Tim Krueger has been in the cycling industry for almost three decades. He got his start at a local bike shop breaking down boxes as a teenager. After college he landed a job at Salsa Cycles as the Product Manager during the birth of the "Adventure by Bike" category. A pivotal time in the bike industry that ultimately led to an entirely new market and category of Adventure Bikes. After his time at Salsa he went on to start his own company, Advocate Cycles. Advocate featured a rad lineup of steel adventure bikes with a unique business model that donated all of its profits to philanthropic institutions.

After attempting that business model for a couple of years it became clear to Tim that businesses needed their profits to sustain their employees and grow their company. It was at that time that the decision was made to transition the brand into Esker Cycles that we know today.

Tim's contributions and commitment to the cycling community and influence in the cycling market at large has been nothing short of impressive. I've been following his career, and awing over the cool bikes he's helped bring to market, for years. It was a true honor to get to pick his brain about longstanding questions and curiosities I've had about him and some of the bikes he's brought to market.

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Hannah Simon is quickly becoming a dominant force on the ultra bikepack racing stage. She recently added another feather in her cap of accomplishments with a win at this year's Silk Road Mountain Race, with a time of 8d 20h 16m. At this point, Hannah probably needs little introduction, especially to the Bikes or Death audience. This is her 7th appearance on the show and this time we turned to you, the listener, to come up with the questions for Hannah!

It's been so inspiring to watch Hannah's progression in the sport of bikepack racing. I had the privilege of being at the finish line when she won her first ever bikepacking race, the inaugural East Texas Showdown. Since then, she's been on an absolute tear, winning many of the biggest races bikepacking has to offer. Along the way, she's been kind enough to share her experiences with me and my audience. Some of you have been following along on her journey from the start, so it was only fitting to give you guys the opportunity to provide the questions this time around!

I caught up with Hannah at CHUMBA headquarters in Austin, TX, where she is currently employed. A big thanks goes out to Vince Colvin, CHUMBA CEO, for letting us commandeer his office for our conversation!

Thanks to the listeners for all of the great questions. We had a blast using them as fodder for our chat!

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In her first year as a bikepack racer Jen Kelly has already racked up an impressive resume. She entered into 3 bikepacking races this summer and won them all! She's also a professional poker player who picked up cycling 4 years ago when she moved into a condo next to a rails to trails. She quickly fell in love with it and just wanted to ride further and further. Last year she put her career, as a professional poker player, on hold to focus on riding her bike.

Her first bikepacking race was the inaugural Great American Wheel Race, a 3,600 mixed surface race across America which she placed 4th overall and 1st Female. Just 6 weeks later she entered the 900 mile Big Sky Spactacularie in Montana where she took 1st overall. Then only 5 days after finishing Big Sky she entered the 1,750 mile Montana Bike Odyssey and took the overall win again! Needless to say her gamble to focus on bikepacking is paying off!

We had a great chat and it was great to talk to someone who is new to the sport and already having so much success.

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