My Back 40

From time to time Ryan and I connect for a chat to catch up on things that are going on in our lives and there are great things happening for him. Namely the birth of his son, Maxton.

Ryan started coaching as a passion project in 2000 as athletes in his community were asking him for help with their training. In 2014, he took the leap and Cycling 101 was born. As the name implies, Cycling 101 is your number one resource for all things cycling. They offer Coaching, lessons, guiding, and if you just picked up a new whip, what better place to have it fit than in his newly renovated bike fitting studio at his home in Canmore, Alberta.

Ryan’s strategy regarding growth in his business is organic, and his approach to taking on clients is the same. He wants to make sure the there’s a good fit between himself and his client in order to provide a friction free relationship which maximizes results. His intuitive approach to coaching and training as well as his ability to shape a program around an athletes lifestyle has been paramount to his success and the success of his athletes.

In this episode we chat about his new adventures in fatherhood, forming good, long lasting habits, self care and vulnerability. We talk about some of the exciting things that are happening at Cycling 101 and effective strategies in maintaining work life balance. We also cover the importance of knowing your limits so you can ride another day.

We are hoping to make these chats a more regular thing, so if you have any questions you’d like us to cover on the podcast, reach out and we’ll put together a special AMA episode.

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

This week on the podcast, I’m speaking with Dr. John Ogrodniczuk, Professor and Director of the UBC Psychotherapy Program. John is also the Founder of HeadsUpGuys, an online resource that supports men in their fight against depression by providing tips, tools, information about professional services, and stories of success.

After the tragic loss of our friend and mentor, Iohan Gueorguiev, men’s mental health has taken center stage here at My Back 40. One of the main themes in this conversation is vulnerability. Many men feel that vulnerability shows weakness, but nothing could be further from the truth. By courageously embracing vulnerability and reaching out for help, we can find the support we need to face our mental health issues. You’re not alone. You can find support from friends, family or a professional therapist and of course the resources at HeadsUpGuys is a great place to start.

In this podcast we discuss how we need to be more compassionate, forgiving ourselves for past indiscretions and reshaping them as lessons. We discuss the importance of finding purpose and how vital human connection is to our wellbeing. We chat about negative self-talk and some of the tools we can use to attenuate this destructive internal rival.

I could have spent hours unpacking the themes John and I discussed. We covered a lot of ground in the time we had available and I hope you find some wisdom and takeaways from the conversation. On a personal note, I tried not to use this as a personal therapy session, but I did share a lot of my own struggles as a way to relate the material.

Please enjoy my conversation with John and please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below, or reach out to me personally to discuss any of the topics in this podcast.

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.

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Visit Rollingdale Cycle!

This week on the podcast, I’m speaking with Kyle Roberts.

When I first saw the Instagram post by @thelogdriverswaltz regarding Kyle’s finish of this awesome bikepacking route in Ontario, I reached out to him for a chat. But once I started digging into his background, I realized that there was so much more to this man.

Kyle grew up in southern Ontario with adventure in his blood. As early as he can remember, his father would often take the family on epic canoe trips in Algonquin Park, portaging their canoes through the backcountry.

Years later, after moving to Australia where he worked for the High Access Service company RopePro, Kyle started riding bikes. He soon participated in a couple of bikepacking events, the GTD 400 and the Victoria Divide 550, which started his path in adventure cycling. After living in Australia for 6 years, Kyle and his partner returned to Canada. Shortly after they arrived, Kyle tackled the Log Driver Waltz.

Being away from Canada for so long, Kyle wanted to reacquaint himself with the Canadian wilderness and what better way than on an 800km bikepacking route? He completing the route in 74 hours, but this is only the beginning of his story.

In 2017, after he and his brother Tom hiked through the Himalayas, and after observing the corruption and poverty in the area, they wanted to give back. They started the non profit, The Weight We Carry, an organization that wants to raise awareness to mental health. In their first project in 2019, they portaged their canoes up to Mount Everest Base Camp, paying homage to their childhood and bringing awareness to mental health. Kyle, Tom and their team raised $150,000 for KOSHISH Nepal, a Women’s Mental Health Transit Centre in Kathmandu. At this centre, Nepalese women suffering from mental illness and other psychological issues receive Short-term Emergency Care and Professional Mental Health Support. They’re just getting started. They’re currently planning another such endeavour that will take place in the wilds of the Canadian Rockies.

In this episode, Kyle share stories from his adventures and the meaning he and his team find in their projects. Head on over to YouTube and check out, One Step At A Time - The Weight We Carry | Official Documentary | 2020 to learn more. This group of altruists are just getting started and I’m sure we’ll see some more awesome adventures in the future.

This is a long one folks, so head out for a spin and enjoy my conversation with Kyle Roberts.

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.

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Visit Rollingdale Cycle!

On Aug 19, 2022, Ben and Jay plan on riding the Boomerang Loop, cycling around the entire circumference of mainland Australia in 50 days to raise awareness and funds for the mental health charity Mindfull Aus.

MindfullAus is extremely proud of the incredibly inspiring and compassionate people who have come together to spread the most important message, that of acceptance & hope. MindfullAus understands the task at hand in reducing beautiful lives lost to suicide. They also understand that the stigma associated with mind and behavioural health is experienced by more than just one individual or group of people. They seek out opportunities to work collectively with as many people as they can to generate a much bigger, more powerful and beneficial social change and voice.

Jay has experienced the effects first hand in his own life with the loss of people close to him. There’s so much stigma around mental health, but there’s also a hesitancy in extending a hand to people who seem troubled and just how to start that conversation.

In this podcast, we chat about the importance of the Boomerang Loop project and the complicated logistics of a challenge of this magnitude. We talk about how to spot the signs of poor mental health and the ways to help those that seem to be struggling.

Jay and Ben have athletic backgrounds in sport but have very little experience with endurance cycling. These two are very committed to the project and I am sure they will succeed in raising awareness to mental health.

Please enjoy my conversation with Ben Swift and Jay Jones.

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.

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Visit Rollingdale Cycle!

Regardless of the method of transportation, by bike or by foot, Jenny Tough loves being in the mountains. I first had the pleasure of chatting with Jenny way back in Episode 3 after she finished the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco. This time around we’re talking about her recent adventure in the Silk Road Mountain Race where she was the fist woman across the line, completing the 1800km race, which boasts a whopping 35,000m of ascent in just 11d:14h:6m

I had never met her in person until she tracked me down just outside of Castlegar this past summer, while I was on the return trip of my BC Epic yoyo. Definitely one of the highlights of that trip.

Jenny @jennytough is an explorer, an endurance athlete and finds meaning by pushing her limits in the mountains. She has just completed a her major project of running a mountain range in every populated continent. The Tien Shan (Asia), The High Atlas (Africa), The Cordillera Oriental (South America), The Southern Alps, The Caucasus Mountains (Europe) and The Canadian Rockies (North America).

Jenny uses her adventures as learning experiences and suggests people challenge themselves physically as an effective pathway to personal development. I couldn’t agree more and it’s something that I preach a lot. One of the biggest takeaways she has garnered from her travels is just how privileged Canadian women are. She learned this first hand while travelling to places where women are considered second class citizens

In this episode we discuss her adventures and lesson learned along the way. We chat about mindset, setting intentions, mitigating fear as well as other topics. I always enjoy our chats and hope you find inspiration and words of wisdom from this adventurous woman.

Heat Waves - Glass Animals 2020 single

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.

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Visit Rollingdale Cycle!

This week on the podcast I’m speaking with Peterborough, Ontario’s Justin Ross who set an FKT on the 450km COLT in August with a time of 26hr 54min. What’s so impressive about his effort is that he has only just become passionate about bikepacking and ultra endurance bikepack racing. He also set an FKT on the 418km Farmer’s Folly route with a time of 19h 28m.

Justin works for Wild Rock Outfitters in Peterborough as their social media manager as well as sales and guiding. He’s an active dude and enjoys rock climbing, running and started cycling as a low impact way to stay active and take care of his knees.

Justin admits that he’s hooked on this style of riding and enjoys pushing his limits. He also encourages others thinking about participating in these events to give it a try. In this episode we share stories from the trail and the lessons learned when tackling these endeavors.

I had a great time chatting and getting to know Justin and I’m sure we’re going to see him crush more events in the future. I hope you enjoy this chat.

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.

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Visit Rollingdale Cycle!

Iohan Gueorguiev’s death has rocked the world. As this sad news resonates through the community, many of us have questions. The biggest question has been why. I had read comments wondering how, given Iohan’s lifestyle, he would opt out like this. If anything, this situation gives people insight into the power of the mind and depression. How, even in what would appear to be a wonderful happy life, people can still be struggling at the deepest of levels.

About 18 months ago, Melanie and Dan reached out to Iohan to offer their home to him as a base camp during the pandemic and to use as a home base while he discovered more of British Columbia. Iohan was like a son to them, and despite his shy and introverted nature, they became very close.

Melanie and Dan graciously agreed to sit down with me to have a conversation about the man who inspired us all and to discuss mental health. As soon as I arrived in Cranbrook that day, we hopped in the truck loaded with bikes and drove out to one their favourite spots, “Iohan’s Hill”, a place where they now go to remember their lost family member. A place to reflect upon his kindness and what he brought into all of our lives. After I had the honour of riding Iohan’s bike out to the location, we set up the mics and had a conversation punctuated by the sounds of nature and three dogs, Baxter, Gordo and Shadow, a 4 month old puppy that Iohan had adopted and planned to travel with. Shadow, a name he gave to a couple of dogs that tagged along with him on his adventures, and a name that likely has some deeper meaning.

I so appreciated Melanie and Dan’s vulnerability and openness in this conversation and I can’t wait to share this meaningful episode with you all. I invite you to sit down to enjoy this heart felt conversation and once you’ve done that, I’d like you to reach out to someone you love and tell them so. It could be just the thing they need at a time when they need it the most.

HeadsUpGuys - A mental health resource For Men. About Men.
If you’re concerned about mental health and want to donate, Melanie would like to direct you here.

Through the Valley - Shawn James

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.

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Visit Rollingdale Cycle!

Just a short podcast remembering this inspirational cyclist as well as my thoughts about depression and the importance of vulnerability.

Be well, friends…

This week on the My Back 40 podcast: myback40.org

I’m really excited to bring you another conversation with Sports Psychologist, Matt Bain. Sports Psychology is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his breadth of experience, as you’ll read below and hear in this podcast.

“Matthew has a far-reaching psychology background in a broad range of areas. Among them includes clinical diagnosis and treatment, family-centered practices, motivation, performance concepts, and emotional management. This range has allowed him to reach diverse populations to improve problem-solving and perform better in life. Matthew has master’s degrees in both Education and Sport & Exercise Psychology, doctoral-level work in Clinical and Counselling Psychology (ABD) and is currently doing his Ph.D. in Sport Psychology, focusing on personality and motivation across the lifespan. Lastly, Matthew has an extensive background in sport, having performed at National levels and has coached athletes to National and International success.”

Source: https://www.mmbcounselling.com/

This is the third conversation I’ve had with Matt. Back in October 2019, I published a podcast with him on the Bikepack Canada Podcast where we discussed the Mechanics of Motivation. I also connected with him here on My Back 40 to chat about Coping with Change, a discussion about navigating a world sliding into a global pandemic. In this episode we discuss post event depression and how to mitigate it, the importance of mind set, how the correct purpose and motivation can lead to success, bottom up versus top down cognition as well as other topics.

I always come away from a conversation with Matt with a ton of new insight. Matt’s ability to logically unpack human cognition and explain the how and why behind our actions is always fascinating and I’m sure you will find some profound takeaways in this conversation.

Resources:

MMB Counselling and Consulting

Falling in Reverse - Popular Monster

The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress

Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray

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.

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Visit Rollingdale Cycle!

It’s not about the bike this week. From time to time, I branch out to have a conversation with someone who inspires me.

Kirby Brown is an old friend who I met in Whistler B.C. back in the 90’s. At the time we were both working for Whistler Mountain, now Whistler Blackcomb. Kirby worked in guest services, while I worked at McKonkey’s Sports Shop across the hall as a rental “technician”. We’ve always kept in touch.

Kirby would constantly challenge himself in roles he felt he was under qualified for but would allow him to make change in impactful ways. Along the way he discovered his passion for community building, which became his primary focus and he has found great personal meaning working at making the world a better place.

In 2015, Kirby became the GM of the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish BC. His goal was to create an experience for guests to showcase the beauty of the region, and the community responded with their full support. But that support wasn’t universally felt. Some disagreed with the project, and worked to undermine this vision. On Aug. 10, 2019, someone climbed up one of the towers and cut the haul rope, bringing the entire dream down. This not only devastated the business but also affected the community deeply. Kirby stepped up to not only help breath life back into the project, but also to focus on taking care of all the employees and families that were affected. Then, just months after the gondola’s resurrection, it was cut down a second time.

Kirby is also on the board for Playground Builders, a wonderful organization that he joined in 2007.

“We build playgrounds for children in war-torn areas. In Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, there are no safe places for children to play. Most kids have never experienced the joy of a swing or the thrill of a slide. We are dedicated to building hope and peace through the gift of play.”

In this episode we cover a lot of ground. We talk about Playground Builders as well as the tragic story of the Sea to Sky Gondola. We chat about the importance and meaning behind altruism and how helping others can bring more joy to our own lives.

Kirby is a good dude and someone that I look up to as a mentor and I’m grateful for our friendship. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

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.

Thanks to Lakeside Bikes in Invermere for supporting me!

Visit Rollingdale Cycle!