When you’re chasing big goals, it’s easy to get tunnel vision — to pour everything you have into one idea of what success should look like. What you should do next. How far you should go. The kind of person you should be.

This year, artist and bikepack racer Quinda Verheul set out to take on the Triple Crown of bikepacking: the Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race, and Arizona Trail Race. After the Tour Divide, her year took a turn in a direction she couldn't imagine. 

In this conversation, Quinda opens up about the pressure to keep proving yourself, the vulnerability of letting go, and the freedom that comes from redefining success on your own terms. We talk about the realities of professional ultra-cycling, the mental and financial load of chasing big races, and the courage it takes to change direction when your goals stop serving you.

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There’s a certain magic in firsts — especially your first bikepacking race. They’re full of unknowns, and no matter how much you prepare, nothing ever goes exactly to plan.

For Sarah Diekmeyer, a gravel racer with Enough Cycling, this year’s Badlands was her first ultra — a leap into the world of bikepacking races she once thought were only for “other people.” What followed was a crash course in everything that comes with your first ultra: the highs, the hunger, the hallucinations, and the hard lessons learned along the way.

In this episode, Sarah shares the unfiltered behind the scenes of her first bikepacking race, from fuelling disasters and sleep deprivation to the small moments of magic that made it all worth it. 

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 Marei Moldenhauer burst into 2025 with a win at the Atlas Mountain Race in February. No doubt eager to build on that early momentum and with big goals on the horizon for the remainder of the year, she was halted in her tracks after an accident skiing left her with a broken leg. The calendar wiped clear, and a long road to recovery ahead, Marei was forced to recalibrate and rebuild from ground zero.

In this episode she shares the behind the scenes of building back to form, what she's learned about managing expectations and how she's looking to the future, reimagining how she sets goals.

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When Roz Osborne signed up for the Silk Road Mountain Race, her motivation was simple: to prove her son wrong.

Living in Cornwall with her husband and 12-year-old son, Roz had spent years pouring her energy into family and work. But when she left her job and saw applications open for the race, something inside her clicked. She wanted to do something entirely for herself — not as a mum, or a wife, or an employee, but as Roz.

In this episode of Detours, Roz shares her journey from that moment of saying yes out loud, to standing on the start line in Kyrgyzstan, to crossing the finish line two weeks later. She talks about the guilt and joy of chasing a goal that’s purely your own, the challenge of preparing for an ultra as a parent, and the freedom that comes from carving out space for yourself.

Before our conversation, you’ll also hear the voice note Roz recorded before the race as part of our Women of SRMR Detours Episode — a message to her future self that still rings true today.

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After a crash just weeks before the start of the 2024 Transcontinental Race, Cynthia spent months recovering—stitches, broken teeth, and the mental weight of losing the race she’d prepared for. A year later, she returned to the start line determined to give it everything she had.

In this conversation, Cynthia reflects on:

• The steep learning curve of self-routing and how small decisions shaped her race
• Racing in one of the deepest women’s fields TCR has ever seen
• Recovering from a devastating crash and rebuilding confidence on the bike
• The mantras and mental tricks that carried her through the darkest moments
• What it means to truly embrace the highs and lows, in racing and in life

It’s a full-circle moment to have Cynthia back on the pod. If you've been here since the beginning you'll remember her as our original co-host and this pod would not exist without her! 

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Follow Cynthia on Instagram: @watt_wagon

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Spend a few minutes with Julie von Gruenigen and you'll hear it right away, she loves riding her bike. On the surface ultra-cycling can feel like it has one recipe for success: sleep little, push past your limits and measure yourself by the podium. But of course, if you dig a little deeper, there's so much more to it.

In just a few years, Julie has gone from triathlon to the front of races like Badlands, Traka Adventure, and most recently winning the women's race at the Alps Divide. But she doesn't measure success or meaning from her ranking. 

In this episode, she shares how she feels like a "spectator" when she's found herself at the front of races, what she's learned about balancing ambition with self-care and while listening to yourself and centering the experience around joy may be the most important skill in bike pack racing.

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Follow Julie on Instagram: @julieta.bicicleta

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Chris Burkard is no stranger to grand adventures. He’s built his career chasing light at the edges of the world, photographing athletes in their element, from the ocean to glaciers, sides of mountains, and continues to test himself on countless expeditions — including a sixteen-day finish at the Tour Divide.

But the Silk Road Mountain Race remained an elusive someday ride, shadowed by imposter syndrome, questioning if he really belonged on the startline. This year he took the leap, training with new focus and deep respect for the mountains.

Chock full of life lessons, Chris reflects on his time in Kyrgyzstan, the lessons he carried from his time on the Tour Divide, and how he’s learned that fear and readiness can coexist. He shares stories of crushing loneliness — the realization of how far from home and familiarity he really was — and moments of elation, from the tears of relief when the headwind finally broke to the overwhelming joy of reaching the summit of the final pass. Most of all, he reflects on the power of vulnerability, the importance of taking joy seriously, and the truth that so much of what these experiences give us, more often than not, has nothing to do with the bike.

Follow Chris on Instagram: @chrisburkard

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I am back after a month away from home! This is episode is a somewhat chaotic catchup of where I've been, what I've been up to and things I'm looking forward to this fall.

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb

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We are so back... kinda! We'll be resuming normal episodes next week and want to know, what do you want to hear on Detours? Shoot us a dm @detourscycling or @melwwebb on Instagram, send us an email at [email protected] or comment on Spotify. 

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb

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Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion

If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

In ultra distance bikepack racing, women typically make up just over 10% of the starting line. In recent years, we've begun to see that number grow with a number of efforts popping up to encourage more women to take to the start line and give the sport a go. This year, 30 women will be lining up to take on the Silk Road Mountain race, which is often regarded as the pinnacle of off-road bike pack racing. They'll travel more than 1,900 kilometers across the country, into the high mountains, across rivers and valleys, and into some of the most remote and rugged destinations of Kyrgyzstan. This episode is a celebration of the women lining up this year. They come from all corners of the globe, and it's a spotlight on their individual stories.

Dotwatch the 2025 Silk Road Mountain Race

Listen to the race podcast

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb

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Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion

If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast