Podcasts about Tour Divide

"The Log Driver's Waltz isn't a race; it's an invitation. An opportunity for anyone curious about bikepacking to show up, ride at their own pace, and share the experience. It brings people together—whether you're pushing yourself against the clock or taking time to enjoy the landscape and small communities along the way.”That's how Jen Adams and Eric Betteridge describe the Log Driver's Waltz—a stunning 800-kilometer bikepacking loop weaving through Ontario's Ottawa Valley and into Quebec. For them, it's all about community, shared experience, and adventure at your own pace.In this episode, Jen and Eric share how decades of adventure together—17-day canoe trips, countless rides through their home region, and racing the Tour Divide—led them to create this unique route. The Log Driver's Waltz isn't just about the terrain (though with 75% unpaved roads, forested trails, and rugged paths, it's no joke). It's about inviting riders to show up, ride how they want, and share the experience.We also dive into what it's like to ride as a couple, how they balance different rhythms on and off the bike, and why building an inclusive bikepacking community matters. Plus, Jen and Eric explain how the Log Driver's Waltz became part of the St. Lawrence Bikepacking Triple Crown and how they've intentionally created stepping stones—from accessible rallies to the full 800k loop—to help more people get into bikepacking.If you've ever been curious about lining up for a Grand Depart, wondered how to build confidence for your first bikepacking trip, or thought about what it takes to ride (and create) a route like this, this conversation is for you. In this episode, we talk about:The story behind the Log Driver's Waltz and its ties to Canadian cultureHow decades of adventure—from canoe trips to the Tour Divide—shaped Jen and Eric's approach to route buildingRiding as a couple: balancing different strengths, rhythms, and goals on the bikeThe creation of the St. Lawrence Bikepacking Triple Crown and fostering connections across the regionWhy community-building, safety, and accessibility are at the heart of the Log Driver's WaltzHow the route offers something for everyone—from those chasing FKTs to riders seeking a leisurely multi-day adventureTips for tackling the route, including bike setups, resupply points, and managing its surprisingly punchy climbsDetails & Links for the Log Driver's Waltz2025 Grand Depart: August 23rd,8 AM, Almonte Hills, Ontario, CanadaSpring Rally: For those who want to experience the route in more digestible chunksLog Driver's Waltz Official WebsiteLog Driver's Waltz Tips & Planning Facebook GroupFollow Jen & Eric's updates and rally details on social media @thelogdriverswaltzAs always, a huge thank you to Albion for supporting Detours this year. Follow along:Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscyclingFollow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebbFollow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

February's Highlight miniep features a rider from the Tour Divide bicycle race

In this episode of the podcast, we welcome Alex Ackerley, an accomplished strength and conditioning coach based in Squamish, BC, Canada. Alex shares his journey from high-performance rugby to coaching elite mountain athletes, including World-Cup level mountain bikers, Tour Divide gravel riders, and ultra-marathon runners. With 15 years of experience in the Vancouver fitness industry, Alex offers deep insights into training, programming, and the unique demands of mountain sports. Topics Covered: Rugby Background & Athletic Foundations: Alex's experience playing high-level rugby and how it shaped his approach to strength and conditioning. Training Mountain Bikers: Insights into the unique physical demands of downhill, enduro, and cross-country mountain biking. Strength Programming: Alex's go-to lifts for building power and resilience, including front squats, deadlifts, and power cleans. Metabolic Conditioning: How Alex designs high-intensity circuits to build capacity for 3–5 minute downhill efforts. Upper Body Training & Injury Prevention: The importance of upper body strength for downhill riders and strategies for building grip strength. Plyometric Progressions: Building impact resilience through progressive plyometric training. Screening and Assessments: Alex's approach to movement screening and individualized programming. Off-Season Training: The role of hypertrophy blocks and aerobic conditioning during the off-season. Training Philosophy: Balancing strength and endurance while maintaining athlete engagement. Lessons Learned: Alex shares personal and professional lessons from his experience training athletes and competing himself. Lightning Round Questions: Best Total Body Lift? Landmine Clean and Press (one-handed) Best Lower Body Press? Front Squat Best Lower Body Pull? Deadlift Best Upper Body Press? Incline Dumbbell Bench Press Best Upper Body Pull? Pronated Pull-Up (strict) Favorite Grip Training? Carries and Hanging Most Overrated Exercise? Box Jump Most Underrated Exercise? Bench Press Overrated Equipment? Kettlebells Check out Alex's Gym: nxft.ca Alex's Instagram: @coachackerley Mountain Tactical Institute Home Check out the MTI Athlete Team Apply to be a Paid MTI Athlete MTI's Daily Programming Streams  

This weeks guest, Kurt Refsnider, is one of the greats when it comes to super long, difficult, mountainous and often cold and snowy bikepacking adventures. He's been to Nome Alaska on the Iditarod Trail, finished the Tour Divide in 15 days and has reached Master of the Universe status on the Arizona Trail! We also talk about his podium finish at the U.S. Cyclocross National Championships! In his years of bike packing, he figured out a way to combine his passion for teaching geology with cycling, leading students on a Geology Through Bikepacking course at Prescott College in Arizona. Since then he's been busy with, not only his coaching at UltraMTB but has now chosen to direct his energy toward co-founding the Bikepacking Roots organization to help grow and advocate for the bikepacking community. A recent success of Bikepacking Roots was helping develop and pass a new national law: the BOLT Act - which is part of the larger, very outdoor recreationally friendly EXPLORE Act, passed in early January of 2025. And if he hasn't been busy enough with all of that - he's also an athlete ambassador of POW - or the Protect Our Winters organization. Bikepacking Roots: https://bikepackingroots.org/UltraMTB Coaching: https://www.ultramtb.net/Protect Our Winters: https://protectourwinters.org/This episode is brought to you by Pogie Lites. Keep your hands warm and dry when riding this winter and spring! Available now at www.pogielites.com or on the online store at www.bikeiowa.comBIKEIOWA is your home for all things bike related: News, Events, Trails, Gear and more! Make it your homepage at www.bikeiowa.com.We would love it if you would consider supporting Bike Talk with Dave by rating, reviewing and sharing on your favorite podcast platform. We'd invite you to support the show financially at www.buymeacoffee.com or on Venmo @David-Mable.Follow Bike Talk with Dave on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/biketalkwithdave/ and Facebook so you don't miss any of the fun, and you can now find every episode on your computer at www.biketalk.bike. And now available on YouTube on the Bike Talk with Dave YouTube channel!And if you need any digital media work: photography, videography and editing, podcast production and editing, look no further than Mable Media. Connect at www.mablemedia.net to help grow your brand and connect with your audience!

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 Texas Showdown in 2022. Since the age of 6 he's dreamed of traveling the world. Once he discovered bikepacking he soon decided he wanted to fulfill the dreams of his 6 y/o self by cycling around the world. Over the past 8 years he's been dreaming, scheming, planning, and selling everything he wouldn't need to take on his bike. In May of 2024 Indy's planning and preparing was done, now it was time to ride his damn bike around the world. He set out on this adventure starting in Deadhorse, Alaska on the Dalton Highway. Now, almost a year later I catch up with him in La Paz, Mexico on a rest day. Indy is living a dream of mine, to one day live on my bike and see the world. It was so great to see my old friend again and get to hear more about the journey that I've been living vicariously through him online. Tune in to today's episode to hear about how and why Indy choose to live on his bike and travel the world and how his trip has been going so far! EPISODE SPONSORS  Old Man Mountain - This week we are highlighting their Tour Divide rack. Use code "mountainsordeath" at checkout to receive 10% off your order! New Patrons  None this week, but we'd like to thank the 356 patrons that support this show monthly

If you're listening to this, there's a pretty good chance that you love to ride your bike. That can manifest itself in all sorts of different ways. Some of you like to do shuttle runs with your buddies on the weekend or go to the bike park. Some of you like to pedal up the hill. Some of you like to go down the hill. Some of you like to race your bike for a few hours. And some of you… Well, some of you like to race your bike for over 4,000 kilometers through sand, snow, hopefully, more than a little bit of sun, and everything else in between. Today, Mike Levy talks to Meaghan Hackinen. Meaghan won the 2024 Tour Divide, and she's also a two-time 24-hour world time trial champion, which sounds absolutely insane. We're going to talk about those things, and we're also going to get to sleeping alone in grizzly country, waking up to a scorpion, strategies for doing these ultra-distance events by yourself, and I might have even slipped in a UFO question or two. Meaghan Hackinen isn't just an adventure seeker; she's a heck of a writer, too. Find her latest work here: meaghanhackinen.com Read an abbreviated transcript and see a whole bunch of photos here: velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-culture/velo-podcast-meaghan-hackinen/ See more on Velo: velo.outsideonline.com/featured

When I think of women in bikepacking, Alexandera Houchin is one of the first people that comes to mind. She's raced the Tour Divide countless time and been a steadfast figure in encouraging more women to take on these big challenges. As an Indigenous woman and member of the Fond du Lac tribe, becoming a sponsored athlete, heck an athlete at all, was not necessarily a pathway she saw for herself growing up.She joins me on the podcast to share about her journey to the bike, and how she's made a career of this niche sport. We discuss what keeps her returning to these races year after year, her experiences navigating body image as someone with a bigger body, and how she's redefining what success looks like in this next chapter of her career. Alexandera shares incredible insights on community, representation, and how showing up with her full heart have shaped her path in bikepacking.Trigger Warning: We discuss topics related to body image and disordered eating between the 19:00 and 25:00 marks. If these are sensitive topics for you please feel free to skip this portion of the episode.To keep up with Alexandera's adventures follow her on Instagram @alexanderahouchin and read her writing on her SubstackIn an effort to bring you even better episodes in 2025 please fill out our audience survey and share your honest feedback on the show — your support is so appreciated ❤️As always, if you loved this episode, please leave us a review, follow wherever you listen and share it with a friend. Even better you can make a one time pledge of your support and any funds raised go back into creating this show.A big thank you to Ben Crannell for mixing the audio for this episode.You can find us on Instagram @detourscycling and Mel @melwwebb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS POD: Keep It Peripheral—Eszter Horanyi of iRunFar. Nolan's 14, The Tour Divide, And A Life Of Possibilities. Kia ora e te whānau! Sometimes it happens. You speak with someone cool and interesting then you come away with a nagging stem of a question that you should have asked. When I spoke to Eszter Horanyi this was some variation of the following. “What does Coddiwompling even mean??” Well if you must know, to Coddiwomple means to travel purposefully to an unknown destination. And goodness me if that isn't a raison d'etre for Colorado-based Horanyi. Growing up in the mountains as a free-range kid, and then racing bikes for a decade, including a 19-day Tour Divide FKT, transitioning to two feet to focus on the shiny things in the periphery and not “big goals”. Splitting her time between Colorado and Te Waiponamu  Eszter embodies the true spirit of adventure and freedom that our sport can (sometimes) only touch on. Please Enjoy this bonus podcast while we are away in the Snowy Mountains. Dirt Church Radio - Best Enjoyed Running. Sign up to the DCR AidStation Episode links:Eszter Horanyi Instagram iRunFarDirt Church Merch!SQUADRUNCurranzJulbo Eyewear UltrAspireDirt Church Radio on InstagramDirt Church Radio on Twitter Dirt Church Radio on Facebook CieleFurther Faster New ZealandEnjoy!Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake100% Natural Manuka oil Anti Chafe Gel from Aotearoa. Thatsit.nz

Justinas is back on Detours sharing all about his wild 2024 season where he set a new record on the Triple Crown of bikepacking: The Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race and Arizona Trail Race. Justinas completed all three of these races in a cumulative time of 25 days, 5 hours, and 30 minutes (2d:13h:3m ahead of Jay Petervary's record from 2015). We caught up while he was recovering in Arizona just a few days after winning the Arizona Trail Race. We shared so many good laughs about his season and everything it took to complete these races. From eating a double cheese burger at the bottom of the grand canyon, to sourcing a ground sheet from construction sites to managing disappointment from route closures, this conversation covers it all. To keep up to date with Justinas' adventures be sure to give him a follow on Instagram. If you loved today's episode, please leave us a five star review and share the episode with a friend. It truly does help this show get in the ears of more listeners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Corrine Leistikow is a 65 year old family physician living in Fairbanks, Alaska. Her passion is being physically active outdoors. She started doing endurance biking and skiing events at age 50, when her children became teenagers. She continues to push her limits as an older athlete. Corrine tells host Elizabeth Emery about her adventures, pushing ourselves as older athletes, staying, why more older women don't do endurance bikepacking, strength training, her own severe stomach issues while racing, and hostess donuts. Corrine's first event was the Fireweed 200. Since then she has done the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, White Mountain 100 -- twice on skis and once on a fat bike, the Smoke N Fire 400, BC Epic 100, Tour Divide (a 2700-mile bikepacking race from Banff, Canada to the Mexico Border in New Mexico), the 700 mile Trans South Dakota, and 700 mile Cross Washington. And she has tried twice to finish the 350 mile Unbound Gravel XL. Get involved and support the show directly at https://bit.ly/supportWsports Find all episodes http://www.hearhersports.com/ Find Hear Her Sports on all social @hearhersports Follow Corrine through her blog at https://notquiteoverthehillcorrineanderic.blogspot.com/ Find Corrine on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/corrine.leistikow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Roadman Podcast, we welcome former pro road cyclist Laurens ten Dam to dive into his incredible journey riding the Tour Divide, a 2,745-mile self-supported mountain bike race from Canada to the Mexican border. We explore his training adaptations, equipment setup, and strategic approach to navigating, pacing, and managing rest over the brutal terrain. Laurens discusses memorable highs and unexpected lows from the race, including facing mechanical issues, remote trails, and extreme weather. He offers insights on handling isolation and staying motivated for days on end, plus how his road racing background prepared him—and at times surprised him—on this incredible adventure. Tune in to hear Laurens' reflections on resilience, risk, and the powerful growth of ultra-endurance cycling. WHOOP Your health underpins EVERYTHING you do in life, and WHOOP helps you understand and proactively improve it through 24/7 monitoring.  Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠join.whoop.com/Roadman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get a free month's WHOOP membership on me! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ROUVY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ROUVY replicates terrain, gradients, and resistance, giving you the most authentic indoor cycling experience possible. Explore, train, and ride with ROUVY—visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ROUVY.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to start your adventure today! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠4iiii Powermeter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The PRECISION 3+ Powermeter from 4iiii is a compact yet powerful unit & is  packed with features that set it apart, including integration with Apple's Find My network PLUS It's got up to 800 hours of battery life.Learn more by visiting⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠4iiii.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HUEL ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can order Huel Ready To Drink directly to your home,  go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠huel.com/roadman ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LeCol⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For amazing cycling kit go check out LeCol at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.lecol.cc ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Use code roadman20 to get 20% off your LeCol order The heart beat of our community & best place to reach me is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to watch full interviews on video? Check out our new Youtube Channel ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/roadmancycling?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

When Justinas Leveika raced the Tour Divide for the first time last year, it was, according to him, “a disaster.” But despite having done almost no preparation, he emerged from two weeks in the wilderness in second place behind Ulrich Bartholmoes. His bike barely made it, and he resolved to put the event behind him. This year, however, he returned, and not only did he win the race, but he beat the official record that has stood for nearly a decade. All this is just par for the course for Justinas, who says he prefers to race with heart rather than numbers and forge his way through chaos rather than planning. He sat down with Payson to talk about heightening the adventure of every race through minimal preparation, stopping to take in the view every so often, and whether he considers “the real world” to be the time he spends off the bike or on. He also talks about his favorite gas station food, getting disqualified from the Colorado Trail Race this year on a technicality, and why he's going for the Triple Crown anyway. You can follow his dot on the third and final installment, the Arizona Trail Race, starting this Thursday. Register to attend Payson's free Red Bull event in Bentonville, Chasin' Payson, here.Instagram: @theadventurestacheYouTube: Payson McElveen

In September 2024, Lael Wilcox rolled into Chicago completing a three month, 18000 mile odyssey. Lael had just broken the world record for circumnavigating the globe, breaking the previous best time by more than two weeks. This isn't the first time the Alaskan native has set a new bar for others to meet. She's twice been the fastest finisher at the Tour Divide - racing from Banff in Canada to Antelope Wells in New Mexico and beat everyone, including to the men in the TransAm bike race from Oregon to Virginia. But Lael is more than just her record breaking feats, she's now one of the biggest names in her sport, and is using her platform to get more women and girls into the sport. Lael joins Bobby and Jens on The Odd Tandem to discuss all of this and more. Check out the video version of the podcast on our youtube channel. Join our Patreon now to get an ad free version of the podcast and your name in the titlespatreon.com/OddTandemFind us on social media by searching ‪@OddTandem‬ on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook

In this episode, Alex and Meredith have author and ultra-endurance cyclist Meaghan Hackinen on the podcast. Meaghan shares her experience in the formidable Tour Divide race, an intense 4,300-kilometer ride from Banff, Alberta to the Mexico border, in which she won the 2024 women's division. Meaghan shares her journey from bike commuting and roller derby to long-distance cycling, and discusses essential aspects of race preparation including managing sleep, nutrition, and the mental hurdles of extended events. She emphasizes community-building within the sport, highlights women's contributions to ultra cycling, and outlines her upcoming plans for the Arkansas High Country race. Meaghan's reflections encapsulate resilience, adaptability, and a zest for adventure.— Cycling Adventures and Community Events— Journey into Ultra Cycling— Nutrition and Training for Ultra Cycling— Indoor Training and Endurance Strategies— Challenges and Adjustments During Races— Mental and Physical Struggles on the Road— Post-Race Recovery and Reflections— The Intersection of Cycling and Creativity— Future Plans and Women's Participation in Ultra Cycling— Upcoming Races and Community EngagementResources Mentioned in This Episode:· Follow Meaghan on Instagram @meaghanhackinen· Check out Meaghan's Website· Shifting Gears: Coast to Coast on the Trans Am Bike Race by Meaghan Hackinen· South Away: The Pacific Coast on Two Wheels by Meaghan Hackinen· Cranbrook Gravel Grind· Watch Ride the Divide· Listen to Afternoon Snack: Adventure, Endurance, and Giving Back with The Queen of Pain: Rebecca Rusch────────────────────────────Want to work with Tactic Functional Nutrition? Check Out Our ServicesLearn More About Us Here and be sure to follow Tactic Nutrition on IG!Stay in the loop with us by signing up for our email list!

On this episode meet Meaghan Hackinen. She is an ultra endurance cyclist who recently completed the Tour Divide which is over 2,700 miles of self supported bike racing that follows the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, from Banff Canada down to the US/Mexico border. Not only did Meaghan finish this grueling race 7th overall with a time of 15 days and 23 hours, she nailed first place in the women's division! Meaghan is tells us a bit about how she embraced the grittiness of the race by staying what she describes as consistently consistent. In addition to being an ultra endurance athlete with countless wins and FKTs, she is also a writer with two books focused on two wheeled adventures. Both South Away: 'The Pacific Coast on Two Wheels' and 'Shifting Gears: Coast to Coast on the Trans Am Bike Race' are available for purchase. https://meaghanhackinen.com/ www.murphologypodcast.com https://tourdivide.org/

We are back with another round table conversation, this time focusing on the 2024 Tour Divide and, in particular, the two Rodeo Lab-affiliated riders who took on the challenge this June. Both Cade and Edyn had a massively successful outing with Cade arriving in Antelope Wells as the fourth finisher and Edyn finishing a few days later as the youngest-ever finisher of the Tour at just 15 years old. Nevertheless, on the Continental Divide success is still filled with many ups and downs that come with some of the highest, wildest terrain in the United States. Stephen and Logan dug into it all with the pair of intrepid athletes, recounting the run-ins with lightning, mud, wind, and technical choices that went into the effort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We zijn er weer! En hoe. Lau, Stefan, Jim. Jim Bakkum. Live vanuit de Specialized pop-up store, hartje Amsterdam. Welgeteld 40 dagen sinds de laatste podcast. En de mannen staan de popelen om samen te beppen. Beppen over de Vuelta, vakanties ver weg en dicht bij, de Olympische wegrit, het leven van Mathieu van der Poel. Maar ook is er heimwee naar Tour Divide. En er wordt gebept over Ons Sam. De cirkel is rond. Wat heerlijk om weer terug te zijn. En hoe zat het nou met het magische getal 40? NordVPN proberen? Ga naar⁠ nordvpn.com/ridefast ⁠voor een kletser van een korting + vier maanden extra gratis! Risicovrij, snel en veilig. En: 30 dagen geld-terug-garantie. Dus ga naar ⁠nordvpn.com/ridefast⁠

“I ride my bike to connect with humans.” - Duzer Hey you guys, please meet Ryan, aka DUZER, Lover of the Adventuresome (Bike) Life! This guy is the definition of FULL STOKE — I've been following along with him online for years, always uplifted and encouraged by his posts, adventures, authenticity and vulnerability. He's 45 and never owned a car-which I just appreciate and respect for SO many reasons. So… I was really happy when he said HELL YES to being on the show. I really wanted to talk to him about his bike-centric (car free) life, his recent Tour Divide race attempt, his enthusiasm for life, his ability (and thoughts about how) to handle negative commentary online, and so on and so on… and the interview did NOT disappoint! I could go on and on, but it's honestly far better to just listen and hear him tell you, as well as to check out his amazing content online (which is how he earns his living, and I find THAT also so inspiring and encouraging). Please follow him on Youtube at https://www.duzertv.com/ Give his book a look here: https://www.duzertv.com/mybook THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO OUR NEWEST SPONSOR, GAVIN PAYNE, OF HAVEN PROPERTIES— WITH HIS SUPPORT, WE'VE BROUGHT THIS PODCAST BACK TO LIFE! IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE, PLEASE GIVE HIS WEBSITE OR LINKEDIN PAGE A VISIT (AND A LIKE OR FOLLOW!). YOU'LL HEAR MORE FROM HIM IN EPISODE 77- BE SURE TO TUNE IN AND LEARN MORE ABOUT HIM! HTTPS://BHGREHAVEN.COM/ABOUT-HAVEN-PROPERTIES. AND - HIS LINKED IN PAGE: HTTPS://WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/GAVIN-PAYNE-A8359A159/ AND AS ALWAYS— A HUGE THANKS TO STU AND HIS TEAM AT RELISH STUDIO FOR EDITING AND PRODUCING THIS PODCAST FOR ME SINCE WE BEGAN BACK IN 2018! PLEASE GIVE THEM A VISIT ONLINE OR A FOLLOW ON LINKEDIN AND/OR INSTAGRAM HTTPS://WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/RELISHCOLORADO **** NEW!!!! I am an affiliate for 3 companies I really believe in, all owned by friends of mine (wife-husband duo!) here in Colorado. You receive 15% off your ONE-TIME order at each one, using my code/link below — please check them out! https://zorasbest.com/discount/MEGAN15  https://wildzora.com/discount/MEGAN15 https://www.drinkcusa.com/discount/MEGAN15

Justinas Leveika is fresh off an impressive Colorado Trail Race finish. This was his first time at CTR and he finished in 4d 7h 17m, which was over 8 hours faster than the next rider. However, due to a rule violation, which was unknown to him at the time, he was not the official first place finisher. That honor goes to Xavier Chiriboga with a time of 4d 15h 55m. Going into Leadville Justinas destroyed his rear wheel on a gnarly decent which shattered the wheel, rendering it unrideable. To get it fixed he hiked to a trailhead, hitched a ride into town, replaced the rear wheel, and hitched a ride back to where we left the trail and continued on. Unlike other solo self supported bikepacking races like the Tour Divide, you are not allowed to get in a vehicle at anytime during the Colorado Trail Race. Justinas was unaware of this rule at the time, but it didn't stop him from putting on an impressive performance. After returning to the trail with his shiny new wheel he quickly started packmaning his way through the field and finished ahead all the other riders. The broken wheel wasn't the only challenge he had to overcome on the race this year, but you'll have to listen to the episode to hear the whole story. Regardless of an unfortunate rules oversight, what Justinas did was undeniably impressive. Even more so considering that he broke the long standing FKT on Tour Divide less than 2 months ago. Now, he sets his sights on the Arizona Trail Race in an attempt to complete the Bikepacking Triple Crown. EPISODE SPONSORS LIVSN - Use code “BOD10” at checkout to receive 10% off your order for being a loyal listener! New Patrons  Alliy G Julian Strait Join them won't you? Now is a great time to sign up at Patreon!

Sofiane Sehili wasn't a cyclist until he went travelling around Southeast Asia and realised he wasn't made to be cooped up on a bus or a train for hours at a time. He bought a second-hand bike for $100 and started riding. He's hardly stopped since.Initially a cycling courier in Paris, Sofiane was encouraged to start entering the world's gnarliest bikepacking events, like the Tour Divide in the United States, and the Silk Road Mountain Race in Eastern Europe.Now, aged 43, Sofiane is a three-time Silk Road winner and a legend for his unconventional approach to some of the world's hardest bike races. Happy to forego sleep for days on end in his quest to win, Sofiane dropped into the Just Ride studio to tell Rob and Eliot all about his career to date.Staggered by his dedication to the cause, Rob and Eliot were bowled over by Sofiane – and we're sure you will be too. You don't want to miss this chat.If you want to get in touch with Rob and Eliot, email podcast@redbull.com, or hit them up on their socials.We'll be back in two weeks!

Cycling photographer and videographer, Avery Stumm, joins the podcast to talk about his progression from Michigan BMX kid to full blown professional photographer shooting at events like the Olympics, his extremely successful partnership with pro cyclist, Alexey Vermeulen, and his recent attempt at the Tour Divide.

In 2000 Chris Smith was diagnosed with Stargardt's Disease, by 2009 he was declared legally blind. No longer able to drive he turned to the bike as a way to get to work 3 miles from his house. At the time he tipped the scales at over 300 lbs and the 3 mile ride to work was a real challenge, but Chris wasn't discouraged. He kept at it, joined friends for group rides, and eventually went on to earn a buckle at Leadville in 2019, to mark his 10th year of blindness. He went back the following 3 years, each time earning a buckle. For his 15th anniversary of being declared legally blind he set his sites higher, much higher. After watching Ride The Divide he decided to take on the holy grail of bikepacking, the Tour Divide. An ambitious goal for anyone, but particularly so for Chris since he hadn't done a multi-day bikepacking trip, and he's blind. Undeterred, he hired a coach, and started training for the Grand Depart, only 8 months away. It took him 47 days and 10 hours, he was the 2nd to last finisher, but nothing stopped Chris from accomplishing his goal, and after riding the Tour Divide, I doubt anything ever will. Chris was riding to bring awareness to blindness and raising money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Through his efforts he was able to raise $28,000 which will go to help finding cures for blindness diseases like his. You can find out more about Chris, and donate, on his website. EPISODE SPONSORS Red Granite Grinder - Epic gravel race in Wisconsin on Oct. 12th, 2024. Smash the link for more information and registration. Follow My Challenge - The official tracking service for Texas Showdown Series any many other premier events. New Patrons  Nathaniel Ray Join them won't you? Now is a great time to sign up at Patreon!

In today's episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, we are joined by Justin Simoni aka the Long Ranger. In addition to established routes like the Tour Divide and Nolan's 14, Justin also creates his own - he's traversed the Sangre de Cristo Range, Mosquito and Tenmile Ranges, and from Milner to Berthoud Pass along the divide. And while summiting all of Colorado's 14,000 ft peaks is an effort in itself, Justin summited the top 100 highest mountains in the state after biking to them from his home in Boulder. We talk about all of the nitty gritty details of taking on these ridgeline routes, why he lives car-free, a detailed measurement of how much weight and water he lost over the course of a grueling day hike, some of his current favorite gear, and more. We wrap the show with an overview of some of the best loop hikes in the United States, what we would telepathically say to all 8 billion people on earth, and the triple crown of things on our bedside table. Zoleo: Use code “BACKPACKERRADIO” for free device activation at zoleo.com.  Gossamer Gear: Use code “SNUGGLEBUG” for 20% off shelters at gossamergear.com.  PATH Projects: Use code “THETREK10”  for 10% off at pathprojects.com/thetrek. [divider] Interview with Justin Simoni aka the Long Ranger Justin's Website Justin's Instagram Justin's Youtube Time stamps & Questions 00:04:50 - Reminders: Mark your calendar for our Brooklyn, NY meetup on September 16, support us on Patreon, check out Chaunce & Elise's TCT hike on Youtube, and leave us a voicemail! 00:13:10 - Introducing Justin 00:14:10 - Tell us about your water loss experiment 00:19:15 - Have you done other similar studies? 00:20:25 - What was your food intake like during the experiment? 00:22:15 - What is your primary focus in your personal trinity of mountain arts? 00:24:20 - You don't own a car? 00:26:00 - How did you originally get into the outdoors? 00:28:50 - How many times have you summitted Green Mountain? 00:31:50 - Tell us about the Milner to Berthoud Pass Traverse 00:34:25 - Is it stressful to do high consequence moves while trying to go quickly? 00:35:50 - How does this traverse compare to others that you've done? 00:37:40 - Did you notice an uptick in FKTs in 2020? 00:38:31 - What was the most challenging part of the Vanishing Point? 00:41:00 - What instrument do you play? 00:43:00 - What's your camping setup? 00:43:30 - How do you avoid thunderstorms? 00:47:00 - What does spike your anxiety? 00:48:00 - How do you prevent making careless errors? 00:50:10 - The Mosquito/Ten Mile Range Traverse 00:53:03 - How many scouting trips did you do for the Vanishing Point project? 00:54:12 - Do you get bored while hiking? 00:56:00 - What do you do for work? 00:57:50 - What are your thoughts on sun hoodies? 01:00:25 - How did it feel to be the first person to complete the Vanishing Point project? 01:01:33 - What are the most significant ways you've changed after completing projects? 01:03:00 - Do you experience post trail depression? 01:04:30 - What do you do for water on your trips? 01:07:50 - Tell us about the Sangre de Cristo Range Traverse 01:11:15 - What was the technicality like on this traverse? 01:13:44 - How should someone get familiar with class 5 pitches with a heavy pack? 01:17:30 - Have you noticed any drop in fitness as you've aged? 01:19:36 - Nolan's 14 description 01:21:35 - Discussion about sleep apnea and asthma 01:24:00 - Tell us about the Slowlans Traverse 01:27:40 - What is it about the ridge hikes that keep you coming back? 01:29:00 - Discussion about popularity trends 01:30:15 - Tell us about the Mosquito/Ten Mile Range Traverse 01:35:00 - Could someone who doesn't like exposure find an alternate route? 01:36:10 - Tell us about the Highest Hundred 01:39:44 - How did you logistically tackle this? 01:43:00 - Biking from Boulder to Longs Peak 01:47:45 - Do you feel pressure to keep coming up with new projects? 01:48:30 - Do you see your guides as an act of service? 01:52:00 - Discussion about the Colorado Trail FKT 01:56:00 - Do you have to train to sleep less for an FKT attempt? 01:59:45 - Do you ever plan trips based on the moon cycle? 02:00:20 - Kumo Question: What is the most useless skill you've ever learned? Segments Mail Bag Trek Propaganda:  12 Epic Multi-Night Loop Hikes in the US by Kelly Floro Dead Weight: 13 Thru-Hikers Reveal the Gear They Sent Home by Ariella Nardizzi QOTD: If you could telepathically say something to all 7.95 billion people on earth, what would you say? Triple Crown of things in your bedside table Mail Bag 5 Star Review [divider] Check out our sound guy @my_boy_pauly/. Leave us a voicemail! Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes (and please leave us a review)!  Find us on Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play. Support us on Patreon to get bonus content. Advertise on Backpacker Radio Follow The Trek, Chaunce, Badger, and Trail Correspondents on Instagram. Follow Backpacker Radio, The Trek and Chaunce on YouTube. Follow Backpacker Radio on Tik Tok.  Our theme song is Walking Slow by Animal Years. A super big thank you to our Chuck Norris Award winner(s) from Patreon: Alex and Misty with NavigatorsCrafting, Andrew, Austen McDaniel, Austin Ford, Brad & Blair Thirteen Adventures, Brent Stenberg, Bryan Alsop, Christopher Marshburn, Coach from Marion Outdoors, Dayne, Derek Koch, Eric Casper, Erik Hofmann, Gillian Daniels, Greg Knight, Greg McDaniel, Hailey Buckingham, Liz Seger, Patrick Cianciolo, Sawyer Products, SPAM, Timothy Hahn, Tracy ‘Trigger' Fawns A big thank you to our Cinnamon Connection Champions from Patreon: 12 Trees Farms, Bonnie Ackerman, David, Dcnerdlet, Emily Galusha, Jeanie, Jeanne Latshaw, Joann Menzer, Katharine Rudzitis, Keith Dobie Jr, Merle Watkins, Peter, and Ruth S.

In this episode, Jen and Dyana chat with long-distance cyclist (among other things) Tyler "Mac" Fox about his recent epic ride along The Tour Divide bike route, spanning from Banff, Alberta, Canada, to the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico. Fox completed the grueling 2,665-mile journey in 19 days, 17 hours, and 18 minutes, battling harsh weather, drastic elevation changes, and exhaustion as he navigated diverse terrains across some of North America's most stunning landscapes. He shares the story of his toughest day, the motivation behind taking on this challenge, and what adventure lies ahead for him.Tyler “Mac” Fox on Instagram: @halfwayanywhereHalfway Anywhere Website: halfwayanywhere.com"The Interesting-Weird Divide: Stop Adventuring Now"   www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/interesting-weird-divide/NOTABLE TIMESTAMPS:1:11 What is the Tour Divide?8:41 What drew Mac to the Tour Divide9:33 Mac's personal goals for the race11:17 Tour Divide fastest known times and Mac's longest mileage day13:34 Bike mishaps and repairs15:42 Tough realities Mac had to face18:31 Gear difference long distance biking vs hiking29:31 Mac's toughest day34:25 Mac's best day40:30 What finishing the Tour Divide felt like46:55 Best sections of the Tour Divide for shorter rides50:41 Future plans for MacWhere to find and support Bush & Banter: Follow Bush & Banter on Instagram: @bushandbanter Visit Bush & Banter's website: www.bushandbanter.com Join Bush & Banter's Patreon community: patreon.com/bushandbanter E-mail Bush & Banter: bushandbanter@gmail.com Follow Dyana on Instagram: @dyanacarmella Follow Jennifer on Instagram: @thewhimsicalwoman

Sam Westby — touring cyclist, bike commuter, and content creator — is in good traffic this week to talk all things biking. We delve into Sam's recent Tour Divide ride, traversing from the Canadian border to the Mexican border on varying surfaces. The conversation also touches on the evolving bike culture in cities like Boston, and the impact of ebikes. We touch on an upbringing in a cycling-focused family. We also discuss Sam's PhD work in network science, with potential applications in urban cycling infrastructure. We discuss: 00:00 Sam's epic Tour Divide ride. 01:29 Bike touring preparation and decision making. 04:25 Diet and nutrition on biking excursions. 07:15 Bike community while on the road. 10:25 Urban vs. touring cycling. 16:27 Early beginnings and family influence. 22:03 Cycling amidst rapidly improving Boston infrastructure. 24:55 Boston's hardy biking culture. 26:29 Electric bike shares. 28:34 Social interactions. 30:04 The ebike debate and sufficient infrastructure. 34:09 PhD work in network science. 39:04 Navigating urban cycling via technology. 47:13 Best commutes and memorable rides. Further context: The Tour Divide ride. Sam's video on biking across the U.S. Connect with Sam: On Instagram. On YouTube. On TikTok. On Strava. Connect with me, Brad: ⁠⁠⁠⁠On Instagram.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On TikTok⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On LinkedIn⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Stoked to catch up with my good friend Mateo Paez. 2022 was Mateo's first attempt at any ultra endurance bikepacking race and that experience quickly changed his life. Over the past two years he's gone head first into the world of ultracycling, writing his own story and tackling these rides with his unique approach, fondly referring to this niche sport as "Competitive Exploration". He raced this year's Tour Divide and finished the route from Banff to Antelope Wells in 17 days 22 hours 17 minutes. Today we chat through his experience as a rookie on the Tour Divide and more on his approach to racing. He shares many fantastic tails from the trail, as well as some particularly vulnerable person reflections that happened along the way and just how much these rides have the power to transform your life. To keep up with Mateo's adventures check him out on Instagram @whatswrongwithpaez_He also does a fantastic job of sharing post race write ups on his website https://ultrapaez.com/, where he also shared his Tour Divide Kit ListIf you loved this episode subscribe to the show wherever you listen and leave us a five star review. It goes a long way in supporting what we do! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Edyn Teitge, at 15 years old, just became the youngest person to complete the Tour Divide solo. He set out with a goal of finishing in 20 days and was able to complete the race in 19d 13h 14m. An accomplishment that may be shocking to outsiders, but for Edyn, this just feels like the next step in his progression as a cyclist. Edyn first joined me on the podcast in September of 2022 after he finished his first ultra bikepacking race, the Smoke and Fire 400. He didn't just finish, though, he came in 6th place, 8 hours after legendary Jay Petervary. At that time he was only 13! Since then he's been busy entering, and gaining experience, in many other ultra events, including, Fat Pursuit, Stagecoach 400, and Drift 100. All of which gave him the confidence and experience to tackle the Tour Divide. When we recorded today's episode Edyn showed up on Zoom with his hands completely covered in car grease. He had been working on replacing the radiator on a Ford Astro Van that someone gave him as his first car. So while he may be doing things that are very uncommon for a 15 year old boy, he's also a kid who's excited about cars, going to school, and riding bikes with his friends.   Episode Sponsors LIVSN - Use code "BOD10" at checkout to get 10% off your order for being a loyal listener Support the show directly: Patreon - Monthly Donation Paypal - One time Donation

My guest on the show today is Alex Kowalski. If that name rings familiar it's probably because you 'followed the dots' during this year's 2024 Tour Divide. Not only did Alex leverage his infectious attitude and good vibes to capture the hearts of dot-watchers and Instagram followers alike, he did so while ultimately winning the single-speed category with a total time of 17 days 22 hours and 16 minutes. And the most impressive part was that Alex did all of this on his rookie attempt on the course.For those who may be new to the scene, the Tour Divide is a 2,700 mile bikepacking course that traverses the spine of the Rocky Mountains from Banff, Alberta down to the US/Mexico border crossing in Antelope Wells, NM. For ultra-distance athletes, this race serves as a bucket list event that requires years of training and accumulated experience to complete.I first met Alex earlier this year when we raced East TX Showdown and Ozark Gravel DOOM & Despair together. I'd known of Alex for a while before that while following his adventures on the Ouachita Triple Crown, The New Colo, and many other high-level courses. Alex seemed to be pushing himself consistently all while maintaining such a positive, joyful attitude. Last Friday, I was able to sit down and catch up with Alex and his dog Luna as they traveled from Fayetteville, AR through St. Louis, MO on their way to Michigan. During this episode, Alex takes us through his experiences on the Tour Divide, how this year's single-speed category competition unfolded, why riding single-speed resonates with him so much, and his intention to tackle the Triple Crown of bikepacking later this year. Stoked to know Alex, stoked for the conversation we had, and stoked for everyone to listen.

Fair warning, this one kicks off with plenty of explicit language. Not recommended for bluetooth speakers at church... Reach out and touch us: shiftlesslive@gmail.com

Riders at the 2024 Tour Divide endured all kinds of weather as they made their way south from Banff to Antelope Wells. Our guest this week, Meaghan Hackinen, found a way to prevail despite the less than ideal conditions, winning the women's race and also setting the fastest Grand Depart time. Meaghan got her start in cycling commuting to school, eventually finding her way to long bikepacking trips to fulfill her sense of adventure. Inspired by Lael Wilcox's win at the 2016 Trans Am Bike race, Meaghan decided to dip her toe into competitive ultra distance cycling. Since then she has raced ultras all across the world, proving time and again to herself that she is stronger than she thinks. Follow Meaghan on Instagram @meaghanhackinen Follow us on Instagram:@girlsgonegravel @feisty_media Girls Gone Gravel Website:https://www.girlsgonegravel.com/ Feisty Media Website:https://livefeisty.com/ Support our Partners:Use the code gggfierce for 30% off at fiercehazel.com Buycycle: save up to $100 on your purchase by entering code GIRLSGONEGRAVEL at buycycle.com Precision Fuel & Hydration: Use this link to get 15% off your first order https://visit.pfandh.com/girlsgonegravel Tifosi: Use the code FM20! to get 20% off your order at tifosioptics.com Use the code FEISTY for 15% off first-purchases at pillarperformance.shop, or TheFeed.com for North American listeners.

Thrilled to bring you this conversation with your 2024 women's winner of the Tour Divide, Meaghan Hackinen. Meg won this year's women's race in a time of 15 days 23 hours, setting the fastest women's time on a grand depart and the second fastest women's time in history. If you were following this year's race you'll know that the conditions were gnarly, with snow storms in the early stages and electrical storms further south. In this episode Meg gives us the full run down on her ride and what it took to reach Antelope Wells as the first woman. Meaghan is also the author of two books, South Away and Shifting Gears, which just came out as an audiobook. Be sure to check them out and consider purchasing as that's a great way to support Meaghan's adventures. Follow Meaghan on InstagramIf you loved this episode please subscribe wherever you're listening, leave a rating and consider buying me a coffee to help keep producing the show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eight years ago Mike Hall made history and etched his name in the record books, and in the hearts of an entire community, with his record setting Tour Divide time of 13d 22h 51m. Since then, hundreds of others have lined up for the Tour Divide grand depart to chase his dot to the US/Mexico border. This year, on his second attempt, Jusinas Leveika became the first person to best Mike Hall's record with an official time of 13d 2h 16. Justinas entered the world of ultra bikepack racing in 2021with a 4th place finish at Transpyrenees. Since then, he's racked up too many podium finishes to list, in the hardest bikepack races our sport has to offer. Last year, at Tour Divide, Justinas came in 2nd to Uba Bartholmoes and was plagued with mechanicals and bad weather. This year he came back with one goal, fix his mistakes. While weather played a major role in this year's Tour Divide, nothing was going to stop Justinas. He got an early lead over his competitors and Uba, in particular, put on a hell of a chase, but in the end Justinas wouldn't be caught. On today's episode we get to know the man behind the dot, the man who has the honor of besting Mike Hall's time, Justinas Leveika. EPISODE SPONSORS  7mesh - Get 20% off your next order with code "7MESHXBOD20" Old Man Mountain - Get 10% off your next order with code "mountainsordeath" New Patrons  None this week, but you can change that  Find out more at www.Patreon.com/BikesorDeath

In the last few years, Alexandera Houchin has become a force in the world of ultra endurance mountain bike racing. As a Native kid growing up in northern Minnesota, she never could have predicted the ways that racing her single speed would prove healing to both her mind and her body. In 2023, she set out to complete the Triple Crown Challenge– racing the Tour Divide, the Colorado Trail, and the Arizona Trail– all on a single gear.  Support comes from Kuat Racks  AeroPress Use code DIARIES to save 20% Incogni Learn more at https://incogni.com/dirtbagdiaries Pre-Order States Of Adventure– 30 stories adapted from The Diaries into a book! http://geni.us/StatesofAdventure Want more episodes? Join Dirtbag Diaries+ today

Last year Ulrich Bartholmoes, aka Uba, won the Tour Divide on his first attempt. This year he came back to do it again, but with a larger goal of completing the Bikepacking Triple Crown. We will be following Uba's Triple Crown attempt at each stage along the way. This is the second episode in the series, you can listen to our first chat we recorded just days before the Tour Divide Grand Depart on episode 182 of this podcast. This was a record setting year on the Tour Divide and one that will go down in the history books. For the past 8 years the late Mike Hall's record has stood up against hundreds of others who have tried to beat his dot to the border of Mexico in Antelope Wells. This year Justinas Leveika set a new FKT (fastest known time) besting Mike Hall's time by over 20 hours! I'll be releasing an episode with Justinas about his recorded breaking ride in the coming days, but today we turn our attention to Uba who put on brilliant ride and also came in ahead of Mike Hall's time. The friendly competition between Uba and Justinas is a fun one for fans of the sport. Last year Uba won the Tour Divide with Justinas coming in second and they've had other similar epic battles in races like Atlas Mountain Race. This year on Tour Divide Justinas got a small gap early in the race and Uba was hot on his heals with sometimes only a few miles between them. Weather played a big factor in the ultimate outcome, but you have to admire and appreciate the epic battle to the finish line from both of these amazing competitors. On today's episode we hear about the race from Uba's perspective and next up we get to hear from Justinas. EPISODE SPONSORS  Arkansas, The Natural State ~ Check out Episode 183 of this podcast to learn all about the inaugural Arkansas Graveler, a 6 day bike tour across the state.   New Patrons  None this week, but you can change that :) Find out more at www.Patreon.com/BikesorDeath

After Unbound, the first weekend of June, it's inevitable that riders will take even just a bit of a break. Laura and Ted kept on the gas for a few more weeks before making their way to Maine for a week full of patriotic RnR. Stu continues on the mend, although with a considerable setback en route. The Tour Divide is over for some but plenty remain on the route. We talk about the granddaddy of bikepacking races, the Tour Divide.  The gang talk about their dreamy summer ride. What's the very best of the best during these sunny summer months. What's the biggest meal we've eaten after a huge ride. Or what we prefer for optimal recovery... and best taste.  Naturally, plus lots more! Send your questions to GravelKingsPodcast@gmail.com And follow us at @gravelkingspodcast on instagram

I'm so proud to bring you a conversation with Meaghan Hackinen, woman's winner of the 2024 Tour Divide. 4,400 km, 60,000m of elevation gain in just 15 days 22 hours. Between the cold temperatures, the rain, the snow, and the peanut butter mud, to say that she crushed this route would be an understatement.To witness Meaghan's transformation into a formidable off road bikepack racing athlete from the world or road specific ultra endurance racing has been a joy. Her positive mindset despite the conditions this year is beyond impressive.In this conversation we talked about how she maintained her positive mindset despite the adversity of this years course and conditions, and some of the challenges she faced along the way. We chat about women's participation in these events and discuss the supportive nature that exists in the community. I really enjoyed this chat and I hope you do too.Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.Save 15% at Redshift Sports when you use the code MB40Save 50% off your first month of coaching at Cycling 101 when you use the code MB40 at checkout.Visit Rollingdale CycleThanks to Ottalaus Inc. for their support.Thanks to Spandex Panda for their support.Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Stefan, Sam en Jim gaan verder. Maar first things first: Lau is binnen! Na 15 dagen en 6 minuten finisht hij als derde in Tour Divide 2024. Een hele grote Klak Af!  Dan: koers. Want als er een etappe lastig te voorspellen was, was het wel vandaag. Ondanks dat het vuurwerk wellicht wat ontbrak, was één ding zeker: de eerste etappe van de Tour de France 2024 was slopend. Met de winst en gele trui voor Bardet en een tweede stek voor Frank van den Broek. Is Hij terug? ‘Tot aan de finish dacht ik dat Bardet de winst weg zou geven.', aldus Jim, duidend op de enorme sterke prestatie van ‘VDB'. Verder in deze podcast: een ode aan Pedersen, Cavendish die praat, filosofeert en danst voor de camera tegelijk, de onbevangenheid van Van den Broek, en geschiedenis die zich herhaalt.  En hoe zit het nou met die ene Emily die minuten schermtijd pakt?  Je hoort het allemaal in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast. 

In this week's episode we talk to mountain bikers / bikepacking experts Kait Boyle and Kurt Refsnider about their epic adventure riding from their doorsteps to Emporia, Kansas, for Unbound XL.Kait Boyle discovered the mountain bike amidst a career in outdoor education and quickly fell in love with bikepacking, which dominoed into pursuing long bikepacking expeditions around the world. She went on to win a 24-hr World Championship, set records in self-supported ultras, including being the 2x winner at the Arizona Trail 300. She survived and overcame a traumatic car accident, which  ultimately led her to where she is now - a passionate and dedicated backcountry mountain biker who rides to go deeper, connect to place and people, and expand her limits.She co-founded Bikepacking Roots with co-guest Kurt Refsnider, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to bikepacking. She serves on the board of Mountain Bike the Tetons and is  one of the first Protect Our Winter Bike Athlete Alliance members.Kurt Refsnider is a  (also the) co-founder of and Routes Director at Bikepacking Roots, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the growing bikepacking community. Kurt holds a Ph.D. in geological sciences and was a professor of geology at Prescott College for 6 years and coached the Prescott College Cycling Team for 3 years. There he also co-developed the first college-level course to involve bikepacking – Geology through Bikepacking. He's won the Tour Divide, and has 8 wins/records at the Arizona Trail 300, and most recently at taping he snagged a Top 10 finish at Unbound XL after riding more than 1,000 miles from his home in Arizona to Emporia.Please note that this podcast is created strictly for educational purposes and should never be used for medical diagnosis and treatment.***Keep up with Kait:IG: @kait.boyleYouTube: @kaitboyleWeb: ImKait.comKeep up with Kurt:Kurt's IG: @kurt.refsniderKurt's Web: UltraMTB.net / Backcountry-MTB.comMentioned:GU Roctane Drink MixGU GelsKatadyn BeFree filtersGlutamine & BCAAs, available on FullscriptMORE NR New customers save 10% off all products on our website with the code NEWPOD10 If you would like to work with our practitioners, click here: https://nutritional-revolution.com/work-with-us/ Save 20% on all supplements at our trusted online source: https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/kchannell Join Nutritional Revolution's The Feed Club to get $20 off right away with an additional $20 Feed credit drop every 90 days.: https://thefeed.com/teams/nutritional-revolution Interested in blood testing? Use code NUTRITIONALREVOLUTION at InsideTracker for 20% off any test: store.insidetracker.com/nutritionalrevolution If you're interested in sponsoring Nutritional Revolution Podcast, shoot us an email at nutritionalrev@gmail.com.

Last year Ulrich Bartholmoes, who goes by Uba, won the Tour Divide in his first attempt with a time of 14d 2h 23m. This year he's back to defend his title at the Tour Divide, but he's got bigger goals than that. This year he will be attempting to complete the Triple Crown of Bikepacking (Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race, and Arizona Trail race) and he's gunning to beat the current record time of 27d 18h 33m set by Jay Petervary in 2015. Uba's approach to ultra bikepack racing is different from most. He's incorporated advanced training methods inspired by pro tour riders and driven by his passion for optimization of himself, his equipment, and his training. And he seemingly attacks his training and preparation with the same detail and veracity that he applies to his racing. I caught up with him days before the start of the race at his hotel in Calgary. We dived into his plans for this year, his goals, and his unique training protocols. It seems that he's left no stone unturned, no bolt un-torqued, and no bearing un-greased. But as he says in the episode, it's a long race, and training and preparation can only take you so far.   EPISODE SPONSORS Old Man Mountain ~ You will see OMM racks and axle packs adorning many of the bikes on the Tour Divide this year. Check out what all the hype is about at OldManMountain.com and use code "mountainsordeath" at checkout to get 10% off your order. Use our BoD Affiliate link and we get a little commission :) Arkansas Graveler ~ A 6 day bike festival in the Ozark Mountains that offers not only amazing riding, but also activities, live music, food, and so much more. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone out there. Don't be shy come up and say hi if you see me!  New Patrons  Chase Bauduin Garret Hall Join them won't you? Find out more at www.Patreon.com/BikesorDeath

Laurens en Stefan gaan verder. Dit keer in een podcast die volledig in het teken staat van de moeder van alle ultra fietsraces, de OG van het bikepacken, de Elfstedentocht onder de ultra's: Tour Divide. Ook wel The Great Divide Mountain Bike race genoemd, een wedstrijd over 4481 km tussen de grens van Canada en Mexico. Back to the roots, self-supported, alleen jij en je fiets. En LtD staat aan de start. Over grizzly beren, trackers, regels maar geen jury, voorgefabriceerde cheatsheets, donatieboxen bij de start en heisessies. En hoe zit het nou met het fietsen zonder zeem? Je hoort het allemaal, in de Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.We brengen Laurens zijn ‘dot' tot leven: check @liveslowridefastltd voor dagelijkse updates, in beeld en geluid.NordVPN proberen? Ga naar nordvpn.com/ridefast voor een kletser van een korting + vier maanden extra gratis! Risicovrij, snel en veilig. En: 30 dagen geld-terug-garantie. Dus ga naar nordvpn.com/ridefast

It has been a while since I put out a solo podcast and what better time than the week leading up to the 2024 Tour Divide. I'm simultaneously feeling excited for all the riders on their way to the start in Banff and at the same time huge FOMO. You folks are embarking on an adventure that is going to change you life.I'll see you in Banff on the 14th!Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.Save 15% at Redshift Sports when you use the code MB40Save 50% off your first month of coaching at Cycling 101 when you use the code MB40 at checkoutVisit Rollingdale CycleThanks to Ottalaus Inc. for their support.Thanks to Spandex Panda for their support.Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Daniel Connell has become a regular on the bikepacking race scene and in the cycling community. You will often see him on Trackleaders under his trail name, Dirty Dan. It was under this pseudonym that he recently set a new FKT on the Race Across Arizona and will be lining up in a couple of weeks to race the Tour Divide for the 4th consecutive year. Each year he's done it he's been able to shave a day off his finish time. This year he's on a new bike and gunning for a 15 day finish. His entry point into cycling was a 4,000+ mile bike tour with a buddy from California to Columbia in 2017 after graduating college. Armed only with a bike, some gear, and very little planning of what was to come. It was on that trip that he found the bike to be the "perfect form of travel". Since then he's only progressed as a traveler and cyclist racking up credentials too numerous to list, but to give you a taste, here's what he's done so far in 2024: Baja Divide Transcordilleras race (Colombia) Bikepacking trip all over Colombia Double Everest Stagecoach 400 Tour de Los Padres Race Across Arizona He's packed more into the first 6 months of this year than many will experience in a lifetime. It feels like every time I log into social media he's on another trip or lining up in another race. I've grown fond of following him on all of his adventures. He brings with him a big smile and a big appetite for adventure, fruit, and white milk. All of which we discuss on today's episode. EPISODE SPONSORS Central Texas Showdown - Four distances to choose from, 28 spots left, 100% Texas. Come find out why the call this part of Texas the Hill Country on Oct. 25th, 2024. Register here! New Patrons None this week, but you can change that :) Find out more at www.Patreon.com/BikesorDeath

The pod is back. After a long winter and a lot of work and prep I'm excited to share my biggest adventure project yet: the 2,700 mile offroad and self-supported ultra cycling race known as Tour Divide. Starting in Banff, Canada and finishing at the U.S./Mexico border in just two weeks, my friend and filmmaker Rob Carter are working on a documentary to share the spirit of such a challenge.  In this conversation, Rob interviews me about my prep, the impetus for signing up, what the race entails, and the film project we are working on. Support the Dividing Lines film: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dividing-lines/dividing-lines-a-great-divide-film Film teaser: https://youtu.be/kD34IFj2Vv4?si=iGqdXUalRJ6rWENr Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/jacksonlong Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jlointheflow 

Episode Summary This week on Live Like the World is Dying, Spencer and Inmn talk about bike packing and how cool bikes are. What is bike packing? Where can you ride? What do you need? Find the answers here. Guest Info Spencer can be found on IG @spencerjharding or at www.spencerjharding.com Host Info Inmn can be found on Instagram @shadowtail.artificery Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Transcript Live Like the World is Dying: Spencer on Bike Packing Pt. I **Inmn ** 00:15 Hello, and welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your podcast for what feels like the end times. I'm your host today Inmn Neruin, and today we're going to be talking about something that I've been wanting to do an episode about for a really long time because I really love to do it. And I think what I'm going to learn in this interview is that I have been doing it really wrong. Or not wrong, but making it so much harder for myself. And it's just going to be...it's going to be a lot of fun. And today we're gonna be talking about different ways that you can travel long distances, or short distances over strange terrain, on a bicycle. And we're gonna be talking about bike packing. But before that, we are a proud member of the Channel Zero Net of anarchists podcasts. And here's a jingle from another show on that network. Doo doo doo doo doo. [singing] **Dissident Island Radio ** 01:27 You're listening to Dissident Island Radio, live every first and third Friday of the month at 9pm GMT, check out www.dissidentIsland.org for downloads and more. **Inmn ** 02:15 And we're back. Thank you so much for coming on the show today. Could you introduce yourself with your name, pronouns, and just a little bit about what you do in the world? And what you're here to tell us about today? **Spencer ** 02:32 Hi, my name is Spencer Harding. My pronouns are he/him/his. I do a lot of things related to bikes and I have for the last...oh, at least 10 or so years. I'm currently a photographer, writer, and editor for a website called theradavist.com. We do all manner of cycling related articles and content reviews. I've worked as a bike mechanic at local community coops and full on bike shops a like, and I've been traveling by bike since 2009 pretty regularly. And that's been a huge focus of my interest in bikes and kind of my forte in bikes. **Inmn ** 03:18 Cool, cool. Um, it's funny because I know you real life and we, you know, we like play dnd together and I actually didn't know that's what you for work. And I just knew you knew a lot about bikes. So cool, great. **Spencer ** 03:40 I don't love that I'll know people for years and years and years and I think in a lot of the communities I've been in for years, no one really asks what anyone does. And it's not really important because we're all just doing these weird niche activities or hobbies together. And it's kind of fun. **Inmn ** 03:55 Yeah. I'm going to immediately go offer a little script. How did you get into bikes? **Spencer ** 04:07 I got into bikes right on the verge of the huge fixed gear craze that happened in like the early aughts. **Inmn ** 04:18 Oh yeah, I remember. **Spencer ** 04:21 So I was in school at Long Beach State in Southern California. I saw some people riding around bikes. It was the begining of my second year of college. I was moving off campus and I realized that I could buy a bicycle for the same price as a parking pass. And it took me as long to ride from my apartment to my classes as it did to walk from the parking lot to my class. So I took the, what, $130 that that parking pass would have been and I bought an old Schwinn off Craigslist. And it's been all downhill from there. **Inmn ** 04:59 [Laughing] I'm sure it has not been all downhill, but I appreciate the pun. We'll get into this later, but I did a big--introduction to me and biking--is that I have always just really loved bikes. Like similarly I had this thing in high school where a car became suddenly unavailable to me. And I lived in like a suburb of a suburb of a suburb. And I was like, can I take my dad's old Schwinn that's in the in the crawl space and ride it to the city? And the answer was, yes, I could. But like, fast forward many years to going on my first bike tour, and we like went over the continental divide and I was like, "So it's all downhill from here, right?" 06:00 [Laughing] That's one of the things. You never trust the elevation profile. There's always more up somehow. You could be on top of a mountain and somehow there will be some more uphill. **Inmn ** 06:11 Yeah. Always uphill. Always. Um, cool. Well. So yeah, let's just kind of happen to it. Um, what is like...what are the different kinds of scopes of bike travel? I feel like there's like a lot of words that were new to me as of a couple of years ago where I was just always "bike touring." But now there's all these kind of other words that people use that maybe seem like little subsets of bike touring, like gravel bikes or bike packin or r maybe there's other words that I don't know about. 06:50 There's so many buzzwords, and most of it is marketing, and like an ever smaller niche-ification of bikes. When we talk about bike travel, I think the word that comes to mind is bike touring, like, everything is bike touring. You're touring on a bike, you're riding, you're exploring, you're traveling by bike. The buzzword of the last decade has been "bike packing." And there's a lot of arguments about what that means, what that constitutes, what's bike packing, what's not bike packing. I won't go down a huge rabbit hole. I feel like the word bike packing ushered in a more modern sense of ways to pack a bicycle as opposed to what was classically bicycle touring. But if you're traveling by bike and you're strapping shit to your bike, you're going bike touring, Call it bikepacking. Call it gravel biking. You can call it...there's a multitude of other things like that. But when it boils down to it, it's all bike touring in my mind. **Inmn ** 08:09 Yeah. Okay. Um, golly, I'm going to immediately go on another tangent because I... [Spencer encourages it] It's reminding me of like.... I suddenly found myself thinking about like, wait, I wonder if Spencer knows the history...like what the history of the development of the bicycle was? This is a question I should have sent to you yesterday. And I mean, maybe you do, maybe you don't-- 08:39 I'm not super familiar. It popped in my head like I should probably do some sort of research. I mean I know the vagaries of it. But nothing specifically. I couldn't sit tell you names or dates or anything like that. **Inmn ** 08:53 Totally. But it's like, it is something that people have...like people have been riding long distances on bikes since bikes were invented, which is something that I find really interesting. Like there's.... Which I know you could take like a rewritten fairy tale and call it like absolute historical fact, you know but have you ever had any Angela Carter books. **Spencer ** 09:22 I haven't. **Inmn ** 09:24 She got famous for like rewriting the for rewriting a lot of fairy tales. And people were like, "Oh, you rewrote them with like a feminist lens." And she was like, "I absolutely didn't. My goal was to bring out the innate horror in all of these stories, and these stories just happen to be really like femicide-idle. And so that reads is feminism because the main conflicts in them are misogyny." But there's this story called Lady of the House of Love. About this vampiress who like lives in a collapsing, ruinous castle in Transylvania and is the offspring of like Dracula or something, who's just like quite bored in the world at this point. And there's this like whole diatribe in the story about this guy who she lures into the castle who has been traveling around France in Europe on a bicycle. And this is my funny tie in, and this is like in... this is like, in the early days of World War Two when this... Yeah, that's what.... And it's like, it's like these little nods where I'm like, okay, it's it's a fictional story, but I'm like, that sounds like a real thing people did, just travel around Europe on a fucking bicycle. **Spencer ** 10:56 I am 100% sure that there is some real world influence. Yeah, there's all those memes, you'll see. Like, there's some Scandinavian guy who just lived by his bike forever and ever. And, you know, big beard and all that jazz. I can't think of his name. But I can only imagine that there's some truth or they met some weird guy in a cafe one day and decided to just write them into the story after that. **Inmn ** 11:23 Yeah. Okay, wait, but back to the things. So if you had to kind of put a definition on what bike packing is, what is bike packing? **Spencer ** 11:37 So I would even back up to just bike travel. So bike travel is riding your bike multi day--so that could include a single night--somewhere, taking whatever you need for that journey, whatever that may be. Totally self sufficient. Maybe just change the clothes and a credit card. But using your bike as a means to explore and travel to somewhere. **Inmn ** 12:08 Cool. Cool. That sounds right. And what.... I guess maybe this.... It's like maybe some of these specific classifications kind of seems like it maybe gets down to what kind of bike you're riding or what kind of gear you're using? Or like something? I don't know. **Spencer ** 12:35 Yeah, there's been some discussion last few years about intent. So by touring, they've gone to the more recreational side of the venn diagram. So people on vacation, people going for a weekend trip, or for enjoyment. And by packing has, since it came at a time when people were packing less stuff on their bikes in new and creative ways that lent itself to more off road or very light and fast travel. So some people had defined bike packing as like a racing intent or like a competitive intent. And there are bike packing races. Someone who's staying with me right now, Austin Trace, she's training to ride the Arizona Trail and possibly some others. And that's an incredibly long distance. That's 800 miles of off road. There's many like 3000 plus mile bike packing races that happen all over the world over. So some people say bike packing for that kind of competitive intent. Some people will say they're going bike packing, when they're going camping for a weekend. There isn't really a line in the sand that I can thoroughly really draw. Bike packing is definitely like a new buzzword that's popped up in the last few years. And it encompasses everything that bike travel or bike touring would, depending on who you talk to or how you want to delineate that. **Spencer ** 14:07 Yes. And this is another fun thing where we have like, you know, all bikepacking Is bike touring but maybe not all bike touring is bikepacking. So all road bikes are gravel bikes, but not all gravel bikes or road bikes. If you really want to get into it--and this is even...I just wrote a review talking about how the word gravel needs to be split into two things because we're getting a recreational version of what gravel means and a competitive version of what gravel means, and those things are very different. Roughly speaking a gravel bike is traditional-ish road bike. You know, curvy handlebars, road levers. You're just getting bigger tires and typically a more relaxed geometry. That's the easiest without going into a whole mess of other unnecessary details, but the just is road bikes with bigger tires optimized for riding on dirt roads, like farm roads, forest roads, things of that sort. **Inmn ** 14:07 Yeah. Okay, that makes...that makes sense. And then there's this other word that I've been hearing people use a lot lately, which is--and by lately, I mean, this is years ago and I'm just like, really behind the the ball on things--but like, gravel bikes? **Inmn ** 15:35 Okay. Where can you ride a bike? **Spencer ** 15:40 These days? Where are there **Inmn ** 15:41 Or rather where are places that you can not ride your bike to? **Spencer ** 15:46 Legally speaking or terrain-limiting speaking? **Inmn ** 15:50 Terrain. Let's go with terrain limiting for right now. **Spencer ** 15:54 Okay, we don't need to dive into like the Wilderness Act limitations on mechanized travel. There are, if you're looking into that, there are so many crazy bicycles out there these days. There are very few places that you could not ride a bicycle. You're looking at incredibly steep and loose terrain or very deep snow or sand. But even that...like there's so many cool things with...like fat bikes have opened up just an incredible amount of terrain and versatility that wasn't available even like, you know, 20 years ago to bikes. And that's even expanding now. I've heard about some cool stuff I can't talk about, but there is some cool new stuff coming down the line that I'm very excited about in the monster truck realm of bikes. So there's.... Off road in the last few years has just totally exploded with gravel, with the accessibility of fat bikes, and like what those can.... So, fat bike, if I'm talking about, you're talking about four to five inch tires. They're just massive. So you run those incredibly low pressures like 10psi You're riding on snow, you're riding on sand, like, you know, that just opens up so many things that you can experience by bike and can travel across. And you can type in "adventure fat bike," and you'll get some crazy shit in fucking Alaska. A bunch of my friends have done it and they're just like...they have little boats and they're putting a bike on boats and they're riding down beaches and like...just places you would never would ever expect you could ride or get a bike to. And they can get a bike there and they can ride it. So there's obviously limitations like verticality or steep terrain but as far as like surfaces, you're...the world's kind of your oyster these days with that. There's so many options. **Inmn ** 18:07 Okay. Wow. Some of those are new to me and I'm like, okay, cool. Cool. Cool. **Spencer ** 18:14 I have a fat bike I just built it. You can come over and ride it. Play monster truck. Come over here, Inmn. I'll show you next time you come over for dnd. **Inmn ** 18:22 Wow. Love it. I, you know, on.... So like a background for me is my first bike tour, I didn't know anything about bike touring. I just knew that I wanted to do it. And so me and my friend Marie, we like...I met her up in Portland and then we rode our bikes to--Portland, Oregon--and then we rode our bikes to Boston. **Spencer ** 18:56 Oh, wow. Okay. [Laughing with incredulity] My first bike tour was taking the train to Santa Barbara with my like messenger bag and then riding back to LA as an overnight. You went full hog. Okay. **Inmn ** 19:11 Yeah, first first time ever riding a bike more than I could ride it in a day. **Spencer ** 19:19 Impressive **Inmn ** 19:19 It...you know, we're gonna go with a blend of impressive and utterly reckless. **Spencer ** 19:30 I know and I want to talk to this in the end too. Like, you can be really reckless on a bike and if shit goes totally pear shaped just.... Yeah, and like the accessibility of things going wrong and the ability to fix those or to get out of those situations is just such a cool component of bicycle touring that you don't get with like cars or motorcycles or, I mean, I guess hiking even less so, like there's even less to pickup. But yeah, tell me the story. How did it all go, you know, on the way to Boston? **Spencer ** 20:05 Oh, those are the worst. **Inmn ** 20:05 Um, well actually, you know, we're going to talk about that a little bit later, probably. But just, as this one funny tie in, was that in Glacier National Park, we met a...we met someone who is about to finish his bike tour. And he had been...he'd ridden the entire continental divide on a bicycle with like a little, like one of those little swivel trailers. **Inmn ** 20:06 Or, actually I don't know what they're called. They're like two wheels, in line. **Spencer ** 20:20 Oh, the bob trailer. **Inmn ** 20:42 Yeah, the bob trailer. Yeah, yeah. And he had crossed the Continental Divide like 30 times or something over the course of it. And it was utterly incomprehensible to me at the time. I'm like, "Are you riding on trails?" And he was like, "Sort of?" **Spencer ** 21:03 If I may do a quick... So the Continental Divide Trail is a long distance hiking trail that is mostly not bikeable due to the Wilderness Act thing with the wilderness stuff. I think the route you're referring to is the Tour Divide. **Inmn ** 21:18 Yes. **Spencer ** 21:20 Yeah. So those things kind of get interchanged, but they're vastly different beasts. The Tour Divide is a very popular off road route that a lot of people do these days and is one of the first mapped long distance routes, and still remains one of the longer documented off road touring routes in the world, too, which is super cool. **Inmn ** 21:42 Cool. Okay, wait, I'm trying to try to follow a little bit of a thread here. [Pauses, thinking] And maybe this is where to start. How do you...how do you start traveling long distances by bike in, you know, whatever capacity, whether you're like, I want to ride to a neighboring city, I want to ride across the country. I want to ride into the wilderness. These are vastly different. How do you get started? How do you get started? **Spencer ** 22:19 So my start was literally, my friend in college gave a talk, and at the time I was a backpacker. I'd done some backpacking, like three, four days. Stuff like that. And my friend gave this talk about how she went to France and took a bunch of kids bike touring and they took all the camping gear and they put it on their bikes and they just rode their bikes for like two months. And that blew my fucking mind. I was like, wait, I could put all my camping gear on my bike and go ride my bike. And this is in the very like first few years of me riding bikes. I was like, "This is the shit. I love this. Wait, I can go camping and do this?" So that was my first introduction. And I literally, New Year's Day, 2009, I took my road bike and my like good o'le Chrome messenger bag and I zip tied my sleeping bag under my saddle rails on my road bike and I took the train to Santa Barbara and I rode from Santa Barbara down like Highway One, like out near point Magoo, and I camped for the night. And I rode back to Long Beach the next day. And that's part of the Pacific Coast bike touring route. So it's just another established route from Adventure Cycling, who also does the Tour Divide, which you mentioned earlier. And that was my first time properly traveling by bike, and I was like, "This is cool." And a few months later a good friend of mine, Julia, who had just ridden across the country, kind of as you did. I can't remeber if she started in San Francisco or Portland as well. But she did that same trans-america ride. And she was like, "Hey, I just got off school. Like, I don't want to drive back to Southern California. Do you want to just like take a bus up here, and we're gonna bike back to LA together?" So I went back a few months later that summer and tried...like I got a different bike that had racks and all that shit and some bags. And you know, as that ball rolls, you get more bags, you get more specific stuff, you get bikes that are designed for it. And then I rode back from Santa Cruz to LA and then I was like, "This is fucking sweet." So, two months later, I flew to Seattle and rode all the way back to Santa Cruz that same summer too. So that ball kind of rolled pretty quickly for me. So, I think it's literally taking...like at the time I had a messenger bag and a sleeping bag and a stuff sack and that was what I took and I had a little tiny pocket stove and a sleeping pad. I don't know if I even brought a sleeping pad. I might not have. I have to look back at the photos. It might have been strapped to my handlebars or something. But it's really what you have. If you have most any kind of like reasonably lightweight camping gear, from car camping to backpacking. Like, all of that gear translates. And if you have a bicycle, there's--especially these days--almost...there's so many ways that you can affix things to your bike. **Inmn ** 25:14 And yeah, it's kind of funny, because I feel like I've seen this funny arc of like "bike luggage" or something. I don't know what to call it. [Spencer laughs] Where, like, when I was trying to get into bike touring, it's like--I'm sure like gravel bike/bike packing/offroad stuff, I'm sure I'm sure all that stuff existed, but I was less aware of it. But in the realm of bike touring, it seemed to be all about like how to like really neatly contain a lot of stuff on a bicycle, you know? And, like, now I see people's gravel bike or bike packing setups, and it's literally just like shit strapped anywhere that it could be. **Spencer ** 26:02 Yeah, so if we're gonna get into like, if we're gonna delineate two words, we're gonna do bike touring on one side and we're gonna do bike packing on the other. If we look at bike touring luggage, or traditional touring luggage, was usually two to four panniers [rhymes with "your"], Panniers [Rhymes with "yay"]. There's a whole video you can watch about someone from Webster's talking to my buddy Russ about how to actually pronounce that fucking word. It's a bag strapped to a rack. You can argue about it all day long. Typically two to four panniers, maybe a little bag on your handlebars, some water bottles, that was kind of the traditional setup that's been around since the inception of bicycles. Bike packing is when we're moving to more off road focus. So you, obviously panniers are just little hooks on a rack and maybe a bungee. If you've ever written off road with those they don't...they tend to eject. I've got buddies who have got busted collarbones from catching someone's unwanted, flying paneer **Spencer ** 27:02 Oh, no. **Spencer ** 27:03 So in the other corner, we have more modern bike packing bags, which arose from a cottage industry of people developing bags for things that they wanted to do that didn't exist at the time. There's a ton of them, like Revelate Designs has been around since the beginning and were big pioneers in a lot of these venues. And typically what that looks like is you have a bag on your handlebars. It's typically a double sided stuff sack, say 10 to 15 liters. Smaller, bigger exist. That's rolled on there, secured with some straps. There's harnesses and all that jazz. A big thing in bike packing that has really bled out to a lot of the other aspects of cycling, it's really convenient, is using the main front triangle of your bike. So bags that fit the center of your bike and fill that space. **Inmn ** 27:56 That's like the spot kind of like underneath where you're sitting, right? It's like the space between the seat and the handle bars, right? **Spencer ** 28:01 Correct. So, if you're thinking about a bike frame, this kind of goes back to the--I wanted to actually mention this in the history too--so a double triangle, like a diamond. So you have two triangles. You have the front triangle and the rear triangle. That design has been around nearly since the inception of bikes and fundamentally hasn't changed, which is kind of miraculous. There's there's always going to be some kooky weird shit that people are cooking up to make bikes better. But 99% of bikes that have ever existed have been the same design, and it's still the best and most efficient. So, you're filling that front triangle with gear. So it's where you would typically have your water bottles and things like that, but being able to put four liters of water, as opposed to two bottles, and a bunch of camping gear is more efficient. So frame bag. And then there's a bag attached to your seat post called a rocket bag or a butt bag or...[laughs] And this is where stuff gets real bondage-y. There's like 17 straps holding those fucking things on. They sway if you don't pack them right. And there's a bunch of designs to make that better, and we're getting really close to really nailing it. So you have those kind of are your three main staples for bike packing bags. There's bags that strap your fork, there's bags that go onto your down tube, there's ones that attach to your stem to put snacks in. If there's a tiny spot in your bike, there's a bag for it, I guarantee it. And those are kind of your two corners of like bicycle luggage. **Inmn ** 29:32 I see. I see. You know, what I.... Something I weirdly really appreciate about some of these bike packing luggage, or whatever, is when I was...when I was first hearing about some of this and I was like, oh.... Like I remember like 10 years ago when people were starting to have frame bags and stuff, and I was like "Where do you get a frame bag, like where can I go and buy this?" And the answer was, you had to just know someone who fucked around and made one and wanted to make you one. And it was like...it's like watching an entire--like, you know, fuck an industry, but it does make it more accessible for people that there's like more people making these things--but an entire way of making things, or a culture of making things, like erupting from like watching some people just fuck around with fabric and like cordura and vinyl and shit and just like.... Yeah, I don't know. I feel like...yeah, it's like watching that and watching the same thing happen with messenger bags like 15-20--I know, it's been more--years ago. But I don't know, it's something I've weirdly always appreciated about like bikes is that there's been a lot of innovation not on an industrial level. It's like on the level of people just messing around with stuff in their garages and figuring out some really cool things. I don't know, does that...does that track? Is that real? Am I under the right perception? **Spencer ** 31:11 100% There are so many cottage bag makers and a lot of them have scaled up and some of them are still really small. And a lot of the innovation is still coming from those cottage industries. Big companies have caught up. So there are a multitude of companies offering frame bags produced overseas that you can get at REI or on Amazon. There's a there's a host of options. Industrial production has caught up to it. One thing that's cool that they will never be able to do is there's a bunch of frame bike bag sewers--builders? What's the word? And you can send them a photo and they've written their various different scripts and computer programs and you send them a photo of your bike with like a ruler in it. And they will make a custom tailored bag exactly to fit your bike where you can put bolts through it, like just over the internet. And that's somethingl.... Like I personally have one from Rogue Panda. Nick is a crazy mad scientist and incredibly innovative. Yeah, you can just send him a photo of your bike or if they have the dimensions already in their system, they just sew you an exactly perfect custom bag. So you can get a bunch of off the shelf things that will work for most bikes, but if you have a weird like I do, or many that I do, you can get a custom one, and that's something that's always going to be around as like a cottage level industry. **Inmn ** 32:38 Um, okay, how.... Or.... Okay, so say...let's say I want to...say I want I want to ride my bike from where I live to a neighboring city. It's like...maybe it's four days away, or something, by bike. What...or, this is a regular thing that I want to do. This is a thing that I want to kind of invest in doing. And I'm asking this from the perspective of, so like on my month long bike tour, I feel like there was a way to have a bike that I didn't fucking hate riding. And so I'm wondering...I'm wondering kind of like what kind of bike do I need to do that? What will make my life be less terrible? I was on an old Schwinn steel frame that I put a mountain bike drive train on, essentially. And some like other mountain bike parts. I like converted it to 700s [wheel size]. I didn't know anything about fat tires. I just had like-- **Spencer ** 34:03 It barely existed back then. So yeah. **Inmn ** 34:05 It was like, I don't know like one and a half inch ties. This is embarrassing to say at this point. **Spencer ** 34:14 That's fine. I can't tell you the breadth of dumb ideas around bicycle. **Inmn ** 34:22 Yeah, yeah. And it's like my life was so bad in comparison to my road partner who was riding a Surly Long Haul. [Specialty touring bike] **Spencer ** 34:34 Yeah. So to segue out of this, if you ask the internet, the internet's gonna tell you the Surly Long Haul Trucker's the best bike touring bike for blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm going to tell you right now, the Surly Long Haul Trucker rides like fucking dogshit without about 100 pounds of gear on it, and I don't think is the right bike for almost anyone in this current day and age ofbike touring. But let's get into your actual question. So the cool thing about touring is the bags will fit to most bikes without racks or rack mount. So if you have a bike that's comfortable, that fits you, it's probably...it can probably be made to be some kind of touring ready. So every bike is a bike touring bike if you have enough gumption. I've written tall bikes halfway across this country on multiple occasions. So I wanna say that you can always a specific bike tailored to the trip or the adventure you want to go on. But you can probably make whatever you have work. And I could recommend, if you give me more specifics, I could be like, yeah, you should get this size tire. This is a great bike for that. Like, height matters. All right, before I run away on this, let's start at the...let's start at the bike. So more important than any other consideration is whether you have a bike that's comfortable for you? Does it fit you? **Inmn ** 36:07 What does that mean? **Spencer ** 36:09 So bikes come in multiple sizes for different bodies, different heights. Like, I'm all torso. I've got relatively short legs for my height, but I'm like 6'1" so I ride an extra large bike. If you're 5' or shorter, you might write an extra small. That's going to be...those bikes are gonna fit differently. So there's a varying size run. So most importantly, you want a bike that fits you. And that's going to mean different things to different people, depending on if they have any back issues or what have you. So comfort is going to be kind of paramount to start. So your four day trip, is it off road? Is it mixed between the two? Is it single-track mountain biking? You're not going to take your Schwinn Varsity on a bunch of single track trails in Arizona, because you're not going to have any fillings or teeth left at the end of that ride. So, once you have a bike that's comfortable, once you have a bike that fits you, then you want to say, "Does this bike...is it adequate for the terrain?" And that's typically going to be tire size. So tires come in a bunch of different flavors, but you're pretty much looking at anywhere between a 26" rim, a 27.5" rim, or a 29" rim, which is also coloquially referred to as 700c. And those come in--oh my God I'm really in the rabbit hole here--so many sizes. But, so is your bike comfortable? Does your bike fit you? Do you now have the appropriate tire size for the terrain you hope to traverse? And we're going to assume that you have all of those things. And the next consideration will probably be luggage. So how much frame bag space do you have? Can you get a frame bag for it? Do you have mounts to put a rack on the front, or even the back, of the bike? You want to make panniers to go on there? You can strap anything, like anything with the stuff sack, you can strap. I mean the quintessential like bike co-op special is the old kitty litter boxes with hardware hooks and some bungee cords. Like, do you have a cat? Do you use cat litter? And these are all things that can become bike touring luggage. It's so up to you and how you can fit it. I've seen such a plethora. There's such a rich community of people DIYing these things. And there's ways to use like old cutting boards to make handlebar rolls to hold stuff sacks, you know? Like, I could go on and on. So the next thing you want to figure out is how are you going to pack all your shit on your bike? And okay, we've got that. There's a plethora. And next thing is food and water. Is there water available? Do I need a water filter along the way? Where can I get more food, snacks, etc... along the way? How many days of food I need to pack? Those water and food options are probably going to inform how you pack or what kind of luggage you're going to need, beecause those your essentials. Like if you want the bike to move, you have to pedal it and you have to be alive to do that. So you're gonna need to eat and drink. **Inmn ** 39:36 Yeah, can I have a little segue off that? It was funny on this cross-country bike tour, like our attitude about that changed throughout the trip, you know, where it was like--Marie definitely had more like bike touring experience than I did--but like when we started, we were in rural Oregon, we were in Montana, we were in all of these big western states. And we didn't have a water filter, which is probably something we should have brought. But like, you know, we weren't camping. We weren't--or sorry, we were camping every night, but we weren't trying to ride off to find nice places. We were like, whatever's along the road, you know? And so we were like, "Okay, well, we just have to bring all of this stuff with us." Like, I think we had like two weeks' worth of food each and three gallons of water on us at all times. And it was utterly absurd, like our bikes were so goddamn heavy. But we often went a week without going to a grocery store. **Spencer ** 40:57 That could be the reality of your trip. And there's some of these long distance routes, especially the off road ones.... Like road touring, if you're on established routes, like highways or secondary highways, you're gonna hit a gas station hopefully once a day, if not every other day. And like, you know, it's not gonna be great food. But that's...those are all considerations to how much you need to pack. And that's...that's typically the first thing I would be like where's my reasonable resupply? Especially ifwe live down to the desert, like water is the main concern and the limiting factor for a lot of my trips. Like how much do I have to carry? Where can I get it? How can I get it? **Inmn ** 41:39 Yeah, cuz it's like, you're not--unlike being in the Northwest or something, you're not just gonna happen on a stream that you can like.... **Spencer ** 41:47 Exactly. I mean, maybe you can if you know that's there. But that's a big if, and I've planned to get water from a stream and then I got there, and the stream was dry. And I was like, "Oh, this is going to be interesting." **Inmn ** 42:01 But yeah, sorry. You're talking about water, food, etc... I don't know what you were going to say next. **Spencer ** 42:09 Yeah. So once you figured out how much water and food you need to be able to carry between places that you can get water or food, then you're gonna go to gear. So clothing, is it going to be hot? Is it gonna be cold at night? And then you're thinking about sleeping. So tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, at the bare minimum. How warm is that sleeping bag need to be? What's the weather going to be like? Is it going to rain a lot? How nice of a tent do you need? How many people are going to fit in that tent? And once you've figured out those things, those are all going to inform all the decisions we made already about like luggage. Like oh, I need to make a three person tent because there's three of us. Are we going to split it? Yada yada yada. If you've been camping at all, you understand that these are like kind of the basic things you want to have with you. Or maybe you're going there's a hotel every night and you're like, I'm just gonna get a hotel in and take a shower, and people do that and it's great. It's a different way to tour. **Inmn ** 42:10 We met someone like that who was credit-card touring, as it's called, I think. And, you know, I have a friend who just writes crazy distances in like single times, but like meeting this person who was like...he had a very fancy performance road bike and a couple regular small water bottles and like some granola bars and in his fucking lycra pockets, or whatever, and a credit card that was it. That was every single thing this person had. **Inmn ** 43:07 Still bike touring. My 20 year old self would be would be shaking at me saying that but still bike touring. **Inmn ** 44:01 Yeah, I mean if you got a credit card and he just like fucking get a hotel every night. **Spencer ** 44:08 But, you know, these are considerations with things. Like, I've stayed at hotels on bike tours. Like I had a real shit day got rained on for like this last trip I did in the Midwest past summer. We got stuck in like damn near a tornado. And I was putting up our tent in the downpour rain and then it was drizzling the whole next day. And I was like, fuck it. I'm getting a hotel. Going off route. I'm going to a hotel. Sleep in this hotel and shower and dry all of our shit out. And these are things you want to consider and this is all part of what goes into considering to go on a bike trip. **Inmn ** 44:44 Yeah, um, so we're getting close to the end of our time for today. I didn't say this at the beginning, but this is a two part episode. And I'm wondering if we could kind of end today's episode with, could you just tell us a story about going on a bike tour. Could have gone well, could have gone horribly. Kind of whatever. Tell us about a trip that you went on and kind of like what... Yeah. Yeah. **Spencer ** 45:21 Alright, I'm gonna tell you about my favorite bike tour. And it will bring it back together because you met that lovely gentleman in Glacier on the Tour Divided some years ago. So my buddies Kurt and Sam--this was 2016--so fledgling days of kinda packing bags. This is when one of the bigger companies, Blackburn, was getting into making bags. They sponsored a bunch of folks to go ride big long off-road routes. My friends got this scholarship sponsorship thing. And I was like, okay, cool, like, I'm gonna go meet them. I just finished up work. I worked as a bicycle tour guide, but the van stuff, not so much the touring that we're talking about, but going to hotels, yadda yadda yadda. And I got off work, drove out there. I took my dad's hybrid from like 1994 and I strapped a bunch of bags to it. And we went riding down. They had like slick bikes, all the new bags. But the fun thing was they were big rock climbers at the time. So we were carrying all of our camping gear and a full 60 meter rope, a full trad rack of cams and nuts and like our climbing harnesses and shoes, and every week we were climbing at least once a week. So we're doing trad climbing up some mountains in Montana or Wyoming or wherever the hell we want that being that week. And we packed nothing. We had.... Like none of us had real tents. We have like one spare tube between us because we just didn't have room for anything with all the climbing gear. It was just so reckless and stupid. We hitchhiked a ton and climbed a bunch of shit that was really sketchy. And it still to this day is one of my favorite memories of traveling by bike, just getting to go climb and just riding those wide opens stretches of Montana, Wyoming, a little bit in Colorado. And it was just the dumbest fun. God I miss you, Sam and Kurt, if you're out there listening somewhere. That was my bike penultimate trip that had been on. It just...it was silly and dumbn. There's photos and videos of that from years ago that I can send you some links to or whatnot. But the joy I still take from those memories and that trip stick with me. **Inmn ** 47:35 Hell yeah. That's wonderful. Um, one of my like, weirdly favorite memories of going on bike tour was--and we'll talk about this a little more in part two--but is preparation, how to prepare for a trip, how tolike plan an actual trip, you know. And me and Marie didn't plan literally at all. We just hopped on our bikes and started riding. Every day we woke up and we were like, "Yeah, let's go on that road. That makes sense. Whatever. It'll be fine." Weirdly, we did end up on...we accidentally ended up on Adventure Cycling routes, you know? Which makes sense. They were the most logical roads to ride on. We just didn't know. But our lack of preparation and planning was actually the most fun part of the trip. **Spencer ** 48:39 So my buddy Kurt on that trip, and we did a bunch of subsequent trips, and I'm a big planner and Kurt hates planning. He made me fly to fucking Columbia with zero plan and like one half contact that we called when we got to Bogota and a bunch of paper maps and was like, "Nah, we're just gonna figure it out." Speaking of accidentally winding up on ACA routes, did you the pro move where you found someone riding in the opposite direction and you asked if they were done with their maps because you were going the opposite way? **Inmn ** 49:11 No, that would have been smart. But we didn't... We met a couple other people on bike tour. We were incredibly surprised. We met exactly three people on bike tour on a two month long trip and I was actually surprised about it. **Spencer ** 49:30 Wow. I wound up on that TransAm for a little bit. And I didn't have any maps because I was being a total of shit bird and would be like, "Hey, you done with that section?" cause I didn't want to buy maps. **Inmn ** 49:42 Yeah, they're expensive. **Spencer ** 49:45 I mean, Adventure Cycling is a really lovely organization that has done a lot of good and they're a nonprofit. Do you ever, did you guys go through Missoula and go to the headquarts? **Inmn ** 49:55 We did. We got the free ice cream. **Spencer ** 49:56 Popscicles and soda. Yeah. Okay, well, that's why those maps are so expensive is they gotta give free sodas and ice cream to all the dirt bag toursists that won't buy them. **Inmn ** 50:07 Yeah, yeah. Cool. Well, that about does it for the time that we have today. Before we go, are there any things that you want to plug, any projects, any places that people can find you on the internet where you would like to be found? Anything like that? **Spencer ** 50:29 Anything on social media, is just Spencer J. Harding. Like I said, I write for the theradavist.com. You can type my name in there and there's a bunch of reviews and trip reports and stuff like that. My website is just SpencerJharding.com. There's a bunch of photos organized there from a bunch of my bicycle travels, if you want to check that out. **Inmn ** 50:50 Yeah. Cool. Cool. And for folks who...just to let you know what we're gonna be talking about next time, next time being next week, we're gonna be talking about how to actually plan a bike trip, what are things you should be prepared for kind of like on the road, why traveling by bike is just a really cool idea--if you haven't been swayed already--what are its limitations, and how does this fit into preparedness models for any kind of collapse or disaster situation that we might be in. So tune in next time. **Inmn ** 51:33 If you enjoyed this podcast, then go hop on a bike and ride around and see what happens. And also, if you like this podcast, you can please just tell people about it. It's the best way that people hear about the show and one of the best ways to support us. But if you would like to support us in other, I think, sillier ways, you can support the show financially. And you can support us financially by supporting our publisher Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness. And the best way to support us is to go to tangledwilderness.org and buy some books. There's some really cool books you can buy. You can buy a cool TTRPG that me, Margaret, Casandra, and Robin wrote called Penumbra City. You can get a lots lots of other really cool books too. And you can also support us by supporting our Patreon at patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. And there's a bunch of different levels of support that you can give us, anywhere from like $5 a month, which kind of gets you a lot of cool stuff. It gets you discounts, it gets you digital versions of all of the stuff that we publish and just like lots of really cool updates. You can also get a zine mailed to you every month, that we put out as part of our monthly feature, which if you also just want to hear those, you can read them on our website or you can check out another podcast that I do called Ttrangers in a Tangled Wilderness, where we take our monthly feature and turn it into an audio zine and interview the author. And then there's another fun part of it, which is that for $20 a month, you can get us to thank or acknowledge anything that you want us to thank to or acknowledge, whether that be you or a cool organization that you want to get shouted out, or whether it's just someone you love and care about. Or as I'm still plugging for, a fictional or theoretical concept. So check us out on Patreon and we just want to give some special shout outs to these folks right now. Thank you alium, Amber, Ephemoral, Appalachian Liberation Library, Portland's Hedron Hackerspace, Boldfield, E, Patoli, Eric, Buck, Julia, Catgut, Marm, Carson, Lord Harken, Trixter, Princess Miranda, Ben Ben, anonymous, Janice & O'dell, Aly, paparouna, Milica, Boise Mutual Aid, theo, Hunter, SJ, Paige, Nicole, David, Dana, Chelsea, Staro, Jenipher, Kirk, Chris, Michaiah, and Hoss the Dog. Thank you so much for everything and we hope that you're doing as well as you can with everything that's going on and we'll see you next time. Find out more at https://live-like-the-world-is-dying.pinecast.co

Join Sam from The Blind Life as he interviews Chris, a remarkable individual with an inspiring vision story. At the age of 24, Chris received a diagnosis of Stargardt disease, leading to legal blindness by his early thirties. Despite the challenges, Chris embarked on a transformative journey of self-discovery through cycling. From commuting to work to conquering 100-mile charity rides and tackling the rugged terrain of off-road mountain biking, Chris's resilience shines through. Now, he's preparing for his most ambitious adventure yet: the Tour Divide, a 2,700-mile self-supported mountain bike race from Canada to Mexico. Learn how Chris navigates the trails with low vision, overcomes obstacles, and finds strength in solitude. This is a story of determination, adventure, and living life to the fullest. Don't miss out on this incredible journey! Follow Chris's adventure with the hashtag #BlindCyclistJourney and share your own stories of resilience and adventure. Join the conversation and support Chris on his epic ride across America!

Laurens is a vibe. His Live Slow, Ride Fast mantra is a media company and it's a way of life! He has very big plans for 2024, so listen in as we talk the Portugal N2 trip, his target of Tour Divide, how he stays fit at 43, and what it takes to compete at the pointy end of World Tour bike races in this modern age. N2 trip in summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7I4RBIlp9c Follow Laurens at: @laurens_ten_dam And why don't you buy yourself some AG1 at: www.drinkAG1.com/tedking

Sara Bresnick is a former professional mountain biker, cycling coach and founder of Pedal Power Training Solutions which offers customized training plans plus advice on nutrition, race strategy, and technique.   What are some fitness goals your clients have beyond racing? For example, does it make sense for a rider to work with a coach before a big weeklong mountain bike trip?  Do older athletes need more time to recover between intense workouts? What happens if you miss a day, or two, in a training schedule? How quickly do fitness gains disappear? How does an "off season" work for bike athletes? Should you still be biking some, or is it possible to do other activities instead?   Let's say I wanted to ride the Tour Divide in 2025, and my goal was to finish the ride in 45 days. Given a good level of base fitness, what's a realistic timeframe for training? In general, what would a training plan involve? What's the biggest challenge most people face when it comes to improving their fitness? As a trainer, what can you learn from a client's workout data?  How much of your job as a trainer is emotional support versus purely technical? What's one easy step everyone can take to start improving their fitness today? Learn more and connect with Sara at pedalpowercoaching.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/singletracks/support

Meaghan Hackinen is your 2024 DOOM female winner and 3rd place overall. On day one she skipped a critical resupply point and found herself leading the field for a good part of the day. Dexter Kopas would eventually catch her and go on to take the win. Overall, it made for some exciting dot watching and resulted in an impressive finish for Meaghan. Meaghan got into competitive ultra cycling events back in 2016 and she has a long list of good results that include wins and FKT on several courses. Notably, she was the overall winner at the BC Epic 1000 in 2021 and she is the 24 hour World Time Trial Champion where she set a new course record. Next up, Meaghan is taking on the Tour Divide. She's on my dot-watching list, she should probably be on yours too! EPISODE SPONSORS Old Man Mountain ~ Use discount code “mountainsordeath” for 10% off site-wide and use this affiliate link so BoD gets a Thank You check in the mail  New Patrons  None this week. Nows a great time to support the show :) Join them won't you? Find out more at www.Patreon.com/BikesorDeath

In 2023, just four years after competing in his first bikepacking race, Ulrich Bartholmoes won the biggest race of them all, the Tour Divide. The 2,745-mile route is always at the mercy of the elements, but Ulrich and his two fellow race leaders found themselves in a particularly strange (and scary) predicament when cold temperatures and constant rain left more than a hundred miles of the route unrideable. In a stroke of luck, the three racers happened upon a porta potty in the Great Divide wilderness, where they huddled together for almost 12 hours. Ulrich has a lot of stories like this from racing. A couple weeks ago, during the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco, he got food poisoning, climbed down from a second-story window with his bike on his back at 2 a.m., and suffered a collapsed lung after a run-in with a dog...all in the span of about four days.  Payson sat down with Ulrich (still recovering from the crash) in Girona last week to get the inside scoop on that now-legendary porta potty, along with his unique take on bikepacking. He talks about how using granular data actually makes racing more fun for him, what he thinks about Lachlan Morton's unofficial Divide record, and the mental recovery of such long events. He also talks about his plans for this year, which include tackling the Triple Crown. Instagram: @theadventurestacheYouTube: Payson McElveen