About this episode

Jacob Ashton shares his incredible journey of cycling around the world and his recent racing experiences.

Can you imagine packing up everything you own on a bicycle, riding away from your home with plans to cycle the world over the next four years? Now imagine it's your first bike tour. That's exactly what Jacob Ashton did in 2016 when he rolled away from his home in Idaho. Over the next four years, he would cover roughly 77,000 miles, visit 100 countries, and ride across six continents. His travels were not without challenges. He was confronted by machete-wielding villagers in Mozambique, lost a finger to frostbite while climbing Ojos del Salado in Chile, and experienced a bowel obstruction in Khorog, Tajikistan that required major surgery and temporarily paused his tour. To date, he's accumulated over 120,000 miles, visited 108 countries, and ridden on six continents—and he's not done. Recently, Jacob has been trading touring miles for racing miles, testing his skills in events like the Tour Divide, the AZT, and most recently, DOOM and the East Texas Showdown. Jacob and I both competed at this year's DOOM, which is where we first met. He rode the long course and came in a respectable 7th place, following up a 2nd place finish the previous year. After a 32-hour "nap," he loaded up…

People in this episode

Host: Patrick Farnsworth

Guest: Jacob Ashton

Topics covered

• bike touring
• adventure cycling
• ultra racing
• world travel
• personal challenges

Keywords

• bike tour
• world cycling
• adventure
• DOOM
• East Texas Showdown
• ultra cycling
• challenges

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Idaho, Mozambique, Chile, Khorog, Texas, Ojos del Salado

More episodes of Bikes or Death

• Ep. 212 ~ Live From the Bikepacking Campout at Sea Otter · May 1, 2026 · 1h 30m
• Ep. 210 ~ Tyler "Freakin" Reynolds, Texas Slowdown SS Triple Star · March 11, 2026 · 2h 16m
• Ep. 209 ~ Kurt Refsnider, First to ride the 5,000 mile Orogenesis Route · January 29, 2026 · 2h 2m
• Ep. 208 ~ Turning the Mic Around: Eric House Interviews Me · January 15, 2026 · 2h 41m
• Ep. 207 ~ Kyle & Hannah - West Texas Showdown, 1st & 2nd Overall · December 4, 2025 · 2h 52m
• Ep. 206 ~ Central Texas Showdown w/ Andrea Roelofs & Javian Quinones · August 28, 2025 · 2h 22m

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