Joe is the Calirado Kid, a Sacramento-based mountain bike content creator known for posting hilarious bike-related videos on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube. This summer he’s teaming up with a nonprofit organization called Adventure Scientists to encourage riders to help document biodiversity in California.

• How did you first get into mountain biking?
• Do you think mountain bikers take riding too seriously? 
• Why do you think mountain bikers like to make so many excuses about riding? What are some of the most effective ones you use yourself?
• What do you do when you catch yourself making an excuse during a group ride?
• Tell us about Adventure Scientists and the California Biodiversity project.
• How exactly do mountain bikers collect biodiversity samples? What does that process look like on the trail?
• What types of samples are being collected, and how will they actually be used to support conservation?
• What’s the weirdest or most interesting thing you’ve encountered on a mountain bike trail?
• How do you balance entertainment with making a positive impact?
• What’s your favorite trail system to ride in California?
• What else are you working on right now — anything exciting coming down the pipeline for your social media channels?

Get involved at adventurescientists.org and follow @caliradokid on Instagram.

An automatically generated transcript is available below.

Never Miss an Episode

• Listen on Spotify
• Listen on Apple Podcasts
• Listen on Google Podcasts
• Listen on Stitcher
• Listen on Overcast
• Get the RSS Feed
• View all Podcast Episodes

Transcript

Jeff Barber 0:00
Hey everybody, welcome to the Singletracks podcast. My name is Jeff, and today my guest is Joe, the Colorado kid. Joe is a Sacramento-based mountain bike content creator known for posting hilarious bike related videos on Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube, this summer, he’s teaming up with a nonprofit organization called adventure scientists to encourage writers to help document biodiversity in California. Thanks for joining me. Joe.

Calirado Kid
Stoked to be here. Man, it’s gonna be great.

Jeff Barber
Well, so a lot of your videos, which I think I think most of our listeners have probably seen are really funny, in part because they’re so relatable. So I’m curious to know kind of your mountain biking story, like, How’d you get into mountain biking? How long have you been riding all of that stuff?

Calirado Kid 1:52
Yeah, it’s so funny when it comes to the relatability thing. Like a lot of people, like, where do the video get ideas come from? And it’s like, I’ve done all these things. I’ve walked into a bike shop and didn’t know that the bike didn’t come with pedals. I’ve, you know. So these, a lot of these jokes stem from the stuff I’ve experienced from beginning to now and so, and I’m still fumbling along the way. I like, if you asked me to set up my suspension, it would be impossible, like it’s just not gonna happen. Right To this day, I still don’t know everything about bikes, and so I’m still learning. Every time I learn something, it’s, it’s something funny, I can put in a video, which is cool. So it’s been a cool journey. And I’ve told this story before, but essentially, it all started with my buddy Brian, bkxc. He was out riding, and he started a YouTube channel, and we were friends growing up. So I didn’t even mountain bike at the time, but I just kind of started watching his channel to support him, like, you know, literally, like me and his mom just saying, like, Dude, you’re doing great, you know, yeah, yeah. And so I was watching the videos religiously. I was watching them ride and the adventures he was going on. And, like, it took me a while to really settle in and realize that maybe I could try to do that. And when I finally got a used prawns in, I picked it up. I went to a ride in Tahoe, and almost died because the elevation is, like, 7000 feet. I get up to the top a suffer fest, and then you see that first viewpoint, and you look out on the lake, and it was like, I was hooked, you know what? I mean, yeah. And I think it was a good, like, filter for mountain biking, because you have to be somewhat of a glutton for punishment, unless you’re on an E bike these days, apparently. But you know, you’ve got to, like, be able to climb and get into weird adventures and, like, suffer a little bit to get the joy from the descents or whatever you’re doing. Like, it’s not an easy thing to do. And so, like, if you that first ride was great because I suffered a lot on the climb, but I was still hooked, so I knew I’d be good for this.

Jeff Barber 3:29
Yeah, awesome. Well, I mean, do you think, do you worry, like, once you are more experienced and you’re not, like, learning new stuff anymore, that you’re not going to be funny anymore? Like, are you going to get to a point where you’re like, I’m the expert?

Calirado Kid 3:40
No, no, there’s always ideas. There’s always ideas. There’s always different ways to spin it. You could do something that’s, like, a skit based thing. You could do something that’s like, there’s, there’s a million ways to make the same video, or, like, the same concept into a different type of funny. So that’s always fun, because creatively, we’ve always got to adjust and adapt, and that’s part of the challenge. Now, the funnest part of the challenge is, like, you know what? After you doing it for years, how do you keep coming up with new stuff? It’s that adaptability. You can, you can maybe try a different technique. You can, like, that’s one of the funnest things for me. Yeah, some of the videos I shoot are way out there, and I don’t know if they’re gonna do well or not, but sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. But it’s like, the creative challenge for me is the funnest part. You know, it’s, I’m a bit selfish in that regard. Like when I when I put together something especially challenging and something that I and something that I think is really fun to shoot, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gonna do well, but it’s like I had so much fun making it. It doesn’t matter, you know.

Jeff Barber 4:29
Yeah, that’s awesome. I mean, do you have a, do you have a background in comedy or science, since we’re talking about science stuff?

Calirado Kid 4:36
No, not really, not really. I had a job that was very technical based, and I found myself losing what I figured, what I thought was my creativity. Like, I always prided myself on being able to improvise and all that stuff, and I just felt like I was kind of losing a little bit of that. So when I started the channel, I kind of started small and just made little jokes on rides and stuff. And I definitely, like, may have overcompensated a little bit on this whole thing, but yeah, now it’s, uh, now we’re just. A just in this buffoonery level, that’s been great. People put up with me.

Jeff Barber 5:04
Yeah? Well, it’s awesome to see that because, I mean, I can’t think of a lot of people before you that were doing that kind of content within the mountain bike world.

Calirado Kid 5:13
Yeah, it’s pretty rare, like, not on the social space, for example. Like Bobo was a legend, living legend, and still is, like he was, he pioneered this stuff on YouTube, doing long form skits and things like that, and he was definitely an inspiration. But yeah, in the in the social media space, it’s pretty rare to see and I’m always keeping an eye out, because I love to help people, like, be more successful and come up. So anytime they have questions for me, I ask if we can get together and shoot a skit together or something to help them out and teach them some things. We did a content creator clinic recently in Bentonville that was really fun, and it was a good chance to, like, get hands on with people and show them the process. Them the process. So we kind of, like, I had a concept for a video. We all kind of collaborated together. I, like, got some ideas from the crowd, and then we all made a video, and I showed them the whole thing, like, from start to finish, essentially shooting, oh, wow, concepting, a little bit of rough editing. And then, luckily, the video did well, if it did bad, if it did bad, it would have been funny. But no, I did like 500,000 views across multiple platforms. So it’s pretty good.

Jeff Barber 6:05
Yeah, yeah. It’s really cool to see all this different kind of mountain bike content now, because just a few years ago, it was like, seems like almost everything you saw was just, like a shred it, right? It was like pro riders doing stuff that all of us would love to be able to do, but can’t, but yeah, obviously you’re bringing a more relatable side to mountain biking, and seems like it’s really, really working out.

Calirado Kid 6:27
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is, like people understanding that there’s no wrong way to enjoy a bike. Like you can. You can go do jumps, non stop, all. That’s all you do, and that’s a blast. So you could go do XC riding, and that’s all you do, and it’s a blast. You could go do, God forbid, gravel biking, but it’s a blast. No, I’m kidding. Gravel biking, it’s fun. But like, you know what I mean? Like, there’s no wrong way to enjoy a bike, and I love that. There’s so many ways to do that, and I think the shredded are important. But I also think, like, when I go on a ride, we get into a lot of high jinks, and so we try to capture that fun level of the sport. Because when I go out there, none of us are serious. We’re just having a blast. We’re just like, you know, so it’s, it’s good that that translates into what we’re doing.

Jeff Barber 7:05
Yeah, yeah. I wanted to ask you about that. I mean, it seems like, as mountain bikers, a lot of times we do take riding pretty seriously. Do you think, in general, we take it too seriously?

Calirado Kid 7:17
I think people get their own enjoyment in different ways, right? Like, so if somebody’s super hardcore, like triathlete sort of thing, where all they do is train non-stop, but they must get enjoyment out of that, right? It can’t all be punished, right? Yeah. But me, I’m going out and I’m stopping on rides. I’m constantly looking at, and this brings into the biodiversity stuff, but I’m constantly looking at creatures on the trail side. I’m like, Oh, I found this spider. Look at this. And people that have followed the channel long enough know if they’re on Instagram, on my stories, I’m constantly, like, getting distracted on rides, especially if I’m by myself. If I’m by myself, I’m not getting anything done. I’m gonna, like, look at this beehive I found, like, yeah, constantly getting distracted. And that’s tomorrow. To me, that’s part of it. Like, I stopped for the views I I’m not necessarily, like, I don’t need to set a Strava time. Like, if I’m in downeyville, I pull over and I look at the river, like, hundreds of feet down below, off the ravine, and I just sit there and mired for a little bit, and I keep riding. And, yeah, I’ve always been like that, and I think that’s, to me, part of the enjoyment, like, right? So it’s a and, but again, everybody enjoys it differently. And so it’s, I love exploration, man. It turns out that’s the driving factor. I love to see new things and experience new stuff.

Jeff Barber 8:21
Yeah, Yeah, same. That’s awesome. So you’re known for saying that behind every great mountain biker is a great excuse, which I love that. Why do you think? Why do you think we like to make so many excuses around mountain biking because we don’t look bad in front of our friends?

Calirado Kid 8:38
Look, if your friend shows up and he’s super fit and he’s been riding every day for like, three weeks and you haven’t ridden? Haven’t ridden in two weeks, you know what? I mean, you’re gonna get tested, so you got to have something lined up, and hopefully it’s like, something that’s not related to your in inadequacy. It’s got to be like, see, elevation, like, you’re at 4000 feet. That’s the problem. That’s why I can’t breathe. It’s not because I didn’t work out. It’s because the elevation is 4000 you know, right? And it’s a lot harder. That’s all, yeah.

Jeff Barber 9:03
What are some of the most effective ones that you use yourself, that people are like, ‘oh, that’s a good one’?

Calirado Kid 9:08
Elevation, 100% works. I could say like, oh, this is, these are some new tires I’m running here. I’m still getting used to them, or brakes, or so you like, you could, you could really like every element, if you can play it right. Like, sometimes I have the suns in my eyes on that run that was really tricky. You know, they never believe me anymore. I’ve used enough of them, but I do have my gloves that have, like, at least eight usable excuses on them that are pretty ridiculous, right?

Jeff Barber 9:27
Yeah, I saw those. Those are great, in case you forget.

Calirado Kid 9:32
It’s like, coming up with these funny ideas. Like, you never know how it’s gonna be taken. Luckily, they sold well. But it was, like, definitely, it was definitely on brand. And that’s like, I don’t really do merch. I haven’t done it in years, but, like, I probably get back into it. But, like, probably get back into it, but like, it’s got to be at least on brand. And it was ridiculous. So I appreciated the people that supported it.

Jeff Barber 9:48
Yeah. I mean, for me, like, I really avoid trying to make excuses on a ride. I mean, self deprecating is oh yeah, is great. Like, and if people know that you’re saying it just as a. Joke, but yeah, I noticed when you hear other people say that you’re like, Man, you don’t need to make an excuse, right? Like, it’s okay that we’re waiting for you. Or, like, yeah, don’t worry about it. You know. What do you do? You ever catch yourself making an excuse? Like, genuinely, and being like, I don’t want, I don’t want to make an excuse?

Calirado Kid 10:19
100%. Like, we call each other all the time. We went on a ride one time with my buddy, Kyle, and like, he literally, without even thinking about it, had listed off three different excuses that were on my gloves. Like we, I think we were riding crested butterson. We both had our gloves on and stuff. And I was like, Kyle, do you realize what you’re doing right now? So it’s like, it definitely comes out. It happens. And one thing I noticed also, it’s funny with, like, e bikers, it’s getting less and less now. But like early stage of E biking, you would run into an E bike or on the trail, and one they’d be like, Oh, I’m cheating today. I’m like, now you’re having fun. Go have fun. Yeah. But secondly, they’d be like, you know, I still got my regular bike, so I’m still fit. I’m like, you have to explain yourself to me. I’m just gonna have fun. But it’s definitely a thing.

Jeff Barber 10:53
Yep, for sure. So tell us a bit about the adventure scientists and the California biodiversity project.

Calirado Kid 11:01
Man, this is so cool, and it’s so right up my alley. You know what I mean? Like, when they reached out to me, I kind of, like, wasn’t sure what it was like you get, like, as as everything you get a vet, everything you go to the website, and you’re like, Okay, it looks, it looks, it looks legit. So I ended up getting on phone calls with them and stuff. And really, what they wanted to do is, you know, mountain bikers as a whole, can get into remote places. And we do. We get into really weird places sometimes to ride, and so we can get to these, we can access these remote locations and help them gather biodiversity data for California. And so, like, I did some research, you do a little bit of a training, and it’s really quick, but it helps you understand, like, you get a trowel and some gloves and some sanitizing things, and like, the goal is to get up into the mountains and gather biodiversity samples for the adventure scientists. And I told you, like, this was already 100% right on my Alex, I get distracted on rides constantly. I’m always looking at animals and creatures and plants, and I’m taking pictures of flowers to see, like, what genus or species they are, just because I’m like, I never seen that before, yeah. So this happens constantly. So this is going to be a great little partnership during the summer, and they’re looking for anybody that wants to jump in and do this, especially if you’re in California. I know they California, I know they have like, multiple projects going on all over the place. If you go to the website, you can actually see a list of their projects. So it’s not just California, okay, but for this case, like Southern to Northern California. But that’s stupid. That’s all of California. But, uh, yeah, in this case, they’re like, looking for us mountain bikers in California. And I think they’ve got, like, hikers and trail runners and stuff doing it. And like, the goal here for me is to, like, have more mountain bikers than either of those combined. And that’s right, that’s a bit of a competition, yeah, but it’s cool. Like, throw a trowel in the pack, throw a thing, and then, like, you’re already up there. I’m gonna be up at ever Stoke, my buddy’s property, Brian’s property, all next week, and I’m gonna be gathering a tons of samples, because I’m gonna have the kids up with me. We’re gonna be hiking lakes basins area, but we’re also gonna be doing some riding and stuff. Some riding and stuff. So I’m just gonna, I’m bringing the kit with me. I’m gonna fill it up. I’m gonna, so they’re gonna need to send me a new one after this.

Jeff Barber 12:47
Yeah, well, do they have, like, certain areas where they’re like, Okay, we need stuff from these areas, or people just kind of gathering it wherever they can?

Calirado Kid 12:58
Yeah, I think it’s all over. And if, when you take the training, they kind of explain, like, these are the kind of things you’re looking for. So we get like, multiple samples out of the area that could be different based on, you know, maybe there’s a Bucha over here, and maybe there’s a tree structure over here, and they kind of, like, kind of give you a window of what to look for, because each area could have something a little different. And they’re also, like, gathering insect data, which I got to go on and take the insect training. I just got back up and out of town for like, a full week, and I’m just getting like, caught up with everything, but I 100% want to do the insect thing, like, they send you a net and everything. I’m so on board with that. Like, I’m like, so excited. I’m like, I had my son sitting here when I was doing the training, and I was like, All right, Frankie, you got to remember this stuff too, because, yeah, we’re going to be out on a ride. And I’m like, All right, here’s a good spot. Let’s do it, you know, yeah, and to get them involved too, because I love that stuff.

Jeff Barber 13:43
Oh, wow, yeah, that’s cool. And so once the project has a lot of this data, what are they going to be doing with that? And what’s kind of the goal?

Calirado Kid 13:52
Yeah, so their processing is conservation. So it’s like, you know, you know, if there’s something specific it sounds like with the biodiversity data that you know is associated with the conservation of this thing, then they have provable data that it’s out there, and we want to make sure it stays safe, you know. So that, again, is right up our alley, especially with all the stuff in the news going on about lands being bought and all this stuff, you know, it turns out us outdoor folk have a good, strong voice, and we love the outdoors. And I am convinced that being outside is the greatest thing on the planet. Like, I love being up in the mountains and by the rivers and by the lakes and everything. And everybody knows that when you go outdoors, you come back feeling better. It’s like, there’s no question about it, yeah, even if you suffered a big crash on the bike, you know? But like, you know, anybody that works and stuff, when you go out for the weekend, you come in on a high man, like, you’re just really feeling it. And it’s so important for people to, like, Stop finding excuses not to get outside, like, you just got to go, yeah, get out on the kayak, get on the paddle board, get on the mountain bike. Like, you can just go explore, you know.

Jeff Barber 14:49
Well, who do you think’s got the edge in this competition? Is it the hikers? Is it the trail runners?

Calirado Kid 14:55
Better not be either of those. It better be the mountain bikers. Yeah. So that’s the goal. Like, I got to spread the word a little bit. More. I meant to bring my pack up to sly park yesterday to get some samples, but I left it in the counter. I’m still, like, getting re associated. I’ve been all over the place in the last couple days. But yeah, I definitely got to do some more story posts and get people on board. But like, to me, it’s super cool because we’re already, like I said, all of us mountain bikers are already in weird locations. You just throw that in the pack and, like, it’s a cool little bonding experience too, I think. Yeah, and they’ve got a Strava group set up so there could be challenges set up and stuff like that. So there’s gonna be, I think it’s gonna be pretty fun.

Jeff Barber 15:24
Yeah, yeah. I feel like they could just analyze our tires, right? Like, I don’t know, I don’t know if you have a dog. I used to have a dog, and every time I would come back from a ride, my dog would spend like, 20 minutes sniffing the tires, right? Because he’s like, What did you go through? You know?

Calirado Kid 15:40
I know. No kidding, it’s mostly horse poop, right?

Jeff Barber 15:44
Exactly. It’s different kinds of poop, I’m sure. Yeah, different dog poops along the way.

Calirado Kid 15:49
That’s the funniest thing about like, this gathering samples is like being scientific, which is part of the fun too, where they give you, like, a what do you call it? A beaker, not a beaker pipette. I should have paid attention in school anyways, but you gotta, like, put on the glove so you can glove so you keep everything completely separate, no no content, cross contamination and all that stuff. I’m like, That’s right up my alley. It’s so good.

Jeff Barber 16:08
Nice. So, you mentioned that that you’re into, like, looking at stuff on the trail, finding weird stuff. What are some of the weirdest or most interesting things you’ve found on a mountain bike ride?

Calirado Kid 16:21
Oh, man, there’s been a lot, like, I spotted a fox the other day. Like, when you go to Whistler, there’s bears all over the place. But like in downeyville, there’s these weird, I don’t know if they’re caterpillars or if they’re like, what you call them, but like, they form these, like web nests on this specific plant, and then when you get up next to them, and as they get bigger, they like, they wiggle like this. If you make noise like, they’ll like, the whole they’ll be like, Oh, wow. 30 of them in this little web thing on it, like a branch. And then they’ll all just be like, they’ll do like this as soon as you make noise. And it’s like, the weirdest thing. And I forget the species or whatever they are, but every time my friends will come up to me and look at me, and they’ll see me yelling at a plant, and they’re like, What the hell are you doing? Like, yeah, but I do it every time, like, we went up to downyville. They’re still, like, tiny right now, so they’re not as active, but you’ll see that in the Tahoe area. You’ll see that, like, near downeyville and stuff. And they’re just like, it looks like a spider nest of webbing, but it’s actually these little, like, hundreds of little caterpillar things all over the place. So, yeah, wow. That’s kind of fascinating. Cool. It’s like the dream is spotting owls. I love spotting owls on the trail. Like, if you can go on a night ride and spot and spawn an owl, it’s like, the greatest thing I’ve seen, bobcats, I’ve seen all kinds of stuff, but I’m always looking rattlesnakes, whatever.

Jeff Barber 17:29
Yeah, yeah, that’s cool. Yeah, there’s a there’s a caterpillar here that looks super cool. I wish I knew the name. Now, everybody’s gonna be like, What is this caterpillar? But looks super cool. But if you touch it, it stings, and it feels like 100 bee stings.

Calirado Kid 17:45
You don’t find out until you find out. Right when I was in Spain, I went to go climb this structure to get a cool picture, and I didn’t realize that the all around the structure was stinging nettles. And so I was like, Oh. I was like, why is my leg burning for like, 2030 minutes? And the guy’s like, Oh yeah, you just went through a bunch of stinging nettles. I’m like, oh god, yeah. Least I know what it feels like.

Jeff Barber 18:04
Yeah. I guess you got to be careful collecting these samples. I mean, are you taking like, leaves or different, like, growing stuff, or is it all just dirt?

Calirado Kid 18:13
No, it sounds like soil samples. So basically, like, if there’s like, like, Would you call, like, pine needles and stuff, you kind of clear that around the zone you’re looking to gather. Then you kind of like, get the soil samples underneath, and you get it inside the vial and seal it up, and then wrap it. And then they provide all the shipping data and stuff, so you’ll be able to get that back to them. So it’s, like, the soil specifically, and also, like I said, the insect stuff, which is pretty cool.

Jeff Barber 18:33
Okay. And then are you giving like, exact coordinates of where you picked it up? Do you need a GPS?

Calirado Kid 18:39
That’s a good question. So they have an app that ties into it. So when you, like, gather the sample, you can geo tag it with the app, and so they know exactly where you gathered the sample and everything. And again, right? Am I out? This is, like, I’m nerding out already on this stuff. So, yeah, you tie it into the app, you geo locate exactly where you took the sample, and they’ll have that data from all over the place. And it’s cool, because, like, again, California is very big. Like It, like, length wise, it’s very big. Yeah, so there’s a lot of different biomes. And I know that because I went, you know, obviously I travel a lot to ride all over the place. I think California, northern California, everything but road trips, Moto trips. Recently we went out to Mammoth, and we’re exploring all these, you know, different fire roads and exploration stuff. And there’s so many different biomes that even from Mammoth back to here, it’s like, it’s absurd. It’s absolutely nuts. And like, you can see, like, now, every time you transition in a new biome, whether it’s like a desert style area, like 7000 8000 feet outside Mono Lake, or somewhere else, like, when you see that transition, you’re like, this would be a good place to get a sample, because it’s different than the last place you’re at. You know what I mean?

Jeff Barber 19:37
Yeah, yeah. Maybe if you find something new, like some insect they’ve never seen. Like, do you get to name it? That would be the best that’d be the greatest thing. Yeah, be a real feather in your cap. I know it’d be epic. Yeah? So you know, you’ve obviously built a really strong community around your Colorado kid channel. But how do you balance. Sort of entertainment, and what you’re doing with making a positive impact with projects like this.

Calirado Kid 20:06
Yeah, it’s hard because, like, a lot of people come to me just for jokes, so it’s like, even when it comes to, like, bike recommendations and stuff, maybe they’re not coming to me for actual advice. But like, I, you know, it’s tricky to mix that in, because when you’re always filming skits and stuff, when you put in something different, it does far worse, because it’s just not the norm. But you also have to realize that your channel, you can put whatever you want out there, so right? It’s balancing that stuff and really the story post, there’s always such a good, strong reaction from people, because it’s like, when I’m out there doing an animal I call them the calorie could animal adventure tours, and I started just spotting stuff and everything, you’ll always have people chiming in from all over the place. And luckily, the audience is global, so it’s like, you get people from Spain being like, Oh, we have those here, or, like, whatever it is, right? Like, and it’s pretty cool to have that dialog and have people interact. And I’m always pretty, pretty good about messaging back to people. So it’s kind of fun to have those conversations and figure out what people’s perspectives are from all over the globe. It’s been a really cool, like, side result of building this kind of big following,

Jeff Barber 21:02
I mean, one challenge, it seems like those, like the algorithm, right? Like, if you make a funny video, you’re going to reach millions. If you make like a sciencey video, like, yeah, maybe it won’t go as far. Do you find that?

Calirado Kid 21:15
And that’s the question. Like, one of, one of the skill sets we’ve been able to do, and even when we do, like sponsored things, it’s like, how do you make it still fun and entertaining, in addition to informative, and like I’ve done work with imba, which is the International Mountain Bike Association, and we did some informational stuff that did really well. And it was, you know, trail etiquette, or it was, like, classes of E bikes, but because I delivered the information in a fun way, like, you see, such a big adoption of it. So it’s been, yeah, that’s always the creative challenge for us is like, how do you make something still funny but also topical and cover some information? So that’s one of the skill sets we have. It’s like a honing, honing the knife, right? We just, yeah, I’m not gonna make something super serious. There’s always gonna be something fun about it. That’s that brings it to my style of content. Is, if it’s not my style, it’s not me, you know?

Jeff Barber 22:03
So, yeah, yeah, it’s like hiding vegetables in your kids cookies, exactly right, exactly right, up and putting it in the dough, exactly right. So, yeah, obviously you’re based in in California. What’s, what are your favorite places to ride in the state?

Calirado Kid 22:17
Oh, man. So Downieville is the top, honestly, like, down, like, I’ve already ridden down evil four times this year. We did multiple shuttle days up there already, and you just gotta wait for the snow to melt. And it’s like, it’s like, the I don’t know something about that place that I just love. It’s a small mountain bike community in the summer, only a few businesses. It’s just, I love supporting the local like Greg and his crew at downeyville Outfitters and stuff. I love getting out there and showing support to the local community to keep this thing going. But the run is just exceptional. It’s the views, the rivers, the tech, the everything I love about riding, and it’s all in one trail system out in downeyville. And so that’s probably my favorite place. Other than that, like, I tend to stick somewhat local in the Northern California area, like Nevada City is great. They’ve just built a bunch of dedicated downhill mountain bike trails, which is unusual for California, like actual dedicated downhill for mountain biking. Yeah, so that’s been a sick thing with the bonk, which is the bicyclists of Nevada County, I believe their their trail org, and they’ve done a tremendous job out there advocating and all that. So, yeah, there’s been some great stuff, and we’ve got some great options. And I’m really hoping to get out and explore Tahoe more this year. It always came down to, like, time because I was working and so now I guess this is what I do, which is awesome. It’s still setting in, but like, now I could go explore Tahoe more often and get some sites out there and map those trail systems in my head.

Jeff Barber 23:37
Yeah, yeah, I saw that you decided to do your channel full time this year, which is awesome. Yeah, what are you gonna spend that extra time doing? Sounds like more riding.

Calirado Kid 23:49
Mostly, yeah, I’ve definitely been doing more riding. I’ve been taking the kids out more, which is something was hard to do when you’re basically like, it would be a Saturday, and I had a four hour window to shoot all the videos I needed to shoot and get a ride in. So riding often suffered, and now I spend a little bit more time enjoying myself on the rides, you know, I could film and, you know, I’ve got more window now, yeah, which is really nice. And then, you know, adventuring more, like I’m gonna be traveling up to Whistler Jess and I have done some trips. We did Tucson, for example, recently, which is a great trip. We’ve been out to Wahaca, and so, yeah, we’re and I’m doing a road trip up to Oregon and stuff. So there’s been some fun travel opportunities that like, I’m not restricted to time, and that’s technically work, so I can film along the way as I’m making videos. It all contributes to the channel, and it all works out pretty well. So it’s crazy. It’s kind of the dream come true.

Jeff Barber 24:30
Yeah, that’s awesome. Yeah. I think a lot of people struggle with that, for sure. I mean, mountain biking is very time consuming as far as hobbies go, even, you know? I mean, yeah, it’s, it can be a tough one for people.

Calirado Kid 24:43
For sure, yeah, cause you gotta drive to the trailhead. You gotta get everything loaded up. You gotta get out and ride. You gotta get back to the place. So again, like, sometimes you want to go to a place, but it’s a four hour drive. So that’s like, how do you do you just wake up at 3am get out there and get your ride in and get back. Do you go back there and stay for the weekend? Like, and so those are all time from. Family. So it’s like, always balancing that stuff. And I think that’s one thing the industry kind of, like, forgets about, is that, like, a lot of us are like that. Like, we don’t have all the time in the world to ride every day. We don’t have time to get super, super great on the bike, so we’re out there just hanging out with our buddies, having a great ride, and we might get two rides a week, if we’re lucky, right? Yeah, you know. So, like, there’s definitely a lot of people like that. And that is, uh, I think people forget about that sometimes, like, we can’t all be sending, you know, 40 foot gap jumps.

Jeff Barber 25:25
Do you have good trails near you? Are you able to, like, ride from your house and get to trails?

Calirado Kid 25:31
No, I’ve got, like, a, basically, like a, there’s a river path that’s paved, and it’s kind of like, it’s scenic, it’s really nice, but it’s like, definitely, I’d zone out. I get so bored on like, paved trail stuff. Like, yeah, yeah. And it’s funny. It’s a video I gotta make. Actually, I’ve been meaning to shoot this one. But the premise is, like, climbing on the road is, like, awful, whereas, like, doing the same climb on, like, a single track is great. Like, it doesn’t like, you know what I mean? Like, for some reason, when you get on the road, on the mountain bike climbs, it’s just so boring. It just seems so much slower, too, right? Because you’re like, yeah, if I was in a car, this would be over, you know, like that, yeah, I’d, for some reason, as soon as the wheels touch dirt, or, like, happy and like, if it’s not on dirt, it’s something, right? Yeah, this is not reflective of road biking, by the way. I’m just saying, when you’re on a mountain bike, climbing on the road sucks compared to climbing on the dude. That’s all I’m saying.

Jeff Barber 26:16
Are you worried when you put content out that, like, people are going to take it the wrong way, or that. I mean, it sounds like you’re, you know, you’re trying to stoke everybody up, whether they’re riding road bikes or mountain bikes. But do you get comments from people that you’re like, oh, no, I wasn’t trying to make fun of you…

Calirado Kid 26:33
Like, it’s all good. No, I think I’m, in general, pretty respectful. I think a lot of the stuff that is a jab tends to be like, directed at me specifically. So it’s kind of like we talked about self deprecating humor. Like, I never purposely, like, say, you know, one group’s bad. Like, we might take a jab at road bikers every now and then, but they got a good sense of humor. I might take a jab at equestrians every now and then, but they’re not watching anyways. And, you know, whatever. So, right? You know, it is what it is. But I never liked, I never do anything malicious, you know. And that’s been nice. I think that’s that limits the amount of negativity on the channel. And we’re just kind of like, everybody gets it to joke. They’ve settled in to understand that what I’m doing is, like, you know, probably going to be just, uh, all fun, you know what I mean, right?

Jeff Barber 27:12
So you’re not going to weigh in on, like, 29 or versus 27.5.

Calirado Kid 27:17
Like, that’s not… you can, but you can take it like you could just, there’s ways to do a little funny jokes without jabbing at somebody being like, you’re an idiot. Like, that’s where a lot of people go wrong is, like, Why stir up the hornet’s nest? You know, I guess, unless you want engagement, which you can do, but it’s not, I’m not trying to do that, right?

Jeff Barber 27:30
Yeah, yeah. That’s awesome. Very refreshing, for sure. So tell us. I mean, you mentioned a few things that you’re going to be doing this year, but what else are you working on right now? Anything exciting coming down the pipeline for your social media channels?

Calirado Kid 27:45
Yeah, I mean, right now this summer, is just planning where I can go, how I’m going to do it, and so it’s going to be very busy in terms of filming and riding all over the place. But, you know, the kids have all these camps, so I’m still trying to figure out, like, what our pickup schedules and all this stuff, like, there’s still logistics involved, right? So it’s like, it’s not all freedom all the time, and that’s not a bad thing, but it’s just like, All right, so where can I go? And so we’re trying to lock down the dates and all that and get it all organized. Like I said, we’re gonna be up at Crankworx for my first time this year. I’ve always kind of put that off because I was working and I was like, ah, kind of you use my vacation for Sedona Mountain Bike Fest and all these other places. So this year I’m gonna get out there. I’ll be up there for a couple weeks, actually, up in Whistler. So that’s going to be kind of late July, early August. I’ll be up there for quite a while. So planning that stuff out, I guess they’ve got, like, an endure bike enduro race, so maybe get entered into that for some reason and see how that goes. I don’t know, but one of the things I’ve always wanted to do is really like train to do some racing, but I just never seem to get around to it. And like to show up at a race without any proper like, PrEP is like, it’s fun, but it’s not like, I don’t know there’s maybe for the video ideas. I’ve done one enduro race and one XC race in my illustrious career, and they were both really fun. The people were incredible. Like, the community was amazing around it. I’d love to do it more often. I just feel like it never pops into my radar for some reason.

Jeff Barber 28:58
Hmm, yeah, yeah, for sure. That’s a different scene, and one that I think would would be fun to watch you explore.

Calirado Kid 29:05
Yeah, definitely like everything different or new that I do brings in new ideas. So like, I’ve always been a firm believer of investing in Yes, right? It’s like, why? When you say no, what’s going to come to that? When you say yes, you might get into some weird situations. It might be bad, it might be good. You’ll have a good story to tell, no matter what you know. So it’s like, oftentimes, like, they ask me, like, Oh, do you want to do this E bike enduro race, where we’re up there, up there? I’m like, Yeah, well, sure. Why not? Let’s see where we goes. You know, it’s just like, instead of being like, Ah, I’m kind of nervous. I don’t know if I’m Nah, let’s just do it and see how it goes. What’s gonna happen? You know, that’s awesome. And now the problem is, I’m gonna be really slow on the race. Is gonna be stopping to the gather samples for the adventure scientists. You know, I’m just gonna, like, pull off and be like, What are you doing?

Jeff Barber 29:43
And everybody’s gonna recognize you now too. I mean, is that an issue that, yeah, you get stopped on your rides and be like, Oh, hey, it’s Calirado Kid.

Calirado Kid 29:51
Yeah. But, like, it does. There’s not anywhere that I don’t go, that I don’t get recognized now, which is crazy. But I also, like, got into this for that reason. Like, I kind of always got into this to entertain more than anything like, and so even yesterday, yesterday is a good example. I was filming something and I was just sitting there, kind of like collecting my thoughts, because I had scripted it out, and I shot both parts and all the angles and all that stuff. So I was kind of sitting there getting ready to pack all the gear up and go ride. And then two younger guys come up and they recognize me, and, you know, one of them told me, like, Oh, you’re one of them told me, like, Oh, you’re one of the reasons why I got into mountain biking. I’m like, I don’t believe that. I just make bad jokes, you know. Oh, wow, that’s awesome. But, you know, we sit there and talk like I talked to your ear off for like, 20 minutes, you know? Like, they’re like, Oh, we don’t want to sorry, we’re taking up your time. Like, to me, that’s the most positive side effect of this whole thing, of being what you would call an international celebrity, right? It’s like, I like to hang out and talk to people you meet a lot. Of cool people all over the place. People all over the place and, like, unless I’m really, really, really strapped for time, I’ll usually sit there and just hang out with people. Like, I that’s more important to me than, like, getting my ride in. So we’ll still get the ride in. But you know what I’m saying? Like, yeah, spending. So when I go to festivals, same thing. The priority is, like, when people come up, I just spend time with them. Like, who knows? Like, it’s just, I like to talk to people anyway, so yeah.

Jeff Barber 31:01
Well, it really comes through in your videos, and super entertaining to watch. And yeah, just such a great attitude that you bring to the sport. Awesome to see.

Calirado Kid 31:11
It’s been good. I mean, I owe Mountain Biking a lot. It changed my life. I once I got into mountain biking, I said it before I got re reinvigorated with the outdoors, and I was living this mundane, not mundane, but it was just routine, right where you go to work, you come home. It was just like, all that. And then once I started mountain biking, it like, want to, made me want to go find trails maybe. And then all of a sudden, boom, it’s like buying kayaks and buying new tents and camping gear and fishing poles and, yeah, everything else. And so it’s, it’s all because of mountain biking. And I still love mountain biking. I get out on a trail and I just have, like, you zone out, and you forget everything else, and you just enjoy the views and the smells and the scents and the danger, yeah, and there’s everything, like, when you’re going down a trail that you’re hauling down fast, and you got to focus like nothing else matters, like all you’re worried about for that descent is just exactly this, the trail ahead. And I love that, because we got a lot going on in our lives these days. There’s a lot going on out there, and so it’s nice to just like, focus in, lock it in.

Jeff Barber 32:05
Yeah, well, said, Well, Joe, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us and share a little bit about the California biodiversity project. Yeah, can’t wait to see what you have next.

Calirado Kid 32:19
Oh, can I pitch the Okay, so if anybody wants to sign up, which I 100% recommend, percent recommend, like, go in there. Volunteer, if you’re in California or if you’re vacationing, maybe you can sign up and, like, jump in and gather some samples while you’re here, but ship them out. But like, you can go to adventure scientist.org There is you can go adventure scientist.org like, like, backslash Colorado dash kid. But that could be mildly confusing, I suspect, as a scientist or as a creative thinker, you could go to their website and figure out how to sign up for this, like, if you can go through that barrier level, because sometimes, like, as a creator, we want to give people a single click to get to the product. Like, all right, here’s, here’s this one thing you can click to buy the t shirt, right? That way, it makes it as easy as possible for the person to like, not have anything in their way to get that thing right. In this case, you kind of got to be a creative thinker, right? Like, so you got to, like, all right, well, we get to the website, and then, okay, there’s the projects that, like, I kind of want people to have to, like, look around a little bit, you know? It’s like, yeah, because those are the people that will go the extra mile, right? Like, that’s true. If you put a few steps in their way, and they still go and do it, those people will go the extra mile and do the work, right? So it’s like, yeah, saying everything but go to adventure scientist.org and find it. You can, you can find the California biodiversity project. It is easy. They have a project list. You can track it down, sign up, do the training, and then, like, message me on IG. There’s a Strava group too. But, like, I wouldn’t mind doing a group ride for this, if people are up for it, like getting people together in like, Auburn or Tahoe, or something like, Hey, let’s all bring our kits, and let’s go gather. I think that’d be super fun. I don’t know if you’ll be down for it, but I think we great.

Jeff Barber 33:46
Cool, yeah, yeah. So we’ll definitely have that link in the show notes. We don’t want to make it too easy, though, so you’re gonna have to, like, stop your podcast, yeah, take the earphones out, find the description, click the link. It’s gonna open Chrome. But anyway, there’s gonna be a link there, and then also, yeah, be sure to follow callirado kid on social media. His videos are hilarious and you’ll really enjoy them.

Calirado Kid 34:10
Yeah, it’s pretty good. It’s funny. We talked about that. Sorry. I know we’re ending this thing, but like, the idea of putting a few steps in people’s way, like that is the ultimate qualifier. Like, the harder something is to do, the less people will do it. And that’s why I think mountain bikers, bikers, hikers, we can get into these places because we’re willing to pedal up, we’re willing to get to these places that just nobody’s gonna be because we don’t mind a little punishment in our lives, a few extra steps to get to something that’s unique. And so I’m a firm believer in that.

Jeff Barber 34:38
Yes, mountain bikers rule. We’re the best, yes, all right. Well, that’s all we got this week. We’ll talk to you again next week.

Calirado Kid 34:46
Jeff, great, talking to you, brother.