Topeka’s Hidden Gem: A Massive Trail Network | Rick Bean

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Speaking of studs, I'm gonna talk about stud for a second.
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He went from Mexico to the Canadian board.
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Crazy.
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Yeah, these guys are crazy.
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He averaged a little over a hundred miles a day.
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The Topeka area is right up there, round number one or two in mileage of various triples that people don't even know about.
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This podcast was made brought to you by Choose Topeka.
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If you're thinking about making a move, Choose Topeka can get you up to $15,000 to relocate.
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Whether you're buying or renting, Topeka and Shawnee County are ready to welcome you.
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Apply now at chooseTopeka.com.
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We're back in the studio.
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Today we've got Mr.
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Rick Bean, president of the Top City Trail Alliance, in the house with us.
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Welcome to the studio.
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All right, excellent.
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Thank you for having me.
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I appreciate it.
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Absolutely, man.
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So you're you're an outdoors enthusiast.
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Yes.
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And Top City Trail Alliance helps oversee and maintain and build trails, hiking trails, riding trails.
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Can you tell us a little bit about that?
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Sure, sure.
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So we're a nonprofit organization.
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Uh we were organized in 2021.
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And uh, yeah, our main goal is to make our community better.
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I mean, we're we're all about volunteers.
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There's, you know, all the money that comes into our organization goes directly to the trails.
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You know, our volunteers don't get paid.
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They're out there doing their thing.
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And uh, you know, the the primary I guess it could be broken down into four areas.
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One is maintaining trails.
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You know, there's a lot of existing trails out there that need maintenance, and we do that.
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Um and we do that through memorandums of agreement with various land managers.
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Uh, we also build our own trails, which we've we've built some trails here in Topeka, and uh they've turned out uh, I think very nice.
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Um we have social events for the community.
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Yeah.
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Um that includes uh trail runs, uh hikes, and uh mountain biking.
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Yes.
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And then we like to try to educate uh folks on um, you know, uh it it rained today, please stay off the trail, don't leave ruts, you know, and trying to appreciate the trail system that we have here in Topeka.
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That's awesome, man.
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Okay, so I'm gonna ask you a dumb question that falls into number four that you just said.
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You're gonna educate me here.
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All right.
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When you say trails in Topeka, what goes through my mind is the Shawnee County Parks and Wreck concrete trail that I run around on Shunga.
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Sure.
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I actually don't run around on it.
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We walked it off.
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What other kind of trails are there?
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You know, what I guess materials or uh whatever you describe it as.
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What kind of trails are you talking about?
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So so we're primarily responsible for what I call natural surface trails.
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So these are trails that will go through a prairie or woodlands or, you know, they're natural surface, meaning that they're dirt, roots, rock, that type of stuff.
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Uh and amazingly enough, there's quite a few miles of trails here in Topeka, which is awesome because if you look across the state of Kansas, um I'm thinking, you know, that the Topeka area probably is right up there around number one or two in mileage of various trails that that people don't even know about.
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Really?
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Really cool.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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So what are some of your favorite trails?
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Well, here in Topeka or statewide here in Topeka nationally, or yeah.
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Uh we can we could go that way.
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All right.
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Uh here in Topeka, I really like Carl River State Park.
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I really do.
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And the reason why I do is because uh you're you're looking at uh Kansas natural forests, which how many forests do we have in Kansas?
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But here's a natural forest, natural hardwoods.
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Uh you're setting right above the Kansas River, and uh I mean you you're you're talking about elevation-wise of a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet elevation difference between the river to the top of the top of the hill.
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That's awesome.
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Okay, so before we recorded, we were talking about this.
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I I mistakenly thought that was all lumped in with Governor's Mansion.
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But it's everything on the other side of that paved hill from Governor's Mansion is a separate park, and that's Car River State Park.
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Right.
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So there's you know that asphalt road that goes down to the boat dock.
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So on the east side is is the governor's mansion, uh it's Cedar Crest, and on the west side is the Car River State Park.
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So there are two different organizations that are land managers.
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Uh the Cedar Crest Organization for the Governor's side, and then uh Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks for the West Side.
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And we take care of the west side, and and uh we're working on hopefully trying to get uh maintenance on the east side as well.
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Cool.
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The interesting thing about the west side, uh by the way, if you want a little more about it, is that Car River State Park is uh the the only urban park that I know of in Kansas.
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Um it is a parking right, yeah.
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I mean, right here in Topeka, hundreds a hundred thousand plus can enjoy that park, and it's one of the only state parks that they don't charge a fee.
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You know, most of the time you go into a state park, you have to get the sticker, you have to pay.
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That never crossed my mind.
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There's a positive to that and a negative to that.
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Right.
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Obviously, the positive is it's free.
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You know, you can go in and enjoy the park.
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The negative is that uh their budget for that particular park is probably not as good as the other budgets that have boating and other things.
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But yeah, wow.
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Okay, let me I love that trail, man.
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Sorry.
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I just it's such a fun trail.
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There's so many options, you can take different routes each time.
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You got the few bridges there.
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We jog the trail, we'll hike with our kids.
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It's man, it's a that's a fun one.
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How how many trails in Kansas has that scenario, that scenery, you know, the river, the woods, not very many.
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Right.
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So we're lucky.
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Yeah, and it is nice.
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The elevation gain is really nice.
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Like if you're, you know, we're training for something and it's like, man, yeah, we need something with some elevation here, and maybe you can just go that up and down, and it's great.
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You can.
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There, there's a lot of people that train out there.
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Yeah, it really is.
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How many trails do we have in Topeka?
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We have we have quite a few.
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So so let's let's talk about what I call the the four main trails in Topeka.
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And I'm again, I'm talking about natural surface trails, so I'm not including concrete and all that.
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Right yuck.
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So Car River State Park, uh, Cedar Crest, Skyline, which is a lot of people know that as Burness Mound.
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Right, yeah, right, and then Dornwood.
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And and Dornwood happens to be probably the oldest um might call mountain bike trail in Topeka, and um probably in northeast Kansas is one of the older ones.
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Do they vary in difficulty?
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All four of them are different, yeah.
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Absolutely.
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Let me ask you this here.
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My friend Johnny Boy here is an experienced trail runner.
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Okay.
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I am not.
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What would you recommend for a beginner of those four?
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And what would you recommend for someone who's maybe in better shape?
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Yeah, so probably you know, elevation, right?
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You need to be in pretty good shape to run up the hill, if you will.
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So that would probably be Cedar Crest and the Carbur State Park.
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Okay.
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All right.
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But there are areas there that are easy too.
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Yeah.
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I mean, if you stay up on the top of that hill and do a loop up there, you're gonna be fine.
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Yep.
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All right.
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Uh Burnett's Mound, Burnett's Mound has some elevation, but not as much as the other two.
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And then uh Dornwood is is very unique because we have three loops there.
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We have the blue loop, the yellow loop, and orange loop, and each one's a little bit different.
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Um, you know, I think you you'd be probably set to do the blue loop, and then if you got tired with the blue loop, you could run on the concrete trail, which is Deer Creek, that runs through there.
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So there's almost different so when you say loops, just different ways to do the trail.
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Yeah.
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Well well, there there's just what we call loops, I guess, is is um they're complete loops.
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So you can start at one point and end at the other, but they're all different in the sense of like the orange loop to me is really rocky and choppy and uh techy in certain areas, whereas the yellow loop is just a blast, it's a flow loop that goes down into a um abandoned riverbed, and you get a lot of you know what I call dippy-doos.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And then the blue loop has a little bit of everything.
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So a lot of characteristic with that park, which um we um we applied for a grant um on that park, and uh it's with Blue Cross, Blue Shield, with uh Live Will Shawnee County being our sponsor, and I think we're getting pretty darn close to getting that grant, which will hopefully add a fourth loop.
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Cool, and then do some improvements on the existing park, such as putting up a kiosk and and trail signage and some safety.
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You know, we had um public availability sessions with the with a community there, and one of their biggest things was you know safety.
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So, you know, getting getting signs uh and and lights and things like that, I think is important.
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Yeah, that's cool.
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I think that's the one trail I haven't been to is the Dornwood one.
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A lot of people have not.
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Yeah, but I've been I've gone past it.
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Like so the Deer Creek one is what goes from Shunga to Shawnee Lake.
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Is that that that one?
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Yeah, so it connects kind of to the Dornwood one.
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Yeah, it it connects in fact it goes right by Dornwood.
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So you can go from Deer Creek right onto the Dornwood Trails, just right from there.
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You know, Dornwood has a a unique history in the sense it used to be a dairy farm.
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So if you go up to the top where there's uh ball diamonds, there's also an old structure from the dairy farm, old limestone structure that's sitting there, and that's the entry into the Dornwood Trails.
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Oh, interesting.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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So yeah, I've been to those fields, but I've never gone actually into the park.
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Interesting.
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Well, that's cool, man.
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So you are the president, um, but also one of the founding members in 2021.
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How did this come about?
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Right.
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Was it uh how how does this even start?
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Sure, sure.
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So, you know, um everybody on our group obviously is is either a mountain bike rider, sure, trail runner, uh hiker.
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You know, I consider kayaks another trail in the sense of it's water trail.
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Sure.
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Um That's I never thought of it that way.
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That's cool.
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Yeah, a water trail.
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But at the Call River State Park, um we were we had been riding that for several years, and there was an area to the west in which renegade trails was being cut in.
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And uh the park manager at the time, Tony Reets, he he thought, well, you know, this can't happen.
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I'm gonna have to close, close this whole section of the park.
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So obviously, trail users, we didn't want that to happen.
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So we we called a meeting with Tony.
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Tony was awesome, by the way.
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But we called a meeting with Tony, and um we had a I bet we had 15, 16 members of uh the trail user groups there.
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Talk through it with him, and he said, you know, um, Rick, one of the one of the best things that we can do here is uh we need some maintenance out here.
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Um why don't you try to form a group called you know Friends of the Car or Friends of Uh the Car River State Park or whatever you want to call it.
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And uh he goes, that way, um, you know, you guys can help take care of some of this stuff.
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We talked about it a little bit, and we thought, dang, that's a pretty good idea, you know.
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Yeah, because we do want to keep these trails active.
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We don't want to lose any part of it.
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So um we got together as a small group and uh we decided to go forth with it.
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Uh I ended up putting together our nonprofit organization package, and then I did uh negotiations with uh Terry Bruce, who's was, I don't know if he's still there or not, but he was the attorney for wildlife and parks.
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And we came up with an MOU, uh TCTA's very first MOU, that uh, you know, we would help maintain and take care of the park.
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Because again, there's not a lot of money up there.
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Right.
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And then over time, that has grown uh, you know, into a MOU with Shawnee County and Shawnee County Parks and Rec, Washburn University.
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Um we we just recently had one with the Wabunsey County on a trail that we've worked on with them in Wabunsey County, and then some private landowners.
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We have uh agreements with them to work on trails.
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So you know what is so cool about this story is it in my but I think it kind of encapsulates Topeka.
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There's two different kinds of people in Topeka.
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There's people that see something that Topeka is missing and something that Topeka struggles with and says, We suck.
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You know, what Kansas City would never, and you just they go to Facebook and they complain about it.
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Then there's you, there's Rick Bean who says, I'm gonna do something about it.
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Right.
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You know, I'm gonna make this better.
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You know, it doesn't have to be this way.
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And you put the time in and you know, you made something super uh took a you know an unfortunate situation, low maintenance, and you gave the city something in the community that we can all enjoy.
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That's so shout out to you.
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That's really cool.
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Well, I appreciate that.
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And it's not just Rick Bean, it's a group of dedicated, you know, folks that have got together uh to do this.
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And the only way to make it happen is you know, we we started out, most of the group was mountain bikers, and it was like, well, you know, um, there's a lot of other trail users.
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You know, we we've got to become diverse, we've got to diversify.
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Sure.
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So uh by diversification, I mean we wanted to include trail runners, right, hikers, dog walkers.
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Dog walkers are probably one of the biggest users out there.
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I can imagine, yeah.
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Uh kayakers.
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So our board actually consists of uh members of each one of those groups to represent all of us.
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Cool.
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Because there's power in numbers, right?
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Right.
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And to make sure that there's like uh something exciting there for everybody, like runners and bikers and well exactly.
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Like, you know, i if you're building a mountain bike trail, that might be different than what the trail runners want to see or what the hikers want to see.
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So it's it's trying to get ideas together to make everyone happy.
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Yeah.
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So that's cool, man.
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Um do you uh what do you So you said these are natural surface trails, is that what you call them?
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Yeah.
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What do you call the paved trails?
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On natural surface trails?
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I just call them concrete or asphalt trails.
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So, like if uh if kayaking on a river, that would be like a natural surface trail.
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That's the way I consider it, yes.
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What would a water slide be?
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A water slide.
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A water slide is kind of like a man-made water trail.
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Well, are are you are you talking about a plastic slide?
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Are you talking about a water slide down rocks?
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Because they are if you if you go you go to like world oceans of fun, you're like, hey man, I'm hiking.
00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.120
I'm hike, I'm just doing man-made trails.
00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:02.240
Man-made trails.
00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:02.639
Right.
00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:03.919
No, I'm I'm just joking.
00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:10.320
Uh I'm I'm curious, how did you get so into uh just outdoor life activity?
00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:20.960
I think just you know, growing up, I grew up in northwestern Kansas and uh hunting, fishing, hiking, you know, all of that is is things that we we did.
00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:21.279
Yeah.
00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:26.000
And uh, you know, my my parents and my brother encouraged, you know, outdoor activities.
00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:27.360
We camped out all the time.
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.120
And I just I love the outdoors.
00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:29.919
I love the nature.
00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:37.919
And and I think for especially somebody uh that lives in Topeka, you know, Topeka is not a huge city.
00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.320
It's kind of that in-betweener, what I call.
00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:40.720
Right.
00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:42.159
But we all need nature.
00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:44.879
We all need to be able to relieve our stress.
00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.039
And I think nature does that for us.
00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:48.240
Yeah, it's so true.
00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:49.120
That's so great.
00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:55.039
You were telling us off air uh what you uh what you do in your your your day job.
00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:55.440
Sure.
00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:56.480
You want to tell the viewers?
00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:58.960
I think it really it really speaks to what you're doing now.
00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:00.240
It's really cool how it overlaps.
00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:00.799
Yeah, yeah.
00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:04.000
Yeah, so um it's a it's a long history.
00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:05.519
I'm I'm kind of old.
00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:10.720
Uh but um so I worked uh You age really well, by the way.
00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.480
When you said your age, I was like, I would have guessed 10 years under that.
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:15.679
I appreciate that.
00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:16.639
That that's that's a good call.
00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:18.559
Shout out to being active outside, right?
00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:19.519
Yeah, there you go.
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:20.480
Benefits, right?
00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:21.120
Come on.
00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:25.120
So um I worked uh 30 years for the state of Kansas.
00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.440
Uh I retired from there in 2014.
00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:31.120
I'm a professional geologist, so I have my license in geology.
00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:33.360
That's what I studied in in school.
00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:38.720
And after I got done with uh the state of Kansas, it was like, you know, I'm not done yet.
00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.279
I'm I'm young, I'm I'm ready to go.
00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:47.759
And a good buddy of mine who I went to college with, he gave me a call and he said, Rick, uh, we need you.
00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:49.600
Uh we'd love to have you.
00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:55.440
And um he at that time uh owned a company called GSI Engineering.
00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:57.600
It was stationed in Wichita.
00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:07.359
And um he uh he asked me uh to be a partial owner, which there's there were three of us owners, and he goes, I want you to open up a shop in Topeka.
00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:12.000
And I opened up a shop in Topeka, and uh boom, everything, everything happened.
00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:13.279
It was going great.
00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:22.400
And uh, you know, we suddenly looked at each other in 2021, the year of COVID, and it was like, dang, we're all of a sudden like over 60.
00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.079
And uh, what are we gonna do?
00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:28.559
You know, do we want to try to sell this thing or or keep going?
00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:33.839
And uh uh the three partners got together and we said, let's let's put it out there and see what happens.
00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:45.200
So we put it out on the market and uh we had lots of offers, and uh we ended up going with a national company out of Orlando, Florida, uh called UES.
00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:52.319
And uh we went from a small business of 84 to 4,500 nationwide.
00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:52.799
Wow.
00:17:52.799 --> 00:18:10.000
And as part of that, the uh two of the partners, uh, we were the older partners, uh, we signed to give them to to allow the transaction to happen, we had to give them three years to make sure that the transition uh from small business to the large company uh went well.
00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:11.519
84 employees?
00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:14.960
I mean, that's that's a small business, I guess.
00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:16.079
That's a lot of employees.
00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:17.599
I mean, that was a big that's a big deal.
00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:21.119
Uh what was your role with that company before you All right.
00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:25.920
Yeah, with GSI, I was the director of environmental services and the vice president.
00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:26.480
Okay.
00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:35.440
So uh director of environmental services, what that means is we and we do many different things from an engineering standpoint, a geologic standpoint.
00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:49.519
But environmental services means if if somebody had a uh a wreck and uh hazardous waste was spilled uh that caused the environment, soil and groundwater to be contaminated, we go out and find ways to clean it up.
00:18:49.519 --> 00:19:02.240
Uh if you're uh if you had a private well and your private well water was contaminated, we figure out where it was coming from and we try to get you to where a treatment system would clean your water up.
00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:02.799
That's interesting.
00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:03.680
So things like that.
00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:04.480
That's cool.
00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.759
Stupid business question.
00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:12.079
Um how does one put their business on the market?
00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:16.319
Like, is there like a Facebook marketplace or like a Zillow for businesses?
00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:19.519
Like you list it on Zillow or something, you're like, oh, I'm interested in the business.
00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:22.079
We're gonna look to, you know, how does that work?
00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:24.480
There there's you know market managers.
00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:30.319
Uh you you re you reach out to uh you know a business manager that that markets businesses and uh gotcha.
00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:30.480
Okay.
00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:34.240
So it's kind of a plan and all sorts of stuff like that.
00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.720
You have to show them all your you know your books and and all that.
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.200
So there are people that kind of like broker deals like that.
00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.599
Specialize brokers that specialize in that.
00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:42.480
Gotcha.
00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:43.359
Gotcha.
00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:44.000
Interesting.
00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:47.599
Uh it's it's interesting the Just what you said about the overlap.
00:19:47.599 --> 00:20:08.000
If I was working for the city and uh like you brought up the meeting that you had with the city guy, and he was like, why don't you start a if I was that guy, I don't think I could have found a better person than a professional geologist to be the guy who makes and maintains hiking trails in Topeka.
00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.920
Like if I was gonna plan this from the beginning, I'd be like, well, we need a geologist to be the hackers.
00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:12.640
Need Rick Bean.
00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.240
And then here you go.
00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:20.400
Like, man, you're passionate about mountain biking and your geologist, like that's like the perfect Venn diagram for this, right?
00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:28.319
Yeah, it it was good uh being able to continue to work with soil and rocks and roots, but you know, quite honestly, our board, which is just awesome.
00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:31.279
I mean, we have we have engineers, a couple of engineers on the board.
00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:37.920
One engineer, you know, he works at GSI engineering, and and he he is really good at uh stormwater control.
00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:44.480
Uh, you know, so stormwater is crucial in maintaining trails.
00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.920
You have these large erosional features if you don't maintain them, right?
00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:54.880
You don't put in the right erosional features, uh, you have these big ruts and it just it's almost impossible to hike.
00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:55.359
Right.
00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:02.640
So having a diverse board that have many different, you know, technical backgrounds is very important.
00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:10.799
It's not just about geology, it's about engineering, it's it's about just understanding, you know, trail maintenance and elevation.
00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:24.400
Our our trail coordinator, the guy is is just incredible with um working with backhoes and working with mini X's and skid steers, and you name it, he can do it.
00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:36.640
That's what I was gonna ask is like when you put in trails, are you the ones physically digging these out and cutting down trees and and you are so it sounds like you have a guy who does that really well.
00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:46.079
It's a hundred percent volunteer work and uh you know, like the Washburn trails, a majority of the Washburn trails were all hand cut.
00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:49.359
You know, as a true Which ones are the Washburn trails?
00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:53.599
Uh so the Washburn trails are over there uh we talked about the Carr River State Park.
00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:59.359
So if you go to the west of the Carr River State Park, there's the KTWU radio tower.
00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:00.240
Right.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.799
So we have built trails in the woods on that property through a MOU with Washburn.
00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:07.359
Okay.
00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:11.519
So that was pretty much that Washburn University owns that they do.
00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:12.240
Interesting, yeah.
00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.039
But that was pretty much all hand built.
00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:17.680
You have hardly any equipment at all.
00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:19.920
Whereas we have some downhills.
00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:23.279
I don't know if you've heard of our downhills called the Hornets Nest.
00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:26.000
It's on the Carl River State Park property.
00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.599
The mountain bike downhills?
00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.680
Well, there's two mountain bike downhills.
00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:36.000
And of course, if you if you make downhill for bikers only, you got to have another one for hikers only.
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.559
So we've got a hikers only uphill and downhill.
00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:39.200
Oh, okay.
00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:39.599
Okay.
00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:44.480
Those were built uh by Trevor, who who again is is the handy-dandy guy.
00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:51.759
And he basically volunteered his own miniacs, his own fuel to go and and build those.
00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:54.400
And he spent weeks and months out there.
00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:54.960
Wow.
00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:58.720
Of course, the rest of our trail crew went out and did the handwork for him.
00:22:58.720 --> 00:22:59.119
Right.
00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:02.400
So he'd do the major stuff and then everyone clean it up.
00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:07.119
And that guy is he's one of the most dedicated trail guys I know.
00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:08.000
I mean, he's just awesome.
00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:08.960
What's his name?
00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:10.400
Trevor Dabney.
00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:10.799
Nice.
00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:11.839
Shout out to Trevor.
00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:12.720
Yeah, seriously.
00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:13.839
That's awesome, man.
00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:14.400
Wow.
00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:16.720
So this is all volunteer driven.
00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:17.519
All volunteer.
00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:23.039
And you don't know how many times we've been asked on the on the on the trails, so are you guys getting paid?
00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:25.119
And it's like, no, we're not getting paid.
00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:26.000
We're not, we're not.
00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:27.359
So why do you do it?
00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:33.519
Because we love our community, we love our trail system, and we want to make our trail system better.
00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:36.640
And at TCTA, we we have kind of a little slogan.
00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:38.079
It's called earn your dirt.
00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:39.119
Earn your dirt.
00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:44.880
So if you're if you're running a trail, hiking a trail, biking a trail, you're using that trail system, right?
00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:45.440
Yeah.
00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:50.319
So earning your dirt means you're gonna put in, you need to put in some volunteer hours with our group.
00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:52.880
So I shouldn't have to make admitted how often I use your trailer.
00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:54.880
I'm just kidding.
00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:56.480
I'm not feeling in these at all.
00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:58.640
We're gonna see you out there one of these days, right?
00:23:58.960 --> 00:23:59.599
Yeah.
00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:01.359
That's funny.
00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:01.680
Yeah.
00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.759
So what channels do we have in Speak Again?
00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:04.000
Yeah.
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:11.440
Uh how many volunteers would you say, different volunteers do you guys have that are maybe you'd say part of the the nonprofit that help?
00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:12.079
Yeah.
00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:15.519
So so uh member wise, um, so we have memberships.
00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:16.319
Okay, you do?
00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:16.640
Okay.
00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:17.440
We we do.
00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:21.519
Uh and our membership's $50 for a lifetime member.
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:22.240
Nice.
00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:26.640
Um, and that all goes again towards organization and all that.
00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:29.119
Um, and that includes your entire family.
00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:33.680
So, you know, we I think we're up to maybe 60, 65 families.
00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:38.559
We're up to a little over 900 followers on Facebook, so there's a lot more followers.
00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:49.519
Um, and out of that 65, um, you know, there there's probably what I call 15 to 20 dedicated uh trail crew uh folks.
00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:56.160
Not saying the others aren't dedicated because they'll volunteer money or equipment or whatever.
00:24:56.160 --> 00:25:00.240
You know, sometimes you just physically can't go out and work on a trail.
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:05.359
So we've got many folks that will just donate money, and that's just as important as working on the trail.
00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:09.279
You gotta have all of it, yeah, right to make something successful.
00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:14.000
Uh, but we have trail days on our trails once a month.
00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:17.599
So every month there's a trail day and it's gonna be at a different park.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:19.599
So you've got plenty of opportunity to come out and help.
00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:20.640
And earn the dirt.
00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:22.480
Yeah, earn the dirt.
00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:28.720
Uh and uh we oftentimes get a lot of volunteers that aren't members that will come out.
00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:29.440
Yeah.
00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:36.079
In fact, um last year we had the opportunity of having an entire frat come out.
00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:40.079
Uh, you know, that they had their volunteer projects for Washburn and they brought a bus out.
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:40.480
Wow.
00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:41.200
And it was awesome.
00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:41.839
Funny.
00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:42.240
Awesome.
00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:44.319
Put those guys to work and they worked.
00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:45.519
So you did a good job.
00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:46.319
That's great.
00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:46.720
Yeah.
00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:47.279
Wow.
00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:47.759
Yeah.
00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:56.720
Um, you mentioned uh a lot of the trails in the broader Kansas area and maybe even nationally.
00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:58.480
Do you have some favorite trails?
00:25:58.480 --> 00:25:59.599
Uh yes.
00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:02.240
So you primarily you're doing mountain biking?
00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:04.000
I'm a mountain biker and a hiker.
00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:04.319
Okay.
00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:06.480
Um I I can't trail run.
00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:10.400
I had uh a couple surgeries on the knee from basketball, and I just I can't do the trail running.
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:20.480
But okay, I'd be curious if you had to list your top three or five favorite mountain biking trails anywhere that you have ridden.
00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:20.960
Yeah.
00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:24.880
What would be your top five favorite trails anywhere that you've ridden before?
00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:27.039
I'm gonna that is a good question.
00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:28.079
I'm gonna start in Kansas.
00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:31.440
All right, I you gotta start in Kansas, and it's it's switchgrass.
00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:32.079
Okay.
00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:34.880
Switchgrass is out at Wilson, Kansas.
00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:38.720
And it's a it's a 20 plus mile long trail.
00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:46.640
And uh it is primarily uh it's a very unique trail in the sense that the surface of the trail is Dakota sandstone.
00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:54.160
So it's not your dirt, and I mean, there's sand, there's sandstone, there's rock, there's rock gardens.
00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:58.960
And for me, as a mountain biker, you know, I'm kind of ADD in a way.
00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:05.599
I I just, you know, and mountain biking makes you focus on every step because you don't want to fall off the trail.
00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:06.960
You don't want to die, right?
00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:07.599
Yeah.
00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:10.720
So switchgrass is just it's incredible.
00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:18.400
And there's an uh organization called Emba, uh International Mountain Bike Association, which have epic trails.
00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:23.680
They call them epic trails, the best trails around, and and Wilson is or switchgrass is one of those.
00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:25.519
Wow, okay, okay here in Kansas.
00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:26.079
Wow, cool.
00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:26.640
So awesome.
00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:27.759
Where is Wilson Kansas?
00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:28.880
I was just getting ready to ask that.
00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:30.799
So uh it's out by Hayes, Kansas.
00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:31.839
You probably know where Hayes Kansas is.
00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:32.640
Yeah.
00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:33.200
Yeah.
00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:33.599
Nice.
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:34.480
So very cool.
00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:34.960
Yeah.
00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:38.960
Um, then I've got to go south to uh to Arkansas.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:40.960
I wondered if Arkansas Oh my god.
00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:43.039
I've got a uh uh Airbnb down there.
00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:44.240
Oh, let's go.
00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:48.559
And uh hundreds of miles of trails in Arkansas.
00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:48.960
Wow.
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:50.240
I mean, in Bentonville area.
00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:53.039
I've heard it's kind of the like mountain biking capital of the U.S.
00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:54.480
it is amazing.
00:27:54.480 --> 00:28:05.920
I mean, you can get up at six in the morning and there's bikers and trail runners and hikers, and then you can go to bed and you know, we're we're pretty close to the trail, and there's still people going.
00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:07.599
I mean, it's just incredible.
00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:08.000
Wow.
00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:11.680
And they're all healthy, they all look great, they all have smiles.
00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:15.519
I mean, it's it's amazing what outdoors can do for you.
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:15.920
Yeah.
00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:18.640
So the trail systems down there, I'm not gonna pick one or two.
00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:21.200
I just that whole trail system is incredible.
00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:24.240
Yeah, they have uh a greenway.
00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:33.119
So a greenway is like Shonger, it's concrete, and it runs from Bella Vista, Arkansas to Fayetteville, Arkansas, which is about 40 miles.
00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:33.599
Okay.
00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:34.000
Wow.
00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:42.960
So you can go on that and you can then pop off on all these different mountain bike trails as you're going, or breweries, or coffee houses, or whatever.
00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:43.839
Dude, that's cool.
00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:47.599
So you can do like a really cool tour with a mountain bike.
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:52.079
And I would love to see that in Topeka to where you have some connectivity with these trails.
00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:55.279
I mean, you can do that between Topeka and Kansas City.
00:28:55.279 --> 00:29:02.319
Like, can you go like have if you had a trail from here to Lawrence to Kansas City that was paved, then you could pop off.
00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:06.640
Because there's mountain bike, there's trails here, there's trails in Lawrence, there's trails in Kansas City.
00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:08.480
Yeah, that would be that would be sweet.
00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:12.319
It's kind of like the the brew-to-brew like marathon people do.
00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:12.640
Yeah.
00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:13.839
The like Absolutely.
00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:14.960
The Lawrence to Kansas City.
00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:16.000
Lawrence to Kansas City thing.
00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:16.240
Yeah.
00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:16.720
Yeah.
00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:18.559
So uh that that whole area.
00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:22.160
Mount Nebo in Arkansas is one of my favorites as well.
00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:23.200
Mount Nebo?
00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:26.160
Yeah, it's down by Russellville, but it's it's a blast.
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:26.640
Wow.
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:34.799
And then uh quite honestly, uh a friend of mine uh we went to New Zealand and uh we did a mountain bike trail.
00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:37.200
I can't even remember the name of it, but man, it was incredible.
00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:38.160
That is epic.
00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:40.079
You know the Lord of the Rings mountain bike.
00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:41.759
I was thinking it was so much.
00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:45.359
I was thinking of mountain biking through uh uh through the Hobbit, yeah.
00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:47.359
Yes, through Hobbits in there or whatever it's called.
00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:47.680
Right.
00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:48.720
Yes, but we try to shire.
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:49.839
I mean the Shire, yeah.
00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:57.279
We we try to do uh different riding, like you know, Costa Rica done that, Hawaii, New Zealand, yeah, all of those.
00:29:57.680 --> 00:29:59.359
New Zealand was uh top tier.
00:29:59.359 --> 00:29:59.680
Yeah.
00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:05.599
The way you talk about uh mountain biking and going to all these different places is how I I feel about golf.
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:13.680
You know, it's like you know, this golf course is one of my favorites because of this, or you know, this has a really cool you can do this when when you're golfing, you can stop at this place.
00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:14.880
That's that's super cool.
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:15.200
Yeah.
00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:20.720
So cut come down to come down to Bentonville because there's about five different golf courses down there, right in the area.
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:21.519
Absolutely.
00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:22.400
Right in the area.
00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:23.680
Okay, mountain biking.
00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:25.119
Yeah, I know very little about it.
00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:30.319
Someone wants if someone wants to get into mountain biking, what's kind of the starter equipment you need?
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:32.960
Obviously, you need a mountain bike, which is different than a bike bike.
00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:36.000
What is kind of that entry cost look like?
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:38.799
What are some things that you would recommend for people to get into it?
00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:44.400
Quick heads up if you've been thinking about moving to Topeka, Topeka might actually pay you to move.
00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:45.039
Seriously.
00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:49.440
You could get up to $15,000 to live and work in Shawnee County.
00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:52.000
Check it out at Choose Topeka.com.
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:53.359
Now, back to the show.
00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:53.759
Right.
00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:56.720
So so we have a couple of bike shops here in town.
00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:01.920
You know, obviously Caps, everybody's sort of caps, and then at Astro Bike Company is another one.
00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:03.839
And uh both very good.
00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:05.599
And and uh I would go to them.
00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:14.079
I wouldn't go to your your di I'm not against discount stores or or you know uh super stores, but I wouldn't I wouldn't do that.
00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:15.519
I'd go to one of our locals.
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:19.119
Right, don't get a bike at Walmart, get a bike at one of these bike shops.
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:20.960
It's not gonna last on some of these trails, right?
00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:21.920
Right, quite honestly.
00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:22.480
Yeah.
00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:27.920
Um, so yeah, and I'd get an entry-level mountain bike, a hardtail is what they call it.
00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:28.400
Okay.
00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:29.279
A hardtail.
00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:30.720
Hardtail, okay.
00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:34.240
So it's got shocks in the front, but the seat doesn't have a shock.
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:34.720
Oh, yeah.
00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:41.039
Whereas, you know, as we get more advanced, we want shocks both in the seat and yeah.
00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:41.440
Okay.
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:42.799
So a hardtail.
00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:50.720
And uh you're probably looking at I'm gonna just say 600 to 1500 bucks for for just an entry level.
00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:53.359
Uh 1500 would be entry level.
00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:54.000
Oh yeah.
00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:54.559
Wow.
00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:56.160
I I knew they were expensive.
00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:58.160
Uh to be honest, that was less than I was thinking.
00:31:58.400 --> 00:31:58.559
Yeah.
00:31:58.559 --> 00:32:03.839
So I mean, I so when you get advan more advanced, you start getting into carbon and lighter weight stuff.
00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:04.880
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:09.839
So I I have a I had a Santa Cruz, I just sold it, and it cost me $7,500.
00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:10.240
Yep.
00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:10.799
Whoa.
00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:12.240
You know, I was wondering.
00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:12.640
Yeah.
00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:13.759
It was carbon fiber.
00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:14.640
Carbon fiber.
00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:15.039
Wow.
00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:17.119
So is it just like lighter, easier to move?
00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:18.240
It it's lighter.
00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:20.400
I think the maneuverability is a little bit better.
00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:27.839
You know, obviously the the components like the shocks and the drivetrain and the brakes and all that's better.
00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:28.240
Yeah.
00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:28.480
Yeah.
00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:29.599
You know, higher quality.
00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:33.359
But you know, so so the bike, definitely a helmet.
00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:33.680
Yep.
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:34.559
Definitely a helmet.
00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:38.319
Gloves, you want gloves, uh, which don't cost that much.
00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:43.039
And usually uh some sort of hydration, either a pot a pack for the back.
00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:43.920
Oh, yeah.
00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:45.440
Uh, you know, for your bike.
00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:46.880
Here's a dumb question.
00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:51.440
Mountain biking, even for someone who's advanced, like you are, I mean, you're wearing it.
00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:52.799
Oh, and I'm not advanced.
00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:53.599
Oh, come on.
00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:55.279
I've only been doing it for 13 years old.
00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:57.200
You are the president of a nonprofit.
00:32:57.200 --> 00:32:57.519
Yeah.
00:32:57.759 --> 00:32:58.160
No, 13.
00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:01.440
Bro, you're right, you're riding a $7,500 carbon fiber bike.
00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:02.240
That's not advanced.
00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:08.160
So no, so advanced is is somebody that's been on the racing circuit, and we've got plenty of them in town.
00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:08.720
Really?
00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:09.279
Uh yeah.
00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:10.000
There are people who are.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:13.680
A lot of members, a lot of our members, you know, have have been on the racing circuit.
00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:15.359
Lyle Reedy is well known.
00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:15.839
Really?
00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:17.759
Uh he's been out there, you know, racing.
00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:20.799
Alex Sage, you know, there's a lot of them.
00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:25.440
But speaking of studs, I'm going to talk about a stud for a second.
00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:27.119
And his name is Andy Phillips.
00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:33.119
And Andy is is on our, he's he's on our uh uh he's a TCTA member.
00:33:33.119 --> 00:33:33.519
Cool.
00:33:33.519 --> 00:33:37.039
And he's a trail coordinator for um uh Dornwood.
00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:39.920
So here's Andy's latest race.
00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:46.319
He started at the Mexican border on a single speed bike, so no gears, you have one gear.
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:52.720
Fixed or fixed, and he went from Mexico to the Canadian border on a fixed gear.
00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:53.599
Fixed gear.
00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:54.000
Wow.
00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:58.240
Took him 28 days, he averaged, I think, uh a little over a hundred miles a day.
00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:01.599
Wow, and he beat all his competitors by like a day and a half or two.
00:34:01.599 --> 00:34:02.079
Oh, wow.
00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:03.759
Oh, this is like a full-on race.
00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:05.279
Like an organized race.
00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:06.480
How does a guy do that?
00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:07.119
That's crazy.
00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:11.760
And this same guy, like races here in Kansas, like Marysville, for example.
00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:19.840
He will ride his bike to Marysville, he will do the race, which was a hundred-mile race, and then he'll ride his bike back.
00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:20.480
Wow.
00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:22.719
You gotta be kidding me.
00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:24.000
Oh, that's crazy.
00:34:24.639 --> 00:34:25.199
That's crazy.
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:28.320
I used to be really into fixed gear bikes back in the day.
00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:31.199
Uh, this group of friends that were really into fixies.
00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:34.480
And so he did that on a single speed bike from Mexico to Canada.
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:35.360
Single speed bike.
00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:35.920
That's crazy.
00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:37.679
Did he have brakes on the bike?
00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:38.800
Does he have brakes?
00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:39.119
Yeah.
00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:39.840
Oh, yeah, yeah.
00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:41.199
It's a regular bike.
00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:43.039
Well, I mean maybe I'm not thinking of it.
00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:44.239
It's a single speed.
00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:46.320
Oh, so maybe not a fixed bike, but a single speed.
00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:46.960
Oh, yeah, yeah.
00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:47.519
One gear.
00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:48.239
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:55.840
Yeah, so we would have uh we would have, I forget what they called it, but the the gear on the back, uh, a flip-flop hub.
00:34:55.840 --> 00:34:56.000
Oh.
00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:57.599
So you could flip the tire.
00:34:57.599 --> 00:34:59.199
So on one, you could coast.
00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:02.559
And you would obviously you'd have brakes, but it was single speed, but it would coast.
00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:02.719
Yeah.
00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:05.280
And then the other, it was it was fixed to the wheel.
00:35:05.280 --> 00:35:06.239
There's no coasting.
00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:08.320
If the wheel was moving, your pedals were moving.
00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:12.719
So like a kid's bike, but kids' bikes have the brakes where you like gently resist and it breaks.
00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:13.760
This didn't have that.
00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:15.360
So if you resisted, it would buck you off.
00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:16.000
Oh, I gotcha.
00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:17.599
And you had to like, you know, anyway.
00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:19.119
So now this this single speed bike.
00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:24.400
So and we we have similar studs though, uh basically ultra marathon runners.
00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:26.079
That are part of our group.
00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:32.079
And when you can run a hundred and some miles in a like a weekend, isn't that nuts?
00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:32.639
That's nuts.
00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:36.159
See, you keep seeing saying the word stud, and I'm just thinking crazy.
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:36.480
Yeah.
00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:37.360
These guys are crazy.
00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:38.400
Yeah, different definitions.
00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:39.039
Yeah, exactly.
00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:39.760
Yeah, I agree.
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:49.519
So are most are most like the the are there mountain bike races in addition to like like what you're describing Mexico to Canada, I assume, is a road race, not like a trail.
00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:50.960
Well, or am I wrong?
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:52.800
That was kind of a gravel trail.
00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:54.079
It wasn't on roads.
00:35:54.079 --> 00:35:54.960
Oh, really?
00:35:54.960 --> 00:36:02.400
I mean, they they have one from uh another one that now Andy didn't do this, but one I'm familiar with it starts at the Mexican border.
00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:06.079
And you know, but before we got on air, you were talking about Grand Canyon.
00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:14.960
So they have to ride to the Grand Canyon, they have to disassemble their bikes, put it on the back, hike the Grand Canyon, and then ride from the Grand Canyon all the way north again.
00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:15.920
What?
00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:17.840
Yeah, that is crazy.
00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:20.960
That is the craziest race ever.
00:36:20.960 --> 00:36:22.159
How do people do this?
00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:28.880
I don't it's like people are like, hey man, life, my life isn't hard enough, and you come up with new harder, more painful things to do.
00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:31.599
That's crazy.
00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:32.239
Isn't it?
00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:33.199
Wow, that's wild.
00:36:33.199 --> 00:36:41.199
So the those guys in Topeka, those are the kinds of races that you're describing when they're like, you know, we have guys doing race circuits.
00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:42.239
Is that what you're talking about?
00:36:42.480 --> 00:36:59.280
Well, when no, when they are on a circuit, I mean it it would be like just uh races around the Midwest, you know, and in which they would, you know, they would do, you know, some hard riding, you know, 15, 20, 25 miles, whatever, and you're racing against others with similar talents.
00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:00.079
Gotcha, gotcha.
00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:01.920
Yeah, like on a mountain bike trail kind of a thing.
00:37:01.920 --> 00:37:05.360
Mountain bike trail, uh technical, you know, all of that stuff.
00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:15.440
That's why it is it's crazy how like there are so many like rabbit holes in life you could just go down.
00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:15.920
Oh, yeah.
00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:25.199
And you could become like, you know, like I didn't even know there was mountain bike racing, let alone like that that could become your whole life where you throw yourself into this.
00:37:25.199 --> 00:37:26.239
I didn't even know that existed.
00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:26.480
Yeah.
00:37:26.639 --> 00:37:27.760
John, can I go a step further?
00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:28.159
Yeah.
00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:28.559
Okay.
00:37:28.559 --> 00:37:29.920
Wanna go a step further?
00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:35.039
So in Topeka, we all actually have a youth mountain bike racing team.
00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:35.519
Really?
00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:35.920
Really?
00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:36.480
There you go.
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:37.440
I didn't know that either.
00:37:39.119 --> 00:37:45.440
It's uh uh sponsored by Nica, and uh these are kids from all of our school districts.
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:52.239
Um, you know, I I can't remember the age group, but it, you know, it may be from like sixth grade on up.
00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:54.400
Um but yeah, we've got coaches.
00:37:54.400 --> 00:38:05.360
Some of the coaches are on our uh board, and uh, you know, they train them and and they go around the state and other communities within our state have mountain bike teams and they race each other.
00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:06.639
And it is a blast.
00:38:06.639 --> 00:38:11.760
We used to have uh last year uh we had a race at the Caw, for example.
00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:15.039
Uh they didn't race there this year, and and hopefully I'll be back.
00:38:15.039 --> 00:38:18.320
But uh um and then I spoke of Bentonville.
00:38:18.320 --> 00:38:23.360
Yeah, Bentonville actually has uh mountain biking in junior high and high school.
00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:23.840
Wow.
00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:24.239
Really?
00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:25.039
So yeah.
00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:26.880
Like the schools have that?
00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:27.280
Yeah.
00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:30.159
Like on in high school, you could be on the mountain biking team.
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:31.519
Yeah, certain schools.
00:38:31.519 --> 00:38:32.239
Certain schools, yeah.
00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:32.880
Can you imagine?
00:38:32.880 --> 00:38:34.320
That would be so awesome to go to school.
00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:35.360
We have a mountain biking team.
00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:36.880
I gotta go to mountain biking practice.
00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:38.559
I got mountain biking practice.
00:38:38.559 --> 00:38:40.000
That's awesome.
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:46.480
Go a step further, Fayetteville, uh, University of Arkansas, they have a mountain bike trail that goes through their campus.
00:38:46.480 --> 00:38:51.119
So you can you can get on the mountain bike trail a little bit and and go to your class.
00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:51.840
Wow.
00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:52.719
Yeah, that's cool.
00:38:52.719 --> 00:38:53.440
That's sweet.
00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:54.559
Yeah, that's sweet.
00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:59.519
Whereas KU, it was just up a paved hill that was impossible to ride your bike in.
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:00.880
It was a steep hill, though.
00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:03.679
Bro, riding your bike to class is pointless at KU.
00:39:03.679 --> 00:39:05.280
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:06.639
Man, that's very cool.
00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:08.559
Yeah, that's yeah, it's wild to me.
00:39:08.559 --> 00:39:17.760
I mean, we just we had on a guy who's a super cross racer, and it's like uh another whole world of things that I was like, I don't even know how any of that works.
00:39:17.760 --> 00:39:25.840
But it's like people have dedicated their lives, and same with like mountain biking, and there's so many things like that that I think so many people have no idea.
00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:28.800
There's so many things out there to do with your life, right?
00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:31.360
You just pick a niche and get into it, right?
00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:38.719
And you know, the the the thing that just bothers me is, and you hear it, is oh, there's nothing to do in Topeka.
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:41.679
There's plenty to do in Topeka if you just look for it, guys.
00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:42.880
Yeah, there is.
00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:43.679
That is wild.
00:39:43.679 --> 00:39:56.000
It kind of makes uh it it like uh it kind of reminds me of like uh you guys ever get on Netflix and you don't have something you want to watch when you get on.
00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:58.480
Like you're like, oh, I need to we'll find something.
00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:06.239
Well then you spend 45 minutes looking through all the options, trying to figure out what to watch, and then you end up like, well, if it's too late to start something now, we're just going to bed.
00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:06.719
You know?
00:40:06.719 --> 00:40:07.039
Yep.
00:40:07.039 --> 00:40:12.800
It's like that's a little bit like the decision fatigue of like, hey, you like you gotta commit.
00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:15.039
Like you gotta find something that you commit to.
00:40:15.039 --> 00:40:15.519
You do.
00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:20.639
Instead of like, well, let me weigh all the options like, hey man, you just just find something, throw yourself into it.
00:40:20.960 --> 00:40:21.280
You know?
00:40:21.280 --> 00:40:21.920
Yeah.
00:40:21.920 --> 00:40:28.079
And usually, you know, being out on a trail, for example, hiking, whatever, is a little bit healthier than watching TV.
00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:28.400
Yeah.
00:40:28.400 --> 00:40:29.679
But 100%, yeah.
00:40:30.079 --> 00:40:34.239
But you know, you gotta you gotta have some of that TV time too, you know, a little bit just to relax.
00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:49.840
I just mean as a metaphor for like how many options there are to like is um am I am I gonna throw myself into mountain biking or super cross or running or this or that or whatever, chess club, yeah, you know, it's like, hey man, it's you're wasting your time spinning your wheels.
00:40:49.840 --> 00:40:50.559
Like just find something.
00:40:51.039 --> 00:40:54.960
And and some of those uh sports, if you will, are I mean, they're starting to grow, right?
00:40:54.960 --> 00:41:06.320
I mean, like the trail runners, um, the trail runners, I mean, we'll go out, we have um, I think we talked about this maybe off-air, but we we have for our community social events.
00:41:06.320 --> 00:41:13.360
So every Tuesday, there's trail runs out at uh the call on, you know, for trail runners or hikers.
00:41:13.360 --> 00:41:17.119
Uh Wednesday morning at 7 30, there's a hike that we do.
00:41:17.119 --> 00:41:21.840
Um Thursday, there's mountain biking, you know, a group mountain bike ride.
00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:22.239
Wow.
00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:26.480
But the trailrunners, for example, last last Tuesday they had 38 people out there.
00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:27.039
Wow.
00:41:27.039 --> 00:41:37.679
And in fact, um we we had a uh uh an event that we held this weekend, uh Summer Solstice, that we had 90, I think 92 participants.
00:41:37.679 --> 00:41:38.480
What?
00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:45.840
Um the trail runners, this is at Skyline, the trail runners cranked out over 900 miles in one day.
00:41:46.159 --> 00:41:48.079
Is this uh is there an event?
00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:50.239
What's the event at Skyline?
00:41:50.239 --> 00:41:58.800
I don't know if it still happens, but I've heard about it where it's like it's uh one of those races where you just like go until you can't go or anymore or something.
00:41:58.800 --> 00:42:00.320
It's 24 hours or something like that.
00:42:00.559 --> 00:42:04.559
That's the Skyline Scramble, and that's in March, I think March of every year.
00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:06.079
And uh it's a growing event.
00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:12.320
I mean, what I think uh Jonathan is up to you know, I don't know, 150, 200 participants.
00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:13.280
I mean it's growing.
00:42:13.280 --> 00:42:14.239
What is it again?
00:42:14.239 --> 00:42:15.440
Yeah, Skyline Scramble.
00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:17.599
But what is how what's the format of the race?
00:42:17.920 --> 00:42:22.239
Uh the format is they they pick a route and uh you basically just keep going.
00:42:22.239 --> 00:42:26.639
And and uh I think he's got distances on it, but it's uh it's one of those where you're gonna be able to do it.
00:42:26.639 --> 00:42:28.960
So you just see how many loops you can do, basically?
00:42:28.960 --> 00:42:34.400
Uh yeah, and and the thing is, you know, I I talked to some of the ultra runners because I still don't get it.
00:42:34.559 --> 00:42:35.119
Yeah, yeah.
00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:40.880
You know, uh so they're going all day, but they're not just running, it's about running and then walking.
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:43.119
True if you need to walk, but you just keep going.
00:42:43.360 --> 00:42:43.679
Okay.
00:42:43.679 --> 00:42:44.880
Gotcha.
00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:49.119
So it's just like as long as you're on the trail, as long as you're on the trail, you keep going.
00:42:49.280 --> 00:42:49.519
Gotcha.
00:42:49.519 --> 00:42:50.239
And breathing.
00:42:50.239 --> 00:42:53.119
As long as you're on the trail and breathing, you're still breathing, living.
00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:57.119
Have you guys heard there's a format of race I'm starting to hear about more?
00:42:57.119 --> 00:43:01.360
In fact, I think our friend David Vinson is uh we might have to cut this.
00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:06.159
I don't know if that's public, but there's there's someone locally, I think, uh organizing this.
00:43:06.159 --> 00:43:18.159
Uh, but there's a format of race that is gaining popularity among runners where you have a certain amount of time to run, say, a two-mile lap.
00:43:18.159 --> 00:43:23.119
And let's say you have 20 minutes to run a two-mile lap now.
00:43:23.119 --> 00:43:26.800
If you're a runner, it shouldn't take you 20 minutes to run two miles.
00:43:26.800 --> 00:43:32.800
So you can stop after the two miles and you have whatever left of 20 minutes to break, to rest.
00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:33.280
Oh.
00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:36.159
But then on the 20 mile mark, you have to go again.
00:43:36.159 --> 00:43:39.440
And it just, it's just whoever lasts the longest.
00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:43.199
And as soon as you can't start on the next 20 minutes, you're out.
00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:56.079
And so it's last man standing, and people will go 24 hours, 30 hours, you know, and they'll they'll end up going a hundred miles or whatever because just every 20 minutes on the dot you go until you can't.
00:43:56.079 --> 00:43:58.000
I've not heard of that, I've not heard of that one.
00:43:58.000 --> 00:43:59.760
It makes it easier to go along.
00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:03.840
Distance because you don't need to go to the Grand Canyon or whatever or the Rockies.
00:44:03.840 --> 00:44:13.519
You can do it around a track, you can do it in a neighborhood, you know, which is just kind of it's an interesting, kind of uh new appealing format of race I've heard about.
00:44:13.920 --> 00:44:15.519
Yeah, that sounds super fun for other people.
00:44:15.519 --> 00:44:16.400
Yeah, exactly.
00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:17.440
That'd be awesome for them.
00:44:17.440 --> 00:44:18.559
I'm looking forward to it for that.
00:44:19.440 --> 00:44:20.480
Yeah, that's cool though.
00:44:20.480 --> 00:44:23.199
That's like playing rounds of golf until you drop, right?
00:44:23.199 --> 00:44:25.440
Exactly.
00:44:25.920 --> 00:44:29.760
Well, I think that's awesome, man.
00:44:29.760 --> 00:44:35.760
Uh well, let's say uh somebody's wanting to get involved in some of the things that you're describing.
00:44:35.760 --> 00:44:36.079
Yeah.
00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:41.519
Um, where would they go to find out, you know, how do I become part of some of these social events?
00:44:41.519 --> 00:44:44.800
How do I find out where the trail running happens?
00:44:44.800 --> 00:44:46.880
How do I join the club?
00:44:47.360 --> 00:44:47.920
Sure.
00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:50.800
So we we have a Facebook site, everybody has a Facebook site, right?
00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:51.920
We have a Facebook site.
00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:56.559
That's probably the most up-to-date is to go on the Facebook site.
00:44:56.559 --> 00:45:02.000
Um, you know, for the hikes and stuff, Fleet Feet works with us a little bit and then they put that out there.
00:45:02.000 --> 00:45:04.159
Uh the Sunflower Striders are awesome.
00:45:04.159 --> 00:45:04.960
They do their thing.
00:45:04.960 --> 00:45:05.599
Cool.
00:45:05.599 --> 00:45:08.639
Um but we also have a website.
00:45:08.639 --> 00:45:16.079
Um the problem is uh that that none of our members are good at the designing websites.
00:45:16.079 --> 00:45:17.199
So it's sometimes advertising.
00:45:17.440 --> 00:45:19.360
They're good at designing trails, but not websites.
00:45:19.360 --> 00:45:20.320
Yeah, exactly.
00:45:20.559 --> 00:45:25.840
So uh if there's anybody out there looking to help out, uh we do need a designer.
00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:28.000
But uh yeah, the website.
00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:35.039
Um but you know, every every week we announce, you know, social events, things like that.
00:45:35.039 --> 00:45:41.920
You know, our we have uh uh uh social coordinator, uh she's awesome, she does great.
00:45:41.920 --> 00:45:45.760
Uh Hunter Munch, who's awesome with the trail runner, she does great.
00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:50.880
So just so many people volunteer so much time to make these things happen.
00:45:50.880 --> 00:45:51.679
It's unbelievable.
00:45:51.679 --> 00:45:53.519
And I applaud all of them.
00:45:53.760 --> 00:45:54.480
Yeah, yeah.
00:45:54.480 --> 00:46:00.559
How did did uh how did COVID affect outdoor life?
00:46:00.559 --> 00:46:03.039
Before and after, is it different?
00:46:03.920 --> 00:46:08.719
I think more people got out, yeah, you know, to to try to separate themselves from being inside.
00:46:08.719 --> 00:46:09.199
Yeah.
00:46:09.199 --> 00:46:17.519
Um, you know, certain markets like like mountain bikes, um certain markets kind of exploded.
00:46:17.519 --> 00:46:19.599
You know, everybody wanted to mountain bike.
00:46:19.679 --> 00:46:20.079
Yeah.
00:46:20.400 --> 00:46:31.920
Which for the mountain bike uh manufacturers that was great at the time, but I think it's kind of hurt them in the long run because you know they had these high numbers of what they produced one year, right?
00:46:31.920 --> 00:46:35.599
And then the next couple of years they produced and it went down.
00:46:35.840 --> 00:46:37.440
Oh, they like made just as many to meet.
00:46:37.679 --> 00:46:40.719
Yeah, so now there's more of mountain bikes out there.
00:46:40.719 --> 00:46:44.079
You know, so if you're into mountain bikes, yeah.
00:46:44.320 --> 00:46:48.239
Now's a good time to get a $7,500 carbon fiber mountain bike.
00:46:48.800 --> 00:46:49.039
Yeah.
00:46:49.039 --> 00:46:57.039
So I I think uh to answer your question, yeah, I I think outdoor activity increased and uh you know, COVID changed a lot of things.
00:46:57.039 --> 00:47:03.119
Not just that, but it changed, you know, how people operate in business and at home and shit.
00:47:03.119 --> 00:47:04.079
It's just it's crazy.
00:47:04.320 --> 00:47:04.639
Yeah.
00:47:04.639 --> 00:47:08.320
But a lot of people were wanting to get out and be outdoors.
00:47:08.320 --> 00:47:11.440
Do you feel like has that stayed the case?
00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:16.719
Or was that a spike in 2020, 2021 that kind of went back to normal?
00:47:16.719 --> 00:47:23.599
Or has it stayed like more people are active in 2026 than in 2016 because of COVID?
00:47:24.320 --> 00:47:26.000
I guess I'm not sure the answer to that.
00:47:26.000 --> 00:47:27.760
I would hope that more people are active.
00:47:27.760 --> 00:47:28.239
Right.
00:47:28.239 --> 00:47:28.960
Yeah, you know.
00:47:28.960 --> 00:47:29.280
Yeah.
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:37.599
I mean, you know, people people need to realize how important it is to be healthy, uh to stay, you know, active.
00:47:37.599 --> 00:47:43.760
I mean, you know, you you read about all this stuff that we're eating that's not good for you, and you're blah blah blah.
00:47:43.760 --> 00:47:46.880
But yeah, man, it's so easy to get outside and do something.
00:47:47.119 --> 00:47:47.760
Yeah, yeah.
00:47:47.760 --> 00:47:48.400
Yeah.
00:47:48.400 --> 00:47:50.000
It it's interesting.
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:53.440
The both are easy.
00:47:53.440 --> 00:47:58.000
It's easy to slowly get into a lifestyle that kills you.
00:47:58.000 --> 00:48:02.159
Terrible food, staying inside, no, sedentary lifestyle.
00:48:02.159 --> 00:48:04.719
But it's not it feels hard.
00:48:04.719 --> 00:48:10.800
It seems like it's gonna be really hard to build an active lifestyle when you're not doing it, but it really is really easy.
00:48:10.800 --> 00:48:14.000
It's super available, and it's just like baby step at a time.
00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:14.559
It is.
00:48:14.559 --> 00:48:23.920
Man, you slowly to where you know, like I wonder how many of these mountain bike stud racers set out at five years old.
00:48:23.920 --> 00:48:26.079
I'm gonna be a stud mountain bike racer.
00:48:26.079 --> 00:48:30.800
I or I wonder if it was more like they just kind of like inched their way into it just one step at a time.
00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:33.920
I found like, hey, I could do mountain bike racing, you know.
00:48:33.920 --> 00:48:36.320
And uh it really is it's just as easy.
00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:38.800
You just gotta intentionally go the other direction.
00:48:38.800 --> 00:48:40.400
Like, I'm gonna start going outside.
00:48:40.400 --> 00:48:42.000
I'm gonna go walk the trail today.
00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:44.800
I think most of them probably inched their way into it.
00:48:44.800 --> 00:48:52.480
I mean, you know, like the trail runners, probably a lot of them did cross country or track or whatever, and and they wanted to build on that, you know.
00:48:52.960 --> 00:49:02.159
I ran into these guys, I was telling you off air, uh, at the is there a name for the paved hill at Governor's Mansion that goes down to the river.
00:49:02.159 --> 00:49:04.239
Uh well, I'm sure they have a name for it.
00:49:04.239 --> 00:49:05.119
I'm not sure what it is.
00:49:05.119 --> 00:49:12.559
So the it's in my in my understanding, it's the steepest, tallest hill in Topeka that you can just go up and down and up and down.
00:49:12.559 --> 00:49:14.320
And it's the the governor's mansion.
00:49:14.320 --> 00:49:21.280
I ran into these guys who uh are about your age and they're training for a 200-mile ultra-marathon race.
00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:28.079
And so I'm asking them like, how the heck did you get yourself into a position where you're doing a 200-mile race?
00:49:28.079 --> 00:49:31.039
Like, I was like, I just did my first ever marathon.
00:49:31.039 --> 00:49:32.719
You're running 200 miles.
00:49:32.719 --> 00:49:35.840
And they said, Well, we just like didn't stop.
00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:38.719
You know, we ran a marathon, we're like, well, what else could we do?
00:49:38.719 --> 00:49:42.880
And so they didn't set out like we we're gonna train our whole lives to run 200 miles.
00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:44.480
They just thought, like, well, what's next?
00:49:44.480 --> 00:49:46.239
Well, we could do a 30-mile race.
00:49:46.239 --> 00:49:50.239
And then we did then someone was like, Hey man, do you know you could do this 50 mile race?
00:49:50.239 --> 00:49:51.519
And then we just like didn't stop.
00:49:51.519 --> 00:49:53.519
They just like slowly inched their way into it.
00:49:53.519 --> 00:49:55.679
And I was like, man, that's really interesting.
00:49:55.679 --> 00:50:04.320
That's like one way that you could build kind of an active lifestyle, is just don't stop, just like slowly, you know, inch your way in that direction.
00:50:04.559 --> 00:50:06.800
You know, I think for a lot of them it's about a personal challenge.
00:50:06.800 --> 00:50:08.719
You know, they challenge themselves, they want to get better.
00:50:08.719 --> 00:50:16.960
Yeah, yeah, you know, and in that that same heel, I've I've actually seen folks with you've seen the football sleds that you pull.
00:50:16.960 --> 00:50:19.199
Yeah, I've seen people pulling those up.
00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:20.400
Up the hill?
00:50:20.400 --> 00:50:21.119
Are you serious?
00:50:21.119 --> 00:50:23.840
Yeah, that's crazy.
00:50:23.840 --> 00:50:25.039
That's next level.
00:50:25.039 --> 00:50:26.320
Yeah, I'm not ready to do anything.
00:50:26.320 --> 00:50:26.960
Nope.
00:50:26.960 --> 00:50:27.599
Hard pass.
00:50:27.599 --> 00:50:28.800
That's crazy.
00:50:28.800 --> 00:50:30.880
Well, man, this has been such a pleasure.
00:50:30.880 --> 00:50:32.239
Uh, should we do some rapid fire?
00:50:32.239 --> 00:50:33.519
Hit them with some rapid fire.
00:50:33.519 --> 00:50:36.880
We like to hit every guest with a few minutes of uh rapid fire.
00:50:36.880 --> 00:50:43.440
These are more Topeka uh living in Topeka questions rather than you know specifically about your niche.
00:50:43.440 --> 00:50:43.679
Okay.
00:50:43.679 --> 00:50:45.760
Um, so favorite things in Topeka.
00:50:45.760 --> 00:50:46.320
You ready?
00:50:46.320 --> 00:50:46.800
Sure.
00:50:46.800 --> 00:50:47.199
All right.
00:50:47.199 --> 00:50:49.599
Do you have a favorite local restaurant in Topeka?
00:50:49.840 --> 00:50:51.119
Favorite local restaurant?
00:50:51.119 --> 00:50:55.360
Um, I would say probably the um Iron Rail downtown.
00:50:55.360 --> 00:50:56.639
Solid answer.
00:50:56.639 --> 00:51:04.159
They've done a nice, nice job with uh some of the restaurants downtown and and trying to uh to get downtown to grow a little bit.
00:51:04.159 --> 00:51:05.440
I mean, that's what we need, right?
00:51:05.440 --> 00:51:06.000
Yeah, yeah.
00:51:06.000 --> 00:51:06.639
So it's great.
00:51:06.800 --> 00:51:08.480
Uh you have a local coffee shop you like you go to?
00:51:08.480 --> 00:51:09.039
Oh, yeah.
00:51:09.199 --> 00:51:09.599
I do.
00:51:09.599 --> 00:51:10.719
I like all coffees.
00:51:10.719 --> 00:51:10.960
Yep.
00:51:10.960 --> 00:51:14.960
I like all coffees, and I try to go to all of them, but it has to be circle.
00:51:14.960 --> 00:51:15.519
Yeah, okay.
00:51:15.519 --> 00:51:16.320
It is circle.
00:51:16.320 --> 00:51:17.599
I mean, hey, it's a good one.
00:51:17.599 --> 00:51:20.239
I like the vibe, and uh the coffee's great.
00:51:20.239 --> 00:51:20.639
Yeah.
00:51:20.639 --> 00:51:21.679
That's awesome, man.
00:51:21.679 --> 00:51:24.480
Yeah, we sat we sat outside with our doodles.
00:51:24.480 --> 00:51:25.440
Oh, yeah.
00:51:25.440 --> 00:51:26.559
A nice little outside area.
00:51:26.559 --> 00:51:27.519
Yeah, yeah.
00:51:27.840 --> 00:51:33.039
Uh, I feel like I'm gonna know the answer to this question, but uh, do you have like a go-to date night?
00:51:33.039 --> 00:51:35.840
Like Friday night, you got the evening open.
00:51:35.840 --> 00:51:37.119
What are you guys doing?
00:51:37.360 --> 00:51:38.800
Wow, a go-to date night.
00:51:38.800 --> 00:51:41.760
You know, when you get older, you don't have as many go-to date nights.
00:51:41.760 --> 00:51:51.440
Um, but uh I I think just getting out and hiking and with with wife and uh the and the dogs.
00:51:51.440 --> 00:52:00.960
I mean, we we have two golden doodles and and that's kind of our date night, you know, hike a little bit and uh go out and eat somewhere and and uh yeah, that's about it.
00:52:00.960 --> 00:52:02.000
That's great, yeah.
00:52:02.159 --> 00:52:02.480
I love it.
00:52:02.480 --> 00:52:07.679
Okay, you're doing a home project, home depot project menards or Lowe's.
00:52:07.679 --> 00:52:08.719
Where are you going?
00:52:09.360 --> 00:52:17.840
Well, um, you know, I I I I don't mind all three, they all have different things, but I go to Menards for the for most of my stuff.
00:52:17.840 --> 00:52:19.039
I'd love to rebate.
00:52:19.360 --> 00:52:20.800
Yeah, because it's a great answer.
00:52:20.800 --> 00:52:22.880
I love the rebate, it's a it's a great place.
00:52:22.880 --> 00:52:25.599
You can pick up cereal, you can pick up your windows too.
00:52:25.840 --> 00:52:26.320
Yeah.
00:52:26.559 --> 00:52:28.719
Flea meds for your golden doodles.
00:52:28.719 --> 00:52:30.079
Yeah, dog toys.
00:52:30.079 --> 00:52:30.719
Dog toys.
00:52:30.719 --> 00:52:35.519
Yeah uh I'm quickly losing momentum in this in this fight.
00:52:35.840 --> 00:52:37.360
Does he does he have his preference?
00:52:37.920 --> 00:52:39.760
He's a Menards guy and I'm a Home Depot guy.
00:52:39.760 --> 00:52:40.480
Okay, all right.
00:52:40.480 --> 00:52:42.960
More so now only because of this feud.
00:52:42.960 --> 00:52:43.679
Yeah, for sure.
00:52:43.679 --> 00:52:46.239
I just gotta dig my heels in now at this point.
00:52:46.239 --> 00:52:46.800
Absolutely.
00:52:46.800 --> 00:52:47.199
Yeah.
00:52:47.199 --> 00:52:47.679
Okay.
00:52:47.920 --> 00:52:50.480
Uh how many potholes did you hit on the way over here?
00:52:50.800 --> 00:52:51.360
Potholes.
00:52:51.360 --> 00:52:53.280
I'm not sure I I counted, but there were some.
00:52:53.280 --> 00:52:54.559
There was a couple.
00:52:54.559 --> 00:52:57.199
Yeah, there were there were some potholes.
00:52:57.199 --> 00:53:04.719
But, you know, it seems like everywhere we go, um, there's a road that's closed, and I'm not sure what's going on, but hopefully they're repairing potholes.
00:53:04.800 --> 00:53:08.079
We I will say they just opened Burling game up.
00:53:08.079 --> 00:53:11.920
Finally, Burlingame in 21st was closed forever, and it was driving me insane.
00:53:11.920 --> 00:53:13.599
It finally opened up like three days ago.
00:53:13.840 --> 00:53:21.360
We had one of the uh the city guys on our show who is kind of in charge of that communication of potholes and all the the community stuff.
00:53:21.360 --> 00:53:23.599
He said they fill, what was it, 600 a week?
00:53:23.599 --> 00:53:23.920
Yeah.
00:53:23.920 --> 00:53:25.039
600 potholes a week.
00:53:25.280 --> 00:53:27.039
600 potholes a week in Topeka.
00:53:27.119 --> 00:53:27.280
Yeah.
00:53:27.440 --> 00:53:27.760
Incredible.
00:53:27.760 --> 00:53:32.320
And there, there's like an app you can report like a pothole to like bring it to their attention.
00:53:32.320 --> 00:53:32.800
Yeah.
00:53:32.800 --> 00:53:32.960
Yeah.
00:53:33.119 --> 00:53:36.159
I mean, a lot of that's obviously about our freeze and thought situation.
00:53:36.639 --> 00:53:37.360
That's what he said too.
00:53:37.360 --> 00:53:39.760
Yeah, he's like, you know, it gets hot, hot, cold, cold.
00:53:39.760 --> 00:53:40.800
You can put salt down.
00:53:40.800 --> 00:53:41.519
What do you expect?
00:53:41.760 --> 00:53:42.000
I know.
00:53:42.000 --> 00:53:42.480
It's hard.
00:53:42.480 --> 00:53:44.000
It's like it's easy to complain about.
00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:45.360
It's like, well, what do you really do?
00:53:45.440 --> 00:53:48.880
You know, I'm gonna start a pothole nonprofit where we go out and maintain potholes.
00:53:48.880 --> 00:53:49.760
Oh, there you go.
00:53:49.760 --> 00:53:50.159
Hey!
00:53:50.559 --> 00:53:52.239
Top City Pothole Alliance.
00:53:52.239 --> 00:53:54.400
Top City Pothole Alliance.
00:53:54.400 --> 00:54:01.840
Might be slightly harder to recruit volunteers to fill potholes than to maintain cool trailers.
00:54:02.079 --> 00:54:02.960
Earn your asphalt.
00:54:02.960 --> 00:54:04.320
Earn your asphalt.
00:54:04.320 --> 00:54:05.519
Earn your asphalt.
00:54:05.519 --> 00:54:06.079
That's good.
00:54:06.079 --> 00:54:07.039
I like it.
00:54:07.840 --> 00:54:09.440
Oh, dude, that's hilarious.
00:54:09.440 --> 00:54:10.639
Uh, what else we got?
00:54:10.639 --> 00:54:11.440
Oh man.
00:54:11.440 --> 00:54:12.559
That's great.
00:54:12.559 --> 00:54:21.119
Uh, is there anything in Topeka that is missing you would like to see in Topeka that's not currently here?
00:54:21.440 --> 00:54:26.159
Well, you probably know my answer to this, but uh more trails.
00:54:26.159 --> 00:54:26.719
Yeah, yeah.
00:54:26.719 --> 00:54:33.599
Well, you know, when we talk about Bentonville, you know, we talked about the Greenway, we talked about connectivity.
00:54:33.599 --> 00:54:36.400
Connectivity with active other activities, yeah.
00:54:36.400 --> 00:54:41.519
Like mountain biking, like trail running, like coffee houses, like breweries, like whatever.
00:54:41.519 --> 00:54:54.800
You know, we we we've got a situation uh where the governor's mansion is, where uh Cah River State Park, Washburn, if you go on to the west, there's the Kansas Museum.
00:54:54.800 --> 00:55:10.960
There's, you know, the villages have hundreds of acres in there, but connecting all of that into a really good trail system would be awesome, not only for tourism, but more importantly, in my sense, I know others will say tourism's huge, but for my sense, for our community.
00:55:10.960 --> 00:55:11.199
Right.
00:55:11.199 --> 00:55:13.920
And getting our people out there to enjoy what we have.
00:55:14.400 --> 00:55:19.039
It seems like the Shunga is the closest that we have to like a greenway.
00:55:19.039 --> 00:55:23.840
Yes, where it kind of cuts through a part of the middle section of the city.
00:55:23.840 --> 00:55:29.039
Do you think is there any potential for the Shunga to like connect more of the city in the future?
00:55:29.039 --> 00:55:48.800
Like go up to Governor's Mansion or like, for instance, like it would be cool if uh if if you could hop on the Shunga and go play pickleball at the you know, the uh the courts at 21st and Yurish, like if they're if they connect it out there, instead of just getting on a sidewalk, you know, on uh 21st or something.
00:55:48.800 --> 00:55:52.239
Uh or you know, take it out, you like you said, to a coffee shop.
00:55:52.239 --> 00:55:56.559
Like, do is there any potential for Shunga to kind of keep connecting things?
00:55:56.880 --> 00:55:57.599
I I think there is.
00:55:57.599 --> 00:56:05.360
I think that's a question for the county and the city, but there is a master plan that they had some public comment on over the last couple months.
00:56:05.360 --> 00:56:14.079
And uh there's a consultant basically putting together all of those comments that Topeka had to hopefully develop something like you're talking about.
00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:15.440
Or like to the zoo.
00:56:15.440 --> 00:56:17.840
Like your whole family could ride their bikes.
00:56:17.840 --> 00:56:18.079
Yeah.
00:56:18.079 --> 00:56:23.599
So like we currently we live half a mile from one of the sections of the Shunga.
00:56:23.599 --> 00:56:25.599
So we ride the Shunga all the time.
00:56:25.599 --> 00:56:28.800
And we'll do like we're right in the middle of the city, so we're like, hey, do you want to go right or left?
00:56:28.800 --> 00:56:30.559
You know, do we want to go over here or over here?
00:56:30.559 --> 00:56:31.679
It'd be sweet.
00:56:31.679 --> 00:56:34.079
I have little kids and they can all ride bikes now.
00:56:34.079 --> 00:56:37.679
If we could ride that to the zoo, it would be that would be an amazing Saturday.
00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:38.320
It would be.
00:56:38.320 --> 00:56:44.480
And it's not, you know, connectivity is not just about activities that you can do through the trail system.
00:56:44.480 --> 00:56:45.039
Right.
00:56:45.039 --> 00:56:47.599
But, you know, there's a lot of people that could commute to work.
00:56:47.599 --> 00:56:47.840
Right.
00:56:47.840 --> 00:56:52.239
They wouldn't have to deal with the potholes in the traffic to get on the trail and go to work.
00:56:52.559 --> 00:57:04.559
Yeah, I will say like most of the trails that I ever get on, which is the Kaw Valley, Governor's Mansion trails, the Shunga, they are they seem very actively used.
00:57:04.559 --> 00:57:08.159
Anytime I'm on a trail, I'm always seeing tons of other people.
00:57:08.159 --> 00:57:19.599
So, you know, whether I'm running the Shunga or hiking or whatever, I don't think there's rarely a time where I don't see a ton of other people also using so it it is cool.
00:57:19.599 --> 00:57:21.599
We have a pretty active community in Topeka.
00:57:21.840 --> 00:57:22.159
It is.
00:57:22.159 --> 00:57:31.280
And it if we could just tie it all together, and I think that's what our community leaders need to start doing, and hopefully this master plan will be the start to that.
00:57:31.280 --> 00:57:31.519
Cool.
00:57:31.840 --> 00:57:32.719
That would be pretty sweet.
00:57:32.719 --> 00:57:34.719
I've never thought thought about it quite like that.
00:57:34.719 --> 00:57:38.480
Like if this was the connection to all these other places, that would be really sweet.
00:57:38.480 --> 00:57:39.280
It would be cool.
00:57:39.280 --> 00:57:40.239
It would be Rick.
00:57:40.239 --> 00:57:40.800
Thank you so much.
00:57:41.039 --> 00:57:43.119
One more two more questions for you.
00:57:43.280 --> 00:57:43.519
Okay.
00:57:43.679 --> 00:57:45.519
This one has to do with your mountain biking.
00:57:45.519 --> 00:57:46.159
Sure.
00:57:46.159 --> 00:57:46.800
Yeah.
00:57:46.800 --> 00:57:51.920
AirPods, are you an uh podcast music, or do you raw dog it?
00:57:52.559 --> 00:57:55.920
You know, I love music, all sorts of all sorts of different types of music.
00:57:55.920 --> 00:57:57.199
Okay, so you're a music guy?
00:57:57.199 --> 00:57:59.519
On a trail, I do not.
00:57:59.519 --> 00:58:01.280
And that's because of safety.
00:58:01.280 --> 00:58:03.280
Oh, so nothing.
00:58:03.280 --> 00:58:06.800
No, I mean if somebody's coming up from behind me, I want to hear them.
00:58:06.800 --> 00:58:07.199
Yeah.
00:58:07.199 --> 00:58:18.880
You know, and and the scary thing is for the for the hiker or whatever, where you're, you know, especially when you're out in the middle of nowhere and you've got earbuds in, you can't hear what's coming or or going or whatever.
00:58:18.880 --> 00:58:29.119
But I mean, um, so to get away from the the earbuds, I have seen folks with the little, it's like a little Bluetooth speaker that they put on their body.
00:58:29.119 --> 00:58:31.519
Now, I might do that to where you can hear it.
00:58:31.519 --> 00:58:32.719
It's not the covering your ears.
00:58:33.360 --> 00:58:35.119
You can still hear and hear everything around.
00:58:35.119 --> 00:58:35.920
That's smart.
00:58:35.920 --> 00:58:36.480
Yeah, cool.
00:58:36.480 --> 00:58:40.079
You're just blasting an audiobook through a Bluetooth story.
00:58:40.239 --> 00:58:42.800
Through a little Led Zeppelin story to heaven.
00:58:42.800 --> 00:58:44.000
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:58:44.480 --> 00:58:44.719
Love it.
00:58:44.719 --> 00:58:45.920
Rick, thanks for being here.
00:58:45.920 --> 00:58:50.719
Uh, you've kind of already mentioned if people want to get involved, Facebook's the best place to find you and get connected.
00:58:50.960 --> 00:58:51.280
Right.
00:58:51.280 --> 00:58:55.519
I I've enjoyed it, guys, and and I appreciate what you guys do uh for the community.
00:58:55.519 --> 00:58:58.960
You know, getting the word out about organizations like ours.
00:58:58.960 --> 00:59:04.880
And I guess for for the for the listening audience, man, come out and and you know, if you don't want to be a member, that's fine.
00:59:04.880 --> 00:59:08.960
Come out and enjoy the trail system with us on our social nights.
00:59:08.960 --> 00:59:09.280
Yeah.
00:59:09.280 --> 00:59:14.320
You know, let's go hike, let's go do some running or biking or whatever you want to do.
00:59:14.320 --> 00:59:15.440
Uh, bring your dogs.
00:59:15.440 --> 00:59:18.719
They got to be on a leash, but bring your dogs and uh yeah, let's go do it.
00:59:18.719 --> 00:59:19.199
I love it.
00:59:19.440 --> 00:59:21.039
Do your children have to be on a leash?
00:59:21.039 --> 00:59:22.000
Uh no.
00:59:22.000 --> 00:59:24.960
Well, thank you so much, Miss.
00:59:25.840 --> 00:59:26.239
Thank you.
00:59:26.400 --> 00:59:27.360
Appreciate it.