Week 2 has gone by and that of course marks the first full week of this project. I can definitely tell you that I’m a little stressed out as the two topics of my podcast continue to clash. Luckily there is hope! I have stumbled upon what seems to be a forgotten and overlooked part of WWII, and what through the my eyes may be the first “mountain” bikers. Let me tell you all about it.

What I have discovered wasn’t that people were riding bikes off huge jumps and massive drops during the second war. Instead that there were hundreds of thousands of bicycle infantry soldiers used during the war. Many of these bicycle soldiers also had to bike off-road or on dirt and gravel roads, just like the first MTBers in the 70s did. Interestingly these bicycles seem to have been forgotten or overlooked because of all the other things that went on during the war. I feel like I am re-opening a piece of history as I dig into the internet’s depths. Although I haven’t found an interview yet I feel like I’m getting closer!

Canadian soldiers using bicycles during the second wave of D-day.

Overall, although having these two very different topics has been challenging, it has led me to discover something I may have not ever known about otherwise. Sometimes things just seem to work out and I can’t wait to tell the story of these bikes in my podcast episode.