Detours Detours Podcast

This week we step just outside the world of ultra, and into the world of long distance gravel racing. For folks who follow the gravel scene, you may already be familiar with Sarah Sturm. Sarah Sturm is one of the top gravel racers in the world, with podium finishes at events like Unbound 200 and Traka 360. While these events aren't ultras in their own right, they can often be gateway events for many folks, and there is so much we can learn from Sarah. Known for her bubbly personality, she shared insights into her transition away from cyclocross and mountain bike racing, to longer events, how she has built a career out of racing her bike and created a program to help pave the way for other women to become professionals in the sport.
This year Sarah will be racing both the Gravel Earth and Life Time Grand Prix series. You can follow along with her season over on Instagram.
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Jenny Tough is a woman who hardly needs an introduction. A quick Google search will pull up a laundry list of accomplishments in the outdoors — from winning the Silk Road Mountain Race (twice!), to running across a mountain range on six continents, to publishing two books. While each of these accomplishments is exceptional in its own right, Jenny remains humble, honest and dedicated to making space for other women in the outdoors.
Our conversation is wide reaching; from her first bike trip to the Yukon where she carried handwritten notes to help her fix mechanicals, to becoming one of the most prolific women in bikepack racing, to putting her career on pause for two years to heal her eating disorder. While we do spend some time on serious topics, we had so much fun in this conversation and are grateful for Jenny's humour and sharing so candidly.
Warning: We discuss disordered eating and exercise dependency from approximately 1:00:00 to 1:18:00, so please skip this section if you need.
You can stay up to date on Jenny’s adventure on Instagram and read more of her writing on her Substack.

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Show Notes
Meg Knobel is the organizer (or as you’ll come to learn, “disorganizer”) of the wildly popular bikepacking event in Southern California, Stagecoach 400. From her first experiences tackling the route, to taking the reins from Brendan Collier in 2019, Meg was an absolute joy to chat with. She talks about hosting the first Grand Depart and how her confidence grew over time, and gives us a behind the scenes look at just how much effort goes into putting on these Grand Departs. This year’s edition of Stagecoach 400 kicks off March 29th at 8AM PDT in Idyllwild California. 
Follow Stagecoach400 on Instagram
Dotwatch this year’s Stagecoach
The Stagecoach 400 route
00:00 Quick catchup w/ Mel & Cynthia
09:10 Interview with Meg
13:20 Meg's Background and Stagecoach 400
33:55 Hosting the First Grand Depart vs. Now
42:39 Advice for Folks Touring the Route
57:16 Planning and Organizing the Event
01:01:58 The “Perfect” Bike for Stagecoach 400
01:05:04 Why Keep the Event Unsanctioned
01:19:37 Fun Banter you don’t want to miss out on 
01:29:26 Giving Stagecoach Tattoos


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While she's a relative new comer to the world of off-road ultra racing, Nathalie Baillon hardly needs any introduction. She has a laundry list of accolades, including a joint first at Silk Road Mountain Race in August 2023, the fastest woman to ride across Europe, and more. It was such a treat to get to chat with her and learn more about how she found her footing in the sport and where she's hoping to go from here.
To keep up with Nathalie's adventures, follow her on Instagram.
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We're baaack! Today on the show we share more about our time in Morocco for the Atlas Mountain Race, as well as answer your questions about the race. Let us know what you think of this episode and if there's anything we missed - it's always a challenge post event to synthesize our thoughts and cover it all.
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A small but mighty field of women will be starting the fourth edition of the Atlas Mountain Race. We were fortunate enough to hear from nearly all of them ahead of the start. These incredible individuals share what they’re most excited about and what challenges they are likely to face. Each of them has a unique story, and we hope by shining a spotlight on the women’s field it will encourage more to line up next year or to take on their own challenge. 
You can follow our dots on MapProgress - www.amr24.maprogress.com
We’ve put together a list of the women featured in this episode so you can track them on the map by cap number. They are organized here in the same order as they appear in the episode. 
Cat Magill - 183
Christiana Tamburini - 173
Cynthia Carson - 172
Hannah Larbalestier - 140
Hannah Simon - 139
Harriet Wingfield - 314A
Marika Latsone - 101
Marion Dziwnik - 99
'Masca Lu Wahlig - 130
Megan Casebow - 309A
Melina Boening - 84
Mel Webb - 85
Molly Weaver - 79
Nathalie Baillon - 78
Quinda Verheul - 56
Sarah Heller - 306A
Shona Oldfield - 305A
Veera Lahde - 6


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