The Road That Finds You

Jerry Kopack [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Bike Life, a podcast from the Warmshowers Foundation. Here we celebrate our global community of touring cyclists and hosts who make life on the road unforgettable. Through stories, insights, and shared experiences, we explore the connections that fuel every journey. Whether you're pedaling across countries or welcoming travelers into your home, you're part of a movement rooted in generosity and adventure. Discover more and join the community at warmshowers.org. Now let's hit the road together. Hey everyone, this is Jerry Kopeck, the host of Bike Life, coming to you from the Rocky Mountains in Breckenridge, Colorado. Today I'm chatting with Kristi Belmer, a cyclist whose journey began with a canceled trip but turned into a life-changing adventure.

Jerry Kopack [00:00:53]:
After completing her first solo tour in 2019, she wasn't done and eventually quit her job in 2023 to take on an even bigger adventure, 20,000 miles through 15 countries. Along the way, the Warmshowers community and the people she met on the road have helped shaped her story and her life. Hey, Christy, welcome to Bike Life.

Kristy Bellmer [00:01:15]:
Hey, good to be here.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:17]:
Now, where am I finding you today?

Kristy Bellmer [00:01:19]:
I am in Minneapolis.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:21]:
Minneapolis. Okay. My, uh, my partner is from Minneapolis. Did you, did you grow up in that, in that state?

Kristy Bellmer [00:01:29]:
I grew up in Michigan.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:31]:
Stop it. Really? Uh, whereabouts? I'm just curious because, yeah, Midwest people I think are pretty awesome.

Kristy Bellmer [00:01:39]:
Uh, the Lansing area.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:40]:
Okay. Uh, I grew up just south of Lansing in a little small town called Eaton Rapids. Maybe you've heard of it.

Kristy Bellmer [00:01:47]:
Oh wow, I grew up in Mason.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:50]:
Stop it. Uh, so confession, uh, this is embarrassing to say, I hated a group of people from your school because we had this sort of heated soccer rivalry. And it seemed like because Mason was this perennial state powerhouse in soccer that all roads through the state tournament sort of went through Mason. So we had this— we had a pretty competitive spirit, but It wasn't until I think my senior year, I got to play on a select team with a lot of those guys and turns out they're, they were good guys. So anyways, did you, uh, do you play any sports out there?

Kristy Bellmer [00:02:30]:
Yeah, I played soccer. Soccer was pretty big.

Jerry Kopack [00:02:33]:
That is fantastic. Uh, I love the small world of bikepacking. Uh, I could probably talk about this for a whole nother story, but, uh, let's get into that bike trip back in 2019. What was your motivation?

Kristy Bellmer [00:02:46]:
Uh, so I had wanted to try bike touring. There was somebody on my soccer team that I had met who told about some of his stories of bike touring, and I was really excited for it. And I had recently moved to Minneapolis, and the cycling infrastructure is pretty fantastic here, so I was doing more cycling here as well. So the two things combined, and it was like I can bike far, and this sounds really interesting. And so I decided to give it a try.

Jerry Kopack [00:03:18]:
And what was your route?

Kristy Bellmer [00:03:21]:
Well, so initially I was planning on a trip with that friend. So he was actually a student here at the University of Minnesota. He was going to Chile, and he actually moved back to Chile. So I had never camped or anything before. So initially my plan was to do part of the Carretera Austral with him. Um, but back in 2019, there was some political unrest going on and he said it wasn't safe for me to go to Chile. So instead I ended up doing the Adventure Cycling Texas Hill Country route all by myself.

Jerry Kopack [00:03:56]:
Ah, how did that go?

Kristy Bellmer [00:03:59]:
It was awesome. Uh, I kept doing it afterwards. I met a lot of amazing people and that first trip was where I learned about warmshowers and, you know, You know, the people I met touring and through Warmshowers have changed my life. And eventually I came to leave my job in 2023, and that's when I biked for 2 years and set a world record.

Jerry Kopack [00:04:25]:
So, wow, you just dropped a lot of info in there, and I want to unpack all that. But something you said to me just struck a nerve. You had never camped before and you set off to go bikepacking. Talk to me about that. What was that first night like camping?

Kristy Bellmer [00:04:42]:
Well, you know, I had like done the math and I was like, I like the outdoors, like I like biking, I should like camping. Uh, but I didn't know anything about the gear or anything, so I got everything used off of like at the REI garage sale because this was when REI still had garage sales pre-COVID, right? And I also got some gear off of Craigslist. I wanted to make sure I could get my money back in case I hated it. Um, but yeah, my trip was over Thanksgiving, so the first night was pretty cold. Um, I think it was Llano. I was at a campground in Llano, Texas. It's like right on whatever river is there, and I was like the only one, and it was pretty cold. Um, but it was really liberating to do something that I had never done before, you know.

Jerry Kopack [00:05:42]:
And, and growing up in the Midwest, you still had never camped as a kid or anything like that?

Kristy Bellmer [00:05:46]:
No, my family doesn't do that kind of stuff. People don't think that about me because they like lived out of a tent for the better part of 2023 and 2024, but no, I did not grow up doing this.

Jerry Kopack [00:06:01]:
So was it easy to pivot from that South America trip to Texas? Because South America is— that would have been a pretty epic trip. I mean, how long was the trip planned for?

Kristy Bellmer [00:06:13]:
Well, nothing was really planned. I think it was like 3 weeks before Thanksgiving I started spitballing things around, and I was gonna be doing it with a friend. Um, so I mean, there weren't any tickets booked, but there was a big difference between like I was going to have somebody showing me the ropes versus I had to figure everything out myself when I did the trip by myself. And I'm really glad that it turned out the way it did because having now biked the Carretera Austral, if that had been my first trip, I don't know that I would have done another one because, I mean, it's beautiful and lots of people do do it as their first trip. I think for me, like, it would have been too tough technically. Given, you know, where I was starting from.

Jerry Kopack [00:07:00]:
Um, so you did go back and actually check that box then?

Kristy Bellmer [00:07:05]:
Yes. Yep. Back in April of this year.

Jerry Kopack [00:07:07]:
Wow. And how was that?

Kristy Bellmer [00:07:09]:
Oh, you said technical, but everybody should do it. Everybody. It's hard, um, to only have a week to do it. That would be a lot. I was there for a month. Okay, well, talk to me down there and yeah, only have a week. Yeah, that's a lot.

Jerry Kopack [00:07:24]:
Talk to me about that trip because that sounds fascinating. It's been on my list for years now. I've had friends who've done it and their pictures look— they look fake, like they're in a comic book because it's so beautiful, the landscape.

Kristy Bellmer [00:07:36]:
It is so beautiful. Um, yeah, so I start— well, what happened was, um, I was at one job that wasn't a very good fit, and, uh, 3 days before my last day, I found out I was going to have a month between finishing that job and starting my next job. So I planned this trip in about 3 days. It was, it was like April 2nd at like 1 AM. I bought the tickets and I landed, and then I flew out on April 5th, and then I came back on May 3rd or something. So like on 3 days notice. Yeah. And I had to do a ton of maintenance because this was after my world record trip.

Kristy Bellmer [00:08:25]:
I got back to Minneapolis, I hadn't done anything to my bike or my gear or anything. So like that night I'm like sewing all my gear and putting a bunch of patches in my tent and like, it'll be fine. Um, but yeah, Patagonia is beautiful. The people are amazing because, um, so I started in Villa O'Higgins, which is very far south, and it was in April, so that's like fall down there, right? So, um, that's not the typical time people go, but that was when I had time. And so I was like, I'm gonna take it. I wanted to check the box out. And, um, south of Cerro Castillo, like the first 300 miles or so, there's dirt road and it's really tough, but it is so worth it because it's so beautiful. There's a lot of turquoise rivers, like the Rio Baker is just breathtakingly beautiful.

Kristy Bellmer [00:09:20]:
Um, but people are so amazing down there because it's so remote. Like, like the first few days out of Vio Higgins, there were hardly any cars, but when there were cars, like, they were stopping and asking if you were okay, which I was. But I mean, there's so few people, everybody's really got to look out for each other, you know.

Jerry Kopack [00:09:40]:
And you were solo female doing that route?

Kristy Bellmer [00:09:43]:
Yep.

Jerry Kopack [00:09:44]:
Nice. It's nice to know that people were, were being so friendly and hospitable and looking out for you. Now, I've heard rumors that there is legendary wind down in Patagonia. Did you experience any of that?

Kristy Bellmer [00:09:57]:
I believe that's on the Argentina side because I was going south to north, and that's the opposite way that you're supposed to do the Carretera. Um, but since I was doing it so late in the year, I had to go that way because of snow. And I did get snowed on one day.

Jerry Kopack [00:10:15]:
Um, did you, uh, did you feel like that Texas route had prepared you adequately for this?

Kristy Bellmer [00:10:21]:
Well, I've done a lot of trips in between.

Jerry Kopack [00:10:24]:
Okay.

Kristy Bellmer [00:10:25]:
Yeah, so I just did kind of increasing difficulty, short week-long vacations. Um, I did like part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, you know, so then it's like, oh, I've done the mountains now. Um, and then in 2023, we kind of came to a time where my company was laying a lot of people off, and my dog had also passed away. Um, so I didn't really have anything keeping me in Minneapolis. So that was when I ended up leaving my job, and then I first went down the Pacific Coast Highway, and then I went across the U.S. Um, and then I went from Porto— yeah, I went from Porto to Barcelona. And then I took a few months off in Rome and— or a month off in Rome. And then, uh, wait, so you ended up going back to Europe?

Jerry Kopack [00:11:18]:
You hung out for a month in Rome?

Kristy Bellmer [00:11:20]:
Yep.

Jerry Kopack [00:11:21]:
What were you doing there?

Kristy Bellmer [00:11:23]:
Uh, I ended up watching a dog and some chickens.

Jerry Kopack [00:11:28]:
How did you find your way into that gig?

Kristy Bellmer [00:11:32]:
I was staying at a hostel and then the owner— so it was Christmas time and the owner was going back to his— he was from the Netherlands and he was going back to the Netherlands for the holiday. And so he asked me if I would stay in his house and watch his dog and his chickens. So, and that was it. There you are. That was it.

Jerry Kopack [00:12:00]:
How, how did you come across this person? Was it some kind of like HomeAway stay or something like that?

Kristy Bellmer [00:12:07]:
Uh, so he, he was just running a hostel, but it was also a woofing location worldwide. Uh, organic— I don't remember what it stands for— worldwide organic.

Jerry Kopack [00:12:20]:
I've heard of woofing. I've seen that it's prevalent in places like India because I nearly did a little woofing stay myself in India. Oh cool, it seems like a really cool thing. Now I want to kind of back up a little bit because It seems like we went from Texas to Patagonia to Rome. How did you get from Texas to your next adventure? So were you hooked after that first bikepacking trip?

Kristy Bellmer [00:12:48]:
Oh yeah, so yeah, I just had an incredible experience. You know, even when things go wrong, it felt like that made it far more meaningful. Um, it's so— my first trip was in November 2019, and then obviously shortly after that was the pandemic. Um, and then I was actually sent out to the East Coast during the pandemic because I was working on respirators. So bike touring kind of gave me a unique opportunity to explore the East Coast without you know, like spreading a lot of germs and everything, right? So, um, as was the time, right, right, right. Um, so my second tour was actually the Gap Trail, which was pretty close to where I was living out on the East Coast at the time.

Jerry Kopack [00:13:48]:
Um, well, talk to me about the Gap Trail because I'm not familiar with that one.

Kristy Bellmer [00:13:52]:
Oh, that's the Great Allegheny Passage. So it goes from Pittsburgh to, um, Cumberland, Maryland. And then there's another stretch which is the C&O Railroad, which goes from, um, Cumberland to Washington, DC. Okay. So, or C&O Towpath, I think it's called. But I just did the one stretch. I just did it over a weekend.

Jerry Kopack [00:14:18]:
Okay.

Kristy Bellmer [00:14:18]:
Um, so I just kind of honed my craft even more. And yeah, you know, you learn about what you want to pack every time. Uh, then my next tour was still while I was living on the East Coast, was from Portland, Maine to New York City. And that was actually the first time I used warmshowers, was in Portland, Maine. So I learned about it when I was in Texas. Um, it was actually— I had broken a spoke, and then this good Samaritan gave me a ride to a bike shop. I was waiting for the bike shop to open, and then this couple who had biked across the US came up and they're like, oh, you broke a spoke? Yeah, we did that 13 times and we were biking across the US. And it was like the first time I'd ever heard about biking across the US.

Kristy Bellmer [00:15:03]:
And then they also told me about Warmshowers while we were waiting for the shop to open.

Jerry Kopack [00:15:07]:
So yeah, and at that point you weren't yet a, a member of the Warmshowers community?

Kristy Bellmer [00:15:14]:
Not when I was in Texas. I hadn't heard of it yet. Nope.

Jerry Kopack [00:15:17]:
Okay. And so how was that first Warmshowers experience?

Kristy Bellmer [00:15:21]:
It was great. So I was with somebody else, um, you know, it was during COVID so we were kind of social distancing. So, um, but still it was really cool. He had— I remember this, uh, he had this like cycling encyclopedia thing or whatever, and he had— he used that as a guest book. So like we signed on different pages in the book, and it was really cool to see all the other people that he had stayed with as well. And I've stayed in contact with that host ever since, and I actually visited him again back in October when I was biking out in Maine again.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:01]:
No way!

Kristy Bellmer [00:16:02]:
Yeah, many of my hosts I've kept in contact with. It's just a connection, this cycle touring thing, you know.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:10]:
I do know. No, I, I totally get it. Uh, it's a lot of the people who I've hosted in Colorado, uh, some— there's a couple from Germany, an older couple, there's another couple from Spain, another couple from the UK, and I've I've stayed in contact with all of them, and it's really cool to see them continue along on their journey and just sort of living vicariously through some of their pictures and their updates. And, and I've invited them all to come back through next time they're through the US. But I think that at least those 3 couples are off all exploring the world because the world's a big place. And for me personally, I don't repeat too many places because there's still so many places that I want to get to.

Kristy Bellmer [00:16:52]:
Yeah, yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:53]:
Now regarding your setup, it sounds like you have been doing this for a while. Did you grow up cycling? Has biking always been a part of your life, or how'd you get into this?

Kristy Bellmer [00:17:04]:
Uh, so I've always been biking, but as you know, where we grew up wasn't that great for cycling. I started biking more when I moved to Minneapolis, uh, just because there's so much more infrastructure here. And I actually had a dog sitter that ran the cycling team at work. So she kind of got me into doing like the MS 150 and some charity rides. And that was the first time I was like, oh, you know, I can do 75 miles a day. And then that grew and that grew, right? Yeah. And then that kind of came together with my friend on my soccer team who was telling these crazy stories of his adventures bike touring. And I was like, I got to try this.

Jerry Kopack [00:17:48]:
Oh, because he was a bike— bike tour.

Kristy Bellmer [00:17:51]:
Yep.

Jerry Kopack [00:17:52]:
Got it. Okay. That makes sense. So that was kind of like the, uh, the gateway to, uh, to the adventures. Like, well, if you can't go with him, you probably were still already pretty jazzed up. So did you decide, well, I'm going to go because I really want to check out this bike touring thing?

Kristy Bellmer [00:18:07]:
Oh yeah. Nice. So I figured it all out in about 3 weeks. I had some book that I found that gave me some tips on gear and Somehow I found the adventure cycling— I think I had a book that had the adventure cycling routes in it.

Jerry Kopack [00:18:24]:
And yeah, those guys do some really, really cool stuff for sure.

Kristy Bellmer [00:18:28]:
Oh yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:18:33]:
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Kristy Bellmer [00:19:24]:
You know, I found this repeatedly. It's like you think about it so much, but then once you start pedaling, you're like, I'm just biking. You know, like even in Patagonia when it was like so the middle of the world, And like a lot of friends were nervous for me going to Patagonia because it's so remote and it's like, like it gets in your head, but then you start paddling. It's like, it's just another bike ride, you know? Like it doesn't matter where you, where you are. But no, it was very liberating. Like I said, I had never, um, I'd never camped before, so figuring that all out on my own and I did it in It was like 2 or 3 weeks that I planned this trip, and I figured out all the gear or anything, and I didn't get the best of anything, but it's also still the gear that I'm using. Um, so really, it's got a lot of patches in it now.

Jerry Kopack [00:20:23]:
Patches are memories, right?

Kristy Bellmer [00:20:25]:
Right.

Jerry Kopack [00:20:25]:
And patches are stories.

Kristy Bellmer [00:20:28]:
Yeah, I just can't bring myself to, uh, replace any of it.

Jerry Kopack [00:20:32]:
Yeah, because that was gonna be my next— that's been my next question, because you've done all these subsequent tours. How has your setup changed? How has your gear changed? And maybe it hasn't changed that much.

Kristy Bellmer [00:20:44]:
Yeah, I mean, I've gone through several sleeping pads, um, I've got the inflatable ones, but it's still basically the same thing. Um, there's been some refinement of the clothes, you know, I Mostly what I bring is clothes because I'm worried about being cold because I'm a cold person. Um, but I have Ortliebs now. So when I first, uh, panniers, right? Yeah, Ortliebs panniers. Yeah, those, those are like gold. Um, I've got a Dynamo. So my first bike that I was bike touring with was a Trek CrossRip 3, and that was actually stolen in 2021.

Jerry Kopack [00:21:33]:
Really?

Kristy Bellmer [00:21:34]:
Yeah, it was pretty heartbreaking. Uh, that bike's name was Bikey. Um, it's short for Michaelangelo.

Jerry Kopack [00:21:44]:
I love that.

Kristy Bellmer [00:21:45]:
Yeah. And then it took me— so, so 2021, there's still, uh, really long lead times for the bike industry, so it took me about 9 months to get the new bike. But when I was building a new bike, I knew I wanted to do some really long-distance touring. And so the one thing that I really wanted was a dynamo. I have a SON28. That is a game changer.

Jerry Kopack [00:22:12]:
Now, for people who don't know what a dynamo is, give us a little intel on that.

Kristy Bellmer [00:22:18]:
Yeah, so the SON28 is in my front hub, and it's like an electromagnetic generator. So when the front wheel spins, it's connected to a USB port and a light so it can power a headlight, but what I love about it is it can charge my phone. So when you are out in the middle of nowhere and you are using your phone or your GPS for navigation, it is a game changer because you don't have to stop at a restaurant or something to charge your phone. And it's a game changer for wild camping too because then you can have a way to charge your devices.

Jerry Kopack [00:22:58]:
Yeah, for sure. So let's flash forward and let's go back to that European trip, because I remember you saying something about a Guinness World Record. Talk to me about that.

Kristy Bellmer [00:23:10]:
Yeah, so I wanted to do kind of the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, that part of the world, um, It was my second long trip in Europe. My first one, I had followed the Eurovelo routes, but for my second one, I wanted to do something more unique. And I had previously done a lot of GPS art just around town here, Minneapolis. And so I kind of—

Jerry Kopack [00:23:44]:
Hold on. GPS art?

Kristy Bellmer [00:23:47]:
GPS art. Yes. So that is when you bike or run or do some kind of activity that's in some kind of recognizable shape. So like the first one I did was a dinosaur, right? Um, you know, you can draw whatever.

Jerry Kopack [00:24:06]:
Yeah.

Kristy Bellmer [00:24:06]:
Uh, there's another famous one where there's this Japanese hiker who hiked across the islands of Japan like marry me. Like, so that kind of thing. I think it took him like 7 months or something crazy like that.

Jerry Kopack [00:24:24]:
Uh, I hope that his, uh, fiancée was very—

Kristy Bellmer [00:24:28]:
said yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:24:30]:
Because that's a commitment right there, right?

Kristy Bellmer [00:24:33]:
Right, right.

Jerry Kopack [00:24:34]:
All right. Um, so what was your art about besides the dinosaur?

Kristy Bellmer [00:24:39]:
So I decided to do this in memory of my dog who had passed away and I drew a dog. So the way that I kind of went about designing the route was there were 4 places that I knew I wanted to go. I knew I wanted to start in Amsterdam because that's like a cycling haven, and I wanted to go to Brussels and Paris. And then I had some friends in Switzerland who I had met biking across the US and another friend in Germany, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, down in the Alps there, who I had met when I was biking in Portugal. So I had the challenge of connecting those places in a manner that looked like a dog, which took me about 23 iterations, which when I look back on it, I— my memory says it took me days or like weeks, but According to my Strava, I drew it in Strava, right? And it shows I did it all in one sitting.

Jerry Kopack [00:25:51]:
That's impressive.

Kristy Bellmer [00:25:54]:
Yeah. Yeah, it was really hard, especially starting in Amsterdam because there's so much water around it. You know, if I was centering it around Paris or something, there's land, right?

Jerry Kopack [00:26:12]:
So, um, but so this, this must have been a massive size dog then, right? Because you're saying if you just would have done it around Paris, like, that's a pretty small area, but you're stretching out through different countries.

Kristy Bellmer [00:26:25]:
Yes, I did, uh, 7 countries. So as I was drawing it, the tail came pretty close to the Czech Republic, so I actually ended up making it a little bit longer. Actually, it's Czechia. Sorry, they changed the name on us. Um, so they made the tail a little bit longer, so it was like 40 miles into Czechia, and that was the western end. And then the eastern end was Paris, and then the northern end was Amsterdam, and the southern end was my friend's place, which was near Basel, I guess, in Switzerland. So the entire route, I biked about 3,300 miles, but you couldn't count all of it for Guinness because there were some stretches that, you know, like when I was drawing the mouth, I— there was this, you know, 60-mile stretch that, you know, I went in, did the mouth, had to turn around and come back. So when I went over the same place, um, and when I got the, you know, rules from Guinness, I knew that, but ultimately I wanted to draw what I wanted to draw and You know, I didn't— I was going to beat the record anyway.

Kristy Bellmer [00:27:40]:
Like, I beat the record by like, I tripled it almost. So I wasn't worried about that. I wanted to draw what I wanted to draw. And there were a couple stretches I had to turn around and go back. But in every scenario, like, I had met a friend my first time through. And so when I came back, I visited them again and sometimes stayed with them.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:00]:
So did you— so you actually set out to hit this record, right?

Kristy Bellmer [00:28:05]:
Yes, so you have to do that for Guinness. You have to submit an application. Okay, we'll tell you what documentation you have to provide. So if you go out and do it and they haven't given you the okay, they won't approve it.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:20]:
Ah, so you can't do any kind of application in arrears, like, hey, I did this really cool thing, Guinness, what do you think about this?

Kristy Bellmer [00:28:29]:
No, you got to do it ahead of time.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:30]:
Interesting.

Kristy Bellmer [00:28:31]:
So, so for example, I had to get I had to keep a logbook of where I started and ended every day, and then just some general notes. And I had to get witness signatures as well. So I would not have known that I needed to do any of that if I hadn't submitted my application first.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:53]:
Dang, I wouldn't have known that either. So I'm curious, I'm sure we all want to know who's listening, do you still have the record?

Kristy Bellmer [00:29:01]:
I think I lost it actually, but I'm on page 85 of the book.

Jerry Kopack [00:29:10]:
Yeah, it's kind of like, uh, when you use Strava and you have a fastest time and someone steals your fastest time. Did you get some kind of alert that said, hey Christy, you're no longer the Guinness holder?

Kristy Bellmer [00:29:22]:
No, I was just Googling it one day.

Jerry Kopack [00:29:25]:
Huh. What? Yeah, they didn't beat me by much because you set a pretty audacious goal with 3,300 miles. I'm sure they didn't want to try to double that. It's like, I'm just gonna go 3,310 or something.

Kristy Bellmer [00:29:37]:
Yeah, it was something along those lines.

Jerry Kopack [00:29:39]:
What, uh, what was their, uh, was their art? Do you know?

Kristy Bellmer [00:29:42]:
Oh, I don't even remember.

Jerry Kopack [00:29:43]:
Oh, okay. I'm just wondering if it was as, as cool or meaningful as yours.

Kristy Bellmer [00:29:48]:
Probably not.

Jerry Kopack [00:29:49]:
No, probably not. Uh, so on the show, maybe you've listened before, I try to really highlight all the amazing parts of bike travel because I want people to get out and do and experience all the things that you've done as well. So there's the people, the landscapes, the cultures, but I also realize that it's not always fun and games. There are some hard times. Talk to me about a time that was especially hard for you and how'd you push through it?

Kristy Bellmer [00:30:17]:
Yeah, so when I was working on my world record, it was the rainiest summer on record. It rained just about every day. And there's a stretch where I was in Germany and Switzerland where it was especially rainy, and so I had picked up a cold. And in addition to that, uh, there was a crack in my rear rim. And, uh, fortunately there I was only 2 days out from visiting my friends in Switzerland, so they had already got me an appointment at a bike shop for, um, some other issues that were going on. I was having problems during my shifting. So, um, you know, those 2 days biking to their place where it was rainy and I had a cold, those were pretty awful. That's one of those like, why am I doing this? Um, But then I got to my friend's place, and it was so lucky that I was just 2 days out from them and my wheel made it.

Kristy Bellmer [00:31:33]:
It was a very stressful 2 days, um, but I visited them and it was great. I met these people on a mountain pass in Colorado, and then here I was. Yeah, I met them during the Trans-Am. Okay, so So yeah, I met them on this mountain pass in Colorado, then here I was at their house, you know, about a year later. And they were a huge help getting the bike fixed because, you know, I think as Americans we think like most Europeans just speak English, but actually this is in a more rural area, so they weren't comfortable speaking English with me and my German doesn't exist. So like having them to help with the translation was a huge help. They had to, you know, pull some strings to get me into the shop. And then while my bike was getting worked on, um, my, my Swiss friends that I was visiting, they stayed— they lived near the Lindt Chocolate Factory where they make like the experimental flavors.

Kristy Bellmer [00:32:39]:
So I had no idea this place existed, but we went and hung out there while my bike was getting fixed. And it's like the best chocolate ever. It was amazing.

Jerry Kopack [00:32:51]:
Did you get in on any top secret new flavors?

Kristy Bellmer [00:32:56]:
Yeah, I had to sign this, like, what is it, CDA or whatever, before you go in there.

Jerry Kopack [00:33:01]:
It's like an NDA, like non-disclosure agreement.

Kristy Bellmer [00:33:04]:
Yeah, yeah, that's probably the word.

Jerry Kopack [00:33:07]:
Yeah, so basically we can't talk about it right now is what you're telling me.

Kristy Bellmer [00:33:10]:
Yeah, we can't talk to it, but it was chocolate and, you know, it was great.

Jerry Kopack [00:33:15]:
Um, okay, that's interesting because I interviewed a guy the other day who's Irish and he has this thing about documenting the best potato chips, and he's had this log about where the best chips are. Yeah, and he said the best chips were actually in Czechia.

Kristy Bellmer [00:33:32]:
Oh really?

Jerry Kopack [00:33:32]:
But he said the worst ones he had was someplace in Asia because they had a fried egg flavor potato chip. And that sounds weird and awful. So without giving away any of your NDA agreements, how was your experience in the Lindt factory?

Kristy Bellmer [00:33:51]:
You know, this chocolate in Europe is so different than chocolate in the US. You know, I don't know, it's like lighter. The milk is different, right? But in Europe, even in like the regular grocery stores, the cheesecake flavor was really popular. I don't know that they have that in the US. Like, in the US, basically all I really see is like milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. I don't see the variety of Lindt that you see in Europe. Maybe that's just because I don't get out much.

Jerry Kopack [00:34:22]:
Um, so you survived that because you've made some great acquaintances, some great friends, just through your time of cycling, right? I mean, think of how small of a world bicycle touring is.

Kristy Bellmer [00:34:40]:
It's very small. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:34:42]:
Yeah. Uh, so you got through it, you got a new wheel, completed your journey, everything went as it should have.

Kristy Bellmer [00:34:52]:
Yeah, I mean, it didn't stop raining, but, um, I had accepted that I was just gonna get wet every day.

Jerry Kopack [00:35:00]:
Um, I mean, I assume you had some, some good Gore-Tex or something going on, right?

Kristy Bellmer [00:35:07]:
I had Gore-Tex. Uh, it very badly needed to be like retreated or whatever. When I, when I was biking across the US the summer before, I got rained on maybe 3 times. And like when I was biking in Europe, I stayed dry maybe 3 times, you know. It's just—

Jerry Kopack [00:35:26]:
well, let me, let me ask you that. What is, uh, out of all the elements, whether it's heat, cold, wind, snow, Rain.

Kristy Bellmer [00:35:34]:
Wind is the worst.

Jerry Kopack [00:35:35]:
I was wondering if you're gonna say wind. Wind is definitely my, my kryptonite as well.

Kristy Bellmer [00:35:42]:
Yeah, yeah. I got snowed on in Patagonia, and, um, I live in Minneapolis, so I bike in the snow in the time. Yeah, snow's not that bad. Heat, heat's pretty bad too, um, but wind is the worst for sure.

Jerry Kopack [00:35:59]:
Yeah. Where was a particularly windy area that, uh, you've toured through? Do you remember, or was there a place Particularly windy.

Kristy Bellmer [00:36:09]:
I got lucky with wind in Wyoming. Everybody talks about the wind in Wyoming. I remember my favorite day touring ever. Um, I mean, you want me to say bad things about wind, but wind can be your friend too.

Jerry Kopack [00:36:23]:
Sure, it can be. It can make you feel like a superhuman if it's at your back, right?

Kristy Bellmer [00:36:28]:
Yeah. So I was staying at Jenny Lake in the Tetons, and somebody had told me 'You gotta do this hike.' So I went and did the Jenny Lake hike or whatever, which was beautiful. But also, I hadn't showered in like 10 days, and I really wanted to get to this stop on the Trans Am. I think it was in Dubois, Wyoming. And I left Jenny Lake so late, and I still had to go over like Tawagati Pass, I think it was. Is that how you say it?

Jerry Kopack [00:36:58]:
Maybe. I'm not familiar with that one.

Kristy Bellmer [00:37:00]:
I still had to go over this 10,000-foot mountain pass or whatever. I thought there was no way I was going to make it in time because I left so late. Um, but then I had this 50-mile-an-hour tailwind. I didn't have to do anything. Um, and so I got to shower that night, which felt fantastic.

Jerry Kopack [00:37:19]:
Yeah, and you probably had nice full panniers which acted as even a bigger kind of wind sail to push you along.

Kristy Bellmer [00:37:28]:
Yeah, it was fantastic. And the best part was I was staying at this church because on the Trans-Atacama there's a lot of places a lot of people can stay, right? Um, and so there were 3 people who had biked the other way that day and they were in a terrible mood.

Jerry Kopack [00:37:44]:
They were like, they made it like 10 miles the entire day, I'm sure, right?

Kristy Bellmer [00:37:50]:
Well, you made like 70 a day. Yeah, they I, I gave them some food because they didn't have enough energy to go to the grocery store. I was like, I had an awesome day.

Jerry Kopack [00:38:01]:
Like, this is incredible. How you guys doing? Like, stop talking, don't talk to me.

Kristy Bellmer [00:38:07]:
Exactly. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:38:10]:
So I'm— you seem like you are definitely dialed in. You're loving the bikepacking. What's next for you?

Kristy Bellmer [00:38:16]:
I am going to the New Zealand The 15th of February for— I'm gonna do the Tour Alteora.

Jerry Kopack [00:38:26]:
I've heard of that one.

Kristy Bellmer [00:38:27]:
Yeah, you're— I hope I'm pronouncing it right. Um, yeah, you were talking about how small the world is. Uh, I was just texting some people I had met to get some tips on the route and some of my Warmshowers hosts along the way, and it turns out one of them's gonna be in Auckland that day. So I'm gonna meet up with him, and then the other ones are biking around the world right now, and we're gonna catch up in Auckland as well. So I love— 2 Warmshowers hosts from previous trips that happen to be in the continent at the same time.

Jerry Kopack [00:39:05]:
Yeah, that tour has been on my kind of radar for, gosh, a decade now. Now correct me if I'm wrong, that goes both islands, right? North and South Island?

Kristy Bellmer [00:39:17]:
Yep.

Jerry Kopack [00:39:17]:
Now, are you doing the actual— is it a bikepacking race or kind of like an organized tour?

Kristy Bellmer [00:39:23]:
It's like a race thing, but I'm just going to bike it because I don't think I'm in the kind of shape I need to be to, uh, do the actual thing.

Jerry Kopack [00:39:36]:
So if you, if you were, would you still want to race anyways, or—

Kristy Bellmer [00:39:41]:
no, probably not. I just want to like, oh, there's a volcano, I'll go hike that, you know. That's My jam.

Jerry Kopack [00:39:47]:
That's kind of how I feel too. And I have the utmost respect for people who can ride 21 hours a day, sleep for 15 minutes, and do it again. Uh, but I, I love the experience of meeting people and stopping at a cafe and having breakfast and hanging out for 2 or 3 more days because you found a really amazing spot to camp, right?

Kristy Bellmer [00:40:09]:
Yeah, absolutely. I'm with you there.

Jerry Kopack [00:40:12]:
It feels like New Zealand's a place you wouldn't want to rush through.

Kristy Bellmer [00:40:16]:
Yeah, and I've heard from my other friends who have done it that there's an amazing sense of community on the route. So, so excited.

Jerry Kopack [00:40:24]:
Well, I cannot wait to follow along and see all those updates. And for people who are listening who may be feeling a little bit daunted or not sure if they can do a trip like this, got any last minute tips for them?

Kristy Bellmer [00:40:39]:
I mean, I did it in Texas when I had zero clue what I was doing, so I think anybody can do it. But, um, you know, I think you just gotta take baby steps and, you know, get a little bit out of your comfort zone at a time. That's the way that I did it. Um, you know, other people just take huge leaps, but either way Give it a try whatever way makes you feel comfortable and you won't forget it.

Jerry Kopack [00:41:11]:
I love it. Kristi, I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your day to hang out and talk to me. How can listeners find out more about your travels and maybe get a glimpse at that dog picture?

Kristy Bellmer [00:41:23]:
Uh, my blog is Travels with Bicephalus. It's on WordPress. So if you just Google Travels with Bicephalus, you will find it.

Jerry Kopack [00:41:33]:
I love it. And we will post a link to that in our show notes so people can check it out when they listen to this interview. So thank you.

Kristy Bellmer [00:41:42]:
Yeah, thanks for having me today.

Jerry Kopack [00:41:43]:
All right, now I want to thank everyone else for listening to my conversation today with Kristi Belmer. Stories like these hopefully will inspire you to set off on your own bicycle adventure and maybe make the world feel a little bit smaller, one pedal stroke at a time. Until then, keep the wheels rolling and the stories coming. Thanks for joining us on Bike Life. I'm Jerry Kopack, and I hope hope you enjoyed today's episode as much as we enjoyed sharing it with you. Please leave us a rating and review or just tell your friends. This helps us reach more cyclists and hosts around the world. To learn more or become part of this amazing community, visit us at warmshowers.org or follow us on Instagram at warmshowers_org.

Jerry Kopack [00:42:28]:
If you'd like to be a guest on the show, or have a question you'd like us to explore, email us at podcast@warmshowers.org.