The Bikepack Racing Podcast

The episode title really says it all! Ezra and Andrew sit down for a very informal recap of the 2023 season, while also looking forward to 2024. Highs and lows are discussed, future plans are divulged, and incredible accomplishments are recognized. We know it's a longer one...but the end does get a bit spicy as some strong remarks are made about the cycling industry relating to its lack of relationship with bikepacking and bikepack racing. We've also got a bit of a call for action: Got any questions or topics you'd like to hear discussed? People you really want us to talk to? Send us whatever you've got via instagram to @thebikepackracingpodcast - Thanks and happy listening!

"The current best American bikepack racer." That's the title Ezra gave Abe Kaufman after he smashed the FKT at the Arkansas High Country Race this October. Add in a 4th place finish at the 2022 Tour Divide plus FKTs at Trans North Georgia and Trans Virginia, and it's safe to say Abe is certainly a dangerous man when it comes to bikepack racing. In this episode we dive into Abe's relatively recent introduction to the sport, his calculated and comprehensive approach to racing, and how he keeps a smile on his face deep into these massive efforts. If this conversation doesn't get you stoked on setting big goals for 2024...we don't know what will...enjoy!

To start...sorry! We know it's been a minute...or 8 months...but we are trying to get this thing rolling again. In this "catch-up" episode Andrew and Ezra sit down and have a meandering conversation about a whole lot of bikepacking, bikepack racing, bike racing, and general life things. It was oh so good to sit down and catch up. We hope you enjoy listening to this unedited conversation.

In this final episode of 2022, Ezra and Andrew sit down for a rather informal and rambling wrap up of the past year. They discuss their own personal highs and lows from the past racing season. Talk about the current state and future of The Bikepack Racing Podcast. And go on more than a few tangents into other bikepacking related topics.  Hopefully this episode finds you either on the couch recovering from a hangover or on the bike chasing new 2023 resolutions...either way...enjoy and thanks for listening in 2022!    

For episode 24, we have our first recurring guest of the podcast. Back in May, Lauren Brownlee sat down in Ezra's van to chat after a victory at Ride/Race Across Arizona and then a podium finish at Pinyons and Pines Bikepacking Race. You can listen to that conversation in episode 9. This conversation picks up where we left off as we discuss Lauren's second half of the 2022 season. Which included taking on the Boise Trail Challenge in a way only a seasoned bikepack racer would find fun, turning on "touring mode" after mechanical issues at the Colorado Trail Race, and then a return to winning ways at Idaho Smoke and Fire 400.       

...and we are back! This episode was recorded live from the finish of the 2022 Arkansas High Country Race in beautiful Hot Springs, AR where Ezra and Andrew sat down for an in person conversation with 3rd place finisher Daniel Connell. The conversation begins with a much too short exploration of Dan's extensive touring excursions in Central America, across the entirety of Africa (@locociclos on IG) , and on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route . We discuss the challenges and benefits of "winging it" while on an adventure, trip saving encounters with members of the Sudanese national cycling team, and much much more. We eventually transition to all things AHCR, where Dan and Ezra give a day by day recap of their battle for the final podium spot in the mountains of Arkansas...Spoiler alert: Dan wins!  

What does it take to win the Colorado Trail Race? For Will Bodewes, it might be a little...or a lot different than what you'd expect. Sleep banking for fourteen days before the start of the race, a majority of training being less than an hour, using olive oil as chain lube, and eating a block of cheese during the race. These are just some of the many unique ways Will prepared for and executed on the 2022 Colorado Trail Race. The episode starts with a bit of background information on Will, but it isn't long until it's all things CTR! 

It's taken a minute (or a month), but in this episode we finally hear from Andrew on his incredible effort to win to his first bikepack race at North South Colorado Bikepacking Race. Andrew covers his time spent in Colorado before the race, pre-race mishaps, racing head to head with one of the greatest ultra endurance athletes ever, the lows you don't see while watching the dots, and what it felt like to finally push through years of adversary and mishaps in previous races to take his first ever bikepacking race win.

Mateo Páez has stormed onto the ultra endurance/bikepack racing circuit in 2022. He started the year with a 3rd place finish at his debut bikepacking race: the Stagecoach 400, struggled with some gnarly weather at The Odyssey of the VOG, before bouncing back with another 3rd place finish at the inaugural Westfjords Way Challenge. In this episode, we chat about Matt's start in cycling, his first bikepack racing efforts, and then focus in on the unique experience of racing in Iceland at the equally unique Westfjords Way Challenge. Mandatory cultural stops? Lael Wilcox playing on a trampoline mid-race? Reykjavík road racing team tactics? This event had a little bit of everything...and we talk about it all!     

The Tour Divide might have taken up most dot watchers attention during the month of June...but we did in fact have other races going on! I'll be honest, outside of the United States we have a knowledge gap when it comes to international races and the players in those races. We'll continue to stick with what we know...but when the opportunity presents itself to go international...we'll take it! Our guest for Episode 16 is the winner of the 2022 BC Epic 1000: Cory Ostertag. In this episode, Ezra and Cory have an in-depth conversation about Cory's cycling beginnings, balancing training and racing with having a family, the British Columbia bikepacking scene, Cory's first attempt at the BC Epic in 2021, and finally his 2022 victory!      

...and we are back! It's been a busy few weeks in the bikepack racing world, and we've got some catching up to do! We'll start where we left off...with the 2022 Tour Divide. Our guest this week is Andy Leveto. In 2018, Andy completed a northbound attempt of the Tour Divide in 23 days 2 hours and 9 minutes. In 2022 Andy was back for more! This time heading southbound with the grand depart. Ezra met Andy early in the race, and they proceeded to race each other to pit toilets for the first ~1500 miles. Ezra ultimately dropped out in Colorado with a tooth infection, whereas Andy went on to finish a whole week faster than his 2018 attempt in 15 days 20 hours and 25 minutes, finishing in 5th place. In this episode, Ezra and Andy deep-dive into Andy's Tour Divide experience as they discuss training programs, snow covered passes in Montana, headwinds in the Basin, sleep strategies, and much much more!

The time has come. The 2022 Tour Divide is upon us. Making it's long awaited return after having been canceled and modified the past two years, the 2022 Tour Divide is going to be one for the ages. It will also be host Ezra's first run at the Divide. In this episode, Ezra and Andrew sit down for an informal chat about all things Divide. Ezra runs through his bike, his thoughts on the course, a few insights into the heavy hitters, and his mindset as he sets off on his biggest race to date. 

With Ezra racing these next ~2 weeks, The Bikepack Racing Podcast will be going silent for a bit. We apologize...but racing bikes is always going to be our priority! LET'S GO!       

The title pretty much says it all! Ezra leads the episode off by giving his full recap of a rather unsuccessful and frustrating debut race of the 2022 season at Pinyons and Pines Bikepacking Race in Flagstaff, Arizona. And then at timestamp 1:10:00, we head east to Oark, Arkansas were Andrew breaks down everything that happened at DOOM from his perspective as the race organizer. A bit of Tour Divide prep talk is sprinkled throughout and there you've got it! Simple, but some very very detailed bikepack racing content.  

We are once again staying in Arizona for this one!...but rewinding the the clock back to the beginning of the month for a recap of Ride Across Arizona (RAAZ) with (Spoiler Alert!) the overall winner of the event: Dexter Kopas. Ezra (Andrew was busy riding/recovering from DOOM) and Dexter sit down and discuss the many facets of Dexter's life. Including, but not limited to: Dexter's decision to go to college in the frozen hellscape of Southern Wisconsin, fixing abandoned bikes found in barns, the challenges of balancing manual labor jobs and training, and ultimately what drew Dexter to bikepacking racing. We end the conversation with a recap of sorts of how Dexter went on to win RAAZ in his first attempt at bikepack racing.

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Quick apology for some audio issues at the end of the episode, but the Starbucks parking lot (my normal podcast WiFi) was full so I had to resort to altervernative/sub-par sources of free WiFi. I did the best I could to hid these issues without messing up the conversation too much. 

I'm incredibly biased...but Episode 9 is our best episode yet. For starters, it's our first in person episode! But mostly it's because our guest is a total badass person and bikepack racer. Lauren Brownlee took the bikepack racing world by storm last year, when she won The Great Divide Classic aka Tour Divide Mini in not just in her first bikepacking race, but her first time bikepacking ever! Ezra sits down with Lauren in the van to discuss Lauren's rapid ascent in the sport. We work our way through Lauren's first year racing (and winning everything) before we get to her most recent block of racing in Arizona with The Race Across Arizona and then Pinyons & Pines Bikepacking Race. At the very end of the episode we have a brief discussion about support and documentation in bikepack racing in relation to the most recent Arizona Trail FKT drama. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it!          

 ...and we are back! Sorry for the lack of content folks. As you'll hear in this episode, Andrew and Ezra have been a bit busy these past few weeks. But it's time to go racing!...at least for Ezra. Ezra will be lining up for the Pinyons and Pines Bikepacking Race on Thursday morning in Flagstaff, AZ...and it's safe to say HE IS FIRED UP. Then on Friday the 13th (Yes - this was on purpose.) of May, Andrew will be hosting 25 brave souls for the inaugural Ozark Gravel Doom, simply known as DOOM. We've got some very exciting episodes in the works, but hopefully this short convo will tide you over for now. LET'S GO RACING!     

Episode 7 is our first true zoom/bikepacking/podcast party. In this episode, Ezra and Andrew are joined by two badass bikepack racing women: Hannah Simon and Stephanie Hall. We start with a bit of background information, including Hannah's extremely unique introduction into cycling, before diving into Hannah and Stephanie's experience at the 2022 East Texas Showdown. Between mid-race Whataburger stops, leaving an exhausted friend in a post office, and the infamous "death loop" there is a whole to cover in this one! 

Episode 6 is the first of what will most likely become a staple of this podcast. Yes...we'd love to have a new and different bikepacking GOAT on every episode, but that's just never going to happen. Sometimes you're just going to be stuck with Andrew and Ezra as they discuss a wide variety of bikepack racing topics! On this episode topics include: Ezra's "new"/"repossessed" mountain bike, Andrew's recon mission on the Ouachita Triple Crown for the Arkansas High Country Race, thoughts on Episode 5 with Jay Petervary, a fundraising project announcement from Ezra, and many more bikepack racing tidbits!

More information on Ezra's fundraising project for diabetes care at his communities local free clinic can be found here: https://tinyurl.is/OpenArmsClinic

Did The Bikepack Racing Podcast just peak on only its fifth episode? It certainly looks that way! In the world of bikepacking, Jay Petervary doesn't need an introduction...but I'm going to give a short one anyway. Legendary bikepacking racer, advocate of the sport, and race organizer, "Jay P" is one of the greatest to ever do it. He's won more races and set more FKTs than I have time to detail here. But to be honest, this episode really isn't about Jay's incredible career. This episode is a fascinating discussion between Andrew and Jay about the current state of bikepacking and how the sport has evolved over the years. The episode starts with a short introduction with Ezra and Andrew about how this conversation came to happen, and then we are treated to a deep dive into the mind of Jay on all things bikepack racing. Enjoy! 

In episode 4, Ezra (Andrew was busy riding his bike) talks with elite level road cyclist and Stagecoach 400 participant: David Greif. The conversation begins with how David got into cycling, his rise through the collegiate ranks at the University of Arizona, and his current life racing for Project Echelon Racing. Which is one of the best domestic road cycling teams in the US, as well as a fantastic non-profit organization which helps veterans find community and healing through exercise and competition. The conversation eventually turns to bikepacking as we discuss David's hilarious first foray into the discipline, before coming to the main focus of the show: The Stagecoach 400. Starting and finishing in Idyllwild California, the Stagecoach 400 is one of the most well-known bikepacking routes in the world. Since 2012, a grand depart of the route has taken place in late March/early April. 

***I apologize for the audio quality of this episode. David was on a busy street corner at the Sea Otter Classic. It couldn't be helped, and I'm only so good at Audition. 

The tables have turned for Part 2 of "Meet the Hosts" as Ezra grills Andrew with the hard hitting questions the people want to know. Topics of discussion include, but not limited to: an early love of basketball, years spent soul searching in the mountains out west and in Alaska, how Andrew went from riding less than 1000 miles a year to over 12,000, thoughts and feelings about his epic battle with Ted King at the Arkansas High Country Race in 2020, and so much more.     

Welcome to the Bikepack Racing Podcast! 

In this first episode, Ezra Ward-Packard and Andrew Onermaa sit down for a brief conversation about what this podcast is actually going to be about. It's short and it's a bit clunky at times, but it does what it needs to do. Just like in bikepack racing...sometimes the hardest part is getting started!