Bikes or Death

Nicolette Jones just won the 2024 Colorado Trail Race on her first attempt. Not only was this her first time racing the Colorado Trail, it was her first bikepacking race ever! Which makes her finish time of 5d 12h 21m even more impressive.

Although this was her first bikepacking race, she is no stranger to adventurous pursuits or the Colorado Trail. She is the only person in the world to have thru-hiked, skied, and biked the Colorado Trail. So she is no stranger to this trail and, in fact, probably has a higher familiarity with it than most people. In 2023 she toured the trail in 11 days with thoughts of racing it one day on her mind. This year, those thoughts turned to reality and she rolled out at 4am with about 75 other racer at this years CTR. She was able to get a lead on her competitors early on and then maintain it for the entirety of the race.

On today's episode we talk about a host of interesting topics. From her jobs as an adventure guide and coach, to making your own bikepacking bags, her love for tandems, and a 7.5 month bike tour she did with her Husband, Mark, from Arizona to Argentina. And, of course, we talk about her impressive win at the Colorado Trail Race. At only 25 Nicolette has a huge adventure resume and it was a lot of fun getting to know her and hear about some of her adventures. If you'd like to learn more about Nicolette after you listen to today's episode you can take a deeper dive on her blog, WalkSkiCycle.com.

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Red Granite Grinder - Epic gravel race in Wisconsin on Oct. 12th, 2024. Smash the link for more information and registration.

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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.

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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.

Red Granite Grinder - Epic gravel race in Wisconsin on Oct. 12th, 2024. Smash the link for more information and registration.

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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.

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Spencer McCullough just did something that's never been done before! He visited all 51 National Parks in the lower 48 by bicycle. This epic trip around the U.S. involved 411 days of riding, 18,000 miles covered by bike, and a total of 28 flat tires.

Spencer was inspired to do this trip after reading an article in the New York Times, titled "What to Save? Climate Change Forces Brutal Choices at National Parks". His goal? To visit all the National Parks in the lower 48 to experience them before climate change impacts them even further. Along the way, he educated himself about cycling safety and infrastructure and compiled invaluable data on dedicated hiker-biker campsites in our National Parks. Through his ride, he's been able to bring awareness to some of the issues facing cyclists who dream of visiting our National Parks by bike.

One of his initiatives to promote bike touring in America is a website that lists all the hiker/biker campsites in one place. This site is a combination of his own research and efforts, but community members are encouraged to submit campsites to the map as well. This is an ongoing project, but he's already mapped 508 campsites (at the time of this writing) and more are being added by the day. To check out this resource and/or to add more campsites, please visit GoBikecamping.com.

On today's episode, Spencer and I dive into his motivations and goals for this trip, what it's like to live off your bike for 411 days, some of the best (and worst) Parks and places to ride in America, and what to do if you find a gun on the side of the road! Those topics, and more, can be found in today's chat with Spencer McCullough.

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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.

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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.

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.

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The Arkansas Graveler is a supported bike tour across the state of Arkansas. It boast 366 miles and 26,700 feet of climbing over 6 days. The route takes you into parts unknown, showcasing some of the most remote rural roads that I've had the pleasure of riding. This inaugural year attracted 300+ riders from 35 states. It's clear that the word about Arkansas is spreading and cyclists are traveling far and wide to get a taste of the seemingly unlimited gravel roads that showcase why Arkansas is called "The Natural State".

The Arkansas Graveler, not content to offer riders a beautiful route and scenery, offered a host of off bike activities each afternoon, like archery, zip-lining, fly fishing, skeet shooting, cave tours, and the list goes on. Riders were well fed each morning and evening by Chef Biju Thomas and his team. Our bikes were maintained by Phat Tire bike shop. There were medics on site each day to attend to boo-boos and heat related illness. And we were treated to local musicians each evening with curated music that highlighted the region we were in. In other words, this isn't your average bike tour. The Arkansas Graveler created a traveling bike festival that followed, supported, healed, and entertained, 300+ riders as we traversed the great state.

After riding across the state I assembled a small panel of participants to share their experience on the Arkansas Graveler. Our esteemed panel features: Philip Alderfer, Bobby Finster, Hilary Lex, and Scotti Moody (race director). Please join us on this weeks episode as we relive the highs and lows of this inaugural event.

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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.

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!

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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.

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!

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