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First ride back home from scouting/planning for WTS in Big Bend was cut short.It was starting to get dark and I was just...
06/10/2025

First ride back home from scouting/planning for WTS in Big Bend was cut short.

It was starting to get dark and I was just about to stop and put on my helmet light and WHAM. I never saw it, but a limb was hanging in the trail (angled against the direction I was going) and caught me right in the helmet - luckily it didn’t go into the ventilation hole 😳. My head and neck were harshly, abruptly, and with force - whipped backwards. It caught me by complete surprise.

Slide 4 has a little video breakdown with more details.

But long story short, I made the call to end my ride early. I remembered what said when we recorded episode 199 and decided do play it safe. It sucked. I had planned to go on a nice trail ride and then I was going to do a trail run, the weather was perfect, I’d been cooped up all day working on the computer and was looking forward to going outside. 1.5 miles into my ride - this happened.

The last thing I wanted to do was go home and I almost convinced myself it would be fine to just ride the gravel levee (how do you spell that word? Is that right? Maybe I do have a concussion 🤪), but decided to play it super safe.

I sustained a pretty bad concussion a few years ago and I don’t wanna f**k around with my brain, but in that moment I felt fine. A little sore, and shaken, but mostly fine.

Sitting at home now I know that I’m not fine. My neck is very sore, my head hurts, and my brain feels likes it’s been jostled. I’m no doctor, so I won’t offer any type of guesses, but my body is telling me I made the right call to end my ride early.

Stay safe out there friends.

At least I got to take some pretty photos and get outside for a bit :)

We’re 60 days out from the 3rd annual Central Texas Showdown grand depart, so let’s talk about it!To talk about CTS I br...
28/08/2025

We’re 60 days out from the 3rd annual Central Texas Showdown grand depart, so let’s talk about it!

To talk about CTS I brought in a couple experts.  Andrea Roelofs has participated in the Central Texas Lowdown the first 2 years.  And Javian Quinones has participated in the East Texas Slowdown and came in 5th place this last year at the Central Texas Showdown.

I’m stoked to have both of them in the studio to share their experiences and expertise.  It was great to get both perspectives from the competitive and non-competitive fields as both are an important component to the CTS experience. 

Listen to today’s episode.  Get stoked.  And join us in 60 days for the 3rd Central Texas Showdown in the Texas Hill Country.

“The Hills are Calling” 

Slide 1 📸 .johnston8
Slide 2 📸

⚡️EPISODE LINKS⚡️

TxORA: https://www.txora.org/

TxORA Hill Country Relief Fund: https://www.txora.org/floodresponse

RYDB Fest: https://www.ozarkgravelcyclists.com/rydb-fest

Central Texas Showdown: https://texasshowdownseries.com/central-texas-showdown/

🫶🏻NEW PATRONS🫶🏻
Chuck Willox 

Join them won’t you?  www.patreon.com/bikesordeath

After came on the podcasts and spilled all his drone photography secrets I’ve been eager to try it for myself. Here’s m...
18/08/2025

After came on the podcasts and spilled all his drone photography secrets I’ve been eager to try it for myself.

Here’s my first attempt using “The Intern Method”.

Happy Monday y’all 🫶🏻

Today on the Bikes or Death podcast it’s all about the ladies! For the first time ever I turned the microphone, and podc...
13/08/2025

Today on the Bikes or Death podcast it’s all about the ladies! For the first time ever I turned the microphone, and podcast, over to the talented who guest hosted today’s episode!

Her guests for today’s podcast are .ridefierce, , and , who among other things, participated in this year’s Rockstar Challenge.
A 270ish mile, singletrack focused, backcountry bikepacking race in Virginia that boasts about 40k feet of elevation.

Each of these Rockstar Women put on an impressive performance, all beating the previous Fastest Known Time. Abi took the overall Grand Depart win and set a new FKT. Leila was 3rd overall and 2nd place female.
And, Jenny, who had to scratch from the Grand Depart came back just 2 weeks later and set a new FKT, besting Abi’s time by 2 hours.

Another story from today’s episode that caught my ear was when Leila got a stick lodge into her leg on a descent. I’ll let Leila tell that story, but trust me, you’re gonna wanna hear it (or maybe not 😬).

I want to send a special shout out to Kayla for doing such a fantastic job facilitating a fun and engaging conversation! She emailed me this idea a couple of months ago and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to turn the platform over to the ladies for this conversation. And she killed it! Kayla is lining up for the in a couple of days, so make sure to send her some good vibes

EPISODE SPONSORS
RYDB Fest: Sept. 19th - 21st in Fayetteville, AR. All the deets in the bio.

Central Texas Showdown: Oct. 23rd - 26th in Castell, TX. Routes from 88-500 miles, competitive and non-competitive options, info/reg in bio.

New Patrons🫡
Matthew Trinneer
Paul Mendricks

Today on the Bikes or Death podcast it’s all about the ladies! For the first time ever I turned the microphone, and pod...
13/08/2025

Today on the Bikes or Death podcast it’s all about the ladies! For the first time ever I turned the microphone, and podcast, over to the talented who guest hosted today’s episode!

Her guests for today’s podcast are .ridefierce, , and , who among other things, participated in this year’s Rockstar Challenge. A 270ish mile, singletrack focused, backcountry bikepacking race in Virginia that boasts about 40k feet of elevation.

Each of these Rockstar Women put on an impressive performance, all beating the previous Fastest Known Time. Abi took the overall Grand Depart win and set a new FKT. Leila was 3rd overall and 2nd place female. And, Jenny, who had to scratch from the Grand Depart came back just 2 weeks later and set a new FKT, besting Abi’s time by 2 hours.

Another story from today’s episode that caught my ear was when Leila got a stick lodge into her leg on a descent. I’ll let Leila tell that story, but trust me, you’re gonna wanna hear it (or maybe not 😬).

I want to send a special shout out to Kayla for doing such a fantastic job facilitating a fun and engaging conversation! She emailed me this idea a couple of months ago and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to turn the platform over to the ladies for this conversation. And she killed it! Kayla is lining up for the in a couple of days, so make sure to send her some good vibes

EPISODE SPONSORS

RYDB Fest: Sept. 19th - 21st in Fayetteville, AR. All the deets in the bio.

Central Texas Showdown: Oct. 23rd - 26th in Castell, TX. Routes from 88-500 miles, competitive and non-competitive options, info/reg in bio.

New Patrons 🫡
Matthew Trinneer
Paul Mendricks

Sunset Service was good today. Nothing like singletrack on a fully ridged singlespeed, it cuts through all the bs 🤘🏻
28/07/2025

Sunset Service was good today.

Nothing like singletrack on a fully ridged singlespeed, it cuts through all the bs 🤘🏻

Today’s the day! Registration for the Beginner Friendly Community Overnighter portion of the RYDB Fest is now open for y...
25/07/2025

Today’s the day! Registration for the Beginner Friendly Community Overnighter portion of the RYDB Fest is now open for your business!

The RYDB Fest new for 2025 and something and I have been percolating & kickin’ around ideas about for years now. So to be able to see it come to fruition is very exciting. You’re excited right?

RYDB Fest is a conglomerate of options and opportunities to ride your damn bike any damn way you want! For more details about RYDB Fest head over to www.ozarkgravelcyclists.com.

Today, I want to tell you about the Community Overnighter I’ll be hosting alongside my good friend Noelle from . If Noelle and I know one things is how to go and have a damn good time doing it.

We’ll be riding the BPR Devil’s Den routes (73 or 83 mile options) that is part of their Fayetteville Route Network. These mileages may push the limits for some beginners, but we want you to know that we’ve got systems in place to support you on your ride:

☑️ Ride Leads & Sweepers
☑️ No Drop Ride
☑️ SAG Vehicle if you or any of your gear needs a lift to camp
☑️ Mechanics to help with trail side repairs
☑️ If you’re brand new and don’t have bags yet, we have a Carry My Damn Gear options at registration
☑️ ProSlow

We will be camping at the beautiful Devil’s Den State Park in their group camp area with space for 75 adventure cyclists.

At camp we have some optional bonus activities for you to participate in. We will be hosting a sunset soirée at Yellow Rock. Participants can either Hike or Bike there on some epic single track, or you can just chill at camp and take a nap, up to you :)

For all the details and to registers clickity-click that link in my bio 🤘🏻

Photo 1
Photo 2 .refsnider

Psst…y’all hear about the new Ride Your Damn Bike Festival in Arkansas this September? Me and some of my friends are thr...
23/07/2025

Psst…y’all hear about the new Ride Your Damn Bike Festival in Arkansas this September? Me and some of my friends are throwing a bike party and we got a lil something for everyone.

The RYDB Fest invites you to ride your damn bike, any damn way you want, and we’ve got options to help do just that.

September 18th - 22st

Thursday - Thirsty Thursday celebrates 5 years

Friday - Expo and Workshops

Saturday & Sunday - Ride Your Damn Bike. With options to go on a beginner friendly community overnighter or sign up for an ultra (.ultra.circuit)

For my part, Bikes or Death will be leading the community overnighter with Noelle from . It’s gonna be a lot of fun, super chill, and really beautiful. Lots more details and registration linked in the bio.

📍Reg for the community overnighter opens this Friday at Noon CST

Come ride your damn bike with us :)

This year’s Tour Divide was one for the books - and the record books. With good weather and a very competitive field we ...
09/07/2025

This year’s Tour Divide was one for the books - and the record books. With good weather and a very competitive field we saw dots moving so faster than anything we’d seen before, putting all the previous FKT’s in potential jeopardy. Among those dots was who was taking on the Tour Divide for the first time, and on a singlespeed!

For much of the race Andrew’s dot was ahead of the 2016 FKT set by . It looked as though we were witnessing history as Andrew dug deep to stay ahead of the record.

Towards the very end of the race reality would sink in as Andrew was forced to take the new CDT section (added since 2016) while Chris’s dot took the highway to Antelope Wells. In the end Andrew would finish with a time of 15d 11h 15m, less than 3 hours behind Pleskos’ FKT of 15d 8h 4m.

Any way you look at it, this was a historic and impress run by Andrew, but we did take this opportunity to have a discussion about the differences in the routes and about FKT’s in general on today’s episode.

A record would have been nice, but nothing can detract from Andrew’s performance on his first Tour Divide attempt. He said on the podcast that the Tour Divide should feel like something you “have to do”. Andrew rode like a man possessed by a feeling of need, not want.

During his race he did not open Instagram or social media one time. He only took 4 selfies to send to his girlfriend Taylor, no other photos the entire race! He was locked in. But he did check Trackleader’s often, especially Chris Plesko’s dot. To say he was focused would be a significant understatement and the results speak for themselves.

It was an easy decision for me to rent a car and drive 14 hours so I could have this conversation with Andrew in person and I’m glad I did. You can watch or listen to my chat with Andrew with the links in the bio.

📸

>>> Instead of sponsors this week we’d like to highlight ways you can help with the Texas Hill Country recovery and relief efforts (please see in the comments

Last year I participated in the inaugural where we traversed the State from Fayetteville to Jonesboro through the Ozark...
24/06/2025

Last year I participated in the inaugural where we traversed the State from Fayetteville to Jonesboro through the Ozarks into the Delta. This year invited and I to check out their new course for year two. This year the route would take us from Mena to Russellville mostly in and through the Ouachita Mountain range.

The Arkansas Graveler can best be described as a 5 day bike festival + bike tour on some of the best backroads Arkansas has to offer. Put on by the and led by race director , no stone is left unturned as it relates to the rider experience.

Unlike bikepacking, the Graveler staff carries your gear from camp to camp so all you have to do is ride your damn bike. At each stop along the route we got to experience charming and hospitable Arkansas towns, and the Graveler always made sure we were well fed before and after our rides. Once at camp, participants also had activities like fly fishing, archery, live music, and more!

All of the support and festivities allows riders to just focus on enjoying the ride, the scenery, and Arkansas hospitality. Ariel and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience and tell you all about it on today’s episode. We hope to see ya at the next one :)

EPISODE SPONSORS

Today’s episode is provided ad-free thanks to Arkansas Tourism!

Stephen Fitzgerald () is a husband, father, owner of , and accomplished cyclist. When time allows he’s been known to dab...
11/06/2025

Stephen Fitzgerald () is a husband, father, owner of , and accomplished cyclist. When time allows he’s been known to dabble in gravel and ultra cycling races. In 2020 he placed a respectable 19th in the . Building on that experience he signed up for this year. It was a stacked field of experienced riders and Stephen found himself in the lead group for most of the ride. His goal was to be efficient and maintain forward progress. When the dust settled, Stephen’s strategy paid off with his first win in an ultra cycling event.

Since this was Stephen’s first time on the podcast I also took the opportunity to get to know him better and, of course, talk about his work with Rodeo Labs. Rodeo Labs was founded in 2014 with a fresh take on the gravel bike which quickly gain popularity within the adventure cyclists community. For Pinyon & Pines Stephen rode a prototype Show Pony, a mtb that they are currently developing in the USA.

Stephen’s influence in the adventure cycling community cannot be overlooked. Whether on the bike or from within the walls of their Denver, where Rodeo Labs is based, his passion for cycling and the outdoors is infectious. It was a true pleasure to have him on the podcast.

⚡️EPISODE SPONSORS⚡️

Central Texas Showdown – Registration open now! Use code “bikesordeath” to get $20 off registration.

🫶🏻 New Patrons 🫶🏻
Kimberly

Join us won’t you at www.Patreon.com/BikesorDeath

The perfect collab. Hayduke Ti x 🫶🏻
12/05/2025

The perfect collab. Hayduke Ti x 🫶🏻

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