Banjo Blog

FIVE THINGS is a feature on the Banjo Brothers Blog. These short interviews explore life and bicycles with notable people. Since 2007 Chris Skogen has been producing barrier-free cycling events in the state of Minnesota.

The most famous of his events, the Almanzo 100, is often referred to as the "granddaddy" of them all for its pole position in the explosion of gravel road bicycle ride around the country.  While other events have diverged from Skogen's "always free" business model, Skogen continues to shake up the paradigm in his crusade to simply get more people on bikes.

FIVE THINGS is a feature on the Banjo Brothers Blog. These short interviews explore life and bicycles with notable people. This week, it's Chris Chavie's turn in the barrel.

Chavie, the former Social Media manager for Penn Cycle, founded the MN Bike Trail Navigator Blog in 2011 and publishes the largest list of cycling events in Minnesota his cycling-centric blog.

His passion for bikes might be an understatement. He created and is an admin of 13 cycling-related Facebook Groups including MN Gravel Enthusiasts, MN River Bottoms Ride Report, Twin Cities Bike Commuters, and MN Fatbike Group Rides.

We hope you enjoy this week's Five Things.

FIVE THINGS is a feature on the Banjo Brothers Blog. These short interviews explore life and bicycles with notable people. We caught up this week with Martin Leugers (yes, it's true, he's one of the 'real'  banjo brothers) and his wife and business partner, Tricia Wright.

Wright and Leugers are industrial designers and the founders of San Francisco-based Solid Phase Design. With a squadron (no exaggeration) of bikes in their garage prepped and at the ready for riding, there are bikes for every task from slow-rolls to fast-rides including sweet loaners for guests and chopper-bikes, a pre-requisite for their founding membership in C.R.U.D., the legendary cabal of "chopper-riding-urban-dwellers."

 We hope you enjoy this week's Five Things.

FIVE THINGS is a feature on the Banjo Brothers Blog. It’s a short interview about life and bicycles with a notable person. This week's notable person is cyclist Trevor Lettman. 

Lettman and the Banjo Brothers' relationship spans at least fourteen years, first meeting when Trevor's web development company Space2Burn was located across the street from the legendary CRC Cykel Garage.

Lettman, who grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a renaissance man of sorts. Entrepreneuring, writing code, playing music or taking on epic home improvement products, life is never dull around the energetic father of three. 

Lettman and his wife Andrea are in the midst of an epic adventure-- a radical lifestyle change-- which has re-planted them and the family in Minnesota's north woods. While Trevor's locale has changed his passion for bikes (or music) has not. We took a few moments this week to get caught up with Trevor for this series.

We hope you enjoy this week's Five Things.

FIVE THINGS is a feature on the Banjo Brothers Blog. It’s a short interview about life and bicycles with a notable person. This week's notable person is cyclist Michael Boehnlein. (The last name is pronounced Bane-Line).

"My favorite ride this summer will be dropping my two daughters off at Little Bellas in Lakeville, MN. My oldest (9) daughter loved the program last year so I also signed my youngest (8) up with her sister this year. I’m excited to watch their confidence grow week to week with this amazing group of young women and mentors."

Enjoy this week's Banjo Brothers Five Things.

FIVE THINGS is a feature on the Banjo Brothers Blog. It’s a short interview about life and bicycles with a notable person. This week's notable person is cyclist Craig Altheide.

From Hannibal, Missouri, Mark Twain's hometown, the 54-year-old father and high school teacher starting riding seven years ago to fix a gimpy knee and drop a few pounds and hasn't looked back.  

Craig's epic and cycling-rich Instagram feed, where he goes by the moniker "@oversizedcyclist", caught our eye, so we said, "Hey, how'd you like to submit a Five Things profile?" We dig his no-nonsense, straightforward style.

Enjoy this week's Banjo Brothers Five Things.