Don’t Bieber My Trail, Bro | E89
The pollen is thick, kids are out of school, the tourists have invaded Tahoe and temperatures are soaring, which means only one thing – summer is here. In Episode 89, Trail Whisperer recaps a mountain bike road trip out to the California coastal town of Eureka while Pow Bot fun hogs on Lake Tahoe with his wing foil. The boys stand corrected by listeners about their Strava rant, California considers instating an official Bruce Lee Day, people are dying from foraged mushroom poisoning, the Ice Cream Man is back again, and TW recommends seeing Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience. The boys also tackle the “Bieber-ification” of trails, aka, making them lame by dumbing them down, and how this act of Bieber-ing trails is a microcosm of society at large getting dumber, as evidenced by how easy Jeopardy questions have become. Also, TW ASS rants about preservationists protesting efforts to allow chainsaws in Wilderness areas so volunteers can clear a maintenance backlog many thousands of fallen trees deep. Plus – only two 10% off coupons for any new bike at Start Haus in Truckee remain! Just use the password CORE LORD and save.
Western States Endurance Run | Trail Running with Jenelle Potvin & Steve Martelli | E41
In a shift away from skis and bikes, Episode 41 profiles two Truckee trail running core lords, Jenelle Potvin and Steve Martelli and their passion for ultra distance running events like the Western States Endurance Run. Just like Western States itself, this episode covers a lot of ground from how the couple had their first date on a seven hour trail run, to the history of the Western States trail, to preparing for a 100 mile adventure on foot with the support of an incredible trail running community. Steve also shares his emotional story of spiral fracturing his femur at mile 70 in the 2023 event after a nine year journey to be accepted into Western States. The boys also chat about the historic July heatwave hitting Lake Tahoe, the Reno Rodeo, listener shout outs and a tribute to PowBot and his wife’s dog Carson who recently passed after nearly 15 years of putting his paws in the track.
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.