Eddie O’dea recently became the first person to complete the Eastern Divide Trail which runs through Mulberry Gap in Georgia, which was also the location for the first BoD Takeover. This made him the ideal candidate to be my first guest with a live audience. This conversation took place on Saturday morning at the Mulberry Gap Barn with about 40 bikepacking enthusiast in attendance.
One cool thing about having a live audience is getting audience participation. One member of our audience was Raif Olson who was actually on the EDT himself making him the second person to attempt it. He joined us at the Takeover about 3,000 miles into his trip and was able to ask Eddie some questions during our interview.
The Eastern Divide Trail is about 6,000 miles long and was made possible through a large contingent of folks in our community and curated by Bikepacking.com. When Eddie set off to be the first person to through ride the EDT the entire route had not been scouted which meant he would be doing some scouting as he went. No easy task considering all of the unknowns. Originally he hoped to be able to complete the entire route in 40 days, turns out it took closer to 80, but he got it done and now there is a line on a map for others to follow if they are bold enough.
Eddie did this ride as a way to also raise money for the Georgia Cycling Association.
EPISODE SPONSORS
Athletic Greens – Great for bikepackers on the go! Visit www.athleticgreens.com/bikesordeath to get a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase.
Gilmer Chamber of Commerce – One of our title sponsors for the BoD Takeover at Mulberry Gap.
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