Bikes or Death

I had the pleasure of interviewing Scotti and Ernie Lechuga in Little Rock, AR on my way to ride a portion of the AR High Country Route. Brannon Pack who works for Fayetteville recommended them as a great interview to get a feel for what I had to look forward to. I went into this interview completely blind to their background as professional road cyclist. I was planning to talk to them about their FKT they set on the High Country Route and get some pointers, but as their story unfolded I found myself with an endless list of questions and an increasing interest in knowing all about what lead them to bikepacking. What unfolds is one of my personal favorite episodes. They are equally impressive on and off the bikes and I truly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know them better. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! You can learn more about them and their coaching business at LeborneCoaching.com. Also, check out the video documenting their ARHCR FKT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jyWi7lpyRs This years Arkansas High Country Race takes place in Fayetteville on June 6th. Registration opened on Feb. 15th and there are only 24 spots left (at the time this was published). I hope to see you there! Bikes or Death will be there for a couple of days before the start conducting interviews, hanging out with you fine folks, and rolling out on the start with you. If you'd like to be a guest on the podcast and are competing in the race please send me an email at bikes@bikesordeath.com. To register CLICK ME

Y'all know I love me some Arkansas, so when Brannon Pack called me with an "idea" to give me a guided tour on a part of the High Country Route I started packing my bike bags. This is the second year for the Arkansaw High Country Race which will start and finishes in Fayetteville, AR for the first time. The race is based on a route that was created by Chuck Campbell in partnership with the Adventure Cycling Association and covers 1,035 miles through the northwestern portion of Arkansas, including the Ouachitas and Ozarks. Last year 20 people registered for the inaugural race, but this year I'd like to see all 50 spots sold out when registration opens! Listen to this episode, get stoked, and set your alarms for 8am CST on Feb. 15th when registration for this years race goes live! The race kicks of on June 6th and Bikes or Death will be there to cover the event, meet the racers, and ride out with you on the official start. We will also be selecting two participants (male and female) to interview prior to and after the race. If you'd like to through your name in the hat, first register, then send me an email at bikes@bikesordeath.com.

As a follow up to the last episode with Roger Gilles, where we discussed his book Women on the Move about women's racing at the turn of the century, I asked Jolene Holland if she would be willing to come on the show to discuss women's racing now. Jolene has been cycling for the past 10 years and now rides for Colavita as a Cat 1 racer. She is also the creator of Ultra Violet Racing Team, which focuses on helping bridge the gap for women in bike racing. Her enthusiasm for competitive bike racing and getting other women involved really shines through as you listen to her. Another focus is FUN, she says if you ride with her there is a good chance a bike ride will be followed by a beer (or three) which has led to your friendly neighborhood strip club in the past. There is no one right way to ride a bike or be a member of this community. Jolene is a great example of someone who finds joy in all types of cycling and is working to make the sport more inclusive and FUN for everyone. The topic of women in sports is larger and more complex than than can be adequately covered in an hour long podcast. I appreciate Jolene's willingness to discuss this topic and share some of her own perspectives and experiences as a female bike racer in 2020. Now, go ride your damn bike!

In this episode I interview Roger Gilles, author of Women on the Move: The Forgotten Era of Women's Bicycle Racing. I originally became interested in this book when a documentary I was watching (called Bicycle) mentioned a bike racer by the name of Dottie Farnsworth. As a Farnsworth myself, and knowing that it is an uncommon name, I knew there was a good chance I was related to her. My mom happens to be a genealogist, so I put her to work on the lineage while I started my search to track down everything I could find out about Dottie Farnsworth. As it turns out there was very little out there, but I did find some pictures and other bits of information floating around on the internet. Dottie Farnsworth Shortly after I started my search, Roger released his new book Women on the Move featuring Dottie as one of the main characters, along with many other equally fascinating women. What started as a search to find out more about a distant relative turned into a eye opening journey that paints a picture of a time period in our sport that I was completely unaware of. The book covers a 7 year period from 1985-1902 when women's endurance cycling races were at an all time high in America. The women who dared to race were truly pioneers, pushing the boundaries of not only what everyone thought was physically possible, but also the clothing and social norms of the time. They truly had to fight on and off the track to pursue their goals, and what they accomplished is truly astonishing. We all owe these women so much, but I hope women in particular will find inspiration in these stories of courage and athletic accomplishments that took place only 120 years ago.

At the age of 14 Alana was introduced to bikepacking through The Anchorage GRIT Program put on by Lael Wilcox and Cait Rodriguez. If you've been following along you have probably heard Lael's version of meeting and getting to know Alana, and now you get to hear from the young lady herself. As a seasoned bikepacker at the age of 16 she has already completed a 1,000+ mile trip in Alaska and a tour of the Pacific Coast and she's done both SOLO. Check out this episode to learn more about those trips, what she loves about bikepacking, and her plans for the future! If you'd like to support her in her adventures, Alana has an Etsy Shop were she sells bike art jewelry she made herself.

  You don't schedule an interview with Ultraromance. The universe must align in such a way that your paths cross and you may find yourself sitting down with the most mythical personality our sport has ever seen. In this exclusive interview I ask the questions you've been dying to know like, "What's your name?" and "Do you take showers?". Find out his answer to these and many more in this ultra episode of the Bikes or Death Podcast. Follow him on Instagram (ummm just in case you don't already) You can find the products we discussed on the show on his website www.ronsbikes.com and his new tire corporation www.ultradynamico.com

  At the Bikepacking Summit I had the honor of sitting down with Lael Wilcox and Rugile Kaladyte (Rue) in their first interview together. After they found themselves in the middle of drama on the Tour Divide this year it was nice to chat with both of them to hear their thoughts on riding and documents bikepacking events. Personally, I'm grateful for what they are trying to do through documenting this great sport that we love. Inspired to Ride spurred a new generation of bikepackers and Tour Divide participants, myself included. I am grateful for the efforts they have been making to tell the stories of events like the Tour Divide or the Navidad 1000. Those stories inspire and inspiration leads to more people on bikes and that's something we should all be rallied around. Having been fortunate enough to spend time riding, socializing, and interviewing both Lael and Rue I have seen first hand their love for this sport, the community, and their desire to share these stories in the most respectful way possible. Yesterday Pearl Izumi launch Rue's new film I Just Want to Ride documenting Tour Divide 2019. It is worth a watch and then a rewatch. How cool is it to be able to watch the dots, see some social media post from time to time, and then watch a film about the event and see first hand some of the conditions and challenges that the riders were facing only five months ago!? Thank you Lael and Rue for keeping the course in the face of adversary. As you will hear on this episode there is nothing easy about documenting an event like this and to do it under such scrutiny from the community you love added a whole new level of difficulty. The new film is a beautiful look into the lives of the ultra endurance riders we love and the routes we aspire to ride. I look forward to future projects and more content like this. Maybe in the future people will put down their keyboards and go ride their damn bikes!

  Kate Gates is one of the owners of Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Getaway in Ellijay, GA, the venue for this year's Bikepacking Summit. Their property is located in the southern Appalachian Mountains of northwest Georgia and is surrounded by National Forest, gravel roads, and cycling friendly trails. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that their facility is an oasis for cyclists and outdoors people. The proprietors of this family owned and operated business are a large part of what makes Mulberry Gap so special. This is very much a family business. Grandmas are LITERALLY in the kitchen whipping up some of the best homemade southern comfort food your hungry little heart desires. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the coffee and cold beer as both are a necessity to most. Their hospitality neither starts nor ends with the food, but it's a good place to get your attention. The true magic of the place comes from the top down. Everyone who runs this facility loves what they do, the community they do it for, and the people involved on an individual level. Just add awesome cyclists and hot damn you've got yourself a party! Thank you Kate and Andrew Gates (and their families) for hosting such a great event and making each of us feel welcome in your home.

  Joe Cruz is a powerful and incredibly insightful person, which surely stems from his background as a professor of philosophy at Williams College and his decades of bikepacking and bike traveling all over the world. Additionally, he is an editor at large for Bikepacking.com. Joe was the opening presenter on Friday morning at the Bikepacking Summit this year. What we as the audience experienced was a powerful lesson in fear, our understanding of it, and our relationship to it. Joe's understanding and relationship with fear is probably deeper than most of our own. It's the kind of relationship you have after spending three decades traveling the world via bicycle. He would tell you, any moments of fear he experienced are greatly outnumbered by the good, positive, and wonderful experiences. So how do we look at fear in contrast to these amazing experiences? I'll let Joe tell you in his own words. This interview was very impromptu. I had just finished recording with Greg Hardy and had a small window before my next interview. Joe's stellar presentation had put him on my radar for a possible interview. So when I looked around and saw him chatting with some fellow attendees I took the opportunity to have him share some of this presentation with you. I wish you could have been there on Friday morning to hear his presentation, to see the emotion in his eyes, and to feel that emotion reverberate through the room. If you weren't able to be there I hope you will get a taste of what we all experienced through this podcast.

  On Oct. 27th 2018 I sat down with Greg Hardy of Rockgeist in his shop in Asheville, NC to record the first ever Bikes or Death podcast. What has transpired since that day can only be described as a whirlwind. On that day I started a journey that has taken me further than I realized possible or likely. However, here we are a year later and I'm sitting down with my friend Greg again. On this new episode we share some thoughts about the Bikepacking Summit, catch up, I ask some follow up questions to our first episode, and of course we talk shop! And he's got some juicy stuff to share!! Greg is offering a 10% DISCOUNT CODE to all BoD listeners. Use the promo code BIKESORDEATH at check out on Rockgeist.com and watch those dollars just fade away.