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Singletracks Mountain Bike Podcast

Interview: Neil Beltchenko

Singletracks Mountain Bike Podcast

Singletracks.com

Sports, Wilderness

4.7574 Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2016

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of the Singletracks podcast Greg talks with the 2016 Arizona Trail 750 winner and Bikepackers Magazine co-founder, Neil Beltchenko, about his record-breaking finish. Neil talks about the race and also reveals his strategies for killing it on epic bikepacking adventure races like the AZT 750.

--Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

Transcript

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0:00.0

Something unexpected has arrived in Happy Meal.

0:03.2

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Hello Kitty and friends are teaming up for the Ultimate Collab.

0:08.3

Joining your little ones on a fun-fueled adventure.

0:11.0

Some fun, some food, it's all inside this Happy Meal.

0:16.3

Until the 2nd of February from 11am includes one pre-selected book or toy whilst it's last.

0:20.1

Hey everybody, welcome to the single tracks podcast. Today it's me, Greg, and today I

0:26.1

have a special guest with me, Neil Belchenko, co-founder of Bikepackersmagizine.com, an accomplished

0:32.3

bikepacking racer, arguably one of the best in the nation, if not the world. So thanks for joining us, Neil.

0:38.8

Absolutely.

0:39.8

So last year, Neil took third place in the Tour Divide as a rookie.

0:43.7

While he didn't win, he was within half an hour of first place, even after almost

0:47.7

3,000 miles of racing, and he succeeded in breaking the previous Tour Divide course record.

0:53.3

His race resume also includes wins at the Colorado Trail Race and more.

0:58.1

In his inaugural attempt at the 750-mile version of the Arizona Trail Race, the spring, Neil both won the race and set a new course record.

1:06.6

So today we're going to hear more about his record-breaking ride on the Arizona Trail.

1:10.9

Neil first, tell me, what was your previous experience with the Arizona Trail Race?

1:15.4

Actually, I think it was four years ago.

1:17.1

I did my first bikepacking race, and it was the Arizona Trail Race 300.

1:23.1

And if you're not familiar, there's a 300-mile version, which starts in Parker Canyon Lake,

1:29.2

and it goes to the picket post trailhead, which is kind of outside of the Phoenix area.

1:35.2

And then there's the 750-mile version that goes from border to border, the Mexico border to the Utah border.

1:41.8

So I did the 300 version, and that was just a fantastic experience.

...

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