059. Dion Clark - Bikepacking is a Mental Exercise

Dion and I were finally able to connect a few weeks back and have a chat about training, nutrition and the mental puzzle that is ultra endurance bikepacking.

Every athlete is different, but in all the conversations I’ve had with amateur and endurance athletes, the one topic that comes up is the mental strength required to persevere. The mind is powerful and is primitively wired for preservation, so how do you keep moving forward, while attenuating the intense messages our bodies give us to quit? How do you set things up for success and reduce the emotional baggage that you may carry with you during an event?

Dion’s endurance athletics career has been a roller coaster and he shares some of the struggles he faced along the way. I appreciated his vulnerability during this conversation and it was such a pleasure to finally sit down with him and shoot the shit.

Another topic we chat about is the benefit of having a coach or mentor to guide our training and help us to succeed. Dion has been getting after it lately and has some awesome goals this summer. I’m looking forward to seeing him out there on the trail!