Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Weekly Dose of Fat Radio – Show #58 – Special Guest Kathi Merchant from the Iditarod Trail Invitational

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Weekly Dose of Fat Radio – Show #58 – Special Guest Kathi Merchant from the Iditarod Trail Invitational · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:00
  Weekly Dose of Fat, show number 58 for Friday, May 29th, 2015.
• 0:08
  [upbeat electronic music] Darkness falls across the land.
• 0:25
  The fat bike hour is close at hand. Creatures crawl in search of blood to terrorize y'all's neighborhood. The weekly dose of fat is approaching nigh. Sven and Gomez like fruit pies.
• 0:45
  [laughs] [sings] Thriller. Eh. I do like fruit pies. Thriller. Thriller. I'm not gonna pigeonhole myself into one. [laughs] Way to turn the tables on me. Right?
• 1:00
  [laughs] It's, uh, it's Sven here, and, uh, it's Gomez over there. And Vincent Price was born today approximately 325 years ago. He was very well-preserved. Yes, and the, the estate is being run by his grandson, Jodie.
• 1:15
  [laughs] Jodie is a girl's name, Dan. I don't care. [laughs] Buffy and Jodie. That was my daughter's problem. We'll have another conversation about names later in the show.
• 1:26
  [laughs] There are so many gender non-specific names, though, like Leslie. That can be a man's name. True that. Leslie Merchant. [laughs] I had a coach named Leslie in high school. And she was a pretty man.
• 1:41
  He was the best jazzercise partner I ever had. [laughs] Well, qui- I promised, I promised I wasn't gonna get emotional...
• 1:51
  quite, quite obviously we're joined in the studio here today with, uh, the old JK Living over there. Good evening, everyone. That was JK as, uh, Vincent- [laughs]... Price. You sure? Yes.
• 2:05
  Vincent "The Price is Right" Price. I know that, I, I know that- Cousin, Cousin's, Cousin Sue's sugar... right, I know that most of our listeners probably don't live in Wisconsin.
• 2:13
  Well, maybe they do, but [clears throat] that Cousin's ad was- All three... I'm gonna, I'm gonna, uh, keep that link in the sh- All three of our listeners...
• 2:19
  in the show notes [laughs] because Vincent Price, it's, it's even worse than when Orson Welles did the Paul Masson wine. [laughs] Be- because it's just campy as hell.
• 2:33
  [laughs] Speak- I kept, I kept thinking that he was gonna be in the Cousins when I was growing up. Paul Masson? No. [laughs] Vincent Price 'cause he was always on the commercials. Orson Welles?
• 2:41
  He was on Hollywood Squares and stuff. Was he the circle? [laughs] I mean, uh- Was he the square? Whatever. [laughs] Was he the center square? [laughs] I forgot about Hollywood Square.
• 2:52
  Wally Cox owned the center square and then it was [laughs] there was another, was another guy. Charles Nelson Reilly? [laughs] When I was matchmaking.
• 3:04
  Who was the other guy that was on Bewitched that was always in the middle? Randy Newman? No. No, Richard Newman. Dick- No, Richard- Dick York? Dick Sargent? One of those two? [laughs] No, that was Durwood.
• 3:14
  Oh, I know what you're... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can hear the guy's voice. Yeah, he's got the voice. [laughs] That was two different Dick Sargents, you know? Uh, no, no. [laughs] There was Dick York.
• 3:27
  There was Dick York and Dick Sargent were the, were the, the, the, the husbands. So- By cracky... let me just- And the Shrew has listed... let me just tether these hot air balloons [laughs] to the, to the ground. Uh-oh.
• 3:42
  [laughs] Yeah. Two minutes into the show and JK is snorting. [laughs] And bring us back to the Weekly Dose of Fat is brought to you- Is that-... by our friends at Surly Bikes. Wow.
• 3:56
  Those jamokes have wool jerseys in summer. Check that shit out at surlybikes.com.
• 4:04
  I wore a wool jersey while I was riding in 70-degree weather this weekend, and I thought, "Damn, I'm pretty happy to have wool on because it breathes really well."
• 4:13
  I got ready for my ride and I picked up a water bottle off the table that didn't have a top on it, [laughs] spilled water all over myself right before, right before I got in the car.
• 4:25
  So I was like- So then you just turned around and went back up the driveway? [laughs] No, it just was like, "Well, okay. All right. Well, I'm gonna get in the-" "It was a good try, world. [laughs] I'm going back in."
• 4:35
  "I'm going back in the womb." Karamba. So- So-... Mr. JK, what's on the show this week? Our special guest is Katie Merchant. We drink a beer at the top of the hill. Wait, just the one? A beer? Yeah. All beer. More beer.
• 4:50
  [laughs] All the beer. [laughs] Liquid aloha. Oh, mahalo. You'll have the Weekly Dose of Fat and links from all over the interwebs. And New Jersey. Yeah, that's not really on the interweb highway anymore thanks to Chris.
• 5:08
  Huh? Well, I think he did some bridge thing where they stopped all the traffic to the internet over there in New Jersey. Oh, yeah. Oh. Yeah. That was- Forgot about that guy. [laughs] Ay caramba.
• 5:21
  They brought politics into the show. That was just a bridge thing and nothing to do with politics. All right, lads, beer stop up around the corner. Derby.
• 5:32
  [beer tab cracks open] Hey, thanks, Chris, for being the guy that tells us what to do on rides. Thanks, Chris. Chris. Do you think you could finish that tire review for us, please?
• 5:47
  Yeah, before I have to go there and give you some sort of ritual enema. [laughs] Uh, Mr. Chris has been testing our five-inch nards for the past 72 weeks. I like to call them big fat nards.
• 6:01
  Those are, those things are large. Yeah.
• 6:02
  I'll tell you what, I was riding next to him and I have big fat Larrys on 80-millimeter rims- Uh-huh Five-inch nards on 100 millimeter rims, and they are massive And I read on the internet that they're the best beach tire ever.
• 6:17
  So- It was by somebody that knows what they're talking about. Yeah. They are pretty sweet. Maybe Chris will tell us about it. Maybe. On the website at some point. I've, I've done everything I can.
• 6:29
  What do we got for beer this week there, hey Mr. JK day hey my baby? It is Kona Brewing Company's Longboard Island Ale. No, it's not an ale. It's a lager. Or lager. What am I looking at? Yeah, it's Island Lager. Yeah.
• 6:46
  Island Lager. I don't know. My brain- Man, I'm hung over... my brain isn't really working too well today. I, I think that we all maybe have been exposed to plutonium. [laughs] Except for Sven.
• 6:58
  Sven's like the smartest guy in the room. [laughs] Oh, thanks. Jackass. [laughs] It's so easy to just read the label, and I can't even do it. I'll tell you this- [laughs]...
• 7:10
  the three-day weekend with, with the riding and the, and the drinking and the riding and the drinking, it is a lager. Yes, an island lager. It, it clocks in at 4.6, so it's an all-day type of drinkability. Yep.
• 7:27
  Fresh, responsible, always aloha. It may be brewed on the island for some people. 12 fluid ounces. [laughs] On the other hand, it may not. Muka laka hickey, girl you wanna lay me, pass the poi mahalo.
• 7:40
  [laughs] Well, maybe we're getting to be beer snobs. I don't know. The guys at the Old Beer Advocate give this a 77, whilst the bro is rated an 80, so for the style of beer seems like it's a'ight. Yeah.
• 7:54
  But those snarky beer snobs at Rate Beer, I don't think they like any kind of pale lager because 22. Out of? What the, what the hell is that? I had to check a couple times to see what the, the scale was. 22 out of what?
• 8:10
  Like- Like 22 out of 100... 30 would be like, oh, oh, I don't know. Well- What's 100? I give this a 50 with a bullet. In which arena? Bam. Which arena [laughs] are you talking about?
• 8:22
  [laughs] Well, the point about these- Out of 100. Oh... the point about these Rate Beer bastards is [clears throat] that they give it a 22, but for the style of beer they give it a 97.
• 8:32
  It's seems fairly obvious they don't like lagers. It's like they've categorized this as barnyard or barn-tasting beer, and for really crappy beer we give it a 97. I want rain belt next week. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
• 8:45
  It, it was almost in my paw, but- [laughs] Rain belt's all right. Yeah. It's, it- Well, I, I tell you what- It, it deserves a revisit... it's drinkable.
• 8:52
  I was, I had a, I had a couple Coors Lights before I got here, and this is a little bit better than that. [laughs] I had a couple of, of Thai beers, Chang Thai beers, which taste a lot like, uh, Heineken actually.
• 9:05
  I had Pabst. Yeah. And Jameson. Oh, dear. And Bookers. Uh, no I have not, yeah, somehow. No? Good Lord. Uh-oh. Well- If we need, if we need to clean some parts or something. Laska. [laughs] Laska, stop. What's he doing?
• 9:22
  Getting out the Bookers. [clears throat] Just to enhance the lager characteristic. So we haven't talked about fat bikes on this show yet? Hey, this is the Fat Bike Show. Yeah. Well, we rode on some stuff, and- Oh...
• 9:33
  did some things, and... [whistles] Oh, yeah. All I've got to say is that, uh, this week's beer buzz is sponsored by Uncle Nick's Bead Slip, and I'm pretty sure that if Richard was here- [laughs]... he'd be like,
• 9:44
  "What the hell are you guys doing?" [laughs] I'm gonna, I'm gonna be- "Did you take a solid swallow of that stuff? 'Cause man, dingo, son." Yar.
• 9:57
  [laughs] I am just, oh, so happy to be alive. You bought that for him. Mm. Just 'cause- He, he likes whiskey... just 'cause you wanted to kill him. [laughs] No way.
• 10:13
  It was a heartful thank you. Oh, it is. And- And it keeps [laughs]... well, it keeps thanking you for- It-... for many, many days... for many minutes. Hey, you know what?
• 10:23
  We'll be right back with this week's radio guest, Katie Merchant. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. [upbeat music] What do Heather Best, Kevin Brightonbach, and Jeff Oatley have in common?
• 10:37
  Well, they're all world record holders and champions of the Iditarod Trail Invitational, and they all chose Becker Frame Bags and Hydration Packs for their championship run.
• 10:48
  Becker Gear's custom designed and purpose-built to fit your bike. Fat, skinny, and everything in between, Becker Gear is the bag maker of champions.
• 11:01
  Please welcome to the show the race director of the Super Bowl of fat bike racing, the Iditarod Trail Invitational, Katie Merchant. Hi there. Thanks for having me on the show. Very good to have you here, Katie.
• 11:18
  So how's it going where you are? Wait, wait, wait. I thought we were having Natalie Merchant on the show. I, I love 10,000 Maniacs. [laughs] Katie Merchant. Right on. It's Katie Merchant.
• 11:31
  She and her, and her husband Bill run the ITI, dude. Oh. Oh, hey, Katie. That was, how's your singing voice? It's pretty good, but I'm pretty bashful about it. Really? All right. It's been a while.
• 11:42
  Do you, like- Since I've sang... sing in the shower and stuff? I sing in the car when I drive. Oh. Ah. Do you sing- That's a great place... German drinking songs, or are you into the rock and roll or disco?
• 11:55
  I actually like country. [laughs] Oh, man. Can we- Talk about, talk about, like, ooh, dead air. [laughs] Katie, I, I- Oh, I like that stu- I like that stuff... that's, that's, that's good. D- do, that's good...
• 12:10
  but, it's okay, Katie. Just let, let's make this clear, then. Do you like real country, like-... Johnny Cash or new country like Blake what's-his-face, Sheldon I like some of the new stuff. Do you? Wow.
• 12:22
  I like some of the new stuff. I haven't given it a lot of, uh, I haven't given it a lot of a chance, but, uh, some of it's pretty good, I guess. When I'm feeling real depressed- Mm-hmm...
• 12:31
  I like listening to country music. But- There's actually a lot of rock elements now in what they call- Right... country today. True. Has a lot of rock in it- Oh, absolutely... to get the crowd. Yeah.
• 12:40
  Well, like, like Hank, Hank Williams Jr, he brought a lot of that rock and roll to the country that his dad started, and now Hank 3. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. [laughs] Dude, I can tell, I can- Drink and problem left today.
• 12:53
  I can tell when my wife wants to pick a fight with me because she'll, like, get in the car and put on country. Oh. Uh- Oh, she does? Yeah. So I'm not the only one. [laughs] Oh, no. Oh, no.
• 13:05
  Bavarian girl, uh, Bavarian girl that likes country music. All right. There you go.
• 13:11
  Well, we understand that you have been busy planning some incredible new fat bike events to kick off the 2016 Iditarod Trail Invitational. Tell us about the Big Fat Bike Ride.
• 13:26
  Uh, the BFR, the Big Fat Ride, I came up with that name. Uh, we're celebrating our 15th annual ITI, as a lot of people know it. It's the Iditarod Trail Invitational. Fat biking has a long, deep-rooted history in Alaska.
• 13:43
  A lot of tinkerers started, you know, welding two and three rims together and having a four and a six-wheeler, or the six-pack ride.
• 13:51
  Uh, Alaskans have been riding fat bikes for a long time, and, uh, yeah- Just wait till I show you the picture of the French guy that built a fat bike in the '70s to go across the Sahara Desert.
• 14:02
  It's [laughs] got three wheels, though, all in line. On a trailer. But it's, [laughs] but it's a total fat bike. It, uh- It's crazy... I, I have seen it. So some French guy- I have seen it [laughs]... beat everybody.
• 14:13
  It, it is, and it happened in the same year when, uh, Steve Baker and Dave Ford were doing the same thing in Alaska during the Iditasport. They came out with that around 1986, 1987. They did the same thing.
• 14:28
  They had, uh, you know, welded two and three rims together, but they didn't have the trailer like this French guy did. I have actually found it in my research. Pretty cool stuff. Yeah.
• 14:38
  So I- This reminds me of Star Trek when s- Kirk would be talking about how American grain is the best, and then Chekov would be, "Of course, Russian invented same thing 10 years before." So yeah.
• 14:51
  [laughs] Everybody want- I don't know which one of us is, I don't know which one of us is Chekov and which one of us is Kirk, but- [laughs]...
• 14:58
  I'm gonna let, I'm gonna let you be Kirk 'cause I don't think I could fill Kirk's shoes. So Katie, so the Big Fat Bike Ride, uh, when is that and where is it gonna happen in conjunction with the ITI?
• 15:10
  It's, uh, in the same week. It, it's gonna happen on Saturday, February 27th. Uh, with, it's gonna be about a three-hour ride.
• 15:18
  I, uh, I've heard from several people there's now 10,000 fat bikers in Anchorage, many commute.
• 15:25
  And we want to have a fat biking festival event that, for all ages and abilities, to, to, to celebrate Alaska fat biking and to kick off our 15th annual event.
• 15:39
  Uh, part of the money raised through the ride and everything will go to, uh, Bike Anchorage, which is a group that promotes a b- a more bike-friendly city. And, uh, the other one is, uh, Singletrack Advocates.
• 15:55
  Uh, they, they promote, uh, singletrack trails within the city and municipality of Anchorage. And, uh, we're just hoping to, uh, drum up all the fat bikers and show up and just celebrate fat biking,
• 16:10
  uh, in the city of Anchorage. Um, this we're gonna stage at the Park Strip, which is an open green area with a view of the Chugach Mountains, and we're hoping to get an aerial picture.
• 16:22
  I'm hoping we can get 1,500 or maybe 2,000 riders. This will be a big challenge, but, um, I've started planning this and, uh, I started talking about it right after the race sometime in, in April.
• 16:34
  And there'll be a $10 fee to, to, to raise money for those two groups mentioned, and, uh, $35 will, uh, get people a T-shirt that we're making.
• 16:45
  And we're looking for coffee and donut sponsors in all the businesses in town so people, you know, they'll have, uh, food and drink with this ride as well. That sounds great. Right on.
• 16:55
  I've got a way for you to get way more people at your event, just have Sven and Gomez. [laughs] Or- Be like, "Sven and Gomez will autograph pictures for free at this event." That could work against you, too. Yeah.
• 17:07
  You never know. Possibly. It could work for, for it or against it. I, I'm not- You never know...
• 17:14
  sure what, um- [laughs] If we come, if we, if we, if we come, you have to sing us some sort of German country and western song. Oh, wow. Like Bl- like Black Forest country. Yeah. [laughs] There- How's that sound?
• 17:28
  That might even exist, and I just don't know about it. [laughs] There might be such a thing. So you were, were you actually born in Germany?
• 17:35
  Yeah, I was, uh, raised in Bavaria, in, uh, the foothills of the Alps, uh, yeah, on a, on a dairy farm. Right on. I traveled very much, uh- So how long have you been in our fair country?
• 17:45
  I did a year in California and then went on a, on a solo backpacking mission up to Alaska. And then after that, that was in 1996, after that all I could talk about, "I wanna move to Alaska," and that's what I did.
• 17:57
  I moved to Alaska in 2002 when fat biking was in its infancy. There was probably less than 50 fat bikes there at that time. I went to Interbike in 2003 and there was one fat bike there. Wow.
• 18:11
  So, um- So you were saying that there's 10,000 fat bikers in a, in Anchorage right now? I've heard that from multiple people- Wow. That's quite a segue to Ten Thousand Maniacs [laughs] And Natalie Merchant.
• 18:25
  [laughs] You see how we bring that full circle there. This is a very well-planned thing we do.
• 18:31
  So seriously though, the big idea, I think the idea that really gets me the most excited, although I love a good all-abilities ride, rubbing elbows with the locals, 30 miles, Anchorage has- Be- because that's all we have the ability to do.
• 18:45
  [laughs] Anchorage has this kick-ass trail system and single track on both ends of that trail system, but the big idea, I think, is the expo that you wanna run.
• 18:56
  Why don't you tell folks about that, about, uh, having the latest and greatest bikes, gear, and outfitters for them to take a look at.
• 19:05
  Uh, the expo is, uh, in conjunction, I don't think there's really been a fat bike expo, and, uh, with this, this long-time connection, you know, through the race we have a lot of international racers.
• 19:16
  We do have a lot of fans that follow the event. And I just see the passion, the passion with fat biking that I see now, and fat bikes are everywhere. I thought, "It is time for an expo."
• 19:28
  No better place than Alaska, and right along with the ITI, the holy grail of fat bike events. Um, the expo will be, um, on Friday and Saturday, the 26th and 27th.
• 19:43
  Uh, the venue will open around 8:00 in the morning, finishes on Saturday at 9:00 PM. It's in downtown. It'll be at, at Egan Center. Mm-hmm. Uh, we're renting the La Perouse Hall. Um, there's room for about 50 vendors.
• 20:00
  That's, that's our goal for the first year. Um, it's a great convention center. There's two additions. Uh, we could go up to 20,000 square feet over the years. Hmm. Wow. Um, I've been talk- I've been talking to, uh...
• 20:14
  We got a brand-new convention center that's even much, much larger than that. It's a beautiful facility. Um, I've been talking with vendors. Let's see.
• 20:25
  I have, uh, as many br- I wanna have as many brands, frame bag makers, pogies, uh, tires, com- component makers. I have commitments from our Alaskan brands, of course. Mm-hmm. Uh, the Fatback 907,
• 20:42
  uh, Becker Design from Fairbanks. I have, uh- Tupper Becker? Fat Brain- That guy's out of jail? [laughs] Well, [laughs] just kidding. [laughs] He has to raise his young son. He's gotta do something. Just kidding.
• 20:55
  He and I were cellmates back, back cell block D. I remember Tupper with fond memories. So go on. Tupper, yes.
• 21:03
  [laughs] He's, he's a very passionate person when it comes to fat biking and bike packing and gear making in Alaska. Oh, yeah. Um, I've talked to Salsa. The Salsa will have a presence, and 45 North.
• 21:17
  I've been hoping to get Surly to come up. I've made contact with them. Okay.
• 21:20
  I, um, I've, I'm just in the process of, uh, sending all those, uh, emails and letters out to people, snail mail and email and calling people, just to get the word out.
• 21:31
  But the reason I think- That would explain why we haven't received ours yet. [laughs] No, no, no. We're actually, we're actually a media partner of all of this. I'm kidding, Katie.
• 21:39
  The Big Bad Ride, the Fat- Big, the Fat Bike Expo. We're actually, uh, Katie and I have been working together. That's, that's why, you know, it's, that's why- See how well we communicate? [laughs]...
• 21:49
  we can spoof around about the whole Natalie Merchant thing, 'cause we're old pals. We're, we're buddies. I, I am very excited about that, Gomez, and I, I f- I follow fatbike.com, and I, uh...
• 22:02
  It, I think it's a really good, you know, a, a good part- partner for us as far as, uh, a media partner.
• 22:08
  I think that's, it's gonna be a great relationship, and I really appreciate you guys taking interest in this, because this is a new thing for us.
• 22:16
  I have organized this race for 15 years, and I've competed in it, but, you know, 2,000 fat bikers and organizing an expo, that is new for me. [laughs] Yeah, I think you- Uh, it's okay...
• 22:29
  I think you're gonna need an administrative a- assistant- [laughs]... with taking on all three and for this year, but it's, uh, it's very, very exciting, and it's great ideas.
• 22:39
  I love the way you think, and, uh, you know, we, we, we're 100%, we're at 110% behind this. 110. 110. We're above 100.
• 22:48
  [laughs] But the other thing that's going on that in our conversations leading up to the interview that is also an unbelievably cool thing is that you now have 100 and, I think, 20-mile version of the ITI, right?
• 23:05
  Yes. Uh, we, we, we didn't wanna... You know, I could let 100 people in the race, but it's, it would change the experience. The checkpoints are very small.
• 23:15
  [laughs] This race, and I think most people know that, is completely off the road system. The only way to get there is to, to do the race, to ride a snow machine, snowmobile out there, or take a bush plane out there.
• 23:28
  Mm-hmm. And so we, um, the first part of that trail, uh, we're, um, have checkpoints. Those are lodges, and they can handle more people, and I've talked to them before I made that decision.
• 23:40
  We've added 15 spots, and we immediately filled those spots. And the 130-mile race goes from Knik Lake to, uh, Winter Lake Lodge. It's an exclusive, uh, fly, fly out, fly in lodge.
• 23:54
  And then, uh, the, the finishers will get a scenic flight back on a, on a ski plane. The, the plane actually takes off on a frozen lake, uh, in front of the lodge.
• 24:04
  So for, from people from outside of Alaska, I think that in itself is a pretty cool thing. Pretty cool, that's right. Yeah, it sound- it sounds awesome.
• 24:12
  Now, there might not be 100 people that could actually do the thousand mile race all the way to Nome on earth. So having this 130-mile race, there are- There are scads of people that- Like 12 or 15 apparently.
• 24:29
  [laughs] Well, there are a lot more. Two, two, yeah. And, and it could be, you know, a good training ground to build up to the 350 or 1,000 mile ITI. Right. We'll also have a guided ride for expo visitors- Mm-hmm...
• 24:43
  at the start. People can, there will be, uh, rental bikes as well as for the Big Fat Ride, there'll be rental bikes for people from out of town. Oh, cool.
• 24:51
  And they will be able to go out on the famous Iditarod Trail, as well as the lodges are offering lodging this year. Oh, killer.
• 25:01
  Uh, fan packages as well as media can go out there to, um, Skwentna, Shell Lake, Winter Lake Lodge, Rainy Pass Lodge and of course, the finish line in McGrath. There is hou- uh, lodging available there too. Nice.
• 25:16
  I got a, a little off the topic question. If you were going to put a fat bike hall of fame somewhere, where would you locate it? The fat bike hall of fame?
• 25:28
  Yeah, if somebody wanted to open a fat bike hall of fame, where would you put the physical location of the fat bike hall of fame? Do you think Anchorage is the place?
• 25:38
  Okay, the- Do you think that's like, that's the, you know, is that the place where it should be or, you know, do you have another nominee for the fat bike hall of fame?
• 25:48
  I have followed fat bike development closely and researched it. It started before I got to Alaska, but I do think Alaska and this race has a big part in it.
• 25:58
  And, uh, I know two, two friends of mine met at Interbike in '99, one from Alaska, one from New Mexico, and then I know that Minnesota had a big part in it too.
• 26:10
  A lot of the manufacturing, a lot of the companies are in that area. So your answer is- I think Alaska is a, is, uh, Anchorage, Alaska- Las Vegas... is a great place. [laughs] Yeah.
• 26:18
  No, we'll just do it at Interbike every year. [laughs] [laughs] Yeah. No, I- So, so you're thinking Anchorage... but seriously, I think Anchorage- Anchorage I think is a good...
• 26:29
  Yeah, Anchorage has a- all that a, the big city, you know, of that size can offer for lodging, for dining, for, you got this amazing backcountry. In Alaska, we have more trails in the wintertime than we do in the summer.
• 26:43
  We can go places that are a swamp in the summer, when they're froze over, we can go places. It opens up a lot of new country. Several people have told me, "Well, Alaska is the fat bike mecca."
• 26:55
  It's what Moab is to, you know, slickrock riding. And, um, so I think yes, and there's a long history with fat biking, and it is an exotic, intriguing destination. People have al- always wanted to go to Alaska.
• 27:10
  All right. Well, maybe we should buy a double wide trailer and make ourselves a hall of fame up there. Yeah. I think we need a hall of fame, uh, place up in Alaska. There you go.
• 27:21
  [laughs] Can you shop around for a double wide trailer for it? We, we may or may not- I will-... already be starting the fat bike [laughs] hall of fame here on Fat Bike Radio. Exactly. I nominate- It all starts there...
• 27:35
  uh, people to be in there and certain bikes. Uh, I think, uh, here's a good idea since, and, and, and, and Katie brought up an interesting point that she met
• 27:47
  a guy from Alaska and a guy from New Mexico way back- Mm-hmm... before this century started- Yeah... in 19 ought nine or whatever that was. The French, the French guy beats them all.
• 27:59
  [laughs] It should be in the Sahara Desert then- No, no... if we're gonna go by who did it first. But he built his bike in France. It's true. Maybe France. Hello. Hello. Guillaume, he's gonna want that there too.
• 28:10
  Fitbike hall of fame. My point here is that we could, we can- True shade hall of fame... we can do nominees at Interbike. Oh. We're, we're just spitball- Um, great... we're just spitballing here.
• 28:21
  [laughs] We're just stretching this interview out since you called 15 minutes late. No, I'm just kidding. [laughs] Um- I know. I know. I know. I'm, I, uh, I got my times wrong.
• 28:32
  [laughs] Seven here is 8:00 there, no 8:00 there is 7:00 here. Oops. Ah. Uh, I just wanted to mention that, uh- J-... we'll have guest speakers.
• 28:42
  We'll have a fat bike, uh, history and, uh, development display with some of the Alaskan pioneers- Killer, man. That's, that's great stuff... uh, present. And a guest speaker- And Gomez is gonna be a guest speaker.
• 28:54
  Wait, no, Jay Peterrey perhaps. Nobody wants to listen to me talk. [laughs] What would I say? Uh, the Peter- Peterrey, Peterrey powerhouse couple from Idaho and, uh, uh, definitely one of the Fatback riders.
• 29:08
  Uh, they do, they've done really well in the ITI, and, uh, maybe a couple more. Nice. Fatback owns the ITI, dude. Yeah. You know, with, with Fatbacks like, um... What do they call their program, their ambassador program?
• 29:22
  Huh? The Trials. Mm-hmm. The Trials, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Man. Pat Smage. And he's from Wisconsin. Right. He lives like 10 miles from me. Right? Yeah.
• 29:32
  He, he's been doing some awesome stuff on Fatback bikes, putting videos up and- Have you seen any of the Pat Smage Trials Fatbike videos on the Corvus?
• 29:42
  Uh, I have, and I, uh, know a guy that's been doing a lot of the shooting from, uh, Lake Tahoe. I've been talking to him to come up and, uh,
• 29:50
  my goal would be to have some, some video of Pat doing some of his stunts out by the Kennic Glacier in Alaska. That would be some very stunning background. I've been riding out there, ah, for the last 10 years.
• 30:04
  It's very scenic out there. To ride on a glacier is pretty cool. Yeah. A lot of that blue ice in the background kind of stuff- It, it's beautiful... that I've seen pictures of. Can you get a killer whale or- No...
• 30:15
  something? [laughs] Some kind of whale in the background? No. No, that's Damn it. Well- Well, Pat would- We've definitely turned- Pat would be awesome...
• 30:25
  we've definitely turned this interview into something completely silly. [laughs] I'm sorry, Katie Well, thanks for being on the show, Katie.
• 30:34
  Uh, I appreciate that you took the time to do this, and that Gomez took the time to set it all up.
• 30:40
  And I think your event up there, uh, is obviously an awesome thing, and the new kind of bringing the, you know, the public into the whole, the, the fold is a great thing.
• 30:52
  Consumer Fat Bike Expo needed to happen, and you're the person that's, you know, putting the match to that fire, so nice job, dude. You know what I'm saying? Thanks, guys.
• 31:03
  [laughs] And then I really appreciate for, for having me, and I apologize for calling in a bit late, but, uh- That's all right. Not a worry... that's all right.
• 31:11
  That's just longer you have to sing [laughs] the Bavarian country music for us when we come visit you. [laughs] And by the way- Hey, I'll sing with you... you've done a great job of losing the Bavarian accent, so
• 31:25
  thank you. It comes out a little when she gets angry. Yeah, at you. [laughs] Just ask Bill about it. Bill's like, "Oh, let's see." Uh-huh. I don't know. All right.
• 31:38
  Well, he, he tells me if I lose all my accent, he's gonna go get him another Bavarian girl. Oh. [laughs] Oh. [laughs] Uh-oh. Well, we better let you get back to your hubby, and we will sign off.
• 31:52
  Thanks for being on the show. You rock. We'll keep on, we'll keep on talking, and we're gonna make this event something super killer. You bet. All right, see you. All right, bye Katie. Look forward to it.
• 32:03
  Mm-hmm, bye bye. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. Ladies and gentlemen, that was Katie Merchant from the ITI up there in Alaska. Formerly of the Ten Thousand Maniacs. Yeah. It was an awesome...
• 32:20
  I mean, the, she has the right idea on this thing, I think, which is bring the masses in because you know what? The more people that get on these bikes and ride them, the more happy cyclists there are going to be.
• 32:34
  Well, it, it's fat bike season. You know, it's, it's snow fat bike season for nine months a year. The crazy thing [laughs] that I see is, like, you know, we see a lot of people riding trails here.
• 32:46
  All of my Alaskan friends actually have pretty kick-ass mountain bikes that they bust out for, like, two weeks. [laughs] Yeah. Well, it's longer than two weeks, but you know what I mean. I'm just always like, "Really?
• 33:00
  Dude." You know what? Well, here's the deal. You know what they're gonna have next? What? They're gonna have the fat bike for the winter, which is quite obvious- [laughs]...
• 33:07
  that everybody needs a fat bike because there's so many things they work well in. But how many people are still gonna be riding a 26-inch full suspension bike when they can be riding a plus bike? True.
• 33:21
  Like we cover over at PlusBikes.com. [laughs] Yeah, there's a new site. There's a couple of jerks over there. Yeah, a bunch of- It's Ben and Gomez. I think, I think the guy's name is Gary really. [laughs] Yeah.
• 33:33
  Thanks, thanks, thanks Facebook for outing my friend Gomez and really calling him by his real name. [laughs] I'm back on the Facebook. They let me back on. Oh, the Facebook.
• 33:41
  But I have to, I have to be what my daddy named me. Uh-huh. So anyway, those two guys, they're starting up this new thing, and we are, we are just, you know, 100%. It's like, it's as though they're our clones, and-
• 33:58
  We are cloning... you know, and it's like- Oddly enough, you know what we really need is another one of us. I know. So here's a shout-out.
• 34:06
  If, if somebody really thinks they wanna help us grow our business and do the great things that we do, like we're doing on FatBike.com, and this new plus bike thing is gonna explode. Yeah, email gomez@fatbike.com.
• 34:21
  Give us a freaking shout because we need help- Yeah, we do... a little bit. Yeah. And somebody that's competent, that can write and photograph, and can really kick ass on putting stories up, we'd love to have your help.
• 34:34
  You know what we should do? You know who would be great at this? Jeff? Alberto Contador. [laughs] Yeah. You know what? I, I think he would. So- After, after he wins the year, the Euro- Shimmy out of that pink jersey...
• 34:49
  is it a Euro or a- The Euros? Is it a Jiro or a Euro? [laughs] I heard Euros. I came to... What? Euros. Well, when he wins the Euro. Euro surprise. Pepsi no coke. So, okay.
• 34:59
  Well, if, okay, so if we get Alberto Contador on the team- Yeah... then we can do a fat bike Strava challenge and be pretty assured of winning it. Chicago, meet at the Bean next Saturday, 5:00. We won't be there.
• 35:13
  Strava challenge. [laughs] Strava yourself. Silly. Stra- strava yourself to a pole. [laughs] Strava yourself to a pole.
• 35:26
  [laughs] We, we, we talked a little bit about the Zion beach ride before, but, uh, we just- Wait, you're not, you're not gonna mention the thing, the, you, the thing that you did in the read through?
• 35:35
  You're not gonna do that? You're not gonna- Wait, what? That was a real thing? That's not a real thing. This Mountain Bike Radio business? [laughs] How'd, how'd they finally find us on Twitter? I mean, what?
• 35:45
  Mountain Bike Radio is following us on Twitter. Wow. I guess they must think we're somebody special. We're their friend. He's from Wisconsin. Well, well, Ben, Ben, well now. Well, Matt.
• 35:58
  [laughs] Oh, and more, more up the nose. [laughs] Freaking Jake Kane- Dude, for real... you little kids. [laughs] I'm just saying thanks, Ben. Hi, Ben. You're the king of Mountain Bike Radio. Yeah.
• 36:11
  We're, we're just pimples on your butt. That's right, boy. So tell us about the Zion beach ride. We've talked about it a little bit throughout the show apparently, off script like we are. [laughs] Off piss.
• 36:23
  [laughs] But, uh, but, uh, it, it, my, the whole deal about the Zion beach ride is that this is one of the few spots on this side of the lake that you can actually do a beach ride anymore, and it's-
• 36:37
  You know, it's probably an 11-mile round trip from one end to the other from where the conference center is, and then you can go the other way some too. This is a very long stretch of beach.
• 36:48
  And s- And the cool thing about it, you see a decommissioned nuclear plant. Absolutely. Yeah. [laughs] You go by a coal-fired plant that's allegedly being decommissioned. And that's asbestos business.
• 36:59
  Right, and a, a US Department of the Interior, uh- Boing, boing, boing, boing, boing... Superfund cleanup site for asbestos. [laughs] So. And- And the old, old-timey bathroom, uh, pavilions Oh, yeah...
• 37:15
  yeah Like, like post-nuclear wasteland kinda. Like- Yeah. They look, they look like the old Treasure Island stores.
• 37:21
  Yeah With that, like, whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp on the- Well, the, and, and the, the sand there is definitely more Michigan sand than north of Port Washington here. It's really soft. Oh, yeah.
• 37:32
  And it's, you know, it's a, it's a, even though it's only an 11-mile ride or 12-mile or 15-mile, depending on how you do it, it's, it's a significant effort because you don't wanna do this on a mountain bike.
• 37:45
  You can't do it i- Right. A- and I s- [laughs] we saw- Oh... we saw some guy walking a single speed down the beach. Uh. Those guys come from Chicago.
• 37:53
  They ride up there, and then he's walking down the beach with his single speed. Hmm. And then he sits down, and he has a sandwich, and then he goes back to Chicago. But y- you can't ride on the beach with it.
• 38:06
  You just walk. It's like, "No, you can ride here, sir." I've, I tried to ride my Krampus there once. It did not- [laughs]... work out well. When you guys had the, the, like, three-hour tour and got, and got- I, uh-...
• 38:17
  caught on the wrong side of the Dead River and- Yeah. That was during Fat Camp. Fat Camp. Speaking of- And now Fat Camp's a radio show on our, on our-... speaking of Fat Camp, it's a radio show. Yeah. Yeah.
• 38:27
  Ken, Ken and Andy had their debut last weekend. If you didn't hear it, you should probably check it out on, uh, Fat Bike Radio. It's nothing like this. It's, it's- [laughs]
• 38:38
  It's actually- It's not, it has nothing to do with this [laughs]... it's actually kind of- It actually is good. It's a lot. [laughs] It's kinda serious and stuff. Yeah. But tho- those guys are gonna do well. I think so.
• 38:48
  'Cause Ken sounds... Ken's a hell of a tire tester. He, you shoulda seen the show notes he sent me. Really? If I could have an outline like that, whoa. Really? Yeah. Wow.
• 38:59
  I cut, like, 90% of it out just [laughs] to put it on the web. Well. I don't want, you know, well, I don't want any, I don't want people to read what we're doing in the show. I want them to hear. Right.
• 39:09
  So I will just do the outline. And here's some tips about- But it was beautiful... listening to podcasts. You know, your smartphone can play this podcast, so that means that headphones while you're riding, boom.
• 39:20
  Plug your smartphone into the old car, boom. You're on your, you know, you're, you're going to work, you're on a conference call at work, headphones in one ear, boom. [laughs] I'm not even listening to you.
• 39:33
  Listening to Fat Bike Radio. [laughs] Business meetings- Less is more... the less words said by you means less problems down the road. Just beware of the chortle that you- [snores]...
• 39:46
  might occur at a, at a really bad time. [laughs] You're sitting in the- Blah, blah, blah, blah. You're sitting in a conference room one- [laughs] [snores] You start snorting and stuff. Yeah. Yeah.
• 39:57
  Probably doesn't happen, though, as often as p- as you do, dude. Right. [laughs] Yeah, I know. I know. Well. I'm a singular human. Twice.
• 40:05
  [laughs] So- So you guys are going on a, uh, Fat Bike Tour of Milwaukee pre-ride on Sunday. There's a big group ride on July 12th or 13th or something. 13th. 13th. Uh, June 13th. June 13th.
• 40:18
  Yes, just the day before Father's Day. And, uh- It's actually the Fat Tire Tour. Yeah. Although we have re-christened it Fat Bike Tour. [laughs] And the theme is Animal House, right? Toga. So love- Toga. Again?
• 40:33
  Well, love- Toga. What if that's what you say? I want a toga. How do you ride on a bike with a toga? Carefully. [laughs] Ed, this is- Ba-dum-bumch. This will be the... What is this, the 30th? Or 30- Yes. Or wait...
• 40:47
  30th first-th? Uh, math. 11, 2000. He's got- He's looking at his T-shirt... well, Mike's got a 2011 T-shirt on. Yeah. I don't think it says. But it's close to 30 years, if not over 30 years.
• 40:59
  I think it's 31, 'cause I think last year was 30. Yeah. Well, uh- I'm pretty sure last year was 30... there was, there was a guy who's, uh, uh, very dear to our heart here in Milwaukee named, uh- Pee Wee...
• 41:08
  Pee Wee- [laughs]... uh, who did this thing for 30 years, and now he's, uh, aging and un- can't really do it anymore.
• 41:19
  So he's- So they passed the baton to- To our buddy Jason, who actually is fantastic at organizing stuff. Yeah. We never had drones when Pee Wee ran it. Right? [laughs] To send out his- Nobody- You know what a-...
• 41:32
  drones... drone is? And, uh, they, they take the... The cool thing about this ride is they really do take you to- The underbelly... some old-timey places- Mm-hmm... with, like, two lanes bowling and- Uh, that's, that-...
• 41:44
  75 cent seven-ounce tappers and- The Holler House is the oldest bowling alley that's sanctioned in the country. Yes.
• 41:54
  And there's two lanes in the basement, and- And you gotta, you should call ahead so, uh- Make sure they have a pin setter because- Exactly... they do not have- You wouldn't want the kids-... any-...
• 42:03
  [laughs] in the neighborhood... a sanctioned pin setter. Yeah. They don't have- Mind you... they don't have electrical businesses set your pins. [laughs] But of course. But of course. But of course.
• 42:12
  [laughs] Which leads us, once again, to the interwebs and linkages to, uh, make your blood boil or make your, uh, pancreas excrete insulin. I'd go ahead and check out those links.
• 42:30
  Linkages. Yeah, [laughs] you were in the, uh, you were in the Durango Herald, quoted. Right? I don't even know. I think that came from a different interview, I think.
• 42:41
  [laughs] That guy- [laughs] I'm like, "When did I talk to that guy?" I think he took it from a different interview I think that maybe, uh- Did I sound stupid or good?
• 42:49
  Uh, you sounded, uh, you sounded like the- Retarded... like the Hugh Hefner of fat bikey. [laughs] I don't know. Retarded. You want bust Tony? No idea how I got on the Durango Herald. [laughs] Thanks, Wendy.
• 43:03
  I saw, uh, Bruce's new ECR. I think it looks pretty rad. Right on. And, uh, I don't know. I- Well, this national rowing champion guy setting the hour record on the chopper, like, Raleigh chopper freaking bike.
• 43:19
  This is- I didn't see that. It's not even a- I'll have to check it out... fat bike thing. We sh- just check that out. And there's apparently a new Finnish fat bike site, but I can't read it 'cause it's in Finnish. Hmm.
• 43:31
  Fatbikefat-bike.fi. Fi. Oh, fat dash... We should've got that domain name so them guys couldn't have got it. Oh, well, you gotta let those Finlanders have their, have their glory. And this week's, uh, homage to, uh,
• 43:48
  the life, the universe and everything. Yeah. The number 42. Dude, I, I love that series, and I c- can't remember the, the name of the author for the life of me.
• 43:57
  Oh, that would be The Hitchhiker's Guide to The- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... Galaxy. And that would- Douglas Adams. Douglas- Douglas Adams... Ad- Well played, old sport. Dams. Dams. Adams.
• 44:07
  Well, speaking of, uh, The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Universe- I wanna-... thanks to Surly for sponsoring the radio portion of today's broadcast.
• 44:17
  You can check everything you ever wanted to know about Surly but were afraid to ask at surlybikes.com. And once again, we've wasted an hour of your time. I think JK wanted to sing some Bavarian country to worry.
• 44:34
  [laughs] Just keep calm and- Glockenspiel... carry a towel. Glockenspiel and Frankenstein and- That's it... glock and fluke and mikkel fleen. Here's farm, there he swamps. What? What?
• 44:46
  A happy fruit always knows there's, uh- A happy fruit knows there's- There's, there's food... snow bones, and the fruit pies come back around. [laughs] Yay. I'll go with custard, thank you. All right. Really?
• 44:56
  Spank you very little. You like cream, cream pies? Yes, custard. Custard filling. Come on, now. Come on, now. [laughs] You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's weekly dose of fat.
• 45:11
  Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
• 45:20
  [rock music]