Rodeo Podcast EP8: Arkansas High Country Race

On the eighth episode of the podcast, Nik and Stephen virtually catch up with Ashley Carelock and Dr. Seth Wood. They both recently competed in the 2020 Arkansas High Country Race and both set Fastest Known Time(s) (FKT). Your hosts dig into the experience the only way they know how, excitedly asking questions about what happened, like gear choices, or in Seth’s case a single gear!

The High Country Race is a unique format where the racers can pick the direction to tackle the course, Seth and Ashley break down the importance of this and how they handled gauging their own effort around the racers who went the opposite direction. Bike packing and bike back racing has a lot of ups and downs, it is more than a watts competition. Mental strength and self care to get through a race are critical, we asked what Ashley and Seth brought to get them through the tough moments and their answers speak volumes about their character. Hearing their stories, often unprompted by questions, was brilliant. Seth and Ashley are two resilient people who inspire us, we hope to meet them in person at the start of another adventure someday soon.