesorDeath.com for a full writeup a...

My guest today is Gemma Baird who recently set a new Singlespeed FKT (Fastest Known Time) on the Highland Trial 550 in Scotland. After battling breast cancer, surviving homeschooling her three kids through the pandemic, and turning 40, Gemma needed a big goal. That's when she set her sights on the 2022 HT550 group start. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make the group start, but that' didn't stop...

Seth DuBois just completed his biggest bikepacking challenge yet at the 2022 Silk Road Mountain Race . SRMR has quickly captured the attention of racers and fans from around the world. The stunning imagery and landscape that is Kyrgyzstan seems to lure people in. Seth felt that pull and he answered the call. This year, he joined 154 other brave souls from around the word to challenge themselves on...

What were you doing at 17? Whatever it was, it's probably not as cool as my guest today. PJ Terry just shared first place at TNGA with a time of 2d 12h 30m. He crossed the finish line with Andrew Weidrich who shared the win with PJ. Visit www. BikesorDeath.com for a full writeup! This weeks quote ~ "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." ~Albert Einstein EPISODE...

Shane Hitz has been busy building routes and putting on gravel races in Wisconsin for many years. This week he's here to tell us all about his routes, the Red Granite Grinder, and Wisconsin gravel riding and bikepacking. After this conversation I'm even more excited about at the Red Granite Grinder on Oct. 15th ! The Red Granite Grinder is quickly making a name for itself in the gravel world. What...

This week I'm joined by Ana Jager who just became the 2022 Tour Divide winner on her Rookie attempt! Most of the questions for todays episode came from women who answered the call on social media! Hillary, Laura, Tatiana, and Katheryn all called in with their questions and many more women sent me questions to ask! Please visit www. BikesorDeath.com for a full writeup on todays episode! EPISODE SPO...

Aleś Zavoral from the Czech Republic just won the 2022 Bike Nonstop US Race with a time of 18d 11h 51m. Aleś is no stranger to racing, he's logged 136 races in the past 13 years. I did the math, that's 10.4 races a year! Please visit www. BikesorDeath.com for a full write up and photos from Aleś' race! EPISODE SPONSORS Embark Maple - Maple syrup tapped right from their farm made by, and for, bikep...

Nick Marzano is back! And this time he has joined the ranks as an official Tour Divide Finisher with a time of 20d, 9h, 1m, which was good enough to secure 22nd place. Nick first appeared on the podcast while he was still racing the Tour Divide. We chatted when he was at mile 1,250 in Pinedale, WY at about the halfway point for the race. If you haven't already, you may want to give that episode a...

We continue our Tour Divide coverage with an interview from this years 2nd and 3rd place finishers, Manu Cattrysse and Adrien Liechti. This year I drove to the finish line of the Tour Divide to meet with finishers and record some podcast with anyone who was willing. On last weeks episode I chatted with First Place finisher Sofiane Sehili. This weeks episode takes place at Jeff Sharps kitchen table...

This past weekend Sofiane Sehili became the 2022 Tour Divide winner with a time of 14d 16h 36. This concluded a journey that started 8 years ago when Sofiane toured the Tour Divide for the first time. He would return in 2016 to race it for the first time and claim a very respectable 3rd place, while Mike Hall would go on to win and set a new course record in the process. A record that stands to th...

Last week I put a call out to anyone currently racing the Tour Divide to come on the podcast. I knew it would be a bit of a challenge, but I thought it would be really neat to hear from someone who is currently racing to give us a live account of this years Tour Divide. Nick Marzano answered the call via instagram and after a few days trying to make our schedules align we were able to chat while h...