Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
How I Built This with Guy Raz
- Published
- November 10, 2025
- Duration
- 50:50
- Summary source
- description
- Last updated
- Apr 17, 2026
Discusses business.
Summary
In his 20’s, working an office job he hated, Tom woke up in the middle of the night with a wild idea: why not take people on bike trips? No playbook. No investors. Just a sense that he could make a living doing what he loved. His first trip? Four guests riding through Death Valley, pitching their own tents. From there, Backroads scaled to hotels, while we…
Show notes
In his 20’s, working an office job he hated, Tom woke up in the middle of the night with a wild idea: why not take people on bike trips? No playbook. No investors. Just a sense that he could make a living doing what he loved. His first trip? Four guests riding through Death Valley, pitching their own tents. From there, Backroads scaled to hotels, while weathering a bike burglary, a van rollover in the desert, 9/11, the Great Recession, and a pandemic that brought tourism to a halt. Today, Backro
Themes
- business