Ope! Bikes.
It's pretty straightforward. Riding and racing bikes has brought me tremendous joy and has transformed my life for the better. And I know I'm not alone in this...
Ope! Bikes. is a podcast, well, about bikes. It's a collection of stories and intimate conversations with members and participants of the cycling community. It's the deep-dive into how bikes can act as catalysts for personal development, healing, social and civil rights advocacy, environmental action, community building...the list goes on and on.
The goal of Ope! Bikes. is to bring these stories and conversations to life and to provide a platform for guests to express themselves as impassioned advocates of the bicycle.
I hope you enjoy the show!
Ope! Bikes.
We're all DOOM'd with Andrew Onermaa
On this episode I sit down with Andrew Onermaa from Fayetteville, AR. If you don't know Andrew, that's OK. He's only been on the ultra distance bikepacking scene for a few years now. Most notably, Andrew is the 'local kid' who went head to head with Ted King during the 2020 Arkansas High Country Race, pushing Ted to ultimately claim the Fastest Known Time...at least for a couple years. Andrew's resume doesn't stop there. Andrew is the founder of Ozark Gravel Cyclists which is a community focused on the exploration of backroads in Arkansas by bike. While building the gravel community in Northwest Arkansas, Andrew is continuing to challenge himself as an endurance athlete. In 2021, Andrew took 3rd place at Iowa Wind & Rock and in 2022, Andrew won North South Colorado which is a 600 mile gravel bikepacking race starting in Fort Collins and finishing in Trinidad.
In this conversation Andrew and I dig into a few topics...the creation of his hellish bikepacking race called DOOM, Andrew's transition from racer to race director, and we also dig into what fuels Andrew's passion for this insanely difficult sport.