Detours: Bikepacking, Ultra-Cycling and Adventures by Bike

Racing and riding season is in full swing! This week we hear from some of the women racing Tour Divide 2026, along with Hannah Glatter who is currently riding 5,600KM along the Great Plains Gravel Route. Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebbFollow Detours on Instagram: @detourscyclingFollow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cyclingUse code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from AlbionIf you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

Nutrition is one of the most underestimated parts of bikepacking and ultra-distance racing. We can dial our kit, obsess over our gear, train for months — but if we're not fuelling well, none of it matters. This week, Dietician Uri Carlson is back on Detours, and this time we had a very specific agenda: Highland Trail 550 is on the horizon, and this year I'll be lining up for my first time, and I wanted to make sure I left no stone unturned. We get into carb loading — when to start and how to think about it for a multi-day race that lasts a week — resupply strategy, hydration ranges, gut health and the microbiome, what to do when you're too nauseous to eat but still have a long way to go, and why under-fuelling is a bigger threat to your gut than any high-carb gel. A lot of the specifics are Highland Trail flavoured, but the fuelling principles apply to any ultra-endurance adventure you've got on the horizon. You can also find the blog post version of this episode on Substack Follow Uri on Instagram @uri_carlson_nutrition Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebbFollow Detours on Instagram: @detourscyclingFollow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cyclingUse code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from AlbionIf you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

A lil life update on our recent trip to Spain, bikepacking around Girona, one month living overseas and the final few weeks of prep before Highland Trail 550. Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebbFollow Detours on Instagram: @detourscyclingFollow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cyclingUse code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from AlbionIf you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

What if the thing waiting on the other side of "failure" is more valuable than the goal itself? Vedangi Kulkarni is an ultra-endurance cyclist, adventurer, and two-time round-the-world rider. She first circumnavigated the globe at 19 – starting in Australia in 2018 and finishing on Christmas Eve, turning 20 somewhere along the way. Then in 2024, she set out again, starting and finishing in India, chasing the record for the fastest woman to cycle around the world. She didn't get the record. But what she found along the way might have been more valuable. Now based in Inverness, Scotland, Vedangi runs The Adventure Shed, helping others plan solo expeditions, and is launching the Looking Beyond Barriers Adventure Fund to support the next generation of women adventurers. In this episode of Detours we talk about the privilege of a single yes, what it took to keep going when her goal slipped out of reach, redefining success around impact over performance, and so much more. Follow Vedangi's adventures: @thisisvedangi Get your Detours & More Women on Startlines Stickers!! Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebbFollow Detours on Instagram: @detourscyclingFollow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cyclingUse code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from AlbionIf you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

There has been a LOT of life lived in the past few months. Jake and I are in the middle of packing up our life in Vancouver ahead of our move to Bristol + Atlas Mountain Race just happened, so I thought we were long overdue for a bit of a catchup. I share a few reflections from Atlas Mountain Race, including what it felt like to see nearly 70 (!!!!) women on the start line this year. We also talk about our quick trip through London (and finally meeting the Albion team in person), some Highland Trail 550 prep, new bike plans, and a little more about this big jump over the pond. Thanks as always for all your love and support for me and the show. ________________________ Albion just released an updated version of their Ultralight Insulated Jacket, now with a women’s-specific fit. If you’re looking for a lightweight and super packable jacket for long rides or bikepacking trips, you can check it out here. AND Detours listeners can use the code DETOURS15 for 15% off. Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebbFollow Detours on Instagram: @detourscyclingFollow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cyclingUse code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from AlbionIf you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

Last year’s Atlas Mountain Race saw 30 women take part. This year, beginning in Beni-Mellal, 54 women will be on the starting line. Of course there is still a long way to go in seeing equal participation between the men and women, but to see a race nearly double it’s participation in one year is certainly a step in the right direction. We hope that their stories inspire you to take on your own adventure, and of course, to have more women on start lines.

Mel shares a peek inside her training for the Highland Trail 550 in May 2026!

Jana Kesenheimer has been fastest woman at the Transcontinental Race — the self-supported bikepacking race across Europe — not once, but twice. In this conversation, she reflects on why it took 16 races to feel ready for TCR, and how gender, confidence, and self-perception shape not just how we race, but whether we feel like we belong at the start line at all.

I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season! This week we're throwing it back to an episode recorded right around this time last year with the incredible Alexandera Houchin. It's one I've found myself listening to as I ramp up training for HT550 in May and every time I listen there is a new pearl of wisdom. I hope you enjoy and see you in 2026! *** When I think of women in bikepacking, Alexandera Houchin is one of the first people that comes to mind. She’s raced the Tour Divide countless time and been a steadfast figure in encouraging more women to take on these big challenges. As an Indigenous woman and member of the Fond du Lac tribe, becoming a sponsored athlete, heck an athlete at all, was not necessarily a pathway she saw for herself growing up.She joins me on the podcast to share about her journey to the bike, and how she’s made a career of this niche sport. We discuss what keeps her returning to these races year after year, her experiences navigating body image as someone with a bigger body, and how she’s redefining what success looks like in this next chapter of her career. Alexandera shares incredible insights on community, representation, and how showing up with her full heart have shaped her path in bikepacking.Trigger Warning: We discuss topics related to body image and disordered eating between the 19:00 and 25:00 marks. If these are sensitive topics for you please feel free to skip this portion of the episode.To keep up with Alexandera’s adventures follow her on Instagram @alexanderahouchin and read her writing on her SubstackAs always, if you loved this episode, please leave us a review, follow wherever you listen and share it with a friend. Even better you can make a one time pledge of your support and any funds raised go back into creating this show. Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebbFollow Detours on Instagram: @detourscyclingFollow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cyclingUse code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from AlbionIf you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

Kara Woolgar lined up for the Arizona Trail Race as her first bikepacking ultra and finished proudly at the back of the pack. She talks about navigating packing constraints, food allergies, blisters, and the emotional turning points of her 17-day ride.

Journalist and longtime bikepacker Hélène Fromenty took on her first-ever mountain bike ultra at Silk Road, a race that reshaped how she understood her own potential on the bike. In this conversation, she shares what it was like to learn MTB skills on the fly, navigate imposter feelings, squeeze training into a demanding job, and ultimately line up solo at Trans Pyrenees Gravel Edition — where she won the women’s race.

Sports dietitian Uri Carlson breaks down what it really takes to fuel well for endurance riding, from daily habits to multi-day bikepacking nutrition. We dig into gut training, protein needs, hydration, and how to make smart choices when you're deep into long days in the saddle.

There’s a certain magic in firsts — especially your first bikepacking race. They’re full of unknowns, and no matter how much you prepare, nothing ever goes exactly to plan.For Sarah Diekmeyer, a gravel racer with Enough Cycling, this year’s Badlands was her first ultra — a leap into the world of bikepacking races she once thought were only for “other people.” What followed was a crash course in everything that comes with your first ultra: the highs, the hunger, the hallucinations, and the hard lessons learned along the way.In this episode, Sarah shares the unfiltered behind the scenes of her first bikepacking race, from fuelling disasters and sleep deprivation to the small moments of magic that made it all worth it. Follow Sarah on Instagram: @sdiekie_ Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebbFollow Detours on Instagram: @detourscyclingFollow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cyclingUse code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from AlbionIf you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast