Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Full Spectrum Cycling #143 – bikepacking.com Best Route Award Winner Dave Schlabowske Plus Jessica, Dan and James in the Studio

Transcript

Full Spectrum Cycling #143 – bikepacking.com Best Route Award Winner Dave Schlabowske Plus Jessica, Dan and James in the Studio · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:00
  [upbeat music] All righty, everyone.
• 0:15
  It's Full Spectrum Cycling, show number 143. Think we regressed from when Tony said 144 last week- [laughs] I was 144... but it's the accurate count is now 143. Like an I-43? And we're, we're on I-43. Oh, there we go.
• 0:30
  Numbers shmumbers. [laughs] Well, gotta make it. Hey, JK's back to his traditional spot over there. Hello, everybody. I don't even know what he did last week. Hello, everyone.
• 0:41
  Tony, Tony directly across from me, with, with his hair growing fast, by the way. It is getting a little... It's almost manageable. And splitting the uprights? Wiley Coyote. It's Wiley Coyote.
• 0:53
  We also have peanut gallery tonight, Dan and Jessica, we're gonna have on a little bit later. How you doing? They're sitting in the orange room, or not the... It's the orange chair room. Green- Yeah... orange room.
• 1:03
  Same room. Chair. Their chairs are- Area over there, sucking on some brewskis, waiting- Pace... for their moment in the sun. Pace. I think I'm gonna title this show Through the...
• 1:15
  uh, Up the Yellow Stairs and Through the Blue Door because- [laughs]... kind of explains how to get to this. Do we have show titles?
• 1:22
  Well, y- yeah, usually it's, uh, Dave Slabowski, award-winning bikepacking.com author and route creator- I, I guess I never- Who will actually be on the show-... pay attention...
• 1:30
  he'll be on the show a little bit later, folks... I just listen to the show because Dr. Sushi's on. Yeah, yeah. This is a common theme with Tony. [laughs] It's like, oh, perfect timing on Tuesday.
• 1:39
  Because- Tuesdays, right?... at 9:00 Dr. Sushi starts, I'm like, oh yeah, let's listen to the podcast. Time to go listen to the show. [laughs] Yes, it, it has been described as [laughs]
• 1:47
  by, by said cousin as going, "I love it because I turn it on and it sounds like exactly what's going on in my head." [laughs] He said that to me too. [laughs] So- It is well, it is well characterized.
• 1:58
  Is that a Dinardo quote? It is a Dinardo quote. Oh, all right. Well. I'm an instant fan. That would explain a lot. [laughs] He's a good guy. [laughs] So here in the holy crap column, 66 degrees today. Yeah.
• 2:10
  [laughs] I love- How was it? I don't know. It was thick. It was moist. Yeah, thick and moist. [laughs] Thick and moist. I'm in the throes of the, uh, after effects of my boosting jet pack. Oh.
• 2:22
  So I had the- Oh, that's your booster jet pack... I had the chills all day. Oh. So I'd sit outside, and I'm like, "Wow." I look, it's like 60 fucking 3, and it's like, [shivers] Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah.
• 2:33
  I felt like a grandmother, or father. What did you get? Which, what was your medicine? The boner pills. What medicine? The bon- who makes the boner pills? Pfizer? Yep. Oh, there you go. Pfizer. Hey. I was okay.
• 2:46
  I just had to, I just had to look in the medicine cabinet and I would find them. I got mine. So you got the little blue shot? [laughs] I'm just saying. 21st, baby. I get mine in, uh, next Tuesday.
• 2:53
  I, I had mine- I'm excited... and I was a little tired, but other than that, I was fine. Did you get the flu shot at the same time? Mm-hmm. Yep, I did. I'm gonna do that.
• 2:59
  That's the first time I will ever have gotten the flu shot, and I've never had the flu before. But some people do. So if I ever get it in the future, I'm gonna blame it on the, the flu shot.
• 3:07
  [laughs] That's, that's what's up. See, that's science right there. That's science. Yeah. See what I'm saying? I didn't have it before, got the shot, then I got the flu. No. That's science right there. That's science.
• 3:13
  Yeah, that's gotta be it. Man. [laughs] Like, that- All right, 66. I can't... I c- I just... That's like- It's giddy up... crazy. It's December. It is, it's gotta be a record, right? I'm feeling it now.
• 3:23
  I, well, it wasn't last year. At least for this date, if not for this month. Yeah. Yeah, it was- For Christmas... I think the record was 56 or 57. We eclipsed it by decades. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 3:33
  For sure, for sure. I know. I know. What's going on? What's going on? I know. I know. I know. Hey, guess what happened, uh, got a couple, lots of texts from Shannon. Yeah?
• 3:42
  'Cause we mentioned that skateboard deck last week. He's likes skateboards. Then he went to Old Skull and he bought a new skateboard.
• 3:47
  [laughs] He got, he got this wicked cool Caballero, like, reissue and brand-new blah, blah, blah trucks this and this and that.
• 3:54
  And I was like, "Oh, I shouldn't really go to that site," 'cause they might have the reissue of the board that I rode for years and years and years, the Ray Bones Rodriguez, Paolo Peralta yellow stain badass motherfucker.
• 4:04
  Guess what they got? 98% likely they do because Paolo Peralta- Guess what they have?... is remaking everything. Yes, they have them. They have all the old forms, and they're doing them. And it's expensive.
• 4:11
  I actually tried to give them my money earlier today, and there was something, I think Amazon Web Services has been down- Yeah, they have been... like, a lot lately. Yep, pretty hammered.
• 4:18
  And I don't know if they're powering their site, but yeah. It, uh, I couldn't actually complete the thing, but I'm gonna buy my board back again. That's great. I don't know if I'm gonna ride it- I-...
• 4:28
  'cause as it says here, and I think I mentioned last week, I'm not too old to skateboard. I'm just too old to fall down. [laughs] Yeah, right.
• 4:34
  [laughs] You know, uh, now that we're all along that line of, of skateboardy-type products, I would be really interested in seeing, trying out a, a Onewheel. No.
• 4:45
  Just like, uh, Spencer, when the second day he had his, he broke his leg. Oh. Yep. Then six months worth of leg break and recovery. Oh, shit. And then he let two other people ride it, and they broke their legs.
• 4:55
  Cursed, man. Well, I gotta say, though- [laughs]... probably operator error, I would say. Mm. I think people- Hey, guess what?... doing well. Uh, poor engineering design also. I'm push- I'm gonna push the button.
• 5:05
  He's gonna push the button. Push the button. Hey, welcome to Radio Program Color. Who do we have on the line? Hey, guys. It's Sealy Dave. Sealy Dave. Sealy Dave. Award-winning Sealy Dave now.
• 5:17
  [laughs] I was so excited when that came across. You saw it before I did. [laughs] Yeah, it was, uh, in the newsfeed this morning that, uh... This is Dave Slabowski, everybody, Sealy Dave.
• 5:28
  He, uh, was awarded bikepacking.com's, one of the Route of the Years, the week-long Route of the Year for his waterfall route up there in the, mostly Bayfield, right? Or I don't know what, what counties you go through.
• 5:41
  Uh, actually it goes- But up, up in the northern Wisconsin... it goes all... Yeah, it goes all the way from... I start, you can start it anywhere. It's a 380-mile loop.
• 5:48
  Um, I always start at the Cable municipal parking lot, um, whenever I do any of these rides. But, uh,
• 5:55
  yeah, it, it actually goes all the way, it touches into, uh, Ironwood, Michigan, and it goes all the way up to, uh, Lake Superior and around
• 6:04
  Around the bay as well, and, uh, comes back down through the Barrens where you and I rode over by Moca. Oh, right on. Yeah, just it, it's, it's definitely on the list for next year.
• 6:15
  Several people have mentioned that they wanna do it, but I just think it's... I mean, the first year you publish it, it, it gets an award at bikepacking.com. That's pretty impressive. You know, it is.
• 6:25
  Um, I'm pretty humbled by it given the number of, you know, incredible routes that they get offered.
• 6:33
  And I don't exa- Logan emailed me a couple weeks ago, Logan Watts, the guy who founded bikepacking.com, emailed me a couple weeks ago to let me know that it looks like, um, my route had been voted, uh, for as one of the best routes of the year.
• 6:50
  He didn't give me any details at the time. He was just checking to make sure there weren't any issues with publishing it. And, uh, so i- it apparently was voted on.
• 7:01
  Um, I don't, I don't remember the call to vote for things, or maybe they just used some of their, uh, trusted, you know, uh, people that they have and they all internally decided to vote for it.
• 7:13
  But yeah, I mean, it's, considering it's a worldwide website and you could go riding anywhere, you know, you can choose routes from like, you know, whatever, Tasmania to the Dolomites to Alaska, um, I'm, I'm pretty pleased that they, they selected our little, little loop in the northern Wisconsin area.
• 7:35
  Whenever I look at bikepacking.com, I always think, if only fatbike.com could've gone in that [laughs] direction. Yeah. [laughs] I guess those guys do such a great job and, and everything they do is, you know...
• 7:49
  I'm a member, and I'm a member because I appreciate what they do.
• 7:53
  Uh, notwithstanding the fact that they have a lot of, uh, you know, drawings and, and they have the magazines they do, and they have the maps that they print, and, uh, just for whatever it is, 60 bucks a year or something, it's like this is a pretty good deal, and I'm happy to support these guys.
• 8:09
  Yeah. Ab- absolutely.
• 8:10
  I When, when, when, when you're fatbike.com and you just keep throwing up Wallpaper Wednesdays is 'cause you don't have anything else to put up there, you're like, "I don't know much, I don't know how much value I'm actually adding right now."
• 8:20
  Right. [laughs] And I will admit, that was my idea. Well, I- That was my idea as a content filler. I'm just surprised it's been going on for eight or nine years now. [laughs] [laughs] Yeah, I wouldn't discount that.
• 8:31
  I mean, and you were a early adapter.
• 8:33
  So, you know, um, Logan was, you know, in the bike industry for a while and, and had the advantage of, you know, sort of standing on the shoulders of others and looking at websites and, and stuff like that that other people had created and, and he just, uh, you know, came up with a really good concept, him and, uh, you know, the other guys that, um, were also super early into the bikepacking thing that, uh, you know, Cass and Miles Arbor and, uh, Lucas and all those folks.
• 9:05
  Right on. And a bunch of them, like Lucas, Lucas, Lucas and, um, [lips smack] uh, let's see. It was Lucas and which other one was... Oh, Neil, like have Midwest roots.
• 9:20
  So Lucas was in Minneapolis for a long time, and, um, Neil lived in the area too.
• 9:25
  Yeah, it's amazing how many people that are actually, you know, pretty well-connected or influential in the cycling industry are actually from either Wisconsin or the Midwest somewhere.
• 9:34
  There's some kind of, uh, maybe it's that same work ethic we got. You just wanna go out there and keep doing it or something. I don't know. Perhaps. Perhaps.
• 9:42
  You know, uh, i- if you had noticed, um, one of the other routes that was, uh, picked was, and I don't remember what category it was in, if it was week long or overnighter, I think it was an overnighter, is in Iowa.
• 9:55
  And if you look at the bikepacking.com website map, the routes map, that is the only bikepacking route in Iowa.
• 10:06
  And Iowa, [laughs] let's remember, Iowa's a state where I, I think it's like 60% of all public roads are unpaved, you know, and, and I- There's an awful lot of gravel there, definitely...
• 10:17
  right, in a state that's, that's mostly, you know, um, rural agriculture. So there's all kinds of great little tiny towns to ride through, um, and stuff.
• 10:27
  It just seems like it could be bikepacking nirvana, and I, I wonder if the folks from Iowa, because they've been, you know, uh, had these gravel races and stuff before they were all super popular, are just sort of keeping it a secret to themselves, all the good riding there.
• 10:45
  Well, I, I don't know. That, pr- there's probably some of that.
• 10:48
  I mean, I'm most familiar with the Decorah area and th- there would be multiple excellent either sub 24 overnights or longer, you know, three or five-day or even, you know, do the whole state.
• 11:00
  But, uh, remember that Iowans have RAGBRAI for the last 35 years too, so 20, 30,000 bike riders ride on these. I- a lot of times- Right...
• 11:10
  I mean, the roads are normally paved for RAGBRAI, but that doesn't mean you don't just jump off of it 'cause you know where you're going and you find gravel.
• 11:16
  So Iowa riders have been riding gravel for, well, as long as bikes have probably been invented, so. [laughs] Right. [laughs] Right. Right.
• 11:23
  There's Trans Iowa, Trans Iowa and, um, and then isn't, isn't the, um, the guy who started, uh, ridinggravel.com, isn't he from Iowa? Uh, you believe- Uh, Guitar Ted.
• 11:38
  Yeah, Guitar Ted, and then Ira Ryan too had a lot to do I think with the beginning of some of those- Yeah... cross state, uh, gravel races versus, you know, more casual RAGBRAI type things. Right.
• 11:51
  Well, so anyway, so all that said, um, it's cool that Iowa got, finally got a pin dropped in, in the map for them and, uh, and that they, they picked this route.
• 12:01
  You know, the Tour de Schwamngen, um, was published on their site and it's, it's get- That website gets so much traffic that it really has led to...
• 12:11
  I mean, any time I'm up in that area, uh, by the Cable municipal parking lot, seems like somebody is unloading or loading their bikes to do that route, so.
• 12:21
  Now, this is a longer route, you know, uh, with 70-mile days and, you know, um, but you can cut it short lots of ways too, so I suspect- Well, it's not to say you couldn't do it-...
• 12:33
  uh, it'll bring a lot more people to the area... in two weeks instead of one week too though, right? I mean, you possibly could extend your- Right.
• 12:39
  But I mean, you know, the Tour de Chequamegon, I think it's easy for it to be popular 'cause you can do it easily in a weekend. You know, 40-mile days and you can knock it off in a weekend.
• 12:48
  Whereas like this, you have to commit a little bit more to it. So I don't know how much more popular, you know, a week-long ride is gonna be. Um, but, um, it- I'm super stoked to have them recognize it.
• 13:01
  Yeah, I can tell you this, it's gonna be way more popular now than if they hadn't recognized it in the past. [laughs] Yeah, for sure. [laughs] Absolutely. Um, so- Yeah, well... uh, how's Life Above 8 going?
• 13:14
  I haven't actually checked into the site in the last few days. What's going on with that?
• 13:18
  You know, um, I, I, I've been, haven't-- I took a little break from it after, like, all the racing and stuff like that of last season, and then got into, jumped right after the, you know, the races and Tour de Chequamegon in October into deer hunting and, uh...
• 13:34
  And then I spent some time, uh, doing some squirrel evictions in our property. [laughs] So, um- Squatters. Boiler repair. I took, I took a little break from, from the website.
• 13:45
  I jumped right back into it though recently, but, um, doing something a little, a little unusual. I wrote, uh, a land acknowledgement statement for the website.
• 13:59
  You know, Tim Kruder from Terrain Tires and Esker Cycles asked me to take over the Hundred Bear 100 and the Chequamegon 100, two- Oh... races that he started. That came to pass. I did not know that had been a done deal.
• 14:11
  Yeah. Yeah. So, um, in order to do that, I decided it'd be best to have an LLC, so I created an LLC for that to own those events.
• 14:20
  And then once I owned two events that were racing and I, I started looking at, and talking to some other event organizers, uh, like Jeremy Kershaw of the, you know, the Heck of the North and, and his other events up, up by Grand Marais and stuff like that.
• 14:37
  And I noticed he had a, a land recognition statement, a very simple one on, on his website, you know?
• 14:43
  And so I started looking into that, and I've been doing a lot of reading about local history up here because I'm, I'm just super interested in it.
• 14:52
  Um, and, uh, through that reading, just about whatever I started reading about, you know, just, um, you know, the logging industry and stuff like that, um, you know, the French explorers who came to the area first, um, all that stuff.
• 15:07
  Um, of course I came across, you can't avoid the history of, you know, the US government and the treaties and, you know, forcibly taking land from the, you know, indigenous people that lived here before, and all that sort of, sort of, um, unpleasant part of our US history for the area.
• 15:26
  Um, a- and I couldn't help but learn about all that stuff. And then when I saw Jeremy, um, had a land recognition statement on his website, I said, "You know what?
• 15:36
  Um, just, I've got the LCO, the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe is, is my nearest tribal neighbor, and they're located in Hayward." And, like, in the same way
• 15:46
  I'm trying to fit into this community and sort of recognize all the other aspects of being in a rural Northwoods community, [laughs] you know, that you've gotta recognize, um, as a new, um, outsider, I thought it was important that to my sort of tribal neighbors, that I recognize that issue as well.
• 16:08
  Um, so I, I wrote... It's on the, the, at lifeaboveeight.com. It's, it's E-I-G-H-T, not the numeral 8. Right. Right. Lifeaboveeight.com. It's, it's on the, uh, Up North for Good page. Um, I added it- I, I like the-...
• 16:25
  to the bottom of Up North... it's been a good concept. That Up North for Good is a good concept you've had for a while. I, I g- I have not seen the statement. I...
• 16:31
  That sounds like something that we definitely need to delve into a little bit.
• 16:33
  I just, I'd, I'd been working on it th- over the last weekend and this week, and I've, I've, uh, asked some friends who have sort of worked in that arena a little bit more than I have, like Shay Schackmeyer.
• 16:47
  I don't know if you remember Shay. Oh, absolutely. She- Yeah, for sure... she's worked... Yeah, she lives up, up in Ashland now, in that area, and she's worked for the, uh, Bad River Tribe up there and stuff.
• 16:56
  So I asked her for some feedback on my initial draft and stuff, and I, I got it where I felt comfortable putting it out publicly, and then I've also shared it with the LCO tribe just today.
• 17:08
  I sent them an email, sort of like this random email to LCOtribe., [laughs] you know, at Hotmail, whatever, just 'cause I don't have any real connections there. Um, trying to get some feedback from them. So yeah.
• 17:22
  So that's the most recent thing that's been on the website, and I just added all that stuff.
• 17:28
  Um, but, uh, I hope to start getting back into doing my Seelye, Davin Cowboy reports as, as our, on our trail conditions, which I can give you a little update on that.
• 17:39
  I'm sure everybody up there has got the, or down by you, has got the same issue. Like, it's hot here and everything's melting. [laughs] Yeah. I... So I think you missed the very beginning. It's 66 degrees down here.
• 17:50
  [laughs] Oh my gosh. [laughs] Yeah, it's not that hot here, but it's- Yeah, 63 right now... even more. Yeah, yeah, 63 right now at, uh, what- Holy smoke... 7:20 or whatever it is. Wow. Rake me out.
• 17:59
  So we had an unusual winter. We had, uh, about, uh, 15 inches of, of really dry snow and some very cold temperatures early.
• 18:10
  And up until just, like, yesterday, they were grooming, they were running piston bullies on the entire length of the Burkie Trail, all the way down to Fish Hatchery Creek in, in Hayward.
• 18:21
  It was all open, which is, is really rare that it's open, you know, in early December. Uh, so we had great...
• 18:30
  Although the snow wasn't good for, like, groomed fat bike riding because it was so dry and difficult to pack down, it was wonderful that we had, you know, a cold start to the winter.
• 18:41
  Um, you know, you could ride on all the lakes, and, uh, that was all frozen. And then you had... It was pretty in the woods with all the snow that we had, and skiers were loving it.
• 18:49
  But just recently, I'm sure the same thing happened with you guys, everything started to melt. Yes, sir. And it's pretty much all gone. It's, it's disappearing as we, as we talk right now. We- The ground was still good.
• 19:03
  Awesome. So I'll, I'll be giving reports, and I'll let you guys know, and you can share them if you want. Yeah, for sure.
• 19:11
  Um, we got a couple, uh, guests in the studio today, so we're gonna roll over to them, but before we let you go- Okay... I, I just wanted to ask... Well, you can do a final thing, but I wanted to ask you one question.
• 19:22
  Sure. When you skateboarded back in the day, what deck did you ride? I had just... Boy, it was really early. I had just a junkie deck, and I had, um... I remember, though, I had, like, I think, uh, Kryptonics wheels.
• 19:37
  This was in the day when you still had big, you know, squishy, fat, urethane wheels. I loved my red Kryptonics. Like, I had pink Krypto- Oh, yeah. Yeah, you don't, you don't stop on every rock- Yeah, I-...
• 19:46
  and die immediately upon com- [laughs] Right... upon crashing. So- And I mean, I was doing, like, you know, nose wheelies, and 360s, and handstands in my driveway in Muskegon. I wasn't [laughs] you know...
• 20:00
  There weren't bowls that... We weren't skating in bowls or anything like that. Right. You said... You're, you're, you'd be a Lance Mountain fan, just the, the lone kid doing his own thing, having fun.
• 20:08
  [laughs] Yeah, yeah. You got, you got something you want to leave us with? So, uh, yeah. Um, so, uh, like I said, just check out the website.
• 20:19
  I will be having some, uh, Silly Dave Trail Report soon to let people know, after this warm spell, um, what's the riding conditions are like up here. So I'm gonna s- I'm gonna try to jump back into that pretty soon.
• 20:34
  Excellent, man. Well, I appreciate you calling in. Appreciate James slamming his headphones on [laughs] on the table. Anyway, uh- All right. All right, boys. [laughs] We'll, uh, we'll catch up with you soon after the...
• 20:46
  I would imagine after the holidays. But, uh, thanks for coming on, and congratulations again on being the, uh, uh, bikepacking.com week-long best route award winner. That's, like, super awesome. Thanks. Thanks, guys.
• 21:01
  All right, Dave. Talk to you soon. Adios. All right. Yep, bye. Bye. Hey, we're gonna, we're gonna make a quick switch here, and, uh, I'm gonna leave you with a little PSA while we, uh, do everything.
• 21:13
  Yeah, he just turned- Whoa. Oh, wow... it kind of turned itself on. [laughs] Awesome. All right. All right, here we go. Well done. Yeah, we're gonna do this thing. We're gonna do like so.
• 21:20
  Better known as coronavirus, has spread throughout the world. There are a few ways to help lower the spread of this respiratory disease. Wash your hands. Avoid touching your face, including mouth, nose, and eyes.
• 21:32
  Cover your coughs and sneezes. Monitor your symptoms and consult with your doctor. Stay at home and away from other sick people, except for medical care. Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces.
• 21:44
  For more information, please visit cdc.gov/covid19. Thank you. [laughs] Th- th- thank, th- thank you, lady. Thank you, lady, for the PSA. Oh my gosh, we got a gusher over here. Holy mackerel.
• 22:02
  [bell ringing] Yeah, we're already... Hey, hey, hey, everybody. Jessica and Dan just, uh, showed up, and we're already at the top of the hill, so, uh, let us, uh...
• 22:12
  Well, we're gonna talk about Tony's Top of the Hill beer here, 'cause, uh... Was that Jessica? Was that your beer? Yes. I was going to open Tony's beer- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Oh, here we go....
• 22:21
  and then it bumped into the beer I was already drinking, and then there was a big old foam everywhere [laughs] situation. [laughs] A foam situation.
• 22:34
  Um, yeah, at this point I'm at, uh, uh, yeah, I'm at the top of the hill, but it's like a hill on top of me, so- Well, T- I, I- Yeah... I got double beer. I got, I'm double fisting at this point...
• 22:41
  only because w- we only had enough of a six-pack for this one beer, and the, uh, somehow the 16-ounce four-pack has become very popular with the local breweries. But, uh, this is thanks to Molly. Yes, Tony? Mm-hmm.
• 22:55
  Juicy IPA from Sprecher, and, and, and my whole goal here is to see if it doesn't taste like [laughs] a Sprecher beer would be my- [laughs]... would be the number one thing they could do for me.
• 23:05
  So I'm gonna give it a swallow. It's a juicy... Is it a juicy? It's a juicy IPA. Yeah, Juicy IPA. Let's take a little swallow and see what it tastes like. By your brood. Definitely a more mild IPA, I would say.
• 23:16
  At least, I'm currently was on a hazy, so it kinda maybe- [laughs] Kinda s- smacked you... skewed... smacked your head up. Yeah, I've had, what, Hamms, and, uh, Pilsner Lager, and now this.
• 23:28
  Yeah, I'm, my mouth's all over the place. [laughs] Yeah, yeah. So while we're at the top of the hill, let's just talk real quickly about who we're talking to. It's, uh, Jessica and Dan. Say hey. Hello. Hey there. Hello.
• 23:39
  Say hey. Hey. Hey. Uh, Jessica and Dan are, are longtime Milwaukee year-round cyclists, and have occasionally worked with, uh, the old shop there on some, on some bike stuff. And I just...
• 23:53
  There, we see them all over town. [laughs] I just thought, heck in, hey, they should be on the show, so- Yeah... we are here... welcome. Yeah. Thank you, thank you. Good to be here. So when you...
• 24:01
  You do, you commute, both commute to work, right? Oh, yeah. Well, Jessica actually works, like, not even a... well, just almost exactly a block north of here- Yes... now.
• 24:11
  Although, in the past you've worked many, many other areas in the city. Yeah.
• 24:13
  But yeah, she works at Retrospect- If you don't know this place, you wanna find your old, you know, discman from way back when, somehow they find
• 24:23
  new old stock to sell, plus they repair Polaroid cameras, and they're amongst, if not the best, Polaroid SX-70/one-step/// repairers in the country.
• 24:35
  So they're, like, a block away from here, and Jessica works up in there. Yes. It's technically my longest commute, which is funny, 'cause it's still only two miles.
• 24:44
  [laughs] But it's just the Riverwest, so I'm like, "It's so much closer." And it's like, it's technically not, but feels very close. Well, Riverwest is very friendly to cyclists.
• 24:52
  Yeah, I, I- So I think it just makes it like, it's like a magic carpet ride once you get here versus other areas of the city. Well, it's a straight shot up the bike boulevard now, you know, if... [sighs] Which was...
• 25:02
  So when we opened, well, moved the shop to downstairs, which we'll talk, we, we'll talk about that some other show. [laughs] Um, it's, it was right at the end of a bike boulevard.
• 25:12
  I'm like, "This could not be a better place." Couple issues, but [laughs] [laughs] We are pushing forward with making it more of a... It's looking pretty good down there. We, we'll go take a look.
• 25:22
  Uh, did some work over the week. All right. Yeah. Yeah, I peeked in the windows. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. M- looks more like a shop than a shit pile.
• 25:28
  [laughs] Yeah, 'cause I was here last week test riding a bike, and yeah, coming in this week, it definitely more set up. I was like, there were not backpacks and all this fun stuff. I was like,
• 25:38
  "I probably would've been walking out with some more things than I planned to." [laughs] I'll have a better display for you next time. I'm thinking that it's like I'm just gonna be the bag guy now. Bag.
• 25:46
  I'm not, I'm not gonna do bikes per se. Bag. I'm not gonna do much. I'm gonna be the bag guy. It's like- Bag... "What are you doing with your bike? Maybe you want a bag like this." Bag. Oh, I have to stop in.
• 25:55
  There you go. Get in there. Jesus, you're killing me there.
• 25:57
  [laughs] [laughs] Like, yeah, yeah, I guess going back to, like, the bike packing thing, you know, there aren't a whole lot of, uh, people who stock bike packing bags and, like, touring bags- Bag...
• 26:03
  down here besides, you know, your Ortliebs or, you know, special ordering them. So yeah, I think if you're a shop, and, you know, that's, that's a market to tap to, into in Milwaukee.
• 26:13
  It was my original intent to, you know, do mostly US-made stuff and, you know, well-thought-out stuff and, and from people who actually use... I mean, Ortlieb stuff is awesome and- Oh, yeah... especially- Mm-hmm...
• 26:25
  for commuters it's some great stuff. And, uh, they do actually have a bike packing line now, which isn't at all bad. No.
• 26:33
  Well, I always do, like, I've got my Ortlieb panniers, which, you know, you, when you're, like, bike packing it's like those are my 100% super, super guaranteed waterproof.
• 26:41
  And then I have, like, yeah, the other more, like, US-made stuff that I like to explore than the other brands and stuff like that. [laughs] That aren't 100% waterproof?
• 26:50
  Well, it's still one of those things where it's like it's Cordura or it's X-Pac, so it's like- Well-... very probably- True... waterproof. But- And, and so I know that Joe up at Sturdy, although his- Mm-hmm...
• 26:59
  bags are a little more commuter oriented, they are 100% waterproof, 'cause they're seam sealed and badass. Cool. Um, I know that some other bags are not quite as waterproof as you might expect.
• 27:11
  [laughs] So, you know, it's all about- My banjo is, the liner is. Yeah. They- I was gonna say, yeah, those liners are just a plastic bag. Yeah. And they're like- And I've had one forever. Yeah, just, just fine...
• 27:22
  but, but it works. And to replace one, they're like 12 bucks for the liner. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They're super cheap. Yeah.
• 27:25
  I don't know exactly what they are, but it's like you can still have the, what was it, Captain Tom or what was the... You had, you had one of the, um... Didn't you have one of the All-City ones, too? Yeah, I still do.
• 27:37
  Yeah, yeah. No, it's like Captain, whatever his name was. And that thing, you know- Probably Tom... you put that liner in there. Oh, yeah, exactly. It's waterproof. Oh, for sure.
• 27:44
  Because without it, it's not, which I learned. [laughs] And I ended up having to buy a library book because it was in that bag, and it got warped, and I couldn't da-da-da. Yeah. And it was a Star Wars book.
• 27:56
  Star Wars: Aftermath, a novel in between. [laughs] I mean, it w- yeah, just, ugh, 29 bucks. Mm. Do you at least get to keep the book? Yeah. Okay. Oh, well, yeah.
• 28:04
  They, they, they were like, they were like, "Oh, you owe this money." I'm like, "Well, then give me the damn book." [laughs] Yeah. And they're like, "Well, we have to try to find it."
• 28:10
  I'm like, "You better find it, because I'm buying the goddamn thing," so. [laughs] [clears throat] Again, in my box of treasure I ran across that. [laughs] So that's what I got a friend of mine.
• 28:18
  [laughs] Yeah, I returned a book to the UWM library, like, 10 years after it was due once, and they're like, "Uh, are you sure this is ours?" I was like, "Yeah, it says right there, 'Son.'"
• 28:26
  [laughs] And they, they called the manager out, made a big deal over it. I was like, "I'm giving you your book back, like, come on." Right. [laughs] I found it on the street.
• 28:33
  I think my cousin dropped it there when he was driving by. I, I didn't have it out that long. [laughs] Oh. Anyways, sorry to break your heart, Gray. I walk to work now because- Oh, geez...
• 28:42
  because I'm, like, two blocks from my work, which is awesome. [laughs] So if, if it's, if it's crappy out, then I don't have to worry about cleaning my bike or anything. So I'm just like, all right, I can walk.
• 28:51
  But, uh, if I'm doing grocery runs or, or I rode today so I could get up to Riverwest quick and do all my business up here.
• 28:58
  So you, so you've got y- a, a workplace closer to your home, not move your home closer to your workplace. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 'Cause I used to- Right on...
• 29:05
  it used to be, like, a three-mile ride 'cause I'd come up, come up Holton every day going to Glendale and, uh, yeah, happy I don't have to do that anymore. [laughs] That is a challenging road to ride. It- Mm-hmm...
• 29:17
  in theory it should be super easy, but, uh- Well, at least for the 24, once you get to Booth and you can take a right, it's great. [laughs] Mm-hmm. That's my preferred route up that hill.
• 29:30
  Then you can decide whether you wanna- Oh... go through the park or you wanna go right straight up Booth Street. But... Well, yeah, there's that.
• 29:35
  Or if you're feeling zesty, you can just go past North Avenue, which is depending on traffic flow. I've done that one. Oh, my goodness. Oh, zesty. Yeah, zesty. You're coming down or going up? Going up. Going north.
• 29:48
  Oh, there you go. Okay. All right. Okay. Okay. And get up to Clark and- Okay, JK, JK. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Then, then you don't have to deal with the big d- big hill on Booth or the big hills.
• 29:57
  Well, that goes right- [laughs] That goes right by Swiss Miss, though. You kinda always have to go. [laughs] Well, there's that. I mean, it, yeah, I, not every run, but... And- [laughs]
• 30:06
  You guys, you guys have done the 24 or participated in the spectating of the 24? I know you've, I know I've seen you there, but... Dan's done plenty.
• 30:14
  I first did it, like, two years ago because I worked at Mader's for so long, and Germanfest weekend was always the same weekend as the 24. And I, for the longest time, didn't wanna do the whole, like, just totally, like,
• 30:27
  beat my body to death that weekend. But then, like, finally I caved in and did it. But at that point, I think Dan and all his friends are like, "We're sick of it. Let's just party."
• 30:36
  [laughs] So I, we d- my first year doing it, I did one lap [laughs] so. Well, I've done- Not very serious... I've done 10 years' worth of it, but I've only actually raced the race, I think, four times.
• 30:46
  Because I said if I did the fifth year of actually racing, I'd have to get the tattoo, and I don't have any tattoos yet. [laughs] Oh, yeah. And so I have not done that. But yeah, I, I usually photograph it now.
• 30:57
  So at, uh, that's actually, to me, way more fun.
• 30:59
  I go to all the, the checkpoints and just follow the race and photograph it, and pretty much do the same thing the racers are doing without beating myself up and worrying about where I finish.
• 31:07
  Yeah, I like to try and put a hot lap in at like, you know, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning when, uh, roads are pretty clear. And uh, yeah, let's get a, you know, whatever, 17-minute lap or something.
• 31:17
  You know, is, I mean, is that even possible? I think they're even- Oh, yeah... uh, they're even- Oh no, for sure... they're even faster. I think, yeah. No, you can get a 12-minute lap if you're really stupid.
• 31:24
  12-minute lap now? Okay, yeah, 'cause they, 'cause they configured it. But, uh, well, yeah, that's when you're really cranking it. Yeah. But, uh- That was like, what was it? Uh, who was that? Ivan? No. Andre? Uh. Colin?
• 31:32
  Yuri. Yuri. Yuri. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yuri, Yuri Grigorian. Yeah. He was the first Russian in space, I believe. [laughs] Well, yeah. And he crushed it. I remember he crushed a lap that was, like, 11. I know, yeah, Yuri.
• 31:44
  Or something. It was, it was crazy. Tony's shaking his head at 11 for that guy. I don't think so. Come on. Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. His, he, he- It was... he's in the aerospace industry That's the slowest right here.
• 31:52
  I'm pretty sure. That's the slowest lap team, dude. [laughs] We got the Peanut Gallery making comments down there. Yeah, yeah. When you- The, the longest, the longest... I, I think Tony's on Every River OS24 over there.
• 32:02
  Or was it 11? Oh. Look at that guy. Nah, nah. Look at his long hair, too. It's getting really long.
• 32:05
  One, one year we were, like, accidentally doing good, and then, like, once, like, it was, like, in the afternoon and we were still doing good. We're like, "I think we're, like, doing good." So, like, we kept trying.
• 32:14
  I think we took like 24th overall. Oh. Which was fun. But yeah. So you've never won it, huh? It's... Oh, I don't care. [laughs] I spectate. I'm, I'm not that good, no. Yeah.
• 32:23
  I think y'all got, like, the tattoo right off the bat, so you got, like, the instant bump. Yeah. And so you're like, "Oh, we're doing really well. Let's just keep it going." Yeah.
• 32:31
  Yeah, some friends from Minneapolis were on the team, and they were dominating. I, I'll tell you, I mean, besides being an idiot- They loved it...
• 32:35
  and riding like a complete, you know, um, you know, moron, for lack of a better word. I don't like that word. It's a bad word. I can't say that word.
• 32:42
  Anyway, the whole key is just to make sure somebody is always rolling on the course. It's like when you get to- Yeah... when you get to the handoff and somebody's like, "I'm ready to go."
• 32:52
  Wait, let me find my- You gotta find my bike... let me find my bike. [laughs] Is it Dan? [laughs] You know, those, those minutes, minutes five, 10, you're sucking a couple beers down.
• 33:00
  You're like, "Yeah, I'm putting my pants on," and whatever, and, uh, those are what really kill you. So you just gotta keep a bike rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling. Yeah. You have a handoff.
• 33:08
  The less time you spend- You have a handoff spot and-... fucking off at the check, uh, or at the, uh, the handoff, the, the better you are... "Oh, I'm supposed to meet them outside of High Dive.
• 33:16
  All right, I gotta go in and find them," and, you know. But then you also run the hazard if you're on a too large of a team where your downtime is- Oh, yeah... hours, big time hours.
• 33:28
  I mean, it worked out fine for me 'cause I was- Oh, yeah. Oh, I know what you mean... I was kinda convalescing. I had a busted wing, so I was like, "Oh, okay. That's fine."
• 33:36
  But it was like six hours between- Yeah, like if you're, yeah- Yeah... if you're on a six-person team and somebody wants to take, like, you know, five or eight laps or something- Yeah...
• 33:44
  then you're like, "Oh, we'll just-" Oh, I'm like, uh. [laughs] "... get all hammered," and then Mike gets the... Remember that when you had that powder on your head and the thing looked like the- Oh, pentagram?...
• 33:53
  pentagram? Yeah. Yeah, that was pretty good. And that was, uh- We might have to bring up that photo again. [laughs] Um, well, I don't know. We, we've, we've been talking a lot already.
• 34:01
  Uh, just I'm glad Jessica and Dan could stop by. Uh, I know we talked a little bit about them riding all year round, but you guys also do some, uh, touring slash, uh, it's touring. Yeah, touring. Right?
• 34:13
  For lack of a, not bike packing quite. Yeah, touring, camping. No, no, no. Not, not bike packing. Not yet at least or- Oh, yeah...
• 34:18
  and, and mostly with, like, a, like, an overnight or a two-day from Milwaukee is what you guys mostly do? Yeah, yeah.
• 34:25
  We, so yeah, we don't, uh, own a vehicle, so yeah, everything's launched out of Milwaukee here if we end up going with a friend or something. Um, so yeah, a lot of, yeah, like Kettle Moraine North, um, Harrington Beach.
• 34:37
  Harrington's a cool one. Always, yeah. Yeah. A go-to. Harrington's our normal spot, like, um- I think that's kind of like your go-to one... I'll go there once a month. Yeah. [laughs] For sure. It's so easy.
• 34:44
  Um, always, like, new restaurants to stop by in the towns up there. The bike trail, uh, interurban goes right there, so super chill. Have you done Cliffside down in Racine yet? Have not. I wanted to this year. Oh.
• 34:55
  Didn't, uh- It, it, it's almost the same distance as Harrington. Very close, like 35 miles there. No, it's like 25. I'd, eh. From our house. Okay. Well, you're- Yeah... closer than me, so yeah. Yeah. Okay.
• 35:06
  But it's not that far. No. And it's, it's mostly bike path all the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and I do know some cool spots right around there that are just south of the park.
• 35:17
  So you could go, like, get there kinda early, get set up, and then find some funness activity over in that direction. It's, like, 30 bucks a night there, though. Is it? Yeah, it's expensive. Holy crap. Yeah. For bikes?
• 35:28
  It's a county park. Yeah, it d- it doesn't matter. Yeah. Oh, wow. I, I think it's, yeah, I think it's even, but that's just for the site. I think it's even more if you have a car, but yeah.
• 35:35
  I was surprised when we did the, uh, go pick up Big Sexy over on the Michigan side thing that we got to the park and they were full, but they said we can always take cyclists. So they set us up in this area.
• 35:48
  I'm like, "Okay, I'll pay for everyone," 'cause I was feeling semi-generous. It was, like, 21 bucks for everyone. [laughs] Right. I'm like, "Well, that was a good gesture. They won't..." [laughs] Right? Yeah.
• 35:58
  Well, I guess you get, like, the overflow site then, so. Well, it was mostly in sand, and there, you know, I dunno, it was an interesting night.
• 36:05
  It rained pretty hard and, uh, my tent was fine, but- Was that in Muskegon, uh, State Park or? It was, uh, I dunno, James can maybe chime in with what the name of the park was.
• 36:14
  But, uh, James got a little damp in there, I think. The one we did Big Sexy pick him up over, uh, on the other side and we stayed in the park, the sandy park. I forget the name of it. But anyway, it was super cheap.
• 36:27
  I was like... And, and I think, I thought Wisconsin had the same deal. It's like if you roll in at 8:00 PM on your bike, they have to find a spot for you- Oh, yeah... pretty much.
• 36:35
  I just don't know if they have to charge you 30 bucks for it. That seems kinda spendy. Yeah, well, uh, you didn't really have official camp sites. Right, right, right. [laughs] Yeah.
• 36:41
  Well, they kinda put us behind the port-a-potties and the office and- Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But it worked out fine. It was great. And it was a bigger camp area than anybody else had.
• 36:50
  Yeah, I was- Certainly more beer cans there and, and Jagermeister bottles than [laughs] any other bottles. Yeah, I was in, I was in Michigan like almost, I guess it'll be, in May it'll be three years.
• 36:58
  But yeah, I was there on a t- on a tour with the guys. Um, we took out, we took the Badger over, and then we rode down to catch the, uh, Lake Express back over.
• 37:06
  You can't drink in Michigan parks or, like, it's very like weird dates. Au contraire, mon frère. [laughs] I mean, oh, we definitely did. No doubt. Uh, yeah, we definitely drank in the parks, but I mean, we usually got...
• 37:17
  hung out at the bars and stuff, but, um. Same with, uh, Illinois. Illinois state parks. Oh, yeah. Yeah. JK had, JK's a, a, a, a- Yeah... he has a metal tooth on his chest to prove it.
• 37:26
  [laughs] Dan also complained about the lack of grill grates there- Yeah... at the campsite... their fire pits suck, yeah. Oh. The camp pits suck. Huh. Too high.
• 37:33
  It's like a big concrete and metal thing that comes up like three feet. It's like, doesn't even keep you warm. The heat just shoots up. Oh. Oh, I think I know which you're talking about. Yeah. Are there any...
• 37:42
  Is it like a chimney, or is it just super crappy? I think so, yeah. It's more made for a big bonfire 'cause that's what drunk Michigan people do. Oh yeah, totally. All right. Yeah.
• 37:49
  They don't have brats there or whatever? Yeah. What the hell? Why would you even go to that state? [laughs] That said, I do wanna do the Badger, uh, next year because I think that thing is on the verge of shutting down.
• 37:59
  I don't think it can last a whole lot longer, notwithstanding that it billows coal-fired power into the sky.
• 38:06
  You know, it's just, I think it's- Yeah, 'cause they dump the ash in, in the lake still, I think, and they're like, "Oh, yeah, we have like a-" Oh, yeah. Well, the fish like that. They- "...
• 38:12
  grandfather permit," or whatever. Right. Yeah. And it's like- They, they-... I, I get it... you know what they should do for the fish? Dump the Badger down there, and then they can use it as like a- A reef? Yeah...
• 38:20
  a reef. Yeah, yeah. That'd be awesome. There we go. Yeah. Yeah, I'd, uh, I went on the Badger a year or two ago, and yeah, it's a nice little roll across the lake. Did you play Super Badger Bingo? [laughs] No.
• 38:32
  I mean- I was audience of it. I just ended up getting like- Oh... schnockered. You, you made a mistake. They, they- See, they did both. They... Yeah, 'cause it was like, what?
• 38:40
  It was like $4, $5 for like a, a, you know- It's-... rum and Coke, whiskey Coke, whatever like that...
• 38:46
  it's the only place- Ended up having like six of those, and by the time we get [laughs] over to, um, Ludington, I'm like, "Okay. So-" So- "... where are we staying?"
• 38:54
  [laughs] Their liquor license behind the bar is out of Michigan, and that's where it's, you know, moored in the winter.
• 38:59
  But they serve Spotted Cow there, so I'm pretty sure it's the only place out of state where you can get Spotted- Oh, okay. Oh, wow... Spotted Cow, yeah. [laughs] They really should work on their intrastate commerce.
• 39:09
  I'm not a super big Spotted Cow fan, though, to be fair. I just thought it was interesting. Yeah, I was like, "Oh, yeah." It is amazing to, to
• 39:16
  like go to like Brat Stop down south there, hey, and they just like celebrate it. Like, "My God, we have all of the Spotted Cow nuclear's product." And it's like, yeah, it's- It's whatever...
• 39:27
  it's good It's better than a brat beer. It's good. Yeah, it's good. It's my mom's favorite beer. Yeah. That's what I always like to say. I got sick of it when I was like 20, I feel like.
• 39:33
  [laughs] I'm like- I thought you were gonna say, "When I was like 12." That would've been cool. [laughs] No. But it's probably like that my first beer. You're like, "I know this is good. It's light enough.
• 39:40
  I can, you know, palate it." And then- Palate it... yeah, you've already kind of- Did you hear that? Palate it. Well, normally if they, if they offer that- A true, a true server vocabulary. [laughs]...
• 39:50
  then it's, they'll have something else of theirs, you know, like Fa- uh, Moon Man or Fat Squirrel or something like that. Oh, yeah. And it'll be like, "Yeah, I'll do the Moon Man because that's tasty."
• 39:57
  Oh, Moon Man, always. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's a good one. Yeah. Yeah. What do we have planned for this year? Uh, we're, I think, I'll... We've never done the Elroy Sparta, so I think we're gonna- Oh, yeah.
• 40:06
  That's- Are the tunnels gonna be open this year? I don't... See, they're still closed. I tried looking it up the other day. Aren't you supposed to know, right? All right.
• 40:11
  I'm gonna gi- I'm gonna give you this hint because- Something-... I think this is something you guys should do, especially if you le- if you... Are you gonna... How are you gonna get there, drive? I don't know.
• 40:19
  Hopefully. I haven't thought about it. Okay. Well, if you d- It's a loose plan. [laughs] So if you do drive. Do, do drive. Or you what? Do, do. So if you drive and- And if you do...
• 40:26
  just before you get to the split at Tomah, where it would either go towards Eau Claire or La Crosse- Mm-hmm... there is a place called Laughing Larry's.
• 40:32
  I don't know if I mentioned this on the last show, 'cause Dave and I stopped there. And I've been stopping there for years 'cause my daughter went to La Crosse.
• 40:38
  Laughing Larry's is a breakfast-lunch kinda place, and it's inside of an award-winning truck stop.
• 40:46
  So it has the two big truck bays on either side, and you have to go in where there may be water flying around, washing a truck. And then there's a door, and you go in there.
• 40:54
  And it's probably not a whole lot bigger than this room, only longer and narrower. It's, it's small. Six, eight, 10 seats, and it's awesome. Kind of a- It is like the greatest place in the world... Pine Cone vibe.
• 41:04
  Yeah, like- No. Well, no. Pine Cone's huge. This is tiny. Well, that one side of Pine Cone. I'm- Mm. You walk in and go to the left. Yeah. Yeah. The other stuff seems like it's added on. Yeah. See? Yeah.
• 41:17
  But diner style, you see. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. No, I'm gonna say this is unique in all the world because- All right then... nobody would [laughs] ever expect it. But anyway.
• 41:24
  La- Laughing La- La- yeah, Laughing Larry's. La- Laughing Larry's. I almost said Legend Larry's, which is a wing place. And Larry the Legend used to be a DJ here in Milwaukee. Right. [laughs] Yeah.
• 41:31
  So there's a lot of, lot of Larry, Li... If your name's Larry, you can get your picture on the wall there at Laughing Larry's as well. Okay. Huh. Huh. Woo. Jeez, that was a lot of Larry shit right there.
• 41:40
  [laughs] Anyway, holy cow, I think we bored people long enough with our chatter. And... Oh, no. Actually, the best part was when Dan and Jessica were on the show. That was awesome. Yeah. Also Dave Sabowski.
• 41:50
  See, when we, when we have good guests, we don't actually have to fuck the show up much. Try as we might. [laughs] Thank you very much for coming on.
• 41:59
  You obviously got a lot more we can chat about, so you're welcome anytime. Oh, yeah. We'll, we'll be back. Yeah. Especially when you bring beer from, uh, Anamorphic, which is- Yeah... our new- Amorphic. Amorph.
• 42:08
  Oh, Anamorphic. Anamorphic is, is like- That, that- Yeah... that's a lens kinda thing for- Yeah... in the movie theaters. Amorphic is- Aerobic, anaerobic. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, yeah. Whatever. One of these things.
• 42:18
  Uh, they're just like, I could probably throw a stone and break their window from here, I bet. Yeah, they had the, uh... Well, it's a beautiful night, so they had the, uh, garage door open.
• 42:26
  Oh, that would've just rolled in and hit somebody in the head, and that would, [laughs] that would, that would've been great. [laughs] Yeah. Amorphic. That was it. Right there. Yeah. Yeah. It's so fancy.
• 42:34
  3700, 3700 North fratney Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212. And, uh, I think we're just gonna make sure that, uh, this is the last thing anybody ever hears. [laughs] Wow.
• 42:47
  [upbeat music]