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The NSMB PodcastAuthor: NSMB / North Shore Mountain Biking
From the team behind NSMB.com, The NSMB podcast will go behind the scenes with the makers, breakers, and risk-takers of our favourite sport. Interviews, news, and other important topics will all be on the menu. Language: en Genres: Sports, Wilderness Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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From Cult To Singletrack
Thursday, 12 February, 2026
What if the trail that scares you most is the one that finally sets you free? We sit down with illustrator and writer Cy Whitling to chart a life that moved from a Christian nationalist upbringing in northern Idaho to the loamy corners of Bellingham, where bikes, art, and community remapped everything. Cy shares how a humble hardtail, a generous shop mentor, and a dog-eared Kona catalog cracked open a worldview built on fear. College layered in skiing, search and rescue, and daily contact with people whose empathy outshone dogma, leading to the hard choice to cut ties and build a chosen family.From there, the conversation digs into identity and inclusion. Cy explains why he came out as bi while releasing a Pride poster, the backlash that followed, and the deeper connections that made it worth it. We explore queerness in mountain biking—how pronouns and representation signal safety, why bisexuality is often misunderstood, and where the industry quietly leads with real people doing real work. His art choices are purpose-built: animal characters to widen identification, a notes-app pipeline to capture trailhead truths, and weekly comics that make riders feel seen. We talk creative process, deadlines, and how to balance integrity with sustainability without turning art into merch purgatory.Finally, we ride west. A solo road trip to Seattle and Bellingham becomes a revelation: steep loam, rock rolls, and a birthday party reached by bike, not car. Cy’s skills jump by necessity, pulled forward by friends who ride the impossible and a community that makes fast feel safe. He contrasts mountain biking’s professionalism with skiing’s precarity, reflects on avalanche fatalities that changed his risk tolerance, and shares why he’s still hungry to make work that gives more than it takes. Hit play for a story about leaving control, choosing compassion, and finding home on two wheels.If this conversation moves you, follow, share with a friend, and leave a review to help others find it.
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