Bikes or Death

Pepper Cook is a legend in the bikepacking and touring community. She's known for her witty puns, quirky humour, and almost a decade of epic solo bike trips. I got to meet her at last years Bikepacking Summit where she was a presenter. I've been a fan of her for a long time and listening to her masterfully tell stories around a campfire goes down as a highlight of my life. She is as engaging and f...

I'm excited to have Jerod Foster back on the podcast, he was first on as my 3rd guest.  On that episode we discuss his career as a Professor at Texas Tech University, where he teaches a class called Adventure Media.  In this class he takes 16 student bikepacking and gives this real world experience capturing content in wild places.  I was fortunate to go on one of these trips and see first hand th...

On March 19th at 5:00am Mark McGraw lined up at the start line of the "unofficial" GranGravel 500 Race along with two others. The official race was cancelled due to COVID-19, but that didn't stop these guys from lining up to take on the course, the elements, and potential resupply closures at key points. The forecast called for lots of rain that would make many of the roads unrideable. Despite tha...

Emma Flukes doesn't shy away from a challenge. In fact, she seeks them out and seems to thrive there. She is the brainchild behind the twisted, grueling, unsanctioned, unsupported, route described as "a scenic trip to Hell", and known as Tassie Gift . In Nov. of 2019 she and a handful of other lunatics set out to test themselves in some truly unprecedented weather making the 1,100 miles and 125,00...

In this episode I meet up with Jenny Schmidt at Rocky Hill Ranch to ride bikes and record a podcast. She had just completed a solo bikepacking trip along the US/Mexico border from California to Texas. For her this trip was about grappling with her own mental health and an opportunity to learn first hand about the issues surrounding the border and the wall. When we recorded this episode on Feb. 25t...

Drew Echelberger is a 29 year old adventure cyclist, writer, glassblower & rapper from Louisville Kentucky.  The eccentric aspiring novelist, & travel show host has been making & hiding marbles all across the country throughout the course of the 37,000+ Miles  (over 1.5 x around the planet earth) 30 states & 3 countries he has pedaled though solo & self supported over the past 5 years.   Two weeks...

I'm excited to release my second interview with Kerry Staite, Chief "Mad Scientist" at kLite. Kerry is a forward thinking guy with perspectives that will make you go mmmmmhhhhh. If we are starved of anything in today's world its authenticity, but not today, not this episode, and especially not Kerry Staite. Hold onto your headphones, this one's coming in hot.

Katie Visco is fresh off a 2,200 mile, 119 day run across the Australian outback, but she didn't do it alone. Her support vehicle was a Surly Troll loaded down with all the food, water, and provisions they would need to make the traverse. This "Monster Bike" was powered by her husband, Henley Philips, making this the first anyone has ever ran across Australia complete supported by 100% human power...

I had the pleasure of interviewing Scotti and Ernie Lechuga in Little Rock, AR on my way to ride a portion of the AR High Country Route. Brannon Pack who works for Fayetteville recommended them as a great interview to get a feel for what I had to look forward to. I went into this interview completely blind to their background as professional road cyclist. I was planning to talk to them about their...

Y'all know I love me some Arkansas, so when Brannon Pack called me with an "idea" to give me a guided tour on a part of the High Country Route I started packing my bike bags. This is the second year for the Arkansaw High Country Race which will start and finishes in Fayetteville, AR for the first time. The race is based on a route that was created by Chuck Campbell in partnership with the Adventur...

As a follow up to the last episode with Roger Gilles , where we discussed his book Women on the Move about women's racing at the turn of the century, I asked Jolene Holland if she would be willing to come on the show to discuss women's racing now. Jolene has been cycling for the past 10 years and now rides for Colavita as a Cat 1 racer. She is also the creator of Ultra Violet Racing Team, which fo...

In this episode I interview Roger Gilles, author of Women on the Move: The Forgotten Era of Women's Bicycle Racing . I originally became interested in this book when a documentary I was watching (called Bicycle) mentioned a bike racer by the name of Dottie Farnsworth. As a Farnsworth myself, and knowing that it is an uncommon name, I knew there was a good chance I was related to her. My mom happen...

At the age of 14 Alana was introduced to bikepacking through The Anchorage GRIT Program put on by Lael Wilcox and Cait Rodriguez. If you've been following along you have probably heard Lael's version of meeting and getting to know Alana, and now you get to hear from the young lady herself. As a seasoned bikepacker at the age of 16 she has already completed a 1,000+ mile trip in Alaska and a tour o...

  You don't schedule an interview with Ultraromance. The universe must align in such a way that your paths cross and you may find yourself sitting down with the most mythical personality our sport has ever seen. In this exclusive interview I ask the questions you've been dying to know like, "What's your name?" and "Do you take showers?". Find out his answer to these and many more in this ultra epi...

  At the Bikepacking Summit I had the honor of sitting down with Lael Wilcox and Rugile Kaladyte (Rue) in their first interview together. After they found themselves in the middle of drama on the Tour Divide this year it was nice to chat with both of them to hear their thoughts on riding and documents bikepacking events. Personally, I'm grateful for what they are trying to do through documenting t...

  Kate Gates is one of the owners of Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Getaway in Ellijay, GA, the venue for this year's Bikepacking Summit . Their property is located in the southern Appalachian Mountains of northwest Georgia and is surrounded by National Forest, gravel roads, and cycling friendly trails. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that their facility is an oasis for cyclists and outdoors people. T...

  Joe Cruz is a powerful and incredibly insightful person, which surely stems from his background as a professor of philosophy at Williams College and his decades of bikepacking and bike traveling all over the world. Additionally, he is an editor at large for Bikepacking.com . Joe was the opening presenter on Friday morning at the Bikepacking Summit this year. What we as the audience experienced w...

  On Oct. 27th 2018 I sat down with Greg Hardy of Rockgeist in his shop in Asheville, NC to record the first ever Bikes or Death podcast . What has transpired since that day can only be described as a whirlwind. On that day I started a journey that has taken me further than I realized possible or likely. However, here we are a year later and I'm sitting down with my friend Greg again. On this new...

  Like most modern friendships, I linked up with Miles Arbour through Instagram. Miles is the one responsible for putting together a Q&A article that appeared on BIKEPACKING.com after my first six episodes here at Bikes or Death, sending a surge of new listeners my way… an article I'm still stoked about.  Miles is a writer and editor at BIKEPACKING.com, reviewing products and bikes, managing the e...

Getting to talk to Kurt Refsnider was a true pleasure. His achievements on and off the bike are quite impressive and my conversation with him left me feeling inspired, hopeful for the future of our public lands, and also a little like I could be doing more! I caught up with Kurt after his win at the Colorado Trail Race. This is a race that he hasn't had good luck with in the past, but this year ev...

Rebecca Vader set off on her bike a little over two months ago on what she called The Freedom Tour. She didn't have a destination in mind, just a bike and her adventurous spirit. On this episode we learn where that combination leads. She has a unique approach to life that is refreshing on some level and intimidating on the other. Our conversation had me looking inward to check in with myself at di...

Kerry Staite is the owner and founder of kLite . I've been a customer of his for a couple of years and have followed him on social media ( @klite_dynamo_power on Instagram) with growing curiosity. It was this post that made me reach out to him immediately: "This is ME, I am kLite I wear no shirt of social conformity. I wear no hat to hide my hairless shame I am flesh and blood, I am free to be me....

On this episode I chat with Anna Claire Beasley and Beckie Irvin , creators of Grit Fest : a women's mountain bike festival going down this November in Arkansas. The three day festival is open to womxn (cis, trans, and non-binary) riders of ALL levels and will focus on skill development, community building, outdoor advocacy and education. The schedule is packed with workshops and clinics, speakers...

On this episode I meet up with Vince Colvin, co-owner of Chumba USA, at his home in Austin, TX.  Before recording the podcast he built up a couple of his bikes SS and we went out to shred some trails and eat tacos.  We had a great convo and it was cool to ride bikes and talk bikes with the owner of this rad company. www.chumbausa.com Photo by Cass Gilbert @whileoutriding in Ecuador

Imagine you are on an extended bikepacking trip in the high desert. It's the middle of the summer and the middle of nowhere when you see an elderly man lying across the road. You don't know how long he's been there, where he came from, or how long he has left to live. This is the situation Tomas Quinones found himself in on July 18th when he found Gregory Randolph lying on the road in The Oregon O...