Allison Workman is a health coach, yoga teacher, personal trainer, and Tinstreamer’s newly appointed Chief Fitness Officer. She is also Mrs. Tinstreamer. If you’ve adventured with me, you’ve most likely experienced some of Allison’s yoga and functional movement. I’ve led numerous haphazard yoga flows on the Texas Tech Adventure Media bikepacking trips, and come sunrise at camp, you’ll find me stretching and moving before a long day on the bike. For those of you that have experienced Allison’s energy firsthand, then you know how dynamic she is. There is nothing like an Allison yoga class. It is fun (never too serious), funky, and flows like a rainbow powered unicorn galloping over the sun. Every movement Allison orchestrates – either in a personnel training session or yoga flow – tells a story with a beginning, middle, and end. You will be challenged and rejuvenated.

Allison is on the schedule for in person classes at The Rooted Soul in Hico, Texas for the month of June and will return this fall starting in September. 

This summer (2024) you can find Allison subbing various classes at Yoga Olas in Salida, Colorado - July and August. 

You can also join Allison for Zoom Yoga on Wednesdays at 6:00 pm central time. Message @bd_weaver or @allisonworkman_movehappy on Instagram and we'll email you a link. You can also message us at Tin Streamer on Facebook. 

We recorded this episode in Aries or beloved Airstream. (I videoed the first 30 minutes of the podcast and we’ll release that next week.) We talk about the origins of Tinstreamer, my love – hate – and then love again of Airstream, and how a compact blood hound changed our lives forever. I ask Allison what guests, she’d like to see on the podcast, and I talk about future themes for upcoming series.

We recorded episode 10 on the day of our 12-year anniversary. We recount our wedding day and talk about all the recreational vehicles we’ve inhabited: vans, motorhomes, and trailers… oh my! It’s also the 10-year anniversary of when we hit the road in the spring of 2014 and lived in our Airstream for nearly three years.  This was a fun episode, and I feel blessed that I can sit down with my partner for an engaging and entertaining podcast. I love Allison and know the rest of you will too after this episode. Thanks for listening!

Full Zen Ahead!

It is graduation season, and on episode 9 of The Tinstreamer Podcast, we sit down with Emma Montgomery. Emma just graduated from Texas Tech University, Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Emma is a writer, photographer, bikepacker, backpacker, and a lover of green chiles. I met Emma in 2023 at the Texas Tech University Adventure Media bikepacking trip over spring break. That year’s class bikepacked (camping and traveling by bicycle) for six days and five nights along the Monumental Loop in Southern New Mexico. I’ve written about and attended this groundbreaking program since 2019. To say Adventure Media changes lives is an understatement. It changed me as a writer, and it most definitely changed Emma’s life. Over the last four years (Covid canceled the 2020 class), I’ve had the opportunity to adventure with exceptional young people like Emma. I always walk away inspired and filled with immense hope about the next generation. Give this episode a listen and let Emma inspire you to be your best and chase that impossible dream.

Emma grew up on a cattle ranch in Pinon, New Mexico. We talk about how she found her way to Lubbock, Texas, and her decision to chase journalism as a major. “I don’t know why I came to Texas Tech, but I learned exactly why I stayed.” Towards the end of the podcast, we do a little improv acting scene - inspired by a couple of characters she and her good friend Hannah Hudgens conjured up during the 2024 semester of Adventure Media.

Go over to Emma’s website emmamontgomvery.me and peruse her writings and pictures. She is a fantastic journalist. My personal favorite is the “Dollar Store Dilemma,” for Planet Forward.

Corrections: I did not sing The Chicks, “Travelin’ Soldier” in episode 8, as I wrote in the description. It was this episode with Emma, that I attempted to sing the first verse of my favorite story telling song.  

“If you’re gonna’ be a bear, be a grizzly!” Lindsay Kennedy is our featured Tinstreamer in Episode Ocho. She is a Professor of Practice at Texas Tech University in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications. If Lindsay is your professor, count your lucky stars because success is on the horizon. All YOU have to do is chase it with the same fervor Lindsay attacks each day. If, like me, you graduated sometime long ago, before Facebook existed, you’ll wish you had a teacher like Dr. Kennedy. Lindsay is an exceptional javelina caller, bikepacker, angler, and she packs up a tent faster than you can say… Omaha! She teaches photography, writing, and a magazine class and is the director for Texas Tech’s MILE Program which focuses on leadership and professional development for students. She is also the co-director for Tech’s Bridge Adventure Program, which removes barriers to the outdoors and facilitates adventure for everyone.

We sat down in the Texas Tech Ag Comm conference room, surrounded by Lindsay’s photos and talked like old friends.  We define where West Texas begins and chat about the rugged and resourceful folks of the Llano Estacado. The conversation turns to Caitlin Clark and the exciting progression of women’s sports. Billy Strings, Powers Boothe, Barry Corbin and Codi Clark all get notable mentions in this episode. Lindsay and I take some time to gush over our bond by two great outdoor companies: Oveja Negra Bikepacking and Stio.

The show closes with me getting 90s country megastars, Tracy Byrd and Tracy Lawrence confused. I confess to Lindsay that in 1992 I rocked a mullet that put Billy Ray Cyrus to shame. (See picture in Instagram post.) This episode has something for everyone. It’s long, so you’ll probably want to split it up into two listens. It’s worth it. I promise. Lindsay will have you Carpe Diem-ing the heck out of your life.

Full Zen Ahead!

Special note: I make a few attempts to sing Time Marches On by Tracy Lawrence and Travelin’ Soldier by The Chicks in this lyrically challenged episode. My apologies.

“Leave room for serendipity.” That’s how commercial and lifestyle photographer RJ Hinkle runs a photoshoot. His professional portfolio is vast: Walmart, Luchese Boots, The King Ranch, The Container Store (gosh I love that place), Evie Mae’s Pit BBQ (RJ is a BBQ fanatic.), Boomer Jack's -  and the list goes on. His still images are never static. The subjects are vibrant with color and emotion. They are captured in a singular moment, time has stopped, but the story always plays out in his pictures. Even BBQ on butcher paper has a narrative in a RJ Hinkle photo. 

Serendipity is a thread that runs through RJ’s life. The siren song of the shutter captured RJ’s attention early. He worked on the staff of his high school yearbook (or annual as we say in West Texas), and RJ never stopped working as a photographer. He pursued his passion and sometimes his passion pursued him, giving him nudges in the right direction as his career unfolded. Put yourself in the right place with a honed skill set and serendipity becomes opportunity.

RJ and I take a deep dive into the food stylist profession and talk about my nature trail photoshoot that happened just before the podcast. We chronicle - journeyman actor and Lamesa, Texas native - Barry Corbin’s acting career. I confess to RJ why I never realized my dream to be a helicopter pilot. RJ gives us his top five BBQ joints, and we close out the podcast with a very serendipitous movie reveal. It has nothing to do with the actual movie Serendipity.

EP: 6 - “What are we passionate about?” They were on a sailboat in the Virgin Islands, and that is the question three friends pondered. Dogs, bikes and sailboats was the answer. Two were in Telecommunications and one was a heavy equipment (bull dozers and excavators) mechanic. In 2001, they opened Mad Duck Cyclery in Grapevine, Texas (just north of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex). Located in a former Wienerschnitzel building, the funking little bike boutique is one of the pre-eminent bike shops in the country. It’s the kind of place where – “everybody knows your name,” and the kind of bike you ride. Dogs are welcome and all levels of cyclist – from beginner to Cat 1 – are treated with same respect.

I sit down with one of the owners, Clarence Muller at Mad Duck Manor on the shores of Lake Grapevine. Listen to the birds chirp as we take a deep dive into running a bike shop, and the simple joys of pedaling your bike. Mad Duck is a fierce advocate for bike and pedestrian safety in their community. They are regulars at the Grapevine city council meetings, fighting for lower speed limits and pushing to build more bike paths. They care about their community and their customers safety. Mad Duck Cyclery is so much more than a bike shop. They know that bikes build community and get folks outside. You meet the nicest people on a pedal machine.

Clarence is a committed listener to The Tinstreamer Podcast.  We talk about the Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association and the amazing trail system they've created in North Texas. We briefly chat about Airwolf and Jonny Quest, which leads me to ask Clarence which cycling movie he prefers: Breaking Away or American Flyers? We talk a lot about bikes, technology, and our hair turning gray. This is a long one folks, but Clarence and Mad Duck really embody the Tinstreamer ethos, and the conversation flowed like a brand-new XTR drivetrain. Terry, Gary and Clarence started Mad Duck with no market research or social media.  They simply wanted to follow their passion, build a community and hang with their dogs. They just happen to sell bikes too.

Episode 5 finds us in far West Texas, driving into the late night/early morning - under the star filled sky of the expansive Chihuahuan Desert. My part time cohost Jerod Foster joins me along with producer Madison Walker Martin for this moving (literally) truck cast as the three of us ride in Madi’s Ford Ranger to pick up a re-supply vehicle we left in the desert.

The podcast opens with the hum of asphalt as we careen down the River Road (FM 170), between Lajitas and Presidio, Texas. Don’t get too comfortable with the siren song of asphalt. We turn down a gravel road en route to Big Bend Ranch State Park’s Sauceda Ranger Station, located near the center of the massive 311,000 acre state property. The washboard laden road undulates and serpentines through a spectacular desert scape. It’s 11:00 pm and all we see are what Madi’s headlights illuminate, but our senses are heightened and the conversation flows.

You can hear the stutter-bumps in the road (it shakes our voices) and the gravel crunch under the Ford Ranger’s tires as we recap the 2024 Texas Tech University Adventure Media Class taught by Jerod Foster and episode four’s Lindsay Kennedy. It is a bikepacking class that sees 16 students traversing – by mountain bike - the rugged interior of Big Bend Ranch State Park. We rode six days, 100 miles and camped five nights. The students record the trip through digital media and produce several short documentaries for their final class project. They live by bike and work by bike. The pedal powered machines are their home and production vehicles.

This is my fourth year covering the class and each time I walk away inspired, sun baked, and filled with an immense amount of joy and promise that this next generation is awesome-er than mine. They are ambitious, hard-working, smart, and fearless…   Well -  that’s not entirely true. There is fear and uncertainty, on this trip and in life. These intrepid students know that, but they face those fears head on and tackle all obstacles ahead. If Adventure Media had been around when I was in college during the 90s, I would have never had the guts to take it. These Red Raiders rock! It was an honor to ride, camp, and break bread with each and every one of them.

Movies referenced in this podcast are Tin Cup and Fandango, both starring Kevin Costner. Airwolf, the helicopter action show from my youth did not get a mention.

In episode 4, we are live to tape (SD Card) in the Chihuahuan Desert at Rio Bravo Ranch just outside of Presidio, Texas. This is a Tinstreamer DesertCast – tailgate session. I sit down with Lindsay Kennedy a professor of practice at Texas Tech University in the school of Agriculture Education and Communications. Former guests Jerod Foster and Justin Rex are on the scene too. We spent the previous day scouting (by bike) our water sources for Texas Tech’s Adventure Media bikepacking class that will be held over spring break. We rose with the sun, had coffee, and the wind was dead still. My morning voice was deeper than normal with hints of gravel, so it seemed like the opportune time for a DesertCast.

This is a short episode and just an introduction to Dr. Lindsay Kennedy. She is a seasoned, intrepid adventurer and an expert on sorghum. Lindsay needs a full hour-long episode dedicated to her. Stay tuned for that at later date. In this show, we catch up with Justin Rex and the mistakes I made in my monologue to his podcast, and we uncover a celebrity friend that Justin failed to mention on the show. The ever-popular Jerod Foster narrates our desert surroundings and gives his thoughts on the upcoming 2024 Adventure Media class.

TV and movie references in this podcast are as follows: Urban Cowboy, Northern Exposure, Dazed and Confused, Three Amigos, and Trading Spaces. I get choked up pontificating about the movie Hope Floats and feel inclined to bring up the TV show Air Wolf. This episode has it all. You can expect more tailgate sessions like this in the future. And as always, I appreciate you listening.

Full Zen Ahead!

Episode 3 of The Tinstreamer Podcast is a companion piece to a Texas Monthy story I wrote that hits their website on Monday 2-26-24. (This podcast is not affiliated with Texas Monthly.) It’s about Broken Arrow Ranch, the Texas based company that pioneered the selling of exotic wild game (venison) to restaurants across the country. In the early 80s, Broken Arrow Ranch founder, Mike Hughes was instrumental in establishing the laws that made it possible to classify and inspect non-native, exotic game for restaurant kitchens.

In this episode, I sit down at the Broken Arrow Ranch headquarters, in Ingram, Texas with current owner Chris Hughes and we chat about, harvesting versus hunting, the definition of venison, chef culture, and Napa Valley. And just like in episode 2, the 1980s TV action drama Airwolf enters the conversation. (This episode is helicopter heavy.)  It’s a not a Tinstreamer Podcast unless the great Jan Michael Vincent comes up.

The first time I had a Broken Arrow Ranch product was 20 years ago at Abacus, a fantastic fine dining establishment in Dallas. (The restaurant closed in 2019.) Tre Wilcox (he competed in season three of Top Chef) was the executive chef at the time, and he had orchestrated  a culinary masterpiece from one of Broken Arrow Ranch’s flagship products – axis venison. That entrée from 20 years ago was the catalyst that inspired me to pursue this story, and - up until now - I counted it as the best meal I’ve ever had. 

Chris had invited me to one of their nilgai (antelope) harvests in South Texas and we talk about that process (this is where the helicopter comes in) and my thoughts on the experience. We close out the show with my current best meal of all time. As a part of the Texas Monthly story, I’d arranged to have nilgai (South Texas Antelope) at Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine in Fort Worth, the following Saturday night. It wouldn’t be an animal from the harvest I observed, (Broken Arrow ages those for 21 days back at their facility) but it would be nilgai from Broken Arrow. The dinner was the most amazing experience of my dining career.

Here's a description of that entrée for you foodies out there. It was nilgai tenderloin, sous vide to 127-degrees then rubbed with Dijon mustard, fresh tarragon leaves, thyme white pepper and wrapped in smoked bacon. The meat is then reverse seared to perfection. It was accompanied by a sauce Robert, a white wine and Dijon mustard demi-glace with bacon lardon and more fresh tarragon from the restaurant’s garden. The accoutrements to the entrée complimented the dish perfectly, a parsnip puree, roasted Brussels sprouts and apples that were glazed with a touch of sherry vinegar, honey and caramelized onions.

This episode finds me in South Texas on assignment for a Texas Monthly web story. Photographer and friend Justin Rex joins me, and we sit down in Kingsville, Texas at the Holliday Inn Express and chat about Broken Arrow Ranch (the story we're working on), the 80s hit TV show Airwolf, Justin's extensive career as a photojournalist, photographing Tom Brady, and doing things that scare you. 

There's not much that scares Justin Rex. He and Ashley Rodgers are the official photographers of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, promoting the college through various marketing campaigns and media outlets. Justin is also a freelance photojournalist for the Associated Press and his photos have appeared in Texas Highways, Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, the Houston Chronicle, the Texas Tribune and many more publications. 

I've spent gobs of time with Justin on the bike, in the water, easting processed food behind gas stations, and standing at the intersections of remote gravel crossroads in the Texas Panhandle and parts unknown in New Mexico. He is a colleague, a close friend, and one of the most resourceful human's on the planet. Everybody should have a friend like Justin Rex. 

Adventure Media 2019 - This is where I first met Justin Rex

Rex and I collaborated for a kiteboard feature in Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine.

Jerod Foster, Justin Rex, and me rambling around the Texas Panhandle for a BIKEPACKING.COM feature and supporting  documentaries. 

Outdoor adventure writer Brandon Weaver interviews his good friend and collaborator Jerod Foster. In this first episode of The Tinstreamer podcast, they chat about Taylor and Kelce, Wyman Meinzer (the state photographer of Texas), frozen orange juice concentrate, and the adventures they've worked on as a writer/photographer team. 

Jerod Foster is a photographer, musician, and professor of practice at Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. He splits his time between Lubbock and Ruidoso, New Mexico where he owns The Happy Hiker, an outdoor store, with his wife Amanda and their three daughters - Eva, Lola, Emmy and their dog Max. Jerod is a good friend and one of the most genuine humans on the planet. Jerod and I have traveled many miles across, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado on magazine and web assignments adventuring on stand up paddle boards, bicycles, motorcycles and pickup trucks. I feel blessed I get to work with such an exceptional photographer and inspirational storyteller. Jerod embodies the spirit of what a Tinstreamer is. He works hard, takes time for others, drives lots of miles, and wakes up early. Everybody wants to be Jerod's friend, and I count myself incredibly fortunate that he is one of mine.