The Tinstreamer Podcast

The Great Plains Project - Part Four - The Wrap Up with director Simon Parmley and Jerod Foster

The Great Plains Project - Part Four - The Wrap Up Show
 
In this episode, I sit down with Simon Parmley and Jerod Foster as we recap our Great Plains journey. Simon led our production team from a heavily modified Jeep Wrangler while Jerod and I rode motorcycles. We talk about the origins of the project and the forthcoming docu-series about the trip. This conversation is a great side dish for your holiday travels. If you don’t come away inspired by this episode, I’ll refund your money.
 
Simon Parmley commutes every day on his Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle to his job at Texas Tech Public Media, where he is the director of content. Along with Madison Walker Martin, Simon was our director and show-runner on The Great Plains Project, a production that spanned 15 days with lots of moving parts and personnel. Simon's innovative storytelling on a public media budget gives The Great Plains Project the appearance of a multi-million dollar documentary. I’ve seen the preliminary trailers, and they are epic!
 
What is The Great Plains Project? Well, I’m glad you asked. Jerod Foster and I rode adventure motorcycles 3,500 miles from Presidio, Texas on the Mexico border to the North Dakota/Canada line. We lived off our Honda Africa Twins and slept in tents for 15 days. We rode gravel, dirt, and the occasional asphalt backroad up the middle of America. We were followed by a crew of Texas Tech students led by directors Simon Parmley, and Madison Walker Martin, filming a docu-series for Texas Tech PBS.
 
 
Check out thegreatplainsproject.com for daily dispatches featuring my words and Jerod’s photos. It’s like a coffee table book for your computer.

The Great Plains Project - Part Three - Crew Members Eddie McBroom and Hannah Hudgens

Jerod Foster and I rode adventure motorcycles 3,500 miles from Presidio, Texas on the Mexico border to the North Dakota/Canada line. We lived off our Honda Africa Twins and slept in tents for 15 days. We rode gravel, dirt, and the occasional asphalt backroad up the middle of America. We were followed by a crew of Texas Tech students led by directors Simon Parmley, and Madison Walker, filming a docu-series for Texas Tech PBS.
 
In this episode, I sit down with Hannah Hudgens and Eddie “Pants” McBroom, both were camera operators on The Great Plains Project. They talk about life on the road, blissful tent slumber after a full day, and their childhood antics. Hannah grew up like me, riding motorcycles and three-wheelers. Eddie bought an old yellow dog school bus from his high school in Haskell, Texas and took it to prom. Hmmm, these stories are oddly similar to my youth. I feel like Gen X and Gen Z have a lot more in common than we think.
 
Eddie and Hannah are just two members of our 10 person student film crew. They are all worthy of a podcast. It was an honor to travel and work with every single one of them: Angelyna Gonzales - Savanna Montgomery - Anna Walker - Shaylin Romero Jimenez - Hud Morrison, Jill Fulton - Adele Clarke - Kenneth Andrews. Gemma Folsom is a graduate student and producer on The Great Plains Project. She and Madison Walker were with us for the entire 18 days we were on the road.
 
I miss them all and would gladly jump back on the road tomorrow and do this whole thing over again.
 
Check out thegreatplainsproject.com for daily dispatches featuring my words and Jerod’s photos. It’s like a coffee table book for your computer.

The Great Plains Project - Part Two - The Halfway Point

Jerod Foster and I rode adventure motorcycles 3,500 miles from Presidio, Texas on the Mexico border to the North Dakota/Canada line. We lived off our Honda Africa Twins and slept in tents for 15 days. We rode gravel, dirt, and the occasional asphalt backroad up the middle of America. We were followed by a crew of Texas Tech students led by directors Simon Parmley, and Madison Walker, filming a docu-series for Texas Tech PBS.
 
This episode was recorded the morning of day eight at Watts Coffee in downtown Council Grove, Kansas. You can hear the fatigue in our voices. We recap our travels through Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The scenery has been stunning, the gravel chunky, the sand challenging, and the people, infinitely interesting. We relive a few tumbles and highlight which pieces of gear we’re loving at the moment.
 
Check out thegreatplainsproject.com for daily dispatches featuring my words and Jerod’s photos. It’s like a coffee table book for your computer.

The Great Plains Project - Part One - In Studio

The Great Plains Project - Before The Journey 
 
Jerod Foster and I rode adventure motorcycles 3,500 miles from Presidio, Texas on the Mexico border to the North Dakota/Canada line. We lived off our Honda Africa Twins and slept in tents for 15 days. We rode gravel, dirt, and the occasional asphalt backroad up the middle of America. We were followed by a crew of Texas Tech students led by directors Simon Parmley, and Madison Walker, filming a docuseries for Texas Tech PBS.
 
This episode was recorded two weeks before we departed. Jerod and I talk about his motivation for this project and why we’re doing it on motorcycles. We meet some of the student filmmakers in a Q & A session, and our director Simon Parmley chimes in to ask me about my relationship to the motorcycle. My relationship to the machine is more about my time with my granddad. I get a little choked up. 
 
The days were long and the work continued well into the night. This trip pushed the entire crew to the limit as we documented our exotic expedition across The Great Plains and had thoughtful conversations with folks that call it home. It is not flat. The land is beautiful. The people are amazing. Over the next six weeks, I’ll release Great Plains Project episodes. One was recorded from the road in Council Grove, Kansas halfway through the trip. The rest will be with crew members from the production. This is The Great Plains Project.
 

Salida, Colorado: Part Six - Anatomy of A Mountain Town - Lane Willson - Oveja Negra Bikepacking

Lane Willson is our final guest for - Anatomy of A Mountain Town - Salida, Colorado
Lane and Monty Willson started Oveja Negra Adventure Cycling Gear and Bike Bags in 2012, and the world has never been the same. Founded in Leadville, Colorado and later moved to Salida, Oveja Negra is the most dynamic company in the outdoor industry. Nobody runs a brand like Lane Willson because there is no one in the multiverse like Lane Willson. She is a hard working rainbow, unicorn, lioness, and logistics master.
We sat down in the Oveja Negra factory where all those amazing bags - I love - are made. In the YouTube video, you’ll see the team working in the background. You’ll hear the sewing machines running as Lane and I talk about, “surrendering to the flow,” working hard, playing harder, and profit in passion. Lane and I conversate about our dream vehicles, Van Halen, Phish, and the Oveja Negra rap video. Lane closes the show with a very special story about Jason Shelman at Subculture Cyclery, solid dude, amazing Salida bike shop.
Don’t do your best, do Lane’s best and you’ll achieve Full Zen Ahead!

Salida, Colorado: Part Five - Anatomy of A Mountain Town - Brinkley Messick - Artist and Trail Builder

I am honored, inspired, and stoked to have Brinkley Messick on Part Five - Anatomy of A Mountain Town - the folks that make Salida, Colorado ebb and flow. Brinkley is an artist (painter), trail builder, and one of the most thoughtful humans I’ve had the opportunity to interview. When I ask Brinkley a question, I can see the brushes working in his head. He thinks, ruminates, and then answers. My brain works the same way. As a result, these two creative minds meander from subject to subject.
 
We instantly connect over Ronnie James Dio, the greatest voice in metal and the namesake of one of Brinkley’s dogs. We talk about cassette tapes, trails, Salida brick, mules, bathroom art, and finding your creative path.
 
Salida’s historic downtown has been a “Certified Creative District,” since 2012. Its designation by Colorado’s Office of Economic Development was designed to foster a climate in which creatives and creative enterprises can prosper. When I cooked up this series, I knew an artist had to be featured. I think Brinkley is the perfect representative of mountain town art life. He creates art because he has to. I love it!
 
Give Brinkley a follow and check out his work at https://www.brinkleymessickart.com/
 
Art is the Path to Full Zen Ahead!

Salida, Colorado: Part Four - Anatomy of A Mountain Town - P.T. Wood - Wood's High Mountain Distillery and Former Salida Mayor

P.T. Wood is a mountain man to his core. He moved to Salida, Colorado in the late 80s to be a raft guide on the Arkansas River. In the previous installment of, "Anatomy of A Mountain Town," pastry chef Sarah Gartzman was our guest and Tenderfoot Mountain with its prominent S was our backdrop. In this episode, P.T. Wood jokes, it's not an S but a five for the five jobs you have to live in Salida, and P.T. has worn a lot of hats: river guide, carpenter/builder, restaurant owner/ pizza maker, mayor, distillery owner/alchemist, and currently Chafee County commissioner. He is also the greatest ambassador of good vibes  for all of Chaffee County. 
 
We talk about life in Salida during the late 1980s. P.T. shares his passion for building (framing to finish), desert rivers, the Monarch Mountain Ski Area, and the magic of multi-day float trips. P.T Wood is cooler than cool! He's, "Ice Cold!" Folks, you're gonna dig this episode. 
 
Full Zen Down River!!!

Salida, Colorado: Part Three - Anatomy of A Mountain Town - Sarah Gartzman - Pastry Chef + Restaurateur

Sarah Gartzman is a pastry chef and Salida restaurateur. Situated just below her knuckles the letters S-A-N-D-W-I-C-H  are tattooed across her fingers. Her passion for her craft demands this bold statement, because Sarah makes the best damn sandwiches on this third rock from the sun. Everything Sarah touches is delicious: confectionary treats, fresh bread, cheese, arugula, caramelized onions, salsa verde, hollandaise sauce, thinly sliced ribeye…oh my!!!! In 2012 Sarah, and her husband Rob opened Sweeties Sandwich & Baked Excellence in downtown Salida. Sweetie’s has been a town favorite ever since. I had my first Don Draper (a loaded pastrami sandwich) from Sweetie’s in 2014, and I hold every sandwich I eat across this country to that Sweeties standard. They all fail.
 
We sat down on the roof top bar of Sarah and Rob’s flagship eatery. The Biker and The Baker where they serve wine, deserts and brunch. With S Mountain as our back drop, and the Salida breeze as our ambient music, Sarah and I dish on food, mountain town life, wall paper, working hard, chasing dreams you didn’t know you had, and Elvis’s favorite type of greens. I tell her how Bavarian cream chocolate pie paired with microbrewed stout beer changed my life and formed my palette. Sarah shares an amazing dining experience she had in Mexico city. If you love food and mountain town life, this is the show for you.
 
Do you wanna bake like Sarah at home? Well, you better up your spoon microphone dance routine (check out Sarah’s Instagram) and order a “Hey Sweetie!” baking kit and Get Jiggy With IT? Or shall I say get, “Sweetie With IT!”
 
This is a fun one folks!
 
Full Delicious Zen Ahead…

Salida, Colorado: Part Two - Anatomy of A Mountain Town - Steph Perko - Co-Owner - Oveja Negra

Steph Perko is the nicest, most genuine person on the planet. I feel blessed to call her a friend. Steph is a co-owner at Salida, Colorado's very own Oveja Negra, the greatest bikepacking/outdoor brand in the galaxy. She is also an intrepid motorbike adventurer, ice fisher, dog mom, gardener and the most industrious mechanic/shade tree engineer I’ve ever met. Every bag she sews at Oveja Negra is packed with sunshine, rainbows, and some good old Pueblo, Colorado wisdom.
 
Steph and I hit the ground running in this part two of The Tinstreamer Series, “Anatomy of A Mountain Town.” We talk about our motorbike bond, and how speedboat may be the most perfect word since cellar door. We chat briefly about kangaroos, octopi and ghosts, and Steph recounts a hectic VW engine rebuild, followed by a Colorado road trip, that reminds me of a very special episode of “Happy Days.” This show has it all. We close out with Steph recounting life lessons with a John Deere master key and finishes the show with the buckle click of an Oveja Negra Portero bikepack. Music to my ears!
 
Zen and the Tao of Perko… Enjoy!
 
Next week’s guest is Salida, Colorado Pastry Chef & Restauranteur - Sarah Gartzman

Salida, Colorado: Part One - Anatomy of A Mountain Town - Mike Harvey - Badfish SUP and River Surfboards

These are the folks that make Salida ebb and flow. Mike Harvey is a white water kayaker, river surfer, white water park designer and the co-founder of Badfish SUP and River Surfboards in Salida. In the 90s, the Arkansas River was already known for its world class white water - up river and down river from Salida, but as the Arkansas flowed through downtown Salida it was featureless and riddled with chunks of concrete, rebar, and utility poles. Drawn by the white water in the area, Mike moved to Salida in the mid 90s, and he had a vision to clean up and shape Salida’s downtown river corridor. In 1999, he and Fred Lowry, the owner of a local excavating company, started construction on a feature in the river for kayakers to play on. That sent ripples that changed Salida forever. Fast forward to today and the Arkansas River through downtown Salida is a gathering place for locals and tourists. Kid’s yip and holler as they float feet first down river, next to rafts, kayaks and stand up paddle boards. The river has become the gathering place - for everyone - that Mike had always dreamed of.
 
In 2007 Mike and longtime friend Zack Hughes started designing a board specifically designed to surf standing waves in mountain rivers. Badfish SUP and River Surfboards was born and a new way to experience water in the mountains was created.
 
Mike’s love for all things water really shines in the episode. He wanted to live in the mountains and chase his passion, so he built a world and created a business to not only sustain his family but enrich his community.
 
Full Zen Ahead