{"id":202754,"date":"2026-09-22T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=202754"},"modified":"2026-09-21T10:26:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T17:26:36","slug":"this-is-what-happens-when-you-ask-a-stranger-to-ride-your-tandem-bike-with-tyler-mitic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/this-is-what-happens-when-you-ask-a-stranger-to-ride-your-tandem-bike-with-tyler-mitic","title":{"rendered":"This Is What Happens When You Ask a Stranger to Ride Your Tandem Bike with Tyler Mitic"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" height=\"200px\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/5b13797e-6934-4282-bfee-5355a6bec49a?dark=false\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wild-ideas-worth-living.simplecast.com\/episodes\/this-is-what-happens-when-you-ask-a-stranger-to-ride-your-tandem-bike-with-tyler-mitic\/transcript\">Transcript<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tyler Mitic is an endurance cyclist and mental health advocate who spent 27 days riding a tandem bike the length of California. Along the way, he convinced more than 40 strangers to hop on the back of his bike, creating opportunities for connection, conversation, and shared adventure. What began as a cycling challenge became an exploration of rejection, friendship, and the power of showing up for people. The project ultimately raised more than $20,000 for Bring Change to Mind, a nonprofit focused on mental health awareness and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Connect with Tyler:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tylermitic\/?hl=en\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank you to our sponsors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Capital One and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/membership\/mastercard?trackingId=podcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the REI Co-op\u00ae Mastercard\u00ae<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/b\/smartwool\/c\/all\">Smartwool<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/b\/salomon\/c\/all\">Salomon<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transcript Tyler Mitic is an endurance cyclist and mental health advocate who spent 27 days riding a tandem bike the length of California. Along the way, he convinced more than 40 strangers to hop on the back of his bike, creating opportunities for connection, conversation, and shared adventure. What began as a cycling challenge became [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32542,"featured_media":202760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1726,1727],"tags":[1127,970,541,1452],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-202754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts","category-wild-ideas-worth-living","tag-cycling","tag-mental-health","tag-podcast","tag-wild-ideas-worth-living"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/this-is-what-happens-when-you-ask-a-stranger-to-ride-your-tandem-bike-with-tyler-mitic","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"This Is What Happens When You Ask a Stranger to Ride Your Tandem Bike with Tyler Mitic","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/this-is-what-happens-when-you-ask-a-stranger-to-ride-your-tandem-bike-with-tyler-mitic","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/this-is-what-happens-when-you-ask-a-stranger-to-ride-your-tandem-bike-with-tyler-mitic"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/Unknown-3-4-e1790011553870.jpeg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/Unknown-3-4-e1790011553870.jpeg?fit=2979%2C1817"},"articleSection":"Wild Ideas Worth Living","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jenny Barber"}],"creator":["Jenny Barber"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["cycling","mental health","podcasts","wild ideas worth living"],"dateCreated":"2026-09-22T10:00:00Z","datePublished":"2026-09-22T10:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-09-22T10:00:00Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"This Is What Happens When You Ask a Stranger to Ride Your Tandem Bike with Tyler Mitic\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/podcasts\\\/this-is-what-happens-when-you-ask-a-stranger-to-ride-your-tandem-bike-with-tyler-mitic\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/podcasts\\\/this-is-what-happens-when-you-ask-a-stranger-to-ride-your-tandem-bike-with-tyler-mitic\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Unknown-3-4-e1790011553870.jpeg?resize=150%2C150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Unknown-3-4-e1790011553870.jpeg?fit=2979%2C1817\"},\"articleSection\":\"Wild Ideas Worth Living\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Jenny Barber\"}],\"creator\":[\"Jenny Barber\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Uncommon Path \\u2013 An REI Co-op Publication\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[\"cycling\",\"mental health\",\"podcasts\",\"wild ideas worth living\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2026-09-22T10:00:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-22T10:00:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-22T10:00:00Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rei.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/Unknown-3-4-e1790011553870.jpeg?fit=2979%2C1817","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202754"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202758,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202754\/revisions\/202758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202754"},{"taxonomy":"internal-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-tag?post=202754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}