On the fifth episode of the podcast, Nik and Stephen sit down with Connor Ryan, a Natives Outdoors athlete. We talk about Connor riding 1,000 miles at the Break the (BI)cycle. The focus of this ride is to break the silence around mental health for black and Indigenous men. For Connor, the ride starts on September 10th, and he is up for the long haul and raising awareness!
Break the (BI)cycle, a 30-day cycling fundraiser, with a goal of raising $100,000 to support mental health initiatives across Western Canada and the US. The monies raised will be gifted to 20 black and Indigenous communities for men to start their own initiatives. A link to learn more as well as donate can be found below.
In addition to Break the (BI)cycle, we lean into topics such as, what it is like to be a professional backcountry skier? Next, we discuss prior to heading into the backcountry, how Connor honors the land by weaving in ancestral Lakota songs from ceremonies. We also talk about his skiing adventure through his ancestral land during the “bomb cyclone”. Finally, while “the mountains are calling”, especially for a skier, Connor discusses how the urban areas and the eastern plains are just as connected to the land and have much to offer as the mountains.
For extended reading,
- Check out Connor on IG @sacredstoke
- Follow Break the (BI)cycle on IG @breakthebicycle
- The Break the (BI)cycle fundraiser.
- The film where Lakota ceremony songs prior to going into the backcountry are mentioned, The FIFTY – Ep. 17 – Mt. Tukuhnikivatz, UT – Dził Ashdlai – Native American Mountain Culture
- The film where Connor references Paha Sapa, his skiing journey through ancestral land, https://www.tetongravity.com/video/ski/paha-sapa-follows-lakota-skiers-journey-through-ancestral-land.
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