My Back 40

This week on the My Back 40 podcast: myback40.org I’m really excited to bring you another conversation with Sports Psychologist, Matt Bain. Sports Psychology is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his breadth of experience, as you’ll read below and hear in this podcast. “Matthew has a far-reaching psychology background in a broad range of areas. Among them includes clinical diagnosis and...

It’s not about the bike this week. From time to time, I branch out to have a conversation with someone who inspires me. Kirby Brown is an old friend who I met in Whistler B.C. back in the 90’s. At the time we were both working for Whistler Mountain, now Whistler Blackcomb. Kirby worked in guest services, while I worked at McKonkey’s Sports Shop across the hall as a rental “technician”. We’ve alway...

I first spoke with Sofiane back in Episode 001 of the My Back 40 podcast and it was great to connect with him again. A few days ago Sofiane won the 1,858 kilometre, Silk Road Mountain Race in 8 days, 14 hours, and 35 minutes. An incredible time considering the terrain, the challenging weather and a major mechanical. Sofiane has a pretty impressive resume: Two Volcano Sprint 2020 2nd place French D...

Sorry for the delay in getting this out to you. I had some technical difficulties and had to start over. So this one is just me chatting about my experience on the Alberta Rockies 700 . Despite having some deep mental obstacles on day one, I was able to to finish the route in 5th place in 2 days, 15 hours and 9 minutes. I am super proud of that! My target was 3 days. Something that I neglected to...

This week, I’m speaking with Meaghan Hackinen , winner of the BC Epic 1000 . Meaghan lives in Kelowna and has ridden a few sections of the Epic before but this was her first time riding the Epic in its entirety. This was also her her first time riding an off road event like this. She had only purchased her Cutthroat weeks before and had to tune up her riding skills for the dirt. All things conside...

I feel like the Universe gives us what we need, when we need it. Pushing through these events is physically tough, but the highs and lows also take their toll on you. The morning I met Angela in Rock Creek is an example of this. We both got the emotional boost we needed right when we needed it most. For Angela, the last handful of years have been a journey of making positive lifestyle changes, imp...

Hey everyone! First of all, apologies for the delay in getting a podcast out. The last couple of weeks have been a blur since the Epic. One moment I’m out in nature on my bike, the next I’m sitting in the car with a swollen body on our way to Vancouver Island to visit family and do some glamping. Recovery has been slow. In all honesty, the whole thing is a blur. I sat down and started to record an...

Jen and Eric Betteridge both grew up in active families and have always carried on leading an active lifestyle. They have both continued to enjoy adventuring by bike and like to see people getting out there on whatever bike they have. Ontario has so much to offer in terms of outdoor recreation and that motivated this adventurous couple to develop a route that showcases some of the fantastic bikepa...

Ben grew up in Barry’s Bay, Ontario in the Ottawa Valley, cycling and paddling. Growing up being self sufficient and self propelled became a focus for Ben and after convincing his parents, he took his first big bike trip as a teen from Pembroke, Ontario to Niagara Falls which kick started his desire for cycling long distances. He wanted to find a way to still do what he loved and make a career out...

This past winter I received my first gift from a listener. Michael sent me his book, Divide by Two Wheels: Racing a Mountain Bike Unsupported, 2,700 miles from Canada to Mexico on the Continental Divide . This book told stories, in great detail I might add, of Michael’s experience during his race in 2016. Why we hadn’t connected until now I have no excuse for, but let me tell you, this is a conver...

60. Brad Wade - @onelungedwanderer May 28 Written By Steve O'Shaughnessy Brad Wade is a dad, a substitute teacher an environmentalist, musician and long distance cyclist who lives the punk rock ethos. Brad also has some physiological differences that make him unique; One lung and a heart that decided to reside on the right side of his chest. While Brad was growing up, searching for his sport, he d...

Dion and I were finally able to connect a few weeks back and have a chat about training, nutrition and the mental puzzle that is ultra endurance bikepacking. Every athlete is different, but in all the conversations I’ve had with amateur and endurance athletes, the one topic that comes up is the mental strength required to persevere. The mind is powerful and is primitively wired for preservation, s...

This week I’m speaking with Charlie Tsai, Economist, Entrepreneur and President of Intelligent Design Cycles . Charlie was born in Taiwan but grew up in California where cycling became a passion while he studied economics at UC Davis. Later he worked with the WTO as a trade and development economist helping developing countries, at the time, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, in trade n...

This week on the podcast I’m speaking with Sara and Guy Stuart, the father and daughter collaboration of bikepackersfoundry.com . When Guy retired, he discovered bikepacking and soon after, he began building his own bags. Guy spent a lot of time building luggage, but it started to feel a little too much like work. So in 2019 he reached out to his daughter Sara and asked if she’d be interested in s...

This week I'm Speaking with Steve Halligan @halligan.steve , endurance athlete and co-owner of the Vibrant Living Retreat in Hanmer Springs New Zealand which he operates with his wife, Mary Jo. On offer are relaxing, replenishing, pampering, transformational and educational Wellness Retreats that support and inspire body, mind and soul. Steve’s resume of events is impressive having tackled the Tou...

This week on the podcast I am speaking with Amy Bender @sleep4sport, Director of Clinical Sleep Science at Cerebra . “Cerebra was founded with a single purpose: to help people achieve their best sleep possible by understanding sleep where it happens, in the brain.“ Amy has wanted to be a scientist since she was in elementary school and was always asking questions about the world around her. Amy wa...

Myback40.org Self professed weekend warriors, Lee Agur and Sarah Lauzé started Dynamic Cyclist , as they saw a gap in the market for a quality cycling focused strength, stretching and mobility platform. Dynamic Cyclist offers video based programming designed to develop functional mobility and strength for cyclists. Anecdotally, I can say that, and have said on the podcast often, the programs they...

This week I wanted to repost a conversation between Ross Burrage of the Hidden Athlete podcast and Mikel Delagrange, Human Rights lawyer and founder of the Amani Project based in the Netherlands. Mikel works with the International Criminal Court helping victims in East Africa exercise their rights and seek reparations for the crimes and harm they have endured. Mikel is also a passionate cyclist an...

Erin Blevins @shutup_eat resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she works as a private chef and coach. Erin is the founder of @shutupEAT , shutupWORK and is a, special project, private gym owner in Salt Lake City.  Erin has combined her love of food and intense training by cheffing for world class athletes and has provided nutrition coaching and cooking for the world’s best female athletes of...

In the endurance scene, it seems that with age comes the desire to push ones limits in longer events. Often times the people who are participating are 30 plus. If you saw a teenager standing at the start line you would assume they were there to cheer on their mom, dad or, in some cases, even their grandparent! Scanning the list of starters at this year’s ITI   , some participants where in the...

I first met Louis-Eric at the 2017 Bikepack Canada Summit. My first impressions of this entrepreneur was that he was curious, driven and motivated. This was validated as shortly after the Summit, he began to plan the longest national, self supported race in existence. The Trans Canada Bike Race. The Trans Canada Bike Race starts June 20th, 2021 in Whitehorse in the Yukon Territories and takes ride...

Matt Mosteller, @powdermatt is a co-founder of The Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise (KORE) Initiative, a project managed by the Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Society, incorporated in February 2019, and is based in Kimberley, BC. KORE is a nonprofit, grassroots organization dedicated to makers and creators in the outdoor manufacturing sector. The Kootenays encompass portions of four major mount...

Wait!! Look, I know this dude has a golf club in his hand instead of a Jones bar , but what you are about to listen to, will not only introduce to you another awesome podcast , but also change you’re thinking about the way you train. Brad Kearns is an author, podcast host, professional speedgolfer, Masters high jumper, and former professional triathlete. Between the years of 1986 - 1995 Brad earne...

This week on the podcast I bring you a conversation with my coach, Ryan Draper from Cycling 101 . I never really thought I would need a coach, but I feel like as I get older, having someone knowledgable to guide my athletic lifestyle is an investment in longevity. Especially when you have goals in mind. And if you’re thinking you don’t have time to train with a coach, that’s not the case. There ha...

JaBig @jabig was born in Rwanda. His family, looking for a better life, moved to South Africa and then decided to Immigrate to Canada 18 years ago. Now, this Montreal based DJ is living his best life mixing tunes and riding bikes. JaBig’s YouTube channel , with almost 400,000 subscribers, features his DEEP & DOPE DJ mixes which are mostly recordings of his live sets. in 2016, as a personal cha...