In the midst of some of the most dangerous fire conditions ever seen in the American West, Mike and Simon discuss wildfire prevention and what the different levels of fire restrictions mean.

From the bike industry, there's the shocking news from Cannonale to shutter their factory racing program next year, SRAM’s plan to build a massive factory in Portugal, and Mike gives a heartfelt tribute to the late Charlie Cunningham.

The World Cup DH and XC stop in Lenzerheide delivered exciting racing, giving Mike and Simon plenty to get fired up about, and with the La Thuile World Cup right around the corner, they offer up some predictions, too.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Monarch Crest Ride (1:24)

Wildfire Prevention & Fire Restrictions (7:18)

Tribute to Charlie Cunningham (19:30)

Cannondale Shutting Down Factory Racing Program (23:00)

New SRAM Factory in Portugal (28:00)

Overlanding E-Bikes (30:31)

Lenzerheide World Cup Recap (39:39)

La Thuile World Cup Predictions (49:57)

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It’s never been easy to make it as an independent framebuilder, and it’s only getting harder. Chris Blandford knows the struggle well, and might well be doing more than anyone else currently to support small US builders, from founding Firsthand Framebuilding to resurrecting Paragon Machine Works, and more. He’s here to tell us all about it.

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Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.com

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Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Introducing Chris (2:40)

The Portland, OR framebuilding scene (6:26)

Chris’ introduction to framebuilding (10:22)

Founding Firsthand & the Firsthand vision (13:20)

Framebuilding classes (18:25)

Acquiring Paragon Machine Works (31:18)

What’s next? (44:59)

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We tend to think of maps as objective representations of the physical world around us, but they're subject to the biases, goals, and editorial choices of the folks making them — just like any other piece of writing, film, or method of communication. Dillon Osleger's excellent new book, Trail Work, lays out how the erasure of trails from historic maps erodes our collective access to public lands; how and why those maps have evolved over the decades; the biggest challenges facing public land advocates, especially in the American West; and a whole lot of other topics that are vitally important to anyone who likes spending time outside. He joins us to discuss all of it.

Note: We Want to Hear From You!

Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.com

RELATED LINKS:

Trail Work

Dillon Osleger on Historic Trails, Changing Climates, & Evolving Communities (Ep.133)

Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

BLISTER Digital Access Pass

TOPICS & TIMES:

Trail Work (2:14)

Inspiration & goals for the book (6:52)

The evolution of MTB trail access (9:09)

Mixed-use trails & managing user interactions (13:10)

The deliberate disappearance of trails (16:47)

The trail degradation feedback loop (21:31)

Maps as a language (29:06)

The erasure of place names & their history (35:37)

Stewardship & how we can do better (40:08)

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