I launched Bikes or Death in November of 2018 with the goal of showcasing bikepacking and the people who participate. At that time I was a fairly novice bikepacker myself and I just wanted to talk to some of the people who I really admired. I wanted to know how they did it and why, I wanted to get their “secrets”, and share them with anyone with a likeminded interest. I also wanted to highlight bikepacking and help spread the word about this amazing sport, I had only recently learned of.
My aspirations for the podcast were meager. I set a goal of wanting to reach 100 regular listeners. At the time it felt like a big number. Maybe because almost 5 years ago the sport of bikepacking was still lying in the shadows to some degree, so it was hard to gauge how big the audience or potential audience was. They say “timing is everything” and I definitely think Bikes or Death benefited from a shift in the popularity and awareness about bikepacking over the past 5 years. It’s been an amazing journey to watch as the community continues to grow and thrive and it’s been my humbling privilege to be a small part of that. Â
This week the podcast hit a huge milestone by reaching 1 million total downloads. I don’t know how to celebrate this, but I didn’t want to keep this all to myself. It’s not just me who has achieved this milestone, it is thanks to all of my guest and listeners who have supported the show all this time. So mostly I just want to thank this community for sharing your stories, time, expertise, or your ear. I hope this milestone is not only a metric for Bikes or Death, but one that showcases this amazing community and the popularity for a sport and community we all love.
I’m not one to pick favorites, each episode has played a role in my journey and of Bikes or Death, but I’m happy to share some stats.
The top 3 episodes off all time (by the download numbers) are:
1. Ep. 64 ~ Bikepacking Basics: You ask, we Answer! – 15,660 downloads
2. Ep. 120 ~ Sofiane Sehili, A Promise to Keep – 12,862 downloads
3. Ep. 112 ~ Lael & Rue, Asterisk* – 12,484 downloads
In November of this year BoD will hit another milestone in the form of our 5 year anniversary. Since the beginning the podcast has taken me further than I could have ever imagined. Here are some photos that have been snapped over the years.
Thanks to this amazing community for your continued support of the work we do over here. I couldn’t do it without you!
