Events

In May, Trent Wagler and Jay Lapp, one half of the Americana band the Steel Wheels, hit the road on two bikes, hauling two guitars, a banjo, a mandolin, four microphones, 50 CDs, a guitar stand and some clothing for their second annual SpokeSongs Tour.

The tour, which came on the heels of the release of their latest album, Red Wing, was a follow-up to a similar October 2009 tour in Virginia. This time around, the pair pedaled a GT Hybrid with an Xtracycle FreeRadical long-tail attachment and a Surly Cross Check with a Burly Nomad trailer in a 10-day, 450-mile loop through Michigan.

We talked to Trent about pedaling and playing on the road.

Momentum: Why do a bike tour?

Trent Wagler: It was a good challenge for us to do a tour by bikes with all our instruments. We're avid cyclists when we're home, trying to use bicycles as transportation, we decided we could "bike to work."

Where did the idea to tour by bike come from?

We were talking about ways to make our touring model more green (read environmentally neutral, not a color scheme). We didn't have the money to put in place a lot of options we were brainstorming (biodiesel van, hybrid, etc.). We joked, "if we just biked everywhere, we wouldn't have to burn any fossil fuels.” That sparked a bit of research. We were inspired by what other people were doing with bicycles and we decided to start planning our first adventure: SpokeSongs 2009: Virginia

How did this bike tour compare to the one in Virginia?

Michigan is much more forgiving terrain than Virginia, so we ended our days with a little more energy this tour than the last. There was more rain and cold weather than we had planned for in Michigan. ... All in all, we were very pleased with the Michigan tour and the enthusiasm people had for what we were doing. … In both tours we've been impressed by the kindness and generosity of strangers. And Michigan provided a lot of hospitality to us.

What were the challenges?

Rain and cold. Details. Small details can make a big difference the next day. For example, we rode through rain one day and got soaked to the bone. When we got to the destination we got cleaned up, had a great show and got to bed. The next morning we realized we hadn't taken steps to dry out our shoes. Wet shoes at the beginning of another cool and damp morning didn't get us on the road very happy in the morning.

What were the highlights?

The shows. When you've pedaled all day and you're tired and maybe cold, you're able to pull out these beautiful instruments and just enjoy making music together. It really makes me appreciate what we do with music.

Sometimes there's a stale feeling to rolling out of a van after a lot of miles and playing a show. When you've really pushed your body in a certain way during the day, it's so relaxing to just let your musical mind take over for awhile and see what happens. There was a lot of exploration and freedom musically for us on this tour and I attribute that to the cycling. Or maybe dehydration makes you play better, who knows?