Patrick Farnsworth 
Welcome to the first ever Bikes or Death Awards! It has been a challenging year for everyone, but through it all BoD has continued to share uplifting and inspirational stories from the cycling community. The truth is that every guest is a winner in our books. It is the collective commonality of bicycles that brings us together, but it is the uniqueness of each individual that makes this community so great.
On the morning of Christmas Eve 2018 Kait Boyle was at the height of her ultra endurance racing career, having won the 24 hour World Championship in 2018 and set a new record on the AZT 300. Her life would take an unexpected turn later that day when she was involved in a horrific vehicular accident that left her with a long list of injuries and a long path to recovery.
From 2006 to 2016 Ted King was a professional road cycling before switching to gravel where he took 1st at the DK200 in 2016 and 2017. Earlier this month he completed the 1,000+ mile Arkansa High Country Race in first with a time of 4 days, 20 hours, which was good enough to snag the FKT set by Jay Petervary in June of this year.
I caught up with Aaron 4 days after he finished becoming the *first person to circumnavigate Texas on a bike! In total he rode 3,014 miles in 58 days and he wrote weekly articles about his journey that you can read on Texas Monthly.
Reflections on a dad-daughter bikepacking overnight in Sam Houston National Forest.
Created by Erik Binggeser and Alison Mae Bonham this a beautiful film born from lockdown during a pandemic.
Erik and I met at a Bikes or Death group bikepacking trip right before the world shut down thanks to a coronavirus. Since then he’s been wholed up in his Austin apartment in lockdown. With some extra time stuck indoors he’s been finding ways to stay active and engaged with the cycling community.
Chris Burkard has become a personal source of inspiration for me and it was an honor to have him back on the podcast. He was first on way back at Episode 17 to tell us about his WOW Cyclothon Record that he set in 2019. That episode really fired me up and motivated me to push myself in more ways than just on the bike. Chris’ passion for life is contagious and I highly recommend you go back and listen to ep. 17, although you don’t need to listen in order to enjoy.
In July Talib Abdullahi created and organized a Black History Ride in Austin, TX. Motivated by the BLM movement he wanted to create a positive event that would both be education and fun. Originally, he was thinking it would be him and maybe 20 of his friends, but word quickly got out, and within a week he was leading his Black History Ride with 400ish cyclist in tow.
If you’ve been listening for a while you’ve probably heard me talk about my lack of expectations for the podcast. Not in a self-depricating way, but in the way that you do something that you’re passionate about for a community you love with no expectations. I didn’t tell anyone about the podcast or promote it outside of an obscure post on a small instagram account, but that didn’t stop me from quickly realizing not only the popularity of Bikepacking, but the desire for these types of interviews and stories.
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping to cover the costs.
"Supporters of the podcast are the PSI in the knobby tires that keep BoD rolling." ~Patrick
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If you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping to cover the costs.
"Supporters of the podcast are the PSI in the knobby tires that keep BoD rolling." ~Patrick
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