CatJaffeedidn’tnecessarilythinkofherselfassomeonewholovedbeingalone.Butthen,thepandemichit.Andshegotdiagnosedwithcancer.Actually,thosetwothingshappenedontheexactsameday,attheexactsamehour.Intheshadowofthatnightmarishtiming,Catfoundherwaytoasportthatcelebratedthesolitudethatwasforcedonher,andtaughtherhowtonotonlyembraceself-reliance,buttoloveit. 

Thissportiscalledcompetitivebikepacking.Andinthesecompetitions,ridershavetobringeverythingtheyneedtocompleteepicbikeridestotallybythemselves.Theypackallthesuppliestheythinkthey’llneedtosurvive,andhavetorefusesomeofthesimplest,subtlest,mostintangiblebooststhatexistinourworld.

Butaleaderhasemergedinthissport.HernameisLaelWilcox,andshe’satotalrockstarintheworldofcompetitivebikepacking.She’sbrokenallkindsofrecords.Andalso,somerules.Mostrecently,onthisonerideshedidacrosstheentirestateofArizona.

Wesetouttofindoutwhatitmeans—forCat,forLael,andforanyofus—toendureincrediblyhardthings,totallyalone.Theanswerisonthecourse,inourbodies,andhiddeninthatmysteriousplacebetweenusandthepeoplewecareabout.

SpecialthankstoAnnaHaslock,NicoSandi,MichaelFryar,MoabPublicRadio,NicholeBakerandPaysonMcElveenforsharingtheirstudiowithus,andTheRadavist,forlettingususetheaudioofLael’srideacrossArizona.Youcanwatchtheoriginalvideohere (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HOk0MmgFwE).

EPISODECREDITS

Thisepisodewasreportedby-CatJaffeeandRachaelCusickProducedby- RachaelCusickwithhelpfrom-PatWaltersOriginalmusicandsounddesignby-JeremyBloomwithmixinghelpfrom-ArianneWackFact-checkingby-EmilyKriegerEditedby-PatWalters

CITATIONS:

Videos:

YoucanwatchLael’syoucanwatchLael’srideacrossArizonahere(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HOk0MmgFwE).

AndseethenextseasonofracingbyfollowingalongonTrackLeaders.com(http://trackleaders.com/)Articles:YoucanfindJimCoan’sstudyonemotionalsupport here (https://zpr.io/Y2yMXZMgnMKv).Audio:FormoreonLaelWilcox,youcancheckoutherinterviewswiththepodcasts AdventureStache (https://zpr.io/EtkFsW8b6VdS) and BikesorDeath (https://zpr.io/ZSTAECjAifn5).

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