Bikes or Death

It's always an extreme pleasure to sit down and chat with Lael Wilcox. Her positivity and honesty is infections as is her drive to push herself to extremes all in the name of bike racing. She's an inspiration to so many of us in this community and I am no exception. She has been a huge source of inspiration for me as I dipped my toe into the bikepacking waters. There is something about her fearles...

This episode is the first one to come from my recent road trip to New Mexico and Arizona to interview guest for the podcast. My first stop was in Las Cruces, NM to meet up with Matt Mason to ride a portion of the Monumental Loop . We rode up to the base of the Organ Mountains and camped in perfect weather. In the morning we recorded this episode under little outcropping before descending 10 miles...

On March 6th, 2021 twelve college students in the Adventure Media class at Texas Tech University set off on a bikepacking trip as part of their course curriculum. This year the classes challenge was the Caprock Canyon State Park and Trailway, which in total was 66 miles with very little climbing, but the wind made up for what the elevation profile lacked! This course is the brainchild of Dr. Jerod...

Miles is BACK! The first time we did an interview was in his van at the Bikepacking Summit in 2019. This year, thanks to COVID, we are relegated to Zoom, but that didn't stop us from having a good ole time. We sang, we laughed, and there was some really great chats about Bikepacking.com and other super interesting bike stuff that you won't want to miss! Including, but not limited to, the best shoe...

Over the last couple of years I've received a lot of request for episodes that address some of the "how-to's" and "what's what" of bikepacking. I've delayed for a couple of reason. One, a personal belief (or lack thereof) that I should leave that to more experienced and knowledgeable people in the community. The other problem, was figuring out a way to deliver the information in a podcast format....

The first episode of 2021 is with the very inspirational Jacob Hora. At only 15 he's accomplished more than most regardless of age. I didn't know who he was before watching the Trackleader dots of Jay Petervary's Fat Pursuit . The first place finisher was Jacob, so I clicked on his profile and was immediately intrigued when I saw he was only 15! You may remember that the first episode of 2020 was...

On the morning of Christmas Eve 2018 Kait Boyle was at the height of her ultra endurance racing career, having won the 24 hour World Championship in 2018 and set a new record on the AZT 300. Her life would take an unexpected turn later that day when she was involved in a horrific vehicular accident that left her with a long list of injuries and a long path to recovery. Like many of you, I watch he...

From 2006 to 2016 Ted King was a professional road cycling before switching to gravel where he took 1st at the DK200 in 2016 and 2017. Earlier this month he completed the 1,000+ mile Arkansas High Country Race in first with a time of 4 days, 20 hours, which was good enough to snag the FKT set by Jay Petervary in June of this year. The ARHCR is no walk in the park either. It may be easy to have you...

I caught up with Aaron 4 days after he finished becoming the *first person to circumnavigate Texas on a bike! In total he rode 3,014 miles in 58 days and he wrote weekly articles about his journey that you can read on Texas Monthly . In 2019 he rode every street in his hometown of Austin, TX, but towards the end of that project he started thinking bigger. Like the whole state of Texas bigger! In t...

Erik and I met at a Bikes or Death group bikepacking trip right before the world shut down thanks to a coronavirus. Since then he's been wholed up in his Austin apartment in lockdown. With some extra time stuck indoors he's been finding ways to stay active and engaged with the cycling community. Early on he rode 1,000 miles on his training in a month, then he gave himself a stick and poke tattoo,...

Chris Burkard has become a personal source of inspiration for me and it was an honor to have him back on the podcast. He was first on way back at Episode 17 to tell us about his WOW Cyclothon Record that he set in 2019. That episode really fired me up and motivated me to push myself in more ways than just on the bike. Chris' passion for life is contagious and I highly recommend you go back and lis...

In July Talib Abdullahi created and organized a Black History Ride in Austin, TX. Motivated by the BLM movement he wanted to create a positive event that would both be education and fun. Originally, he was thinking it would be him and maybe 20 of his friends, but word quickly got out, and within a week he was leading his Black History Ride with 400ish cyclist in tow. In August I met up with Talib...

This week I'm in the hot seat as my friend Ryan ask me YOUR questions! He interviewed me once before on Ep. 8, but a lot has changed in 48 episodes and thanks to your questions we had plenty to talk about. If you've been listening for a while you've probably heard me talk about my lack of expectations for the podcast. Not in a self-deprecating way, but in the way that you do something that you're...

This weeks episode I chat with Dave Nice who is known on the interwebs as @fixiedave. His username gives away the fact that he rides fixie, but it says nothing about his completion of the Tour Divide in 2012 after attempting it 5 times before. I have to assume it takes a determined person to ride a fixie, but what adjective should I use to describe the determination of someone who takes on such ma...

Two things that intimidate me are the Colorado Trail and YoYo'ing the CT, but nothing kept Katie and Andrew Strempke from being the first people to Yo-Yo it. By the numbers they did a total of 1,080 miles, 140,000 ft of elevation gain, with maybe 200 miles or more of hike-a-bike, and one slumber party in a vaulted camp toilet. They completed it in 16d, 14h, 20m which is made more epic by the fact...

At this point Sofiane Sehili needs no introduction. Three days ago Sofiane finished the French Divide in 1st place and with a New Course Record to boot. After his impressive 1st place at the Atlas Mtn Race earlier this year he was looking forward to a busy and successful race year, but then Covid happened. When some restrictions were lifted he wasted no time signing up. In June he raced the Hope 1...

Cinthia Pedraza calls Austin, Texas home. Some recent experiences in her hometown led her to write an article titled "Bike Racing, White Privilege, and the Coronavirus" that was published on The Radavist . As you can imagine she was praised by some and targeted by others. Personally, I'm grateful for her willingness to share her perspective on a touchy subject when the world feels poised to cancel...

  Cinthia Pedraza calls Austin, Texas home. Some recent experiences in her hometown led her to write an article titled "Bike Racing, White Privilege, and the Coronavirus" that was published on The Radavist . As you can imagine she was praised by some and targeted by others. Personally, I'm grateful for her willingness to share her perspective on a touchy subject when the world feels poised to canc...

In this week's episode I do my first "colab" podcast with Lewis Ciddor who not only won Tour Divide in 2017, but is also the host of the Overland Archive Podcast . We come to the podcasting world with different experiences and perspectives which I think are both valuable. I was excited to chat with him about his personal history with cycling and of course his 2018 TD win. It was made particularly...

Episode 50 is coming in hot! Today's episode is with the charismatic, inspirational, and rowdy Leo Rodgers! He's made a splash in the cycling world recently with features in Bicycle Magazine , a Lucas Brunelle Film , and most recently signed with Crust / Ronsbikes / Ultradynamico factory PRO recreation TEAM. The attention is well deserved. When a motorcycle accident left him without a leg he recon...

He didn't invent the Great Divide Route or the Tour Divide Race, but Mike Dion quite literally brought awareness to both with his 2010 film Ride the Divide . Many bikepackers I've met, including myself, credit it with their own journey into this new way of exploration. 10 years later, his film is still relevant as people are finding it for the first time and getting inspired with their own sense o...

I got to meet up with Bailey Newbrey in his new-ish shop, Sincere Cycles, on a recent trip to Santa Fe, NM. Bailey made a some noise in 2018 when he finished the Tour Divide in second place overall on a Singlespeed! We chat a lot about his 2016 and 2018 Tour Divide runs and his reasoning behind running SS. He also makes some bold predictions towards the end of the podcast that is worth sticking ar...

James Mark Hayden came on the ultra endurance bike racing scene in 2015. Since then he's been putting down some incredible performances, winning the Transcontinental Race twice, shared 1st place at the Italy divide, getting 4th at Silk Road even though he was robbed by men on horses during the race, and most recently he finished 2nd at Atlas Mountain Race to Sofiane who came in only 4 hours earlie...

Friends, we can no longer be silent. Being a non-racist is not enough, we need to be anti-racist and create the change that is so desperately needed. Please listen to this message about what Bikes or Death, and I, are doing and how you can help.

This weeks episode features four first time bikepackers and students of Jerod Fosters Adventure Media class at Texas Tech University. Many of you will probably be familiar with this course from past interviews, but for the uninitiated it is a college course that teaches students how to capture more adventurous type media. As an example of the type of media they produce check out a couple of videos...