Andrew and Ezra sit down with good friend of the show, and member of the Old Man Mountain x Silca Experimental Bikepacking Team: Stephanie Hall to discuss the current state of bikepack racing in the United States in 2025. Topics range from Stephanie's new team, making ends meet as an up-and-coming bikepack racer, the current sponsorship landscape, the first half of the 2025 US race calendar, and I'm sure a few more things I've already totally forgotten about!
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 33
SURPRISE! After a very strange 2024, Ezra and Andrew are back to rambling about their lives, bikes, and all things bikepack racing. In this catch up episode (sometimes it feels like all we do is catch up episodes), we do just that. Catch up! It's mostly personal updates, but there is a bit of bikepack racing banter mixed in. We really are trying to make this a somewhat more consistent thing, especially with Andrew's BIG triple crown racing plans for 2025 and Ezra just trying to get his bikepack ...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 32
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 quest...
Jan 12, 2024•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 31
"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 s...
Dec 19, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 30
Making his second appearance on the podcast, Daniel Connell aka "Dirty Dan" is back to talk all things 2023 Tour Divide. This year was Dan's fourth consecutive Tour Divide finish! We take a deep dive into everything that went down as Dan fought through his fair share of obstacles to finish in his fastest time yet at 16 days 16 hours 4 minutes. This conversation is a must listen to for anyone considering the Divide in the future. It certainly got us stoked, and we hope it does the same for you to...
Dec 19, 2023•2 hr 10 min•Ep. 29
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.
Dec 19, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 28
Jeff Kerkove is truly a legend of bikepack racing. Jeff and his friends were racing bikes offroad in extreme and unique ways before the words "Gravel racing" and "Bikepacking" were commonplace in the cycling world. In this conversation, we dive into Jeff's start in the 12/24 hour mountain bike race scene, a 14 year battle with finishing the Colorado Trail Race, his most recent race effort in Morocco at the Atlas Mountain Race, and much more bikepacking and bikepack racing goodness.
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 27
We couldn't think of a better way to kick off 2023 than with a multi-time world champion. Our guest for episode 26 is two-time 24hr Time Trial World Champion Meaghan Hackinen. Meaghan had an absolutely massive 2022 season: competing in The Transcontinental No8, setting a new fastest known time while taking the win at The Big Lonely, and then winning her second 24hr Time Trial World Championship. We discuss her efforts at these events, the specific training and preparation required to succeed at ...
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 26
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 l...
Jan 01, 2023•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 25
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 o...
Nov 25, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 24
Our guest for Episode 23 needs no introduction in the bikepack racing world. Kurt Refsnider is arguably the greatest bikepack racer of all time. He was the first person to ever win the "bikepacking triple crown", winning the Tour Divide in 2011, the Arizona Trail Race in 2018, and the Colorado Trail Race in 2019-- plus, he's earned countless other bikepack racing wins and FKTs. Kurt has also been remarkably active in the bikepacking community. He's the owner and head coach for UltraMTB ( www.ult...
Nov 08, 2022•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 23
...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...
Oct 20, 2022•2 hr 5 min•Ep. 22
She's been a bit hard to track down...especially these past few months...as she bounces across the country from bikepacking race to gravel race to yet another bikepacking race. Even now, as I hit publish on this episode, Hannah Dhonau is on course at the Smoke 'n' Fire 400 in the mountains of Idaho. We wanted to get Hannah on the podcast after her first ever win at the 2022 North to South Colorado Bikepacking Race. And we do get to everything that went down in Colorado this July, but first we di...
Sep 08, 2022•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 21
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...
Aug 26, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 20
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...
Aug 04, 2022•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 19
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 equall...
Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 18
We had big plans to cover both Andrew's first bikepack racing win at North South Colorado and Ezra's experience at the Tour Divide, but we ended up taking the deepest of deep dives into everything that went down for Ezra during his first run at the divide. It's a long one...and Ezra talks a lot...so if that doesn't interest you...feel free to skip this one! But if you are interested in an indepth day by day breakdown intermixed with lessons learned along the way for a Tour Divide rookie...then t...
Jul 15, 2022•1 hr 57 min•Ep. 17
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 a...
Jul 12, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 16
...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 mi...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 15
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 E...
Jun 09, 2022•53 min•Ep. 14
For our 13th episode (totally on purpose!), we return to Friday the 13th of May where our guest: Zeno Molteni went down to Oark, AR and absolutely destroyed DOOM. Andrew (Ezra was busy doing Divide prep things) sits down with Zeno for a conversation that covers Zeno's late entry into the sport of cycling, returning to his family's home to race the Italian Divide, a breakout performance at Gravel Worlds Long Voyage, and an in depth recap of Zeno crushing DOOM setting a new fastest known time in t...
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 13
Road cycling has the Tour de France...bikepack racing has the Tour Divide...and the 2022 Grand Depart is nearly upon us! Episode 12 is part Tour Divide preview show and part general conversation about the state of bikepack racing. Our guest this episode is Tim Tait. A man of many talents in the bikepack racing world. Tim is the race director of The Mixed Utah Epic aswell as a brand new gravel event for this year: The West End Gravel Rush in Nucla, CO. Tim got his start in the ultra world in 2019...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 12
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 bi...
May 30, 2022•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 11
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 ...
May 25, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 10
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 thr...
May 19, 2022•2 hr 7 min•Ep. 9
...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'...
May 11, 2022•32 min•Ep. 8
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 t...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 7
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 ...
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 6
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 fasc...
Apr 15, 2022•50 min•Ep. 5
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 compe...
Apr 12, 2022•59 min•Ep. 4
