Mind the Track

After a wild couple of weeks in Lake Tahoe, @pow_bot and @trail_whisperer catch up on their adventures of riding the new Capital to Tahoe trail linking Tahoe Rim Trail to Carson City, a recap of all the festivities and shenanigans of the @downievilleclassic and celebrating the Fourth of July weekend in Lake Tahoe, which also included some unfortunate national media attention around the public tras...

After a four year hiatus, the granddaddy of all mountain bike events, the Downieville Classic, returns in grand fashion on July 14-16, 2023, celebrating its 25th anniversary, and there’s no better person to interview than the man who started it all, Greg Williams. Not only is Greg the founder of the Downieville Classic, as well as the founder of Yuba Expeditions bike shop, but he’s also a co-found...

Recorded right after the Summer solstice, @pow_bot and @trail_whisperer catch up mano y mano for the first time since episode 1. Tom and Kurt cover a cornucopia of topics including a recap the best Spring ever in Lake Tahoe,  riding electric dirt bikes in South Lake Tahoe, volcanic eruptions and their effect on weather, Kurt’s new job with the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, the Toiyabe Cres...

In August 2021, the Caldor Fire came dangerously close to burning the entire city of South Lake Tahoe. In those critical moments when the fire crested Echo Summit, hotshot wildland firefighter Todd Woodward (@thefirenomad) was at his home in Meyers ready for its arrival despite the entire town having been evacuated. Although he was on injury leave from work after a serious mountain bike accident,...

Recorded once again in the back of the Toyota SendRadder mobile recording studio on the shores of Donner Lake, @pow_bot and @trail_whisperer shoot the bull with @notjakemann (it’s him he promises) and his upcoming 5 week, 1,300 mile bikepacking mountain bike adventure from Truckee to Port Townsend, Washington. Jake is the founding member of the @truckeebikepackingcollective but he only got into bi...

Recorded in the SendRadder, the Toyota Sunrader 4x4 mobile recording studio, @pow_bot and @trail_whisperer were invited to the @camzinkinvitational north of Reno to experience the athlete-only event and interview some core lords involved with it. Our first guest was Ian DeQueiroz (@manawolf), co-founder and CEO of @sendy_app, charter partner of Mind the Track and primary supporter of the Invitatio...

Episode 9 is all about #vanlife and being on the road living out of a vehicle. Recorded in the back of Trail Whisperer’s 1990 Toyota Sunrader 4x4 RV, the boys chat with guest Christina Thayer about her 20 years living in a 1976 Volkswagen Westfalia Bus called Buttermilk, her nomadic lifestyle and the endless adventures and occupations she’s had over the years. The best way to describe Christina is...

Recorded at the iconic Tunnel Creek Cafe, home of Flume Trail Bikes in Incline Village, Nevada at the site of the Ponderosa Ranch and the old TV Western, Bonanza, Pow Bot and Trail Whisperer celebrate the transition from winter to spring, the arrival of "dual sport" season and awesome bike to ski missions, finding early season hero dirt and late season corn snow wearing flip flops and ski boots. T...

Turning professional after only her first Enduro race, Amy Morrison is one of America’s top mountain bike talents,  winning the U.S. Elite Enduro National Championship three times. Although she didn’t discover the mountain bike until adulthood, Amy grew up waterski racing and jumping internationally (and barefoot!), as well as competing at the national level in swimming and diving, and holdin...

Recorded in the beautiful wine cellar of Dawn and Bryan Bertsch in Tahoe Vista, Episode #6 profiles legendary winemaker and core lord shredder of pow and loam, Duncan Arnot Meyers (@duncanarnot). That’s right, a ripping skier, snowboarder and mountain biker who makes and drinks fine wine! Duncan’s wine brand Arnot-Roberts (arnotroberts.com), is world renown, and his story of growing up as kid in N...

As the most decorated American male ski racer in history, Red Bull athlete and local legend Daron Rahlves know how to send two sticks downhill. But as Daron approaches 50 years old, he is finding more enjoyment in putting his mind in the track, going deep in the backcountry, skiing with his son Drey in Alaska and his dog Zoe in the backyard, appreciating the beauty and incredible terrain of the La...

Trail Whisperer’s next door neighbor in Verdi, Sam Hamilton, is a man of many interests from skiing and skateboarding to surfing, whitewater kayaking, rafting and mountain biking. Sam is a full-time ski guide for High Sierra Snowcat and Palisades Tahoe in the winter and is a professional photographer ( samhamiltonphoto.com ). Sam joins us to talk about ski guiding, being the parent his teenage ski...

The last couple weeks in the Lake Tahoe region have been historic, adding to an already crazy winter, this episode is all about SNOWMAGEDDON and the mayhem of relentless storms. Scott Kessler, owner of Truckee Overhead Door, has lived in Tahoe since 1976 and has seen a lot of big winters here. Scott declares 2023 to be a “1 in 50 winter”, so we sat down in his Hirschdale workshop and talked about...

The very first guest on Mind the Track is none other than Truckee core lord Matt Chappell, co-founder of orbitaldesignlab.com and truckeedirtunion.org . Recorded at the historic Gray’s Cabin in downtown Truckee, Matt shares some town history while we discuss a potpourri of topics from the Ag Check station to corn snow on Eureka Peak to longboard racing in Johnsville, to skier hitchhiking to ghosts...

Adventure begins where certainty ends. In this inaugural episode of Mind the Track recorded at PowBot’s family “cabin” in Tahoe Donner (pardon the mic bumps!), PowBot and Trail Whisperer dive into the meaning behind the show’s title, why they decided to start a podcast and where they plan to go with the show.