This week on the podcast I wanted to bring you a chin wag with Ty Domin, who connected with me from Canberra, Australia.

Ty has lived his life from the saddle of a bike whether he’s rolling laps in the velodrome, single speeding his local trails, touring around the world or tackling events like the Tour Divide, Race to the Rock, The Hunt 1000 or the Victoria Divide.

Most recently he has taken to creating custom bikepacking luggage from his home under the name Yeah Nah Thread Works. Pandemic has changed a lot of things for a lot of people and in Ty’s case, he has become a prolific sempster, creating functional bikepacking luggage for people seeking quality, long lasting equipment.

I always enjoy connecting the Ty for a conversation about, well about whatever happens to come up! So grab a pint and pull up a stool or a saddle and pop in the buds, for a meandering conversation with Ty Domin.

King Stingray - Get Me Out

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code MB40 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks toLakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

This week on the podcast I bring you a conversation with Chris Panasky, host of the Bike Tour Adventures podcast.

Chris and I connected for a chat that we were going to co-release, but after the chat I felt as though I took over the conversation and felt like it would be better if we connected for another chat where I would provide more space for Chris.

Chris is a traveler, cyclist, expat and teacher with over 15 years experience living abroad in six different countries. As a passionate cyclist he has seen the world by bike and has toured in some truly amazing places. Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Canada.

During that time, he has traveled to over 40+ countries and met countless travelers, cyclists, and other expats. While traveling by bike, he decided that he wanted to connect the touring and bikepacking community together and this became the catalyst of the Bike Tour Adventures podcast where he shares his guests fascinating stories and helps listeners learn tips, tricks, and techniques to improve their touring and bikepacking experience.

Chris is an accomplished bikepack endurance athlete having tackled and set FKT’s on the BT700 and the Log drivers Waltz. His podcast is a must listen and if you don’t already subscribe, please do.

Bike Tour Adventures
Closer to the Sky - The Glorious Sons

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code MB40 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Anthony Walsh wants to help you find health, happiness and longevity through cycling and is building a community around him that is accomplishing just that..

Cycling is in Anthony’s blood.  As a child, his bike was an adventure machine, providing him with a way to explore the land outside of his local community. Through adulthood, a bike was always there, not only as a commuting machine, but as a way of life when he became a professional cyclist.

Now he wants others to realize that the path to longevity and vitality is best traveled atop a bike and emerging from this ethos is Roadman Cycling.

Roadman Cycling offers coaching to elite, expert and professional cyclists alike, but it’s his podcast where he and his guests share wisdom through inspirational, intimate and disarmingly-unfiltered conversations about how to recapture your health through cycling.

I really enjoyed this conversation. Please visit Roadmancycling.com and if you don’t already, follow them on Instagram @roadman.cycling

Sinéad O'Connor & The Chieftains - The Foggy Dew

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art - James Nestor

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code MB40 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

James Wilson, founder of Graveleur, wants to grow Australia’s gravel community and he and co-founder Mike Israel are on their way to building something truly awesome.

“Graveleur is a cycling community drawn together by one thing – back road exploring.

Our purpose is to build Australia’s gravel community. This is a movement – not a race – it is about enjoying the ride and stopping occasionally to soak in the atmosphere.

Graveleur is about the journey, not the destination.

We encourage each other to explore gravel and unsealed roads across Australia to find new adventures and to see new places.

Graveleur embraces this spirit of adventure and anyone is welcome to join.

We are more about the real world ride than the digital community although we use the latter to inspire and equip ourselves for the adventure.

Building a hub where you can find out where these classic gravel rides are, is what we are all about. You can find gravel to ride, join in and along with like minded people, chat about cycling to inspire each other to go further.”

graveleur.cc

James in a medical professional, entrepreneur, athlete and father working to live his best life. I really appreciated James’ vulnerability in this podcast and I hope you come along for the ride.

Pickapart (Live) - John Butler Trio

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code MB40 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

A few weeks ago, too long ago actually, Justin reached out to me to share his idea for a Bonnie Gagnon fundraiser. For those who don’t know who Bonnie is, she’s been a ever present force in the bikepacking community for a long time, sharing the love of endurance athletics and the joys of experiencing the world from the saddle of a bike.

Bonnie’s journey hasn’t been an easy one, battling injuries and a bout with Lemierre’s Syndrome that nearly took her life. Most recently, a strike to her head has cause more trauma and her treatment resulted in spinal fluid leaks, rendering her bed ridden. She needs help.

Justin designed a kick ass sticker that we’re making available in the My Back 40 store. For $25 +s&h, we’ll send you a two pack of these iconic decals to display on your Nalgene or Stainless coffee vessels and flasks to show your support.

I was also interested in learning a bit about Justin, who seems to be constantly getting after in the many bikepacking events that litter the U.S. Justin is an artist, both visually and musically and creates bike related tunes that touch on the cycling culture that we can all relate to.

You can find him on Facebook and can check out his music videos on YouTube.

I had a great time chatting with Justin, and I hope you enjoy this chat too. Please visit the store to grab a 2 pack of these stickers, or check out her GoFundMe to give that way. Either way, it’s going to help this iconic cyclist get back on the pedals.

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code MB40 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

A coach just doesn’t send you workout schedules and nutritional advice. A true coach engages with his or her athletes to guide them along their own athletic path.

A couple of weeks ago I was having a high level of existential angst about my current condition, so I called Ryan to chat. Dealing with my resent injuries is feeling like a setback, but Ryan doesn’t think so. He says that this is an opportunity. An opportunity for self care.

Being a guy with a 20 year old mind and a 50 year old body has been hard for me to reconcile, and I didn’t realize just how badly I was beating myself up, physically and mentally. And if I have any chance of riding 4,400km of the Divide this summer, I need to pull my head in, and get my shit together.

In this episode we chat about some of the things we discussed during or phone conversations, topics like, reframing setbacks as opportunities, about asking ourselves “Who am I” in trying to find our own identities and Ryan shares some of the struggles his other masters athletes have while they pursue their own athletic endeavors.

Lots of takeaways in this one, folks. I hope you dig it.

Cycling 101
Dynamic Cyclist
Dirty Loops - Bitten by the Kitten

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code MB40 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

This week on the podcast, I’m speaking with Theo Kelsey-Verdecchia, last years winner of the Alberta Rockies 700.

I saw Theo briefly at the start of the AR before he swiftly rolled away into the Rockies. Just over two days later, 53 hours if I’m not mistaken, he crossed the line to win the event.

Theo hails from Toronto but aspires to move closer to the mountains in the near future. In Ontario, he has set and then broken fastest known times on the BTXL, a route that combines The Butter Tart 700 (768km) and the Grand Nith Ramble (350km), boasting just over 1,100km and 10,400m of ascent which he crushed in just over 84 hours.

Theo has been obsessed with the Tour Divide for a few years and plans to tackle the route in 2022. Theo’s dot will be one to watch, so stay tuned!

As always, we cover a lot of ground in this conversation. We chat about racing and doing hard things. He speaks to the simplicity of bikepacking and racing and how it allows you to really take in your environment. We also chat about mindset and fear. I really enjoyed chatting with Theo. I appreciated his insight on life and think we’re going to see big things from him.

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code VIP50 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

When I first encountered Ryan’s YouTube channel, I was struck by his intense optimism and positive energy output. As I dove into some of his content, some current and some from 15 years ago, I was drawn to his adventures and storytelling, as well as his openness and vulnerability.

Ryan’s intention, when it comes to the content he produces, is to inspire us to get out there. To try things we’ve never done before. To push our limits. To connect with nature in a way that will not only make us stronger physically, but mentally as well. He wants to make the world a better place which he accomplishes by showing us the beautiful landscapes he traverses, as well as the warm human connections he makes along the way.

I felt an instant connection with Ryan that I hope you feel in this episode. His kind, honest and open nature resonated very strongly with me and made for an awesome conversation.

We talk about growing up in Colorado, and his athletic life. We get into his epic trip to Venezuela where he and a group of strangers were dropped into the jungle with limited supplies and no shelters, then filmed as they tried to find their way back to civilization. We chat about his almost 6 years of sobriety and the positive results of quitting alcohol. We discuss the importance of creativity, vulnerability and community as well as the usual tangents.

I hope you dig it.

@duzer
Rüfüs Du Sol - Desert Night
Tangentially Speaking

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code VIP50 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Since I started My Back 40 a couple of years ago, I knew it was going to evolve into something. I wasn’t sure what that was going to be, but I’ve been thinking more and more about that lately.

Based on some feedback that I have received from listeners, I’m thinking that, from time to time, I am going to publish solo episodes, so I can just talk about other things that interest me. There will always be bikes, but episodes could also include books and podcasts that I have been listening to and how I have integrated what I have learned, stories from rides and races, habit hacks, opinions on gear and stuff like that. Is that cool?

You already know that I like to lean into mental health and the benefits of moving through nature, so that will always be a common thread with most if not all of the content I produce.

I certainly love a good conversation, and those won’t stop any time soon, but sometimes a guy just needs to talk, you know? Please let me know what you think in the comments.

In this episode I chat about changes and projects for 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope, cannabis, taking smile breaks, fat bikes, training, doing hard things, mental health and books.

I hope you dig it.

Sex at Dawn - Dr. Christopher Ryan
Civilized to Death - Dr. Christopher Ryan
Tangentially Speaking - Dr. Christopher Ryan (podcast)
Loving What Is - Byron Katie
Bad Asteroid - The Aristocrats

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code VIP50 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

”You retire when you’re dead”, a quote from the trailer of her documentary, No Limits, exemplifies Leah’s presence when it comes to the challenges she has faced in her life.

It is her grit, perseverance and her never quit attitude that secured her win of The Race Across America, which is a 4,800km, trans continental race that takes riders from the west coast to the east coast of the United States. Leah’s time of 11 days, 3 hours and 3 minutes means she was averaging over 436km per day, sleeping no more than 3 hours per night, if she slept at all.

Since she was young, she was a fighter, figuratively and literally. At the age of 17 she won the Bantamweight World Kickboxing Championship and was the Duathlon champion in Israel. She still uses her martial arts to warm as part of her training.

Leah Immigrated back to Israel to join the Israeli Defense Force where she became a Krav Maga specialist and the first female elite commando trainer. There, she discovered cycling which developed into her goal of becoming a pro cyclist and the desire to eventually ride in the 2004 Olympic Games. The universe had other plans when a crash altered her trajectory which eventually led to her discovery of ultra distance cycling. 

Leah’s commitment to finishing what she started spans not only her athletic endeavors but also her life. She shares a ton of wisdom in this conversation about discipline, chasing your dreams and paying attention to unique opportunities. We talk about the importance of pushing our limits and doing hard things, setting goals and seeing them through, as well as other tangents and topics along the way.

I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and hope you do as well.

Enjoy

Save 25% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code VIP50 at checkout.

Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.

Visit Rollingdale Cycle

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!