In this episode, we talk with James MacDonald, the only solo Race Across America finisher from Scotland. James reached the finish line of the world's longest non-stop bike race in a time of 11 days and 19 hours to earn 12th place overall in 2016 as a rookie. After this epic test of endurance, James went on to achieve something very special: the Guinness World Records for the fastest N-S-N double crossing of the island of the UK. In 2017, James rode from John o' Groats down to Lands End and back up to John o' Groats, covering a total distance of 2,711 km (1,684 mi) in a time of 5d 18h to improve the former record by 3 hours. His latest challenge was to improve the actual 24h indoor track record of 941km, which was set by me in 2017. He was at a very promising pace, found his rhythm, but then he crashed and had to cancel his attempt. Global Cycling Network covered his attempt so you can check it out in more detail! It will be James' future challenge to give it another try and today we will talk about our experiences in riding the velodrome nonstop for thousands of laps. Let's roll! 🚲💨 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support

After watching the film Inspired to Ride years ago, French-Canadian ultra bikepacker, Louis-Eric Simard, took on the famous Trans Am Bike Race Bike Race, crossing 10 States in the USA, coast-to-coast, self-supported. If that wasn't enough, Louis-Eric is now on to his next big adventures organizing his very own ultra bikepacking events, the Race Around Cuba and the TransCanada Bike Race, which crosses Canada from West to East over 12,500 km (7,767 mi) and climbing 319,000 ft or the equivalent of Mt. Everest 11 times!  Louis-Eric is a successful entrepreneur and technologist, running his own software company and also creating his own bicycling products. And most interestingly one of his favorite ride snacks is crickets! Don't miss this fun and inspiring episode! Let’s roll! 🚲💨 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support

If you haven't watched the exhilarating documentary Four by 3000 - A journey through the toughest bike race in the world, then you're in for a real treat with this episode! We feature 3 of the racers of the elite four-man Race Across America team who are also record holders in their 8-person team crossing. Kurt Broadhag, Tony Restuccia, Chris Demarchi, and Phil Tinstman are the stars of this show where we discuss bombing down descents like Wolf Creek pass over 60 mph and racing 20-minute intervals all the way across America averaging 25-30+ mph. These guys are elite CAT 1 racers in USA Cycling so there's some really intense and awesome topics that we'll be covering. Let’s roll! 🚲💨 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support

In this episode, we talk with a very talented ultra racer from Austria, Dominik Meierhofer - Radsportler, who is still very young in terms of ultra cycling, but has achieved some astonishing results. Dominik was the winner of Race Around Austria 1500 km and reached the podium in a couple of 24-hr races and long distance events like the Glocknerman Sprint or the Austrian Championships in ultra cycling. Recently, Dominik won 1st place overall in the 24h category of the 6-12-24 Hour World Time Trial Championships, which were held as a virtual event this year. For me, personally, this is something very special and maybe one of the toughest things you can do in our sport. I will ask Dominik about his future plans and about his goals for the years to come. I know that if you have achieved so many athletic feats at Dominik's young age of 26 years old, you can have a very successful future in ultra cycling. Let's roll! 🚲💨 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support

In this episode, we chat with Caleb Cline, an impressive relatively new ultra cyclist with an inspiring backstory. Caleb is a graduate of the prestigious West Point - The U.S. Military Academy and served in the U.S. Army for 9 years 3 months 20 days. After suffering injuries in the line of duty, Caleb kept pushing the boundaries as a disabled veteran, motivated to not let his circumstances interfere with his potential. Since receiving his first trike bicycle, Caleb has been able to compete in ultra cycling events from the NCOM 375 in Texas to the Silver State 508 in Nevada. Most recently, Caleb won first place in the 24-hr trike category at the Virtual 6-12-24 Hour World Time Trial Championships completing 375.10 miles. Caleb's story is sure to make you reconsider what's possible in your own life. Let’s roll! 🚲💨 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support

Super Randonneur, Bharat Pannu, was the first Indian to successfully complete any Ultra race in India of a distance longer than 400 miles in the 1st edition of Inspire India's 1,000 km Ultra Spice Race (and he later went on to win the 1,750 km category in 2019). Bharat also completed the 2017 Race Around Austria (RAA) in a 2-man team, becoming the first Indians to successfully finish any ultra race in Europe. Then after a last minute injury prevented Bharat from making it to the starting line of his 2019 Race Across America (RAAM) attempt, he went on to set the world record traversing India from North to South, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, a distance of 3,604 km in 8d 9h 45m. Still on Bharat's bucket list: London-Edinburgh-London (LEL), Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur (PBP), and of course, RAAM. Let’s roll! 🚲💨 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support

Mike Cohen has a heartfelt story to share with all of us after battling cancer for many years and most recently suffering from a heart attack. Mike's story is one of inspiration, resilience, and determination to live his life to the fullest and to give back to the world along the way. As a cancer survivor in 2012, Mike bicycled 3,168 miles across America from San Diego, California to Long Island to show what's possible even in the worst of life circumstances. Then after suffering from a heart attack and receiving a heart transplant from a man who died in active duty while serving in the US military, Mike was determined to meet his donor's family. So in 2019, Mike biked 1,426 miles from San Diego to Jacksonville, Florida. Life has never been quite the same for Mike since surviving cancer and receiving a new heart, but I think it's safe to say, it's all been for the better.  Mike is just 35 years old so there's still a lot of road ahead of him to continue telling his inspirational story. Let’s roll! 🚲💨 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support

In this episode, we talk with Katharine Ford, the first Scot to ever finish RAAM when she was just 22 years of age. She started endurance cycling when she lost her driving license to epilepsy in 2005 and ever since then her bicycle has been a tool for her to achieve some sense of independence and adventure. Modesty aside, however, Katie is also the former WUCA women's indoor track record holder at the marks of 100km, 200km, 300km & 6-hrs and she's a new World UltraCycling Association (WUCA) board member. In 2012, Katie had the great privilege of bearing the Olympic torch for the Games in London in part due to her ultra cycling achievements. Katie's story is one of incredible resilience and will make you reconsider what's possible. Let’s roll! 🚲💨 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support

Elena Roch won first place in the women's division of the Race Around Niederösterreich (RAN) in 2020 with a time of 22h 36m. The beautiful 600km, or roughly 373 mile, course took racers through Lower Austria, one of the 9 states of Austria, climbing 6,000 meters or almost 20,000 ft. Elena had not planned to ride RAN as her first ultra race ever, but after watching the Race Around Austria (RAA), she fell in love with the atmosphere and decided to spontaneously try to simply finish RAN. Elena has also completed the Ötztaler Radmarathon in 2018 and 2019 - its 230km with 5,000m of climbing (143 mi and 16,404 ft). Let’s roll! 🚲💨 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support

In this episode, we talk with an amazing athlete from the beautiful country of New Zealand, Craig Harper, who is an all-around sportsman both as an ultra cyclist and previously as a rower who represented his country at the World Championships in different categories. Adding to his athletic experiences, Craig and his girlfriend Kate participated in adventure racing and all kinds of other multi-day team-races with an exciting mixture of running, MTBiking, kayaking, rafting and navigation. After starting a family, Craig began to explore new challenges like marathon running and long-distance bike races, which was the beginning of his ultra cycling passion. In 2017, Craig crossed the length of NZ from N to S in the fastest time ever, riding 2,175 km (around 1,350 miles) in less than four and a half days while supporting The Graham Dingle Foundation which provides support programs in schools. With that experience, and a great team of fellow Kiwis, he started his 2019 Race Across America campaign, finishing in 4th place overall with a time of 10 days 15 hours. Let’s roll! 🚲💨 (Photo credit: Vic Armijo and RAAM Media.) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ultracyclingshow/support