The Hidden Athlete

This in one unique endurance athlete. We spoke to April after recently completing the Tour Divide in 18Days23Hours, but it isn't the fact she is one incredibly talented athlete, it is her back story that makes her truly unique. April has lived her life with Autism Spectrum Disorder, spent 20 Years in social work dealing with countless crisis siuations and dealt with losing her very best friend, her mum, at a very young age. April's approach to the challenges of Ultra Endurance will put your life in the sport into perspective and also a smile on your face. Enjoy the superstar human that is April Drage. Follow her journey on Insta: @aprilawol

Sacha recently completed the Tour Divide in 18Days 11hours coming in equal third with Texan Hannah Simon. The 2023 edition of the Tour Divide was an incredible race. 4,350km of self supported off road terrain, climbing over 60,000 vertical meters from Banff Canada to Antelope Wells on the Mexican border. Seven women broke the magical 20 Day mark and raced toe to toe from the gun which made for facinating watching. It was Sacha's first ever international Ultra race so was relatively unknown to the Global ultra cycling community, but in Australia, which is now her adopted Country, she is know as an Ultra Crazy who has accumulated almost 20 overall, first female and podium finishes in just the past 3-4 years. Enjoy the Sacha Dowell story and follow her journey from here on Instagram @sachad_ultracrazy Thanks for listening and please drop us a comment and rating to help us promote these incredible endurance athletes.

Steve Halligan is proving to be one of the worlds most durable Ultra Endurance athletes. He has been first across the line in many long distance races including the 6,200km Terra Australis. The humble Irishman also travels to all points of the globe to race against the worlds best. More recently finishing on the podium in two of the most brutal races on the calendar. The Silk Road Mountain Race and Africa's new Grand Tour, the 2,750km Rhino Run. But it is his love for the iconic 4,400km Tour Divide offroad self supported bikepacking race, where he has finished in the Top5 in every edition he has raced, that has endeared him to the global bikepacking community. His 15Day18Hour PB in the 2023 Edition started with plenty of drama but this 47yo legend of the sport just keeps finding a way to be at the pointy end and continually improving his time. There is plenty of racing left in Steve Halligan so jump on his Instagram @halligan.steve and cheer him on.

Kellie Emmerson is one of the most resilient and consistent Ultra Endurance athletes on the planet. In this episode the 3xNational Long Course Trail Running Champ, 5xAustralian World Champs Representative talks about what it takes to bank almost 40 Marathons and 30 100km+ races around the globe...whilst still being a mum of two young boys. After 12 years of Elite competition this superstar of Ultra Running doesn't look like slowing down any time soon. Enjoy the wonderful story of Kellie Emmerson and please follow her journey on Instagram @kelemmo

Doctor Stephen Lane completed a PhD in Biomedical Sciences with a focus on exercise nutrition and training adaptation.....he is a 7 x National Cycling Champion across multiple disiplines, Director of Human Performance Technology and has Coached professionally for over a decade. More recently he became a record breaking Ultra Endurance athlete. This episode connects the science with the outcome so look forward to some helpful tips along the way. You can connect with the Doc at hptek.com.au or on Insta @drslane

The Rhino Run is a 2.750km Ultra Endurance off road cycling grand tour. Starting on the coast of the Western Cape of South Africa in Plettenberg Bay the unsupported route weaves its way up through the Northern Cape before crossing the border into Namibia before finishing in Windhoek. Riders were responsible for sourcing their own food, water, shelter and any other services along the way. South Africa's Kevin Benkenstein & Abdullah went toe to toe averaging well over 300km a day for the full 2,750km. This was one of the craziest ultra endurance feats ever. Enjoy.

We shared the life story of Trans Am & Indian Pacific Wheel Race Record holder Abdullah Zeinab in Episode 55....our most downloaded episode to date. In this episode we unpack all the drama of the past two years of his 24Hour Distance World Record attempts. Expect a lot of bumps, bruises, detours, love, failure and success. At the time of making the decision to chase the record it was held by Mitch Anderson at 894km. Over the following 2 years it was bettered by Ralph Disevisont who set the new mark at 915km and then the unthinkable happened.....Christoph Strasser cracked the 1,000 barrier setting the new goal at a crazy 1,026km. To continue to follow the Abdullah Zeinab story jump on Instagram @abdullahzeinab or subscribe to the Glucose Network on Youtube.

The international bikepacking community and events schedule is finally awakening from its 2 year COVID slumber so we thought we would have a ramble about some of the upcoming races both close to home and abroad. Two of Australia's most experienced bikepacking athletes Emma Flukes & Ty Domin share some views and insights into current activities.

The Birdman, as he is affectionately known to all that know him, is one of the hard nuts of the Ultra Endurance world. Humble by nature, Matt Falconer walks us through his life story and what it took for this 120kg chain smoker to turn his life around to become a favorite and highly respected competitor amongst his pointy end peers. This 4 x Finisher of the Transcontinental Bike Race (12th, 5th, 2nd & 20th) has plans to hit the gravel in a big way throughout 2022....check out where he is heading next. Follow Matt's story on Instagram @b1rdmn, Twitter, Strava and Facebook. And for a more detailed description of all his Transcontinental Races head to his website www.mattonabike.com Enjoy.

Mikel Delagrange is a Human Rights Lawyer and Founder of the Amani Project based in the Hague Netherlands. Twelve months ago the listeners of this Podcast engaged in the The Hidden Athlete Project, now known as the Masaka Cycling Club Foundation. Masaka is a small city based in a very poor region in Uganda's South and just happens to have a wealth of Cycling talent currently unseen due to poverty and access constraints. In this Episode we talk to the progress being made through our collaboration with the Amani Project and sister clubs, we talk about the barriers that remain and how we plan to navigate through those, we tall about how a relationship with Wahoo and the e-racing platform has enabled us to bring this talent to potential recruiters. All the topics accumulate up to an exciting future for our friends in East Africa and we would love the Global Cycling community to get involved. Please enjoy, share and help if possible by clinking on the below links.

www.masakacyclingclub.com/donate
Instagram: @teamamani
Instagram: @masakacyclingclub
Instagram: @africarisingcycling
Instagram: @kenyan_riders
Instagram: @jfc_cycling