My guest today is the one and only Dr. Eliza Sampey who brings her wealth of experience to the podcast. Eliza was a professional adventure athlete for 13 years. Her adventures and expeditions have taken her all over the world by way of all modalities of human powered travel. She is also a doctor of physical therapy, a concussion specialist, and a coach. Needless to say, we had a lot to chat about!

Several years ago she sustained a concussion on a bike ride that ultimately ended her career as a professional athlete, but it spawned a new passion for helping other athletes who are managing their concussion rehabilitation. She's even written a book about it that you can download for free on her website.

On today's episode we hear about some of her adventures and athletic accomplishments before diving into a robust conversation about concussions, especially for backcountry athletes. We also weave in some topics about her work as a physical therapist and coach. Eliza's vast experience in the adventure athlete sphere contribute to a highly entertaining and educational episode.

Arkansas Graveler – a five-day cycling adventure winding through the moody Ouachita Mountains. Starting in Mena and ending in Russellville, this route traverses incredible backcountry. June 3-8th - Register Here

Bikepacking Roots - Enter to win a custom Chumba Slackr MTB plus a lot of other cycling goodies AND support the BPR Bipoc Bike Adventure Grant Program.

New Patrons
Andrew C.

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

I'm stoked to bring you my latest chat with Eric House fresh off his finish at the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco. After being laid off from his job in September he decided to go full send on bikepacking and has an epic 2025 planned. Probably most notably, he'll be doing all three of the Nelson Tree's Mountain Race series on a singlespeed. Something no ones ever done before!

He's got a lot more on his plate for 2025 as he tries to pack in as many adventures on his bike as he can during this time of unemployment. We go over all his plans for this year on today's episode. We also have a healthy does of fun tangents and a brief period where we both take off our pants, a Death or Death first haha! Most importantly, we hear about his experience at AMR this year and what a successful year will look like to him.

Eric and I met up in the Sam Houston National Forest which was the perfect backdrop to an awesome chat. He's one of the nicest, most down to earth humans I've met and he's pretty damn good at riding bikes too. All of which contribute to a helluva good chat.

Eric's able to do all of this in part to support from his sponsors, who he'd like to personally thank:
- Old Man Mountain
- South City Stichworks
- K-Lite
- Doom Bars
- Race Ready Repair

Old Man Mountain – Use code “mountainordeath” at checkout to receive 10% off your order!

New Patrons
Aaron Newbury
Annie Bilotta

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

For the past 8 years Indiana aka "Drive by Dildo" has been focused on bikepack racing. He's got a laundry list of accomplishments to his name. Including being a Triple Crown Challenge finisher. He's one of only 23 people in the world to have accomplished this feat. I met him in 2018 when we were both participating in the GranGravel 500 and he was the first (and only to-date) to Yo-Yo the East Texas Showdown in 2022.

Since the age of 6 he's dreamed of traveling the world. Once he discovered bikepacking he soon decided he wanted to fulfill the dreams of his 6 y/o self by cycling around the world.

Over the past 8 years he's been dreaming, scheming, planning, and selling everything he wouldn't need to take on his bike. In May of 2024 Indy's planning and preparing was done, now it was time to ride his damn bike around the world.

He set out on this adventure starting in Deadhorse, Alaska on the Dalton Highway. Now, almost a year later I catch up with him in La Paz, Mexico on a rest day. Indy is living a dream of mine, to one day live on my bike and see the world.

It was so great to see my old friend again and get to hear more about the journey that I've been living vicariously through him online. Tune in to today's episode to hear about how and why Indy choose to live on his bike and travel the world and how his trip has been going so far!

Old Man Mountain - This week we are highlighting their Tour Divide rack. Use code "mountainsordeath" at checkout to receive 10% off your order!

New Patrons
None this week, but we'd like to thank the 356 patrons that support this show monthly 🫡

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