Life as a Fire Lookout | Emily Kachorek | E46
Recorded at 7,250 feet elevation atop Mount Hough near Quincy, California, in Episode 46 the boys talk to Emily Kachorek about her first summer as a fire lookout for the Plumas National Forest. Sitting in the three-story tower for 10 hours a day, 10 days in a row, Emily talks about spending time alone and the inspiration for creativity that comes from solitude. She also talks about her background in biology and conservation and her new gig spotting fires. Prior to being a lookout, Emily raced bikes professionally, was a co-founder of Squid Bikes and her love of cycling, art and creativity blended with a punk rock vibe fostered the vibrant cyclocross scene in Sacramento, along with some of the raddest paint jobs ever rattle-canned onto a bicycle. The boys also do a few listener shout outs and answer questions related to encountering bears on the trail and whether or not you should listen to music while riding.
“That was for Roger” | James Adamson | 2024 Breck Epic | E44
Episode 44 recaps the Breck Epic six-day mountain bike stage race in Breckenridge, Colorado with Trail Whisperer and Adam Mahomed, documenting a week of suffering, random shenanigans and high elevation hypoxia. They also document the trajectory of their good friend James Adamson, who ended up finishing second overall in the Men’s 40+ category as well as second in the Enduro category. James’ big day was Stage 5 on Wheeler, the most feared day because of its grueling hike-a-bike up to 12,500 feet, then a technical and treacherous descent all the way back to Breckenridge. James was down 20 minutes on the leader, and in that one stage, he reeled back 17 minutes, going out of his own body, unleashing a performance that astonished everyone. Everyone seemingly, except himself. This episode is randomness mixed with purpose, insight and inspiration. And suffering. A lot of suffering.
Breck Epic Special Feature | Preview with Adam Mahomed and James Adamson | E43
In Episode 43, Trail Whisperer is on assignment in Breckenridge, Colorado with a special edition of Mind the Track covering the Breck Epic, a six-day mountain bike stage race featuring some of the most amazing high alpine singletrack in North America. But unfortunately, for the first time, the pod is without Pow Bot this week. Avid listener and an old friend of Kurt’s who’s been coming to Breckenridge for 25 years, Adam Mahomed co-hosts this Breck Epic course preview episode where they chat about what to expect over the six days, suffering at high elevation, preparing for unpredictable weather, and getting some inside knowledge on the six stages from local resident James Adamson, who used to be a Tahoe core lord back in the day before moving to Breck in 2018.
Trails are the Dopamine | Chris McNamara | E40
In the world of big wall climbing and wingsuit BASE jumping, Chris McNamara was a leader and innovator, claiming the first wingsuit BASE jump of the Grand Canyon (where he almost died twice in the same jump) and one of the youngest people to ever climb the West Face of El Capitan. As the founder of Supertopo, which evolved into GearLab, McNamara’s interests also evolved beyond climbing and the dangers of BASE jumping. It was when he moved to Lake Tahoe over a decade ago and discovered trails, mountain biking and specifically TAMBA, where he found his new passion. Always the dopamine-fueled thinker and dreamer obsessed with first ascents, “BushwhackNamara” immediately started asking “what if”? What if there was a mountain bike singletrack around Lake Tahoe? What if there was a trail from Susanville to Mammoth called Sierra Camino? What if there was a mountain bike trail from Canada to Cabo called Orogenesis? The dopamine was flooding his brain with possibilities, and a decade later, Chris and his wife Tor have been instrumental in funding the trails renaissance happening in Lake Tahoe.
Truckee to Bellingham by Mountain Bike | Jake Mann | E28
We first interviewed @notjakemann in Episode 11 right before he embarked on a two-month bikepacking journey from Truckee to Bellingham, Washington. In Episode 28, the boys catch up with Jake and hear all the good times, scary times, wet times and confusing times he had, including harrowing encounters with skunks and toothless rednecks, abundant cats, and friendly folks happy to accommodate a stinky mountain biker who raised nearly $8,000 for World Bicycle Relief, funding nearly 50 bikes for people in third world countries. The boys also give some listener shout outs, reflect on the first season of Mind the Track, chat about more bear encounters in Sierra County, Reno’s shrinking homeless population, Truckee’s increasing cost of living woes, more Hunga Tonga theories and Snoop Dogg’s Snow Sizzle My Dizzle Powderrific Snow Report.
Singletrack Radness | Truckee Dirt Union | E22
If you’ve ever piloted your mountain bike on the trails of Jackass Ridge (now called Donkey Town) and Yogi Bear, and finished with an ear to ear grin, you can thank the @truckeedirtunion . Formed in April of 2020, the TDU is the only trail organization in Truckee specifically focused on enhancing and expanding rad trail experiences for mountain bikers. In its short 3 years of existence, TDU has already amassed a volunteer trail force 550 people strong, supporting a crew of #corelord community builders who’ve been digging in the forest for 30 years, putting Truckee on the map as one of the best towns in the American west for mountain biking. In episode 22, we sit down with TDU founders Matt Chappell (@chappawitz), Skye Allsop (@tahoemtbiker) and Greg Forsythe (@cyclepathsmtb) and talk all about the past, present and future of mountain biking and trails in Truckee, where TDU fits into this quickly changing town and how you can help get involved with the #singletrackradness movement. Get on the dumb end of that shovel, kick some rocks and put some love, sweat and tears back into the trails you enjoy every day by joining TDU on their next volunteer trail day.
40 Years of Marlette Flume Trail | Max Jones | E19
In Summer 1983, Max Jones jumped on a strange new contraption called a #mountainbike and went looking for trails to ride around #laketahoe. There wasn’t really any singletrack until he discovered an abandoned flume line running high above the east shore of the lake. After a few failed attempts, Max finally uncovered the overgrown track, taking five hours to “ride” only four miles, fighting through brush and hundreds of downed trees. For the rest that summer, Max cleared the trail with nothing more than hand tools and dogged determination. 40 years later, thanks to Max’s efforts, the Marlette Flume Trail has become the most scenic trail in the world and a gem of recreation in Lake Tahoe. Max and his wife Patti have built a life and career around the Flume Trail, promoting the Great Flume Race for more than a decade, starting Flume Trail Bikes to shuttle visitors and opening Tunnel Creek Café to feed them at the end of the adventure. This is the story of Max Jones, a Mountain Bike Hall of Fame inductee, the resurrector of the Flume Trail and an early pioneer of ecotourism in Lake Tahoe.