Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Weekly Dose of Fat Show # 84 – Surly Reveals New Fat-bike Pricing!

Transcript

Weekly Dose of Fat Show # 84 – Surly Reveals New Fat-bike Pricing! · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:00
  Weekly Dose of Fat, show number 84 for Friday, December 11th, 2015.
• 0:05
  [upbeat music] Basking in the afterglow of the Global Fat Bike Day and bracing for the Fat Bike Radio holiday Christmas party, please welcome the hosts of the Weekly Dose of Fat, Sven and Nomez.
• 0:34
  Hey, everybody. Welcome to the show. Greetings, earthlings. This is your uncle Gomez.
• 0:40
  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to our mythical River West studio the candy cane man, the elf that Santa named Prancer after, JK Livin. Prancing with me, dancing with me.
• 0:53
  Fat Bike Radio and the Weekly Dose of Fat is sponsored by Surly Bikes. Hey, wait, wait, wait one tiny, tiny short minute here. We interrupt this regularly scheduled Surly promotion for a special announcement.
• 1:06
  Direct from the official intergalactic Surly regional headquarters, we have Surly's global sales manager, Mr. John Fleck, on the phone. Welcome to the show, John. Whoa, thanks, guys.
• 1:18
  Uh, uh, long-time caller, uh, first-time listener. [laughs] I thought it would be a good idea to come on the show and tell folks about a fresh new sale on Surly Omniterra bikes. Oh, man.
• 1:28
  That includes Pugsley, the bike that started this whole fat craze some 10-odd years ago. Seems like only yesterday. Fast-forward and this is a thing, these fat bikes, I've been told. Consumers have all kinds of choices.
• 1:40
  Hey, you know, that's cool. So we're kicking it with the new Wednesday, and it is an amazing bike, but we only have so many of those available this season.
• 1:47
  Meanwhile, these other heavy hitters in our lineup seem to be getting overlooked, including Pugs, Moonlanders, Ice Cream Truck Ops, all with the solid part spec, that Surly ride. That Surly ride.
• 1:58
  If you've owned a Surly, I think you know what I mean. I have owned a Surly. You following me so far? I rode mine today. You following me so far? Oh, yeah. Uh, yeah... I'm down with this, yeah.
• 2:08
  So we decided to do something a little crazy.
• 2:10
  Because we're Surly, and I've been told we're known to do crazy things from time to time, we're running this Omni sale smack in the middle of when folks have fat bikes on their minds. El Nino be damned.
• 2:21
  More like El Nonsense, in my opinion. [laughs] We're very much thinking about and riding our fat tire beasts here in the upper Midwest. You with me still? Oh, yeah. Still here. Oh, yeah.
• 2:30
  Oh, yeah, right on the, right on the ball. All right, all right. So here's the deal: we have Pug single speeds available for $799. Pugsleys are going for a cool 899. Oh, man. Pug Ops can be had for 999.
• 2:44
  Moonlander, that five-inch beast, is 1199, and Ice Cream Truck Ops are also 1199. Whoo. Man. [laughs] That's fantastic. Wow. Well, that, uh, [laughs]
• 2:59
  that just gives me, you know, a, the perfect excuse to get that Moonlander. Whoo. Goddamn. Excellent. I was afraid I was about to have to say I don't want to know, Gomez.
• 3:12
  [laughs] So John, how can, how can our listeners get in on this deal?
• 3:16
  Well, most preferably they would go and visit their local Surly dealer, and, uh, in lieu of a dealer that they believe actually stocks Surly, rest assured they can go to their local bike shop, who most likely has a QBP account and could order said bike of their dreams for them.
• 3:35
  Cool, man. That is- Yeah, sounds like a great idea... a great thing. So, uh, thanks for coming on the show, John, giving me the, uh, ever-popular Moonlander man chub. We really appreciate it,
• 3:47
  thanks for sponsoring the show. No worries. My pleasure, guys. You know, you just- You are most welcome. Yeah. All right, man. Uh, it's a fantastic deal, folks. If you guys, uh- Yeah...
• 3:56
  you guys haven't had a Surly in your life before, this is an excellent opportunity to get in on one at a great price. Dude, man, yeah.
• 4:03
  They come in extra small, guys, so a lot of these bikes would be good for a tween kid. So put a Surly under your tree for, uh, for Christmas maybe. All right, John. Well, thanks for calling and hipping us to the scene.
• 4:18
  No worries. You guys have fun on the rest of your journey. All right. Talk to you again. Bye. You can learn more about Surly bikes at surlybikes.com. Dot com. Dot com. [laughs] I go into that NPR voice- [laughs]...
• 4:34
  for, for my announcer, uh, alter ego. I channel Schweddy Balls. [laughs] Yeah. Hey, what's the buzz on the show this week, JK? We start the show with the event of the week.
• 4:48
  Next week's Becker Sewing and Design bag contest will be revealed. We award the prizes for the Global Fat Bike Day contest.
• 4:58
  We take calls from our listeners and talk about who your favorite Bike Black Ribbon test pilot might be, or even maybe talk about how you celebrated Global Fat Bike Day.
• 5:10
  We explore the Fatty Farm Field Report, brought to you by the Winter Rush Fat Bike series, the Michigan State Fat Bike Championships, and the 2017 USA Cycling Fat Bike National Championships. And finally, it's time
• 5:26
  for the Fat Bike event of the week. What the heck? [laughs] Been catching my breath. Ooh. The event of the week is the Polar Tech Winter Fat Bike Race Series, a six-race series held in New Hampshire.
• 5:40
  New Hampshire, that's the Granite State. And, uh, we actually have Aaron Chaffee calling in to talk to this, uh, hot East Coast fat bike racing in the Granite State. Welcome to the show, Aaron. Arlen? Yeah. Arlen Aaron?
• 5:56
  It's, it's Arlen. Arlen. Sorry. [laughs] Sorry. It's like, it's like Orlon with an A. No. Arlen, I got it now. Got it? Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] I, I, I had a brain fart there, sorry. So- Yeah, that's all right.
• 6:08
  That's allowed. That's allowed... dude, you are putting a six-race series together, and you guys are racing at night. Tell us about the six races. Do you have different formats? Are they all at the same place?
• 6:20
  We mix it up. This is our third year of the series, and I've got Polartec, uh, behind me as- Mm-hmm... a sponsor. Kind of laugh at the cold.
• 6:28
  They have, uh, you know, their Neoshell stuff that's, uh, really popular, the bike apparel. I wear a Revele design hoodie that is made from Polartec, and it's- Yeah, it's, it's, uh-...
• 6:40
  the best thing I've ever o- ever worn... so, uh, they, they hooked us up a little bit of cash and, uh, a bunch of soft goods swag, uh, starting, uh, three years ago, so this is our third season, uh, with the series.
• 6:51
  The first year was pretty much all at night and all at the same venue. Mm-hmm.
• 6:55
  And I could tell my, my riders were getting a little tired of it, so we mixed it up a little last year, and this year I've got a couple other event promoters involved as well to, you know, kinda, uh, lighten my load, uh, for putting on six events.
• 7:09
  So, uh, the night races are mine. There's three of those. Two of them are at Gunstock Ski Area on their Nordic trails. Right. Which has been a real interesting kind of emerging area, you know, c- courses and whatever.
• 7:23
  Groomed ski trails, right? They're kinda like, "No, stay away. K- keep off our- [laughs]... our groomers, 'cause you're, you're gonna wreck our snow."
• 7:30
  And what they found out is, uh, you know, it's a way to kinda, you know, utilize a resource. So we're out there- Well, that's cool... racing at night at Gunstock on Nordic. That's very cool.
• 7:39
  So is that a cross country style race? Is, uh, you know, a number of laps- Yeah... fastest guy wins? Yeah, I think it's like a, uh, yeah, it's like a, uh, a snow crit. [laughs] Mm-hmm. Right on.
• 7:49
  Depending on how much, uh, how much, uh, snow we have on the ground.
• 7:53
  That's the other thing, is last year, I don't know what your season was like, but we had early snow and then, you know, from Christmas through mid-January it was, it was dead.
• 8:04
  I mean, we didn't have snow to, to ride on and, and these folks were blowing it up there, so, uh, my riders showed up and they're like, "Holy crap," you know, "we got snow to ride on." [laughs] Oh, yeah, that's great.
• 8:15
  Yeah, so they actually make their own snow at the Nordic place, too, huh? Yeah. They, they had a mound of it.
• 8:20
  Uh, God, it must have been 100 yards across and probably 30 feet tall, and they, uh, loaded it into a manure spreader and, uh- [laughs]...
• 8:30
  laid it down, and then, and then got their grooming machines, the piston bullies on top of it, and laying down corduroy. That's- It was deluxe... that's how they do it in New Hampshire. Corduroy. [laughs] That's awesome.
• 8:42
  Corduroy, yeah. So that's the first two races of the season- Mm-hmm... are night races, um, up at Gunstock.
• 8:49
  Uh, and then sandwiched in there we've got, uh, a new promoter who puts on a lot of snowshoe races, and he got ahold of me and he's like, "Hey, what do you know about fat bike races?"
• 9:00
  And I told him what I was doing and he said, "Well, would you mind if, if I put one on this date?" He didn't wanna interfere with what we were doing.
• 9:07
  I was like, "Well, why don't you put it on, but why don't you put it in the series?" Oh, cool. And he, he said, "Yeah, well, because that way you get people riding weekend after weekend, you know- Right...
• 9:16
  they can, uh, they can jump in." So- Snowshoers and, and-... that's another race... fat bikers are the perfect symbiotic little, uh, they're, they're the perfect groomers- They are, yeah... for real single track- Yeah...
• 9:27
  especially. Yeah, they, uh- Yeah, it's just awesome... smoosh it down, smoosh it down. Absolutely.
• 9:31
  And then we got a, a local, uh, bike shop a little south of here that's putting on a two or three race series of their own, but I grabbed one of their races. Uh, that's your Riverside.
• 9:43
  Uh, they're out of Newburyport, Mass, North Shore. And then I have Fatty Fest, which is kinda my, uh, end of the season where we get everybody who's ridden in the, uh, across the series. Mm-hmm.
• 9:54
  Uh, we, um, Polartec actually just, uh, signed a co-marketing agreement. Have you ever heard of Narragansett Beer? No, that is a new one for me. It's, uh, well, this is, uh- Oh... it's actually, uh- The Jaws beer?...
• 10:08
  like East Coast from the... Huh? The Jaws beer? It was in Jaws. Yeah. Yeah, it was. The, the original, crushed- There you go. It's one of those brands that kinda went away. Uh-huh. And, uh- Oh, cool. Check it...
• 10:19
  and now it's back. It's, it's yellow beer. You know, 30 packs. Gotcha. [laughs] Well, it sounds like- It's costly, but anyway, they- I was gonna say- Yeah... it sounds like you have put a great series together.
• 10:32
  New Hampshire has some great terrain and, man, running a, an event at night at a ski area with grooming equipment, that opens up so many possibilities for great stuff that really pushes the envelope of what people are doing in the, in the Midwest here around the Great Lakes.
• 10:48
  You don't see that many ski area races, but maybe we'll see more now. Yeah. Yeah, I, I would hope. And you guys, you guys kinda are in the nerve center there of, uh, of, of, uh, of fat bikes.
• 11:00
  You know, they kinda made their way, uh, outbound. I mean, I'm on my fourth season with a, uh, Pugsley. Nice. That I sw- swapped over to one bike with a Wolf 230 and, uh, like that.
• 11:12
  I got, uh, 45 North is another one of our, uh, sponsors, so they've hooked us up with soft goods and, um, I'm building another bike now and they're, they're shooting me some, uh, some of their Beasters.
• 11:24
  You know, the- Oh, man, yeah... low end, uh, Dunder. Did you see the, uh- Yeah, they- They, they put a series bike together for through Independent Fabrications last year for one of the race series.
• 11:35
  I thought it was for a, a race team. Yeah, the, the- And it was just gorgeous... the Chubby Deluxe. Right, Chubby Deluxe. Chubby Deluxe. Here, here's a- Yeah, that was... Go ahead.
• 11:44
  I was gonna say, here's something interesting about Polartec. I, you may know this already, um, Arlen, but, uh, Gary Smith is the CEO of Polartec. He's also one of the guys at Independent Fabrication.
• 11:56
  I believe he's one of the owners, if not the owner of Indy Fab, so that's like a nice bike connection. He's a very, very close and dear friend of mine.
• 12:03
  I actually, um- I helped lure him, uh, into Newmarket, the town where I live. We have a bunch of, uh, uh, mills that were abandoned, and he had just bought Independent Fabrication.
• 12:15
  Uh, and also Bailey Works, the, uh, custom messenger bag company. Okay. And he was mushing them together, kind of bug- bike culture stuff.
• 12:23
  And he lives fairly close by, and I was like, "Dude, you gotta move everything to Newmarket." So that kind of snowballed stuff, 'cause, um, he, he was number two over at Timberland back in the day. Oh, okay.
• 12:35
  Um, and, uh, they sold off, uh, to VF, I guess it was. But, uh, anyway, he, uh, he was dabbling in bike stuff, you know, buying up companies [laughs] Mm-hmm.
• 12:45
  Independent Fabrication and, and Bailey Works, and that's how I got to know him. And then a, uh, a private equity firm said, "Hey, we need somebody to run, uh, Polartec." Hmm.
• 12:55
  And he's like, "Well, yeah, that sounds interesting." So, uh, yeah, that's how I got the, uh, Polartec connection for the series.
• 13:01
  And, uh, we built the bike last year, uh, steel with an MRP fork for Dylan McNicholas, who races for Polartec on the cyclocross side. Oh, gotcha. So- Cool. Well, it is a small world, it's, uh- Yeah.
• 13:14
  And who's Captain Segway? 'Cause I was the one to bring the, uh, Indie Fab 45 North. Small world. It's little circles of logic.
• 13:22
  Yeah, we actually, well, I think it was at, uh, it must've been at the Handbuilt Bike Show that I saw Gary. Yeah. A couple, when it was in- Yeah, NABS? Yep, yep. NABS, yep. Yeah. NABS, yeah, down, was it in Philly or?
• 13:34
  It was in, uh, out east on the, uh- Black Sea. No. Yeah, North Carolina. Yeah, somewhere out that way. North Carolina. Charlotte. North Carolina, yep. Yeah. Yeah, that was like three years ago maybe? Two.
• 13:45
  Two or three years ago, yeah. Yeah, two years ago. 'Cause we covered that show. But I, I'm just surprised I remembered that from way back then [laughs] 'cause, uh, I was drinking, I was drinking a lot of beer out there.
• 13:52
  Are you gonna go to Sacramento and cover that? Maybe. March. Well, I got peeps out that way. Arlen, uh, thanks for, uh, thanks for coming on the show and filling us in.
• 14:01
  We have a, we have a website here for, uh, people that want to register for the series, or to, uh, to get more information. It's www.fatbikenh, for New Hampshire,.com. And we'll put a link- There you go...
• 14:16
  in the show notes for [laughs] I'm talking like a Canadian all of a sudden. The show notes. Eh. Uh- Eh. [laughs] And, uh, we are going to bid you adieu, and, uh, well, unless you, do you have a beer with you?
• 14:29
  'Cause we're at the top of the hill. We're gonna do our first, uh, first little cheers here. First beer stop. First run. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. I, I, I do not. I was not prepared, gentlemen.
• 14:38
  Well, uh, here's to you, Arlen, you, you, you dry, you dry friendo. [laughs] Yeah. I don't know. And thank you, uh, thank you so much for giving us some props for, uh, for what's going on here on the, uh, the East Coast.
• 14:51
  I mean, we, we blew up cyclocross. You guys gave us, uh, fat bikes and gravel, so we'll, we'll give you props for that. Right on. Sweet, dude. Keep the, keep the tires rolling. Yeah, yeah, we love it all.
• 15:01
  Okay, talk soon. Take care. Bye now. All right. Well, let's take a break here, and, uh, we'll be right back. [singing] So I heard you need a fat bike. Come to Zion Cyclery in Zion, Illinois.
• 15:14
  We have all brands: Trek, Borealis, Salsa, Felt, Surly, and more. Yo, we have all the cold weather gears by 45NRTH and Bunduga. Keep those fingers and toes nice and toasty.
• 15:30
  We fix bikes also, so you have any problem, brakes, gears, suspension, we have the best mechanics in town. So yeah, visit us at zioncyclery.com.
• 15:45
  You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. And we are back. Should we take another call? Yeah. Hell yeah. Hey, welcome to the radio program, caller. Who do we have on the line? Thank you. Hey, guys. Travis up in Anchorage.
• 16:02
  Oh, there he is. There's Travis. So Travis, looks like you guys got after- Yeah... it at Global Fat Bike Day up there in Anchorage. You don't fool around. Absolutely not, man. It was an awesome day. So much fun.
• 16:16
  Thanks for putting that story, uh, together that you sent us. I think that went up today, didn't it? Yeah, it went up today. Oh, my pleasure, man. I'm glad I could help you out.
• 16:24
  So- Show everybody all the fun we had up here and spread the good word of the Global Fat Bike Day happenings. Yeah. And Toys for Tots too. You guys had a big Toys for Tots, uh, showing.
• 16:36
  I like that- I don't wanna s- I don't wanna- Yeah... be a spoiler or anything, but, you know, you guys did a, you guys did well. You, you, you do that fat biking thing like, like you invented it or something.
• 16:48
  [laughs] Right. Yeah, the, uh, let's just say the donation box was looking really full, and how awesome is that, man? You know? Oh, yeah. Killer.
• 16:58
  The real, uh, the real, you know, heart of Global Fat Bike Day and the thought of a bunch of kids that might not have a present under the tree getting one was, yeah, it was awesome.
• 17:09
  Did you guys have a prize for the largest toy donated? 'Cause I think your wife had a pretty good sized one [laughs] in that picture. Yeah. [laughs] It was like a, he, was it a, was it a tiger? What was that thing?
• 17:19
  It was a huge stuffed animal. Yeah, yeah, it was a tiger. Yeah. Yeah, it was a tiger she strapped to her back.
• 17:26
  And no, they didn't have a, a prize for the biggest toy, but, uh, me and, we were one of the last ones to show up and throw into the box, or I should say the back of the car. Oh.
• 17:35
  Um, yeah, I, I believe she definitely had the biggest toy donated. [laughs] Nice. Very good. Yeah, it was, uh, yeah, they had a good turnout.
• 17:43
  Uh, you know, 130 plus for sure, and I heard the numbers kinda climbing, so, you know, I didn't wanna say anything official, but, uh, it was a really good turnout. You know, on what was a cold night too.
• 17:55
  You know, it was definitely crisp out there. Yeah, I saw the number 140 in print on, uh, you know, the established news source. Was that satellite, uh, verified number?
• 18:07
  [laughs] Established news source i- of fatbike.com, which is Facebook.
• 18:14
  Confirmed on Facebook, 140, yes, humans riding bikes So Travis, did you know that this week's question is, uh, who's your favorite Bike Black Ribbon test pilot? Oh, there you go.
• 18:25
  Did you have a vote or a, uh, comment on that? [laughs] Uh, I did not, but I think I'll have to go with Mr. Britenbacher, being he's, uh, I think one of the only pilots out of Alaska, right? Well played. Or a few.
• 18:36
  It's like this, the Alaskans are just, like, they're all Alaska. It's like, I will take an Alaskan. Well played, sir. [laughs] 'Cause I would, I would, uh, you know- There you go... I, I, I can't play favorites. I can.
• 18:50
  I like myself. [laughs] Sven, Sven's got some- I'm so happy with myself... yeah, you are. No, you know? Hey, if- Sven's the guy that makes all this work...
• 19:01
  it makes me a bigger man, I might get clubbed like a seal on the bike trail, you know? Oh, true that. Um- Yeah... yeah, Kevin's a good, good guy, man, and so fast. And, uh, he rides with his dog.
• 19:13
  [laughs] It just reminds me of a small wolf. I just wonder about, you know, what if, what if he, what if your dog runs into a, like, a big predator out there? How does that work?
• 19:25
  Are dogs just smarter than the two idiots [laughs] that eat my dog food? I don't know. [laughs] Yeah, that's one you don't know until it happens. [laughs] You, you lose more dogs that way.
• 19:40
  [laughs] That's the Alaskan way. Yeah, the, the short track race was really good, man. Uh, you know, I didn't know if the official results came out there- Mm-hmm... but in the expert class, uh, Mr.
• 19:52
  Josh Shell took first and, and Will Ross sliding in there at second. Really? He built, he beat Will, huh? He beat Will Ross. Oh, man, it was great. It was a great race to watch, man.
• 20:03
  They, they were never more than, than a foot apart the entire time, I don't think. It was, uh, yeah, it was neck and neck and back and forth.
• 20:11
  It was, uh, yeah, a lot of volunteers and got to meet a lot of cool people down there and, and, uh, watching the race, yeah, it was, it was fantastic. Nice.
• 20:20
  Dude, speaking of, uh, Anchorage and fat bikes, Otis is sitting over here resplendent in Easter purple. It's a thing, my fat bike. Ah. It's back from powder and- No way, when are the pictures going up? Yeah.
• 20:36
  Uh, there, I think there'll be a picture in the show notes here. You, you know me. I can't, you know, I- They call him Mr. Instagram. Yeah. [laughs] So watch our Instagram feed.
• 20:45
  There'll definitely be a picture of, oh, it's, it's, uh, she, oh, I tell ya, yeah, it's pretty good. We can't wait to see that. All right.
• 20:56
  Do you wanna get us into the Fatty Farm Field Report, or you got something else going on over there? No, I think that it's time for this week's Fatty Farm Field Report.
• 21:05
  This week's Fatty Farm Field Report is presented by the Winter Rush Fat Bike Series.
• 21:10
  Winter Rush is the home of the Michigan State Fat Bike Championships, and they will be hosts of the 2017 USA Cycling Fat Bike National Championships.
• 21:20
  For more information, click the Winter Rush banner in the show notes or visit winterrush.com. Should we, uh, call this week's Bike Black Ribbon test pilot to see what makes Aaron Houtula tick? Yeah.
• 21:34
  I, uh, came up with the, uh, it's a, it's a Bike Black Ribbon test pilot centerfold. [laughs] Isn't that, isn't that just weird? That's pretty weird. [laughs] We're, we're, we're dialing right now- Yeah, dialing... Mr.
• 21:52
  Aaron. Aaron. That's what we're doing. Hello? Hello. Aaron. [laughs] Hello. How's it going? Good. You? Hey, we're on the air. We have Aaron Houtula on the line.
• 22:06
  He is our Bike Black Ribbon test pilot, also AKA The Cayuna Kid. He's the cat that, uh- That is a name, isn't it? Yeah... is, uh,
• 22:17
  somewhat responsible, with I'm sure many other people, but is involved up there with the building of the trails and the maintaining of the trails and the, uh, I don't know.
• 22:25
  He b- he grew yurts from tiny mushrooms up into- Right. [laughs]... giant things.
• 22:31
  And he's on our program 'cause we're going to try and, I don't know, get a sample of his brain tissue, find out what's going on up there in Brainerd land.
• 22:41
  Well, right now, it's, it's, I think the same thing we got everywhere. It's crazy weather. Well, it's El Nino, you know? It's a zonal flow. 44 degrees. [laughs] 44 degrees right now. Right. It could be worse, though.
• 22:52
  Is it July? Is it July? I mean, that's, like, July weather here. No. But yeah, it's, it's slightly warm, so we're, we're doing our Heykanooza snow dance and there's snow god, of course. It's gonna happen, man.
• 23:06
  Trying to, uh, you know, coax winter to come back to Cayuna. I know. Well, the- It really-... first day of winter is, like, 10 days from now, you know? So, you know, just- Oh, really?
• 23:16
  So I'm, I'm way ahead of the game then... just chill and it's gonna- I'm just a needy, needy cyclist, I guess. [laughs] It's gonna be fine. Dirt is fine.
• 23:24
  [laughs] How, how's that, uh, Trek Farley 9.8 treat you on the red dirt? You, we published- Well, you know, that-... your, uh, review this week... that bike's a pretty bike, isn't it?
• 23:34
  [laughs] It's just gorgeous to look at, and I think when I first saw that bike, I couldn't believe the amount of engineering and design firepower they put into that thing.
• 23:44
  Just, uh, kind of took the, the fat bike out of the fat noodle look to, uh, looks like a race bike to me, man. Yeah. I mean, they, they really did something special there. Like a jet fighter kind of thing.
• 23:56
  Yeah, no kidding. Yeah. Uh, you used the term museum quality carbon, and I think that that's- Yeah... uh, an interesting aspect. And, uh, I liked your insights and your whole adjustment and talking about the 27.5 fat.
• 24:12
  I mean, that's... The one thing that I, that I think that, that I thought it was, like, really needed to emphasize that there's really only one tire right now, so. [laughs] No kidding.
• 24:23
  Yeah, that's, that's a hard part to know. I mean, to give it a qualitative study. Yeah.
• 24:28
  It'd be nice to be able to put a different tire on there and say, "Okay, is this turning phenomenon, this cornering, edging ability that I'm not having good luck with right now, is it tire contingent, or is it just me at a- Body English or-...
• 24:41
  47 and a half?" Right. You know? Right, right. That's what I think. And- That's, you know, that, that's the only thing that's different, right? 'Cause you own- Right...
• 24:48
  well, I'm, I'm gonna kind of put you on the spot here. You, you own an XX1 Bear Grease. Um- Yeah, I do... so I mean, can we put you on the spot and compare the two?
• 25:00
  Not really fairly, 'cause you haven't ridden that trek with the 26-inch wheel yet, you know? That's what we have to do. Put more rubber on it. Test with some big tires on it. So we gotta get with Trek.
• 25:10
  I've never even seen that tire on it. Yeah, we gotta get with Trek- Yeah... and get the, get the 26-inch with a, with their big- Yeah... Barbagazzis on there, dude. I just put- Yeah...
• 25:19
  I just mounted those up on my 100 millimeter, uh, head rims, and those things are big. Like a- Good... sparsely treaded Hoosker Doo, uh, but big, dude. And it's gonna be fast rolling. It's gonna be, it has- Good...
• 25:34
  it has Otis written all over it. Yeah. [laughs] How does that sidewall tread look? 'Cause that's, that's the make or break, at least on the Cayuna Trail. Not on every trail. Mm-hmm.
• 25:43
  But I honestly think I could do a bald middle of the tire and have sidewall. Mm. As long as the sidewalls are there, I can corner, you know? I think you'd love Bombalini's.
• 25:52
  That's what Hodag just didn't come to the party with. Hodag forgot its sidewall at home. [laughs] Or something. Oh, it's just their first tire.
• 26:00
  I mean, I'll even spend my complaint on Hodag forever, but, you know, I mean, I, I just, I get so accustomed to the sidewall tread that I, I do like, which is Van Halga. Mm-hmm.
• 26:10
  That you just, you lean it, you tip it, you grip it and rip it. It's just one, two, three, done. And not that anything else isn't as good or, I'm sure there's stuff that is just as great.
• 26:22
  I just haven't ridden every single tire in the world. I know, that's the hard part. Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] I try and ride as many tires as I possibly can, and we try to- Oh, yeah. Yeah...
• 26:31
  you know, the, you know, we, we try to spread them around so that people, you know, like you, test pilots, get to get as much experience as possible. But, uh- Yeah...
• 26:40
  we actually, uh, how's the switchboard over there, uh- Well, we got some, we got some calls, uh, holding over here. Robbie.
• 26:46
  You wanna- Robbie, Robbie's, uh, saying we got more calls, so I am going to thank you for being this week's, uh, Test Pilot centerfold. And, uh, we're coming up there for New Year's.
• 26:58
  I don't know if Sven is gonna make it. He hasn't confirmed, but I think Adam Blake is coming, and, uh, we're going to live in a yurt for a few days- Yurt... and ride bikes and- Eat dirt Thank goodness.
• 27:11
  We need y'all up here. Sounds good. We need y'all. Sven, you better make it up here. [laughs] It's a must do. Sounds good, man. All right. Why don't we give it a, a solid shake? Aaron, thanks for all you do, bro.
• 27:23
  [laughs] If we don't talk to you, happy holidays. All right. But, uh, let's, let's connect up there when we're, uh, in your backyard. And we're gonna- Without a doubt. Have a good night, gentlemen. All right, see ya.
• 27:33
  Bye. Hello. Welcome to the radio program. How are you, guys? How are you? Who do we have on the line there? How you doing? Hi, there. It's, uh, Jeff, the Black Ribbon Test Pilot- Oh... from Wales, from the UK.
• 27:44
  Oh, right on. Jeff, how's it going? Mr. Jeff. I was like, he's calling from a long ways away. It's three in the morning or something there. Yeah, something like that.
• 27:55
  [laughs] Been, uh, seeing the, the rain hit the window and thinking, you know, getting up in a few hours, going to work, so I thought I'd give you a bell. What a pleasure that you called. So
• 28:07
  you can't really vote for, uh, for your favorite... Well, I guess Sven voted for himself as his favorite.
• 28:12
  [laughs] I think, I think that just the, the fact that you called all the way across the big pond, I think I'm gonna make you my favorite Bike Black Ribbon Test Pilot. Do you have a, do you have a choice?
• 28:23
  Have you looked at the, at my, uh, Thanksgiving holiday collage and chosen a favorite? Um, I looked at, yeah, the collage. It was on, was it couple week ago? Mm-hmm. Um, because it's 3:00 in the morning.
• 28:37
  Andrew Cohen had the best picture. [laughs] Her face was all scrunched up and she was like- Yeah, that was a good one, for sure... making a growly face. We won't put you on the spot.
• 28:44
  So tell, tell us about your, uh, typhoon of a Global Fat Bike Day that I saw. Oh, geez. Yeah, bloody hell. Storm Desmond, we had over here, uh, just so happened to, to land on a, on Saturday.
• 28:59
  So yeah, we, we only had four, four of us do the ride, um, another six bailed 'cause of the weather. Sure. And, um, we were sandblasted, exfoliated. [laughs] Um, it was,
• 29:15
  it was probably the worst weather I've cycled in. And I think I've been in some pretty crap weather over in Wales. And, um, yeah, it, it was rough. Very rough.
• 29:27
  There were some very strong headwinds, but, um, once they were behind us, my God, we were motoring. Oh, yeah. That's, the- We were flying down the coast... it is pretty amazing when you get that tailwind.
• 29:38
  If you could get a shuttle ride on those days on the coast, it would just be- Oh, yeah... so badass. But sometimes you just gotta- It was pretty-... you know, gut it out for a few miles, and then cruise back.
• 29:50
  It's a good time. Yeah. So- It was all good out. It really was... so the winds were like 50 kilometer, kilometers an hour, right? Um- [laughs]... I'd say 50 mile an hour. It was- [laughs] Really? 50 miles an hour. Yeah.
• 30:04
  Whoa. It was, it was holding the guys. I saw in your video you had to go past emergency vehicles, and it looked like [laughs] they were evacuating, and you were just going like, "Oh, we're just gonna go for a bike ride.
• 30:16
  Don't worry." Oh, yeah. "We're, we're fine." It, um, it was like it was turning into the zombie apocalypse, you know what I mean? It was, uh, it was looking bad.
• 30:23
  I think they clo- closed the roads at one point, to be honest with you. [laughs] So were you, were you right on the coast at the ocean? Oh, yes. Yeah, right on the coast, on the, the west- Nice...
• 30:34
  on the coast of this Kimisch- Yeah, and I, I- Right... I saw the, I saw the radar. It, it looked like- Hurricane D- Yeah... they, they've actually had a couple named storms over there- The next one was-...
• 30:43
  which they don't normally get... Desmond. Oh, that's the fourth one. Like Desmond Dekker. Desmond Tutu. Oh. Oh no, he was very nice. He wouldn't have been that- [laughs]... that violent.
• 30:52
  Desmond Dekker had that sweet reggae song back in the '60s. Yeah, I'm, I'm old. Well, Jeff, I can't believe you called, man. I really appreciate it. It's really good to talk to you. Oh, lovely.
• 31:04
  I don't, th- this is like the first- Yeah, yeah. It's good... time I think I've ever actually talked to Jeff. We're just pen pals. It is? Yeah. Yeah. Well, you sound very tall, Jeff. I'm off the chain.
• 31:17
  [laughs] The radio will do that to you. Oh, yeah. Indeed.
• 31:19
  Makes, it puts, it puts four inches on you where it counts, and that's why we have an explicit rating here on iTunes, 'cause I just can't keep it out of the gutter.
• 31:31
  So where are we at in this, uh, grand scheme of showy showiness? I don't know. Still talking to Jeff as far as I can tell. [laughs] But Jeff, Jeff, what are you riding right now?
• 31:43
  Yeah, I'm still on the, uh, trusty Mukluk, Salsa Mukluk. Okay. Uh, the black and white one that's been in numerous videos. Um, oh, I'm loving it. It's just an absolute joy. Absolute joy. You should go and demo
• 31:59
  this year's Salsa Mukluk, and do a com- contrast and comparison because they switched the, uh, geometry- Yeah... to the Blackborow geometry, the- Blackborow...
• 32:15
  more, more slacked out and more, and shorter chain stay, uh, geometry. Longer f- longer front center, shorter chain stay. Right. Yep. That really, man, it's, it's, it's [laughs] pretty good.
• 32:28
  So, uh, I would be interested to see, you know, as a longtime Mukluk rider, how you feel that is, and, uh, maybe give us a few, sing us a few bars about it, if it were a song. Right. What do you think?
• 32:41
  That sounds, um, an interesting comparison. It does. Yeah. Yeah. Cool bike. Wicked. Yeah, Salsa makes nice bikes.
• 32:52
  I don't know about that pink and orange one with the pink and orange, uh, tires on it that was making its way around the, around the old internet. Uh, that just made me feel- A bit loud... weird somehow.
• 33:07
  But hey, it's not my bike. A bit loud. The, the, the red and black one and the purple haze one, woo. Great looking stuff. So Robbie is giving me the signal. I don't know what [laughs] what does this mean?
• 33:21
  I should, I should punt? [laughs] I got, I gotta wrap this up. I guess we have to wrap this up, Jeff. Um, apparently we're gonna- All right...
• 33:32
  wrap this up and go into, I think we're going into the, are we in the Fatty Farm Field Report? No, we got more callers. Oh, we have more callers. Oh, well, that's, that's what that signal means.
• 33:41
  That means let's, let's get some other callers here. All right. We just can- Jeff, Robbie insists that we take another caller. You, my man, you rock, and, you know, welcome to the family. No worries. Cheers, fellas.
• 33:54
  It's been great listening, and, uh, keep at it. Yeah. And with the, uh, TV as well. [laughs] Well- Thanks, man... we've got lawn mowers in the, uh, in the mix coming up pretty soon. That's right.
• 34:06
  Welcome to the largest riding lawn mower website on the, in the galaxy. [laughs] We can, we can review the heck out of a riding lawn mower. [laughs] All right, man. [laughs] Thanks. Thanks a lot, man.
• 34:18
  All right, cheers, guys. Stay safe. Cheers. Man, somebody's been waiting a long time. I don't know. Hello. Welcome to the radio program. Hi. How's it going? Are you talking to me? Absolutely. Are you talking to me?
• 34:30
  [laughs] Yeah. I, I think so. How you guys doing today? Good. Who we, who we talking to? Uh, this is Travis from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Right on, Travis. Eau Claire, where they, they have hills in Eau Claire over there.
• 34:43
  Yeah, they got, they got the, um, trail system right there, and plus they got the secret trails along the river that, uh, that get claimed. Oh, they're not secret now. Oh, wait. What river? There's two of them.
• 34:56
  You know, that's funny. I, I, I just heard about them, uh, Monday night at the, uh, year-end party that we had. Oh, wow. So. You must have- Yeah... you must have- Yeah, we have lots of good trails. Cora does a great job.
• 35:07
  Yeah, you must have entered the circle of trust somewhere along the line. Uh, one of our- I, I-...
• 35:13
  one of our original bike testers a long time ago went up and did a race up there, and she came back with, with [laughs] a trail map literally written on a cocktail napkin. She's like, "We gotta go here.
• 35:25
  He drags a, he drags a tire full of cement through the woods with a motorbike. It's kick-ass." So she doesn't really talk like that, but. [laughs] So welcome to the show. Welcome.
• 35:37
  Who's your favorite Bike Life urban test pilot? Do you even know what that means? That would surprise me. [laughs] You didn't, you know, you wouldn't- Um- Go ahead...
• 35:46
  I, I don't, I, you know, I couldn't give you a square answer. I did, I did read a review on the framed wolf tracks. Mm-hmm. So, you know, Gomez- Dave Krueger... you know, is, that's a good rider.
• 35:55
  Oh, no, that's, Dave Krueger wrote that, but, but a vote, any vote that is abstention, that's a vote for Gomez. No. [laughs] You vote more than once for Gomez. I, I'm not really a test pilot so much as I am, uh- Yeah...
• 36:08
  the guy that can't stop talking. Like a, uh, circus, uh, ring leader. Rode- rodeo clown. R- [laughs] I was thinking more like ring leader, but yeah- [laughs]... rodeo clown works, too. [laughs] Oh, clowns are scary.
• 36:22
  So, uh, what else- Yeah... what else is going on? You, uh, did you, did you guys in Eau Claire, did you guys get together and ride for Global Fat Bike Day? A lot of guys went down to Levis. Oh, right on. Yeah.
• 36:34
  Um, I did, I didn't, but a few of my friends and some other random people I've seen at, uh, the shop go- Ended up going down there. [laughs] Yeah. Levis, I love Levis. And, uh, one of our- Yeah, I haven't been there-...
• 36:46
  one of our test pilots is the trail guy, one of the trails guys there, Steve Miret, if you know him. Uh, yes. I actually, uh...
• 36:54
  You know, I, I did, uh, just became friends with him on Facebook, like, on Fat Bike Day, so that's weird. Yeah. He's, uh, he's a cool cat. It's not confirmed, but I actually think he's the guy I seen at Chopko.
• 37:06
  [laughs] Ah, okay. [laughs] That's how I all put it together. I don't know, may- maybe it's just random. Nice. So. Well, thanks for calling.
• 37:16
  See, I, I ride a lot around at Lowe's and it, uh, it's a good, good place to ride, so. And you guys have a, uh, snowshoe and fat bike race right there at Lowe's and it's, uh, the name is escaping me.
• 37:29
  It's like a lumberjack name. What's the name of that race? Um, oh, dang. Powder Keg or something? Powder Keg, that sounds about right. Powder Keg, yes. I, I've only been at it- Look at the big-... a few times a year...
• 37:38
  look at the big brain on Sven. [laughs] Check out the big brain on Sven. [laughs] Nice. Well, listen, we're gonna move on- Oh, yeah...
• 37:46
  to another caller, but I appreciate you calling in and answering our questions and listening to the show. You rock, dude. Well, you know, the- Absolutely...
• 37:53
  our paths will cross and don't, don't be afraid to say, "Hey, man, I talked to you on the radio. Give me a high five." Right on. Well, take care, guys. Have a good night. All right, so long, man. See ya. Bye.
• 38:04
  Hey, let's, uh, let's take a quick break here before we saunter into the Fatty Farm field report. There we will be, in the field with reporting.
• 38:15
  [upbeat music] Whether you carry your bikes on your roof or with a hitch, the best way to get your fat bike to the trail is with a rack from 1UP USA.
• 38:29
  1UP USA uses stainless steel hardware on their all-aluminum racks and come with a lifetime warranty. 1UP USA racks are made in the USA, right in Wisconsin.
• 38:42
  Visit 1upusa.com for more information on the fastest loading, highest quality rack solutions. [upbeat music] You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio.
• 38:59
  Welcome back to the radio program. Indeed. It's the program of radeness. Are we gonna talk about our weekly contest, our new one? Yeah. Yes. We've got a contest coming up. We should probably say something about that.
• 39:13
  So we, uh, I don't know if you follow us on Instagram. If you don't, you are missing out on all of the inside information on what we're doing and giving away and revealing.
• 39:24
  So, uh, we put some pictures up of the Becker 40 Below bag, and, uh, for the next three weeks we're gonna be giving one of those custom-made bags away. They hold, like, 4.3 beers, so it's, like, a 40 ounce, 40 Below.
• 39:42
  And it goes below your, your down tube. Right. So I thought it was, like, oh, Fat Bike Suspension created a little space there- Yep... for our buddy Tup Becker to, uh, make a bag.
• 39:55
  And, uh, you can put your beverages or your fly pole or your tent poles or, I don't know, your [laughs] 40-inch graphics bong, [laughs] whatever you wanna put in there. Oh, that would be a long graphics tube.
• 40:08
  [laughs] That's a nice one. I don't know if these things are 40 inches, though, so don't, don't, you know... [laughs] Obviously. Well, they're... You can just cut one down if you really had to. Indeed.
• 40:16
  You can custom make one, I'm sure, that would be- They had Campbell soup cans on the bottom of them. Oh, really? Filled with fish tank gravel. Hmm.
• 40:25
  That was the weight on the bottom of the original G graphics back in the day. Hmm. I don't know anything about that, though. [laughs] All old guys know what a bong is. It's part of- Oh, is that what those were?
• 40:37
  I thought they were for putting flowers in... [laughs] it's part of our college training, part, part of our college curriculum. [laughs] So for the next three shows... We do digress.
• 40:46
  Next three shows, one lucky winner is going to get a fabulous Becker Sewing 40 Below bag. Tell the folks how they can win, JK.
• 40:57
  The first week we're going to award the bag to the best photo from Global Fat Bike Day 2015. Send your photo to gomez@fat-bike.com with Becker Bag Contest in the subject.
• 41:14
  That's- Make, make sure you follow the rules- [laughs]... 'cause Gomez gets, like, 48,000 emails a day. Yeah.
• 41:21
  And if you wanna be considered, make sure you put Becker Bag Contest in the subject line of your email and stuff. Yeah. Ooh, yeah, that was... Yeah, that's, that's very stern contest rules. [laughs] We have one rule.
• 41:34
  We have one rule: don't screw it up. [laughs] So, uh- Well, we have two rules. You gotta have a photo in there, too. And then- Oh, and Global Fat Bike Day. Now we're up to three rules.
• 41:45
  [laughs] How many rules are you gonna get here? This year, 2015. So Tupper and I talked today, and, uh, next week it's gonna be an essay, photo essay, you know? Or video essay. No, wait.
• 41:57
  It's gonna be a video essay the third week. So we're giving away three bags. So you, if you don't get it the first week, maybe you get the second week. And he says he wants to give away...
• 42:08
  He's, like, crazy Tupper up there in Fairbanks. [laughs] He wants to give people bags every week, every month, "I wanna give bags away." I think he is loco. Isn't, isn't that your Andrea Cohen voice?
• 42:23
  [laughs] That's my... It's actually, you know who it is? It's Cale Wenther. Oh. That's who it is. We haven't talked to Cale for a while. I know. I know.
• 42:30
  He, he chimed in on our, uh, lawn, our, [laughs] on our lawnmower, uh, incident, but, uh, you know, that's... He came out of, uh... That's only because I, I polled some people. So anyway. You know where we're at now?
• 42:44
  Talking about Global Fat Bike Day stuff- Yeah... again. Contest winners. Contest winners for Global Fat Bike Day. Are you ready for this? I am ready. I'm, I'm anxious. We need a drum roll.
• 42:57
  [drum beating] Our friend Jordan Blackson from Anchorage. They had 140 riders there. We talked to Travis, who was there today, and they gathered 79 toys. So Jordan wins the medium Moonlander Ops.
• 43:14
  [bell ringing] That's- Bam. Oh, bam boy. Congratulations, Jordan... yeah, and I know that's gonna fit him, 'cause Jordan and I are the same size, so. All right then. [laughs] And it's green- And you-...
• 43:25
  so you can see it in the snow up there... and you didn't even have to, you know, braid our beards together or anything weird, Jordan. You just had to, like, gather toys for, for kids that need toys.
• 43:34
  That's pretty kickass. So- And you know, second place- Yeah, we-... 10:08 was-... was a 1Up USA- Right, and that goes-... two bike, fat bike capable, fantastic rack from right over in, uh- Beautiful...
• 43:45
  Dickeyville, apparently, Wisconsin... right. American made. We've tested this rack. Kickass rack. Our second place winner is Ricky DeLayos from the DC area.
• 43:57
  He and his, um, brothers and sisters raised 60 toys, so that's the, uh, 1Up USA two tray Inyo Hitch rack, awesome rack, for Ricky DeLayos.
• 44:14
  And in third place, uh, Bontrager Tires, and Bontrager has four fat bike tires, and you can, uh, you can mix and match. You can get two of any kind, or you can mix and match, like I said before.
• 44:26
  [laughs] It's a whole- Or the same kind, or you can mix and match. [laughs] Just caught in the loop. Hodag, Narwhal. So who, so who's the winner of the Bontrager, third place?
• 44:36
  Uh, it goes to Sean Camp from, uh, Saratoga Springs, New York. They had 70 riders and 54 toys. And Sean was the guy that kinda- Right... helped us- Spearheaded this whole deal... spearheaded this whole idea.
• 44:49
  This was his idea. Um- We just co-opted it to give you people some fine prizes... he won some tires. Maybe he'll pick out those big Barbaghezzis for his, for his, uh... I just made a, a vulgar, uh- I know who his-...
• 45:04
  circulation... favorite bike Black Ribbon test pilot is, giving away all this stuff. [laughs] No kidding. Over 300 toys donated. Over 300, just the, the people that reported in.
• 45:13
  So I'm gonna be pushing back, and we're gonna send stickers and whatever else we have in the schwag treasure chest to some of these folks that didn't win big prizes.
• 45:25
  So if I didn't mention you and you get a strange package, it's just from us. Uh, it won't be that strange, 'cause it'll have our return address on it and our logo and stuff, so don't be nervous. Um, worried.
• 45:38
  [laughs] 'Cause I've just scared our one listener away. [laughs] Oh, goodbye one listener. Oh, God, he's gonna send me his bike. Hey, speaking of listeners. Yeah. We've, we've got...
• 45:50
  [laughs] Yeah, that's, that's- So Old Bear, Old Bear's been listening for 39 minutes to- Oh... just you babbling over there, and now- Oh, God... what's up, Old Bear? Hey, nothing much.
• 46:01
  I just wanted to call and say, uh, we had a small gathering here. My sons came down, and we all took turns riding my bike. Oh, killer. All right. Yeah, you got... You indoctrinated some new fat bike riders into the fold.
• 46:14
  Yes. My, my son said, "We're going to get fat bikes," so he wanted to know where I got mine. Of course, I told him. Right. They're gonna get 'em. Oh, very cool. They, they loved it.
• 46:25
  My son was doing nose wheelies with mine. I said, "Son- [laughs] Wow, mad skills. Nice. But they're so, they're so skinny.
• 46:34
  You know, compared to me, I, I'm a 200-plus, you know, 250-plus rider, and, you know, they're, they're like 160 pounds [laughs] you know, like I was when I was their age. There you go. Yeah. But, uh- Well-...
• 46:48
  had an accident yesterday. What happened? I went down and did my,
• 46:52
  well, I went down and did my 12 miles from Lions Club, uh, Park Trails, and on the ride home, I was going up a hill, and the stupid shoelace on my left, right, my left cycling shoe- Uh-huh...
• 47:04
  wrapped around the axle of the pedal. Oh, no. Oh, man, I've had that happen before. Oh, yeah. That's no good at all. Or pants in the chain is also a good way to, like- Ah. Oh, yeah.
• 47:14
  I, I, I did one of those slow, uh, Buster Keaton roll over wrecks- Oh, man... and, uh, took out my knee. Are you gonna be- You guys-... are you gonna be all right? You gonna be all right? Oh, yeah, I'm fine.
• 47:27
  I'll be riding tomorrow. It's gonna be 68 down here tomorrow. Hey, chicks, chicks- We're, we're sneaking up on 60 tomorrow. Yeah. Chicks dig scars, man. [laughs] They say we're supposed to have a mild winter anyway.
• 47:40
  Yeah. I don't like the sound of that, but did you use the secret word tonight? Um, we actually fooled everyone, and we might not use the secret word, or, you know- Okay...
• 47:52
  maybe we're, maybe we're going to launch something later. I don't know. I don't even remember the secret word was this time. There's only... You know, there's only one thing I'm certain of is- 'Cause-... I need a break.
• 48:04
  Oh, Gomez has to take a break. I have, I, I, I have to go, I have to go take a break. So yeah, because we did the Global Fat Bike thing this week, we, uh, we decided not to, uh, have a- another contest-y thing this week.
• 48:15
  But we're gonna get back into being able to- I, I, I know...
• 48:18
  yeah, we're gonna get back into giving away some more stuff with, uh, photo contests and whatnot with the guy, with, uh, Tupper from Becker Bags and, uh- Yeah, yeah.
• 48:27
  My s- my son gave me enough money to order the, uh, the bear doing the, uh, tail whip T-shirt. Oh, right on. Yeah. So I ordered one. Well, if people are listening to this show, sorry.
• 48:39
  You missed out, 'cause, uh, actually yesterday was the last day [laughs] you could get in on these deals. But we're gonna be printing those things up on Saturday.
• 48:47
  I'm gonna pick 'em up on Sunday from, uh, Andy, our printer, and we'll get 'em out in the- In the US Postal Service there by, uh, by Tuesday.
• 48:54
  Everybody should have them in plenty of time for Christmas gift giving and/or if you bought yourself a Christmas present, uh, [laughs] you'll get it before Christmas. Yep.
• 49:03
  I was gonna tell you, I, I just got done reading Charlie Kelly's book, Bad Tire Flyer. Oh, right on. Yeah, one of the, one of the original, uh- It's a good read... mountain bike, uh, kings. Yes. It's a good read.
• 49:16
  Covers a lot of the history, and he brings back a lot of memories for me because I was riding in the dirt as a, as a teenager up there in Buffalo Grove. We had a...
• 49:28
  It's one of those hills, you know, they used to take all the topsoil and mound it up. We used to have hill climbs. Oh, right on. Like a, like a- Oh, yeah... like a ski hill or a garbage pile or [laughs]... No.
• 49:42
  No, no, no, no, no, no. It was... Okay, back when I was younger, they used to take and they would strip all the topsoil before they'd build a home, and they'd pile it in this mound.
• 49:52
  And they did this on this one field by Buffalo Grove Road and Dundee by the old Jewel shopping center over there by Ricca's bowling alley.
• 50:03
  And they had this mound, it was on the northwest corner of this big empty lot, and we used to try to climb it on whatever bike we had. And I discovered a Phantom inch pitch, you know, the roller chain Schwinn Phantom.
• 50:21
  Yep. Stripped it down, put a Brooks saddle on it my, my great uncle gave me, and it had two speed rear end in it, Bendix. Mm-hmm. And I, I was the only one that was getting up and over this hill. Nice.
• 50:35
  Char- Charlie would've been proud. Everybody else was... Hmm. Oh, yeah. Anyway, just wanted to call and say have a good Christmas [laughs]. Yeah, man. Yeah.
• 50:45
  Well, I think, well, we're doing a, we're doing a show next week, and then we've got- Okay... a party show we're gonna do [laughs] -- Yeah, the-... uh, next Saturday...
• 50:55
  we're, we're gonna go to, uh, Chris Daisy's basement, the guy that does the music for the show and, uh, the owner of Zion Cyclery, and, uh, his band is gonna play,
• 51:06
  and we're gonna have cage dancers and foam and Snapple, shots of Snapple. We're gonna get wild. Yep. So we'll probably post that sometime between Christmas and New Year's. Yeah. Okay. Something like that.
• 51:23
  I was gonna say, my choice from Black, Black Ribbon or Test Pilot- Mm-hmm... is, uh, Gomez for one reason. Oh. He's the only one who matches me in size. [laughs] Well, the Gomez is shrinking. Yeah, I'm shrinking.
• 51:39
  I've, I've actually lost 43- You are? Yeah, I lost 43 pounds since the end of July, so, uh, and, uh, I'm, I'm still going down, so, uh- What are you down to? Well, I weigh
• 51:53
  250, 252 I think I was, uh, on Monday. So I started at 295, bro. Yeah, that's a, that's a waker upper there. That's, that's a big number.
• 52:04
  Yeah, so, uh- After I got out of the hospital, after I got out of the hospital the last time, I shot back up to 281 pounds. Yeah. I'm down, down to 271. I'm going back down, too. Well, good on you, man. Yeah.
• 52:18
  That's, uh... Keep riding. Well, I ain't losing- The big guys, the big guys riding. This is-... it's very hard... this is what I say about- And I'm-... big, big guys that ride.
• 52:28
  People say, "Oh, single speeders are badass. That must be really hard." Well, try and ride with a bag of cement with you the whole time. Gears or not- Yeah... fat guys are badasses- [laughs]...
• 52:39
  because we pedal all that weight around. But, you know, I'm, uh, I'm gonna try and, uh, learn what, uh, the, uh, [laughs] I'm gonna try and learn what 225 pounds feels like pushing a bike.
• 52:50
  'Cause I tell you, right now I'm feeling like, uh, like, um, um, I'm s- having so much more fun on the bike. So anyway- Yeah... dude, we gotta go to another caller. Well, that's good. And, uh, uh- Okay...
• 53:03
  we love talking to you, and we will talk to you soon. All right. Talk to you later, brothers. Bye-bye. See you. See you. Does we gots another caller? We still got Travis lurking. Travis. What's up, Travis?
• 53:16
  Just listening in here. Got a little FYI there. The, uh, so Jordan, who won the, uh, now that it's officially announced- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm... the Toys for Tots. Mm-hmm.
• 53:25
  Um, he was taking everybody that donated a toy got to put their name in. Oh. And he's gonna raffle off that John Deere Moon Lander. What? And my name's in there. What an egalitarian way- Yeah... to go about it.
• 53:38
  That was rather... Wow. Wow. And, and you know, I don't say that very often. That's fantastic. That is a very cool thing. So Travis might end up with that.
• 53:48
  It's been in my basement, and I swear to God, Travis, I have not, I have not done anything, uh- Unseemly... yeah. I, I have, I just, I looked at it. That's all I've done. Now- [laughs]... you know, that's all I...
• 54:01
  [laughs] That's bad, that's bad enough. You guys are just- Whoa... sick dogs over there. [laughs] Jesus. Or maybe it's just me. I don't know. [laughs] Um, Travis, save us. Save us from ourselves. Man alive.
• 54:17
  So I've got some news out of Homer. Our friend, uh, Brother Bjorn Olson over there, uh, they're working along with the, uh, Homer Cycling Club, they're working to get the, to establish the first packraft route.
• 54:32
  Uh, so it'll be fat biking and packrafting, uh, in the bay there, Kachemak Bay, and they have a website. It's in our, uh, fat bike links.
• 54:41
  But they have to convince the state park across the bay there to allow, uh, bicycles, 'cause right now bicycles are not allowed in that state park. It is a fairly wilderness-y area.
• 54:53
  It's one of those areas where you could packraft over and, uh... But, ah, what am I talking about? You can have brown bears right in Anchorage, so anyway, there's a link. Click on it and you might be able to vote for
• 55:10
  getting bikes allowed and creating this wonderful thing Up, up there in, uh- Homer... in Gunnison area- Yeah, yeah... they, they had, uh, one of their first races and, uh, Dave Ween showed up at it. Oh, cool.
• 55:24
  Yeah, 'cause he's, he's training for worlds, yo. Yeah. They were saying he was laughing the whole time. Oh, really? Yeah. On a fat bike. That is awesome. Come on. Right? Yeah. That's, that's too cool.
• 55:34
  Well, uh, I, I actually, uh, I'm confirmed. I'm g- I'm going to Crested Butte for nationals for eight days, yo. So- That is a good thing. That's, that's the right amount of time to be over there...
• 55:46
  we're, uh, meeting the Moots crew out there, and I'm sure the boys from Borealis will be all over that. It's gonna be a thang. It's gonna be good. I just have to beg somebody to pay for it- [laughs]... like my wife.
• 55:59
  [laughs] "Hey, honey. Can I, can I, can I go have some fun for a while, please?" You know what? It l- in a local, we don't have a link here, but we'll have to add it.
• 56:08
  There is something going on at Blue Mounds State Park. They want to close some trails, so we have to, uh, we have to get on that email train and get it on with the DNR and say, "Please don't do that." Don't do that.
• 56:21
  So there'll be a link in our links for that as well. But if they, you know, have a problem there, they can always go up to Vilas County, up where Hayward is up that way and- Yeah, true... they've been- Killing it.
• 56:32
  Yeah... killing it with, uh, miles and miles and 40, 50 miles, miles of trails. Yeah.
• 56:37
  Guys from Wildcat Groomers are involved in that, and I think the Birkebeiner Ski Foundation supports that as well, uh, which is a feather in their cap in my, in my opinion. Hey, we got some, uh, links here from Big Tom.
• 56:50
  I like Tom. From, uh, Winnipeg. Winnipeg, yeah. Well, they, there was a Global Fat Bike Day going [laughs] on or something. I don't know. Yeah. Was that? That's weird. Yeah.
• 56:59
  So what did you two cats do for Global Fat Bike Day? Santa Rampage. Santa Rampage. Yes. Found s- found some bridges. It's a j- Always a bridge. Yeah.
• 57:10
  We did a little quick, uh, little quick thing in the, in the Oscar's, uh, hamburger joint. Oh, yeah? Just a, a little, uh, little interview of JK and I sitting at the table waiting [laughs] for our burger.
• 57:21
  [laughs] Oh, nice. We should probably put that in right here. Yeah, we can put that in right here. Hey, it's Sven and JK here on Global Fat Bike Day at, uh, Oscar's Hamburger Joint.
• 57:33
  We've, we've had several stops already. Where did we stop, JK? Uh, it was Hollander. Lake Front. Uh- Oh, no, Nomad. Nomad. Roman Coin. [laughs] Coin. Then Lake. Then Lake. I, I forgot about those two.
• 57:49
  It was south, there was top of a hill. There was always a hill. Yep. Yep, the hill. Uh- We got, uh, we got eight people with us here right now about.
• 57:58
  Uh, one, two, three, four, five, we got seven people, and five are on fat bikes. Yeah. It's Global Fat Bike Day too. I got a, I got a, I got a for real here from Global Fat Bike Day. Oh, yes.
• 58:12
  It's, is, uh, the mood is fresh. [laughs] Yeah.
• 58:14
  Well, we were just, we were just down the way at, uh, Great Lakes Distillery, and I was trying to collect everybody up to get a picture going, and people were just coming in, so I was trying to catch them before they locked up.
• 58:24
  And I caught these two guys, and he's like, "Global Fat Bike Day's out at John Muir." I'm like, "Well, it's Global Fat Bike Day, so there's also a ride here. Can we go take a picture?"
• 58:35
  He's like, "Oh, it's out at John Muir." I'm like, "It's Global... Whatever, man." [laughs] For real. [laughs] You know? I don't, I wish, I wish I knew that guy's name, 'cause I'd call him out by name and go- [laughs]...
• 58:46
  "For real?" For real. For real. So yeah. Anyway, we're on, uh, on our way to Kochanski's. We need our Polka Dogs. And yeah, what's, what is the event there? Get your Polish on. They got Polish sausages.
• 59:00
  Squeeze with milk. Yeah, I don't think you'll get inside. That place gets packed. Anyway, well, we'll check in from Kochanski's maybe. Signing off. Yes. Keep your pants on. You're man on the street. Are, yeah.
• 59:12
  [laughs] Are you gonna be wearing pants? [laughs] My nose is snoring. You're not saying 10-4, right? You're not saying 10-4, right?
• 59:24
  So Angry Andy and I got together and rode at our local trails early with Uncle Norm and, uh, Evan Larson, who's a test pilot. Andy's a test pilot as well. And, uh, with some other blokes that we ride with.
• 59:40
  And then Andy and I headed up to Cam Rock, uh, just outside of Madison, and we rode up there and saw DeJohn and all kinds of people, the cat from Mongoose and
• 59:54
  a bunch of our friends up there from the, uh, CORBA folks, the Capital Off-Road Bicycle folks in Madison. And then, uh, that's... So I did a double, a twofer, two Global Fat Bike Days in one.
• 1:00:09
  Both on the same day or did you split it up? Both on the same day. Right on. One early in the morning and then one mid-afternoon. And here you go.
• 1:00:15
  Here's, here's the official announcement, dudes, is a lot of people think that I invented Global Fat Bike Day, and this is simply not true. Two guys from the UK, Richie Salt and Si Matthews, they came up with this idea.
• 1:00:32
  I am just a rodeo clown that announced it all over the technology with the help of my friend Sven and the irrepressible JK Living through the megaphone of fat bike-ness. So- We're Gomez's support staff No.
• 1:00:47
  [laughs] We are, we are... [laughs] Oh, my God. That is- Well, I just, there's no way I could talk as much as you can, so- [laughs] It's so- I, I don't have it in me... it's so freaking true. I could not stop talking.
• 1:01:02
  But those guys, I mean, that was really something brilliant Indeed. It was a fantastic idea that [laughs] as soon as I'd read it, I was like, "Oh my God, what a great idea."
• 1:01:11
  But on the subject of Global Fat Bike Day, let me get out my soapbox just a little bit and talk about, you know, a lot of people have been saying, "Oh, we gotta have the huge numbers, and we're not gonna be able to have these numbers if there's so many events."
• 1:01:26
  I think that everyone from the person that, that goes out and does a solo ride all the way up to the biggest events, if you get 1,000 fat bike riders, they should all be looked at as equal. The magic here is the ride.
• 1:01:39
  It is that magic gliding feeling that we get when we get on the bicycle. And you know, if you ride bikes, you know what I'm talking about. It's a magic quality, uh- You don't get it on riding lawnmowers so much, do you?
• 1:01:55
  [laughs] When I find a lawnmower that can roll like that Ritchie Commando through some twisty, sandy, piney, single tracky, then maybe I will be that rib. We can only hope.
• 1:02:12
  [laughs] Could only hope that I could bring the kind of technology and dedication that I've brought to the fat bike land. Yes. Yes. Yes. But, uh, that's, that, that's all I'm saying.
• 1:02:23
  Fat bike, Global Fat Bike Day, let's do it every freaking day. Let's get together with our friends and go ride bikes. Let's have a Snapple and, and look at, look at clouds. [laughs] And bust them for their thoughts.
• 1:02:40
  Boom. I think it's, uh, time to thank Surly for sponsoring the radio portion of today's broadcast. Surly bikes, parts, chaos. Learn more at surlybikes.com. Hey, guess what?
• 1:02:56
  Join us next week when, uh, we'll judge your Global Fat Bike Day pictures, and the winner will get a Becker Sewing and Design 40 Below frame bag. Boom. Booyah. Yeah.
• 1:03:13
  Send that photo to gobez@fatbike.com. With Becker Sewing or Becker Bag Contest. Becker Bag Contest. What did we say in the- Sorry... subject? Yes. In the subject line. If Becker's in there.
• 1:03:25
  And then you got all stern about it. [laughs] 'Cause I, I don't want your job to be any harder than it has to be. I appreciate that. I know your plate is full. I appreciate that. That's Sven, ladies and gentlemen.
• 1:03:35
  He's looking out for me. He also plays the role of Bobby. [laughs] Or Robbie. [laughs] Or Robbie. [laughs] All right. That's it, folks. We'll see you next week. Bye-bye. Adios, amigos.
• 1:03:52
  You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's Weekly Dose of Fat. Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
• 1:04:06
  [upbeat rock music]