A Legendary, Record Setting Ride

A week and a bit ago, Bond Almand completed his Pan-American ride, which stretched from the far reaches of the northern hemisphere in Alaska to the southern tip of the south hemisphere in Argentina. Over 75 days, complete with harrowing adventure and seemingly infinite boredom, Bond did more than just an adequate job of smashing the previous record right out of the water. Averaging 179 miles per day with no days off, the record is now his. Mind you, that’s both the self-supported record (which is how he did it) and the fully-supported record (which is a walk in the park by comparison).

I’d love for you to listen to the entire conversation during this King of the Ride podcast.

I’ve tallied a few bikepacking trips in my day, but frankly nothing that holds even the slightest candle to Bond’s ride. Bikepacking of the record setting variety is a relatively new endeavor, so it’s maybe not an enormous wonder that while he’s relatively new to bikepacking, Bond is already a leader. He mentions that just a year ago he hadn’t logged super long miles over the course of many days nor had he even done a bikepacking trip in the first place. One year later, his list of accomplishments leaves most of us, myself included, in the dust.

My point in bringing up the comparison is that even in the few trips I’ve done (James Bay Descent, Arkansas High Country, or Tour Divide for examples), the mental challenge is as big of a hurdle as anything. As you listen to this podcast, pay attention to Bond talking about the mental strength he had, as well as moments he was crippled by the conscientious enormity of his ride.

Of particular note, the final three weeks is something Bond mentions a few times as excruciating and it’s something I wished I’d addressed in an outro for this podcast’s episode. To someone inexperienced in bikepacking, the passage of time seems fairly linear. Sure, there are moments that time feels like it moves more slowly — 3am when a newborn is wailing in a crib next to a new parent’s bed, comes to mind — but the passage of time while bikepacking is unlike anything I’ve experienced. A few hours can feel like months. The final 60 miles of my Arkansas High Country felt like 600. Or as Bond says, these 75 days feels like it’s been many years.

Continuing the journey is the hard decision. I’m excited for you to listen to this podcast and hear how Bond rallied through this extraordinary route, and especially the final 3 weeks. Please enjoy!