The Arizona Trail Race is a massive undertaking for any rider — rocky singletrack, long stretches of hike-a-bike, and a full bike portage through the Grand Canyon. It’s an especially bold choice for your first bikepacking race.

This week, Detours listener Kara Woolgar joins the show after finishing the AZT DFL, a result she’s genuinely proud of (and we are too!!). Kara describes herself as fun sized, which means she’s had to get creative with packing on an extra-small frame. She also has a long list of food allergies, making resupply on the trail uniquely challenging.

In our conversation, Kara shares how she got into bikepacking, how she built confidence through local rides and overnighters, and what it was like to spend 17 days working her way up the state of Arizona. From near race-ending blisters to a heartwarming note left for her in a hiking ledger, Kara shares all about her ride at the back of the pack.

Check out Kara's Instagram for write-ups on her experience: @karawoolgar

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The Triple Crown of bikepacking is a massive undertaking: three iconic routes, thousands of kilometres, and a season that demands a hell of a lot from you.

In this episode of Detours, I sit down with my husband, Jake, to look back on his year racing across the United States, and everything that he's learned from taking on the Triple Crown Challenge.

We talk about the early momentum he built on the Divide, the altitude sickness that nearly stopped him on the Colorado Trail, the slow, steady grind of the Arizona Trail, and so much more. We also get into what it's like to watch a loved one take on these races from the sidelines.

Follow Jake on Instagram: @_jakecullen_

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Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion

If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

The beauty of riding is that it can hold so many versions of us at once — the traveller, the dreamer, the person who loves a challenge, and the person who wants to prioritize fun.

Hélène Fromenty is a journalist and bikepacker has been bike touring for years, but Silk Road was her first ever mountain bike ultra — raced as a pair with her partner Stefan — and the experience opened up an entirely new corner of the sport for her. She doesn’t see herself as a racer, and approaches riding through a lens of curiosity, connection, and joy. But after Silk Road, she wanted to understand what she could do on her own. So she lined up solo at Trans Pyrenees Gravel Edition… and won the women’s race.

In this conversation, Hélène shares:

• how she learned to mountain bike just months before lining up at Silk Road Mountain Race
• navigating the tension between protecting the joy of riding and wanting to see her own potential
• what her life as a journalist actually looks like day-to-day (and how she squeezes training into it)
• imposter feelings after SRMR and how Trans Pyrenees helped her find her footing
• the mechanical disaster that almost derailed her race — and the calm she surprised herself with
• and how bikes are so much more than a sport

Follow Hélène on Instagram: @hfrome

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb

Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling

Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling

Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion

If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

There’s a certain kind of freedom that comes with slowing down: giving yourself time to stay, to notice, and to let a place leave its mark on you.

Over the years, Weronika Szalas’s mindset has shifted more and more toward slow travel — working in the winters and touring in the summers. This year, she spent nearly five months on the road with her partner, bikepacking through Central Asia.

In this episode of Detours, Weronika all about her adventures on the road, from Google Translate disasters to long days on remote tracks, quiet dinners with strangers, and finally making it to Kyrgyzstan, a place she’d dreamed of for years.

We get into:

• How slow travel changed the way she experiences new places
• The emptiness of the Mongolian steppe and navigating without a shared language
• The surreal reality of riding through Western China and dealing with constant surveillance
• Highlights from bikepacking in Kyrgyzstan including Karakol, Peak Lenin, Juku Pass, and the Pamir Highway/Bartang Valley
• How her definition of freedom has evolved, and what it feels like to settle back into regular life after months outside

LISTENER SHOUTOUT: As a little bonus content this week we have a voice note from Kara Woolgar who finished the Arizona Trail 800 as her FIRST EVER bikepacking race! Congrats Kara and thanks so much for sharing your story!

Follow Weronika on Instagram: @weronika.szalas

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb

Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling

Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling

Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion

If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

Whether you’re fuelling for a multi-day bikepacking race, trying to get more out of your training, or simply hoping to feel a little better on your everyday rides, what and when you eat can change everything.

This week on Detours, I’m joined by Uri Carlson, a sports dietitian who helps athletes at every level build sustainable fuelling strategies — for daily training, long days in the saddle, and multi-day adventures alike.

Together, we get into what truly supports strong endurance nutrition. From building a solid day-to-day foundation to knowing when a full meal mid-ultra might be exactly the right call, Uri breaks down the science, the strategy, and the real-world flexibility that long-ride fuelling requires.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to build a strong endurance nutrition foundation, and why consistency matters more than perfection
• How to fuel for training, racing, and recovery, including ways to avoid the dreaded gut bomb
• Practical fuelling for sensitive stomachs, back-to-back long days, and multi-day bikepacking races
• How much protein endurance athletes truly need, and when timing matters
• How to make good choices at a gas-station resupply (and why sometimes a Snickers is exactly the right call)
• Why carbohydrates remain the backbone of endurance performance, no matter what trends say
• What you need to know about hydration and electrolytes to stay consistent on long rides

Follow Uri on Instagram: @uri_carlson_nutrition

Learn more about Uri's nutrition services here

Have more questions about nutrition that you want us to cover on a future episode? Send us a message on Instagram or email thedetourspodcast@gmail.com

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb

Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling

Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling

Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion

If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

When you’re chasing big goals, it’s easy to get tunnel vision — to pour everything you have into one idea of what success should look like. What you should do next. How far you should go. The kind of person you should be.

This year, artist and bikepack racer Quinda Verheul set out to take on the Triple Crown of bikepacking: the Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race, and Arizona Trail Race. After the Tour Divide, her year took a turn in a direction she couldn't imagine.

In this conversation, Quinda opens up about the pressure to keep proving yourself, the vulnerability of letting go, and the freedom that comes from redefining success on your own terms. We talk about the realities of professional ultra-cycling, the mental and financial load of chasing big races, and the courage it takes to change direction when your goals stop serving you.

Follow Quinda on Instagram: @quindaverheul_

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb

Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling

Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling

Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion

If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

There’s a certain magic in firsts — especially your first bikepacking race. They’re full of unknowns, and no matter how much you prepare, nothing ever goes exactly to plan.

For Sarah Diekmeyer, a gravel racer with Enough Cycling, this year’s Badlands was her first ultra — a leap into the world of bikepacking races she once thought were only for “other people.” What followed was a crash course in everything that comes with your first ultra: the highs, the hunger, the hallucinations, and the hard lessons learned along the way.

In this episode, Sarah shares the unfiltered behind the scenes of her first bikepacking race, from fuelling disasters and sleep deprivation to the small moments of magic that made it all worth it.

Follow Sarah on Instagram: @sdiekie_

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb

Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling

Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling

Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion

If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

Marei Moldenhauer burst into 2025 with a win at the Atlas Mountain Race in February. No doubt eager to build on that early momentum and with big goals on the horizon for the remainder of the year, she was halted in her tracks after an accident skiing left her with a broken leg. The calendar wiped clear, and a long road to recovery ahead, Marei was forced to recalibrate and rebuild from ground zero.

In this episode she shares the behind the scenes of building back to form, what she's learned about managing expectations and how she's looking to the future, reimagining how she sets goals.

Follow Marei on Instagram: @marei.mol

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb

Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling

Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling

Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion

If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast