Ep. 142 ~ Jerry Kopack, 5 continents, 26 countries by Bike
Bikes or Death
Patrick Farnsworth
4.8 • 563 Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2023
⏱️ 105 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jerry Kopack followed the "laminated playbook" that many Americans are familiar with; go to college, get a job, buy the house, save for retirement, have the family, etc. etc. While he was on the path to a traditional standard of success, he wasn't fulfilled. In 2016 he set out on a 4 week bike tour in Zimbabwe with the goal of resetting himself in search of what's next. That 4 week trip turned into 2 years through a chance encounter with a mindset of "alway saying yes".
Visit www.BikesorDeath.com for a full writeup and gallery of images from Jerry's travels.
Jerry's Book: The World Spins By
EPISODE SPONSORS
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Kevin Lee ~ Spinistry
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The following Patrons increased their pledges!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Bikes for Death podcast. |
| 0:03.5 | As always, my name is Patrick, and I'm your host. |
| 0:06.5 | And on today's episode, I'm speaking with Jerry Kopak, who is a recovering cubicle dweller |
| 0:13.2 | and someone who was following the traditional laminated American playbook. |
| 0:20.2 | Go to college, get a house, buy the car, live your dreams, right? |
| 0:27.1 | Well, that was Jerry, and he was doing the things, but he was finding himself unfulfilled. |
| 0:34.4 | That unfulfillment ultimately led him to travel the world by bike. |
| 0:41.8 | So far, he has visited five continents and 26 countries, and he's still going. |
| 0:50.1 | So today's episode is about Jerry and his transition out of corporate America |
| 0:55.5 | and into a lifestyle and a mindset of saying yes and where that can take you. |
| 1:03.5 | We had a fun chat. |
| 1:04.5 | As you know, I'm getting more interested in international bike travel myself. |
| 1:09.4 | And so this was a great introduction into bike touring and what one might expect and some |
| 1:15.4 | of the benefits that come along with it and some of the challenges as well. |
| 1:19.2 | So I appreciate Jerry coming on the podcast today and sharing his story. |
| 1:24.3 | But before we get to it, let's take a moment to thank the people that made today's episode possible, starting with our latest group of patrons. |
| 1:32.0 | This week, signing up, we have Kevin Lee with Spinistry and Zach Ramsey. |
| 1:38.8 | Also, the following patron increased their pledge, so we'd like to thank Matthew Wells for increasing his monthly pledge. |
| 1:45.7 | And if you appreciate the work over here at Bikes for Death and would like to see these episodes |
| 1:49.5 | continue to populate into your podcasting feed on a regular basis, consider helping us |
| 1:54.9 | produce this show over at patreon.com forward slash Bikes or Death. All right, well, you may be aware that I'm about to do an |
| 2:04.1 | ITT of the East Texas Showdown. That's the 400-mile route that I created and we host a race on. |
... |
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