Hello, friends, and welcome to the Bikes for Death podcast. As always, my name is Patrick,

and I'm your host. And on today's episode, I got my friend Seth Dubois here to talk all

things Silk Road Mountain Race. The Silk Road is in its fourth iteration. It started in 2018,

and this year was their biggest year yet.

Like many of you, this race has captivated my attention.

An area of the world that was previously unknown to me is now very much in my sights.

The Silk Road boasts 1,120 miles and 100,000 feet of climbing.

The race starts at midnight, and the highest pass is gyptic pass, which is 13,730 feet.

Now, I don't know who's in charge of ranking these race. which is 13,730 feet.

Now, I don't know who's in charge of ranking these races in terms of toughness,

but there is definitely an argument to be made that Silk Road is at the top of that list.

The attrition rate for this race is over 50%. It depends on the year.

But any way you slice it, just completing this route is an absolute victory.

My guest today, Seth, was the 37th place finisher.

And he didn't finish without his own trials and tribulations,

his own internal battle, and his battle with illness, and a slight run-in with some locals

that could have gone a different direction.

I first met Seth whenever he reached out to me about coming down to the

East Texas Showdown to make a film about our 2022 race, which he did, and that is available now

and easy to find. You can go to his YouTube channel, which is experienced by bike, and you can find that if you want to check that out.

Also there, you can see the other two films that he's done, which are excellent and also worth a watch.

I really appreciate Seth coming on the podcast.

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