Detours: Bikepacking, Ultra-Cycling and Adventures by Bike

Kara Folkerts doesn't fit in any boxes. She's a trail running guide, bikepacker, and has lived a nomadic life for the past ten years.
In this conversation, Kara opens up about identity, life on the road, and the freedom that comes with allowing yourself to change. We talk about sustaining a nomadic lifestyle, run travel, bike travel, solo adventures, and bikepacking with a partner. She also shares what's next — upcoming trips to Oman and Morocco, and her first ultra bikepacking race later this year.
Follow Kara's adventures: @karafolkerts

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb
Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling
Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling
Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion
If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

The Transcontinental Race is often described as the self-supported bikepacking race across Europe, drawing some of the biggest names in ultra cycling each year. Riders plot their own routes across the continent — this year, roughly 4,700 kilometers — linking a handful of mandatory control points and parcours. Every decision, from navigation to sleep and everything in between, is left entirely to them.
Jana Kesenheimer has won the women's race not once, but twice, lining up in 2025 alongside riders like Lael Wilcox and Cynthia Carson in the most competitive women's field TCR has ever seen.
In this conversation, Jana reflects on the road that led her to ultra-distance racing — and why, despite all her experience, it took years to feel ready to line up at TCR. We talk about her 2025 race, confidence, and self-trust. As a psychologist, Jana brings a rare perspective to the mental side of endurance racing, exploring how gender, motivation, and self-perception shape not just how we race, but whether we feel like we belong at the start line at all.
Follow Jana's adventures and racing: @jananas.banjana

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb
Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling
Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling
Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion
If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

Happy New Years Detours listeners! We'll be back on Jan. 8 with a brand new episode, but in the meantime we've got an awesome throwback to our first ever in person recording with Hannah Simon back in August 2024. This episode gets me fired up for the racing season ahead is the perfect companion for your next long ride.
***
Hannah Simon took the women's win at this year's Silk Road Mountain Race, in a time of 8 days 20 hours and 16 minutes. She navigated the 1939km and 30,000m+ with determination, resilience and grace. Not only was she the first woman home, but also landed 9th overall in an exceptionally deep field. In this episode we talk all about her preparation and the race itself. She shares so many great nuggets about her own personal hygiene, her kit and so much more. It was an absolute joy to get to record this episode in person together and to celebrate her achievement.
Stay up to date on Hannah's adventures by following her on Instagram.
If you loved today's episode please leave us a 5 star review wherever you listen and don't forget to subscribe. 

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb
Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling
Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling
Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion
If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

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 Substack
As 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: @melwwebb
Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling
Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling
Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion
If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast

This episode is a little different. For the final episode of the year, the roles are reversed as Detours alum and journalist Hélène Fromenty steps into the host seat, turning the mic back on Mel Webb, creator and host of the Detours podcast.
Together, we reflect on a wild 2025 and what the year really looked like behind the scenes of Detours — from building and sustaining an independent cycling podcast, to working on the ground with the Mountain Races, to navigating a complicated relationship with cycling during a season when riding took a back seat.
We talk about imposter feelings, representation in bikepacking and ultra-distance race coverage, creative sustainability, and the ongoing balance between personal goals and creating work that serves a wider community.

Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb
Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling
Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling
Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion
If you love this show please consider pledging your support to sustain producing this show: https://buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast