In 2018, Bill took a train from Kansas city to Sante Fe, then rode the GDMBR to Banff using some old Adventure Cycling Association maps and hand written cue sheets. Now, rewind 17 years before when Bill weighed 435lbs. Those are two different people and the story of how he got to where he is today is inspirational.

Bill knew he had to change his life to save it, so he started an endurance journey of his own and began to transform himself. He changed his diet, got rid of his car and began to slowly shape his day to day around eating well and moving more

Despite suffering from anxiety, depression, a long list of physical injuries, and an arterial fibrillation diagnosis, he persevered and built a better life for himself. in 2004 he became a yoga instructor during which he learned breathing techniques to help him rein in his anxiety. And as his health and fitness improved, he also starting cycling farther and began bikepacking.

Now, Bill want to share his love of bikepacking and teaches folks in Kansas City about how to bikepack responsibly and also how to live car-free. He shares the importance of being outside and grounded and regularly teaches yoga outside to give people a double dose of stress relief. This year he wrote his first book, “Bikepacking School- What They don’t tell you in the guidebooks”, and he has more books coming. He’s also planning to race the TD this year so hopefully I will see him there.

I really enjoyed this conversation and Bill’s journey was so inspirational. I wanted to give him a lot of space so he could really share his story. Needless to say, he made my job very easy.

Thanks for listening.