Hello.

This is the May 2025 edition of North West P You are very welcome.

I'm your presenter, Tom McAr Rolling off the top tonigh The Biking Bettys, a fun and su group of women mountain bik dedicated to empowering women one ride at a time I think, you know, mountain biking isn't necessarily the cheapest sport to get in As a beginner, like you don't need the most expensive and craziest gear.

Like, you just need to figur out if you like it or n and get out there and ride your bike.

[adventure music] All right, ladies!

I can't believe the season is here.

It's our 11th year, ladi which is awesome.

[cheering] [adventure music fades So, the Betties were first organized in 2014 by two local ladie Penny Schwyn and Jaime Ree The two kind of combined and decided to, you know, offer the commu something they didn't ha which was to help get mo women out on mountain bik And so fast forward to, like, 2017, you know, life happens So, Penny and Jaime kind had to step back a little b And just knowing how import it was to me and the other w in the community, I kind of stepped up to h keep the rides going.

And so from that point, l I just kind of ran with And so I've been doing group rides since about 2 [music] So the really quick, raise your hand if this is your first Betties ride.

Look at all these hands.

I think you'll find that we a pretty rad group pf ladi that like to support each other.

So, welcome!

[techy music] With the Biking Bettie we are focused on singletrack trail, which basically is just, you know, a narrow piece of dirt, that depending on where the area is, can be really flowy an smooth with some jumps Or it can be really rou with rocks and roots.

So you know, it can be really overwhelming for a beginner to just get like flooded with all this terminology and you don't know.

You know, I can speak from experience coming to these group rid where you don't know anybo and you're intimidated and you think, I'm not going to stack up my gear is not going to be good.

I don't know if I'm fast enough on the uphill, fast enough on the downhill.

And really, the first thing I like to is just squash all tha stuff with everybody.

[techy music] Saltese and Riverside are kind of our two, like beginner-ish rides that we like to recommend With that said, there's still going to be some climb but we're going to take lots of breaks.

It's going to be casual, social paced.

Cindy, raise your hand That's Cindy.

Cindy is our sweeper.

Our Betties rides are No Dr What is No Drop mean?

We're all making it to the Do not stress if you'r not the fastest rider.

We do not care.

We're here to hype each other up.

So.

Take breaks.

It's okay, if you've got to walk stuff, walk stuff The goal is to all get the and have fun at the end.

All righty.

Are we ready to party?

[crowd cheers] Sweet!

[techy music] I don't know when I learned how to ride my bik but there was lots of tears involved, and I was probably a teenager, honestly.

And I really didn't ever ride my bike consistently I picked it up maybe a year before I join the Biking Betties.

but I was so uncoordinated on the bike.

I had no experience.

I didn't know what any part on the bike was called.

It just was a bike that had wheels and it moved.

and I came out to the Biking Betties with that very limited knowledge and limited experience and I just had a sense of lik what I was willing to do on the trail and being able to tailo the group ride experience to that.

And I think that's all it really takes.

You just need yourself and a bike and, some excitement to be out with the with the other wo No coordination necessary [laughs] We started doing a few years back, um, dig days trail maintenance within the community And, that really progressed, into, Hey, we have done these projects that ar kind of like these rerou or maybe in areas that don't get a lot of traff And, you know, as a Betties collective, we were like, hey, like, we, we want to do a trail that's us.

We want to do somethin for the community.

So working with Evergre [East], we decided tha we were going to do a, um, beginner jump trail.

[Cole] One.

Two.

Five.

[laughter] We are over at Beacon Hill at Camp Sekani.

Uh, today's March 8th.

It is our first dig day.

It's going to be a green jump trail.

So the idea of having a green jump trail you'll have these big tabletop trails that have a flat landing on the top.

So you can go and jump at any speed and have the safety of flat to land on, and not worry about not landing correctly and getting hurt.

So, you can see a good example over here on this blue jump trail.

You can see a tabletop going into a corner that's more of an advanced move.

The idea with a green jump trail is there’s really good lines of sight.

So people can focus on jumping.

[techy music] It will be the first women's only built trail, I believ in our, like, greater are Um, so it's really important to us that w are able to show up an show the community what we have to bring t the trail building commun not just the mountain bike community.

[power down noise] [mellow music] There's an opportunity for everyone who's interested in mountain biking, and you can be a little more devoted or intense about it, and you can make all these crazy goals or you can just want the like, socialization aspect of I'm a mega introvert.

Um, and so sometimes I n a little exposure therap And I got to the Betties rides and I get get my all from the friendships that we, we all develop out there and it's just like a variety of things you can accomplish by mountain biking, [mellow music] I say this all the tim where it's like mountain b is funny because as a sport, it's hard.

It is.

It's not an easy spo And so I think for women with mountain biking, you're getting so much confidence and determinati and pressure variance and stuff that you learn and all that stuff I've seen just kind of transfe over into other people's li and being more confident whether it's in their ho life or at school or at w And you'll talk to these ladies and you can see their confidence build and they do make statements like, yeah, this is my tim Like, I've chiseled this out for me!

Because they're getting these amazing things out o [mellow music] I think, Jane doesn't give herself enough cred There's such a diverse group of abilities and personalities out there that, like, the community that she's bro together is really inclusi And so that's why I keep c back, is because she's bu a really inclusive, saf friendly community where you can just go be yourself on a bik [mellow music] I say it over and over ag I do a lot of organizing, b it wouldn’t happen withou the women in this communit There's so many women that just constantly show And yes, I am leading ride but it's the people that a in the middle of the pac in the back of the pack.

They're always offering su to women like, you can do you know, putting themselves out the to meet other people and hel people feel comfortable.

So, I really think that this community is going to kee this whole Betties group going for, for long time because of that.

[mellow music fades out] The biking Betties ride throughout the spring and into t Interested in joining a ri Follow their Facebook pag The biking Betties of the In Northwest.

Gotta love that name.

Have you ever heard of a whistl It's an old logging term for the person who blows whistle at a logging site Well, these days, Whistle Punk is a passion pr of father and son duo Craig and Matt Hanson Their commitment to quality Whistle Punk a popular brewery a gathering spot, reflecting the and camaraderie of the Spokane c Nestled in the heart of Spo Washington.

Whistle Punk Brewing is more than just a plac to grab a pint.

It's a labor of love buil by a father and son.

Dedicated to craft and community.

Cheers!

My name is Matt Hanson.

Co-owner, brewer here at Whistle Punk Brewing And my name is Craig Hanso I, happened to be Matt's d Beer is, a beautiful produ Something that we're very passionate about is presenting it in a way that does showcase the beauty of the You know, of the malts, of the colo of the way light passes through it It's awesome working with Matt and Crai They're, really highly motivated peo They're hard workers.

The coolest father son brewery duo.

They're just fun.

They feed off of each othe How did this small brewer carve out its own place in Spokane's thriving craft beer scene I turned 21 in 2008, went and bought a small ho brew kit, and brewed in our little apartment on a stovetop.

Just like everyone starts I fell in love with it.

Through that, it rekindled my dad to start brewing and it was a shared intere and we started brewing a lot together.

It's pretty awesome to be able to work with one of my sons every day and have that opportunit that a lot of parents don't I grew up in that small town logging communi and knew what a whistle punk was A whistle punk was a member of logging c during the early 20th cent Their primary role was to operate a steam whi that communicated cruci signals to the rest of the We wanted to do somethin that tied into our famil because it is a family busi and also it felt like a brewery nam With a new name selecte and the acquisition of some retrofitted brewing equipment.

Matt and Craig created Whistle Punk's first bee Whistle Punk, having no brewhouse of their own, was featured at other local breweries where they quickly buil a following.

It kind of became this mystery thing of where do you find Whistle Punk beer?

And that was, I felt like where, we might have something he And by 2017, Whistle Punk had moved into their downtown locati and had a place to call their own From there, Matt and Cra have continued to make b and refine their craft.

Welcome to the brewhouse the brew space.

It's a tight space in he but I'll show you aroun So what we do, at the beginning of a brew we start over here at our g mill.

Basically, we add differ barleys, different grain It's going to grind them take them up here into our mash tun.

A mash tun is basically big kettle where all the gr and water go into.

And you create sugar wat which is called wort.

We're kind of recirculat the beer or wort right no on top of itself.

All this is just happeni We run this for a while And then we're going to tra all of this over here into the brew ket We're going to boil this b this specific beer for about two hours.

And then during that tim we're going to hop it with different hops throughout it.

And then we'll chill it do and transfer it all the way up into that t where we will then pitch yeast fermen for two weeks and lager i for about six weeks.

This specific beer is, kind of a Pacific Northw take on a Bavarian lage And so we serve this on kind of, Keller style.

We call it our “tank bee So it will transfer into t large tank in here.

And this beer never get package, never gets kegg It just goes straight from the serving tank and into the pint glass We do make a lot of historical style beers, a lot of very traditional style bee When we put out these German style beers, we want We want someone who went to Germa or is from Germany to be a to drink that and say, thi very close, this is goo So this is like really traditional, like Czech gl These are Czech style fauc And so they're meant to actually kind of articul So you can kind of contro the foam on them.

And then you actually di the faucet into the glass which would typically be a with most beer.

But as you can see, it creates a real nice tight that kind of holds on.

Their employees always come over and make sure we're comfort They feel like friends they've known for a long t Whistle Punk feels like it's it's a cool local little brewer got a great selection of be The vibes are really awesome.

It's really chi We kind of created our own vibes t So it's just, it's fun to be a part of The community we've create Whistle Punk is something that we're extremely proud the people who have met through our taproom.

It's really incredible the stories that have come out of it We've had people get marri in our taproom.

We've had numerous proposa It's designed for peopl to sit and talk, families and people gathe around this, and that's what we like to see the mo Instead of walking in and a party atmosphere every We like the social aspect it is what we like.

So they're trying to buil a community where people can gather and hang out.

It makes me feel great wor for one of the best brewer in the in the state.

Every single day I get to make b I still love the proces of brewing beer.

You get to see it from start to finish.

You get to see this creati and then you share this cre with other people.

I feel so fortunate, so blessed that, you know we've got to build this together.

And it's really been a dre that's been really neat.

To learn more about Whistle Visit their website at WhistlePunkbrew They're also on Facebook and on If you like to camp and immerse in the wild, we've got the perfe This is not a campground but a retreat in British Colu A rustic retreat that's off grid and one with n If you’re an avid backpacker and you have tons of exper in the backcountry.

You would maybe come her to have more of a relaxed sort of luxury experience As well as if you've neve backpacked or been in a backcountry bef that you could come ou and have a very safe and welcoming experience, i nature and into camping as w We kind of had the ide of what we wanted Radius to be, but we always knew tha the property's really going to dictat and give us sort of th experience and feel that we wanted.

It's just under a thousand a that we have here.

So fa we've got about 12km of sig hiking trails.

They go up the mountai about, you know, 300m, climbing up the sid of the mountain to nice lit Meadow locks, some viewpoints up there as wel On the scale that we have As an introduction for pe to come into the natur and experience it, I would consider us fairly unique for sure We have ten yurts that we rent out that are scattered across the property, as well as one more that's actually the one sitting here behin That's sort of our more , o sort of glamping style he It's quite a bit large than the other ones.

You can actually drive up to this one.

And it's got full amenities.

It's got your linens, and it's got running water and it’s got power.

It's a little easier acces A little more of luxur amenities that you find i any sort of glamping locati And then that's differen from our other ten yurts, which are all hike in, a litt more primitive in the sen you get to bring your o sleeping bags and your bac and your cooking gear, and you're kind of heading on the trail to experience that.

So a little bit different, At least it offers something for everybody.

We wanted to create that experience that really immerse people in natur and we thought that yur are perfect for that.

I mean, it's a fancy tent but when you're inside, you can hear the birds you can hear the rain, you hear the wind.

So it feels like you're re you know, settled into what's around you We kind of had a thing early It's kind of choose your own adventure So between all of our yu on the property, they're all located, like the yurts themselves fairly similar, but The location is unique So if you wanted to put yo backpack on and hike up, you know, 2.5km up the mountain side, you co Or you can, you know, wal five minutes from a trail and be right at you're yu Each yurt, it's got a little solar panel on just to run a couple lights at nigh And then where we're at, our kind of main base for Radius, we've got a micro hydro sys set up on a creek that bubbles out of the mountains So we built it, it runs about 650ft down t mountain, and generates eno power to, power our sort of maintenance facility.

Charges our two electric vehicles, EVs that we use as maintenance vehicle To get around the propert Yeah, we kind of say that those run on water and we're of grid here, which we love it.

As we were growing through the years, we alwa had this dream of sort of a or river system for people t and, you know, cool off a and at the end of the hik or something like that.

And so we ended up buildin we called the Watering Hol We've kind of channeled so water pipes and water from our creek over into a nice kind of mountain meadow.

We've created a waterfal and then a sort of a tiere pond creek system, it’s only about knee deep But people go up there and they can stick their head under the waterfal Or they can kind of lay do in the nice cool water.

We're trying to sort of encompass not only an individual sort of nature retreat for yourself, but if you want to come out and be a part of the communit and different events, we've hosted weddings of different size We've had yoga retreat out here, we've run yoga classes We've had drumming circle from local artists, and we've had live music out here a few times to.

Kind of cre like a food truck sort of ope Showcase a lot of the local bands and food and things as wel It's a wonderful community, tons of suppo But we also have a partners with Pat Bavin, who runs a forest therapy trail which we've developed.

Here on our land, I'm a what is called a Shin Yoku guide, forest bathing Some call it forest therap We happen to actually be what is Western Canada's first certified trail.

So the whole idea with th forest bathing is to slow y If we can get you to slow then everything slows do And this really helps with our immune system This, by the way, this practice is completely backed with medical resear And this is the idea is t get you out of your head and get you into your bo and to do this interactive with nature, with all of the the grasse the different little plant the trees, the sky.

We've got a quite a nic sort of grouping of different experience A lot of, a lot of guests we've had come and they try to stay in them and different parts of the season.

And so that's kind of f to see that.

And we have some people that have found one yurt that they love, and they keep coming back to the same one.

Radius retreat is open most of t There's a minimum two nig stay in all of their yurt The road home can often inc a tough transition for our retur For many, the world we take for can feel like their own bat But because of the energ of some dedicated people and a for our men and women in uni an ideal blossomed in our own b And for some of our local vet it's become their way back h (calm acoustic guitar musi ♪ You're climbing a mounta and I don't know why ♪ ♪ But I think it's time to come back down again ♪ And tend to my garden ♪ See that it grow strong ♪ In my own garden ♪ ♪ Singing my own song ♪ - I think it was 2013, I attending a film screenin at the Spokane Community Col they had a veterans program and it was the depiction this newest generation of vet coming back and that transit and how difficult that can be for them sometimes Whether it's PTSD or jus the transition itself, it's difficult for them to find their way again and at the same time, our American agriculture we have dilemma going on in this country right no where the average age is 60 ye and we don't have the backf of people coming into thi as a profession or an occupa to be able to feed ourselv So after the film I literally walked out that and thought, "We have to do som "I have to find a way for Spokane Conservation Distri "just to get involved."

♪ Looking for answers way up in Through conversations and conn I met a couple other gals here i and we put together what we thought was a model, that we could start somethi ♪ See that it grows strong ♪ In my own garden ♪ First place was find farme find farmers that would b interested in mentoring.

So I went to a farm bureau me I threw this crazy idea o there, "Hey I've this idea and I had a family that the very next day after that pre they stepped up and they sa "We have this little far house and three acres of l "and some equipment and we believe in this progra "and we think there's somethin "and we're giving it to yo And they did.

♪ In my own garden ♪ ♪ In my own town ♪ - I did six tours in the Middl I knew when I got back to Rit that I wanted to do some agric but I just couldn't find my You always have a missio when you're in the militar You have a daily regimen what you do every day, every week, every month.

There's always certain thi that you need to be doin at certain times of the ye or you're getting ready to de When you get out, you necess don't have that anymore.

I don't want to say lost, but you're not sur which direction you're supposed to go into.

So I had a hard time adjust finding something that filled all those voids.

♪ So it's one more day in the g Someone put it really wel at one of our briefings that you spend however long you so for me, it was 21 years in the Air Force.

They teach you how to be Airman, how to do your jo how to be in the military but they don't spend one d teaching you how to be a civi ♪ Overcomes the light.

♪ - You know your family is your but they don't really get Vets on the Farm to me is, is kind of my family You know, in the militar that's kind of what you g when you go to a new base You get this ready-made fam But you're not prepared for when you get back and for me, Vets on the Farm was just kind of finding my way back home ag - It used to be that there was d there was processing time, decom Now it's 18 hours, you're in Afg 18 hours later you're home, here go back to your real life That's hard to do.

♪ To get it right ♪ This type of activity has take from a destroyer mentalit to a creator and a nurturer and when they can do that there's healing in that.

So to have something like thi for this newest generation of v to be able to help them transition into that next mi has been so well-received And I put it like this, "We're either going to do programs like this and put some thought, som money, some time into it or we're going to pay for it because the suicide rate the domestic violence, the drug and alcohol abus that's what happening if don't have effective progr to be able to offer.

(upbeat acoustic guitar) - [Grant] We go through a 12 course cultivating succes through the WSU extension of They help you find your path, a business plan.

- I call it the big sifte So we throw this idea in the we spend 12 weeks sifting it shaking it down, refining and in the end they come out something that might be business model or a business It might be bankable for them, that's the goal.

For some of them, they'll able to move on with that For others, it may be that you k that's not going to work That's just not economically fe That's a good thing, that they can spend that 12 weeks figuring that ou rather than actually try it then have problems later o (upbeat acoustic guitar) - [Grant] The one thing that I really get out is helping other people find their way to grow and to transition, to find that that they need to be goin (calm acoustic guitar musi Being out here and we love our c - [Brianna] It's been really fun interacting with all the people that come out to the farm stan and they're all just kin of stoked on our product because we put a lot of love an into what we do out here and it really is paying of - [Grant] We do want to make money of course, but we want to be more the part of the communit and that's what we get fr a lot of our customers.

- [Vicki] We're growing peo we're growing community, we're growing that abilit for them to transition back into a civilian life ag ♪ We all need a place that we co ♪ To our own garden is back where we will come - [Grant] If this helps o person find their self-wor then it means everything to ♪ Yeah in my own garden The vets on the farm hav opened their farm stand for the You can pick out your prod on Wednesdays and Saturday and their fresh sheet is posted on their Facebook This is where we reach the end of Northwest Profile May and our 38th season.

Thank you for coming along wi about the month of May.

The American poet Emily Dickinson wrote - in May nature's resilience as it dares to blossom.

I'm Tom McArthur.

See you again in October and the 39th season of Northwest Bye for now.