Bikes or Death

Something new came to Sea Otter this year, and I went to get the scoop.

Sea Otter is widely regarded as the largest bike expo in the world, but calling it a "bike expo" doesn't quite cover it. With over 70,000 attendees, 1,000+ brands and exhibitors, and 10,000+ athletes competing across a huge variety of races, it's… a lot.

And with all of that, it's hard to imagine anything was missing.

Enter Old Man Mountain.

Five years ago, Erik Fenner, OMM's Marketing Manager, attended Sea Otter for the first time. That night, he organically invited a few folks to join his campsite hangout. Nearly 30 people showed up.

An idea was born.

This year, that idea became reality with the inaugural OMM Bikepacking Campout and After Party at Sea Otter.

OMM and their partners staked out a beautiful campsite about a mile from the main expo, tucked into a serene setting that felt worlds away from the chaos. People came from far and wide. Some rode their bikes. Some drove. Some flew. Some may have crawled. However they got there, everyone seemed to find what bikepackers tend to gravitate toward: a little dirt, a little community, and some grassroots vibes.

It turns out, in the sea of Sea Otter, something was missing.

Bikepacking is still a small but mighty corner of cycling, but it's clearly on the rise. You could see it in the growing number of adventure cycling booths, the people stopping by to ask questions, and the strong turnout for the first-ever OMM Bikepacking Campout.

In today's episode, I take you into Sea Otter as a first-time attendee. But I wasn't there to see how many grams I could save if I sold a kidney. I was there to see what my friends at OMM were cooking up.

Spoiler alert: it was really damn good.

This episode is made up of five conversations with sponsors, vendors, and attendees of the OMM Bikepacking Campout. You'll hear from:

Chris Kratsch — Co-Owner of Old Man Mountain
Carley Boyce — Campout attendee who attempted the Great Divide with her dog Rowdy, then went back the next year to attempt the Tour Divide
Noelle Battle — Executive Director of Bikepacking Roots
Wade Green — Managing Partner for Tout Terrain in the U.S.
Erik Fenner — Marketing Manager at Old Man Mountain

I had an incredible time at this inaugural event. It was so good to be far from home, but still feel like I had a built-in community of "my people."

Big thanks to everyone who took a little time to chat with me about their experience at Sea Otter.

Let's do it again next year!





SHOW NOTES

As heard on today's episode, Carley is racing the Tour Divide for a cause. She is raising money to support the Autism Society of Oregon. Find out more at Racing for Awareness

EPISODE SPONSORS

Old Man Mountain would like to thank their supporting partners and sponsors that made this event possible:
Priority Bikes
Tout Terrain
Ortlieb
Swift Industries
Outershell
Sklar
Feedback Sports
Revelate
Salsa
ABUS

Fayetteville Ultra Circuit: on today's episode Alex Kowalski, FUC race director, comes on the share a little more about the route. Take a deeper dive, and register, here. For being a loyal listener you can take $15 off reg when you use the code: FUCBOD

NEW PATRONS

Oregoniangal

Join them won't you at www.Patreon.com/BikesorDeath

Can you imagine packing up everything you own on a bicycle, riding away from your home with plans to cycle the world over the next four years? Now imagine it's your first bike tour.

That's exactly what Jacob Ashton did in 2016 when he rolled away from his home in Idaho.

Over the next four years, he would cover roughly 77,000 miles, visit 100 countries, and ride across six continents. His travels were not without challenges. He was confronted by machete-wielding villagers in Mozambique, lost a finger to frostbite while climbing Ojos del Salado in Chile, and experienced a bowel obstruction in Khorog, Tajikistan that required major surgery and temporarily paused his tour.

To date, he's accumulated over 120,000 miles, visited 108 countries, and ridden on six continents—and he's not done.

Recently, Jacob has been trading touring miles for racing miles, testing his skills in events like the Tour Divide, the AZT, and most recently, DOOM and the East Texas Showdown.

Jacob and I both competed at this year's DOOM, which is where we first met. He rode the long course and came in a respectable 7th place, following up a 2nd place finish the previous year.

After a 32-hour "nap," he loaded up his full-suspension Starling Murmur and rode 400 miles to Point Blank, Texas, to compete in the 400-mile East Texas Showdown.

ETS is a solidly a gravel ultra, and he was the only rider on a full-suspension bike—but he rode that thing like it was on fire, averaging 15 mph moving speed and finishing in an impressive 6th place.

Coincidentally, after ETS he had plans to ride over to my hometown to visit an old friend, so I took the opportunity to meet up with him and dive deeper into his story.

You can learn more and follow along with Jacob here:

Instagram - @occasional_bikepacker
Tour Reports - Read it here
His book, "Until the Road Ends" - Buy it here

EPISODE SPONSORS 

OMM x Sea Otter Campout – Going to Sea Otter? Make sure to swing by the OMM Bikepacking Campout & After Party. Find all the deets here. I'll be there too, come find me :)

RYDB Fest Community Overnighter - May 22nd - 24th in Fayettville, AR. Use code bikesordeath_rydb_26 for 20% off reg.

New Patrons 
David Lieble
Tomas Perez
Andrew Humes
Robert Keller

Join us won't you at www.Patreon.com/BikesorDeath

Tyler "Freakin" Reynolds and the First Texas Triple Star
In 2025 the Texas Triple Star was born.
Complete all three events in the Texas Showdown Series, in the same category, within a calendar year, and you'll earn a handmade belt buckle crafted by Texas builder Kyle Gilbert.
Last year the series became official with the addition of West Texas Showdown, and seven riders stepped up to attempt the full trilogy.
By the end of the year only one rider was left standing.
Tyler "Freakin" Reynolds.
Racing in the Slowdown Singlespeed category, Tyler completed the entire series and etched his name into Showdown history.
Tyler's Triple Star Stats
ETS – 1d 9h 37m — 2nd place
CTS – 1d 4h 37m — 1st overall
WTS – 1d 15h 45m — 1st place
Total Time: 4d 5h 59m
The time to beat for the Slowdown SS category.
For a full writeup and photo gallery of this episode visit BikesorDeath.com

SHOW NOTES

East Texas Showdown
March 27th – 29th
Use code getoffthecouch at checkout for 15% off

Sea Otter Bikepacking Campout & After Party presented by Old Man Mountain
April 16th – 19th

RYDB Fest
May 22nd – 24th
Use code bikesordeath for 20% off the Community Overnighter registration

My guest today is someone who is no stranger to the front of the field. A perennial podium finisher as a professional mountain biker, and over the past decade-plus one of the most accomplished ultra-endurance cyclists on the planet, he has first-place finishes at the Tour Divide, AZT, CTR, and many many more. The truth is, I'd need to create an entirely new podcast series to fully unpack the range, depth, and longevity of his career as a lifelong cyclist. For that reason, he's a man who truly needs no introduction: Kurt Refsnider.

Most recently, Kurt became the first person to ride the 5,000-plus-mile Orogenesis Route -- a project more than a decade in the making, shaped by many contributors over the years. Like the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, the Orogenesis Route traverses North America from the Canadian border to the Mexican border, but it instead features as much singletrack as they can pack in - 50% of the route is singletrack. And when it reaches the border, the route doesn't stop. It intercepts and continues down the Baja Divide, one of the most iconic bikepacking routes in the world.

This was no small undertaking. Not only was this Kurt's biggest bikepacking trip to date, but he was also the first person to put bike tires on large portions of the route—sections that had only been scouted digitally and pieced together through community knowledge. Inevitably, that meant running into real roadblocks. This wasn't just a bikepacking trip; it was a true bike adventure. I can think of no one more qualified to take on a project of this scale, both physically and mentally, than Kurt.

It was an absolute pleasure to have him back on the podcast. He's a true OG and a legend in the sport for very good reason. And beyond all the accolades, he's simply a genuinely kind and thoughtful human being.

The Bikes or Death Podcast is Presented by Old Man Mountain

To support this work: www.Patreon.com/bikesordeath

Kurt's website: https://www.ultramtb.net/

Orogenesis Collective: https://orogenesiscollective.org/

We're kicking off the year with a special guest—Eric House! We met up in the Sam Houston National Forest for a bit of a role reversal; this time, Eric took the mic to interview me. I gave him free rein to ask anything, resulting in a wide-ranging conversation that covered everything from the silly to the serious.
The heart of our chat focused on the last six years of work that culminated in 2025 with the launch of the WTS Showdown and the completion of the Texas Showdown Series. We also looked ahead to 2026, discussing my goals for Doom High Watch and my current training mindset.
Eric is a fantastic interviewer who asks truly meaningful questions, including a "gamut" of listener inquiries that kept me on my toes. Of course, it wouldn't be a proper meetup without some trail time—prior to recording, we squeezed in a mountain bike ride that turned into a total adventure involving getting lost, a minor collision, and hiking our bikes out on our shoulders. It was perfect.
Bikes or Death is presented by https://oldmanmountain.com/
www.patreon.com/bikesordeath to support the show ☠️