Dirt Magic

The Vision of Connected Communities

On this episode of Dirt Magic, we hitch a ride on the vision quest that is Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship's Connected Communities—a vision that was born seven years ago and has continued on a path to fruition for the last five. And along this quest to bring communities together using trails as the tool, the vision has gained new friends, new ideas and in fact, a new route toward where we are...

Dirt Magic - S3E4 - Stories of the SBTS - Dain Zaffke

On this episode of Dirt Magic we explore the story of long time friend of the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, Dain Zaffke. 

In the two decades that Dain has been part of the SBTS family, we’ve seen him wear many hats from racer to bike industry executive to a founding father of Grinduro. Dain’s life and his identity have clearly been shaped by the inspiring landscape of the Lost ...

On this episode of Dirt Magic we join the Orogenesis Collective and their mission to boldly go where no mountain bike trail has gone before. We will explore the vision of “a new way on old ground,” born from Bike Packing Roots and dreamed about over pints in small mountain towns. A vibrant community of people growing their relationship with backcountry landscapes, each other, and themselves along an uninterrupted ribbon of singletr...

On this episode of Dirt Magic we delve into the world of ladies in cycling. From recreational rolling to world class competition, we will explore the successes and challenges that young girls to seasoned pros must navigate from everyday riding to standing on the podium. Our guests today collectively are a multiple time Olympian, world cup cyclocross champions, gravel champions, mountain bike champions, barrier breakers, a former Bi...

On this episode of Dirt Magic we take a virtual stroll through a historic recreation area, the Lakes Basin, located in the Plumas National Forest of Northern California. With over 20 small lakes, impressive peaks, 30+ miles of trails, waterfalls, picturesque campgrounds and historic lodges, the Lakes Basin Recreation Area is a crown jewel in the Plumas National Forest. And now it is ever more important to talk about keeping these e...

On this episode of Dirt Magic,  we invite the SBTS pro trail crew in for a casual conversation about digging in the dirt, high flying river jumps and exploding trees, yep, exploding trees. The SBTS pro trail crew creates the most public interface of the stewardship and is literally where the dollars meet the dirt. Since the birth of the stewardship, the pro trail crew has built over 215 miles of brand new trail, maintained over 2,7...

On this episode of Dirt Magic we will be discussing forest stewardship and how looking to the past may help protect the future of our forested public lands.

Our guests today have a combined dossier of experience that would rival any renowned institution of learning. 

Together they are a visionary that collected the right ingredients to create a 20 plus year trail stewardship organization, a self-funded professional mountain bike adve...

Our show today features a panel discussion from the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force regional meeting in South Lake Tahoe. The meeting was attended by 800 in-person and virtual guests. 

SBTS’ Michelle Abramson was a featured speaker on the Focus on Recreation panel, discussing how SBTS is promoting recreation and rural economic stimulation through our Connected Communities project. 

She also addressed the challeng...

This Episode focuses on the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship's mission to produce world class events. A brief history of how it all began, where we’ve been and where we are going. We will also discuss an upcoming event in Quincy, CA and a grand purple homecoming in 2025. Our guests today consist of a seasoned event producer, manager, director and a rookie that has made his way to big leagues. Introducing SBTS executive director...

Our guests today could be labeled as prospectors of Dirt Magic. From digging deep into virtual trails to digging dirt on the trails and exploring a bit deeper to search for that ever elusive vein of gold.  Maybe not gold in its traditional sense, but just as valuable nonetheless. They have a plan. It could even be called a master plan.  And after a long day of prospecting and planning, these two good people of the SBTS take the tim...